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Psalm Ninety-one
Psalm 91
Chapter Contents
The safety of those who have God for their refuge. (1-8)
Their favour with Him. (9-16)
Commentary on Psalm 91:1-8
(Read Psalm 91:1-8)
He that by faith chooses God for his protector, shall
find all in him that he needs or can desire. And those who have found the
comfort of making the Lord their refuge, cannot but desire that others may do
so. The spiritual life is protected by Divine grace from the temptations of
Satan, which are as the snares of the fowler, and from the contagion of sin,
which is a noisome pestilence. Great security is promised to believers in the
midst of danger. Wisdom shall keep them from being afraid without cause, and
faith shall keep them from being unduly afraid. Whatever is done, our heavenly
Father's will is done; and we have no reason to fear. God's people shall see,
not only God's promises fulfilled, but his threatenings. Then let sinners come
unto the Lord upon his mercy-seat, through the Redeemer's name; and encourage
others to trust in him also.
Commentary on Psalm 91:9-16
(Read Psalm 91:9-16)
Whatever happens, nothing shall hurt the believer; though
trouble and affliction befal, it shall come, not for his hurt, but for good,
though for the present it be not joyous but grievous. Those who rightly know
God, will set their love upon him. They by prayer constantly call upon him. His
promise is, that he will in due time deliver the believer out of trouble, and
in the mean time be with him in trouble. The Lord will manage all his worldly
concerns, and preserve his life on earth, so long as it shall be good for him.
For encouragement in this he looks unto Jesus. He shall live long enough; till
he has done the work he was sent into this world for, and is ready for heaven.
Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him
or upon him? A man may die young, yet be satisfied with living. But a wicked
man is not satisfied even with long life. At length the believer's conflict
ends; he has done for ever with trouble, sin, and temptation.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 91
Verse 1
[1] He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
He — He that makes God his habitation and refuge.
Verse 3
[3] Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the
fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
Pestilence — From the pestilence, which like a
fowler's snare takes men suddenly and unexpectedly.
Verse 5
[5] Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor
for the arrow that flieth by day;
By night — When evil accidents are most terrible and least
avoidable.
Arrow — The pestilence, or any such destructive calamity; such
are frequently called God's arrows.
By day — Thou shalt be kept from secret and open mischiefs.
Verse 6
[6] Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for
the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Darkness — Invisibly, so that we can neither foresee nor prevent
it.
Verse 12
[12] They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash
thy foot against a stone.
Bear thee — Sustain or uphold thee in thy
goings, as we do a child.
Verse 13
[13] Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion
and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
The lion — Shall lie prostrate at thy feet, and thou shalt
securely put thy feet upon his neck.
Dragon — By which he understands all pernicious creatures,
though never so strong, and all sorts of enemies.
Verse 14
[14] Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I
deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
Because — This and the two following verses are the words of
God.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. This Psalm is
without a title, and we have no means of ascertaining either the name of its
writer, or the date of its composition, with certainly. The Jewish doctors
consider that when the author's name is not mentioned we may assign the Psalm
to the last named writer; and, if so, this is another Psalm of Moses, the man
of God. Many expressions here used are similar to those of Moses in
Deuteronomy, and the internal evidence, from the peculiar idioms, would point
towards him as the composer. The continued lives of Joshua and Caleb, who
followed the Lord fully, make remarkably apt illustrations of this Psalm, for
they, as a reward for abiding in continued nearness to the Lord, lived on
"amongst the dead, amid their graves." For these reasons it is by no
means improbable that this Psalm may have been written by Moses, but we dare
not dogmatize. If David's pen was used in giving us this matchless ode, we
cannot believe as some do that he this commemorated the plague which devastated
Jerusalem on account of his numbering the people. For him, then, to sing of
himself as seeing "the reward of the wicked" would be clean contrary
to his declaration, "I have sinned, but these sheep, what have they
done?"; and the absence of any allusion to the sacrifice upon Zion could
not be in any way accounted for, since David's repentance would inevitably have
led him to dwell upon the atoning sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood by the
hyssop.
In
the whole collection there is not a more cheering Psalm, its tone is elevated
and sustained throughout, faith is at its best, and speaks nobly. A German
physician was wont to speak of it as the best preservative in times of cholera,
and in truth, it is a heavenly medicine against plague and pest. He who can
live in its spirit will be fearless, even if once again London should become a
lazar-house, and the grave be gorged with carcases.
DIVISION. On this
occasion we shall follow the divisions which our translators have placed at the
head of the Psalm, for they are pithy and suggestive.
Ps
91:1-2—The state of the godly.
Ps
91:3-8—Their safety.
Ps
91:9-10—Their habitation.
Ps
91:11-13—Their servants.
Ps
91:14-16—Their friend; with the effects of them all.
Verse
1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High. The
blessings here promised are not for all believers, but for those who live in
close fellowship with God. Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary
and the mercyseat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place; they run to it
at times, and enjoy occasional approaches, but they do not habitually reside in
the mysterious presence. Those who through rich grace obtain unusual and
continuous communion with God, so as to abide in Christ and Christ in them,
become possessors of rare and special benefits, which are missed by those who
follow afar off, and grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Into the secret place those
only come who know the love of God in Christ Jesus, and those only dwell there
to whom to live is Christ. To them the veil is rent, the mercyseat is revealed,
the covering cherubs are manifest, and the awful glory of the Most High is
apparent: these, like Simeon, have the Holy Ghost upon them, and like Anna they
depart not from the temple; they are the courtiers of the Great King, the
valiant men who keep watch around the bed of Solomon, the virgin souls who
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Elect out of the elect, they have
"attained unto the first three", and shall walk with their Lord in
white, for they are worthy. Sitting down in the august presence chamber where
shines the mystic light of the Sheckinah, they know what it is to be raised up
together, and to be made to sit together with Christ in the heavenlies, and of
them it is truly said that their conversation is in heaven. Special grace like
theirs brings with it special immunity. Outer court worshippers little know what
belongs to the inner sanctuary, or surely they would press on until the place
of nearness and divine familiarity became theirs. Those who are the Lord's
constant guests shall find that he will never suffer any to be injured within
his gates; he has eaten the covenant salt with them, and is pledged for their
protection. Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The Omnipotent Lord
will shield all those who dwell with him, they shall remain under his care as
guests under the protection of their host. In the most holy place the wings of
the cherubim were the most conspicuous objects, and they probably suggested to
the psalmist the expression here employed. Those who commune with God are safe
with Him, no evil can reach them, for the outstretched wings of his power and
love cover them from all harm. This protection is constant—they abide
under it, and it is all sufficient, for it is the shadow of the Almighty,
whose omnipotence will surely screen them from all attack. No shelter can be
imagined at all comparable to the protection of Jehovah's own shadow. The
Almighty himself is where his shadow is, and hence those who dwell in his
secret place are shielded by himself. What a shade in the day of noxious heat!
What a refuge in the hour of deadly storm! Communion with God is safety. The
more closely we cling to our Almighty Father the more confident may we be.
Verse
2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress.
To take up a general truth and make it our own by personal faith is the highest
wisdom. It is but poor comfort to say `the Lord is a refuge, 'but to say he is my
refuge, is the essence of consolation. Those who believe should also
speak—"I will say", for such bold avowals honour God and lead
others to seek the same confidence. Men are apt enough to proclaim their
doubts, and even to boast of them, indeed there is a party nowadays of the most
audacious pretenders to culture and thought, who glory in casting suspicion
upon every thing: hence it becomes the duty of all true believers to speak out
and testify with calm courage to their own well grounded reliance upon their
God. Let others say what they will, be it ours to say of the Lord, "he is
our refuge." But what we say we must prove by our actions, we must
fly to the Lord for shelter, and not to an arm of flesh. The bird flies away to
the thicket, and the fox hastens to its hole, every creature uses its refuge in
the hour of danger, and even so in all peril or fear of peril let us flee unto
Jehovah, the Eternal Protector of his own. Let us, when we are secure in the
Lord, rejoice that our position is unassailable, for he is our fortress
as well as our refuge. No moat, portcullis, drawbridge, wall, battlement and
donjon, could make us so secure as we are when the attributes of the Lord of
Hosts environ us around. Behold this day the Lord is to us instead of walls and
bulwarks! Our ramparts defy the leagured hosts of hell. Foes in flesh, and foes
in ghostly guise are alike balked of their prey when the Lord of Hosts stands
between us and their fury, and all other evil forces are turned aside. Walls
cannot keep out the pestilence, but the Lord can.
As
if it were not enough to call the Lord his refuge and fortress, he adds, My
God! in him will I trust. Now he can say no more; "my God" means all,
and more than all, that heart can conceive by way of security. It was most meet
that he should say "in him will I trust", since to deny faith to such
a one were wilful wickedness and wanton insult. He who dwells in an impregnable
fortress, naturally trusts in it; and shall not he who dwells in God feel
himself well at ease, and repose his soul in safety? O that we more fully
carried out the psalmist's resolve! We have trusted in God, let us trust him
still. He has never failed us, why then should we suspect him? To trust in man
is natural to fallen nature, to trust in God should be as natural to
regenerated nature. Where there is every reason and warrant for faith, we ought
to place our confidence without hesitancy or wavering. Dear reader, pray for
grace to say, "In him will I trust."
Verse
3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.
Assuredly no subtle plot shall succeed against one who has the eyes of God
watching for his defence, We are foolish and weak as poor little birds, and are
very apt to be lured to our destruction by cunning foes, but if we dwell near
to God, he will see to it that the most skilful deceiver shall not entrap us.
"Satan
the fowler who betrays
Unguarded souls a thousand ways,"
shall
be foiled in the case of the man whose high and honourable condition consists
in residence within the holy place of the Most High.
And
from the noisome pestilence. He who is a Spirit can protect us from evil
spirits, he who is mysterious can rescue us from mysterious dangers, he who is immortal
can redeem its from mortal sickness. There is a deadly pestilence of error, we
are safe from that if we dwell in communion with the God of truth; there is a
fatal pestilence of sin, we shall not be infected by it if we abide with the
thrice Holy One; there is also a pestilence of disease, and even from that
calamity our faith shall win immunity if it be of that high order which abides
in God, walks on in calm serenity, and ventures all things for duty's sake.
Faith by cheering the heart keeps it free from the fear which, in times of
pestilence, kills more than the plague itself. It will not in all cases ward
off disease and death, but where the man is such as the first verse describes,
it will assuredly render him immortal where others die; if all the saints are
not so sheltered it is because they have not all such a close abiding with God,
and consequently not such confidence in the promise. Such special faith is not
given to all, for there are diversities in the measure of faith. It is not of
all believers that the psalmist sings, but only of those who dwell in the
secret place of the Most High. Too many among us are weak in faith, and in fact
place more reliance in a phial or a globule than in the Lord and giver of life,
and if we die of pestilence as others die it is because we acted like others,
and did not in patience possess our souls. The great mercy is that in such a
case our deaths are blessed, and it is well with us, for we are for ever with
the Lord. Pestilence to the saints shall not be noisome but the messenger of
heaven.
Verse
4. He shall cover thee with thy feathers, and under his wings
shalt thou trust. A wonderful expression! Had it been invented by an
uninspired man it would have verged upon blasphemy, for who should dare to
apply such words to the Infinite Jehovah? But as he himself authorised, yea,
dictated the language, we have here a transcendent condescension, such as it
becomes us to admire and adore. Doth the Lord speak of his feathers, as though
he likened himself to a bird? Who will not see herein a matchless love, a
divine tenderness, which should both woo and win our confidence? Even as a hen
covereth her chickens so doth the Lord protect the souls which dwell in him;
let us cower down beneath him for comfort and for safety. Hawks in the sky and
snares in the field are equally harmless when we nestle so near the Lord. His
truth—his true promise, and his faithfulness to his promise, shall be thy
shield and buckler. Double armour has he who relies upon the Lord. He bears a
shield and wears an all surrounding coat of mail—such is the force of the word
"buckler." To quench fiery darts the truth is a most effectual
shield, and to blunt all swords it is an equally effectual coat of mail. Let us
go forth to battle thus harnessed for the war, and we shall be safe in the
thickest of the fight. It has been so, and so shall it be till we reach the
land of peace, and there among the "helmed cherubim and sworded seraphim,
" we will wear no other ornament, his truth shall still be our shield and
buckler.
Verse
5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night. Such
frail creatures are we that both by night and by day we are in danger, and so
sinful are we that in either season we may be readily carried away by fear; the
promise before us secures the favourite of heaven both from danger and from the
fear of it. Night is the congenial hour of horrors, when alarms walk abroad
like beasts of prey, or ghouls from among the tombs; our fears turn the sweet
season of repose into one of dread, and though angels are abroad and fill our
chambers, we dream of demons and dire visitants from hell. Blessed is that
communion with God which renders us impervious to midnight frights, and horrors
born of darkness. Not to be afraid is in itself an unspeakable blessing, since
for every suffering which we endure from real injury we are tormented by a
thousand griefs which arise from fear only. The shadow of the Almighty removes
all gloom from the shadow of night: once covered by the divine wing, we care
not what winged terrors may fly abroad in the earth. Nor for the arrow that
flieth by day. Cunning foes lie in ambuscade, and aim the deadly shaft at our
hearts, but we do not fear them, and have no cause to do so. That arrow is not
made which can destroy the righteous, for the Lord hath said, "No weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper." In times of great danger those
who have made the Lord their refuge, and therefore have refused to use the
carnal weapon, have been singularly preserved; the annals of the Quakers bear
good evidence to this; yet probably the main thought is, that from the cowardly
attacks of crafty malice those who walk by faith shall be protected, from
cunning heresies they shall be preserved, and in sudden temptations they shall
be secured from harm. Day has its perils as well as night, arrows more deadly
than those poisoned by the Indian are flying noiselessly through the air, and
we shall be their victims unless we find both shield and buckler in our God. 0
believer, dwell under the shadow of the Lord, and none of the archers shall
destroy thee, they may shoot at thee and wound thee grievously, but thy bow
shall abide in strength. When Satan's quiver shall be empty thou shalt remain
uninjured by his craft and cruelty, yea, his broken darts shall be to thee as
trophies of the truth and power of the Lord thy God.
Verse
6. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness. It is
shrouded in mystery as to its cause and cure, it marches on, unseen of men,
slaying with hidden weapons, like an enemy stabbing in the dark, yet those who
dwell in God are not afraid of it. Nothing is more alarming than the assassin's
plot, for he may at any moment steal in upon a man, and lay him low at a
stroke; and such is the plague in the days of its power, none can promise
themselves freedom from it for an hour in any place in the infected city; it
enters a house men know not how, and its very breath is mortal; yet those
choice souls who dwell in God shall live above fear in the most plague stricken
places—they shall not be afraid of the "plagues which in the
darkness walk." Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Famine
may starve, or bloody war devour, earthquake may overturn and tempest may
smite, but amid all, the man who has sought the mercy seat and is sheltered
beneath the wings which overshadow it, shall abide in perfect peace. Days of
horror and nights of terror are for other men, his days and nights are alike
spent with God, and therefore pass away in sacred quiet. His peace is not a
thing of times and seasons, it does not rise and set with the sun, nor does it
depend upon the healthiness of the atmosphere or the security of the country.
Upon the child of the Lord's own heart pestilence has no destroying power, and
calamity no wasting influence: pestilence walks in darkness, but he dwells in
light; destruction wastes at noonday, but upon him another sun has risen whose
beams bring restoration. Remember that the voice which saith "thou shalt
not fear" is that of God himself, who hereby pledges his word for the
safety of those who abide under his shadow, nay, not for their safety only, but
for their serenity. So far shall they be from being injured that they shall not
even be made to fear the ills which are around them, since the Lord protects
them.
"He,
his shadowy plumes outspread.
With his wing shall fence thy head;
And his truth around thee wield,
Strong as targe or bossy shield!
Naught shall strike thee with dismay,
Fear by night, nor shaft by day."
Verse
7. A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy
right hand. So terribly may the plague rage among men that the bills of
mortality may become very heavy and continue to grow ten times heavier still,
yet shall such as this Psalm speaks of survive the scythe of death. It shall
not come nigh thee. It shall be so near as to be at thy side, and yet not nigh
enough to touch thee; like a fire it shall burn all around, yet shall not the
smell of it pass upon thee. How true is this of the plague of moral evil, of
heresy, and of backsliding. Whole nations are infected, yet the man who
communes with God is not affected by the contagion; he holds the truth when
falsehood is all the fashion. Professors all around him are plague smitten, the
church is wasted, the very life of religion decays, but in the same place and
time, in fellowship with God, the believer renews his youth, and his soul knows
no sickness. In a measure this also is true of physical evil; the Lord still
puts a difference between Israel and Egypt in the day of his plagues.
Sennacherib's army is blasted, but Jerusalem is in health.
"Our
God his chosen people saves
Amongst the dead, amidst the graves."
Verse
8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of
the wicked. The sight shall reveal both the justice and the mercy of God;
in them that perish the severity of God will be manifest, and in the believer's
escape the richness of divine goodness will be apparent. Joshua and Caleb
verified this promise. The Puritan preachers during the plague of London must
have been much impressed with this verse as they came out of their hiding
places to proclaim mercy and judgment to the dissolute age which was so sorely
visited with the pest. The sight of God's judgments softens the heart, excites
a solemn awe, creates gratitude, and so stirs up the deepest kind of adoration.
It is such a sight as none of us would wish to see, and yet if we did see it we
might thus be lifted up to the very noblest style of manhood. Let us but watch
providence, and we shall find ourselves living in a school where examples of
the ultimate reward of sin are very plentiful. One case may not be judged alone
lest we misjudge, but instances of divine visitation will be plentiful in the
memory of any attentive observer of men and things; from all these put together
we may fairly draw conclusions, and unless we shut our eyes to that which is
self evident, we shall soon perceive that there is after all a moral ruler over
the sons of men, who sooner or later rewards the ungodly with due punishment.
Verses
9-10. Before expounding these verses I cannot refrain from recording a
personal incident illustrating their power to soothe the heart, when they are
applied by the Holy Spirit. In the year 1854, when I had scarcely been in
London twelve months, the neighbourhood in which I laboured was visited by
Asiatic cholera, and my congregation suffered from its inroads. Family after
family summoned me to the bedside of the smitten, and almost every day I was
called to visit the grave. I gave myself up with youthful ardour to the visitation
of the sick, and was sent for from all corners of the district by persons of
all ranks and religions. I became weary in body and sick at heart. My friends
seemed falling one by one, and I felt or fancied that I was sickening like
those around me. A little more work and weeping would have laid me low among
the rest; I felt that my burden was heavier than I could bear, and I was ready
to sink under it. As God would have it, I was returning mournfully home from a
funeral, when my curiosity led me to read a paper which was wafered up in a
shoemaker's window in the Dover Road. It did not look like a trade
announcement, nor was it, for it bore in a good bold handwriting these words:
Because
thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy
habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh
thy dwelling. The effect upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated
the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went
on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no
fear of evil, and I suffered no harm. The providence which moved the tradesman
to place those verses in his window I gratefully acknowledge, and in the
remembrance of its marvellous power I adore the Lord my God. The psalmist in
these verses assures the man who dwells in God that he shall be secure. Though
faith claims no merit of its own, yet the Lord rewards it wherever he sees it.
He who makes God his refuge shall find him a refuge; he who dwells in
God shall find his dwelling protected. We must make the Lord our
habitation by choosing him for our trust and rest, and then we shall receive
immunity from harm; no evil shall touch us personally, and no stroke of
judgment shall assail our household. The dwelling here intended by the
original was only a tent, yet the frail covering would prove to be a sufficient
shelter from harm of all sorts. It matters little whether our abode be a
gypsy's hut or a monarch's palace if the soul has made the Most High its
habitation. Get into God and you dwell in all good, and ill is banished far
away. It is not because we are perfect or highly esteemed among men that we can
hope for shelter in the day of evil, but because our refuge is the Eternal God,
and our faith has learned to hide beneath his sheltering wing.
"For
this no ill thy cause shall daunt,
No scourge thy tabernacle haunt."
It
is impossible that any ill should happen to the man who is beloved of the Lord;
the most crushing calamities can only shorten his journey and hasten him to his
reward. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form. Losses enrich
him, sickness is his medicine, reproach is his honour, death is his gain. No
evil in the strict sense of the word can happen to him, for everything is
overruled for good. Happy is he who is in such a case. He is secure where
others are in peril, he lives where others die.
Verse
11. For he shall give his angels charge over thee. Not one
guardian angel, as some fondly dream, but all the angels are here alluded to.
They are the bodyguard of the princes of the blood imperial of heaven, and they
have received commission from their Lord and ours to watch carefully over all
the interests of the faithful. When men have a charge they become doubly
careful, and therefore the angels are represented as bidden by God himself to
see to it that the elect are secured. It is down in the marching orders of the
hosts of heaven that they take special note of the people who dwell in God. It
is not to be wondered at that the servants are bidden to be careful of the
comfort of their Master's guests; and we may be quite sure that when they are
specially charged by the Lord himself they will carefully discharge the duty
imposed upon them. To keep thee in all thy ways. To be a bodyguard, a garrison
to the body, soul, and spirit of the saint. The limit of this protection
"in all thy ways" is yet no limit to the heart which is right with
God. It is not the way of the believer to go out of his way. He keeps in the
way, and then the angels keep him. The protection here promised is exceeding
broad as to place, for it refers to all our ways, and what do we wish
for more? How angels thus keep us we cannot tell. Whether they repel demons,
counteract spiritual plots, or even ward off the more subtle physical forces of
disease, we do not know. Perhaps we shall one day stand amazed at the
multiplied services which the unseen bands have rendered to us.
Verse
12. They, that is the angels, God's own angels, shall
cheerfully become our servants. They shall bear thee up in their hands;
as nurses carry little children, with careful love, so shall those glorious
spirits bear up each individual believer. Lest thou dash thy foot against a
stone; even minor ills they ward off. It is most desirable that we should not
stumble, but as the way is rough, it is most gracious on the Lord's part to
send his servants to bear us up above the loose pebbles. If we cannot have the
way smoothed it answers every purpose if we have angels to bear us up in their
hands. Since the greatest ills may arise out of little accidents, it shows the
wisdom of the Lord that from the smaller evils we are protected.
Verse
13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. Over force and
fraud shalt thou march victoriously; bold opponents and treacherous adversaries
shall alike be trodden down. When our shoes are iron and brass lions and adders
are easily enough crushed beneath our heel. The young lion and the dragon shalt
thou trample under feet. The strongest foe in power, and the most mysterious in
cunning, shall be conquered by the man of God. Not only from stones in the way,
but from serpents also, shall we be safe. To men who dwell in God the most evil
forces become harmless, they wear a charmed life, and defy the deadliest ills. Their
feet come into contact with the worst of foes, even Satan himself nibbles at
their heel, but in Christ Jesus they have the assured hope of bruising Satan
under their feet shortly. The people of God are the real "George and the
dragon, "the true lion kings and serpent tamers. Their dominion over the
powers of darkness makes them cry, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto
us through thy word."
Verse
14. Here we have the Lord himself speaking of his own chosen one.
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. Not
because he deserves to be thus kept, but because with all his imperfections he
does love his God; therefore not the angels of God only, but the God of angels
himself will come to his rescue in all perilous times, and will effectually
deliver him. When the heart is enamoured of the Lord, all taken up with him,
and intensely attached to him, the Lord will recognise the sacred flame, and
preserve the man who bears it in his bosom. It is love,—love set upon God,
which is the distinguishing mark of those whom the Lord secures from ill. I
will set him on high, because he hath known my name. The man has known the
attributes of God so as to trust in him, and then by experience has arrived at
a yet deeper knowledge, this shall be regarded by the Lord as a pledge of his
grace, and he will set the owner of it above danger or fear, where he shall
dwell in peace and joy. None abide in intimate fellowship with God unless they
possess a warm affection towards God, and an intelligent trust in him; these
gifts of grace are precious in Jehovah's eyes, and wherever he sees them he
smiles upon them. How elevated is the standing which the Lord gives to the
believer. We ought to covet it right earnestly. If we climb on high it may be
dangerous, but if God sets us there it is glorious.
Verse
15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. He will have
need to pray, he will be led to pray aright and the answer shall surely come.
Saints are first called of God and then they call upon God; such
calls as theirs always obtain answers. Not without prayer will the blessing
come to the most favoured, but by means of prayer they shall receive all good
things. I will be with him in trouble, or "I am with him in
trouble." Heirs of heaven are conscious of a special divine presence in
times of severe trial. God is always near in sympathy and in power to help his
tried ones. I will deliver him, and honour him. The man honours God, and God
honours him. Believers are not delivered or preserved in a way which lowers
them, and makes them feel themselves degraded; far from it, the Lord's
salvation bestows honour upon those it delivers. God first gives us conquering
grace, and then rewards us for it.
Verse
16. With long life will I satisfy him. The man described in
this Psalm fills out the measure of his days, and whether he dies young or old
he is quite satisfied with life, and is content to leave it. He shall rise from
life's banquet as a man who has had enough, and would not have more even if he
could. And shew him my salvation. The full sight of divine grace shall be his
closing vision. He shall look from Amana and Lebanon. Not with destruction
before him black as night, but with salvation bright as noonday smiling upon
him he shall enter into his rest.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. The Talmud writers ascribe not only the ninety-first Psalm, but
the nine ensuing, to the pen of Moses; but from a rule which will in no respect
hold, that all the psalms which are without the name of an author in their
respective titles are the production of the poet whose name is given in the
nearest preceding title. And though it is impossible to prove that this highly
beautiful ode was not written by David, the general drift of its scenery and
allusions rather concur in showing that, like the last, we are indebted for it
to the muse of Moses: that it was composed by him during the journey through
the wilderness, shortly after the plague of the fiery serpents; when the
children of Israel, having returned to a better spirit, were again received
into the favour of JEHOVAH. Besides political enemies, the children of Israel
in the wilderness had other evils in great numbers to encounter, from the
nature and diseases of the climate, which exposed them to coups de soleil, or sun
smiting, during the heat of the day; and to pestilential vapours, moon
smiting, during the damp of the night, so as to render the miraculous
canopy of the cloud that hung over them in the former season, and the
miraculous column of fire that cheered and purified them in the latter, equally
needful and refreshing. In Egypt, they had seen so much of the plague, and they
had been so fearfully threatened with it as a punishment for disobedience, that
they could not but be in dread of its reappearance, from the incessant fatigues
of their journeying. In addition to all which, they had to be perpetually on
their guard against the insidious attacks of the savage monsters and reptiles
of "that great and terrible wilderness", as Moses describes it on
another occasion, "wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and
drought; where there was no water" (De 8:15); and where, also, as we learn
from other parts of Scripture, bears, lions, leopards or tigers, and "the
wolf of the evening", as Jeremiah has beautifully expressed it, prowled
without restraint. Now in the Psalm before us, and especially in Ps 91:6-13, we
have so clear and graphic a description of the whole of these evils presented
to us, as to bring its composition directly home to the circumstances and the
period here pitched upon, and to render it at least needless to hunt out for
any other occasion. J. M. Good's "Historical Outline of the Book of
Psalms", 1842.
Whole
Psalm. It is one of the most excellent works of this kind which has ever
appeared. It is impossible to imagine anything more solid, more beautiful, more
profound, or more ornamented. Could the Latin or any modern language express
thoroughly all the beauties and elegancies as well of the words as of
the sentences, it would not be difficult to persuade the reader that we
have no poem, either in Greek or Latin, comparable to this Hebrew
ode. Simon de Muis.
Whole
Psalm. Psalm 90 spoke of man withering away beneath God's anger against
sin. Psalm 91 tells of a Man, who is able to tread the lion and adder under His
feet.—Undoubtedly the Tempter was right in referring this Psalm to "the
Son of God" (Mt 4:6). The imagery of the Psalm seems to be in part drawn
from that Passover Night, when the Destroying Angel passed through Egypt, while
the faithful and obedient Israelites were sheltered by God. William Kay.
Verse
1. He, no matter who he may be, rich or poor, learned or
unlearned, patrician or plebeian, young or old, for "God is no respecter
of persons", but "he is rich to all that call upon him." Bellarmine.
Verse
1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High.
Note, he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High is not he that
conjures up one or two slight and fleeting acts of hope in Him, but the man
that places in him an assiduous and constant confidence. In this way he
establishes for himself in God by that full trust, a home, a dwelling place, a
mansion, ...The Hebrew for he that dwelleth, is bvy, that is, dwelling
in quietude, and resting, enduring and remaining with constancy. Le Blanc.
Verse
1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High.
What intimate and unrestrained communion does this describe!—the Christian in
everything making known his heart, with its needs and wishes, its thoughts and
feelings, its doubts and anxieties, its sorrows and its joys, to God, as to a
loving, perfect friend. And all is not on one side. This Almighty Friend has
admitted his chosen one to his "secret place." It is almost
too wonderful to be true. It is almost too presumptuous a thought for such
creatures as we are to entertain. But He himself permits it, desires it,
teaches us to realise that it is communion to which he calls us.
"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." And what is this
"secret"? It is that in God which the world neither
knows, nor sees, nor cares to enjoy. It is his mind revealed to those that love
him, his plans, and ways ("He made known his ways to Moses",
Ps 103:7), and thoughts opened to them. Yea, and things hid from angels are
manifest to the least of his friends (1Pe 1:12). He wishes us to know him, and
by his Word and by his Spirit he puts himself before us. Ah! it is not his
fault if we do not know him. It is our own carelessness. Mary B. M. Duncan,
in "Under the Shadow", 1867.
Verse
1. By secret here is meant a place of refuge from the storms
of the world under the secret of his providence, who careth for all his
children. Also, by the secret of the most High, some writers understand
the castle of his mighty defence, to which his people run, being pursued by
enemies, as the wild creature doth to his hole or den for succour, when the
hunter hath him in chase, and the dogs are near. This then being the meaning of
that which the prophet calleth the "secret place of the most High",
and our dwelling in it, by confidence in him; we learn, in all troubles, to
cleave to God chiefly or only for help, and to means but as
underlings to his providence. . . . That which is here translated dwelleth,
is as much in weight as sitteth, or is settled; and so, our dwelling in God's
secret, is as much as our sitting down in it: the meaning is, we must make it
our rest, as if we should say, Here will we dwell. From whence we learn, that
God's children should not come to God's secret place as guests to an
inn, but as inhabitants to their own dwellings; that is, they should continue
to trust in God, as well in want as in fulness; and as much when they wither
in their root, as when they flourish in it. Robert Horn.
Verse
1. He that dwelleth, etc.
1.
"He dwells", therefore he shall "abide." He shall lodge
quietly, securely.
2.
"He dwells in the secret place", therefore he shall "abide under
the shadow." In the cool, the favour, the cover from the heat
3.
"He dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, therefore he shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty; "i.e., of the all powerful God,
of the God of heaven; of that God whose name is Shaddai, All sufficient. Adam
Clarke.
Verse
1. Shall abide. The Hebrew for "shall abide" is
Nkwlty, which signifies, he shall pass the night. Abiding denotes a constant
and continuous dwelling of the just in the assistance and protection of God.
That help and protection of God is not like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,
or in a vineyard; which is destroyed in a moment, nor is it like a tent in the
way which is abandoned by the traveller. It is a strong tower, a paternal home,
wherein we spend all our life with the best, wealthiest, and mightiest of
parents. Passing the night also denotes security and rest in time of
darkness, temptations and calamities. With God Abraham passed the night, when
He foretold to him the affliction of his descendants in Egypt, and their
deliverance, Ge 15:12-16. Then also God said to him (Ge 15:1), Fear not
Abram. I am thy shield. And leading him forth he showed him the glittering
stars, and said, Tell the number of the stars, if thou bc able; so shall thy
seed be. Le Blanc.
Verse
1. The shadow. The allusion of this verse may be to the awful
and mystic symbols of the ark. Under the ancient ceremony, the high priest only
could enter, and that but once a year, into the holy place, where stood the
emblems of the divine glory and presence; but under the present bright and
merciful dispensation, every true believer has access, with boldness, into the
holiest of all; and he who now dwelleth in the secret place of prayer and
communion with the God of salvation, shall find the divine mercy and care
spread over him for his daily protection and solace. John Morison.
Verse
1. Under the shadow of the Almighty. This is an expression
which implies great nearness. We must walk very close to a companion, if we
would have his shadow fall on us. Can we imagine any expression more perfect in
describing the constant presence of God with his chosen ones, than
this—they shall "abide under his shadow"? In Solomon's
beautiful allegory, the Church in a time of special communion with Christ, says
of him—"I sat down under his shadow with great delight" (So
2:3)—"sat down", desiring not to leave it, but to abide there for
ever. And it is he who chooses to dwell in the secret place of the most High,
who shall "abide under the shadow of the Almighty." There is a
condition and a promise attached to it. The condition is, that we "dwell
in the secret place, "—the promise, that if we do so we "shall abide
under the shadow." It is of importance to view it thus. For when we
remember the blessing is a promised blessing—we are led to feel it is a
gift—a thing therefore to be prayed for in faith, as well as sought for by
God's appointed means. Ah, the hopes that this awakens! My wandering,
wavering, unstable heart, that of itself cannot keep to one course two days
together is to seek its perseverance from God, and not in its own strength. He
will hold it to him if it be but seeking for stedfastness. It is not we who
cling to him. It is he who keeps near to us. Mary B. M. Duncan.
Verse
1-4, 9. O you that be in fear of any danger, leave all carnal shifts, and
carking counsels, and projects, and dwell in the rock of God's power and
providence, and be like the dove that nestles in the holes of the rock; by
faith betake yourselves unto God, by faith dwell in that rock, and there nestle
yourselves, make your nests of safety in the clefts of this rock. But how may
we do this thing, and what is the way to do it? Do this,—Set thy faith on work
to make God that unto thee which thy necessity requires, pitch and throw
thyself upon his power and providence, with a resolution of spirit to rest
thyself upon it for safety, come what will come. See an excellent practice of
this, Ps 91:1, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty; that is, he shall be safe from all
fears and dangers. Aye, that is true, you will say, who makes any doubt of it?
But how shall a man come to dwell, and get into this secret place, within this
strong tower? See Ps 91:2: I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my
fortress; as if he had said, I will not only say, that he is a refuge; but
he is my refuge, I will say to the Lord; that is, I will set my faith on
work in particular, to throw, devolve, and pitch myself upon him for my safety.
And see what follows upon this setting faith thus on work, Ps 91:3-4: Surely
he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. So confident the
Psalmist is that upon this course taken, safety shall follow. Our safety lies
not simply upon this, because God is a refuge, and is an habitation, but
"Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, thy
habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, "etc. It is therefore the
making of God our habitation, upon which our safety lies; and this is the way
to make God an habitation, thus to pitch and cast ourselves by faith upon his
power and providence. Jeremiah Dyke.
Verse
1. We read of a stag that roamed about in the greatest security, by
reason of its having a label on its neck, "Touch me not, I belong to
Caesar": thus the true servants of God are always safe, even among
lions, bears, serpents, fire, water, thunder, and tempests; for all creatures
know and reverence the shadow of God. Bellarmine.
Verse
2. My refuge, my fortress, my God. "My refuge." God
is our "refuge." He who avails himself of a refuge is one who
is forced to fly. It is a quiet retreat from a pursuing enemy. And there are
trials, and temptations, and enemies, from which the Christian does best to
fly. He cannot resist them. They are too strong for him. His wisdom is to fly
into the refuge of the secret place of his God—to rest in the shadow of the
Almighty. His "strength is to sit still" there. Isa 30:7. "My
fortress." The Psalmist says, moreover, that God is his "fortress."
Here the idea is changed—no longer a peaceful, quiet hiding place, but a tower
of defence—strong, manifest, ready to meet the attacks of all enemies, ready
and able to resist them all. God is a Friend who meets every want in our
nature, who can supply every need. So when we are weak and fainting, and unable
to meet the brunt of battle, and striving against sin and sorrow and the wrath
of man He is our safe, quiet resting place—our fortress also where no harm can
reach us, no attack injure us. "My God." Now the Psalmist, as
a summing up of all his praises, says "I will say of Him, He is... my
God!" Is there any thing omitted in the former part of his declaration? Everything
is here—all possible ascription of honour, and glory, and power to Him "as
God"—"God over all, blessed for ever, "and of love,
reverence, trust, obedience, and filial relation towards him on the part of the
Psalmist, as MY God ...when reflecting on the refuge and strength which the
Lord has always been to him, and recalling his blessed experiences of sweet
communion with God—words fail him. He can only say (but oh, with what
expression!) MY GOD! Mary B.M. Duncan.
Verse
2. My God. Specially art Thou my God, first, on thy part,
because of the special goodness and favour which Thou dost bestow upon me.
Secondly, on my part, because of the special love and reverence with which I
cling to Thee. J. Paulus Palanterius.
Verse
2-4. If the severity and justice of God terrify, the Lord offereth
himself as a bird with stretched out wings to receive the supplicant, Ps
91:4. If enemies who are too strong do pursue, the Lord openeth his bosom as a refuge,
Ps 91:2. If the child be assaulted, he becometh a fortress, Ps 91:2. If he be
hotly pursued and enquired after, the Lord becometh a secret place to
hide his child; if persecution be hot, God giveth himself for a shadow; if
potentates and mighty rulers turn enemies, the Lord interposes as the Most
High and Almighty Saviour, Ps 91:1. If his adversaries be crafty like
fowlers or hunters, the Lord promises to prevent and break the snares, Ps 91:3.
Whether evils do come upon the believer night or day, secretly or openly, to
destroy him, the Lord preserveth his child from destruction;and if
stumbling blocks be laid in his child's way, he hath his instruments, his
servants, his angels, prepared to keep the believer that he stumble not: He
shall give his angels charge over thee; not one angel only, but all of
them, or a number of them. David Dickson.
Verse
3. He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. Are we
therefore beasts? Beasts doubtless. When man was in honour he understood
not, but was like the foolish beasts. (Ps 49:12) Men are certainly beasts,
wandering sheep, having no shepherd. Why art thou proud, O man? Why dost thou
boast thyself, O smatterer? See what a beast thou art, for whom the snares of
the fowler are being prepared. But who are these fowlers? The fowlers
indeed are the worst and most wicked, the cleverest and the most cruel. The
fowlers are they who sound no horn, that they may not be heard, but shoot their
arrows in secret places at the innocent... But lo! since we know the fowlers
and the beasts, our further enquiry must be, what this snare may be. I
wish not myself to invent it, nor to deliver to you what is subject to doubt.
The Apostle shows us this snare, for he was not ignorant of the devices of
these fowlers. Tell us, I pray, blessed Paul, what this snare of the devil is,
from which the faithful soul rejoices that it is delivered? They that will
be rich (in this world?) says he, fall into temptation and the snare
(of the devil?) (1Ti 6:9-10). Are not the riches of this world, then, the snare
of the devil?. Alas! how few we find who can boast of freedom from this snare,
how many who grieve that they seem to themselves too little enmeshed in the
net, and who still labour and toil with all their strength to involve and
entangle themselves more and more. Ye who have left all and followed the Son of
man who has not where to lay his head, rejoice and say, He hath delivered we
from the snare of the fowlers. Bernard.
Verse
3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the noisome pestilence.
Lord Craven lived in London when that sad calamity, the plague, raged. His
house was in that part of the town called Craven Buildings. On the plague
growing epidemic, his Lordship, to avoid the danger, resolved to go to his seat
in the country. His coach and six were accordingly at the door, his baggage put
up, and all things in readiness for the journey. As he was walking through his
hall with his hat on, his cane under his arm, and putting on his gloves, in
order to step into his carriage, he overheard his negro, who served him as
postillion, saying to another servant. "I suppose, by my Lord's quitting
London to avoid the plague, that his God lives in the country, and not in
town." The poor negro said this in the simplicity of his heart, as really
believing a plurality of gods. The speech, however, struck Lord Craven very
sensibly, and made him pause. "My God, "thought he, "lives
everywhere, and can preserve me in town as well as in the country. I will even
stay where I am. The ignorance of that negro has just now preached to me a very
useful sermon. Lord, pardon this unbelief, and that distrust of thy providence,
which made me think of running from thy hand." He immediately ordered his
horses to be taken from the coach, and the baggage to be taken in. He continued
in London, was remarkably useful among his sick neighbours, and never caught
the infection. Whitecross's Anecdotes.
Verses
3, 6. Pestilence. It is from a word (rkd) that signifies to speak, and
speak out; the pestilence is a speaking thing, it proclaims the wrath of God
amongst a people. Drusius fetches it from the same root, but in piel,
which is to decree; showing that the pestilence is a thing decreed in heaven,
not casual. Kirker thinks it is called rkd, because it keeps order, and spares
neither great nor small. The Hebrew root signifies to destroy, to cut off, and
hence may the plague or pestilence have its name. The Septuagint renders it
yanatos, death, for ordinarily it is death; and it is expressed by "Death,
"Re 6:8, he sat on the pale horse, and killed with sword, hunger,
death, and beasts of the earth; it refers to Eze 14:21, where the pestilence is
mentioned. Pestilence may be from a word which signifies to spread, spoil, rush
upon, for it doth so; 2Sa 24:15, seventy thousand slain in three days; and
plague, a plhgh from plhssw, to smite, to wound, for it smites suddenly, and
wounds mortally; hence it is in Nu 14:12, "I will smite them with the
pestilence." This judgment is very grievous, it is called in Ps 91:3 the
"noisome pestilence, "because it is infectious, contagious; and
therefore the French read it, "de la peste dangereuse, "from
the dangerous pestilence, it doth endanger those that come near it: and
Musculus hath it, a peste omnium pessima, from the worst pestilence of
all: and others, the woeful pestilence; it brings a multitude of woes with it
to any place or person it comes unto, it is a messenger of woeful fears,
sorrows, distractions, terrors, and death itself. William Greenhill.
Verse
4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. Christ's wings
are both for healing and for hiding (Mt 4:2), for curing and securing us; the
devil and his instruments would soon devour the servants of God, if he did not
set an invincible guard about them, and cover them with the golden feathers of
his protection. Thomas Watson.
Verse
4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc. This is the
promise of the present life. For the promise of the life to come, who can
explain? If the expectation of the just be gladness, and such gladness, that no
object of desire in the world is worthy to be compared with it, what will the
thing itself be which is expected? No eye, apart from Thee, O God, hath seen
what Thou hast prepared for them that love Thee. Under these wings, therefore,
four blessings are conferred upon us. For under these we are concealed:under
these we are protected from the attack of the hawks and kites, which are
the powers of the air: under these a salubrious shade refreshes us, and
wards off the overpowering heat of the sun; under these, also we are nourished
and cherished. Bernard.
Verse
4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, etc.,
His
plumes shall make a downie bed,
here thou shalt rest; He shall display
His wings of truth over thy head,
Which, like a shield, shall drive away
The fears of night, the darts of day. Thomas Caryl.
Verse
4. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. That which we
must oppose to all perils is the truth, or Word of God; so long as we keep
that, and ward off darts and swords by that means, we shall not be overcome. David
Dickson.
Verse
5. The true remedy against tormenting fear is faith in God; for many
terrible things may befall men when they are most secure, like unto those which
befall men in the night: but for any harm which may befall the believer this
way, the Lord here willeth him to be nothing afraid: Thou shalt not be
afraid for the terror by night. Many sadder accidents may befall men when
they are most watching and upon their guard, but the Lord willeth the believer
to be confident that he shall not be harmed this way: Thou shalt not be
afraid for the arrow that flieth by day. Many evils are men subject unto,
which come upon them men cannot tell how, but from such evils the Lord assures
the believer he shall have no harm: Thou shalt not be afraid of the pestilence
which walketh in darkness. Men are subject to many evils which come upon
them openly, and not unawares, such as are calamities from enemies and
oppressors; the Lord willeth the believer to be confident that he shall not be
harmed this way: Thou shalt not be afraid for the destruction that wasteth
at noonday. David Dickson.
Verse
5. Thou shalt not be afraid. Not only do the pious stand
safe, they are not even touched with fear. For the prophet does not say, Thou
shalt not be seized; but, Thou shalt not be afraid. Certainly such a confidence
of mind could not be attributed to natural powers, in so menacing and so
overwhelming a destruction. For it is natural to mortals, it is implanted in
them by God the author and maker of nature, to fear whatever is hurtful and
deadly, especially what visibly smites and suddenly destroys. Therefore does he
beautifully join together these two things: the first, in saying, Thou shalt
not be afraid;the second, by adding, For the terror. He acknowledges
that this plague is terrible to nature; and then by his trust in divine
protection he promises himself this security, that he shall not fear the evil,
which would otherwise make human nature quail. Wherefore, in my judgment, those
persons are neither kind (humani) nor pious who are of opinion that so
great a calamity is not to be dreaded by mortals. They neither observe the
condition of our nature, nor honour the blessing of divine protection; both of
which we see here done by the prophet. Musculus.
Verse
5. Not that we are always actually delivered out of every particular
danger or grievance, but because all will turn (such is our confidence in God)
to our greater good; and the more we suffer the greater shall our reward and
our glory be. To the same purpose is the expression of Isaiah: "When thou
passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be
burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isa 43:2. So also Hab
3:17-18, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, "&c.; and Job
5:19-20, etc. And therefore here is no ground, if the words be rightly
understood, for any man absolutely to presume or conclude that he shall
actually be delivered out of any particular danger; much less upon such a
presumption wilfully to run into dangers. If such figures, the ornament of all
language; such rhetorical, emphatic amplifications be allowed to human writers,
and well enough understood in ordinary language; why not to holy writers as
well, who had to do with men, as well as others; whose end also was to use such
expressions as might affect and move? That human writers have said as much of
the security of good and godly men, I shall need to go no further than Horace
his Ode, Integer vitae scelerisque purus, &c. Most dangerous then
and erroneous is the inference of some men, yea, of some expositors, here, upon
these words of the psalmist, that no godly man can suffer by the plague, or
pestilence: nor is old Lactantius his assertion much sounder, Non potest
ergo fieri, quin hominem justum inter descrimina tempestatum, &c., that
no just man can perish by war, or by tempest. (Instit. 1. v, c. 18). Most
interpreters conclude here, that the godly are preserved in time of public
calamities; which, in a right sense, may be true; but withal they should have
added, that all godly men are not exempted at such times; to prevent rash
judgments. Westminster Assembly's Annotations.
Verse
5. The arrow. The arrow in this passage probably means the
pestilence. The Arabs denote the pestilence by an allusion to this flying
weapon. "I desired to remove to a less contagious air. I received from
Solyman, the emperor, this message; that the emperor wondered what I meant, in
desiring to remove my habitation; is not the pestilence God's arrow, which
will always hit his mark? If God would visit me here with, how could I
avoid it? is not the plague, said he, in my own palace, and yet I do not think
of removing." Busbequiu's Travels. "What, say they, is not the
plague the dart of Almighty God, and can we escape the blow that he levels at
us? is not his hand steady to hit the persons he aims at? can we run out of his
sight, and beyond his power?" Smith's Remarks on the Turks, 1673. Herbert
also, speaking of Curroon, says, "That year his empire was so wounded with
God's arrows of plague, pestilence, and famine, as this thousand years before
was never so terrible." See Eze 5:16. S. Burder's Scripture Expositor.
Verses
5-6. Joseph Scaliger explains, in Epis. 9, these two verses thus, thou
shalt not fear, dxkm, from consternation by night, Uxm, from the
arrow flying by day, rgdm, from pestilence walking at evening,
kymqm, from devastation at noon. Under these four he comprehends all the
evils and dangers to which man is liable. And as the Hebrews divide the
twenty-four hours of day and night into four parts, namely, evening, midnight,
morning, and midday, so he understands the hours of danger to be divided
accordingly: in a word, "that the man who has made God his refuge, "is
always safe, day and night, at every hour, from every danger. Bythner.
Verse
6. The pestilence that walketh in darkness; the destruction that
wasteth at noonday. The description is equally forcible and correct. The
diseases of all hot climates, and especially where vegetation is highly
luxuriant, and marshes and miry swamps are abundant, as in the wilderness here
referred to, proceed from the accumulating vapours of the night, or from
the violence of the sun's rays at midday. The Beriberi of Ceylon, the spasmodic
cholera and jungle fever of India, and the greater part of the fevers of
intertropical climates, especially that called the yellow fever, chiefly
originate from the first of these—"the pestilence that stalks in
darkness"; while sunstrokes or coups de soleil, apoplexies, inflammations
of the brain, and liver complaints of most kinds, proceed from the second,
"the destruction that wasteth at noonday." And it is in
allusion to this double source of mischief that the psalmist exclaims most
beautifully on another occasion, Ps 121:6: "The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night." And hence the Israelites were miraculously
defended against both during their passage through the wilderness by the pillar
of a cloud in the daytime, to ward off the solar rays; and by the pillar of
fire by night, to dissipate the collecting vapours, and preserve the atmosphere
clear, dry, and healthy. J. M. Good.
Verse
6. The putrid plague fever often comes on in the night while the
patient is asleep; the solstitial disease seizes in heat of harvest upon a man
in open air, and cuts him off, perhaps ere evening. It is safety from perils
like these that is spoken of. All these blessings are derived from and rest on
(Ps 91:1) the position of Him that claims them "under the covert of the
Most High." Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse
6. The pestilence that walketh in darkness. It walketh not so
much in natural darkness, or in the darkness of the night, as in a figurative
darkness, no man knowing where it walks, or whither it will walk, in the
clearest light, whether to the poor man's house, or to the rich man's house,
whether to the dwelling of the plebeian, or of the prince, till it hath left
its own mark, and given a deadly stroke. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
7. Ten thousand. The word myriad would better
represent the exact idea in the original, as the Hebrew word is different from
that which is translated "a thousand." It is here put for any large
number. Albert Barnes.
Verse
7. It shall not come nigh thee. Not nigh thee? What? when they
die on this side and on that, on every hand of a man, doth it not come nigh
him? Yes, nigh him, but not so nigh as to hurt him: the power of God can bring
us near to danger, and yet keep us far from harm. As good may be locally near
us, and yet virtually far from us, so may evil. The multitude thronged Christ
in the Gospel, and yet but one touched him so as to receive good; so Christ can
keep us in a throng of dangers, that not one shall touch us to our hurt. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse
7. It shall not come nigh thee. Not with a view of showing
that all good men may hope to escape from the pestilence, but as proofs that
some who have had superior faith have done so, I have collected the following
instances from various sources. C. H. S.
Before
his departure from Isna (Isny), the town was greatly afflicted with the
pestilence; and he, understanding that many of the wealthiest of the
inhabitants intended to forsake the place, without having any respect or care
of such as laboured with that disease, and that the houses of such as were
infected, were commanded to be shut up by the magistrate, he openly admonished
them, either to continue in the town, or liberally to bestow their alms before
their departure, for the relief of such as were sick. And during the time of
the visitation, he himself in person would visit those that were sick: he would
administer spiritual comfort unto them, pray for them, and would be present
with them day and night; and yet by the providence of God he remained
untouched, and was preserved by the all powerful hand of God. From the Life
of Paulus Fagius, in T. Fuller's Abel Redevivus.
In
1576, Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, the worthiest of all the
successors of St. Ambrose, when he learnt at Lodi, that the plague had made its
appearance in his city, went at once to the city. His council of clergy advised
him to remain in some healthy part of his diocese till the sickness should have
spent itself, but he replied that a bishop, whose duty it is to give his life
for his sheep, could not rightly abandon them in time of peril. They owned that
to stand by them was the higher course. "Well, "he said, "is it
not a bishop's duty to choose the higher course?" So back into the town of
deadly sickness he went, leading the people to repent, and watching over them
in their suffering, visiting the hospitals, and, by his own example,
encouraging his clergy in carrying spiritual consolation to the dying. All the
time the plague lasted, which was four months, his exertions were fearless and
unwearied, and what was remarkable was, that of his whole household only two
died, and they were persons who had not been called to go about among the sick.
From "A Book of Golden Deeds, "1864.
Although
Defoe's history of the plague is a work of fiction, yet its statements are
generally facts, and therefore we extract the following:—"The misery of
the poor I had many occasions to be an eyewitness of, and sometimes also of the
charitable assistance that some pious people daily gave to such, sending them relief
and supplies both of food, physic, and other help as they found they wanted...
Some pious ladies were transported with zeal in so good a work, and so
confident in the protection of Providence in discharge of the great duty of
charity, that they went about in person distributing alms to the poor, and even
visiting poor families, though sick and infected, in their very houses,
appointing nurses to attend those that wanted attending, and ordering
apothecaries and surgeons... giving their blessing to the poor in substantial
relief to them, as well as hearty prayers for them. I will not undertake to
say, as some do, that none of those charitable people were suffered to fall
under the calamity itself; but this I may say, that I never knew anyone of them
that came to any ill, which I mention for the encouragement of others in case
of the like distress, and, doubtless, if they that give to the poor lend to the
Lord, and he will repay them, those that hazard their lives to give to the
poor, and to comfort and assist the poor in such misery as this, may hope to be
protected in the work." Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague in London.
Horne,
in his notes on the Psalms, refers to the plague in Marseilles and the devotion
of its bishop. There is a full account of him in the Percy Anecdotes from which
we cull the following:—"M. de Belsunce, Bishop of Marseilles, so
distinguished himself for his humanity during the plague which raged in that
city in 1720, that the Regent of France offered him the richer and more honourable
See of Laon, in Picardy; but he refused it, saying, he should be unwilling to
leave a flock that had been endeared to him by their sufferings. His pious and
intrepid labours are commemorated in a picture in the Town Hall of Marseilles,
in which he is represented in his episcopal habit, attended by his almoners,
giving his benediction to the dying... But perhaps the most touching picture
extant of the bishop's humane labours, is to be found in a letter of his own,
written to the Bishop of Soissons, Sept. 27, 1720. `Never, 'he says, `was
desolation greater, nor was ever anything like this. Here have been many cruel
plagues, but none was ever more cruel: to be sick and dead was almost the same
thing. What a melancholy spectacle have we on all sides', we go into the
streets full of dead bodies, half rotten through, which we pass to come to a
dying body, to excite him to an act of contrition, and to give him
absolution.'"Notwithstanding exposure to a pestilence so fatal, the
devoted bishop escaped uninjured.
While
France justly boasts of "Marseilles' good Bishop, "England may
congratulate herself on having cherished in her bosom a clergyman who in an
equally earnest manner discharged his pastoral care, and watched over the
simple flock committed to his charge, at no less risk of life, and with no less
fervour of piety and benevolence. The Rev. W. Mompesson was rector of Eyam in
Derbyshire, in the time of the plague that nearly depopulated the town in the
year 1666. During the whole time of the calamity, he performed the functions of
the physician, the legislator, and the minister of his afflicted parish;
assisting the sick with his medicines, his advice, and his prayers. Tradition
still shows a cavern near Eyam, where this worthy pastor used to preach to such
of his parishioners as had not caught the distemper, Although the village was
almost depopulated, his exertions prevented the spread of the plague to other
districts, and he himself survived unharmed.
Verse
8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of
the wicked. First, indeed, because of thy own escape; secondly, on account
of thy complete security; thirdly, for the sake of comparison; fourthly,
because of the perfect preeminence of justice itself. For then it will not be
the time of mercy, but of judgment; nor shall any mercy in any way be ever
shown towards the wicked there, where no improvement can be hoped for. Far away
will be that softness of human infirmity, which meanwhile charity nevertheless
uses for salvation, collecting in the ample folds of her outspread net good and
bad fishes, that is, pleasant and hurtful affections. But this is done at sea.
On the shore she chooses only the good, and so rejoicing with them that do
rejoice, it hence comes to pass that she weeps not with those that weep. Bernard.
Verse
9. Here commences the second half of the Psalm. And it is as though
the Psalmist feared lest (as is too often the case with us) we should, in
dwelling on the promises and blessings of God, and applying them to ourselves,
forget the condition to which they are annexed—the character of those who are
to receive them. He therefore pauses here to remind us of the opening verses of
the Psalm, by repeating again their substance. Mary B. M. Duncan.
Verse
9. Because thou hast made the Lord, etc. What faith is this,
what trust is that which God hath promised protection and deliverance to in the
time of a plague? What act of faith is it? What faith is it? I answer first,
there is a faith of persuasion, called faith, whereby men are persuaded and
verily believe that they shall not die, nor fall by the hand of the plague.
This is well; but I do not find in the 91st Psalm that this protection is
entailed upon this persuasion, neither do I find this faith here mentioned.
There is also a faith of reliance, whereby a man doth rely upon God for
salvation; this is a justifying faith, true justifying faith; this is true
faith indeed; but I do not find in this Psalm, that this promise of protection
and deliverance in the time of a plague is entailed upon this, nor that this is
here mentioned.
But
again, there is a faith, I may call it a faith of recourse unto God, whereby a
man doth betake himself unto God for shelter, for protection as to his
habitation; when other men do run one this way, another that way, to their
hiding places: in the time of a plague for a man then to betake himself to God,
as to his habitation, I think this is the faith here spoken of in this 91st
Psalm: for do but mark the words of the Psalm: at Ps 91:1, "He that
dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, "in the hiding place of the
Most High: as if he should say, "When others run from the plague and
pestilence and run to their hiding places, ""He that dwelleth in the
secret place of the Most High, "that betakes himself to God as his Hiding
place and his habitation, he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,
shall be protected; and so at Ps 91:9, "Because thou hast made the Lord
which is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation, there shall no evil
befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; "as if he
should say to us, In time of a plague men are running and looking out for
habitations and hiding places; but because thou hast made the Lord thy
habitation and hast recourse to him as thy habitation, "no evil shall
befall thee, neither shall the plague come nigh thy dwelling:" and again
at Ps 91:11 it is said, "He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep
thee in all thy ways, "the ways of thy calling; as if he should say, In
the time of a plague men will be very apt to leave station and calling, and so
run away from the plague and pestilence; but saith he, "He shall give his
angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, "the ways of thy
calling and place; that is, look when a man in the time of a plague shall
conscientiously keep his station and place, and betake himself to God as his
habitation; this is the faith that is here spoken of, and this is the faith
that God hath promised protection to, here in the 91st Psalm... This promise of
protection and deliverance is not made to a believer as a believer, but as
acting and exercising faith; for though a man be a believer, if he do not act
and exercise his faith, this promise will not reach him, therefore if a
believer die, not exercising faith and trusting in God, it is no disparagement
to the promise. William Bridge.
Verse
9. No man can have two homes—two places of constant
resort. And if the Lord be truly "our habitation, " we can
have no other refuge for our souls, no other resting place for our hearts. Mary
B. M. Duncan.
Verses
9-10. There is a threefold preservation which the church and the
members of it may look for from divine providence. One from, another in, and a
third by, dangers.
I.
First, from dangers, according to the promise in one of the Psalms,
"Because thou hast made the Lord who is my refuge, even the Most High thy
habitation: there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh
thy dwelling." Austin had appointed to go to a certain town to visit the
Christians there, and to give them a sermon or more. The day and place were
known to his enemies, who set armed men to lie in wait for him by the way which
he was to pass, and kill him. As God would have it, the guide whom the people
had sent with him to prevent his going out of the right way mistook, and led
him into a bypath, yet brought him at last to his journey's end. Which when the
people understood, as also the adversaries' disappointment, they adored the
providence of God, and gave him thanks for that great deliverance. (Agnoscunt
omnes miram Dei providentiam, cui ut liberatori gratias merito egerunt.
Possidonius in vita August, chap. 12.)
II.
In dangers. So in Job 5:19-20. "He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea
in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from
death: and in war from the power of the sword." In time of famine the
widow of Sarepta's store was made to hold out. The providence of God was with
Daniel in the lions' den, shutting up the mouths of those furious beasts: and
with the men in the fiery furnace, giving a prohibition to the fire that it
should not burn, when they were in the jaws of danger, yea of death. The church
hath always been a lily among thorns, yet flourishes still. This bush is yet
far from a consumption, although it has seldom or never been out of the fire.
III.
By danger. There is a preservation from greater evils by less. No poison but
Providence knoweth how to make an antidote; so Jonah was swallowed by a whale,
and by that danger kept alive. Joseph thrown into a pit, and afterwards sold
into Egypt, and by these hazards brought to be a nursing father to the church.
Chrysostom excellently, Fides in periculis secura est, in securitate
periclitatur. (Homil. 26, operis imperf in Matt.) Faith is endangered by
security, but secure in the midst of danger, as Esther's was when she said,
"If I perish I perish." God preserveth us, not as we do fruits that
are to last but for a year, in sugar; but as flesh for a long voyage in salt:
we must expect in this life much brine and pickle, because our heavenly Father
preserveth us as those whom he resolves to keep for ever, in and by dangers
themselves. Paul's thorn in the flesh, which had much of danger and trouble in
it, was given him on purpose to prevent pride, which was a great evil.
"Lest I, "said he, "should be exalted above measure through
abundance of revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure."
Elsewhere having commemorated Alexander the coppersmith's withstanding and
doing him much evil, yea Nero's opening his mouth as a lion against him, and
the Lord's delivering of him thence, he concludes as more than a conqueror.
"And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me
unto his heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen." 2Ti
4:14-15, 17-18. John, Arrowsmith, (1602-1659).
Verses
9-14. Dependence on Christ is not the cause of his hiding us, but it is
the qualification of the person that shall be hid. Ralph Robinson.
Verse
10. There shall no evil befall thee, etc. It is a security in
the very midst of evils. Not like the security of angels—safety in a world of
safety, quiet in a calm; but it is quiet in a storm; safety amid desolation and
the elements of destruction, deliverance where everything else is going to
wreck. Cicaties Bradley, 1840.
Verse
10. God doth not say no afflictions shall befall us, but no evil. Thomas
Watson.
Verse
10. Sin which has kindled a fire in hell, is kindling fires on earth
continually. And when they break out, every one is asking how they happened.
Amos replies, "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done
it?" And when desolation is made by fire, Isaiah declares, The Lord hath
"consumed us, because of our iniquities." Many years ago my house was
oft threatened to be destroyed, but the Lord insured it, by giving me Ps 91:10;
and the Lord's providence is the best insurance. John Bridge.
Verse
11. He shall give his angels charge, etc. Charge; charge is a
strict command, more than a bare command; as when you would have a servant do a
business certainly and fully, you lay a charge upon him, I charge you that you
do not neglect that business; you do not barely tell what he should do,
prescribe him his work, but you charge him to do it. So says the Lord unto the
angels: My servants or children, now they are in the plague and pestilence, O
my angels, I change you stir not from their houses, I charge you, stir not from
such an one's bedside; it is a charge, "He shall give his angels
charge." Further, he doth not only, and will not only charge his angel,
but his angels; not one angel charged with the safety of his people, but many
angels; for their better guard and security, "He shall give his angels
charge." And again, "He will give his angels charge over thee
to keep thee; "to keep thee;charge over thee and to keep
thee; not only over the whole church of God, but over every particular member
of the church of God; "He will give his angels charge over thee to keep
thee; "this is his marvellous care. Well, but besides this, "He will
give his angels charge to keep thee in all thy ways, "not in some
of thy ways, but in all thy ways. As God's providence is particular in regard
of our persons, so it is universal in regard of our ways. "He will give
his angels charge over thee, to keep thee, "not in some but "in all
thy ways." But is this all? No: "They shall bear thee up in their
hands, "as every servant desires and loves to take up the young heir, or
the young master into his arms, so the angels. It is a great matter that the
Lord promises to pitch his tents. "And the angels of the Lord shall pitch
their tents round about them that fear him; "but here is more; the angels
shall not only pitch their tents, be their guard, but their nurses, to bear
them up in their hands; but why? "That thou dash not thy foot against a
stone." When children begin to go, they are very apt to fall and get many
a knock; to stumble at every little stone. Now there are many stones of
stumbling that are in our way, and we are very apt to fall and miscarry; but
such is the goodness of God, the providence of God, the goodness of his
providence, that as he hath provided his angels to be our guard, in opposition
to all our foreign enemies, so he hath provided his angels to be our nurses, in
opposition to all our weaknesses and infirmities, that we get no hurt, that we
miscarry not in the least.
But
what need God make use of angels to protect his people, he is able to do it
alone; and is it not for God's dishonour to make use of them for the protection
of his people? No, it is for the honour of God, for the more honourable the
servants are, the instruments are, that a king or prince doth use for the
protecting of his people, the more honourable is that king or prince. Now, the
angels, they are honourable creatures; frequently they are called gods;
"Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels."... They are the
fittest people in the world for this employment, fittest in regard of themselves,
fittest in regard of the saints. They are fittest in regard of themselves, for First,
they are an exceeding strong and potent people; who more fit to look to and
care for the concerns of the saints and people of God, than those that are
strong and potent? It is said of the angels in Ps 103:20 that they excel in
strength. One angel you know destroyed a hundred and fourscore thousand of the
host of Assyria in a night; as one constable will scare away twenty thieves, so
one good angel invested with God's authority is able to drive away a thousand
evil angels, devils: they are an exceeding strong and potent people. Second.
As they are an exceeding strong and potent people, so they are a very knowing
and a wise people; and who so fit to manage the affairs and concerns of the
saints and people of God, and to protect and defend them, as a knowing and
understanding people? You know what Joab said to David; "Thou art for
wisdom as an angel of God." Says our Saviour, "No man knoweth that
day and time, no, not the angels in heaven; "as if the angels in heaven
knew every secret and were acquainted with every hidden thing: they are an
exceeding knowing people, very prudent and very wise. Third. As they are
an exceeding knowing and wise people, so they are also exceeding active and
expeditious, quick in despatches. Who more fit to protect and defend the saints
and people of God, than those that are active, expedite, and quick in their
despatches? such are the angels. In the first of Ezekiel ye read that every one
had four wings; why?, because of their great activity and expedition, and the
quick despatch they make in all their affairs. Fourth. As they are an
active and expeditious people, so they are a people very faithful both to God
and man; in Ps 103:20-21 they are ready to do God's will, and not only ready to
fulfil God's will, but they do it: "Bless the Lord all ye his angels that
excel in strength (Ps 103:20), that do his commandments, hearkening unto the
voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his
that do his pleasure." They are very faithful; and who so fit to do the
work, to attend and look to the concerns of the saints and people of God, as
those that are faithful? Fifth. As they are an exceeding faithful
people, so they are a people that are very loving to the saints and children of
God, very loving; otherwise they were not fit to be their nurses: what is a
nurse without love? They are loving to the saints. "Do it not, "(said
the angel unto John), "I am thy fellow servant; "do not give divine worship
to me, I am thy fellow servant; fellow servants are loving to one another; they
are fellow servants with the saints... It is recorded of Alexander that being
in great danger and to fight next day with his enemies, he slept very soundly
the night before; and he being asked the reason thereof, said, Parmenio wakes;
meaning a great and faithful captain of his; Parmenio wakes, says he. The
angels are called watchmen, they watch and are faithful, therefore you may be
secure, quiet, and at rest: trust in the Lord for ever, upon this account, in
this day trust in the Lord.
If
these things be so, then, friends, why should we not stoop to any work
commanded, though it lie much beneath us? Do not you think that the attending
upon a sick man, a man that hath a plague sore running upon him, is a work that
lies much beneath angels? yet the angels do it because it is commanded, though
much beneath them yet they stoop to it because it is commanded; and what though
a work lie much beneath you, yet if it be commanded, why should you not stoop
to it? You will say, Such an one is much beneath me, I will not lay my hand
under his shoes, he is much beneath me; ah, but the angels lay their hands
under your shoes, and the work they do for you is much beneath them: why should
we not be like our attendants? This is angelical obedience; the angels do you
many a kindness, and never look for thanks from you, they do many a kindness
that you are not aware of: why are you delivered sometimes you know not how?
here is a hand under a wing, the ministration of angels is the cause of it. But
I say the work they stoop to for you is much beneath them, and therefore why
should we not stoop to any work commanded, though it lie much beneath us? William
Bridge.
Verse
11. He shall give his angels charge over thee, etc. When Satan
tempted Christ in the wilderness, he alleged but one sentence of Scripture for
himself, Mt 4:6, and that Psalm out of which he borrowed it made so plain
against him, that he was fain to pick here a word and there a word, and leave
out that which went before, and skip in the midst, and omit that which came
after, or else he had marred his cause. The Scripture is so holy, and pure, and
true, that no word nor syllable thereof can make for the Devil, or for sinners,
or for heretics: yet, as the devil alleged Scripture, though it made not for
him, but against him, so do the libertines, and epicures, and heretics, as
though they had learned at his school. Henry Smith.
Verse
11. One angel armed with the power and glory of God is stronger than
a whole country. Earthly princes are subject to many changes and great unsurety
of life and estate. The reason is, their enemies may kill their watch, and
corrupt their guard. But what men or kingdoms can touch the Church's watch?
what angels of gold are able to corrupt the angels of God? and then how can
that perish that is committed to keepers so mighty and faithful? Secondly, the
charge of us is given to those ministering spirits by parcels, not in gross and
piecemeal, not in a lump: our members in a book, our hairs by tale and number.
For it is upon record, and, as it were, delivered to them in writing in one
Psalm, They keep all our bones, Ps 34:20; in this, they keep our very
foot, putting it in security (Ps 91:12); and elsewhere our whole man and
every member. And can a charge so precisely and so particularly given and
taken, be neglected? Thirdly, their manner of keeping us, as it is set down in
the text, cannot but promise great assurance; for, is not the little child safe
while the nurse carrieth it in her arms, or beareth it in her hands? So while
these nurses so bear us, can we be ill danger? but our nurses on earth may
fall; these nurses, the angels, cannot. Robert Horn.
Verse
11. His angels. Taking the word angel in its literal meaning, messenger,
we may look upon any agency which God employs to strengthen, protect, and help
us, as his angel to us. Mary B.M. Duncan.
Verse
11. To keep thee in all thy ways. How should those heavenly
spirits bear that man in their arms, like nurses, upon earth living; or bear up
his soul to heaven, like winged porters, when he dies, that refuseth the right
way? They shall keep us in all our ways. Out of the way it is their charge to
oppose us, as to preserve us in the way. Nor is this more a terror to the
ungodly, than to the righteous a comfort. For if an angel would keep even a
Balaam from sinning, how much more careful are all those glorious powers to
prevent the miscarriages of God's children! From how many falls and bruises
have they saved us! In how many inclinations to evil have they turned us,
either by removing occasions, or by casting in secretly good motions! We sin
too often, and should catch many more falls, if those holy guardians did not
uphold us. Satan is ready to divert us, when we endeavour to do well; when to
do ill, angels are as ready to prevent us. We are in Joshua the high priest's
ease, with Satan on the one hand, on the other an angel, Zec 3:1: without this,
our danger were greater than our defence, and we could neither stand nor rise. Thomas
Adams.
Verse
11. To keep thee in all thy ways. Their commission, large as
it is, reaches no further: when you leave that, you lose your guard; but while
you keep your way, angels, yea; the God of angels, will keep you. Do not so
much fear losing your estate or your liberty or your lives, as losing your way,
and leaving your way: fear that more than any tiring; nothing but sin exposes
you to misery. So long as you keep your way, you shall keep other things; or if
you lose any of them, you shall get what is better: though you may be sufferers
for Christ, you shall not be losers by him. Samuel Sletter, (1704) in
"Morning Exercises."
Verse
11. In all thy ways Your ways are God's ways, your way is the
way commanded by God. If you be out of God's ways, you are out of your own way:
if you be in your way, the angels shall keep you, even in the time of a plague,
and bear you up in their hands that you dash not your foot against a stone; but
if you be out of your way, I will not insure your safety. When Balaam went upon
the devil's errand an angel met him and scared his ass, and the ass ran his
foot against the wall, dashed his foot against the wall. The promise is,
"Thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone; "but he was out of his
way, and the angel met him and scared his ass, and his ass made him rush his
leg against the wall. Jonah went out of his way when he ran away from God; God
bade him go one way, and he went another. Well, what then were the angels with
him for his protection; the very sea would not be quiet till he was thrown
overboard: instead of angels to protect him, he had a whale to devour him. I
confess indeed, through the free grace and mercy of God, the belly of
destruction was made a chamber of preservation to him, but he was out of his
way; and instead of an angel to keep him that he dash not his foot, his whole
body was thrown overboard. Says Solomon, "As a bird from her nest, so is a
man out of his place:" so long as the bird is in her nest it is free from
the hawk, it is free from the birding piece, it is free from the nets and gins
and snares as long as it is in its nest; but when the bird is off her nest then
she is exposed to many dangers. So, so long as a man is in his way, in his
place and in his way, he is well and under protection; but when a man is off
his nest, out of his place and out of his way, then is he exposed to all
dangers: but be but in your way and then you may assure yourselves of divine
protection, and of the management thereof by the hands of angels. Oh who would
not labour always to be in that way which God hath appointed him to be in? Why
should we not always consider with ourselves and say, But am I in my way? Old
Mr. Dod being upon the water and going out of one boat into another, slipped
between them, and the first word he spake was this, "Am I in my way?"
so we should always be saying, But am I in my way? am I in my way? I am now
idling away my time, but am I in my way? Oh my soul, am I in my way? I am in my
calling this day without prayer in the morning and reading the Scriptures; but
am I in my way? Oh, my soul, am I in my way? I am now in such frothy company
where I get no good, but hurt; but am I in my way? Ever consider this, Am I in
my way? You may expect the Lord's protection and the angels' attendance, if you
be in your way, but not else. William Bridge.
Verse
11. We have the safeguard of the empire; not only the protection of
the King, from which the wicked as outlaws are secluded; but also the keeping
of angels, to whom he hath given a charge over us, to keep us in all h's ways.
So nearly we participate of his Divine things, that we have his own guard royal
to attend us. Thomas Adams.
Verse
11. He shall give his angels charge over thee, etc.
And
is there care in heaven, and is there love
In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,
That may compassion of their evils move?
There is, else much more wretched were the race
Of men than beasts. But oh, the exceeding grace
Of highest God, that loves his creatures so,
And all his works with mercy doth embrace,
That blessed angels he sends to and fro,
To serve us wicked men, to serve his wicked foe!
How
oft do they their silver bowers leave,
To come to succour us that succour want!
How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,
Against foul fiends to aid us militant!
They for us fight, they watch and duly ward,
And their bright squadrons round about us plant;
And all for love and nothing for reward.
Oh, wily should heavenly God to man have such regard!
—Edmund Spenser, 1552-1599.
Verses
11-12. It is observable that Scripture is the weapon that Satan doth
desire to wield against Christ. In his other ways of dealing he was shy, and
did but lay them in Christ's way, offering only the occasion, and leaving him
to take them up; but in this he is more confident, and industriously pleads it,
as a thing which he could better stand to and more confidently avouch. The care
of his subtlety herein, lay in the misrepresentation and abuse of it, as may be
seen in these particulars: (1) In that he urged this promise to promote a
sinful thing, contrary to the general end of all Scripture, which was therefore
written `that we sin not.' (2) But more especially in his clipping and
mutilating of it. He industriously leaves out that part of it which doth limit
and confine the promise of protection to lawful undertakings, such as this was
not, and renders it as a general promise of absolute safety, be the action what
it will. It is a citation from Ps 91:11-12, which there runs thus, He shall
give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. These last
words, "in all thy ways, "which doth direct to a true
understanding of God's intention in that promise, he deceitfully leaves out, as
if they were needless and unnecessary parts of the promise, when indeed they
were on purpose put there by the Spirit of God, to give a description of those
persons and actions, unto whom, in such cases, the accomplishment of the
promise might be expected; for albeit the word in the original, which is translated
"ways"—Mykrd—doth signify any kind of way or action in the
general, yet in this place it doth not; for then God were engaged to an
absolute protection of men, not only when they unnecessarily thrust themselves
into dangers, but in the most abominably sinful actions whatsoever, which would
have been a direct contradiction to those many scriptures wherein God threatens
to withdraw his hand and leave sinners to the danger of their iniquities; but
it is evident that the sense of it is no more than this, `God is with you,
while you are with him.' We have a paraphrase of this text, to this purpose, in
Pr 3:23, "Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not
stumble:" where the condition of this safety, pointed to in the word "then,
" which leads the promise, is expressly mentioned in the foregoing verses,
"My son, let them"—that is, the precepts of wisdom—"not depart
from thine eyes... Then"—not upon other terms—"shalt thou walk in thy
way safely." The "ways" then in this promise cited by
Satan, are the ways of duty, or the ways of our lawful callings. The fallacy of
Satan in this dealing with Scripture is obvious, and Christ might have given
this answer, as Bernard hath it, That God promises to keep him in his ways, but
not in self created dangers, for that was not his way, but his ruin; or if a
way, it was Satan's way, but not his. (3) To these two, some add another abuse,
in a subtle concealment of the following verse in Ps 91:13: Thou shalt tread
upon the lion and adder. This concerned Satan, whose cruelty and poisonous
deceits were fitly represented by the lion and the adder, and there the promise
is also explained to have a respect to Satan's temptations—that is—God would so
manage his protection, that his children should not be led into a snare. Richard
Gilpin.
Verses
11-12. There is, to my mind, a very remarkable coincidence of expression
between the verses of this Psalm, about the office of God's angels, and that
passage in Isaiah where Christ's sympathy and presence receive the same charge
attributed to them without interposition. In Isa 63:9, we read, "In all
their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved
them." And again, "They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou
dash thy foot against a stone, "compared with "And he bare them, and
he carried them all the days of old." Christ in us, by sympathy with our
nature—Christ in us, by the indwelling of his Spirit in each individual
heart—thus he knows all our needs. Christ with us, in every step, all powerful
to make all work for good, and with love and pity watching over our
interests—thus his presence saves us, and all things are made his
messengers to us. Mary B.M. Duncan.
Verse
12. Angels... shall bear thee up... lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone. Angels are introduced as bearing up the believer in their
hands, not that he may be carried in safety over some vast ocean, not that he
may be transported through hostile and menacing squadrons, not that; when
exposed to some extraordinary danger, he may be conveyed to a place of refuge,
but, as bearing him up in their arms, "lest at any time he hurt his foot
against a stone."... Angels, the topmost beings in creation, the radiant,
the magnificent, the powerful—angels are represented as holding up a righteous
man, lest some pebble in the path should make him trip, lest he hurt his foot
against a stone. Is there, after all, any want of keeping between the agency
and the act, so that there is even the appearance of angels being unworthily
employed, employed on what is beneath them, when engaged in bearing us up, lest
at any time we hurt the foot against a stone? Nay, the hurting the foot against
a stone has often laid the foundations of fatal bodily disease: the injury
which seemed too trifling to be worth notice has produced extreme sickness, and
ended in death. Is it different in spiritual respects, in regard of the soul,
to which the promise in our text must be specially applied? Not a jot. Or, if
there be a difference, it is only that the peril to the soul from a slight
injury is far greater than that to the body: the worst spiritual diseases might
commonly be traced to inconsiderable beginnings. . . . It can be no easy thing,
this keeping the foot from being hurt against a stone, seeing that the highest
of created beings are commissioned to effect it. Neither is it. The difficulty
in religion is the taking up the cross "daily, "rather than the
taking it up on some set occasion, and under extraordinary circumstances. The
serving God in little things, the carrying religious principles into the
details of life, the discipline of our tempers, the regulation of our speech,
the domestic Christianity, the momentary sacrifices, the secret and unobserved
self denials; who that knows anything of the difficulties of piety, does not
know that there is greater danger of his failing in these than in trials of
apparently far higher cost, and harder endurance; if on no other account, yet
because the very absence of what looks important, or arduous, is likely to
throw him off his guard, make him careless or confident, and thereby almost
insure defect or defeat? Henry Melvill.
Verse
12. To carry them in their hands is a metaphor, and signifies a
perfect execution of their custody, to have a special care of them, and
therefore is rather expressed so, than carrying them on their shoulders. That
which one carries on their hand they are sure to keep. The Spaniards have a
proverb when they would signify eminent favour and friendship, `they carry him
upon the palms of their hands, 'that is, they exceedingly love him, and
diligently keep him. Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. He
persists in the metaphor: children often stumble and fall, unless they be led
and carried in hands and arms. By stones are meant all difficulties,
objections, perils, both to the outward and inward man, as Christ is said to
take care of hairs and sparrows, that is, of every thing even to a hair. Now we
know what this charge is, saving that Zanchy adds also the metaphor of
schoolmasters, and says that we are poor rustic people, strangers; but being
adopted into the household of God, he gives his most noble ministers, the angels,
charge, first of our nursing and then of our education; when we are weaned, to
instruct us, to admonish, to institute, to correct us, to comfort us, to defend
us, to preserve us from all evil, and to provoke us to all good. And these
angels, seeing we are so dear to God, that for our sakes he spared not his own
Son, take this charge with all their hearts upon them, and omit nothing of their
duty from our birth to the end of our life. Henry Lawrence, in "A
Treatise of our Communion and Warre with Angells, "1646.
Verse
13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and
the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. What avails a human foot among
these? What force of human affection can stand fast among such terrible
monsters? These are spiritual wickednesses, and are designated by not
incongruous titles... One is an asp, another a basilisk, a third a lion,
and a fourth a dragon, because each in his own invisible way variously
wounds,—one by his bite, another by his look, a third by his roar or blow, and
a fourth by his breath. . . . Consider this also, whether perchance we are able
to meet these four temptations with four virtues. The lion roars, who will not
fear? If any there be, he shall be brave. But when the lion is foiled,
the dragon lurks in the sand, in order to excite the soul with his poisonous
breath; breathing therein the lust of earthly things. Who, think you, shall escape
his wiles? None but the prudent. But perhaps whilst you are careful in
attacking these, some annoyance vexes you; and lo! the asp is upon you
forthwith. For he seems to have found for himself a seasonable moment. Who is
he that shall not be exasperated by this asp? Certainly the man of temperance
and modesty, who knows how to abound, and to suffer want. On this opportunity,
I think, the Evil Eye with its wicked allurements may determine to fascinate
thee. Who shall turn away his face? Truly the just man, who not only
desires not to take to himself the glory due to God, but not even to receive
what is presented by another: if yet he is a just man, that justly executes
what is just, who performs not his righteousness before men, who, lastly,
although he is just, lifts not up his head. For this virtue consists specially
in humility. This purifies the intention, this also obtains merit all the more
truly and effectually, because it arrogates less to itself. Bernard.
Verse
13. Adder. The pethen is classed with the lion as being
equally to be dreaded by the traveller... There is no doubt that the Egyptian
cobra is the pethen of Scripture. J. G. Wood.
Verse
13. Dragon. The expression is used (1) for "sea monsters,
" (2) for serpents, (3) for wild beasts or birds characteristic of
desolate places, and (4) it is used figuratively to represent the enemies of
the Lord, and especially Pharaoh, as head and representative of the Egyptian
power, and Nebuchadnezzar, the head and representative of the Chaldean monarchy.
The term is thus a general one, signifying any monstrous creature, whether of
the land or of the water, and is to be set down with the one or the other,
according as the context indicates. John Duns, in "Biblical Natural
Science."
Verse
13. Thou shalt tread upon; thou shalt trample under feet. Thou
shalt tread upon them, not accidentally, as a man treads upon an adder or a
serpent in the way; but his meaning is, thou shalt intentionally tread upon
them like a conqueror, thou shalt tread upon them to testify the dominion over
them, so when the Lord Jesus gave that promise (Lu 10:19) to his disciples,
that they should do great things, he saith, You shall tread upon serpents;
that is, you shall have power to overcome whatsoever may annoy you: serpentine
power is all hurtful power, whether literal or mystical. As the Apostle assures
all believers (Ro 16:20), "God shall tread down Satan (that old
serpent) under your feet shortly." Joseph Caryl.
Verse
13 (second clause). But what is said unto Christ? And thou shalt
tread on the lion and dragon. Lion, for overt wrath; dragon for
covert lurking. Augustine.
Verse
14. Because he hath set his love upon me. Vulg. Because he
hath hoped in me. Whatever is to be done, whatever is to be declined,
whatever is to be endured, whatever is to be chosen, Thou O Lord art my hope.
This is the only cause of all my promises, this the sole reason of my
expectation. Let another pretend to merit, let him boast that he bears the
burden and heat of the day, let him say that he fasts twice on the Sabbath, let
him finally glory that he is not as other men; for me it is good to cleave unto
God, to place my hope in the Lord God. Let others hope in other things, one in
his knowledge of letters, another in his worldly wisdom, one in his nobility,
one in his dignity, another in some other vanity, for thy sake I have made all
things loss, and count them but dung; since Thou, Lord, art my hope. Bernard,
quoted by Le Blanc.
Verse
14 (.first clause). As there is a because and a therefore
in the process of the law, in concluding death for sin, so there is a because
and a therefore in the process of grace, and of the gospel, which doth
reason from one grace given to infer another grace to be given, even grace for
grace; and such is this here: Because he hath set his love upon me,
therefore will I deliver him. David Dickson.
Verse
14. He does not say, Because he is without sin, because he has
perfectly kept all my precepts, because he has merit and is worthy to be
delivered and guarded. But he produces those qualities which are even found in
the weak, the imperfect, and those still exposed to sin in the flesh, namely,
adhesion, knowledge of his name, and prayer. Musculus.
Verse
14. He hath set his love upon me. In the love of a divinely
illuminated believer there is (1) the sweet property of gratitude. The
soul has just and enlarged views of the salvation which he has obtained through
the name of Jesus. The evils from which he is saved; the blessings in hand, and
the blessings in hope; the salvation in time, and the salvation through
eternity, which can and shall be enjoyed through the name of Jesus, excites
feelings of the most ardent gratitude in the soul of the Christian. (2) Another
delightful ingredient in this settled love is, admiration. Everything in
the scheme and execution of God's redeeming plan is an object of admiration.
All that the Lord Jesus is in himself; all that he has done; all that he does
at the present; and all that he has promised to do for his people, deserves the
warmest admiration. This holy feeling is experienced in the breast of the man
to whom the Lord can say, He hath set his love upon me. (3) Another
ingredient in the illuminated love of the believer is delightful complacency.
Nothing can afford complacent delight in any excellency unless we are persuaded
that we either do possess, or may possess it. I may go to the palace of the
greatest monarch in the world, and be deeply struck with astonishment and
admiration at the wonder beheld, but there will not be one thrill of complacency
felt in my bosom at the view of the astonishing objects which crowd upon my
vision. Why? Because I neither have, nor can have any interest in them; they
are not mine, nor ever can be; therefore, I cannot take complacent delight in
them. But the love of the Christian is a delightful love, (as Mr. Baxter called
it,)because there is in the Lord everything that is worthy of infinite and
eternal admiration; and then there is the thought which produces a thrill of
pleasure,—whatever I admire I can, in some measure, possess. The illuminated
eye of God's favourite sees everything in the Lord to supply his necessities;
everything to satisfy his desires, all his own; which makes the soul delight
itself in the Lord, and he rests in his love. Therefore, the Lord says of the
object of his lovingkindness, "He hath set his love upon me"—he
hath renounced sin as the greatest abomination; he hath taken off the heart
from all idolatrous attachment to the creature, and placed it fixedly and
supremely upon God. William Dawson, Methodist Preacher (1773-1841).
Verse
14. He hath set his love upon me. We have a similar expression
in daily use, which means the bending of all our energies to one end—a
ceaseless effort after one object. We say, "I have set my heart on such a
thing." This is what God will have from us—an intense, single hearted
love. We must love him "with all our heart, and with all our soul, and
with all our strength, and with all our mind, "so that, like Jesus, we may
"delight to do his will." Just let us think of the way in which
setting our heart on anything affects us, head, hands, time, thought,
action—all are at work for us attainment. How we sacrifice everything else to
it? Comfort, ease, present advantage, money, health, nay, our very selves, go
freely for the sake of our cherished wish. Have I so "set my heart
upon" God? Temperaments differ. This may be an overdrawn picture of the
way in which some of us seek a cherished object. But each knows his own
capability in this way. God also knows our frame, and requires his best at
every man's hand. There is one thing in this verse which may encourage us very
much. It is not because of perfect love that God will deliver. It is to
the will to love and serve—it is to the setting the heart, that the
promise is made—to the "full purpose of heart" that is set to
cleave unto the Lord. Mary B. M. Duncan.
Verse
14. I will set him on high. That is, in an inaccessible, or
lofty place, I will set him, which means, I will deliver him. When men truly
know God to be a deliverer, they both put confidence in Him, and call upon Him.
Then God exalts and delivers him that calls. Franciscus Vatablus.
Verse
14. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
There is a great deal of safety in the knowledge of God, in his attributes, and
in his Christ. A man's safety we see lies in his running to the tower (Pr
28:10); he runs and is safe. And it is the knowledge of this tower that sets a
man a running to it. Hence we find safety attributed to the knowledge of the
Lord. "I will set him on high, "I will exalt him, and so he
shall be safe. Why so? "Because he hath known my name"; for
the knowing of God aright was that which made him run, and so he is exalted and
set on high. Then a man is safe when he hath got this tower to be his tower,
when he hath gotten God to be his God. Now when we know God, we get him to be
our God, and make this tower our tower, Jer 24:7: "I will give them an
heart to know me, and I will be their God." Jeremiah Dyke, in "The
Righteous Man's Tower, "1639.
Verses
14-16. He hath known my name. From this text I would introduce to your
notice the most desirable character under the sun; and I would exhibit him
before you to excite each one to seek, until you obtain the same blessedness.
The character that I shall exhibit is GOD'S FAVOURITE, one who is an object of
the "lovingkindness of the Lord"; and in reading this passage there
are two things which strike our attention concerning such a character. First,
what the Lord says of him. Second, what the Lord says to
him. Now, then, my brethren—LOOK! There stands before you GOD's FAVOURITE!
Listen
to what God says OF him. 1. He says of him, "He knows my
name." The first principle of the life of God the fallen soul of man
is knowledge; spiritual, divine knowledge. The first operation of the Holy
Ghost in the work of salvation, is a conviction of the character and
perfections and relations of God. The Lord says, "he knows my name."
He knows my name as Omniscient, Omnipresent, Holy, Just and True. (1) He first
knows my name as a sin hating, sin avenging God; and this knowledge was a means
of leading him to a deep sense of his own personal corruption, guilt, and
danger as a sinner. (2) But the favourite of the Lord knows his name as
revealed to Moses, as "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin." He knows the name of the
Lord as concentrated in the name of Jesus, who "shall save his people from
their sins." By the white beams of God's holiness, (if I may so
speak) the sinner sees his corruption, guilt and deformity: by the red
beams of God's justice he sees his unspeakable danger: by the mild beams
of God's mercy, he discovers a ground of hope—that there is pardon for his
aggravated crimes. But it is in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, that God
appears most delightful. Hence we can say to every saved soul, as Paul did to
the Corinthians:—"God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ." As all the colours of the rainbow meet
in one sunbeam, so all the perfections of God as perfectly unite, and more
beautifully shine forth, in the person and offices of Jesus Christ, upon the
soul of the penitent believer. This saving knowledge is always vital, active,
and powerful. William Dawson.
Verse
14. He hath known my name. May we not get some light on this
expression from the custom of the Jews, keeping the name JEHOVAH sacred to
their own use, regarding it as too holy even to be pronounced by them in common
use and thus preserving it from being taken in vain by the heathen around? Thus
it was known to Jews only... But whatever be the origin of the expressions, to
"know His name, " to "trust in His name, "to
"believe in His name, "it evidently in all these cases means
whatever is revealed concerning Him—all that by which he maketh himself known.
His Word, his Providence, above all, his Son, are included thus in his name,
which we must know, believe in, and trust. So that to "know his name"
is to know himself, as revealed in the Gospel. Mary B. M. Duncan.
Verse
14. (last clause). Sound love to God, floweth from and is joined with
sound knowledge of God, as his Majesty is declared unto us in Scripture: the
believer who hath set his love upon God, hath known my name,
saith he. David Dickson.
Verse
15. I will answer him. I think we sometimes discourage
ourselves by a misconception of the exact meaning of the expression, "answer,
"taking it to mean only grant. Now, an answer is not
necessarily an acquiescence. It may be a refusal, an explanation, a promise, a
conditional grant. It is, in fact, simply attention to our request expressed.
In this sense, before we call he will answer, and while we are get speaking he
will hear, Isa 65:24. Mary B. M. Duncan.
Verse
15. I will be with him in trouble. I will be with him in trouble,
says God: and shall I seek meanwhile anything else than trouble? It is good for
me to cleave unto God. Not only so, but also to put my hope in the Lord:
because I will deliver him, he says, and honour him. I will be with
him in trouble. My delights, he says, are with the sons of men.
Emmanuel God with us. Hail, thou art highly favoured, says the Angel to
Mary, the Lord is with thee. In the fulness of grace He is with us, in
the plenitude of glory we shall be with Him. He descends in order to be near to
those who are of a troubled heart, that He may be with us in our trouble... It
is better for me, O Lord, to be troubled, whilst only Thou art with me, than to
reign without Thee, to feast without Thee, to be honoured without Thee. It is
good rather to be embraced by Thee in trouble, to have thee in this furnace
with me, than to be without Thee even in heaven. For what have I in heaven, and
without Thee what do I desire upon earth? The furnace tries the gold, and the
temptation of trouble just men. Bernard.
Verse
15. I will be with him trouble. God hath made promises of his
special presence with his saints in suffering. If we have such a friend to
visit us in prison, we shall do well enough; though we change our place, we
shall not change our keeper. "I will be with him." God will
hold our head and heart when we are fainting! What if we have more afflictions
than others, if we have more of God's company? God's honour is dear to him; it
would not be for his honour to bring his children into sufferings, and leave
them there; he will be with them to animate and support them; yea, when new troubles
arise. Job 5:19. "He shall deliver thee in six troubles." Thomas
Watson.
Verse
15. I will be with him in trouble. Again God speaks and acts
like a tender hearted mother towards a sickly child. When the child is in
perfect health she can leave it in the hands of the nurse; but when it is sick
she will attend it herself; she will say to the nurse, "You may attend a
while to some other business, I will watch over the child myself." She
hears the slightest moan; she flies to the cradle; she takes it in her arms;
she kisses its lips, and drops a tear upon its face, and asks, "What can I
do for thee, my child? How can I relieve thy pain and soften thy sufferings? Do
not weep and break my heart; it is thy mother's arms that are around thee; it
is thy mother's lap on which thou art laid; it is thy mother's voice that
speaks to thee; it is thy mother that is with thee; fear not." So the Lord
speaks to his afflicted children. "I will be with him in trouble."
No mother can equally sympathise with her suffering child; as the Lord does
with his suffering people. No! could all the love that ever dwelt in all the
mothers' hearts that ever existed, be united in one mother's heart, and fixed
on her only child, it would no more bear a comparison with the love of God to his
people than the summer midnight glow worm is to be compared to the summer
midday sun. Oh, that delightful sentence I will be with him in trouble.
At other times God will leave them in the hands of angels: "I will give
them charge over them, to keep them in all their ways; they bear them up lest
at any time they dash their feet against a stone." But when they are in
trouble, I will say to the angels, "Stand aside, I will take care of them
myself." "I will be with them in trouble." So he speaks
to his people: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." When
languishing in sickness, He will make his bed, and his pillow; when travelling
through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord will be with him, and
enable him to sing, "I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod
and thy staff they comfort me." Thus he is with them as their physician
and nurse, in pain and sickness; as their strength in weakness; as their guide
in difficulty; their ease in pain; and as their life in death. "I will
be with him in trouble." William Dawson.
Verse
16. With long life will I satisfy him. Saint Bernard
interprets this of heaven;because he thought nothing long that had an
end. This, indeed, is the emphasis of heaven's joy; those blessed souls never
sin, never weep more; they shall not only be with the Lord, but ever with the
Lord. This is the accent which is set on the eulogies given to heaven in
Scripture. It is "an inheritance, "and that an "incorruptible
one, that fadeth not away; "it is "a crown of glory, "and that a
weighty one, yea, "an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory."
When once it is on the saint's head it can never fall, or be snatched off; it
is a feast, but such a one that hath a sitting down to it but no rising up from
it. William Gurnall.
Verse
16. With long life will I satisfy him. Observe the joyful
contrast here to the mournful words in the foregoing Psalm. "We spend our
years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and
ten, "(Ps 90:9-10.) The life of Israel in the wilderness was shortened by
Disobedience. The Obedience of Christ in the wilderness has won for us a
blessed immortality. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
16. With long life will I satisfy him, etc. The margin here is
"length of days; "that is, days lengthened out or multiplied. The
meaning is, I will give him length of days as he desires, or until he is
satisfied with life;—implying (1) that it is natural to desire long life; (2)
that long life is to be regarded as a blessing (comp. Pr 3:2,16 Ex 20:12); (8)
that the tendency of religion is to lengthen out life; since virtue,
temperance, regular industry, calmness of mind, moderation in all things,
freedom from excesses in eating and drinking,—to all of which religion
prompts,—contribute to health and to length of days; and (4) that a time will
come, even under this promised blessing of length of days, when a man will be "satisfied"
with living; when he will have no strong desire to live longer; when, under the
infirmities of advanced years, and under his lonely feelings from the fact that
his early friends have fallen, and under the influence of a bright hope of
heaven, he will feel that he has had enough of life here, and that it is
better to depart to another world. And shew him my salvation. In another
life, after he shall be satisfied with this life. Albert Barnes.
Verse
16. With long life will I satisfy him. This promise concerning
length of life contains a gift of God by no means to be despised. Many enemies
indeed will plot against his life, and desire to extinguish him as suddenly and
as quickly as possible; but I shall so guard him that he shall live to a good
old age and be filled with years, and desire to depart from life. J. B.
Folengius.
Verse
16. With long life will I satisfy him.
We
live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels noblest, acts the best.
—Philip James Bailey, in "Festus."
Verse
16. Long life.
They
err who measure life by years,
With false or thoughtless tongue;
Some hearts grow old before their time;
Others are always young.
It is not the number of the lines
On life's fast filling page,
It is not the pulse's added throbs,
Which constitute their age.
Some souls are serfs among the free,
While others nobly thrive;
They stand just where their fathers stood
Dead, even while they live.
Others, all spirit, heart, and sense,
Theirs the mysterious power
To live in thrills of joy or woe,
A twelvemonth in an hour! Bryan W. Procter
Verse
16. Long life.
He
liveth long who liveth well!
All other life is short and vain:
He liveth longest who can tell
Of living most for heavenly gain.
Fie liveth long who liveth well!
All else is being flung away;
He liveth longest who can tell of true things
truly done each day. Horatius Bonar
Verse
16. I will show him my salvation. The last, greatest, climax
of blessing, including and concluding all! What God does is perfectly done.
Hitherto has his servant caught glimpses of the "great salvation."
The Spirit has revealed step by step of it, as he was able to bear it. The Word
has taught him, and he has rejoiced in his light. But all was seen in part
and known in part. But when God has satisfied his servant with length of
days, and time for him is over, eternity begun, he will "shew him his
salvation." All will be plain. All will be known. God will be revealed
in his love and his glory. And we shall know all things, even as we are known! Mary
B. M. Duncan.
Verse
1.
1.
The secret dwelling place. There is the dweller in the dark world, in the
favoured land, in the holy city, in the outer court; but the holy of holies is
the "secret place"—communion, acceptance, etc.
2.
The protecting shadow—security, peace, etc.; like hamlets of olden time
clustered beneath castle walls. Charles A. Davis.
Verse
1.
1. The
person. One who is in intimate, personal, secret, abiding communion with
God, dwelling near the mercyseat, within the veil.
2.
The Privilege. He is the guest of God, protected, refreshed, and comforted by
him, and that to all eternity.
Verses
1-2. Four names of God.
1.
We commune with him reverently, for he is the Most High.
2. We rest in him as the Almighty.
3. We rejoice in him as Jehovah or Lord.
4. We trust him as EL, the mighty God.
Verse
2.
1.
Observe the nouns applied to God—refuge from trouble, fortress in trouble, God
at all times.
2.
Observe the pronouns applied by man—"I" will say, "my
refuge, my fortress, "etc. G. R.
Verse
2. The power, excellence, fruit, reasonableness, and open avowal of
personal faith.
Verse
3. Invisible protection from invisible dangers; wisdom to meet
cunning, love to war with cruelty, omnipresence to match mystery, life to
baffle death.
Verse
3. SURELY, or reasons for assured confidence in God's protection.
Verses
3-7. Pestilence, panic, and peace; (for times of widespread disease). Charles
A. Davis.
Verses
3, 8-9.
1.
Saints are safe—"surely, "(Ps 91:3).
2.
The evil is bounded—"only, "(Ps 91:8).
3.
The Lord has reasons for preserving his own—because, "(Ps 91:9).
Verse
4.
1.
The compassion of God.
2. The confidence of saints.
3. The panoply of truth.
Verses
5-6.
1.
The exposure of all men to fear. (a) Continually, day and night. (b)
Deservedly: "conscience doth make cowards of us all."
2.
The exemption of some men from fear. (a) Because of their trust. (b) Because of
the divine protection.
Verse
7. How an evil may be near but not nigh.
Verse
8. What we have actually seen of the reward of the wicked.
Verses
9-10.
1.
God our spiritual habitation.
2. God the keeper of our earthly habitation.
3. General truth that the spiritual blesses the temporal.
Verse
10.
1.
The Personal Blessing.
2. The Domestic Blessing.
3. The connection between the two.
Verses
11-12. A "wrested" Scripture righted.
1.
Satan's version—presumptuousness.
2.
The Holy Spirit's version—trustfulness. Charles A. Davis.
Verses
11-12.
1.
The Ministry of Angels as employed by God. (a) Official: "he shall give,
"etc. (b) Personal: "over thee." (c) Constant: "in all thy
ways."
2.
As enjoyed by man. (a) For preservation: "shall bear thee, "etc.;
tenderly but effectually. (b) Under limitation. They cannot do the work of God,
or of Christ, or of the Spirit, or of the word, or of ministers, for salvation;
"are they not all ministering spirits, "etc. G. R.
Verse
12. Preservation from minor evils most precious because they are
often most grievous, lead to greater evils, and involve much damage.
Verse
13. The believer's love set upon God.
Verse
13.
1.
Every child of God has his enemies. (a) They are numerous: "the lion,
adder, young lion, dragon." (b) Diversified: subtle and
powerful—"lion and adder; " new and old—"young lion" and
the" old dragon."
2.
He will finally obtain a complete victory over them—"Thou shalt tread,
"etc.; "shall put thy foot, "etc.; "the Lord shall bruise
Satan, "etc. G. R.
Verses
14-16. The six "I wills."
Verse
14. Here we have,
1.
Love for love: "Because, "etc. (a) The fact of the saints' love to
God. There is, first, love in God without their love, then love for their love.
(b) The evidence of his love to them: "I will deliver him"—from sin,
from danger, from temptation, from every evil.
2.
Honour for honour. (a) His honouring God. "He hath known my name" and
made it known; God honouring him; "I will set him on high"—high in
honour, in happiness, in glory. G. R.
Verse
15-16. Observe,
1.
The exceeding great and precious promises. (a) Answer to prayer: "he shall
call, "etc. (b) Comfort in trouble: "I will be with him." (c)
Deliverance from trouble: "I will deliver him." (d) Greater honour
after trouble: deliver "and honour him." (e) Length of days; life
long enough to satisfy him. (f) God's salvation; "show him my salvation;
"far beyond what man could think or desire.
2.
To whom these promises belong; who is the he and the him to whom
these promises are made. He "calls upon God, "says Ps 91:15; he
"hath known my name, "says Ps 91:14; he "hath set his love upon
me, "says the former part of the same verse; he "has made the Lord
his habitation, "says Ps 91:9; he "dwelleth in the secret place of
the Most High, "says Ps 91:1. Hannah More says, "To preach privileges
without specifying to whom they belong is like putting a letter in the post
office without a direction." It may be very good and contain a valuable
remittance, but no one can tell for whom it is intended. All the promises of
Scripture are plainly directed to those to whom they belong. The direction put
upon the promises of this Psalm is unmistakably clear and often repeated. G.
R.
WORKS
UPON THE NINETY-FIRST PSALM
S.
Patris Bernardi, in Psalmum 90. (91). Qui habitat. Sermones (In the
Paris edition of Bernard's works, imperial 8vo. 1839, Volume one part 2, also
in the quarto volume of Sermons, Salisburgi MDCLXVI.
The
Shield of the Righteous: or, the Ninety-first Psalme, expounded, with the
addition of Doctrines and Verses. Verie necessarie and comfortable in these
dayes of heauinesse, wherein the Pestilence rageth so sore in London, and other
parts of this Kingdome. By ROBERT HORN, Minister of God's Word...London. 1628
(4to).
The
Righteous man's Habitation in the Time of the Plague and Pestilence; being a
brief Exposition of the Ninety-first Psalm: (In the Works of William Bridge
(1600-1670) Tegg's Edition, Volume one pg. 463-500.
In
"UNDER THE SHADOW: being additional leaves from the Note Book of the
late Mary B.M. Duncan, 1867", pp. 85-172, there is an Exposition of
this Psalm.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》