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Psalm One
Hundred Forty-five
Psalm 145
Chapter Contents
David extols the power, goodness, and mercy of the Lord.
(1-9) The glory of God's kingdom, and his care of those that love him. (10-21)
Commentary on Psalm 145:1-9
(Read Psalm 145:1-9)
Those who, under troubles and temptations, abound in
fervent prayer, shall in due season abound in grateful praise, which is the
true language of holy joy. Especially we should speak of God's wondrous work of
redemption, while we declare his greatness. For no deliverance of the
Israelites, nor the punishment of sinners, so clearly proclaims the justice of
God, as the cross of Christ exhibits it to the enlightened mind. It may be
truly said of our Lord Jesus Christ, that his words are words of goodness and
grace; his works are works of goodness and grace. He is full of compassion;
hence he came into the world to save sinners. When on earth, he showed his
compassion both to the bodies and souls of men, by healing the one, and making
wise the other. He is of great mercy, a merciful High Priest, through whom God
is merciful to sinners.
Commentary on Psalm 145:10-21
(Read Psalm 145:10-21)
All God's works show forth his praises. He satisfies the
desire of every living thing, except the unreasonable children of men, who are
satisfied with nothing. He does good to all the children of men; his own people
in a special manner. Many children of God, who have been ready to fall into
sin, to fall into despair, have tasted his goodness in preventing their falls,
or recovering them speedily by his graces and comforts. And with respect to all
that are heavy laden under the burden of sin, if they come to Christ by faith,
he will ease them, he will raise them. He is very ready to hear and answer the
prayers of his people. He is present every where; but in a special way he is
nigh to them, as he is not to others. He is in their hearts, and dwells there
by faith, and they dwell in him. He is nigh to those that call upon him, to
help them in all times of need. He will be nigh to them, that they may have
what they ask, and find what they seek, if they call upon him in truth and
sincerity. And having taught men to love his name and holy ways, he will save
them from the destruction of the wicked. May we then love his name, and walk in
his ways, while we desire that all flesh should bless his holy name for ever
and ever.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 145
Verse 14
[14] The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all
those that be bowed down.
All — All that look up to him for help.
Verse 15
[15] The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them
their meat in due season.
All — Of all living creatures.
Wait — Expect their supplies wholly from thy bounty.
Expectation is here figuratively ascribed to brute creatures.
Verse 18
[18] The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to
all that call upon him in truth.
Nigh — To answer their prayers.
In truth — With an upright heart.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
This is one of
the alphabetical psalms, composed with much art, and, doubtless, so arranged
that the memory might be aided. The Holy Spirit condescends to use even the more
artificial methods of the poet, to secure attention, and impress the heart.
TITLE. David's
Psalm Of Praise. It is David's, David's very own, David's favourite. It is
David's Praise just as another (Ps 86:1-17) is David's Prayer. It is altogether
praise, and praise pitched in a high key. David had blessed God many a time in
other psalms, but this he regarded as his peculiar, his crown jewel of praise.
Certainly David's praise is the best of praise, for it is that of a man of
experience, of sincerity, of calm deliberation, and of intense warmth of the
heart. It is not for any one of us to render David's praise, for David only
could do that, but we may take David's psalm as a model, and aim at making our
own personal adoration as much, like it as possible: we shall be long before we
equal our model. Let each Christian reader present his own praise unto the
Lord, and call it by his own name. What a wealth of varied praise will thus be
presented through Christ Jesus!
DIVISION. The psalm does
not fall into any marked divisions, but is one and indivisible. Our other
translators have mapped out this song with considerable discernment. It is or a
perfect arrangement, but it will suit our convenience in exposition. David
praiseth God for his fame or glory (Ps 145:1-7), for his goodness (Ps
145:8-10), for his kingdom (Ps 145:11-13), for his providence (Ps 145:14-16),
for his saving mercy (Ps 145:17-21).
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. I will extol thee, my God, O king. David as God's king
adores God as his king. It is well when the Lord's royalty arouses our loyalty,
and our spirit is moved to magnify his majesty. The Psalmist has extolled his
Lord many a time before, he is doing so still, and he will do so in the future:
praise is for all tenses. When we cannot express all our praise just now, it is
wise to register our resolution to continue in the blessed work, and write it
down as a bond, "I will extol thee." See how David testifies his
devotion and adherence to his God by the pronoun "my", how he owns
his allegiance by the title "king", and how he goes on to declare his
determination to make much of him in his song. And I will bless thy name for
ever and ever. David determined that his praise should rise to blessing, should
intelligently spend itself upon the name or character of God, and should be
continued world without end. He uses the word "bless" not merely for
variation of sound, but also for the deepening and sweetening of the sense. To
bless God is to praise him with a personal affection for him, and a wishing
well to him: this is a growingly easy exercise as we advance in experience and
grow in grace. David declares that he will offer every form of praise, through
every form of existence. His notion of duration is a full one—"for
ever" has no end, but when he adds another" ever" to it he
forbids all idea of a close. Our praise of God shall be as eternal as the God
we praise.
Verse
2. Every day will I bless thee. Whatever the character of the
day, or of my circumstances and conditions during that day, I will continue to
glorify God. Were we well to consider the matter we should see abundant cause
in each day for rendering special blessing unto the Lord. All before the day,
all in the day, all following the day should constrain us to magnify our God
every day, all the year round. Our love to God is not a matter of holy days:
every day is alike holy to holy men. David here comes closer to God than when
he said, "I will bless thy name": it is now, "I will bless thee."
This is the centre and kernel of true devotion: we do not only admire the
Lord's words and works, but himself. Without realizing the personality of God,
praise is well nigh impossible; you cannot extol an abstraction. And I will
praise thy name for ever and ever. He said he would bless that name, and
now he vows to praise it; he will extol the Lord in every sense and way.
Eternal worship shall not be without its variations; it will never become
monotonous. Heavenly music is not harping upon one string, but all strings
shall be tuned to one praise. Observe the personal pronouns here: four times he
says "I will": praise is not to be discharged by proxy: there must be
your very self in it, or there is nothing in it.
Verse
3. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised. Worship
should be somewhat like its object—great praise for a great God. There is no
part of Jehovah's greatness which is not worthy of great praise. In some beings
greatness is but vastness of evil: in him it is magnificence of goodness.
Praise may be said to be great when the song contains great matter, when the
hearts producing it are intensely fervent, and when large numbers unite in the
grand acclaim. No chorus is too loud, no orchestra too large, no psalm too
lofty for the lauding of the Lord of Hosts.
"And
his greatness is unsearchable."
"Still his worth your praise exceeds,
Excellent are all his deeds."
Song
should be founded upon search; hymns composed without thought are of no worth,
and tunes upon which no pains have been spent are beneath the dignity of divine
adoration. Yet when we meditate most, and search most studiously we shall still
find ourselves surrounded with unknowable wonders, which will baffle all
attempts to sing them worthily. The best adoration of the Unsearchable is to
own him to be so, and close the eyes in reverence before the excessive light of
his glory. Not all the minds of all the centuries shall suffice to search out
the unsearchable riches of God; he is past finding out; and, therefore, his
deserved praise is still above and beyond all that we can render to him.
Verse
4. One generation shall praise thy works to another. There
shall be a tradition of praise: melt shall hand on the service, they shall make
it a point to instruct their descendants in this hallowed exercise. We look
back upon the experience of our fathers, and sing of it; even thus shall our
sons learn praise from the Lord's works among ourselves. Let us see to it that
we praise God before our children, and never make them think that his service
is an unhappy one. And shall declare thy mighty acts. The generations
shall herein unite: together they shall make up an extraordinary history. Each
generation shall contribute its chapter, and all the generations together shall
compose a volume of matchless character. David began with "I", but he
has in this verse soon reached to an inconceivable multitude, comprehending all
the myriads of our race of every age. The praise of the Lord enlarges the
heart, and as it grows upon us our minds grow with it. God's works of goodness
and acts of power make up a subject which all the eras of human story can never
exhaust. A heart full of praise seems to live in all the centuries in
delightful companionship with all the good. We are not afraid that the incense
will ever cease to burn upon the altars of Jehovah: the priests die, but the
adoration lives on. All glory be unto him who remains the same Lord throughout
all generations.
Verse
5. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty. 'Tis
fit a king should speak of the majesty of the King of kings. David cannot give
over the worship of God into the hands of others, even though all generations
should undertake to perpetuate it: he must have his own individual share in it,
and so he saith, "I will speak." What a speaker! for he no sooner
begins than he heaps up words of honour—"the glorious honour of thy
majesty", or "the beauty of the honour of thy majesty." His
language labours to express his meaning; he multiplies the terms by which he
would extol Jehovah, his King. Everything which has to do with the Great King
is majestic, honourable, glorious. His least is greater than man's greatest,
his lowest is higher than man's highest. There is nothing about the infinite
Lord which is unworthy of his royalty; and, on the other hand, nothing is
wanting to the splendour of his reign: his majesty is honourable, and his
honour is glorious: he is altogether wonderful. And of thy wondrous works. All
the works of God among men are Godlike, but certain of them are specially
calculated to create surprise. Many works of power, of justice, of wisdom, are
wonderful; and his work of grace is wondrous above all. This specially, and all
the rest proportionately, should be spoken of by holy men, by experienced men,
and by men who have the ability to speak with power. These things must not be permitted
to pass away in silence; if others do not remember them, representative men
like David must make a point of conversing upon them in private, and speaking
of them in public. Let it be the delight of each one of us according to our
position to speak lovingly of our Lord.
Verse
6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. If
unobservant of other matters these acts of judgment shall seize their attention
and impress their minds so that they must talk about them. Did not men in our
Saviour's day speak of the falling tower of Siloam and the slaughtered
Galileans? Are there not rumours of wars, when there are not even whispers of
other things? Horrible news is sure to spread: under mercies men may be dumb,
but concerning miseries they raise a great outcry. The force of dread is a
power which loosens the tongue of the multitude: they are sure to talk of that
which makes the ear to tingle and the hair to stand upright. While they are
thus occupied with "fearsome facts", such as the drowning of a world,
the destruction of the cities of the plain, the plagues of Egypt, the
destruction at the Red Sea, and so forth, David would look at these affairs in
another light, and sing another tune. And I will declare thy greatness.
Those acts which were terrible deeds to most men were mighty deeds, or greatnesses
to our holy poet: these he would publish like a herald, who mentions the titles
and honours of his royal master. It is the occupation of every true believer to
rehearse the great doings of his great God. We are not to leave this to the
common converse of the crowd, but we are personally to make a declaration of
what we have seen and known. We are even bound in deep solemnity of manner to
warn men of the Lord's greatness in his terrible acts of justice: thus will
they be admonished to abstain from provoking him. To fulfil this duty we are
already bound by solemn obligations, and we shall do well to bind ourselves
further by resolutions, "I will—God helping me, I will."
Verse
7. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness.
They shall pour forth grateful memories even as springs gush with water,
plenteously, spontaneously, constantly, joyously. The Lord's redeemed people
having been filled with his great goodness, shall retain the happy recollection
of it, and shall be moved often and often to utter those recollections. Not
content with a scanty mention of such amazing love, they shall go on to an
abundant utterance of such abundant favour. It shall be their delight to speak
with one another of God's dealings with them, and to compare notes of their
experiences. God has done nothing stintedly; all his goodness is great
goodness, all worthy to be remembered, all suggestive of holy discourse. Upon
this subject there is no scarcity of matter, and when the heart is right there
is no need to stop from want of facts to tell. Oh, that there were more of
these memories and utterances, for it is not meet that the goodness of the
living God should be buried in the cemetery of silence, in the grave of ingratitude.
And
shall sing of thy righteousness. They shall say and then sing. And what is the
theme which impels them to leave the pulpit for the orchestra? What do they
sing of? They sing of that righteousness which is the sinner's terror, which
even good men mention with deep solemnity. Righteousness received by gospel
light is in reality the secret foundation of the believer's hope. God's
covenant of grace is our strong consolation, because he who made it is
righteous, and will not run back from it. Since Jesus died as our substitute,
righteousness requires and secures the salvation of all the redeemed. This
attribute is our best friend, and therefore we sing of it. Modern thinkers
would fain expunge the idea of righteousness from their notion of God; but
converted men would not. It is a sign of growth in cation when we rejoice in
the justice, rectitude, and holiness of our God. Even a rebel may rejoice in
mercy, which he looks upon as laxity; but a loyal rejoices when he learns that
God is so just that not even to save his own would he consent to violate the
righteousness of his moral government. Few men will shout for joy at the
righteousness of Jehovah, but those who do so his chosen, in whom his soul
delighteth.
Verse
8. The Lord is gracious. Was it not in some such terms that
the Lord revealed himself to Moses? Is not this Jehovah's glory? To all living
men his aspect: he is gracious, or full of goodness and generosity. He treats
creatures with kindness, his subjects with consideration, and his saints favour.
His words and ways, his promises and his gifts, his plans and his poses all
manifest his grace, or free favour. There is nothing suspicious, diced, morose,
tyrannical, or unapproachable in Jehovah,—he is condescending and kind. And
full of compassion. To the suffering, the weak, the despondent, he is very
pitiful: he feels for them, he feels with them: he this heartily, and in a
practical manner. Of this pitifulness he is full, so the compassionates freely,
constantly, deeply, divinely, and effectually. In fulness in a sense not known
among men, and this fulness is all fragrant sympathy for human misery. If the
Lord be full of compassion there is no in him for forgetfulness or harshness,
and none should suspect him What an ocean of compassion there must be since the
Infinite God is full of Slow to anger. Even those who refuse his grace
yet share in long suffering. When men do not repent, but, on the contrary, go
from bad to worse, averse to let his wrath flame forth against them. Greatly
patient and anxious that the sinner may live, he "lets the lifted thunder
drop", and still bears. "Love suffereth long and is kind", and
God is love. And of great mercy. This is his attitude towards the
guilty. When men at last repent, find pardon awaiting them. Great is their sin,
and great is God's mercy, need great help, and they have it though they deserve
it not; for he is good to the greatly guilty.
Verse
9. The LORD is good to all. No one, not even his fiercest
enemy, can this; for the falsehood would be too barefaced, since the very
existence lips which slander him is a proof that it is slander. He allows his
live, he even supplies them with food, and smooths their way with many forts;
for them the sun shines as brightly as if they were saints, and the rain waters
their fields as plentifully as if they were perfect men. Is not this goodness
to all? In our own land the gospel sounds in the ears of all who care to
listen; and the Scriptures are within reach of the poorest child. It would be a
wanton wresting of Scripture to limit this expression to the elect, as some
have tried to do; we rejoice in electing love, but none the less we welcome the
glorious truth, "Jehovah is good to all."
And
his tender mercies are over all his works. Not "his new covenant
works", as one read it the other day who was wise above that which is
written, yea, contrary to that which is written. Kindness is a law of God's
universe: the world was planned for happiness; even now that sin has so sadly
marred God's handiwork, and introduced elements which were not from the
beginning, the Lord has so arranged matters that the fall is broken, the curse
is met by an antidote, and the inevitable pain is softened with mitigations.
Even in this sin stricken world, under its disordered economy, there are
abundant traces of a hand skilful to soothe distress and heal disease. That
which makes life bearable is the tenderness of the great Father. This is seen
in the creation of an insect as well as in the ruling of nations. The Creator
is never rough, the Provider is never forgetful, the Ruler is never cruel.
Nothing is done to create disease, no organs are arranged to promote misery;
the incoming of sickness and pain is not according to the original design, but
a result of our disordered state. Man's body as it left the Maker's hand was
neither framed for disease, decay, nor death, neither was the purpose of it
discomfort and anguish; far otherwise, it was framed for a joyful activity, and
a peaceful enjoyment of God. Jehovah has in great consideration laid up in the
world cures for our ailments, and helps for our feebleness; and if many of
these have been long in their discovery, it is because it was more for man's
benefit to find them out himself, than to have them labelled and placed in
order before his eyes. We may be sure of this, that Jehovah has never taken
delight in the ills of his creatures, but has sought their good, and laid
himself out to alleviate the distresses into which they have guiltily plunged
themselves. The duty of kindness to animals may logically be argued from this
verse. Should not the children of God be like their Father in kindness?
Verse
10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD. There is a
something about every creature which redounds to the honour of God. The skill,
kindness, and power manifested in the formation of each living thing is in
itself to the praise of God, and when observed by an intelligent mind the Lord
is honoured thereby. Some works praise him by their being, and others by their
well being; some by their mere existence, and others by their hearty volition. And
thy saints shall bless thee. These holy ones come nearer, and render
sweeter adoration. Men have been known to praise those whom they hated, as we
may admire the prowess of a warrior who is our foe; but saints lovingly praise,
and therefore are said to "bless." They wish well to God; they would
make him more blessed, if such a thing were possible; they desire blessings
upon his cause and his children, and invoke success upon his work and warfare. None
but blessed men will bless the Lord. Only saints or holy ones will bless the
thrice holy God. If we praise Jehovah because of his works around us, we must
go on to bless him for his works within us. Let the two "shalls" of
this verse be fulfilled, especially the latter one.
Verse
11. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom. Excellent
themes for saintly minds. Those who bless God from their hearts rejoice to see
him enthroned, glorified, and magnified in power. No subject is more profitable
for humility, obedience, hope, and joy than that of the reigning power of the
Lord our God. His works praise him, but they cannot crown him: this remains for
holy hands and hearts. It is their high pleasure to tell of the glory of his
kingdom in its justice, kindness, eternity, and so forth. Kingdoms of earth are
glorious for riches, for extent of territory, for victories, for liberty, for
commerce, and other matters; but in all true glories the kingdom of Jehovah
excels them. We have seen a palace dedicated "to all the glories of
France"; but time, eternity, and all space are filled with the glories of
God: on these we love to speak. And talk of thy power. This power
supports the kingdom and displays the glory, and we are sure to talk of it when
the glory of the divine kingdom is under discussion. God's power to create or
to destroy, to bless or to punish, to strengthen or to crush, is matter for
frequent rehearsal. All power comes from God. Apart from him the laws of nature
would be inoperative. His power is the one source of force—mechanical, vital,
mental, spiritual. Beyond the power of God which has been put forth, infinite
force lies latent in himself. Who can calculate the reserve forces of the
Infinite? How, then, can his kingdom fail? We hear talk of the five great powers,
but what are they to the One Great Power? The Lord is "the blessed and
only Potentate." Let us accustom ourselves to think more deeply and speak
more largely of this power which ever makes for righteousness and works for
mercy.
Verse
12. To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts. These
glorious deeds ought to be known to all mankind; but yet few reckon such
knowledge to be an essential part of education. As the State cannot teach these
holy histories the people of God must take care to do it themselves. The work
must be done for every age, for men have short memories in reference to their
God, and the doings of his power. They inscribe the deeds of their heroes upon
brass, but the glorious acts of Jehovah are written upon the sand, and the tide
of time washes them from present memory; therefore we must repeat the lesson,
and yet again repeat it. The saints are the religious instructors of the race;
they ought to be not only the historians of the past, but the bards of the
present, whose duty it is to keep the sons of men in memory of the great deeds
which the Lord did in the days of their fathers and in the old time before
them. Note the contrast between the great deeds of God and the puny sons of
Adam, who have even degenerated from their father, though he was as nothing
compared with his Maker. And the glorious majesty of his kingdom. What a grand
subject! Yet this we are to make known; the publication of it is left to us who
bless the Lord. "The glory of the majesty of his reign." What a
theme! Jehovah's reign as sovereign Lord of all, his majesty in that dominion,
and the glory of that majesty! The threefold subject baffles the most willing
mind. How shall we make this known to the sons of men? Let us first labour to
know it ourselves, and then let us make it a frequent subject of discourse, so
shall men know it from us, the Holy Spirit attending our word.
Verse
13. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His meditation has
brought him near to God, and God near to him: he speaks to him in adoration,
changing the pronoun from "his" to "thy." He sees the great
King, and prostrates himself before him. It is well when our devotion opens the
gate of heaven, and enters within the portal, to speak with God face to face,
as a man speaketh with his friend. The point upon which the Psalmist's mind
rests is the eternity of the divine throne,—"thy reign is a reign of all
eternities." The Lord's kingdom is without beginning, without break,
without bound, and without end. He never abdicates his throne, neither does he
call in a second to share his empire. None can overthrow his power, or break
away from his rule. Neither this age, nor the age to come, nor ages of ages
shall cause his sovereignty to fail. Herein is rest for faith. "The Lord
sitteth King for ever." And thy dominion endureth throughout all
generations. Men come and go like shadows on the wall, but God reigneth
eternally. We distinguish kings as they succeed each other by calling them
first and second; but this King is Jehovah, the First and the Last. Adam in his
generation knew his Creator to be King, and the last of his race shall know the
same. All hail, Great God I Thou art ever Lord of lords!
These
three verses are a reverent hymn concerning "the kingdom of God":
they will be best appreciated by those who are in that kingdom in the fullest
sense, and are most truly loyal to the Lord. It is, according to these verses,
a kingdom of glory and power; a kingdom of light which men are to know, and of
might which men are to feel; it is full of majesty and eternity; it is the
benediction of every generation. We are to speak of it, talk of it, and make it
known, and then we are to acknowledge it in the homage directed distinctly to
the Lord himself—as in Ps 145:13. In these three verses Jehovah is adored for
his gracious providence towards men and all other creatures; this fitly follows
the proclamation of his royalty, for we here see how he rules his kingdom, and
provides for his subjects.
Verse
14. The Lead upholdeth all that fall. Read this verse in connection
with the preceding, and admire the unexpected contrast: he who reigns in
glorious majesty, yet condescends to lift up and hold up those who are apt to
fall. The form of the verb shows that he is always doing this; he is Jehovah
upholding. His choice of the fallen, and the falling, as the subjects of his
gracious help is specially to be noted. The fallen of our race, especially
fallen women, are shunned by us, and it is peculiar tenderness on the Lord's
part that such he looks upon, even those who are at once the chief of sinners
and the least regarded of mankind. The falling ones among us are too apt to be
pushed down by the strong: their timidity and dependence make them the victims
of the proud and domineering. To them also the Lord gives his upholding help.
The Lord loves to reverse things,—he puts down the lofty, and lifts up the
lowly. And raiseth up all those that be bowed down. Another deed of
condescension. Many are despondent, and cannot lift up their heads in courage,
or their hearts with comfort; but these he cheers. Some are bent with their
daily lead, and these he strengthens. Jesus loosed a daughter of Abraham whom
Satan had so bound that she was bowed down, and could by no means lift up
herself. In this he proved himself to be the true Son of the Highest. Think of
the Infinite bowing to lift up the bowed, and stooping to be leaned upon by
those who are ready to fall. The two "alls" should not be overlooked:
the Lord has a kindly heart towards the whole company of the afflicted.
Verse
15. The eyes of all wait upon thee. They have learned to look
to thee: it has become their nature to turn to thee for all they want. As
children look to a father for all they need, so do the creatures look to God,
the all sufficient Provider. It were well if all men had the eye of faith, and
if all waited therewith upon the Lord. And thou givest them their meat in
due season. They wait, and God gives. The thought of this brings God so
near to our poet prophet that he is again speaking with God after the style of
thee and thou. Is it to be wondered at when the Lord is feeding the hungry all
around us,—giving food to all creatures, and to ourselves among them? Like a
flock of sheep the creatures stand around the Lord as their great Shepherd; all
eyes are to his hand expecting to receive their food; nor are they
disappointed, for when the hour comes suitable provender is ready for each
creature. Observe the punctuality of the Lord in giving food at meal time,—in
the season when it is due. This he does for all, and each living thing has its
own season, so that the Lord of heaven is feeding his great flock both by day
and by night, during every moment of time.
Verse
16. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every
living thing. You alone provide, O Jehovah! Thou doest it liberally, with
open hand; thou doest it easily, as if it were only to open thine hand; thou
doest this at once as promptly as if all supplies were ready to hand. Living
things have needs, and these create desires; the living God has suitable
supplies at hand, and these he gives till inward satisfaction is produced, and
the creature sighs no longer. In spiritual things, when God has raised a
desire, he always gratifies it; hence the longing is prophetic of the blessing.
In no case is the desire of the living thing excited to produce distress, but
in order that it may seek and find satisfaction. These verses refer to natural
providence; but they may equally well apply to the stores of grace, since the
same God is king in both spheres. If we will but wait upon the Lord for pardon,
renewing, or whatever else we need, we shall not wait in vain. The hand of
grace is never closed while the sinner lives. In these verses we behold our God
in the realm of his free grace dealing well with his believing people.
Verse
17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his
works. His ways and works are both worthy to be praised. Jehovah cannot be
unjust or impure. Let his doings be what they may, they are in every case
righteous and holy. This is the confession of the godly who follow his ways,
and of the gracious who study his works. Whatever God is or does must be right.
In the salvation of his people he is as righteous and holy as in any other of
his ways and works: he has not manifested mercy at the expense of justice, but
the rather he has magnified his righteousness by the death of his Son.
Verse
19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: that is,
those who reverence his name and his law. Inasmuch as they have respect unto
his will, he will have respect unto their will. They shall have their way for
they have his way in their hearts. A holy heart only desires what a holy God
can give, and so its desire is filled full out of the fullness of the Lord. He
also will hear their cry, and will save them. Divinely practical shall his
nearness be, for he will work their deliverance. He will listen to their
piteous cry, and then will send salvation from every ill. This he will do
himself personally; he will not trust them to angels or saints.
Verse
21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD. Whatever
others may do, I will not be silent in the praise of the Lord: whatever others
may speak upon, my topic is fixed once for all: I will speak the praise of
Jehovah. I am doing it, and I will do it as long as I breathe. And let all
flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. Praise is no monopoly for one,
even though he be a David; others are debtors, let them also be songsters. All
men of every race, condition, or generation should unite to glorify God. No man
need think that he will be rejected when he comes with his personal note of
praise; all are permitted, invited, and exhorted to magnify the Lord. Specially
should his holiness be adored: this is the crown, and in a certain sense the
sum, of all his attributes. Only holy hearts will praise the holy name, or
character of the Lord; oh, that all flesh were sanctified, then would the
sanctity of God be the delight of all. Once let the song begin and there will
be no end to it. It shall go on for ever and a clay, as the old folks used to
say. If there were two forevers, or twenty forevers, they ought all to be spent
in the praises of the ever living, ever blessing, ever blessed JEHOVAH. Blessed
be the Lord for ever for having revealed to us his name, and blessed be that
name as he has revealed it; yea, blessed be he above all that we can know, or
think, or say. Our hearts revel in the delight of praising him. Our mouth, our
mind, our lip, our life shall be our Lord's throughout this mortal existence,
and when time shall be no more.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
This
has been happily characterized as the "new song" promised in Ps
144:9. In other words, it is the song of praise, corresponding to the didactic,
penitential, and supplicatory psalms of this series.—Joseph Addison
Alexander.
The
ancient Hebrews declare him happy whoever, in after times, utters this psalm
thrice each day with the mouth, heart, and tongue.—Victorinus Bythner,
1670.
The
last six or seven psalms are the Beulah of the book, where the sun shineth
night and day, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land. Coming at the
close after all the mournful, plaintive, penitential, prayerful, varying notes,
they Unconsciously typify the joy and rest of glory.—George Gilfillan.
Title. The praise
of David. Psalms are the praises of God accompanied with Song; psalms are
songs containing the praise of God. If there be praise, but not of God, it is
not a psalm. If there be praise, and praise of God, if it is not sung, it is
not a psalm. To make a psalm there go these three—praise, God's praise, and
song.—Augustine.
Title. It is
observable concerning David's entitling the psalm "The Praise of
David", that in the original no psalm else beareth such a title. It is
appropriated to it, because this wholly consists of praise; he was elevated
therein to a frame of spirit made up of the pure praise of God, without any
touch of what was particular to himself. It was not thanks, but altogether
praise, and wholly praise.—Thomas Goodwin.
Title. This psalm,
which is designated a Tehillah, or a psalm of praise,—a name which has passed
from this psalm to the whole Psalter, which is commonly called Sepher Tehillim,
or "Book of Praises, "—is the last of the psalms ascribed to David.
It is remarkable, that although that is the name given to the Psalter (which is
entitled in Hebrew Sepher Tehillim, or Book of Praises), this is
the only psalm in the whole number which is designated in the title as a Tehillah—a
word derived from the same root as Hallelujah. It seems as if this name Tehillah
had been studiously reserved for the last of David's psalms, in order to
mark more emphatically that all his utterances are consummated in praise.
And this view is more clearly manifested by the circumstance that the word Tehillah
is introduced into the last verse of this psalm, "My soul shall
speak the praise" (tehillah) "of the Lord"
(observe this preparation for Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord); "and
let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever." As much as to say
that though David's voice was now about to be hushed in this life, yet it would
never be silent in the world to come, and would ever "praise the
Lord"; and as much, also, as to say that his last exhortation should be to
all nations to praise him, "Let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and
ever."—Christopher Wordsworth.
Title. This psalm is
entitled "David's praise." For howsoever the prayers and the
praises (all) in this book, are (for the most part) of David's penning: yet two
there are he hath singled out from the rest, and set his own mark on them as
proper to himself: the 86. Psalm, his Tephilla, David's own Prayer;and
there is here his Tehilla, his own Praise or thanksgiving. As if
he had made the rest for all in common, but reserved these peculiarly for
himself.—Lancelot Andrews.
Whole
Psalm. In regard to its alphabetic structure, it has one peculiarity,
viz., the nun is omitted; the reason of which may be, that (as we have
seen in some other psalms of this structure) by means of that or some other
such omission, we might be kept from putting stress on the mere form of the
composition.—Andrew A. Bonar.
Whole
Psalm. Cassiodorus quaintly remarks that the psalms in which the
alphabetical order is complete, are especially fitted for the righteous in the
Church Triumphant, but those in which one letter is missing, are for the Church
Militant here on earth, as still imperfect, and needing to be purified from
defect.—Neale and Littledale.
Verse
1. I will extol thee, my God, O King. To extol is to set
preeminently on high; to exalt above all others; it is the expression of the
greatest possible admiration; it is letting others know our high opinion of a
person, and endeavouring to win them over to it. The man who has such a high
opinion of another as to induce him to extol him, will not be likely to rest
without bringing forth into prominent observation the object of his praise.—Philip
Bennett Power.
Verse
1. O King; or the King, by way of eminency; the King of
kings, the God by whom kings reign, and to whom I and all other kings owe
subjection and obedience.—Matthew Pool.
Verse
1. O king. The Psalmist in rapt ecstasy seems as though he
saw God incarnate in Christ present to inspire his praise. Christ is our God
and King, to be extolled in the heart, with the mouth, and by the life.—Thomas
Le Blanc.
Verse
1. King. God is King in verity; others are called kings in
vanity.—Martin Geier.
Verse
1. I will bless thy name for ever and ever. The name of God
in Scripture is taken, first, for God himself. The name of a thing is put for
the thing named, Ps 44:5: "Through thee will we push down our enemies:
through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us."
"Through thy name", that is, through thee. Secondly,
the name of God is often in Scripture put for the attributes of God.
Thirdly, the name of God is put for his ordinances of worship. "Go
ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the
first" (Jer 12:12), that is, where I first set up my public worship;
because, as a man is known by his proper name, so is God by his proper worship.
Fourthly, the name of God is that reverence, esteem and honour which angels
and men give unto God. As we know amongst us, the report and reputation
that a man hath among men is a man's name; what men speak of him, that is his
name; such an one hath a good name, we say; such an one hath an ill name, that
is, men speak or think well or ill of such persons. So Ge 6:4. When Moses
describes the giants, he saith, "They were men of renown"; the Hebrew
is, "They were men of name", because the name of a man is the
character he hath amongst men; as a man is esteemed, so his name is carried,
and himself is accepted in the world. So the name of God is that high esteem,
those honourable apprehensions, which angels and men have of God; such as the
thoughts and speeches of men are for the celebration of God's glory and praise,
such is his name in the world.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse
1. For ever and ever. dez Mlwel, leolam vaed, for ever
onward, in this and the coming world. Expressions of this sort are very
difficult to be translated, but they are, on the whole, well interpreted by
those words of Mr. Addison:—
"Through
all eternity to thee,
A joyful song I'll raise;
But oh, eternity's too short
To utter all thy praise!"—Adam Clarke.
Verse
1. For ever and ever. Praise is the only part of duty in
which we at present engage, which is lasting. We pray, but there shall be a
time when prayer shall offer its last litany; we believe, but there shall be a
time when faith shall be lost in sight; we hope, and hope maketh not ashamed,
but there shall be a time when hope lies down and dies, lost in the splendour
of the fruition that God shall reveal. But praise goes singing into heaven, and
is ready without a teacher to strike the harp, that is waiting for it, to
transmit along the echoes of eternity the song of the Lamb. In the party
coloured world in which we live, there are days of various sorts and
experiences, making up the aggregate of the Christian's life. There are waiting
days, in which, because Providence fences us round, and it seems as if we
cannot march, we cannot move, as though we must just wait to see what the Lord
is about to do in us and for us; and there are watching days, when it behooves
us never to slumber, but to be always ready for the attacks of our spiritual
enemy; and there are warring days, when with nodding plume, and with ample
armour, we must go forth to do battle for the truth; and there are weeping
days, when it seems as if the fountains of the great deep within us were broken
up; and as though, through much tribulation, we had to pass to heaven in tears.
But these days shall all pass away by and by—waiting days all be passed,
warring days all be passed, watching days all be passed; but
"Our
days of praise shall ne'er be past
While life, and thought, and being last,
And immortality endures."
—William Morley Punshon, 1824-1881.
Verse
1. For ever and ever. To praise God now does not satisfy
devout aspiration, for in this age the worshipper's devotion is interrupted by
sin, fear, sickness, etc.; but in eternity praise will proceed in unbroken
procession.—John Lorinus.
Verses
1-2. I will bless thee for ever and ever, and again, Ps 145:2. This
intimates,
1.
That he resolved to continue in this work to the end of his life,
throughout his "for ever" in this world.
2.
That the psalms he penned should be made use of in praising God by the church
to the end of time. 2Ch 29:30.
3.
That he hoped to be praising God to all eternity in the other world: they that
make it their constant work on earth, shall have it their everlasting bliss in
heaven.—Matthew Henry.
Verse
2. Every day. Then God is to be blessed and praised in dark
as well as bright days—Johannes Paulus Palanterius, 1600.
Verse
2. Every day (in the week) will I bless thee, the Psalmist
seems to signify. As there are "seven spirits" peculiarly existing in
nearness to God, David holds the seven days of the week like seven stars in his
hand, or like a seven branched candlestick of gold, burning every day with his
devotion. He calls the seven days to be as seven angels with trumpets.—Thomas
Le Blanc.
Verse
2. I will bless thee: I will praise thy name. The repetition
intimates the fervency of his affection to this work, the fixedness of his
purpose to abound in it, and the frequency of his performances therein.—Matthew
Henry.
Verse
2. Praise. If we are to define it in words, we may say that
praise is thankful, lowly, loving worship of the goodness and majesty of God.
And therefore we often find the word "praise" joined with
"blessing" and "thanksgiving": but though all three are
akin to each other, they are not all alike. They are steps in a gradual scale—a
song of degrees. Thanksgiving runs up into blessing, and blessing ascends into
praise; for praise comprehends both, and is the highest and most perfect work
of all living spirits.—Henry Edward Manning, 1850.
Verse
3. Great is the Lord. If "great" here be
referred to God as a king, then a great king he is in respect of the
breadth of his empire, for all creatures, from the highest angel to the poorest
worm, are under him. "Great" for length; for "his kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom." "Great" for depth; for he rules even in
the hearts of kings, of all men, over rules their thoughts, affections, nothing
is hid from him. And "great" again for height; being "a great
King above all gods", ruling by his own absolute power and authority;
whereas all other kings have their sword from him, and rule by a delegated and
vicarious power.—William Nicholson.
Verse
3. His greatness is unsearchable. God is so great, that till
Christ revealed the Father, Deity was lost in its own infinity to the
perception of men. He who attempts to navigate an infinite ocean must come back
to his starting point, never being able to cross. So the ancient philosophers,
disputing as to the Divine Nature, were baffled by their own ingenuity, they
had to confess that they comprehended nothing of God except that he was
incomprehensible. Without Christ, men can only find out about God that they can
never find him.—Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse
3. (last clause.) The Vulgate renders thus, "Of his
greatness no end." The Hebrew is, "Of his greatness no
investigation." As the classic Greeks would say, avexicniastos, not to
be traced out.—Simon de Muis, 1587-1644.
Verse
3. God had searched David through and through (Ps 139:1), but David
proved he could not search God's greatness.—Martin Geier.
Ver.
3-6. Ps 145:3,4 contain the material of praise, and Ps 145:5,6 the praise
itself. Ps 145:3 states a proposition, and Ps 145:4 gives the amplification.—Hermann
Venema.
Verse
4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, etc. De
4:9 6:7. Fathers teaching their sons the goodness and glory of God. This was a
legal ordinance. The church and its worshippers are collecting praises of
successive generations for the final Hallelujah celebration.—Martin Geier.
Verse
4. One generation shall praise thy works to another. Singular
is exchanged for plural in the Hebrew, "One generation shall praise (sing)
thy works to another, and shall declare (plural) thy mighty acts." Here is
melody first, the antiphony of the choirs responding to each other; then
harmony; all generations will burst into chorus together.—Hermann Venema.
Verse
4. One generation to another. The tradition of praise!
Each generation catches the strains from the last, echoes it, and passes it
along to the next. One generation declares what it has seen, and passes on the
praise to the generation which has not seen as yet the wonders celebrated.—Simon
De Muis.
Verse
4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, etc.
Thus God provides for his Church. When Elijah is carried into heaven, Elisha
must follow in the power and spirit of Elias. When one stream is slid and shed
into the ocean, another circulates from the same ocean through the bowels of
the earth into the springs under the mountains, and refreshes the scorched
plains. When one star sets, another rises to guide the wandering traveller, and
at length the bright morning lamp glitters in the east, and then the glorious
Sun of Righteousness. While the Church sits fainting under a juniper tree in
the wilderness, there shall fly prophets to feed her till the blessed
resurrection of the witnesses. It's our high duty to study present work, and
prize present help, and greatly rejoice when the Lord sends forth, as once he
did, both Boanerges and Barnabas together. Pray for the mantle, girdle, and
blessing of Elijah, for the love of John, and the zeal of Paul, to twine hands
together to draw souls to heaven; till the Beloved comes like a roe or a young
hart upon the mountains of spices; till the shadows flee away; till the day
dawn, and the Day star arise in your hearts.—Samuel Lee, in his Preface to
Row's "Emmanuel," 1679.
Verse
4. One generation shall praise thy works to another. There is
no phenomenon of human life more solemn than its succession of generations.
"One generation passeth away, another generation cometh." And, as if
to put this in a light as affecting and indelible as possible, the psalmist immediately
adds, "but the earth abideth for ever." A thought that gleams like a
lightning flash across this panorama of life, burning it into the beholder's
brain for ever. Even the rude, gross, material earth, which we were created to
subdue, and upon which we so proudly tread, is represented as having to the
palpable sense this advantage over us. The abiding earth constitutes a little
eternity, compared with the duration of its changing inhabitants. We come into
it, and pass over it, obliterating, perhaps, some footprints in its dust by the
impress of our own, to be in their turn effaced, and then leave it with amazing
rapidity, as a hireling man accomplishes his days.—Henry Allon, 1852.
Verse
5. I will speak of the glorious honour, etc. The word which
we here translate "speak", is considered by Hebrew critics to
include also the idea of "expatiating", "speaking at
large"; not merely "alluding to incidentally", but
"entering into particulars"; as though one took delight in speaking
upon the matter in hand. Now there is something very satisfactory in entering
into particulars; we can often gather light upon a great truth by having had
set before us some of the particulars connected with it; we can often
understand what is too high for us, in itself and by itself, by
some examples which bring it within reach of our dull understandings. We are
like men who want to attain a height, who have not wings to fly up to it, but
who can reach it by going up a ladder step by step. Particulars are often like
the rounds of a ladder, little, it may be, in themselves, but very helpful to
us; and to dwell upon particulars is often of use to ourselves; it certainly is
to many with whom we converse. Let us remember, that circumstanced as we are in
our present state, we have no faculties for grasping in its simple grandeur the
glorious honour of the majesty of God. We know most of God from what we know of
his doings amongst the children of men. Hereafter, the Lord's people shall, no
doubt, have much revealed to them of the glorious honour of the majesty of God,
which they could now neither bear nor understand; meanwhile they have to know
him chiefly by what he has said and done; and if only our eyes be open, we
shall be at no loss to recognise in these the glorious honour of his majesty.—Philip
Bennett Power.
Verse
5. I will speak, etc. I will "muse" is
better than "speak", as being the primary and more usual sense of the
Hebrew word. It suggests that these glorious qualities of God's character and
deeds should be not merely talked about and extolled in song, but be deeply
pondered, laid close upon our very heart, so that the legitimate impression may
be wrought into our very soul, and may mould our whole spirit and character
into God's own moral image.—Henry Cowles.
Verse
5. With what a cumulus of glowing terms does Holy Writ seek to
display the excellence of Deity! By these descriptions, those attributes which
are feebly imitated or reflected in what we call good among created
things are declared to exist in God, infinitely, immutably, ineffably.—Martin
Geier.
Verse
5. Thy wonderful works. Heb.: "the words of thy
wonderful works." Thus the Psalmist declares that the records left of
God's olden doings in the history of Israel are very precious. He has heard
them. Moses and Aaron and others spoke them. He delights in them; he will sing
them again on his own harp.—Hermann Venema.
Verses
5-6. Ps 145:5 speaks of God's opera mirabilia; Ps 145:6 of his opera
terribilia. The former delight his saints; the latter terrify the wicked.—John
Lorinus.
Verse
6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts.
When men do not mark his works of mercy and bounty the Lord will show unto them
works of justice, that is, terrible works, and give them matter of talking upon
this account.—David Dickson.
Verse
6. (last clause.) To "declare" here means
either in speech or song; not merely to predicate as a fact, but to proclaim
in praise. The Hebrew word has this width of meaning; not merely to declare in
cold utterance, concerning mere history.—Hermann Venema.
Verse
6. Thy greatness. All men are enamoured of greatness. Then
they must seek it in God, and get it from God. David did both.
All history shows the creature aspiring after this glory. Ahasuerus, Astyages,
Cyrus, Cambyses, Nebuchadnezzar, were all called the great. Alexander
the Great, when he came to the Ganges, ordered his statue to be made of more
than life size, that posterity might believe him to have been of nobler
stature. In Christ alone does man attain the greatness his heart yearns for—the
glory of perfect goodness.—Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse
6. Thy greatness. Or, according to the written text, greatnesses.
So Aquila and Jerome. The parallelism is decidedly in favour of the plural.—A.
S. Aglen.
Verse
7. There is an extensive and an intensive greatness, and both must
be found in our praises of God. First, an extensive greatness in regard of
their number; we must be frequent and plentiful in the duty: we must "Abundantly
utter the memory of God's great goodness." Secondly, there must be an intensive
greatness in our praises, in regard of the degree, fervour and heat of them.
They must be high, and vehement, fervent, flaming, zealous and affectionate,
full of life and rigour; our spirits must be raised, our hearts and tongues
enlarged in the performance of this duty. God's glorious name, as it is in Ne
9:5, "is exalted above all blessing and praise", above our most
devout and most zealous praises; and therefore surely faint, heartless, and
lifeless praises are so far from reaching him, as that they may seem to be
meant of another, and a lower object. God then is not praised at all if he be
not greatly praised. Weak and dull praises are dispraises; for a person or
thing is not honoured or praised, unless there be some proportion between the
honour and praise and the worthiness of the person or thing honoured and
praised.—Henry Jeanes, in "The Works of Heaven upon Earth,, 1649.
Verse
7. Abundantly utter. The word contains the idea of boiling or
bubbling up like a fountain. It signifies, a holy fluency about the mercy of
God. We have quite enough fluent people about, but they are many of them idlers
for whom Satan finds abundant work to do. The Lord deliver us from the noise of
fluent women; but it matters not how fluent men and women are if they will be
fluent on the topic now before us. Open your mouths; let the praise pour forth;
let it come, rivers of it. Stream away! Gush away, all that you possibly can. "They
shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness." Do not stop
the joyful speakers, let them go on for ever. They do not exaggerate, they
cannot. You say they are enthusiastic, but they are not half up to the pitch
yet; bid them become more excited and speak yet more fervently. Go on, brother,
go on; pile it up; say something greater, grander, and more fiery still I You
cannot exceed the truth. You have come to a theme where your most fluent powers
will fail in utterance. The text calls for a sacred fluency, and I would exhort
you liberally to exercise it when you are speaking on the goodness of God.—C.
H. S.
Verse
7. Too many witnesses of God's goodness are silent witnesses. Men do
not enough speak out the testimonies that they might bear in this matter. The
reason that I love the Methodists—good ones—is, that they have a tongue to their
piety. They fulfil the command of God,—to be fervent in spirit.—Henry Ward
Beecher.
Verse
7.
The
thought of our past years in me doth breed
Perpetual benedictions.
—William Wordsworth, 1770-1805.
Verse
7. They shall sing of thy righteousness, or justice.
To sing of goodness, mercy, forgiveness, is natural; but a song of justice
is singular. Here is the beauty of David's praise, that he sees subject of
delight as much in the righteousness of God as in his mercy.—John Lorinus.
Verse
7. They shall sing of thy righteousness. The righteousness of
God, whereby he justifieth sinners, and sanctifieth the justified, and
executeth judgment for his reconciled people, is the sweetest object of the
church's joy.—David Dickson.
Verse
7. Thy righteousness (read in connection with next verse). It
is an easy thing to conceive the glory of the Creator, manifested in the good
of an innocent creature; but the glory of the righteous Judge, manifested in
the good of the guilty criminal, is the peculiar, mysterious wisdom of the
Cross. It is easy to perceive God's righteousness declared in the punishment of
sins; the Cross alone declares "His righteousness for the remission of
sins." It magnifies justice in the way of pardoning sin, and mercy in the
way of punishing it.—John M'Laurin 1693-1754.
Verse
8. The Lord is gracious, etc. The proclamation of the Lord to
Moses (Ex 34:6) is the fountain head of these epithets.—James G. Murphy.
Verse
8. In God there is no passion, only compassion.—Richard Rothe,
1799-1867.
Verse
8. Of great mercy. Mercy hath misery for its object, and is
that attribute towards which the eyes of a fallen world must necessarily be
turned. The Psalmist hath, accordingly, introduced her last with great pomp and
splendour, seated in her triumphal chariot, and invested with a supremacy over
all the works of God. She is above the heavens, and over all the earth, so that
the whole creation findeth that refuge under the shadow of her wings of which,
by reason of man's transgression, it standeth in need.—Samuel Burder.
Verse
9. The Lord is good to all, etc. According to the doctrine of
Christianity, we are not the creatures of a God who takes no care of his
beings, and leaves them to themselves; not the offspring of a father who
disowns his children, who does not concern himself about them, and is
indifferent to their happiness and their misery. No; never has God, according
to that comfortable doctrine, left himself unwitnessed to man; never withdrawn
from him his fatherly providence and love; never abandoned the fortunes of his
feeble, helpless, untutored children, to blind chance or to their own
ignorance. No; from their first progenitor, to his latest posterity, he has
himself provided for their support, their instruction, their guidance, their
progress to higher attainments. He has constantly revealed himself to them m
various ways; constantly shed innumerable benefits on them; sometimes lovingly
correcting, and sometimes bountifully blessing them; has constantly been nigh
to them, and has left them in want of no means for becoming wiser and better.—George
Joachim Zollikofer, 1730-1788.
Verse
9. The Lord is good to all, etc. God's pity is not as some
sweet cordial, poured in dainty drops from a golden phial. It is not like the
musical water drops of some slender rill, murmuring down the dark side of Mount
Sinai. It is wide as the whole scope of heaven. It is abundant as all the air.
If one had art to gather up all the golden sunlight that today falls wide over
all the continent, falling through every silent hour; and all that is dispersed
over the whole ocean, floating from every wave; and all that is poured
refulgent over the northern wastes of ice, and along the whole continent of
Europe, and the vast outlying Asia and torrid Africa—if we could in any wise gather
up this immense and incalculable outflow and treasure that falls down through
the bright hours, and runs in liquid ether about the mountains, and fills all
the plains, and sends innumerable rays through every secret place, pouring over
and filling every flower, shining down the sides of every blade of grass,
resting in glorious humility upon the humblest things—on sticks, and stones,
and pebbles—on the spider's web, the sparrow's nest, the threshold of the young
foxes' hole, where they play and warm themselves—that rests on the prisoner's
window, that strikes radiant beams through the slave's tear, and puts gold upon
the widow's weeds, that plates and roofs the city with burnished gold, and goes
on in its wild abundance up and down the earth, shining everywhere and always,
since the day of primal creation, without faltering, without stint, without
waste or diminution; as full, as fresh, as overflowing today as if it were the
very first day of its outlay—if one might gather up this boundless, endless, infinite
treasure, to measure it, then might he tell the height, and depth, and unending
glory of the pity of God! That light, and the sun, its source, are God's own
figure of the immensity and copiousness of his mercy and compassion.—Henry
Ward Beecher, 1875.
Verse
9. Even the worst taste of God's mercy; such as fight against
God's mercy taste of it; the wicked have some crumbs from mercy's table. "The
Lord is good to all." Sweet dewdrops are on the thistle as well as on
the rose. The diocese where mercy visits is very large. Pharaoh's head was
crowned though his heart was hardened.—Thomas Watson.
Verse
9. His tender mercies are over all his works. When the
sensible sinner is seeking faith of God, he may plead the largeness of
mercy. God's mercy is like the firmament spread over all this lower world; and
every infirm creature partakes more or less of its influence, according to its
exigence and capacity. True, may he say, I have made myself by sin, the vilest
of all creatures; I am become worse than the beasts that perish; as vile as a
worm, as loathsome as a toad, by reason of the venomous corruption that is in
my heart, and my woeful contrariety to the nature of a holy God. But there is "mercy
over all", even over such vile and loathsome creatures as these; there
may be some over me, though wrath do now abide on me. Oh, let that mercy, whose
glory it is to stretch itself over all, e reach my soul also! Oh, that the
blessed and powerful influence thereof would p beget faith in my heart!—David
Clarkson.
Verse
9. His tender mercies. The nature and force of the word
Mymxr, is properly the bowels;that is, there are tender mercies in
God (so we term it in the Benedictus). Not of the ordinary sort,
slight, and such as pierce not deep, come not far; but such as come de
profundis, from the very bowels themselves, that affect that part,
make the bowels relent. And what bowels? Not the bowels of the
common man (for then Mwem had been the right word), but Mmxr are the bowels of
a parent (so, we said, the word signifies), and this adds much; adds to mercy
stosgh, natural love;to one strong affection another as strong or
stronger than it.
And
what parent? the more pitiful of the twain, the mother. For Mxr
(the singular of this word) is Hebrew for the womb. So as this, to the
two former addeth the sex; the sex holden to be the more compassionate. Of all
mercies, those of the bowels; and of all bowels, the bowels of a parent;and
of the two parents, those of the mother:such pity as the mother takes of
the children of her womb. Mercies are in God; such mercies are in
God.
"Over
all." It is good news for us that these mercies are in God; but, better
yet, that they are in him with a super—"over." But, best of
all, that that super is a super omnia—"over all." Much
is said in few words to mercy's praise when 'tis said, super omnia. Nihil
supra were much, none above it: but it is written super omnia, above all.
He that saith this leaves no more to say; there is no higher degree; super
omnia is the superlative.
All
that are above are not over. It is not above only, as an
obelisk or Maypole, higher than all about them, but have neither shadow nor
shelter; no good they do! Mercy hath a broad top, spreading itself over
all. It is so above all, as it is over them, too. As the vault of
this chapel is over us, and the great vault of the firmament over
that; the super of latitude and expansion, no less than of altitude and
elevation. And this to the end that all may retire to it, and take covert; it over
them, and they under it. Under it, under the shadow of it, as of
Esay's "great rock in the wilderness", from the heat:under it,
under the shelter of it as of Daniel's "great tree", from the
tempest. (Isa 32:2 Da 4:11-12).—Lancelot Andrewes.
Verse
10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD. It is a poor
philosophy and a narrow religion which does not recognise God as all in all.
Every moment of our lives, we breathe, stand, or move in the temple of the Most
High; for the whole universe is that temple. Wherever we go, the testimony to
his power, the impress of his hand, are there. Ask of the bright worlds around
us, as they roll in the everlasting harmony of their circles, and they shall
tell you of him whose power launched them on their courses; ask of the
mountains, that lift their heads among and above the clouds, and the bleak
summit of one shall seem to call aloud to the snow clad top of another, in
proclaiming their testimony to the Agency which has laid their deep
foundations. Ask of ocean's waters; and the roar of their boundless waves shall
chant from shore to shore a hymn of ascription to that Being, who hath said,
"Hitherto shall ye come and no further." Ask of the rivers; and, as
they roll onward to the sea, do they not bear along their ceaseless tribute to
the ever working Energy, which struck open their fountains and poured them down
through the valleys? Ask of every region of the earth, from the burning equator
to the icy pole, from the rock bound coast to the plain covered with its
luxuriant vegetation; and will you not find on them all the record of the
Creator's presence? Ask of the countless tribes of plants and animals; and
shall they not testify to the action of the great Source of Life? Yes, from
every portion, from every department of nature, comes the same voice;
everywhere we hear thy name, O God! everywhere we see thy love! Creation, in
all its length and breadth, in all its depth and height, is the manifestation
of thy Spirit, and without thee the world were dark and dead. The universe is
to us as the burning bush which the Hebrew leader saw: God is ever present in
it, for it burns with his glory, and the ground on which we stand is always
holy.—"Francis" (Viscount Dillon).
Verse
10. Marvellous is it that man is not always praising, since
everything amidst which he dwells is continually inviting praise.—Gregory
the Great.
Verse
10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD, etc.
"All" God's "works" do "praise" him, as the
beautiful building praiseth the builder, or the well drawn picture praiseth the
painter: but his "saints bless" him, as the children of prudent and
tender parents rise up and call them blessed. Of all God's works, his saints,
the workmanship of his grace, the first fruits of his creatures, have most
reason to bless him.—Matthew Henry.
Verse
10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD, etc. There are
two words by which our thankfulness to God is expressed, praising and blessing.
What is the difference? Praise respecteth God's excellences, and blessing
respecteth God's benefits. We may praise a man that never hath done us good, if
he be excellent and praiseworthy; but blessing respecteth God's bounty and
benefits; yet they are often used promiscuously.—Thomas Manton.
Verse
10. And thy saints shall bless thee. The lily lifts itself
upon its slender stem, and displays its golden petals and its glittering ivory
leaves; and by its very existence it praises God. Yonder deep and booming sea
rolls up in storm and tempest sweeping everything before it; and every dash of
its waves praises God. The birds in the morning, and some of them all through
the night, can never cease from praising; uniting with the ten thousand other
voices which make ceaseless concert before the throne. But observe, neither the
flower, nor the sea, nor the bird, praises with intent to praise. To them it is
no exercise of intellect, for they do not know God, and cannot understand his
worthiness; nor do they even know that they are praising him. They exhibit his
skill, and his goodness, and so forth, and in so doing they do much; but we
must learn to do more. When you and I praise God, there is the element of will,
of intelligence, of desire, of intent; and in the saints of God there is
another element, namely, that of love to him, of reverent gratitude towards
him, and this turns the praise into blessing. A man is an eminent painter, and
you exclaim, "His pencil is instinct with life." Still, the man is no
friend of yours, you pronounce no blessings on his name. It may be that your
feeling towards him is that of deep regret that such abilities should be united
with so ill a character. A certain person is exceedingly skilful in his
profession, but he treats you unjustly, and, therefore, though you often praise
him for his extraordinary performances, you cannot bless him, for you have no
cause to do so. I am afraid that there might be such a feeling as that of
admiration of God for his great skill, his wonderful power, his extraordinary
justness, and yet no warmth of love in the heart towards him; but in the saints
the praise is sweetened with love, and is full of blessing.—C. H. S.
Verses
10-11. If not only irrational, but inanimate creatures praise God by
giving occasion for his praise; then how much more should men set forth his
praise, who are not only living, but reasonable creatures! And if creatures
without life and reason should provoke mankind in general, as having life and
reason, to praise God; how much more should godly men be provoked by them to
sing his praise, they having not only life, which stars have not; and reason,
which birds and beasts have not; but grace, which the most of men have not!
Among visible creatures, men have most reason (because they have reason) to
praise God; and among men gracious men have most reason to praise God, because
they have grace. And therefore as soon as ever David had said, "All thy
works shall praise thee, O LORD", he adds in the next words, "and
thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and
talk of thy power." As if he had said, As all thy works, O Lord,
praise thee, so saints (who are the choicest pieces of thy workmanship) have
cause to do it above all: they cannot but be speaking and talking of thy
kingdom and power, which are very glorious.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse
11. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, etc. The glory
of a kingdom is synonymous with its power. The power of a kingdom consists in
the number of its subjects, and the sufficiency of its revenues to maintain
them. Now, the glory, or the power of God's kingdom, may be inferred from the
difference between it and that of man. There are four points of difference.
First, the kings of this world have but few subjects, with but little
wealth,—not more than the population and riches of one kingdom, or one
province, while God reigns over all angels, all men, all demons; and all wealth
on land, in the sea, or in the air, belongs to him. There is another
difference, that while the kings of this world rule their subjects, they are
still ruled by them, they are dependent on them, could do nothing
without them; and, however abundant their revenues may be, they are generally
in want, nay, even in debt, and, consequently, always calling for fresh
tributes and taxes; but God, while he governs all, is subject to none, because
he needs nobody's help or assistance. Instead of being in want, he abounds in
everything, because he could, in one moment, bring from nothing much more than
he now beholds or enjoys. The third difference is a consequence of the second,
while the kings of this world seem so to enjoy their honours and dignities,
they are, at the same time, suffering acutely from interior fears,
doubts, and cares, which have sometimes been so burdensome, as to cause them to
abdicate altogether. God never suffers such pressure, is subject to no fear, no
misgivings, but reigns absolutely in perfect tranquillity. The fourth
difference, an essential one, is, that the kings of the world reign but for
a time;but God reigneth for ever.—Robert Bellarmine.
Verse
11. They shall speak...and talk. Joy and sorrow are hard to
conceal; as from the countenance, so from the tongue. There is so much
correspondence betwixt the heart and tongue that they will move at once: every
man therefore speaks of his own pleasure and care; the hunter and falconer of
his game; the ploughman of his team; the soldier of his march and colours. If
the heart were as full of God, the tongue could not refrain from talking of
him: the rareness of Christian communication argues the common poverty of
grace. If Christ be not in our hearts, we are godless; if he be there without
our joy, we are senseless; if we rejoice in him and speak not of him, we are
shamefully unthankful. Every man taketh, yea, raiseth occasion, to bring in
speech of what he liketh. As I will think of thee always, O Lord, so it shall
be my joy to speak of thee often; and if I find not opportunity, I will make
it.—Joseph Hall.
Verse
13. The Kingdom of God is his government of the world. The glory of
it becomes especially conspicuous in this, that he raises the dominion of his
anointed over all the kingdoms of the world: comp. Ps 89:27. "Thy
kingdom is a kingdom of all eternities" (Ps 145:13), and so must also
the kingdom of thine anointed be an eternal one, and will survive all the
transitory kingdoms of this world, however highly they may puff themselves up.—D.
W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
13. On the door of the old mosque in Damascus, which was once a
Christian church, but for twelve centuries has ranked among the holiest of the
Mahomedan sanctuaries, are inscribed these memorable words: "Thy kingdom,
O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all
generations." Though the name of Christ has been regularly blasphemed, and
the disciples of Christ regularly cursed for twelve hundred years within it,
the inscription has, nevertheless, remained unimpaired by time, and undisturbed
by man. It was unknown during the long reign of Mahomedan intolerance and
oppression; but when religious liberty was partially restored, and the
missionaries were enabled to establish a Christian church in that city, it was
again brought to light, encouraging them in their work of faith and labour of
love.—From John Bate's "Cyclopoedia of Illustrations," 1865.
Verses
13-14. What we admire in these verses, is their combining the
magnificence of unlimited power with the assiduity of unlimited tenderness. It
is this combination which men are apt to regard as well nigh incredible,
supposing that a Being so great as God can never concern himself with beings so
inconsiderable as themselves. Tell them that God lifteth up those that be bowed
down, and they cannot imagine that his kingdom and dominion are unbounded; or
tell them, on the other hand, of the greatness of his empire, and they think it
impossible that he should uphold all that fall.—Henry Melvill.
Verse
14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, etc. It is noteworthy
how the Psalmist proceeds to exhibit the mightiness of God's kingdom, not by
its power "to break in pieces and bruise", like the iron legs of the
statue in Nebuchadnezzar's vision (Da 2:40), but by the King's readiness to aid
the weak. Even a heathen could see that this was the noblest use of power.
Regia
(crede mihi) res est succurrere lapsis.
Ovid., Ep. de Panto, ii. 9, II.
It is a kingly thing to help the fallen.
—Neale and Littledale.
Verse
14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, etc. oyekn nophelim
the falling, or those who are not able to keep their feet; the weak. He shores
them up; he is their prop. No man falls through his own weakness merely;
if he rely on God, the strongest foe cannot shake him.—Adam Clarke.
Verse
14. And raiseth up all those that be bowed down, incurvatos.
Many who do not actually fall are reduced to distress that may be even more
painful; for the struggling are greater sufferers than the actually passive.
Men are bowed down physically by infirmity; mentally, by care;
spiritually, by remorse; some are even crushed by all three burdens. For all
such there is help in a Mighty One. But none can help themselves alone: none
are raised but by supernatural interposition—non nisi opitulante Domino.—Martin
Geier.
Verse
14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall. The word here used is a
participle, literally, "The Lord sustaining" that is, the Lord
is a Sustainer or Upholder of all that fall.—Albert Barnes.
Verse
14. And raiseth up all those that be bowed down. Alphonsus,
King of Arragon, is famous for helping with his own hand one of his subjects
out of a ditch. Of Queen Elizabeth it is recorded, to her eternal praise, that
she hated (no less than did Mithridates) such as sought to crush virtue
forsaken of fortune. Christ bruises not the broken reed, but upholdeth it, he
quenches not the smoking wick, but cherisheth it.—John Trapp.
Verses
14-19. The Psalmist sets up a splendid argument. Having praised the
kingdom, he goes on to display seven glories peculiar to kings, and
shows that in Jehovah these shine supremely. Ps 145:14-19 contain each a royal
virtue.—John Lorinus.
Verse
15. The eyes of all wait upon thee. God cannot be overmastered
by what is great and enormous, so neither can he overlook what is small and
insignificant. God is that being to whom the only great thing is himself; and,
therefore, when, "the eyes of all wait upon him", the seraph gains
not attention by his gaze of fire, and the insect loses it not through the
feebleness of vision. Arch angels, and angels, and men, and beasts of the
field, and fowls of the air, and fish of the sea, draw equally the regard of
him, who, counting nothing great but himself, the Creator, can pass over as
small no fraction of the creature.—Henry Melvill.
Verse
15. Doth not nature teach you to pray? Ask the brutes, the ravens,
lions, etc. (Job 38:41 Ps 147:9 104:27 145:15); not as if these unreasonable
creatures could know and worship God, but because nature hath taught them so
much of this duty as they are capable of and can bear; they have some sense of
their burdens and wants, they groan and cry, and desire to be eased; and the
Lord hearkeneth to this voice and saith, "Now the poor creature is crying
to me, and I will pity it." Ah! shall the beasts in their own way cry to
God, and wilt thou be silent? Hath the Lord elevated thee so far above these
inferior creatures, and fitted thee for the immediate acts of his worship, and
for a higher communion with himself, and wilt thou not serve him accordingly?
Hath he given thee a heart and a spiritual soul, as he hath given the brutes a
sensitive appetite and natural desires, and shall they cry to God with the one,
and not thou with the other?—Alexander Pitcairne, 1664.
Verse
15. Eyes...wait upon thee. Many dumb beggars have been
relieved at Christ's gate by making signs.—William Seeker.
Verse
15. In agony nature is no atheist, the mind which knows not where to
fly, flies to God.—Hannah More, 1745-1833.
Verse
15. The creatures are his, and therefore to be received with
thanksgiving; this our Saviour performed with great rigour and zeal; thus
teaching us, when "looking up to heaven", that "the eyes of
all" ought, in the most literal sense, "to wait" upon
that Lord "who gives them their meat in due season." ...A
secret sense of God's goodness is by no means enough. Men should make solemn
and outward expressions of it, when they receive his creatures for their
support; a service and homage not only due to him, but profitable to
themselves.—George Stanhope, 1660-1728.
Verse
15. While atheism, in its strict signification, namely, that of total
denial of God's existence, is scarcely, if at all, to be found on earth;
atheism, as regards the denial of God's providence, is the espoused creed of
hundreds amongst us. ...Providence, which is confessed in great things, is
rejected in small things; and even if you can work up men to an easy confession
that God presides over national concerns, you will find them withdrawing
individuals from his scrutiny. We bring against this paring down of God's
providence a distinct charge of atheism. If we confess the existence of a God
at all, we read it in the workmanship of the tiniest leaf, as well as in the
magnificent pinnacles of Andes and Alps: if we believe in the providence of God
at all, we must confess that he numbers the hairs of our heads, as well as
marshals the stars of the firmament; and that providence is not universal, and
therefore cannot be godlike, if a sparrow, any more than a seraph, flit away
unregarded. Now, the words before us set themselves most strenuously against
this popular atheism. The whole creation is represented as fastening its gaze
on the universal Parent, and as drawing from his fulness the supply of every
necessity. "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou give, them their
meat in due season." There is made, you observe, no exception
whatever; the exhibition is simply that of every rank and order of beings
looking to the Almighty, confessing dependence upon him, and standing environed
by his guardianship. So that, in place of anything which approximates to the
abandonment of our creation, the Psalmist asserts a ceaseless attention to its
wants, the suspension of which for an instant would cause chill and darkness
throughout the whole universe.—Henry Melvill.
Verse
15. Thou givest them their meat in due season. The meat which
endures to everlasting life; the flesh of Christ, which is meat indeed; the
doctrines of the gospel, which, as some of them are milk for babes, others are
meat for strong men, or strong meat for experienced believers; and these are
given forth under Christ's direction, by his ministering servants, who are his
wise and faithful stewards, that give to every one of the family their portion
of meat in due season, which is the word fitly spoken; and, when it is so, how
good it is! Lu 12:42 Pr 15:23. This is food convenient for them, given out in
his time, as in the original; either in the Lord's time, when he sees best,
or in their time, as the Syriac version, when they most need it, and it
will do them most good.—John Gill.
Verse
15. (second clause.) It is said that God gives them "their
food", and, "in its season", for the very variety of
it serves more to illustrate the providence of God. Each has its own way of
feeding, and the different kinds of aliment are designed and adapted for
different uses. David therefore speaks of the food which is particular to them.
The pronoun is not in the plural, and we are not to read in their season, as if
it applied to the animals. The food he notices as given in its season; for here
also we are to notice the admirable arrangements of divine providence, that
there is a certain time appointed for harvest, vintage, and hay crop, and that
the year is so divided into intervals, that the cattle are fed at one time on
grass, at another on hay, or straw, or acorns, or other products of the earth.
Were the whole supply poured forth at one and the same moment, it could not be
gathered together so conveniently; and we have no small reason to admire the seasonableness
with which the different kinds of fruit and aliment are yearly produced.—John
Calvin.
Verse
15. Mr. Robertson told of a poor child who was accustomed to see
unexpected provision for his mother's wants arrive in answer to prayer. The
meal barrel in Scotland is everything to a hungry boy: so he said,
"Mother, I think God aye hears when we're scraping the bottom o' the
barrel."—"The Christian."
Verses
15-17. Who can fear that, because God's ways are unsearchable, they may
not be all tending to the final good of his creatures, when he knows that with
the tenderness of a most affectionate parent this Creator and Governor
ministers to the meanest living thing? Who can be disquieted by the
mysteriousness of the Divine dealings when he remembers that they are those of
one who never ceases for a solitary moment to consult the happiness of
whatsoever he hath formed? Who, in short, can distrust God because clouds and
darkness are round about him, when there is light enough to show that he is the
vigilant guardian of every tenant of this earth, that his hand upholds, and his
breath animates, and his bounty nourishes, the teeming hordes of the city, and
the desert, and the ocean? It seems that there is thus a beautiful, though
tacit process of reasoning in our text, and that the seventeenth verse is set
in its proper connection. It is as though David had said, "Come, let us
muse on the righteousness of God. He would not be God if he were not righteous
in all his ways and holy in all his works; and therefore we may be sure that
whatsoever he does is the best that could be done, whether or not we can
discover its excellence."
Yes,
this may be true, but when we look on the divine dealings what an abyss of dark
waters there is! How unsearchable, how unfathomable are God's judgments! We
admit it; but being previously convinced of God's righteousness, we ought not
to be staggered by what is dark in his dispensations. "True", you
reply, "but the mind does not seem satisfied by this reasoning; it may be
convincing to the intellect, but it does not address itself to the
feelings." Well, then, pass from what is dark in God's dealing to what is
clear. He is about your path and about your bed; he "preserveth man and
beast"; "his tender mercies are over all his works." Is this a
God of whom to be suspicious? Is this a God to mistrust? Oh! surely if you will
fortify yourselves by such facts as these—"Thou, O Lord, satisfiest the
desire of every living thing", "The eyes of all wait upon thee;
and thou givest them their meat in due season"—if, I say, you will
fortify your minds by such facts as these, you will be able at all times and in
all circumstances to join heartily in the acknowledgment of the Psalmist—"The
Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works."—Henry
Melvill.
Verse
16.
Thou
openest thy hand of grace
And thou dost satisfy
The wants of all ill every place
Who for thy presence cry.
—Thomas MacKellar, 1883.
Verse
16. Thou openest thy hand. This seems as if depicted from a
housekeeper's habit of feeding a brood of chickens and other creatures. She
flings abroad with full and open hand a large supply, not measuring to a grain
just what might be enough.—Martin Geier.
Verse
16. Thou openest thy hand. What an idea does this convey of
the paternal goodness of the great Father of his creation! How opposite
to the conduct of many of his creatures one to another, whose hands and hearts
are slant! What an idea also does it convey of the ease with which the
wants of the whole creation are supplied! Let me pause a moment and think of
their wants. What a quantity of vegetable and animal food is daily consumed in
one town: what a quantity in a large city like London: what a quantity in a
nation: in the whole world! But men do not compose a hundredth part of
"every living thing" I What innumerable wants throughout all animate
nature; in the earth, in the air, in the waters! Whence comes their supply?
"Thou openest thy hand", and all are satisfied. And can all these
wants be supplied by only the opening of his hand? What then must sin
be, and salvation from it? That is a work of wonderful expense. God openeth his
hand and satisfieth all creation, but he must purchase the Church with his
blood ...In what a variety of ways are our wants supplied. The earth
is fruitful, the air is full of life, the clouds empty themselves upon the
earth, the sun pours forth its genial rays; but the operation of all these
second causes is only the opening of his hand! Nay further: look we to instruments
as well as means? Parents feed us in our childhood, and supply our youthful
wants; ways are opened for our future subsistence; connexions are formed, which
prove sources of comfort; friends are kind in seasons of extremity; supplies
are presented from quarters that we never expected. What are all these but the
opening of his hand? If his hand were shut, what a world would this be! The
heavens brass, the earth iron; famine, pestilence, and death must follow. See
Ps 104:27-29.
Consider
next the term "hand." There is a difference between the hand
and the heart. God opens his hand, in the way of providence, towards his
worst enemies. He gave Nebuchadnezzar all the kingdoms of the earth. But he
opens his heart in the gospel of his Son. This is the better portion of
the two. While we are thankful for the one, let us not rest satisfied in it: it
is merely a hand portion. Rather let us pray with Jabez to be blessed indeed;and
that we might have a Joseph's portion; not only the precious things of the
earth and the fulness thereof, but "the good will of him that dwelt in the
bush!" Thou satisfiest the desire, etc. God does not give grudgingly. It
seems to be a characteristic of the divine nature, both in the natural and
moral world, to raise desires, not with a view to disappoint, but to satisfy
them. O what a consoling thought is this! If there be any desires in us which
are not satisfied, it is through their being self created ones, which is our
own fault; or through artificial scarcity from men's luxury, which is the fault
of our species. God raises no desires as our Creator, but he gives enough to
satisfy them; and none as our Redeemer and Sanctifier but what shall be
actually satisfied. O the wonderful munificence of God! "How great is his
goodness, and how great is his beauty!"—Andrew Fuller.
Verse
16. (second clause). The word nwur, ratson, some render
"desire", as though he meant that God supplies each kind of
animal with food according to its wish. And a little afterwards we do indeed
find it used in that sense. Others, however, refer it rather to God's feeding
them of his mere good pleasure and kindness; it is not enough to say that our
food is given us by God, unless we add, as in the second clause of the verse,
that his kindness is gratuitous, and that there is no extrinsic cause whatever
moving him to provide so liberally for every living creature. In that case the
cause is put for the effect; the various kinds of provision being effects of
his good pleasure—carismata ths caritos,—John Calvin.
Verse
17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, etc. The ground
upon which praise is here ascribed to God may seem a common one, being in every
one's mouth; but in nothing is wisdom shown more than in holding fast the
truth, that God is just in all his ways, so as to retain in our hearts an
unabated sense of it amidst all troubles and confusions. Though all acknowledge
God to be just, most men are no sooner overtaken by affliction than they
quarrel with his severity: unless their wishes are immediately complied with,
they are impatient, and nothing is more common than to hear his justice
impeached. As it is everywhere abused by the wicked imputations men cast upon
it, here it is very properly vindicated from such ungrateful treatment, and
asserted to be constant and unfailing, however loudly the world may disparage
it. It is expressly added, "in all his ways and works"; for we
fail to give God due honour unless we recognise a constant tenor of
righteousness in the whole progress of his operation. Nothing is more difficult
in the time of trouble, when God has apparently forsaken us, or afflicts us
without cause, than to restrain our corrupt feelings from breaking out against
his judgments; as we are told of the Emperor Mauricius in a memorable passage
of history, that seeing his sons murdered by the wicked and perfidious traitor
Phocas, and being about to be carried out himself to death, he cried
out—"Thou art righteous, O God, and just are thy judgments."—John
Calvin.
Verse
17. Holy in all his works. God is good, the absolute and
perfect; and from good nothing can come but good: and therefore all which God
has made is good, as he is; and therefore if anything in the world seems to be
bad, one of two things must be true of it. Either it is not bad, though
it seems so to us; and God will bring good out of it in his good time, and
justify himself to men, and show us that he is holy in all his works, and
righteous in all his ways. Or else—If the thing be really bad, then God did not
make it. It must be a disease, a mistake, a failure, of man's making, or some
person's making, but not of God's making. For all that he has made he sees
eternally; and behold, it is very good.—Charles Kingsky, in "The Good
News of God," 1878.
Verse
18. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him. Not
only near by his omnipresence, but to sympathize and favour. He does not leave
praying men, and men who confess his name, to battle with the world alone, but
he is ever at their side. This favour is not for a few of those who invoke him;
but for each one of the pious company. "All" who place themselves
beneath the shield of his glorious name by calling themselves by it, and by
calling upon it in supplication, shall find him to be a very present help in
trouble. "To all that call upon him in truth": for there are
many whose formal prayers and false professions will never bring them into
communion with the Lord. To pray in truth, we must have a true heart, and the
truth in our heart; and then we must be humble, for pride is a falsehood; and
be earnest, or else prayer is a lie. A God of truth cannot be nigh to the
spirit of hypocrisy; this he knows and hates; neither can he be far removed
from a sincere spirit, since it is his work, and he forsakes not the work of
his own hands.
Verse
18. The Lord is nigh. The nearness or remoteness of a friend
is very material and considerable in our troubles, distresses, wants, dangers
etc. I have such a friend and he would help me, but he lives so far off; and I
have another friend that has a great love for me, that is able to counsel me,
and to speak a word in season to me, and that in my distress would stand close
to me, but he is so remote. I have a special friend, that did he know how
things stand with me would make my burdens his, and my wants his, and my
sorrows his; but he is in a far country, he is at the Indies, and I may be
undone before I can hear from him. But it is not thus with you, O Christians!
who have a God so nigh unto you, who have the signal presence of God in the
midst of you, yea, who have a God always standing by you, "The Lord stood
by me," etc. 2Ti 4:17.—Thomas Brooks.
Verse
18. Them that call upon him. To call upon the name of the Lord
implies right faith, to call upon him as he is; right trust
in him, leaning upon him, right devotion, calling upon him as he has
appointed; right life, ourselves who call upon him being, or becoming by
his grace, what he wills. They "call" not "upon the
Lord", but upon some idol of their own imagining, who call upon him as
other than he has revealed himself, or remaining themselves other than those
whom he has declared that he will hear. For such deny the very primary
attribute of God, his truth. Their God is not a God of truth.—Edward
Bouverie Pusey, 1800-1882.
Verse
18. To all that call upon him in truth. Because there is a
counterfeit and false sort of worshipping, and calling upon God, which is
debarred from the benefit of this promise, to wit, when the party suppliant is
not reconciled, nor seeking reconciliation through Christ the Mediator, or is
seeking something not promised, or something for a carnal end, that he may
bestow it on his lusts; therefore he who hath right unto this promise must be a
worshipper of God in faith, and sincere intention; and to such the Lord will
show himself "nigh."—David Dickson.
Verse
18. To call upon God in truth is, first, to repose an implicit
confidence in the faithfulness of his promise, and to look for unlimited
answers to prayer from the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus. But it is also,
in the next place, to feel our own urgent need of the things for which we supplicate,
and to realize an earnest and unfeigned concern to obtain them. "What
things ye desire when ye pray", said the Lord, "believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them"; and hence we gather, that the
hearty desire, arising out of the consciousness of need, is an integral and
inseparable part of genuine and effectual prayer.—Thomas Dale, 1853.
Verses
18-19. God's people are a praying people, a generation of seekers, and
such commonly are speeders. God never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye my
face in vain. They seek his face, righteousness and strength, and he is found
of them...The saints alone betake themselves to God and his help, run to him as
their sanctuary; others fly from God's presence, run to the rocks, and the tops
of the ragged rocks, call to the hills and the mountains; but a child of God
goes only and tells his Father, and before him lays open his cause; as good
Hezekiah did, when Rabshakeh came out against him; "O Lord, I am
oppressed, undertake for me"; or the Church (Isa 33:2), "Be thou our
arm every morning, and our salvation in time of trouble." They only
sensibly need, and so alone crave and implore divine succour; and God will not
suffer his people to lose the precious treasure of their prayers. "The
Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him; he will fulfil their desire, he
will hear their cry", etc. That God who prepares his people's heart to
pray, prepares also his own ear to hear; and he that promises to hear before we
call, will never deny to hearken when we cry unto him. As Calvin saith:
"Oppressions and afflictions make man cry, and cries and supplications
make God hear."—F. E., in "The Saint's Ebenezer," 1667.
Verse
19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him. This is
for comfort for all poor broken hearts in whom God hath engendered the true desire
of grace. Let such know that the first step to grace is to see they have no
grace; and the first degree of grace is the desire of grace. It is not with the
body as with the soul, if you will be healed you shall be healed. A man may
desire to be healed corporally, and yet his disease continue upon him; but it
is not so with the soul: if thou wilt say, "Christ heal me", thou
shalt be made whole. If a man have but the true desire of grace it shall be given
him: "Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble" (Ps 10:17):
when the poor soul is humbled before God in the sense of the want of grace, and
breathes and desires after it, the Lord will grant such desires: "He
will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and
will save them." One said, "the greatest part of Christianity is
to desire to be a Christian." And another said, "The total sum of a
man's religion in this life consists in the true desires of saving grace."
This was the perfection Saint Paul attained unto (Ro 7:18): "To will is
present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." Saint
Paul we know was the child of God, and one dearly beloved of God; yet that was
the pitch of his godliness; it consisted more in desire than accomplishment.
Canst thou approve by evident and sound arguments that thou hast the true
desires of grace? Then know for thy comfort that the Lord's spirit of grace
hath been moving and stirring in thee: "It is God that worketh in you both
the will and the deed" (Php 2:13), and that of his good pleasure, not only
of his bounty, from whence he hath bestowed many graces, even upon such as he
will damn afterwards for their accursed abuse of them, with the neglect of the
power thereof. But if God hath set thy will, and the stream of thy affections
and desires, to himself and to grace, it is an evidence of God's good pleasure
from which he did at first elect thee, and gave his Son to redeem thee.—William
Fenner (1560-1640), in "The Riches of Grace."
Verse
19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him. God will
not grant us every desire, that is our mercy; for, 1. Some of them are sinful.
David desired to be revenged on Nabal and his innocent family. Jonah desired
Nineveh's ruin. 2. Others would not be for our good. David desired the
life of the child he had by Bathsheba; David also desired the life of Jonathan;
neither of which would have been for his good. Nay, not every righteous
desire. It is a righteous desire for a minister to desire the salvation of
those that hear him. So Paul declared, "I would to God that all that are
here present were altogether such as I am": Ac 26:29. So again, "I
could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen
according to the flesh": Ro 9:1. David desired to build a house for God,
and it was a righteous desire, for God took it well at his hands; yet he did
not grant it. Kings and prophets desired to see the Lord Messiah, and yet did
not see him. How then are we to understand it? Answer. The sum or substance of
their desires shall be fulfilled. What is the main desire of a seaman? that he
may arrive at the haven. So saints will be brought to their desired haven. What
of a pilgrim? See Heb 11:16. So all the desires of a Christian are summed up in
this, That he may eternally enjoy God and be like him. Doubtless there
is great mystery in these things. However, I think it is certain that, when God
raises a spiritual desire in a person, it is often, though not always,
with an intention to bestow the object desired.—Andrew Fuller.
Verse
19. (first clause.) God will fulfil the will of those who fear
to disobey his will.—Simon de Muis.
Verse
19. Desire is the largest and most comprehensive word that can
be used; it contains all things in it...Nothing good, nothing necessary:
nothing profitable, but comes under this word "desire." When
God promises to "fulfil the desires of them that fear him", he
doth promise all good things; desire comprehends all that can be desired.—Ralph
Robinson.
Verse
19. He will hear their cry, etc. A mark of a great king—he
gives willing audience to suppliants.—Johannes Paulus Palanterius.
Verse
19. He will hear and save. How true a description of Christ in
his constant office. He heard Mary Magdalene and saved her. He heard the
Canaanitish woman, and saved her daughter. He heard the cry of the two blind
men and enlightened them. He heard the lepers and cleansed them. He heard the
cry of the dying thief and promised him Paradise. Never has one yet cried to
King Jesus who has not been heard and delivered.—Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse
20. The LORD preserveth all them that love him. They keep him
in their love, and he keeps them by his love. See how these favoured ones have
advanced from fearing the Lord and crying to him, even to loving him, and in
that love they are secure from all danger. Mark the number of "alls"
in these later verses of the Psalm. In each of these God is all in all. But
all the wicked will he destroy. Wickedness is an offence to all holy
beings, and therefore those who are determined to continue in it must be weeded
out. As good sanitary laws remove all creators of pest and plague, so does the
moral government of God mark every evil thing for destruction; it cannot be
tolerated in the presence of a perfectly holy God. What ruins wicked men
frequently become in this life! What monuments of wrath will they be in the
world to come! Like Nineveh and Babylon, and other destroyed places, they shall
only exist to declare how thoroughly God fulfils his threatenings.
Verse
20. The Lord preserveth, etc. God's mercy and God's justice;
he preserves and he destroys. Philip IV of France, surnamed the Beautiful, on
his escutcheon emblazoned a sword and an olive branch, with the motto, Utrumque,
i.e. "one or the other." A truly great king is master of either
art—war and peace.—Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse
20. Those who were called "them that fear him" are
now denominated "them that love him."—Simon de Muis.
Verse
20. All the wicked will he destroy. God has so many different,
unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world, and sending them to
hell, that there is nothing to make it appear that God had need to be at the
expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to
destroy any wicked man at any moment.—Jonathan Edwards.
Verse
20. All the wicked will he destroy. It must not be overlooked
that this declaration occurs in a song of praise. The whole of the context is
utterly inconsistent with the expression of emotions of anger or revenge.—Speaker's
Commentary.
Verse
20. All the wicked will he destroy. Prayer Book Version,
"scattereth abroad."] Like the ruins of a demolished building; or
rather, like an army, which the enemy has completely routed.—William
Keatinge Clay.
Verse
20. Preserveth...destroy. Notice this recurrent the
guardianship of the good implies the destruction of the wicked.—A. S. Aglen.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verses
1-2. Praise.
1.
Personal praise.
2. Daily praise.
3. Enthusiastic praise.
4. Perpetual praise.
Or:
1.
The attractive theme of the song.
2. The increasing fulness of the song.
3. The unending life of the singer.—C. A. D.
Verses
1-2. The four "I wills" of praise. Praise to the King;
praise to the divine character; praise for all time; praise for all eternity.
Verse
2. Every day; for ever.
1.
Day by day for ever God and I will endure.
2.
Day by day for ever our present relations will continue. He the God, I the
creature; he the Father, I the child; he the blessing, I the blest.
3.
Day by day for ever he shall have my homage.—W. B. H.
Verse
3.
1.
The dignity of man is here implied in his capacity for praising God greatly.
2.
His immortality in his capacity for praising his unsearchable greatness.—G.
R.
Verse
3. (last clause.) The unsearchable greatness of God. Consider
it,
1.
As a fact amply demonstrated.
2.
As a rebuke to despondency: see Isa 40:28.
3.
As the stay of a soul oppressed by mysteries.
4.
As indicating a subject for our everlasting study.—J. F.
Verse
4.
1.
Our obligation to past generations.
2. Our duty to generations to come.—G. R.
Verses
5-7. The Antiphon.
1.
To praise God is a personal duty: "I will."
2.
Its right performance will excite others to engage in it: "And men
shall."
3.
The accompaniment of others in praise will react upon ourselves. "And I
will"; "And they shall abundantly", etc.
4.
Such praise widens and expands a it rolls along. Beginning with God's majesty
and works, it extends to his acts, greatness, goodness, and righteousness.—C.
A. D.
Verses
5-7.
1.
Subjects for praise.
(a)
Divine majesty.
(b) Divine works.
(c) Divine judgments.
(d) Divine greatness.
(e) Divine goodness.
(f) Divine righteousness.
2.
Of whom is it required.
(a)
Personal; "I will speak."
(b) Universal; "men shall speak."—G. R.
Verses
6-7.
1. The
awe struck talk. Silent as to mercies and promises, men must speak when
God's terrible acts are among them.
2. The
bold avowal. One individual declares God's greatness in power, wisdom,
truth and grace. This leads others to the same conclusion, and hence—
3. The
grateful outpouring. Many bless the Lord's great goodness in a song fresh,
free, constant, joyous, refreshing, abundant, like the gush of a spring.
4. The
select song. They utter goodness but sing of righteousness.
This is a noteworthy topic for a discourse.
Verse
7. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1468: "The
Philosophy and Propriety of Abundant Praise."
Verse
8.
1.
Grace to the unworthy.
2. Compassion to the afflicted.
3. Forbearance to the guilty.
4. Mercy to the penitent.—G. R.
Verse
9. The universal goodness of God in no degree a contradiction to the
special election of grace.
Verse
10. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 1796: "Concerning
Saints."
Verse
11. The glory of Christ's kingdom. The glory of this kingdom is
manifested,
1.
In its origin.
2. In the manner and spirit of its administration.
3. In the character of its subjects.
4. In the privileges that are attached to it.—Robert Hall.
Verses
11-12. Talk transfigured.
1.
The faculty of talk is extensively possessed.
2. Is commonly misused.
3. May be nobly employed.
4. Will then be gloriously useful.—C. A. D.
Verses
11-13. To show the greatness of God's kingdom, David observes,
1.
The pomp of it. Would we by faith look within the veil, we should "speak
of the glory of his kingdom" (Ps 145:11); "and the glorious majesty
of it" (Ps 145:12).
2.
The power of it. When "they speak of the glory of God's kingdom",
they must "talk of his power", the extent of it, the efficacy of it.
3.
The perpetuity of it (Ps 145:13). The thrones of earthly princes totter, and
the flowers of their crowns wither, monarchs come to an end; but, Lord,
"thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom."—Matthew Henry.
Verse
14. The grace of God in his kindness to the undeserving and the
miserable, who look to him for help.
1.
He "upholdeth all that fall."
(a)
A description, embracing (1) Sinners who have fallen lowest: (2) Backsliders
who have tripped most foully.
(b)
An act implying (1) Pity which draws nigh; (2) Power which places the fallen
upon their feet; (3) Preservation which keeps them standing.
2.
He "raiseth up all those that are bowed down." Consolation for those
who are—
(a)
Bowed down with shame and penitence.
(b) Oppressed with perplexities and cares.
(c) Weighted with a sense of weakness in the presence of onerous duties.
(d) Depressed because of prevailing error and sin around them.—J. F.
Verse
14. Help for the fallible.
1.
Whatever our present position we are liable to fall. Sickness. Loss.
Friendlessness. Sin.
2.
However low we fall we are not below the reach of God's hand.
3.
Within the reach of God's hand we shall experience the action of God's love.
"Upholdeth." "Raiseth up."—C.A.D.
Verses
15-16. Universal dependence and divine support. The Psalmist here
teaches—
1.
The Universality of Dependence amongst creatures: "The eyes of all wait
upon thee." We depend upon God for "life, and breath, and all
things." Entire dependence should beget deep humility.
2.
The Infinitude of the Divine Resources: "And thou givest them their
meat." His resources must be,
a)
Infinitely vast.
b) Infinitely various. Both sufficient and adapted for all.
3.
The Timeliness of the Divine Communications: "In due season. "A
reason for patience if his gifts seem delayed.
4.
The Sublime Ease of the Divine Communications: "Thou openest thine
hand", and the countless needs of the universe are satisfied. An
encouragement to believing prayer.
5.
The Sufficiency of the Divine Communications: "And satisfiest the desire
of every living thing." "God giveth to all liberally." Our
subject urges all men to,
(a)
Gratitude. Constant provision should lead to constant thankfulness and
consecration.
(b)
Trust. (1) For temporal supplies. (2) For spiritual supplies. "Grace to
help in time of need" will surely be given to all who look to him.—William
Jones, in "The Homiletic Quarterly", 1878.
Verse
17.
1.
What God declares himself to be.
2. What his people find him to be.
3. What all creatures will ultimately acknowledge him to be.—G. R.
Verses
18-20. Gather from these verses the character of God's people.
1.
They call upon God.
2. They fear God.
3. They have desires towards God.
4. They have answers from God.
5. They love God.
Verse
18. (last clause.) True prayer, in what it differs essentially
from mere formalism.
Verse
18. At the palace gates.
1.
Directions to callers.
(a)
"Call upon him"; let the repetition suggest pertinacity.
(b)
Call "in truth"; sincerely, with promises, in appointed way.
2.
Encouragement for callers. Jehovah is nigh, with his ready ear, sympathizing
heart, and helpful hand.—W. B. H.
Verses
18-19. The blessedness of prayer.
1.
Definition of prayer: "calling upon God."
2.
Variety in prayer: "call, desire, cry."
3.
Essential characteristic of prayer: "truth."
4.
God's nearness in prayer.
5.
Assured success of prayer. "He will fulfil, hear, save."—C. A. D.
Verse
20. Those who love God are preserved from excessive
temptation, falling into sin, despair, apostasy, remorse, famishing; preserved in
trial, persecution, depression, death; preserved to activity, holiness,
victory, glory.
Verse
20. Solemn Contrasts.
1.
Between human characters. "Them that love him." "The
wicked."
2.
Between human destinies. "Preserveth." "Destroy."—C. A.
D.
Verse
20. How the love of God is the opposite of wickedness, and wickedness
inconsistent with the love of God.
Verse
21. Individual praise suggests the desire for universal praise. We
like company in a good deed; we perceive the inadequacy of our own song; we
desire others to be happy; we long to see that done which is right and good.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》