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Psalm One
Hundred Twenty-five
Psalm 125
Chapter Contents
The security of the righteous. (1-3) Prayer for them, The
ruin of the wicked. (4,5)
Commentary on Psalm 125:1-3
(Read Psalm 125:1-3)
All those minds shall be truly stayed, that are stayed on
God. They shall be as Mount Zion, firm as it is; a mountain supported by
providence, much more as a holy mountain supported by promise. They cannot be
removed from confidence in God. They abide for ever in that grace which is the
earnest of their everlasting continuance in glory. Committing themselves to God,
they shall be safe from their enemies. Even mountains may moulder and come to
nothing, and rocks be removed, but God's covenant with his people cannot be
broken, nor his care of them cease. Their troubles shall last no longer than
their strength will bear them up under them. The rod of the wicked may come,
may fall upon the righteous, upon their persons, their estates, their
liberties, their families names, on any thing that falls to their lot; only it
cannot reach their souls. And though it may come upon their lot, it shall not
rest thereon. The Lord will make all work together for their good. The wicked
shall only prove a correcting rod, not a destroying sword; even this rod shall
not remain upon them, lest they distrust the promise, thinking God has cast
them off.
Commentary on Psalm 125:4,5
(Read Psalm 125:4,5)
God's promises should quicken our prayers. The way of
holiness is straight; there are no windings or shiftings in it. But the ways of
sinners are crooked. They shift from one purpose to another, and turn hither
and thither to deceive; but disappointment and misery shall befal them. Those
who cleave to the ways of God, though they may have trouble in their way, their
end shall be peace. The pleading of their Saviour for them, secures to them the
upholding power and preserving grace of their God. Lord, number us with them,
in time, and to eternity.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 125
Verse 3
[3] For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of
the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
The rod — Their power and authority.
Not rest — Not continue long.
The lot — Upon the habitations and persons of good men.
Lest — Lest they should be driven to indirect courses to
relieve themselves.
Verse 5
[5] As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the
LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be
upon Israel.
Lead them — Unto sinful courses.
Israel — Upon the true Israel of God.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. A Song of
Degrees. Another step is taken in the ascent, another station in the pilgrimage
is reached: certainly a rise in the sense is here perceptible, since full
assurance concerning years to come is a higher form of faith than the
ascription of farther escapes to the Lord. Faith has praised Jehovah for past
deliverances, and t, ere she rises to a confident jury in the present and
future safety of believers. She asserts that they shall forever secure who
trust themselves with the Lord. We can imagine the pilgrims chanting this song
when perambulating the city walls.
We
do not assert that David wrote this Psalm, but we have as much ground for doing
so as others have for declaring that it was written after the captivity. It
would seem provable that all the Pilgrim Psalms were composed, or, at least, compiled
by the same writer, and as some of them are certainly by David, there is too
conclusive reason for taking away the rest from him.
DIVISION. First we have
a song of holy confidence (Ps 125:1-2); then a promise, Ps 125:3; followed by a
prayer, Ps 125:4; and a note of warning.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion. The
emphasis lies upon the object of their trust, namely, Jehovah the Lord. What a
privilege to be allowed to repose in God] How condescending is Jehovah to
become the confidence of his people! To trust elsewhere is vanity; and the more
implicit such misplaced trust becomes the more bitter will be the ensuing
disappointment; but to trust in the living God is sanctified common sense which
needs no excuse, its result shall be its best vindication. There is no
conceivable reason why we should not trust in Jehovah, and there is every
possible argument for so doing; but, apart from all argument, the end will
prove the wisdom of the confidence. The result of faith is not occasional and
accidental; its blessing comes, not to some who trust, but to all who trust in
the Lord. Trusters in Jehovah shall be as fixed, firm, and stable as the mount
where David dwelt, and where the ark abode. To move mount Zion was impossible:
the mere supposition was absurd. Which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
Zion was the image of eternal steadfastness,—this hill which, according to the
Hebrew, "sits to eternity, "neither bowing down nor moving to and
fro. Thus doth the trusting worshipper of Jehovah enjoy a restfulness which is
the mirror of tranquillity; and this not without cause, for his hope is sure,
and of his confidence he can never be ashamed. As the Lord sitteth King for
ever, so do his people sit enthroned in perfect peace when their trust in him
is firm. This is, and is to be our portion; we are, we have been, we shall be
as steadfast as the hill of God. Zion cannot be removed, and does not remove;
so the people of God can neither be moved passively nor actively, by force from
without or fickleness from within. Faith in God is a settling and establishing
virtue; he who by his strength setteth fast the mountains, by that same power
stays the hearts of them that trust in him. This steadfastness will endure
"for ever, "and we may be assured therefore that no believer shall
perish either in life or in death, in time or in eternity. We trust in an
eternal God, and our safety shall be eternal.
Verse
2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is
round about his people from henceforth even for ever. The hill of Zion is
the type of the believer's constancy, and the surrounding mountains are made
emblems of the all surrounding presence of the Lord. The mountains around the
holy city, though they do not make a circular wall, are, nevertheless, set like
sentinels to guard her gates. God doth not enclose his people within ramparts
and bulwarks, making their city to be a prison; but yet he so orders the
arrangements of his providence that his saints are as safe as if they dwelt
behind the strongest fortifications. What a double security the two verses set
before us! First, we are established, and then entrenched; settled, and then
sentinelled: made like a mount, and then protected as if by mountains. This is
no matter of poetry, it is so in fact; and it is no matter of temporary
privilege, but it shall be so for ever. Date when we please, "from
henceforth" Jehovah encircles his people: look on as far as we please, the
protection extends "even for ever." Note, it is not said that
Jehovah's power or wisdom defends believers, but he himself is round about
them: they have his personality for their protection, his Godhead for their
guard. We are here taught that the Lord's people are those who trust him, for
they are thus described in the first verses: the line of faith is the line of
grace, those who trust in the Lord are chosen of the Lord. The two verses
together prove the eternal safety of the saints: they must abide where God has
placed them, and God must for ever protect them from all evil. It would be
difficult to imagine greater safety than is here set forth.
Verse
3. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the
righteous. The people of God are not to expect immunity from trial because
the Lord surrounds them, for they may feel the power and persecution of the
ungodly. Isaac, even in Abraham's family, was mocked by Ishmael. Assyria laid
its sceptre even upon Zion itself. The graceless often bear rule and wield the
rod; and when they do so they are pretty sure to make it fall heavily upon the
Lord's believing people, so that the godly cry out by reason of their
oppressors. Egypt's rod was exceeding heavy upon Israel, but the time came for
it to be broken. God has set a limit to the woes of his chosen: the rod may
light on their portion, but it shall not rest upon it. The righteous have a lot
which none can take from them, for God has appointed them heirs of it by
gracious entail: on that lot the rod of the wicked may fall, but over that lot
it cannot have lasting sway. The saints abide for ever, but their troubles will
not. Here is a good argument in prayer for all righteous ones who are in the
hands of the wicked. Lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
The tendency of oppression is to drive the best of men into some hasty deed for
self deliverance or vengeance. If the rack be too long used the patient
sufferer may at last give way; and therefore the Lord puts a limit to the
tyranny of the wicked. He ordained that an Israelite who deserved punishment
should not be beaten without measure: forty stripes save one was the appointed
limit. We may therefore expect that he will set a bound to the suffering of the
innocent, and will not allow them to be pushed to the uttermost extreme.
Especially in point of time he will limit the domination of the persecutor, for
length adds strength to oppression, and makes it intolerable; hence the Lord
himself said of a certain tribulation, "except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days
shall be shortened." It seems that even righteous men are in peril of
sinning in evil days, and that it is not the will of the Lord that they should
yield to the stress of the times in order to escape from suffering. The power
and influence of wicked men when they are uppermost are used to lead or drive
the righteous astray; but the godly must not accept this as an excuse, and
yield to the evil pressure; far rather must they resist with all their might
till it shall please God to stay the violence of tim persecutor, and give his
children rest. This the Lord here promises to do in due time.
Verse
4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are
upright in their hearts. Men to be good at all must be good at heart. Those
who trust in the Lord are good; for faith is the root of righteousness, and the
evidence of uprightness. Faith in God is a good and upright thing, and its
influence makes the rest of the man good and upright. To such God will do good:
the prayer of the text is but another form of promise, for that which the Lord
prompts us to ask he virtually promises to give. Jehovah will take off evil
from his people, and in the place thereof will enrich them with all manner of
good. When the rod of the wicked is gone his own rod and staff shall comfort
us. Meanwhile it is for us to pray that it may be well with all the upright who
are now among men. God bless them, and do them good in every possible form. We
wish well to those who do well. We are so plagued by the crooked that we would
pour benedictions upon the upright.
Verse
5. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD
shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. Two kinds of men are
always to be found, the upright and the men of crooked ways. Alas, there are
some who pass from one class to another, not by a happy conversion, turning
from the twisting lanes of deceit into the highway of truth, but by an unhappy
declension leaving the main road of honesty and holiness for the bypaths of wickedness.
Such apostates have been seen in all ages, and David knew enough of them; he
could never forget Saul, and Ahithophel, and others. How sad that men who once
walked in the right way should turn aside from it! Observe the course of the
false hearted: first, they look out for crooked ways; next, they choose them
and make them "their crooked ways"; and then they turn aside into
them. They never intend to go back unto perdition, but only to make a curve and
drop into the right road again. The straight way becomes a little difficult,
and so they make a circumbendibus, which all along aims at coming out right,
though it may a little deviate from precision. These people are neither upright
in heart, nor good, nor trusters in Jehovah, and therefore the Lord will deal
otherwise with them than with his own people: when execution day comes these
hypocrites and time servers shall be led out to the same gallows as the openly
wicked. All sin will one day be expelled the universe, even as criminals
condemned to die are led out of the city; then shall secret traitors find
themselves ejected with open rebels. Divine truth will unveil their hidden
pursuits, and lead them forth, and to the surprise of many they shall be set in
the same rank with those who avowedly wrought iniquity. But peace shall be upon
Israel. In fact the execution of the deceivers shall tend to give the true
Israel peace. When God is smiting the unfaithful not a blow shall fall upon the
faithful. The chosen of the Lord shall not only be like Salem, but they shall
have salem, or peace. Like a prince, Israel has prevailed with God, and
therefore he need not fear the face of man; his wrestlings are over, the
blessing of peace has been pronounced upon him. He who has peace with God may
enjoy peace concerning all things. Bind the first and last verses together:
Israel trusts in the Lord Ps 125:1, and Israel has peace Ps 125:5.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. In the degrees of Christian virtue, this psalm represents the
sixth step—the confidence which the Christian places in the Lord. "It
teacheth us, while we ascend and raise our minds unto the Lord our God in
loving charity and piety, not to fix our gaze upon men who are prosperous in
the world with a false happiness." (Augustine.)—H. T. Armfield, in
"The Gradual Psalms," 1874.
Whole
Psalm. This short psalm may be summed up in those words of the prophet
(Isa 3:10-11), "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him.
Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him." Thus are life and death,
the blessing and the curse, set before us often in the psalms, as well as in
the law and in the prophets.—Matthew Henry, 1662-1714.
Verse
1. They that trust in the LORD. Note how he commandeth no
work here to be done, but only speaketh of trust, In popery in the time of
trouble men were taught to enter into some kind of religion, to fast, to go on
pilgrimage, and to do such other foolish works of devotion, which they devised
as an high service unto God, and, thereby thought to make condign satisfaction
for sin and to merit eternal life. But here the Psalmist leadeth us the plain
way unto God, pronouncing this to be the chiefest anchor of our salvation,—only
to hope and trust in the Lord; and declaring that the greatest service that we
can do unto God is to trust him. For this is the nature of God—to create all
things of nothing. Therefore he createth and bringeth forth in death, life; in
darkness, light. Now to believe this is the essential nature and most special
property of faith. When God then seeth such a one as agreeth with his own
nature, that is, which believeth to find in danger help, in poverty riches, in
sin righteousness, and that for God's own mercy's sake in Christ alone, him can
God neither hate nor forsake.—Martin Luther (1483-1546), in "A
Commentary on the Psalms of Degrees."
Verse
1. They that trust in the Lord. All that deal with God must
deal upon trust, and he will give comfort to those only that give credit to
him, and make it appear they do so by quitting other confidences, and venturing
to the utmost for God. The closer our expectations are confined to God, the
higher our expectations may be raised.—Matthew Henry.
Verse
1. They that trust, etc. Trust, therefore, in the Lord,
always, altogether, and for all things.—Robert Nisbet, in "The Songs of
the Temple Pilgrims," 1863.
Verse
1. Shall be as mount Zion. Some persons are like the
sand—ever shifting and treacherous. See Mt 7:26. Some are like the sea—restless
and unsettled. See Isa 57:20 Jas 1:6. Some are like the wind—uncertain and
inconstant. See Eph 4:14. Believers are like a mountain—strong, stable, and
secure. To every soul that trusts him the Lord says, "Thou art
Peter."—W. Hr. J. Page, of Chelsea, 1883.
Verse
1. As mount Zion, etc. Great is the stability of a believer's
felicity.—John Trapp, 1601-1669.
Verse
1. Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, etc. Lieutenant
Conder, reviewing Mr. Maudslay's important exploration, says, "It is
especially valuable as showing that, however the masonry may have been
destroyed and lost, we may yet hope to find indications of the ancient enceinte
in the rock scarps which are imperishable." This is very true; for,
while man can destroy what man has made, the everlasting hills smile at his
rage. Yet who can hear of it without perceiving the force and sublimity of that
glorious description of the immobility of believers.
"They
that trust in Jehovah are as mount Zion,
Which shall not be moved, it abideth for ever."
—James Neil, in "Palestine Explored", 1882.
Verse
1. Cannot be removed, etc. They can never be removed from the
Lord, though they may be removed from his house and ordinances, as sometimes
David was; and from his gracious presence, and sensible communion with him; and
out of the world by death: yet never from his heart's love, nor out of the
covenant of his grace, which is sure and everlasting; nor out of his family,
into which they are taken; nor from the Lord Jesus Christ, nor out of his hands
and arms, nor from off his heart; nor from off him, as the foundation on which
they are laid; nor out of a state of grace, either regeneration or
justification; but such abide in the love of God, in the covenant of his grace,
in the hands of his Son, in the grace wherein they stand, and in the house of
God for evermore.—John Gill, 1697-1771.
Verse
1. Abideth for ever. So surely as Mount Zion shall
never be "removed", so surely shall the church of God be preserved.
Is it not strange that wicked and idolatrous powers have not joined together,
dug down this mount, and carried it into the sea, that they might nullify a
promise in which the people of God exult! Till ye can carry Mount Zion into the
Mediterranean Sea, the church of Christ shall grow and prevail. Hear this, yet
murderous Mohammedans!—Adam Clarke, 1760-1832.
Verse
1. Abideth. Literally, sitteth;as spoken of a
mountain, "lieth" or "is situated"; but here with the
following forever, used in a still stronger sense.—J. J. Stewart
Perowne, 1868.
Verses
1-2. That which is here promised the saints is a perpetual
preservation of them in that condition wherein they are; both on the part of
God, "he is round about them from henceforth even for ever"; and on
their parts, they shall not be removed,—that is, from the condition of
acceptation with God wherein they are supposed to be,—but they shall abide for
ever, and continue therein immovable unto the end. This is a plain promise of
their continuance in that condition wherein they are, with their safety from
thence, and not a promise of some other good thing provided that they continue
in that condition. Their being compared to mountains, and their stability,
which consists in their being and continuing so, will admit no other sense. As
mount Zion abides in its condition, so shall they; and as the mountains about
Jerusalem continue, so doth the Lord continue his presence unto them. That
expression which is used, Ps 125:2, is weighty and full to this purpose, The
LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. What can be
spoken more fully, more pathetically? Can any expression of men so set forth
the safety of the saints? The Lord is round about them, not to save them from
this or that incursion, but from all; not from one or two evils, but from every
one whereby they are or may be assaulted. He is with them, and round about them
on every side that no evil shall come nigh them. It is a most full expression
of universal preservation, or of God's keeping his saints in his love and
favour, upon all accounts whatsoever; and that not for a season only, but it is
"henceforth", from his giving this promise unto their souls in
particular, and their receiving of it, throughout all generations, "even
for ever."—John Owen, 1616-1683.
Verse
2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem. This image is
not realised, as most persons familiar with our European scenery would wish and
expect it to be realised. Jerusalem is not literally shut in by mountains,
except on the eastern side, where it may be said to be enclosed by the arms of
Olivet, with its outlying ridges on the north east and south west. Anyone
facing Jerusalem westward, northward, or southward, will always see the city
itself on an elevation higher than the hills in its immediate neighbourhood,
its towers and walls standing out against the sky, and not against any high
background such as that which encloses the mountain towns and villages of our
own Cumbriau or Westmoreland valleys. Nor, again, is the plain on which it
stands enclosed by a continuous though distant circle of mountains, like that
which gives its peculiar charm to Athens and Innsbruck. The mountains in the
neighbourhood of Jerusalem are of unequal height, and only in two or three
instances—Neby-Samwil, Er-Rain, and Tuleil el-Ful—rising to any considerable
elevation. Even Olivet is only a hundred and eighty feet above the top of Mount
Zion. Still they act as a shelter: they must be surmounted before the traveller
can see, or the invader attack, the Holy City; and the distant line of Moab
would always seem to rise as a wall against invaders from the remote east. It
is these mountains, expressly including those beyond the Jordan, which are
mentioned as "standing round about Jerusalem", in another and more
terrible sense, when on the night of the assault of Jerusalem by the Roman
armies, they "echoed back" the screams of the inhabitants of the
captured city, and the victorious shouts of the soldiers of Titus.* Arthur
Penrhyn Stanly (1815-1881), in "Sinai and Palestine." *(Josephus.
Bell. Jud 6:5,1)
Verse
2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem. Jerusalem is
situated in the centre of a mountainous region, whose valleys have drawn around
it in all directions a perfect network of deep ravines, the perpendicular walls
of which constitute a very efficient system of defence.—William M. Thomson,
in "The Land and the Book", 1881.
Verse
2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, etc. The
mountains most emphatically stand "round about Jerusalem", and
in doing so must have greatly safeguarded it in ancient times. We are specially
told that when Titus besieged the city, he found it impossible to invest it
completely until he had built a wall round the entire sides of these mountains,
nearly five miles long, with thirteen places at intervals in which he stationed
garrisons, which added another mile and a quarter to these vast earthworks. "The
whole was completed", says the Jewish historian, "in three days; so
that what would naturally have required some months was done in so short an
interval as is incredible." (Josephus. Wars of the Jews. Book 5, ch. 7,
section 2.) Assaults upon the city, even then, could only be delivered
effectively upon its level corner to the north west, whence every hostile
advance was necessarily directed in all its various sieges. To those familiar
with these facts, beautifully bold, graphic, and forceful is the Psalmist's
figure of the security of the Lord's people—
"The
mountains are round about Jerusalem;
And Jehovah is round about his people,
Henceforth, even for evermore."
These
words must have been in Hebrew ears as sublime as they were comforting, and,
when sung on the heights of Zion, inspiring in the last degree.—James Neil.
Verse
2. The LORD is round about his people. It is not enough that
we are compassed about with fiery walls, that is, with the sure custody, the
continual watch and ward of the angels; but the Lord himself is our wall: so
that every way we are defended by the Lord against all dangers. Above us is his
heaven, on both sides he is as a wall, under us he is as a strong rock
whereupon we stand so are we everywhere sure and safe. Now if Satan through
these munitions casts his darts at us, it must needs be that the Lord himself
shall be hurt before we take harm. Great is our incredulity if we hear all
these things in vain.—Martin Luther.
Verse
2. From henceforth, even for ever. This amplification of the
promise, taken from time or duration, should be carefully noted; for it shows
that the promises made to the people of Israel pertain generally to the Church
in every age, and are not to expire with that polity. Thus it expressly
declares, that the Church will continuously endure in this life; which is most
sweet consolation for pious minds, especially in great dangers and public
calamities, when everything appears to threaten ruin and destruction.—D. H.
Mollerus, 1639.
Verse
3. The rod of the wicked. It is, their rod, made for
them; if God scourge his children a little with it, he doth but borrow it from
the immediate and natural use for which it was ordained; their rod, their
judgment. So it is called their cup: "This is the portion" and potion
"of their cup." Ps 11:6.—Thomas Adams, in "An Exposition of
the Second Epistle of Peter," 1633.
Verse
3. For the rod of the wicked, etc. According to Gussetius,
this is to be understood of a measuring rod; laid not on persons, but on lands
and estates; and best agrees with the lot, inheritance, and estate of the
righteous; and may signify that though wicked men unjustly seize upon and
retain the farms, possessions, and estates of good men, as if they were
assigned to them by the measuring line; yet they shall not hold them long, or
always.—John Gill.
Verse
3. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the
righteous. No tyranny, although it appear firm and stable, is of long
continuance: inasmuch as God does not relinquish the sceptre. This is manifest
from the example of Pharaoh, of Saul, of Sennacherib, of Herod, and of others.
Rightly, therefore, says Athanasius of Julian the Apostate, "That little
cloud has quickly passed away." And how quickly beyond all human
expectation the foundations of the ungodly are overthrown is fully declared in
Ps 37:1-40.—Solomon Gesner, 1559-1605.
Verse
3. Shall not rest, that is to say, "lie heavy", so
as to oppress, as in Isa 25:10, with a further sense of continuance of the
oppression.—J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
3. Shall not rest, etc. The wrath of man, like water turned
upon a mill, shall come on them with no more force than shall be sufficient for
accomplishing God's gracious purposes on their souls: the rest, however
menacing its power may be, shall be made to pass off by an opened sluice.
Nevertheless the trouble shall be sufficient to try every man and to prove the
truth and measure of his integrity.—Charles Simeon (1759-1836), in
"Horae Homileticae."
Verse
3. The lot of the righteous. There is a fourfold lot
belonging to the faithful.
1.
The lot of the saints is the sufferings of the saints. "All that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution:" 2Ti 3:12.
2.
The lot of the saints is also that light and happiness they have in this world.
The lot is "fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly
heritage:" Ps 26:6. When David sat at he sheepfold, which was his lot, he
was thus prepared for the kingdom of Israel which was given him by lot from
God.
3.
But more specially faith, grace, and sanctification; which give them just right
and title to the inheritance of glory. Heaven is theirs now; though not in
possession, yet in succession. They have the earnest of it; let them grow up to
stature and perfection, and take it.
4.
Lastly, they have the lot of heaven. Hell is the lot of the wicked:
"Behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is
the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us": Isa
27:14. Therefore it is said of Judas, that he went "to his own
place": Ac 1:25. "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and
brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their
cup": Ps 11:6. But the lot of the righteous is faith, and the end of their
faith the salvation of their souls. God gives them heaven, not for any foreseen
worthiness in the receivers, for no worthiness of our own can make us our
father's heirs; but for his own mercy and favour in Christ, preparing heaven
for us, and us for heaven. So that upon his decree it is allotted to us; and
unless heaven could lose God, we cannot lose heaven.
Here,
then, consider how the lottery of Canaan may shadow out to us that blessed land
of promise whereof the other was a type.—Thomas Adams.
Verse
3. Lest the righteous out fort their hands unto iniquity.
Lest overcome by impatience, or drawn aside by the world's allurements or
affrightments, they should yield and comply with the desires of the wicked, or
seek to help themselves out of trouble by sinister practices. God (saith Chrysostom)
acts like a lutanist, who will not let the strings of his lute be too slack,
lest it mar the music, nor suffer them to be too hard stretched or screwed up,
lest they break.—John Trapp, 1601-1669.
Verse
3. Lest the righteous put forth their hands, etc. The trial
is to prove faith, not to endanger it by too sharp a pressure: lest,
overcome by this, even the faithful put forth a hand (as in Ge 3:22), to
forbidden pleasure; or (as in Ex 22:8), to contamination: through force of
custom gradually persuading to sinful compliance, or through despair of good,
as the Psalmist (see Ps 37:1-40 and Ps 73:1-28) describes some in his day who
witnessed the prosperity of wicked men.—The Speaker's Commentary,
1871-1881.
Verse
4. Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good. The Midrash here
calls to mind a Talmudic riddle:—There came a good one (Moses Ex 2:2) and
received a good thing (the Thra, or Law, Pr 4:2) from the good One (God, Ps
145:9) for the good ones (Israel, Ps 125:4).—Franz Delitzsch, 1871.
Verse
4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good. A favourite
thought with Nehemiah. See Ne 2:8,18 5:19 13:14,31: "Remember me, O my
God, for good", the concluding words of his book.—Christopher
Wordsworth, 1872.
Verse
4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good. They consult
their own good best, who do most good. I may say these three things of those
who do good (and what is serving God but doing of good? or what is doing
good but serving God?). First, they shall receive true good. Secondly, they
shall for ever hold the best good, the chief good; they shall not only spend
their days and years in good; but when their days and years are spent, they
shall have good, and a greater good than any they had, in spending the days and
years of this life. They shall have good in death, they shall come to a fuller
enjoyment of God, the chief good, when they have left and let fall the
possession of all earthly goods. Thirdly, they that do good shall find all
things working together for their good; if they have a loss they shall receive
good by it; if they bear a cross, that cross shall bear good to them.—Joseph
Caryl, 1602-1673.
Verse
4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, etc. Perhaps it
may not prove unprofitable to enquire, with some minuteness, who are the
persons for whom prayer is presented, and who have an interest in the Divine
promises. They are brought before us under different denominations. In Ps
125:1, they are described as trusting in the Lord: in Ps 125:2, they are
described as the Lord's people: in Ps 125:3, they are called the righteous: in
Ps 125:4, they are called good and upright in heart: and in Ps 125:5, they are
called Israel. Let us collect these terms together, and endeavour to ascertain
from them, what is their true condition and character, for whose security the
Divine perfections are pledged. And while a rapid sketch is thus drawn, let
each breathe the silent prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try
me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked Way in me, and lead me
in the way everlasting."—N. M'Michael, in "The Pilgrim
Psalms," 1860.
Verse
4. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good. Believers are
described as "good". The name is explained by the Spirit as
implying the indwelling of the Holy Ghost and of faith. It is proof that no guile
is harboured in their hearts. Prayer is made that God would visit them with
goodness. This prayer incited by the Spirit amounts to a heavenly promise that
they shall receive such honour.—Henry Law, in "Family Devotion,"
1878.
Verse
4. Them that be good. Oh, brethren, the good in us is God in
us. The inwardness makes the outwardness, the godliness the beauty. It is
indisputable that it is Christ in us that makes all our Christianity. Oh,
Christians who have no Christ in them—such Christians are poor, cheap
imitations, and hollow shams—and Christ will, with infinite impatience, even
infinite love, fling them away.—Charles Stanord, in a Sermon preached before
the Baptist Union, 1876.
Verse
4. Upright in their hearts. All true excellence has its seat
here. It is not the good action which makes the good man: it is the good man
who does the good action. The merit of an action depends entirely upon the
motives which have prompted its performance; and, tried by this simple test,
how many deeds, which have wrung from the world its admiration and its glory,
might well be described in old words, as nothing better than splendid sins.
When the heart is wrong, all is wrong. When the heart is right, all is right.—N.
M'Michael.
Verse
4. Upright. Literally, straight, straightforward, as
opposed to all moral obliquity whatever.—Joseph Addison Alexander
(1809-1860), in "The Psalms Translated and Explained."
Verse
5. Such as turn aside unto their crooked ways. This is the
anxiety of the pastor in this pilgrim song. The shepherd would keep his sheep
from straggling. His distress is that all in Israel are not true Israelites.
Two sorts of people, described by the poet, have ever been in the church. The
second class, instead of being at the trouble to "withstand in the evil day",
will "put forth their hands unto iniquity". Rather than feel, they
will follow the rod of the wicked. They will "turn aside unto their
crooked ways", sooner than risk temporal and material interests.—Edward
Jewitt Robinson, in "The Caravan and the Temple," 1878.
Verse
5. Such as turn aside unto their crooked ways. All the ways
of sin are called "crooked ways", and they are our own ways.
The Psalmist calls them "their crooked ways"; that is, the
ways of their own devising; whereas the way of holiness is the Lord's way. To
exceed or do more; to be deficient or do less, than God requires, both these
are "crooked ways". The way of the Lord lies straight forward, right
before us. "Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved; but he that is perverse
(or crooked) in his ways shall fall at once": Pr 28:18. The motion
of a godly man is like that of the kine that carried the ark: "Who took
the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing
as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left": 1Sa
6:12.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse
5. Crooked ways. The ways of sinners are "crooked";
they shift from one pursuit to another, and turn hither and thither to deceive;
they wind about a thousand ways to conceal their base intentions, to accomplish
their iniquitous projects, or to escape the punishment of their crimes; yet
disappointment, detection, confusion, and misery, are their inevitable
portion.—Thomas Scott, 1747-1821.
Verse
5. The LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.
They walked according to the prince of the air, and they shall go where the
prince of the air is. God will bring forth men from their hiding places. Though
they walk among the drove of his children, in procession now, yet if they also
walk in by lanes of sin, God will rank them at the latter day, yea, often in
this world, with the workers of iniquity. They walk after workers of iniquity
here before God, and God will make manifest that it is so before he hath done
with them. The reason, my brethren, why they are to be reckoned among workers
of iniquity, and as walkers among them, though they sever themselves from them
in respect of external conversation, is, because they agree in the same
internal principle of sin. They walk in their lusts: every unregenerate man
doth so. Refine him how you will, it is certain he doth in heart pursue "crooked
ways."—Thomas Goodwin, 1600-1679.
Verse
5. Sometimes God takes away a barren professor by permitting him to
fall into open profaneness. There is one that hath taken up a profession of the
worthy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but this profession is only a cloak; he
secretly practises wickedness; he is a glutton, or a drunkard, or covetous, or
unclean. Well, saith God, I will loose the reins of this professor, I will give
him up to his vile affections. I will loose the reins of his sins before him,
he shall be entangled with his filthy lusts, he shall be overcome of ungodly
company. Thus they that turn aside to their own crooked ways, the Lord shall
lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.—John Bunyan,
1628-1688.
Verse
5. But peace shall be upon Israel. Do you ask, What is the
peace upon Israel? I answer:—First, the peace of Israel, that is, of a
believing and holy soul, is from above, and is higher than all the disturbances
of the world; it rests upon him, and makes him calm and peaceful, and lifts him
above the world: for upon him rests the Holy Spirit, who is the Comforter; who
is essential love and uncreated peace. Secondly, the peace of a believing and
holy soul is internal for it is sent down from heaven upon his head,
flows into his heart, and dwells there, and stills all agitations of mind.
Thirdly, the peace of a believing and holy soul, is also external. It is
a fountain of Paradise watering all the face of the earth: Ge 2:6: you see it
in the man's face and life. Fourthly, the peace of a believing and holy soul is
divine: for chiefly, it maintains peace with God. Fifthly, the peace of a
believing and holy soul is universal:to wit, with neighbours, with God,
with himself: in the body, in the eyes, in the cars, in tasting, smelling,
feeling, in all the members, and in all the appetites. This peace is not
disturbed by devils, the world, and the flesh, setting forth their honours,
riches, pleasures. Sixthly, the peace of a believing and holy soul is peace eternal
and never interrupted; for it flows from an eternal and exhaustless fountain,
even from God himself.—Condensed from Le Blanc, 1599-1669.
Verse
5. Israel. The Israelites derived their joint names from the
two chief parts of religion: Israelites, from Israel, whose prayer was his
"strength" (Ho 12:3), and Jews, from Judah, whose name means
"praise."—George Seaton Bowes, in "Illustrative
Gatherings," 1869.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Whole
Psalm.
1.
The mark of the covenant: "They that trust."
2. The security of the covenant (Ps 125:1-2).
3. The rod of the covenant (Ps 125:3).
4. The tenor of the covenant (Ps 125:4).
5. The spirit of the covenant,—"peace."
Verse
1. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 1,450: "The
Immortality of the Believer."
Verses
1-2.
1.
The believer's singularity: he trusts in Jehovah.
2. The believer's stability: "abideth for ever."
3. The believer's safety: "As the mountains," etc.
Verse
2. The all surrounding presence of Jehovah the glory, safety, and
eternal blessedness of his people. Yet this to the wicked would be hell.
Verse
2. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," Nos. 161-2: "The
Security of the Church."
Verse
2. The endurance of mercy: "From henceforth even for
ever."
Verse
2. Saints hemmed in by infinite love.
1. The
City and the Girdle, or the symbols separated.
a)
Jerusalem imaging God's people. Anciently chosen; singularly honoured; much
beloved; the shrine of Deity.
b)
The Mountain Girdle setting forth Jehovah: Strength; All sidedness; Sentinel
through day and night.
2. The
City within the Girdle, or the symbols related.
a)
Delightful Entanglement. The view from the windows! (Jehovah "round
about.") To be lost must break through God! Sound sleep and safe labour.
b)
Omnipotent Circumvallation, suggesting—God's determination; Satan's dismay.
This mountain ring immutable.—W. B. Haynes, of Stafford.
Verse
3. Observe,
1.
The Permission implied. The rod of the wicked may come upon the lot of the
righteous. Why?
a)
That wickedness may be free to manifest itself.
b) That the righteous may be made to hate sin.
c) That the righteousness of God's retribution may be seen.
d) That the consolations of the righteous may abound. 2Co 1:5.
2.
The Permanency denied: "The rod...shall not rest", etc.
Illustrate by history of Job, Joseph, David, Daniel, Christ, martyrs, etc.
3.
The Probity tried and preserved: "Lest the righteous put forth",
etc., by rebelling, sinful compromise, etc.
a)
God will have it tried, to prove its worth, beauty, etc.
b) But no more than sufficiently tried.—John Field, of Sevenoaks.
Verses
3-4.
1.
The good defined: "The upright in heart"; such as do not "turn
aside", and are not "workers of iniquity."
2.
The good distressed: by "the rod of the wicked."
3.
The good delivered: "Do good"; fulfil thy promise (Ps 125:3).—W.
H. J. Page.
Verse
4.
1.
What it is to be good.
2. What it is for God to do us good.
Verse
5. Temporary Professors.
1.
The crucial test: "They turn aside."
2. The crooked policy: they make crooked ways their own.
3. The crushing doom: "led forth with workers of iniquity."
Verse
5. Hypocrites.
1.
Their ways: "crooked."
a)
Like the way of a winding stream, seeking out the fair level, or the easy
descent.
b)
Like the course of a tacking ship, which skilfully makes every wind to drive
her forward.
c)
Ways constructed upon no principle but that of pure selfishness.
2.
Their conduct under trial. They "turn aside."
a)
From their religious profession.
b)
From their former companions.
c)
To become the worst scorners of spiritual things, and the most violent
calumniators of spiritually minded men.
3.
Their doom: "The Lord shall," etc.
a)
In the judgment they shall be classed with the most flagrant of sinners;
"with the workers of iniquity."
b)
They shall be exposed by an irresistible power: "The Lord shall lead them
forth."
c)
They shall meet with terrible execution with the wicked in hell.—J. Field.
Verse
5. (last clause). To whom peace belongs. To
"Israel"; the chosen, the once wrestler, the now prevailing prince.
Consider Jacob's life after he obtained the name of Israel; note his trials,
and his security under them as illustrating this text. Then take the text as a
sure promise.
Verse
5. (last clause). Enquire,
1.
Who are the Israel?
a)
Converted ones.
b) Circumcised in heart.
c) True worshippers.
2.
What is the peace?
a)
Peace of conscience.
b) Of friendship with God.
c) Of a settled and satisfied heart.
d) Of eternal glory, in reversion.
3.
Why the certainty ("shall be")?
a)
Christ has made peace for them.
b) The Holy Spirit brings peace to them.
c) They walk in the way of peace.
—J. Field.
WORK UPON THE
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH PSALM
For
lists of Works upon the Psalms of Degrees, see note for Psalm
119.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》