| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Psalm Eighty-four
Psalm 84
Chapter Contents
The psalmist expresses his affection to the ordinances of
God. (1-7) His desire towards the God of the ordinances. (8-12)
Commentary on Psalm 84:1-7
(Read Psalm 84:1-7)
The ordinances of God are the believer's solace in this
evil world; in them he enjoys the presence of the living God: this causes him
to regret his absence from them. They are to his soul as the nest to the bird.
Yet they are only an earnest of the happiness of heaven; but how can men desire
to enter that holy habitation, who complain of Divine ordinances as wearisome?
Those are truly happy, who go forth, and go on in the exercise of religion, in
the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, from whom all our sufficiency is.
The pilgrims to the heavenly city may have to pass through many a valley of
weeping, and many a thirsty desert; but wells of salvation shall be opened for
them, and consolations sent for their support. Those that press forward in
their Christian course, shall find God add grace to their graces. And those who
grow in grace, shall be perfect in glory.
Commentary on Psalm 84:8-12
(Read Psalm 84:8-12)
In all our addresses to God, we must desire that he would
look on Christ, his Anointed One, and accept us for his sake: we must look to
Him with faith, and then God will with favour look upon the face of the
Anointed: we, without him, dare not show our faces. The psalmist pleads love to
God's ordinances. Let us account one day in God's courts better than a thousand
spent elsewhere; and deem the meanest place in his service preferable to the
highest earthly preferment. We are here in darkness, but if God be our God, he
will be to us a Sun, to enlighten and enliven us, to guide and direct us. We
are here in danger, but he will be to us a Shield, to secure us from the fiery
darts that fly thick about us. Through he has not promised to give riches and
dignities, he has promised to give grace and glory to all that seek them in his
appointed way. And what is grace, but heaven begun below, in the knowledge,
love, and service of God? What is glory, but the completion of this happiness,
in being made like to him, and in fully enjoying him for ever? Let it be our
care to walk uprightly, and then let us trust God to give us every thing that
is good for us. If we cannot go to the house of the Lord, we may go by faith to
the Lord of the house; in him we shall be happy, and may be easy. That man is
really happy, whatever his outward circumstances may be, who trusts in the Lord
of hosts, the God of Jacob.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 84
Verse 4
[4]
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.
/*Selah*/.
They-That constantly abide in thy house; the
priests and Levites, or other devout Jews who were there perpetually, as Anna, Luke 2:36-37.
They will —
They are continually employed in that blessed work.
Verse 5
[5] Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways
of them.
Whose strength —
Who trusteth in thee as his only strength.
Thy ways —
Blessed are they whose hearts are set upon Zion and their journey is thither.
Verse 6
[6] Who
passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the
pools.
Baca — A
dry valley in the way to Jerusalem, here put for all places of like nature.
Make a well —
They dig divers little pits or wells in it for their relief.
The rain —
God recompenses their diligence with his blessing, sending rain wherewith they
may be filled.
Verse 7
[7] They
go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
They go —
They grow stronger and stronger.
Appeareth —
This is added as the blessed fruit of their long and tedious journey.
Verse 9
[9] Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
Look —
Cast a favourable eye towards him.
Anointed — Of
me, who though a vile sinner, am thine anointed king.
Verse 10
[10] For
a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Than dwell — In
the greatest glory and plenty.
Verse 11
[11] For
the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good
thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
A sun — To
enlighten and quicken, and direct and comfort his people.
Shield — To
save his people from all their enemies.
Grace —
His favour, which is better than life.
Glory —
The honour which comes from God here, and eternal glory.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE AND
SUBJECT. To the Chief Musician upon Gittith. A Psalm for the sons of
Korah. This Psalm well deserved to be committed to the noblest of the sons of
song. No music could be too sweet for its theme, or too exquisite in sound to
match the beauty of its language. Sweeter than the joy of the wine press, (for
that is said to be the meaning of the word rendered upon Gittith), is the joy
of the holy assemblies of the Lord's house; not even the favoured children of
grace, who are like the sons of Korah, can have a richer subject for song than
Zion's sacred festivals. It matters little when this Psalm was written, or by
whom; for our part it exhales to us a Davidic perfume, it smells of the
mountain heather and the lone places of the wilderness, where King David must
have often lodged during his many wars. This sacred ode is one of the choicest
of the collection; it has a mild radiance about it, entitling it to be called The
Pearl of Psalms. If the twenty-third be the most popular, the one-hundred-
and-third the most joyful, the one-hundred-and-nineteenth the most deeply
experimental, the fifty-first the most plaintive, this is one of the most sweet
of the Psalms of peace. Pilgrimages to the tabernacle were a grand feature of
Jewish life. In our country, pilgrimages to the shrine of Thomas of Canterbury,
and our Lady of Walsingham, were so general as to affect the entire population,
cause the formation of roads, the erection and maintenance of hostelries, and
the creation of a special literature; this may help us to understand the
influence of pilgrimage upon the ancient Israelites. Families journeyed together,
making bands which grew at each halting place; they camped in sunny glades,
sang in unison along the roads, toiled together over the hill and through the
slough, and as they went along, stored up happy memories which would never be
forgotten. One who was debarred the holy company of the pilgrims, and the
devout worship of the congregation, would find in this Psalm fit expression for
his mournful spirit.
DIVISION. We will make
our pauses where the poet or the musician placed them, namely, of the Selahs.
EXPOSITION
Verse
2. My soul longeth, it pines, and faints to meet with the
saints in the Lord's house. The desire was deep and insatiable—the very soul of
the man was yearning for his God. Yea, even fainteth; as though it could not
long hold out, but was exhausted with delay. He had a holy lovesickness upon
him, and was wasted with an inward consumption because he was debarred the
worship of the Lord in the appointed place. For the courts of the Lord. To
stand once again in those areas which were dedicated to holy adoration was the
soul longing of the psalmist. True subjects love the courts of their king. My
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. It was God himself that he
pined for, the only living and true God. His whole nature entered into his
longing. Even the clay cold flesh grew warm through the intense action of his
fervent spirit. Seldom, indeed, does the flesh incline in the right direction,
but in the matter of Sabbath services our weary body sometimes comes to the
assistance of our longing heart, for it desires the physical rest as much as
the soul desires the spiritual repose. The psalmist declared that he could not
remain silent in his desires, but began to cry out for God and his house; he
wept, he sighed, he pleaded for the privilege. Some need to be whipped to
church, while here is David crying for it. He needed no clatter of bells from
the belfry to ring him in, he carried his bell in his own bosom: holy appetite
is a better call to worship than a full chime.
Verse
3. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house. He envied the
sparrows which lived around the house of God, and picked up the stray crumbs in
the courts thereof; he only wished that he, too, could frequent the solemn
assemblies and bear away a little of the heavenly food. And the swallow a nest
for herself, where she may lay her young. He envied also the swallows whose
nests were built under the eaves of the priest's houses, who there found a
place for their young, as well as for themselves. We rejoice not only in our personal
religious opportunities, but in the great blessing of taking our children with
us to the sanctuary. The church of God is a house for us and a nest for our
little ones. Even thine altars, O Lord of hosts. To the very altars these free
birds drew near, none could restrain them nor would have wished to do so, and
David wished to come and go as freely as they did. Mark how he repeats the
blessed name of Jehovah of Hosts; he found in it a sweetness which helped him
to bear his inward hunger. Probably David himself was with the host, and,
therefore, he dwelt with emphasis upon the title which taught him that the Lord
was in the tented field as well as within the holy curtains. My King and my
God. Here he utters his loyalty from afar. If he may not tread the courts, yet
he loves the King. If an exile, he is not a rebel. When we cannot occupy a seat
in God's house, he shall have a seat in our memories and a throne in our
hearts. The double "my" is very precious; he lays hold upon his God
with both his hands, as one resolved not to let him go till the favour
requested be at length accorded.
Verse
4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house. Those he esteems
to be highly favoured who are constantly engaged in divine worship—the canons
residentiary, yea, the pew openers, the menials who sweep and dust. To come and
go is refreshing, but to abide in the place of prayer must be heaven below. To
be the guests of God, enjoying the hospitalities of heaven, set apart for holy
work, screened from a noisy world, and familiar with sacred things—why this is
surely the choicest heritage a son of man can possess. They will be still
praising thee. So near to God, their very life must be adoration. Surely their
hearts and tongues never cease from magnifying the Lord. We fear David here
drew rather a picture of what should be than of what is; for those occupied
daily with the offices needful for public worship are not always among the most
devout; on the contrary, "the nearer the church the further from
God." Yet in a spiritual sense this is most true, for those children of
God who in spirit abide even in his house, are also ever full of the praises of
God. Communion is the mother of adoration. They fail to praise the Lord who
wander far from him, but those who dwell in him are always magnifying him.
Selah. In such an occupation as this we might be content to remain for ever. It
is worth while to pause and meditate upon the prospect of dwelling with God and
praising him throughout eternity.
Verse
5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. Having
spoken of the blessedness of those who reside in the house of God, he now
speaks of those who are favoured to visit it at appointed seasons, going upon
pilgrimage with their devout brethren: he is not, however, indiscriminate in
his eulogy, but speaks only of those who heartily attend to the sacred
festivals. The blessedness of sacred worship belongs not to half hearted,
listless worshippers, but to those who throw all their energies into it.
Neither prayer, nor praise, nor the hearing of the word will be pleasant or
profitable to persons who have left their hearts behind them. A company of
pilgrims who had left their hearts at home would be no better than a caravan of
carcasses, quite unfit to blend with living saints in adoring the living God.
In whose heart are the ways of them, or far better, in whose heart are thy
ways. Those who love the ways of God are blessed. When we have God's ways in
our hearts, and our heart in his ways, we are what and where we should be, and
hence we shall enjoy the divine approval.
Verse
6. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well.
Traversing joyfully the road to the great assembly, the happy pilgrims found
refreshment even in the dreariest part of the road. As around a well men meet
and converse cheerfully, being refreshed after their journey, so even in the
vale of tears, or any other dreary glen, the pilgrims to the skies find sweet
solace in brotherly communion and in anticipation of the general assembly
above, with its joys unspeakable. Probably there is here a local allusion,
which will never now be deciphered, but the general meaning is clear enough.
There are joys of pilgrimage which make men forget the discomforts of the road.
The rain also filleth the pools. God gives to his people the supplies they need
while traversing the roads which he points out for them. Where there were no
natural supplies from below, the pilgrims found an abundant compensation in
waters from above, and so also shall all the sacremental host of God's elect.
Ways, which otherwise would have been deserted from want of accommodation, were
made into highways abundantly furnished for the travellers' wants, because the
great annual pilgrimages led in that direction; even so, Christian converse and
the joy of united worship makes many duties easy and delightful which else had
been difficult and painful.
Verse
7. They go from strength to strength. So far from being
wearied they gather strength as they proceed. Each individual becomes happier,
each company becomes more numerous, each holy song more sweet and full. We grow
as we advance if heaven be our goal. If we spend our strength in God's ways we
shall find it increase. Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. This
was the end of the pilgrim's march, the centre where all met, the delight of
all hearts. Not merely to be in the assembly, but to appear before God was the
object of each devout Israelite. Would to God it were the sincere desire of all
who in these days mingle in our religious gatherings. Unless we realise the
presence of God we have done nothing; the mere gathering together is nothing
worth.
Verse
8. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give me to go up to
thy house, or if I may not do so, yet let my cry be heard. Thou listenest to
the united supplications of thy saints, but do not shut out my solitary
petition, unworthy though I be. Give ear, O God of Jacob. Though Jehovah of
hosts, thou art also the covenant God of solitary pleaders like Jacob; regard
thou, then, my plaintive supplication. I wrestle here alone with thee, while
the company of thy people have gone on before me to happier scenes, and I
beseech thee bless me; for I am resolved to hold thee till thou speak the word
of grace into my soul. The repetition of the request for an answer to his prayer
denotes his eagerness for a blessing. What a mercy it is that if we cannot
gather with the saints, we can still speak to their Master. Selah. A pause was
needed after a cry so vehement, a prayer so earnest.
Verse
9. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine
anointed. Here we have the nation's prayer for David; and the believer's
prayer for the Son of David. Let but the Lord look upon our Lord Jesus, and we
shall be shielded from all harm; let him behold the face of his Anointed, and
we shall be able to behold his face with joy. We also are anointed by the
Lord's grace, and our desire is that he will look upon us with an eye of love
in Christ Jesus. Our best prayers when we are in the best place are for our
glorious King, and for the enjoyment of his Father's smile.
Verse
10. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. Of
course the psalmist means a thousand days spent elsewhere. Under the most
favourable circumstances in which earth's pleasures can be enjoyed, they are
not comparable by so much as one in a thousand to the delights of the service
of God. To feel his love, to rejoice in the person of the anointed Saviour, to
survey the promises and feel the power of the Holy Ghost in applying precious
truth to the soul, is a joy which worldlings cannot understand, but which true
believers are ravished with. Even a glimpse at the love of God is better than
ages spent in the pleasures of sense. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house
of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. The lowest station
in connection with the Lord's house is better than the highest position among
the godless. Only to wait at his threshold and peep within, so as to see Jesus,
is bliss. To bear burdens and open doors for the Lord is more honour than to reign
among the wicked. Every man has his choice, and this is ours. God's worst is
better than the devil's best. God's doorstep is a happier rest than downy
couches within the pavilions of royal sinners, though we might lie there for a
lifetime of luxury. Note how he calls the tabernacle the house of my
God; there's where the sweetness lies: if Jehovah be our God, his house, his
altars, his doorstep, all become precious to us. We know by experience that
where Jesus is within, the outside of the house is better than the noblest
chambers where the Son of God is not to be found.
Verse
11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. Pilgrims need both
as the weather may be, for the cold would smite them were it not for the sun,
and foes are apt to waylay the sacred caravan, and would haply destroy it if it
were without a shield. Heavenly pilgrims are not left uncomforted or
unprotected. The pilgrim nation found both sun and shield in that fiery cloudy
pillar which was the symbol of Jehovah's presence, and the Christian still
finds both light and shelter in the Lord his God. A sun for happy days and a
shield for dangerous ones. A sun above, a shield around. A light to show the
way and a shield to ward off its perils. Blessed are they who journey with such
a convoy; the sunny and shady side of life are alike happy to them. The Lord
will give grace and glory. Both in due time, both as needed, both to the full,
both with absolute certainty. The Lord has both grace and glory in infinite
abundance; Jesus is the fulness of both, and, as his chosen people, we shall
receive both as a free gift from the God of our salvation. What more can the
Lord give, or we receive, or desire. No good thing will he withhold from them
that walk uprightly. Grace makes us walk uprightly and this secures every
covenant blessing to us. What a wide promise! Some apparent good may be
withheld, but no real good, no, not one. "All things are yours, and ye are
Christ's, and Christ is God's." God has all good, there is no good apart
from him, and there is no good which he either needs to keep back or will on
any account refuse us, if we are but ready to receive it. We must be upright
and neither lean to this or that form of evil: and this uprightness must be
practical,—we must walk in truth and holiness, then shall we be heirs of
all things, and as we come of age all things shall be in our actual possession;
and meanwhile, according to our capacity for receiving shall be the measure of
the divine bestowal. This is true, not of a favoured few, but of all the saints
for evermore.
Verse
12. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Here is the key of the Psalm. The worship is that of faith, and the blessedness
is peculiar to believers. No formal worshipper can enter into this secret. A
man must know the Lord by the life of real faith, or he can have no true
rejoicing in the Lord's worship, his house, his Son, or his ways. Dear reader,
how fares it with thy soul?
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. Here note,
that the sons, that is, the posterity of wicked and rebellious Korah, have an
honourable place in God's sacred and solemn service: for to them sundry of
David's psalms are commended. . . . Here see the verifying of God's word, for
the comfort of all godly children, that the son shall not bear the iniquity of
the father, Eze 18:14,17,20, if he see his father's sins and turn from them. Thomas
Pierson (1570-1633), in "David's Heart's Desire."
Whole
Psalm.
O
Lord of hosts, how lovely in mine eyes
The tents where thou dost dwell!
For thine abode my spirit faints and sighs;
The courts I love so well.
My
longing soul is weary
Within thy house to be;
This world is waste and dreary,
A desert land to me.
The
sparrow, Lord, hath found a sheltered home,
The swallow hath her nest;
She layeth there her young, and though she roam,
Returneth there to rest.
I,
to thine altar flying,
Would there for ever be;
My heart and flesh are crying,
O living God, for thee!
How
blest are they who in thy house abide!
Thee evermore they praise.
How strong the man whom thou alone dost guide,
Whose heart doth keep thy ways.
A
pilgrim and a stranger,
He leaneth on thine arm;
And thou, in time of danger,
Dost shield him from alarm.
From
strength to strength through Baca's vale of woe,
They pass along in prayer,
And gushing streams of living water flow,
Dug by their faithful care;
Thy
rain is sent from heaven
To fertilise the land,
And wayside grace is given
Till they in Zion stand.
Lord
God of hosts, attend unto my prayer!
O Jacob's God, give ear!
Behold, O God, our shield, we through thy care,
Within thy courts appear!
Look
thou upon the glory
Of thine Anointed's face;
In him we stand before thee,
To witness of thy grace!
One
day with thee excelleth over and over
A thousand days apart;
In thine abode, within thy temple door,
Would stand my watchful heart.
Men
tell me of the treasure
Hid in their tents of sin;
I look not there for pleasure,
Nor choose to enter in.
Own
then the Lord to be thy Sun, thy Shield—
No good will he withhold;
He giveth grace, and soon shall be revealed
His glory, yet untold.
His
mighty name confessing,
Walk thou at peace and free;O Lord, how rich the blessing
Of him who trusts in thee!
—German
Choral Music.
Verse
1. How amiable are thy tabernacles. What was there in them
that appeared so amiable? Perchance, the edifice was famed for the skill and
cost bestowed on it? But the temple of extraordinary beauty was not yet
constructed. The tabernacle was lowly, more suited to pilgrims than to a great
people, and little becoming the king himself. Therefore to the pious there is
no need of vast or sumptuous temples to the end that they should love the house
of God. Musculus.
Verse
1. How amiable are thy tabernacles. What made the tabernacle
of Moses lovely was not the outside, which was very mean, as the Church of God
outwardly is, through persecution, affliction, and poverty; but what was
within, having many golden vessels in it, and those typical of things much more
precious; moreover, here the priests were to be seen in their robes, doing their
duty and service, and, at certain times, the high priest in his rich apparel;
here were seen the sacrifices slain and offered, by which the people were
taught the nature of sin, the strictness of justice, and the necessity and
efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ: here the Levites were heard singing their
songs, and blowing their trumpets: but much more amiable are the Church of God
and its ordinances in Gospel times, where Christ, the Great High Priest, is
seen in the glories of his person, and the fulness of his grace; where Zion's
priests, or the ministers of the gospel, stand clothed, being full fraught with
salvation, and the tidings of it; where Christ is evidently set forth, as
crucified and slain, in the ministry of the word, and the administration of
ordinances; here the gospel trumpet is blown, and its joyful sound echoed
forth, and songs of love and grace are sung by all believers; besides, what
makes these tabernacles still more lovely are, the presence of God here, so
that they are no other than the house of God, the gate of heaven; the
provisions that are here made, and the company that is here enjoyed. John
Gill.
Verse
1. Amiable. The adjective is rendered by the English versions
amiable, in the sense of the French amiable, lovely. But the
usage of the Hebrew word requires it to be understood as meaning dear,
beloved, which is exactly the idea here required by the context. The
plural, dwellings, has reference to the subdivisions and appurtenances
of the sanctuary, and is applied to the tabernacle in Ps 48:3. Compare Ps
68:35. The divine titles are as usual significant. While one suggests the
covenant relation between God and the petitioner, the other makes his
sovereignty the ground for a prayer for his protection.. Joseph Addison
Alexander.
Verse
1. Tabernacles. By the name of tabernacles we are put
in mind of the church's peregrination and wandering from one place unto
another, until she come unto her own true country. For as tabernacle and tents
of war be removed hither and thither, so the Church of God in this life hath no
sure and quiet abode, but often is compelled to change her seat. This
pilgrimage, whereby indeed every man, as Augustine doth say, is a pilgrim in
this world, doth admonish us of sin, which is the cause of this peregrination.
For, because of sin, we are cast with our first parents out of Paradise into
the land wherein we sojourn. So that we are removed from Jerusalem, that is,
from the sight and fruition of peace, into Babylon, that is, into confusion and
exile, wherein we wander far and wide. Nicholas Heminge (Hemminguis)
(1513-1600), in "The Faith of the Church Militant."
Verses
1-2. When we cannot express the greatness of a thing in direct terms,
we are fain to fly to wonder, and so doth David here, because he cannot express
sufficiently how amiable the Tabernacles of the Lord are, he therefore falls to
wondering, and helps himself with a question; How amiable are thy Tabernacles,
O Lord of Hosts? But is not David's wondering itself wonderful, that the
tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts should be so wonderfully amiable? Is it not a
wonder they should be amiable at all? For are not his tabernacles tents of war?
and is there anything in war that can be amiable? If he had said: How terrible
are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts; his wonder had been with some congruity;
for the Lord of Hosts is terrible in all his works; but to say, How amiable
are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts, seems to imply a contradiction; for
though they may be amiable, as they are tabernacles, yet they must needs be
terrible, as they are Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts; and when this
terribleness hath made an abatement in their amiableness, what place will be
left for wonder, to give cause to say, How amiable are thy Tabernacles, O Lord
of Hosts? But if he had said, How terrible are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of
Hosts; though it might have been wonderful in the degree, yet it could not be
wonderful in the kind: for what wonder is it, if the Tabernacles of the Lord of
Hosts be terrible? But when he saith, How amiable are thy Tabernacles, O Lord
of Hosts; this is not only wonderful in the degree, but in the kind much more.
For what can be more wonderful, than that being Tabernacles of the Lord of
Hosts, they should be amiable, and so amiable as to be wondered at? But is it
not, that God is in himself so amiable, that all things of His, even his
terrors themselves, are amiable; his tabernacles and his tents, his sword and
his spear, his darts and his arrows, all amiable; terrible no doubt to his
enemies, but amiable, wonderfully amiable to all that love and fear him, and
great reason they should be so, seeing they are all in their defence, and for
their safeguard; though they be Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts to the wicked,
yet they are Courts of the Prince of Peace to the godly, and this makes my
soul to long for the courts of the Lord. For I desire indeed to be a
courtier, yet not as I am now: God knows I am very unfit for it, but because
God's Courts are such, they make any one fit, that but comes into them; they receive
not men fit, but make them fit, and he that was before but a shrub in Baca, as
soon as he comes into the Courts of the Lord is presently made a cedar in
Lebanon. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
2. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, etc. Every amiableness
is not so great to make a longing, nor every longing so great to make a
fainting; nor every fainting so great to make the soul to faint; Oh, then,
consider how great this amiableness is, which makes my soul not only to long,
but to faint with longing! And blame me not for fainting, as though it were my
own fault for not restraining my longing; for seeing his Tabernacles are of
infinite amiableness, they must need work in me an infinite delighting, and
that delighting an infinite longing; and what restraint can there be of that
which is infinite? No, alas, my fainting is but answerable to my longing, and
my longing but answerable to the amiableness. If I had the offer made me, which
was made to Christ, to enjoy all the kingdoms of the earth, but with condition
to want the Courts of the Lord; this want would bring to my soul a greater
grief than that enjoying would give it contentment: for seeing his Tabernacles
are so amiable, where He is Lord of Hosts, how amiable must they needs be,
where he is Prince of Peace? and Prince of Peace he is in his Courts, though in
his camp he be Lord of Hosts. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
2. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth. The word hlk
(fainteth) signifies to be consumed with longing, as the Latins say, deperire
aliquem amore (he is dying of love), that is, he so vehemently loves, and
is enflamed with so great a desire to obtain the loved object, that he wastes
and pines away unless his wish is gratified. Therefore, an ardent longing is
meant, which so torments and burns the mind, that flesh and marrow waste away,
so long as it is not permitted to enjoy the thing desired. Mollerus.
Verse
2. soul...heart...flesh. Marking the whole man, with every
faculty and affection. The verbs are also very expressive. The first longeth,
means literally, "hath grown pale, "as with the intensity of the
feeling; the second, fainteth, is more exactly "faileth, "or
"is consumed." Job 19:27. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
2. Crieth. The word that is here rendered crieth, is
from (Heb.), that signifies to shout, shrill, or cry out, as soldiers do at the
beginning of a battle, when they cry out, Fall on, fall on, fall on, or when
they cry out after a victory, Victory, victory, victory! The Hebrew word notes
a strong cry, or to cry as a child cries when it is sadly hungry, for now very
whit of the child cries, hands cry, and face cries, and feet cry. Thomas
Brooks.
Verse
2. Living God. Ps 42:2, My soul thirsteth for God, for the
living God, is the only other place in the Psalms where God is so named. This
particular form of expression, El Chay, occurs but twice beside in the
Bible, Jos 3:10 Ho 1:10. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
3. The sparrow hath found an house, etc. The tender care of
God, over the least of his creatures, is here most touchingly alluded to. The
Psalmist, while an exile, envies them their privileges. He longs to be
nestling, as it were, in the dwelling place of God. The believer finds a
perfect home and rest in God's altars; or, rather, in the great truths which
they represent. Still, his confidence in God is sweetened and strengthened by
the knowledge of his minute, universal, providential care. It becomes his
admiring delight. "God fails not, "as one has beautifully said,
"to find a house for the most worthless, and a nest for the most restless
of birds." What confidence this should give us! How we should rest! What
repose the soul finds that casts itself on the watchful, tender care of him who
provides so fully for the need of all his creatures! We know what the
expression of "nest" conveys, just as well as that of "a
house." Is it not a place of security, a shelter from storm, a covert to
hide oneself in, from every evil, a protection from all that can harm, "a
place to rest in, to nestle in, to joy in?" But there is one thing in these
highly privileged birds which strike us forcibly in our meditations—they knew
not him from whom all this kindness flowed—they knew neither his heart nor his
hand. They enjoyed the rich provisions of his tender care; he thought of
everything for their need, but there was no fellowship between them and the
Great Giver. From this, O my soul, thou mayest learn a useful lesson. Never
rest satisfied with merely frequenting such places, or with having certain
privileges there; but rise, in spirit, and seek and find and enjoy direct
communion with the living God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. The heart of
David turns to God himself. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living
God. Things New and Old.
Verse
3. The swallow a nest, etc. The confidence which these birds
place in the human race is not a little extraordinary. They not only put
themselves, but their offspring in the power of men. I have seen their nests in
situations where they were within the reach of one's hand, and where they might
have been destroyed in an instant. I have observed them under a doorway, the
eaves of a low cottage, against the wall of a tool shed, on the knocker of a
door, and the rafter of a much frequented hay loft. Edward Jesse, in
"Gleanings in Natural History." 1856.
Verse
3. Even thine altars. There were two altars; the "brazen
altar, "and the "golden altar; "to those, no doubt, the psalmist
refers. Both were of shittim wood, which sets forth the holy humanity—the
perfect manhood, of the Lord Jesus. Incarnation lies at the foundation of all
his work for us, and all our blessing in him. The one altar was overlaid with
brass, the other with pure gold. The overlaying shadows forth his
Godhead, but in distinct aspects. We have the same Jesus in both, but shadowed
forth in different circumstances. In the one, humiliation and suffering; in the
other, exaltation and glory. Things New and Old.
Verse
3. Thine altars. There is in the original a pathetical, a
vehement, a broken expressing, expressed, O thine altars. It is true
(says David) thou art here in the wilderness, and I may see thee here, and
serve thee here, but O thine altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God.
John Donne.
Verse
3. Thine altars is a poetical way of saying, Thy house.
It is manifestly a special term, instead of a general. Yet it has been
seriously argued, that no birds could or would ever be suffered to build their
nests on the altar. Surely this sort of expression, which is hardly a figure,
is common enough. A parte apotiori fit denominato. We say, "There
goes a sail." What should we think of a man who should argue that a sail
cannot go? The altars mean the temple. There was
"no
jutty frieze,
Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but these birds
Had made their pendant bed; "
not
to mention that trees grew within the sacred enclosure, where birds might have
built their nests. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
3. A custom, existing among several nations of antiquity, is deemed
capable of illustrating the present passage. For birds, whose nests chanced to
be built on the temples, or within the limits of them, were not allowed to be
driven away, much less to be killed, but found there a secure and undisturbed
abode. William Keating Clay.
Verse
4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; etc. Alas, how
happens this? There were tabernacles before, as belonging to a Lord; and
courts as belonging to a king, and altars as belonging to a God;
and now to be but a house as belonging to a private man; and so all this
great rising to end in a fall? No, my soul, it is no fall, it is an aggregation
rather of all the other; for where his tabernacles did but serve to shew
his power, his courts but to shew his majesty; his altars but to
shew his deity, his house serves to shew them all; for in his house
there will still be praising him, and his praise and glory is the sum of all.
Or is it that to dwell in God's house is a kind of appropriating him to
ourselves, seeing his tabernacles and his courts lie open to strangers, his
house open to none but his servants; and seeing in the nearness to God, and
conversing with him, consists all true blessedness; therefore Blessed are
they that dwell in his house, but how dwell in it? Not to look in sometimes
as we pass by, or to stay in it a time, as we do at an inn, but to be constant
abiders in it day and night, as to which we have devoted ourselves and bowed
our service. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house. What was this
house more to David than another house, save that here he reckoned upon
enjoying the Divine Presence? So that here was a heart so naturalized to this
presence as to affect an abode in it, and that he might lead his life with God,
and dwell with him all his days; he could not be content with giving a visit
now and then. And why should this temper of spirit in the clearer light of the
gospel be looked upon as an unattainable thing! A lazy despondency, and the
mean conceit that it is modest not to aim so high, starve religion, and stifles
all truly noble and generous desires. Let this then be the thing designed with
you, and constantly pursue and drive the design, that you may get into the
disposition of spirit toward God. John Howe.
Verse
4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, etc. Blessed
indeed, we too may exclaim, and blessed shall they be for ever. They are dwellers,
not visitors, in God's house. I will dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever. This is true, blessedly true, of all who trust in Jesus now. But
though God's children are all priests by birth, as were the sons of Aaron, they
are not all, alas! priests by consecration. (See Exodus 29.) Comparatively few
know their priestly place at the golden altar. Many of them are doubting as to
whether their sins, root and branch, were all consumed outside the camp; and,
consequently, such are afraid to come within the court, and as for being
assured of their full justification and sanctification in the risen One, they
gravely doubt and fear that such blessedness can ever be their happy lot. Hence
that state of soul which answers to priestly consecration at the laver, and
happy worship at the golden altar, is unknown and unenjoyed. They are not
priests by consecration. Our text is plain. They will still be praising
thee. Doubts, fears, unsettled questions, all are gone. Such cannot exist
in the holy place. All, of course, who are in Christ, must be in God's account
where he is; but all who believe in Christ, do not know and believe that they
are in him, as being one with him now. When the state of our
souls answers to what is symbolized by the holy place, we can only praise: They
that dwell in thy house will be still praising thee. Then we are happily
near to God, and have communion with him, in the glorified Christ, through the
power of the Holy Ghost. Things New and Old.
Verse
4. They will be still praising thee. How appears it to be
true, that they who dwell in God's house will always be praising him, seeing it
is but seldom seen that servants be so forward to praise their masters? O my
soul! it is not so much the good dispositions of the servants, as the infinite
worthiness of the Master that makes them to praise him, for when they see the
admirable economy of his government, when they see how sweetly he disposeth all
things in weight and measure, when they find him to use them more like children
than servants, what heart can be so ungrateful as not to praise him? And seeing
by dwelling in God's house, they see these things continually, therefore they
that dwell in his house will always be praising him. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
4. They will be still praising thee. As having hearts full of
heaven, and consciences full of comfort. There cannot but be music in the
temple of the Holy Ghost. John Trapp.
Verse
4. Still praising. It is not enough to praise him, it must be
a praising him still, before it will make a blessedness; and though to
praise God be an easy matter, yet to praise him still, will be found a
busy work, indeed to flesh and blood a miserable work, for if I be still
praising him, what time shall I have for any pleasures? O my soul, if thou make
it not thy pleasure, thy chief, thy only pleasure to be praising him, thou art
not like in haste to come to blessedness. And marvel not that David speaks thus
under the law, when St. Paul under the Gospel saith as much: Whether ye eat
or drink, or whatsoever ye do, let all be done to the glory and praise of God.
Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
5. In whose heart are thy ways. That is, who love the ways
that lead to thy house. Earnest Hawkins.
Verse
5. In whose heart are the ways of them. Literally, The
steeps are on their hearts. The steep ascents on which the tabernacle
stood. Horsley renders, They are bent on climbing the steep ascents.
Perhaps the (Heb.) were more properly the raised causeways or stairs
leading up to Mount Zion, or all through the mountain country on the road to
Jerusalem. John Fry.
Verse
5. In whose heart are the ways. The natural heart is a
pathless wilderness, full of cliffs and precipices. When the heart is renewed
by grace, a road is made, a highway is prepared for our God. See Isa 40:3-4.
Frederick Fysh.
Verse
6. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well,
etc. I consider the valley here mentioned to be the same as the valley of Bochim,
mentioned in Jud 2:1,5, which received its name from the weeping of the
Jews, when they were rebuked by an angel for their disobedience to the commands
of God. This valley is called m'kkh, Habbcaim, in 2Sa 5:24, the h of hkk
to weep being changed into a. Josephus mentions, that the circumstance
there related occurred en toiv alsesi toiv kaloumenoiv Klauqmwsi. Antiquities
Jud. lib 7 c 4. my'kkh, Habb'caim, is rendered in that verse by the LXX
Klauqmwn, weepings;and in Jud 2:1 kykkh, Habbocim, is also
rendered by the LXX. Klauqmwn, weepings. The valley mentioned in Ps 84:6
is called by the LXX. Klauqmwn. I am inclined therefore to think, that in this
place, joining to'kkh the m of the following word, and supplying y before it,
we ought to read nymy'kkh instead of ny`m'kkh... All the ancient versionists
seem to have thought, that the valley in this verse received its name from hkk,
bacah, to weep. I translate the verse, Passing through the valley of
Bochim, they will make it a fountain even of blessings; it shall be covered
with the former rain. The Psalm has been supposed to have been written by Jehoshaphat.
Probably he passed through Bochim, which seems to have been an arid valley,
when he marched against the Moabites and Ammonites; see 2 Chronicles 20. After
the victory the army of Jehoshaphat assembled in a valley, where they blessed
the Lord; and from this circumstance it received the name of Berachah: see 2Ch
20:26. Perhaps the word tvkrk in this verse has an allusion to that
circumstance; and perhaps the valley of Berachah was, before that glorious
occasion, called the valley of Bochim. Richard Dixon.
Verse
6. Passing through the valley of weeping make him, that is,
Jehovah, a fountain. That is, they trust, and from him look for help,
who having plain paths in their mind must pass through many difficulties.
Similar help is sought by those, who, suffering from a scanty supply of water,
press on through a dry valley, and yet do not despair or grow weary, but have
God for their fountain, from which they drink and are refreshed. Venema.
Verse
6. The valley of Baca. Valley of tear shrubs. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
6. Baca, signifieth a mulberry tree, which loves to grow in
dry places that be sandy and barren, 2Sa 5:23-24, or 1Ch 14:14-15. Now they
whose hearts be set upon God's house and holy worship, when they go thitherward
through a sandy, dry, barren valley, do make it a well,—that is, repute and
count it as a well, the word rhrtysy signifieth to put or set, as Ge 3:15; Ps
21:6,12 83:11,13. For thus will they say with themselves, thinking upon the
comfort of God's favour to whom they go, that it shall be to them as the rain
of blessings, a plentiful and liberal rain upon the ground. Thomas Pierson.
Verse
6. Make it a well. That which seemed an impediment turns to a
furtherance; at least, no misery can be so great, no estate so barren, but a
godly heart can make it a well, out of which to draw forth water of comfort;
either water to cleanse, and make it a way to repentance; or water to cool, and
make it a way to patience; or water to moisten, and make it a way of growing in
grace; and if the well happen to be dry, and afford no water from below, yet
the rain shall fill their pools, and supply them with water from above. If
natural forces be not sufficient, there shall be supernatural graces added to
assist them, that though troubles of the world seem rubs in the way to
blessedness, yet in truth they are none, they hinder not arriving at the mark
we aim at, they hinder us not from being made members of Sion, they hinder us
not from approaching the presence of God. No, my soul, they are rather helps, for
by this means we go from strength to strength, from strength of
patience, to strength of hope; from strength of hope, to strength of faith, to
strength of vision; and then will be accomplished that which David speaks here;
Blessed is the man whose strength is in God, and in whose heart his ways
are. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
6. The rain. Little as there may be of water, that little
suffices on their way. It is a well to them. They find only "pools
(which) the early rain has (barely) covered"—but are content
with the supply by the way. It is as good and sufficient to them as if showers
of the heavy autumnal rains had filled the well. Pilgrims forget the scanty
supply at an inn, when they have abundance in view at the end. Israelites going
up to the Passover made light of deficient water, for their hearts were set on
reaching Jerusalem. Andrew A. Bonar.
Verses
6-7. The most gloomy present becomes bright to them: passing through
even a terrible wilderness, they turn it into a place of springs, their joyous hope
and the infinite beauty of the goal, which is worth any amount of toil and
trouble, afford them enlivening comfort, refreshing, strengthening in the midst
of the arid steppe. Not only does their faith bring forth water out of the sand
and rocks of the desert, but God also on his part lovingly anticipates their
love, and rewardingly anticipates their faithfulness: a gentle rain, like that
which refreshes the sown fields in the autumn, descends from above and enwraps
the valley of Baca in a fulness of blessing... the arid steppe becomes
resplendent with a flowery festive garment (Isa 35:1-19), not to outward
appearance, but to them spiritually, in a manner none the less true and real.
And whereas under ordinary circumstances, the strength of the traveller
diminishes in proportion as he has traversed more and more of his toilsome
road, with them it is the very reverse; they go from strength to strength.
Franz Delitzsch.
Verse
7. They go from strength to strength. Junius reads it, and so
it is in the Hebrew, "They go from company to company." As they went
up to Jerusalem they went in troops and companies. Possibly we translate it
strength because much of our safety consisteth in good society. George
Swinnock.
Verse
7. Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. That is,
every one of them answering to the character described. Others as well as they
would appear in Zion before God; but not to enjoy his presence, and receive
tokens of his favour. Blessedness was not to be enjoyed, but it could only be
enjoyed by those who had been previously fitted for it by character and
attainment. As certainly as these had been acquired, so certainly would the
blessedness be enjoyed by each and by all of them. Every one of them in Zion
appeareth before God. No one has perished by the way—none been devoured by
wild beasts—none cut off by the wandering banditti—none become faint hearted
and turned back. The whole bands are assembled—young and old, weak and strong;
all answer to their names, and testify to the goodness of the Lord in bearing
them up, and bringing through—in affording them rest, and yielding them
pleasure. So shall it ever be with true spiritual pilgrims. The grace of God
will always prove sufficient to preserve them, safe and blameless, to his
heavenly kingdom and glory—troubles shall not overwhelm them—temptations not
wholly overcome them—spiritual enemies shall not destroy them. They are kept by
the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the
last time. Their names are written in the Lamb's book of life, and the Lamb
himself shall see to it that each of them is found in the day of account. Then
shall he be able to say, Those whom thou hast given me I have kept, and none
of them is lost. "They are all here before God." William
Makelvie. 1863.
Verse
8. There are two distinct thoughts of great practical value to the
Christian, in this short prayer. There is the sense of divine majesty,
and the consciousness of divine relationship. As Lord of hosts,
he is almighty in power; as the God of Jacob, he is infinite in mercy
and goodness to his people. Things New and Old.
Verse
9. While many, alas, are satisfied with mere formalities in
religion, or with the dry discussion of doctrines, high or low, as they may be
called, see thou and be occupied with Christ himself. It is the knowledge of
his person that gives strength and joy to the soul. At all times, under all
circumstances, we can say, Look upon the face of thine Anointed. We
cannot always say, Look on us; but we may always say, Look on Him.
In deepest sorrow through conscious failure, or in trials and difficulties
through faithfulness to his name, we can ever plead with God what Christ is.
God is ever well pleased with him—ever occupied with him as risen from the dead
and exalted to his own right hand in heaven; and he would have us also to be
occupied with him as the heart's exclusive object. True faith can only rest on God's
estimate of Christ, not on inward thoughts and feelings. That which may be
called the faith of the formalist, rests on the ability of his own mind to
judge of these matters. He trusts in himself. This is the essential difference
between faith in appearance and faith in reality. Things New and Old.
Verse
9. Look upon the face of thine anointed. For I shall never
come to look upon thy face, if thou vouchsafe not first to look upon mine: if
thou afford me not as well the benefit of thine eyes, to look upon me, as the
favour of thine ears, to hear me, I shall be left only to a bare expectation,
but never come to the happiness of fruition; but when thou vouchsafest to look
upon my face, that look of thine hath an influence of all true blessedness, and
makes me find what a happiness it is to have the God of Jacob for my shield. Sir
Richard Baker.
Verse
10. A day. The least good look that a man hath from God, and
the least good word that a man hears from God, and the least love letter and
love token that a man receives from God is exceedingly precious to that man
that hath God for his portion. One day in thy courts is better than a
thousand elsewhere. He doth not say, One year in thy courts is better than
a thousand elsewhere, but One day in thy courts is better than a
thousand elsewhere; nor doth he say, One quarter of a year in thy courts is
better than a thousand elsewhere, but One day in thy courts is better than a
thousand elsewhere; nor doth he say, One month is better than a thousand
elsewhere, but One day in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere,
to shew that the very least of God is exceeding precious to a gracious soul
that hath God for his portion. Thomas Brooks.
Verse
10. Another sign of God's children is, to delight to be much in God's
presence. Children are to be in the presence of their father; where the King
is, there is the court; where the presence of God is, there is heaven. God is
in a special manner present in his ordinances, they are the Ark of his
presence. Now, if we are his children, we love to be much in holy duties. In
the use of ordinances we draw near to God, we come into our Father's presence;
in prayer we have secret conference with God; the soul while it is praying, is
as it were parleying with God. In the word we hear God speaking from heaven to
us; and how doth every child of God delight to hear his Father's voice! In the
sacrament God kisseth his children with the kisses of his lips; he gives them a
smile of his face, and a privy seal of his love: oh, it is good to draw near to
God. It is sweet being in his presence: every true child of God saith, "A
day in thy courts is better than a thousand!" Thomas Watson.
Verse
10. I had rather be a doorkeeper, etc. Some read it, "I
would rather be fixed to a post in the house of my God, than live at liberty in
the tents of the wicked; "alluding to the law concerning servants, who if
they would not go out free, were to have their ear bored to the door post, Ex
21:5-6. David loved his Master, and loved his work so well, that he desired to
be tied to this service for ever, to be more free to it, but never to go out
free from it, preferring bonds to duty far before the greatest liberty to sin.
Such a superlative delight have holy hearts in holy duties; no satisfaction in
their account is comparable to that in communion with God. Matthew Henry.
Verse
10. I had rather be a doorkeeper. In the sense that Christ is
a Door, David may well be content to be a Door Keeper, and though in God's
house there be many mansions, yet seeing all of them are glorious, even the
door keeper's place is not without its glory. But if you think the office to be
mean, consider then whose officer he is, for even a door keeper is an officer
in God's house, and God never displaceth his officers unless it be to advance
them to a higher; whereas, in the courts of princes, the greatest officers are
oftentimes displaced, turned off often with disgrace. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
10. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, etc.
Happy are those persons, whom God will use as besoms to sweep out the dust from
his temple; or who shall tug at an oar in the boat where Christ and his church
are embarked. William Secker, in "The Nonsuch Professor."
Verse
10. Doorkeeper. This is a Korhite psalm, and the descendants
of Korah were, in fact, porters, and "keepers of the gates of the
tabernacle, and keepers of the entry, "as well as being permitted to swell
the chorus of the inspired singers of Israel. Bossuet, quoted by Neale and
Littledale.
Verse
10. Instead of, I had rather be a doorkeeper, the margin has,
according to the Hebrew, "I would choose rather to sit at the
threshold." Ainsworth's translation is: "I have chosen to sit at the
threshold, in the house of my God; "and Dr. Boothroyd's is: "Abide,
or sit, at the threshold." See 2Ki 12:9 22:4 25:18 1Ch 9:19 2Ch 23:4; Es
2:21 6:2. In all these passages the marginal reading is threshold. I
think the word door keeper does not convey the proper meaning of the
words, "to sit at the threshold; " because the preference of the
Psalmist was evidently given to a very humble position; whereas that of
a door keeper, in Eastern estimation, is truly respectable and confidential.
The marginal reading, however, "to sit at the threshold, "at once
strikes on an Eastern mind as a situation of deep humility. See the poor
heathen devotee; he goes and sits near the threshold of his temple. Look at the
beggar; he sits, or prostrates himself, at the threshold of the door or gate,
till he shall have gained his suit. Joseph Roberts.
Verse
10. House. Tents. Observe the force of the contrasted
expressions. The house is the Lord's; the tents are of the
wicked. The pleasures of sin are for a season only; the world passeth away, and
the lusts thereof. Arthur Pridham.
Verse
10. The tents. It is not any tents, or tents of any ordinary
kind, that are understood, but rich, powerful, glorious, and splendid tents. Venema.
Verse
11. The Lord God is a sun, conveys a striking and impressive
truth, when we think of the sun only in his obvious character as a source of
light and heat. But what new energy is given to this magnificent emblem, when
we learn from astronomy that he is a grand center of attraction, and when we,
in addition, take in that sublime generalization that the sun is the ultimate
source of every form of power existing in the world! The wind wafts the
commerce of every nation over the mighty deep; but the heat of the sun has
rarefied that air, and set that wind in motion. The descending stream yields a
power which grinds your grain, turns your spindles, works your looms, drives
your forges; but it is because the sun gathered up the vapour from the ocean,
which fell upon the hills, and is finding its way back to the source whence it
came. The expansive energy of steam propels your engine; but the force with
which it operates is locked up in the coal (the remains of extinct forests
stored among your hills), or is derived from the wood that abounds in your
forests, which now crown and beautify their summits. Both these primeval and
these existing forests drew their substance from the sun: it is the chemical
force resident in his rays which disengaged their carbon from the atmosphere,
and laid it up as a source of power for future use. The animal exerts a force
by muscular contraction; he draws it from the vegetable on which he feeds; the
vegetable derives it from the sun, whose rays determine its growth. Every time
you lift your arm, every time you take a step, you are drawing on the power the
sun has given you. When you step into the railway carriage, it is the sun power
that hurries you along. When gentle breezes fan your languid cheek, and when
the restless tornado levels cities in its fury, they are the servants of the
sun. What an emblem of Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being! Professor
Green.
Verse
11. The sun, which among all inanimate creatures is the most
excellent, notes all manner of excellency, provision, and prosperity; and the shield,
which among all artificial creatures is the chiefest, notes all manner of
protection whatsoever. Under the name of grace, all spiritual good is
wrapped up; and under the name of glory, all eternal good is wrapped up;
and under the last clause, No good thing will he withhold, is wrapped up
all temporal good: all put together speaks out God to be an all sufficient
portion. Thomas Brooks.
Verse
11. The Lord God is a shield. He is a shield to our persons:
"Touch not, "said he, "mine anointed, and do my prophets no
harm." "The Lord, "said Moses in his name, "the Lord shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in. He shall give his angels charge over
thee to keep thee in all thy ways, lest at any time thou shalt dash thy foot
against a stone. Hast thou considered my servant Job? said God to Satan:—Yes,
replied Satan, I have; thou hast set a hedge about him." Yes, brethren: the
Lord God is a shield. He is a shield to our graces. The dislike and
malice of Satan is principally levelled at us when we become subjects of divine
influence. "Simon, Simon, "said our Saviour, "Satan hath desired
to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat, but, "he adds, "I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." There was a shield to the good
man's faith, or he and it too had been gone. You may remember the name of
Little Faith in Bunyan's Pilgrim. It appears that Hopeful was greatly surprised
that the robbers had not taken his jewels from him; but he was given to
understand that they were not in his own keeping. Yes, Christian, HE
shall be thy "shield" to cover thy hope when it appears to
thee to be giving up the ghost... Yes, and He will be a shield to thy
property. "Hast thou not set a hedge about all that he
hath?" Though Job was tried a little while, his property was only put out
to interest; by and by it came back cent per cent; and he gained, besides, a
vast increase of knowledge and of grace. Matthew Wilks. 1746-1829.
Verse
11. Turn your thoughts to the combination; the Lord God is a sun
and shield. As a sun he shows me more and more of my sinfulness; but then
as a shield, he gives me power to oppose it and assurance that I shall conquer.
As a sun, he discloses so much of the enormity of guilt, that I am forced to
exclaim, "Mine iniquities are like a sore burden, too heavy for me to
bear; "but then as a shield, he shows me that he has laid the load on a
Surety, who bore it into a land of forgetfulness. As a sun, he makes me daily
more and more sensible of the utter impossibility of my working out a
righteousness of my own; but then, as a shield, he fastens constantly my
thoughts on that righteousness of his Son, which is meritoriously conveyed to
all who believe on his name. As a sun, in short, he brings fact to my
knowledge, (inasmuch as he brings myself and mine enemies to my
knowledge,)which would make the matter of deliverance seem out of reach and
hopeless, if he were not at the same time a shield; but seeing that he is both
a shield as well as a sun, the disclosures which he makes as a sun only prepare
me for the blessings which he imparts as a shield. Who then shall wonder, that
after announcing the character of God, the psalmist should break into
expressions of confidence and assurance? It may be, that as the corruption of
nature is brought continually before me, deeper and wider and darker, Satan
will ply me with the suggestion; "The guiltiness is too inveterate to be
eradicated, and too enormous to be pardoned; "and if God were a sun, and
nothing more, it might be hard to put away the suggestion as a device of the
father of lies. I might then fear. I might fear God's holiness, thinking I
should never be fitted for communion with Deity; I might fear God's justice,
thinking I should never find acquittal at the last dread assize. But can I fear
either, when besides a sun, God is also a shield? Can I fear God's justice,
when as a shield he places sufferings to my account, which satisfy the law,
even to the last penalty? Can I fear his holiness, when he gives me interest in
an obedience which fulfils every precept? Does not the one character, that of a
shield, help me to scatter those solicitudes, which may well be excited through
the operation of the other character, that of a sun? And am I not
warranted—nay, am I not living far below my privilege—if I fail in deriving
from the combination of character a boldness and a confidence, not to be
overborne by those suspicions, which have Satan for their author? As a sun, God
shows me myself; as a shield, God shows me himself. The sun discloses mine own
nothingness; the shield, Divine sufficiency. The one enables me to discern that
I deserve nothing but wrath and can earn nothing but shame; the other, that I
have a title to immortality, and may lay claim to an enduring inheritance in
heaven. I learn, in short, from God as a Sun, that if I have
"wages, "I must have eternal death; but from God as a Shield,
that if I will receive the "free gift, "I may have "eternal
life." Whom then shall I fear? Myself—confessedly my worst enemy?
"The Sun" makes a man start from himself; the "Shield"
assures him that he shall be protected against himself and builded up "for
a habitation of God through the Spirit." Shall I shrink from Satan and the
hosts of principalities and powers? The "Sun" shows them awful in their
might and vehement in their malice; but the "Shield" exhibits them
spoiled and led captive, when Christ died and rose again. Shall I dread death?
Indeed the "Sun" makes death terrible, forcing me to read God's curse
in the motionless limbs and mouldering features; but then the
"Shield" displays the open sepulchre, the quickened dust, the marvels
of a resurrection, the mountain and the ocean and the valley yielding up the
sleeping generations. Is death to be dreaded? Take the catalogue of things,
which, inasmuch as we are fallen creatures, God, as our "Sun,
"instructs us to fear; and we shall find, that insomuch as we are redeemed
creatures, God as our "Shield" enables us to triumph over all our
fears. Who therefore shall hesitate to agree, that there results from this
combination of character exactly that system of counterpoise, which we affirm
to be discoverable in grace as well as in providence? Who can fail, if indeed
he have been disciplined by that twofold tuition, which informs man first that
he has destroyed himself and then that God hath "laid help on One that is
mighty, "the former lesson humiliating, the latter encouraging, the one
making way for the other, so that the scholar is emptied of every false
confidence that he may be fitted to entertain the true—oh! who, we say, can
fail to gather from the combination of Divine character the inference drawn by
the Psalmist? to exclaim (that is), after recording that "the Lord God is
a Sun and a Shield"—He will give grace and glory: no good thing will he
withhold from them that walk uprightly? Henry Melvill.
Verse
11. The words of the text are as a voice from heaven, inviting me up
thither, and answering all the doubts and fears of such as believe and follow
the joyful sound. Am I in darkness, and fear I shall never find the way?
Open thine eye, O my soul! look up to the Father of lights: the Lord is a
sun, whose steady beams shall direct thy steps. Is there an inward veil to
be removed from my mind, as well as obscurity from my path? He is sufficient
for both. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, can shine into
the heart, to give the light of the knowledge of his glory, and lead on to it.
(Co 4:6.) He can make the day dawn, and the day star to arise in our hearts;
(2Pe 1:19), and by both, guide our feet into the way of peace. (Lu
1:79.) Doth the same light that discovers my way, discover what opposition I am
like to meet with? what enemies and dangers I am to go through? Hear, O my
soul, the Lord is a shield. Light and strength are conjoined; none can
miscarry under his conduct, nor have any reason to be discouraged. With this he
comforteth Abraham. Ge 15:1, Fear not: I am thy shield. Do I groan under
a sense of my unmeetness for the heavenly kingdom? Let this support my soul, the
Lord will give grace. Am I altogether unworthy of so high a happiness? It
springs from his own most free, unbounded love; the Lord will give glory.
Am I urged with a thousand wants that need supply, what more can be added? No
good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Nothing that is
evil can be desired; and nothing that is good shall be denied. Here, O my soul,
is a fountain opened; here thy eager thirst may be fully satisfied; thy largest
desires filled up; and thy mind be ever at rest. Daniel Wilcox.
Verse
11. Why need a saint fear darkness, when he has such a sun to guide
him? Or dread dangers, when he has such a shield to guard him? William
Secker.
Verse
11. The Lord will give glory. "Man, "says a wise
author, "is the glory of this lower world; the soul is the glory of man;
grace is the glory of the soul; and heaven is the glory of grace." Heaven,
or glory, is grace matured and brought to infinite perfection; there we shall
see his face, and have his name written in our foreheads; and we shall reign
with him for ever and ever. Matthew Wilks.
Verse
11. No good thing will he withhold. etc. But how is this true,
when God oftentimes withholds riches and honours, and health of body from men,
though they walk never so uprightly; we may therefore know that honours and
riches and bodily strength, are none of God's good things; they are of the
number of things indifferent which God bestows promiscuously upon the just and
unjust, as the rain to fall and the sun to shine. The good things of God are
chiefly peace of conscience and the joy in the Holy Ghost in this life;
fruition of God's presence, and vision of his blessed face in the next, and
these good things God never bestows upon the wicked, never withholds from the
godly, and they are all cast up in one sum where it is said, Beati mundo corde,
quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt: Blessed are the pure in heart (and such are only
they that walk uprightly) for they shall see God. But is walking uprightly
such a matter with God, that it should be so rewarded? Is it not more pleasing
to God to see us go stooping than walking uprightly, seeing stooping is the
gait of humility, than which there is nothing to God more pleasing? It is no
doubt a hard matter to stoop and go upright both at once, yet both must be
done, and both indeed are done, are done at once by every one that is godly;
but when I say they are done both at once, I mean not of the body, I know two
such postures in the body both at once are impossible; but the soul can do it,
the soul can stoop and go upright both at once; for then doth the soul walk
upright before God, when it stoops in humility before God and men. Sir
Richard Baker.
Verse
11. This is an immense fountain; the Lord fill all the buckets of our
hearts at the spring, and give us capacious souls, as he hath a liberal hand. Thomas
Adams.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1.
1.
Why called Tabernacles? To include
(a)
the holiest of all;
(b)
The holy place;
(c)
The court and precincts of the Tabernacle. Amiable is predicated of these. The
courts amiable—the holy place more amiable—the holiest of all most amiable.
2.
Why called the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts? To denote
(a)
Its connection with the boundless universe.
(b)
Its distinction from it. Present everywhere where God is peculiarly present
here.
3.
Why called amiable?
(a)
Because of the character in which God dwells here. Is condescension amiable? Is
love? Is mercy? Is grace? These are displayed here.
(b)
Because of the purpose for which he resides here. To save sinners: to comfort
saints.
Verses
1-3. The Titles for God in these three verses are worth dwelling upon.
Jehovah of Hosts; the living God; my King and my God. G. R.
Verse
3.
1.
The Eloquence of Grief. David in his banishment envies the sparrows and the
swallows that had built their nests by the house of God, more than Absalom who
had usurped his palace and his throne.
2.
The Ingenuity of Prayer. Why should sparrows and swallows be nearer to thy
altars than I am, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God! "Fear not, ye are
of more value than many sparrows." G. R.
Verse
4.
1.
The Privilege suggested—dwelling in the house of God. Some birds fly over the
house of God—some occasionally alight upon it—others build their nests and
train up their young there. This was the privilege which the Psalmist desired.
2.
The Fact asserted. Blessed are they that dwell, etc., who make it the
spiritual home of themselves and their children.
3.
The Reason given. They will be still, etc.
(a)
They will have much for which to praise God;
(b) They will see much to praise in God. G. R.
Verse
5. Man is blessed,
1.
When his strength is in God. Strength to believe, strength to obey, strength to
suffer.
2.
When God's ways are in him. In whose heart, etc. When the doctrines,
precepts, and promises of God are deeply engraved upon the heart. G. R.
Verse
5. The preciousness of intensity and enthusiasm in religious belief,
worship, and life.
Verses
5-7. The blessed people are described,
1.
By their earnest desire and resolution to take this journey, though they dwelt
far off from the tabernacle, Ps 84:5.
2.
By their painful passage, yet some refreshments by the way, Ps 84:6.
3.
By their constant progress, till they came to the place they aimed at, Ps 84:7.
T. Manton.
Verse
6. As the valley of weeping symbolizes dejection, so a
"well" symbolizes ever flowing salvation and comfort (compare Joh
4:14 Isa 12:3).
Verse
6.
1. The
valley of Baca. Of this valley we may observe,
(a)
It is much frequented.
(b) Unpleasant to flesh and blood.
(c) Very healthful.
(d) Very safe.
(e) Very profitable.
2.
The toilsome effort: make it a well.
(a)
Comfort may be obtained in the deepest trouble.
(b) Comfort must be obtained by exertion.
(c) Comfort obtained by one is of use to others, as a well may be.
3.
The heavenly supply. The rain also filleth the pools. All is from God;
effort is of no avail without him.
Verse
7.
1.
Trusting God in trouble brings present comfort—Who passing, etc.
2.
Present comfort ensures still larger supplies—The rain also, etc. G.
R.
Verse
8. There is,
1.
Progression. They go;
(a)
The people of God cannot remain stationary;
(b) They must not recede;
(c) They should always be advancing.
2.
Invigoration. From strength to strength.
(a)
From one ordinance to another;
(b)
from one duty to another;
(c)
from one grace to another;
(d)
from one degree of grace to another. Add faith to faith, virtue to virtue,
knowledge to knowledge, etc.
3.
Completion. Every one of them, etc. G. R.
Verse
8.
1.
Prayer is not confined to the Sanctuary. David, inhis banishment, says, Hear
my prayer.
2.
Help is not confined to the Sanctuary. The Lord ofhosts is "here, "as
well as in his tabernacle. SeePs 84:1.
3.
Grace is not confined to the Sanctuary. Here, too,in the wilderness is the
covenanting God, the God ofJacob. G. R.
Verse
8. Pleas for answers to prayer in the titles here used.
1.
He is JEHOVAH, the living, all wise, all powerful, faithful, gracious, and
immutable God.
2.
He is God of hosts, having abundant agencies under his control; he can send angels,
restrain devils, actuate good men, overrule bad men, and govern all other
agents.
3.
He is the God of Jacob, of chosen Jacob, as seen in Jacob's dream; God of Jacob
in his banishment, in his wrestling (and so a God overcome by prayer), God
pardoning Jacob's sins, God preserving Jacob and his seed after him.
Verse
9. Observe,
1.
The Faith. Our shield is thine anointed—Thine Anointed is our Shield. This is
not David, because he says our Shield, but David's greater Son. A gleam
of Gospel light through the thick clouds.
2.
The Prayer. Behold, O God, etc. Look, etc. Look upon him as our
Representative, and look upon us in him.
3.
The Plea.
(a)
He has engaged to be our defence from thine anger;
(b)
he has been anointed to this office by thee. G. R.
Verse
9.
1.
What God is to us.
2.
What we would have him look at.
3.
Where we would be: hidden behind the shield—seen in the person of Christ.
Verse
10. Here is,
1.
A comparison of Places. A day in thy courts, etc. How much more a day in
heaven! What, then, must an eternity in heaven be!
2.
A comparison of Persons. I would rather be a doorkeeper, etc. Better be
the least in the Church than the greatest in the world. If "better reign
in hell than serve in heaven" was Satan's first thought after he fell, it
was the first thought only. G.R.
Verse
10.
1.
Days in God's courts. Days of hearing, of repenting, of believing, of
adoration, of communion, of revival, etc.
2.
Their preciousness. Better than a thousand days of victory, of pleasure, of
money making, of harvest, of discussion, of travelling amid beauties of nature.
3.
Reasons for this preciousness. They are more pleasurable, more profitable now,
and more preparatory for the future and for heaven. The employment, the
society, the enjoyment, the result, etc., are all better.
Verse
11.
1.
What God is to his people. A sun and shield.
(a)
The source of all good;
(b) a defence from all evil.
2.
What he gives.
(a)
Grace here;
(b) glory hereafter.
3.
What he withholds. All that is not good. If he withholds health or wealth, or
his own smiles from us, it is because they are not good for us at that
particular time. G. R.
Verse
12.
1.
The one thing that makes man blessed. Trust in God. Blessed, etc.
(a)
For all things;
(b) at all times;
(c) in all circumstances.
2.
The Blessing contained in that one thing. God himself becomes ours;
(a)
his mercy for our pardon;
(b) his power for our protection;
(c) his wisdom for our guidance;
(d) his faithfulness for our preservation;
(e) his all sufficiency for our supply.
3.
The certainty of the blessing.
(a)
From David's own experience;
(b)
from the solemn appeal to God respecting it. O Lord God of hosts, etc. G. R.
Verse
12. The blessedness of the life of faith over that of carnal
enjoyment, religious feeling, self confidence, living upon marks and evidences,
trusting in man, etc.
WORKS UPON THE
EIGHTY-FOURTH PSALM
The
Faith of the Church Militant, made moste effectualie described in this
exposition of the 84. Psalme, by that reverend Pastor, and publike Professor of
God's word, in the famous universitie of Haffine in Denmarke, NICHOLAS
HEMMINGIVS. A treatise written as to the instruction of the ignorant in the
groundes of religion, so to the confutation of the Jews, the Turkes, Atheists,
Papists, Heretiks, and all other adversaries of the trueth whatsoever. Translated
out of Latin into English, &c. by THOMAS ROGERS. At London, printed by H.
Middleton for Andrew Maunsel. Anno. 1581.
David's
Heart's Desire; or An Exposition of Psalm 84.; in Excellent Encouragments
against Afflictions... by Thomas Pierson, M.A. (Reprinted in Nichol's Series of
Puritan Commentaries.)
An
Exposition upon some select Psalms of David... By ROBERT ROLLOCK. 1600. 16mo.
Meditations
and Disquisitions upon seven Consolatorie Psalmes of David... By Sir RICHARD
BAKER, Knight. 1640. (pg 119-142.)
Meditations
on the Eighty-fourth Psalm, in "Things New and Old. A Monthly
Magazine." Vol. IX. 1866.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》