Preface
In response to the request of friends this little volume is
sent forth with the authors prayer that God may make it a means of blessing to
the readers, by enabling them to see greater beauty in these inspired Scriptures,
and to realise more clearly that the Psalms, as indeed all the books of the
Bible, find their highest and completest fulfilment in our Lord Jesus Christ.
These expositions have first appeared as leading articles in
the Scattered Nation - the Quarterly of the Hebrew Christian Testimony to
The readers will find that some of the Psalms here dealt with
have not been so fully explained as others.
The reason for this is that the first part was a paper read before the Prophecy
Investigation Society, and was only meant to give a birds eye view of the first book - Psalms 1 - 41.
We had intended continuing the other
chapters on the same lines, but having more space at our disposal in our
Quarterly, we were afterwards led to write more fully on some of those
sublime Scriptures, which set forth in such marvellous beauty, the glories of
our Lord, and His gracious purposes with
We did not feel it necessary greatly to enlarge this volume,
as Mr. David Baron had already
written so helpfully, and in such detail on many of these grand Psalms, in the
pages of the Scattered Nation and these can
still be obtained in book form.
We have also added some remarks on the so-called Imprecatory
Psalms which we trust will be found helpful. The translations are direct from
the original.
E. BENDOR SAMUEL.
DORELI,
1
GOODMAYES, ESSEX.
* * *
Foreword
The Book of Psalms shows no arbitrary division into
chapters. Each Psalm appears to be individual
and independent, and the whole series of 150 form an assortment of poetic gems,
presenting prayer and prophecy, praise and promise.
Great honour has been shown me in the fact that I have been
invited to write a foreword to this penetrative study of certain Psalms
prepared by my old friend and comrade, Mr.
Elijah Bendor Samuel. He addresses
himself particularly to the Messianic
Psalms; viz., 2, 16, 22, 29, 40, 42,
45, 46, 47, 48, 63, 72, and 118. I know of no
reverent-minded scholarly, saintly believer of Jewish stock, better qualified
to deal with such a theme. I have been
favoured with the opportunity of seeing the whole text, which, even in its form
of unrevised proof has been read with great delight and profit; the side-lights
of interpretation, the references to the Hebrew original, the wisely chosen
quotations, the illuminating foot-notes and apt references are of very special
value.
A word in regard to my former close association with the
author will not be out of place. For
thirty-nine years we laboured together, and nowhere were his comradeship,
uprightness of character, gentleness of spirit and other qualities more valued
than in the Mildmay Mission to the Jews. And when he was invited by the Council of the Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel
to become the Director of its Missionary operations, we surrendered him, great
as was the sacrifice, the more willingly because we felt that no man was better
fitted by race, by scholarship, and most of all by unfailing fidelity to the
revealed truth of God to fill the post once so ably occupied by the late David Baron.
And in the study now before us in proof, and soon (D. V.) to
be issued in the form of a book, we venture to predict that a large body of thoughtful
Bible students will discover another literary treasure to take its place on
their library shelves, that ministers will just as often refer to its pages as
the more simple believer will make it a guide into sweet and untrodden paths of
spiritual instruction.
SAMUEL HINDS WILKINSON.
* *
*
Contents
CHAPTER 1
THE PSALMS AND THE MESSIAH, Page 11
The Place of the Psalms in the Bible -
Helpfulness of the Psalter. - Revelation of God. - Highest Fulfilment in
Christ.
CHAPTER 2
THE MESSIANIC PSALMS OF BOOK 1, Page 17
Christs First Advent (Psa. 40). - On
the Cross (Psa. 22). Christs Resurrection
(Psa. 16). - The Resurrection of the just (Psa. 17). Christs Coming in Glory (Psa. 24). - The judgments (Psa. 29). The Divine King (Psa. 2).
CHAPTER 3
SOUL THIRST FOR GOD (Psa. 42 and 43), Page 36
CHAPTER 4
THE NATIONS CRY FOR GOD (Psa. 44), Page 46
CHAPTER 5
THE HEAVENLY KING AND HIS BRIDE (Psa. 45), Page 58
CHAPTER 6
MESSIAHS HAPPY REUNION WITH HIS PEOPLE (Psa. 46), Page75
CHAPTER 7
THE JOYOUS CORONATION OF THE DIVINE KING (Psa. 47), Page 85
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER
9
THE UNIVERSAL JUDGE (Psa. 50), Page 99
CHAPTER
10
THE JOY OF COMMUNION WITH GOD (Psa. 63),
Page 123
CHAPTER 11
THE GOLDEN AGE (Psa. 72), Page 148
CHAPTER 12
THE GREAT HALLEL (Psa. 118),
Page 172
CHAPTER
13
THE SO-CALLED IMPRECATORY PSALMS, Page 198
* *
*
[Page 11]
CHAPTER 1
The
Psalms and the Messiah
The Place of the Psalms in the Bible.
The Book of the Psalms has always held an indisputable place
in the inspired volume. Elsewhere David
himself claims as the Sweet Psalmist of Israel
the prophetic gift. He tells us, The Spirit of
Jehovah spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said it: the Rock of Israel
spake to me (2 Sam. 23. 1, 2).
In the present Jewish Bible it stands first in the third section, that
of the Kethuvim - Hagiography,
hence it was that our Lord spoke of
it as representing that entire section (Luke 24: 44).
The division of the Psalms into five books brings it into harmony with
the Pentateuch and with the five Megiloth, Scrolls - Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
and Esther, which are placed together in the Rabbinic Bible.
In addition to this fivefold division the Rabbis have arranged
the book in seven portions, one for each day of the week, and the pious
Israelites repeat the entire book once a week.
Helpfulness of the Psalter.
[Page 12]
Many of the Psalms are further interspersed in their
prayers. Indeed they are read on every
important occasion; on the Sabbath and on week-days, on their feasts and fasts,
in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in sickness and bereavement, at
weddings and at funerals, when in peril on sea and when in danger on land.
Do not we, too, find ourselves frequently repeating portions
of the Psalter when in trouble or perplexity?
This wonderful portion of Gods Word finds an echo in the hearts of men
of all nationalities. There is hardly a
phase of human experience that does not strike a chord in this song book. Though originally a Jewish hymnal it has
become the precious heritage of all Gods children. The penitent and the sorrowful the happy and
the grateful, find in it just what suits their state and need. It lays bare to our view the human heart in
all its innate sinfulness, and shows us the Divine and efficacious remedy.
Revelation of God.
It, moreover, gives us a revelation of
God in His greatness and tenderness. The heavens
declare His glory and the expanse shows His handiwork (Psa. 19. 1) yet at the cry of the needy He stoops from His exalted state;
bowing the heavens He comes down, and flying upon the wings of the wind He
hastens to [Page 13] their deliverance (Psa. 18:
6-10). Though unchangeable in His Person and
principles He yet regulates His conduct according to mans attitude towards
Him. With the merciful He shows Himself
merciful, and with the upright He shows Himself upright. With the pure He shows Himself pure, and with
the froward He shows Himself forward (18:
25, 26). It is He Who causes us to triumph; with Him
we run through a troop, and by Him we leap over a wall (18: 29).
Communion with God is essential to Davids very
existence. The loving kindness of Jehovah
is better to him than life (63: 3). His heart and
his flesh cry out for the living God (84: 2).
Estranged from God life is a misery. Having lost through sin the consciousness of
the Lords presence, he pleads for pardon and reconciliation.
Purge me with
hyssop (by means
of a sin offering*) and I shall be clean;
Wash me and I shall be
whiter than snow. ...
Create in me a clean heart,
0 God,
And renew a right spirit
within me.
Cast me not away from Thy
presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of
Thy salvation
And uphold me with Thy free
spirit (Psa. 51: 7-12).
* That is the literal meaning of Techatte-eni as may be seen from Lev. 6: 26, where this piel form of the verb is correctly translated offereth it for sin, referring to the sin offering mentioned
in the preceding verse.
The Psalmist realises that Jehovah
Himself is our Shepherd, Who provides for our needs, protects us in [Page 14] times of danger, leads us in green pastures and by the still waters, and
refreshes our soul (23). He abundantly
provides for His children. The young
lions may lack and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want
any good thing (34: 10).
He Himself is our light and salvation (27: 1). His love brings balm
to the wounded in spirit, and pardon to the truly penitent. He regards His children with the tender pity
of an earthly father. His pardoning love
is compared to the measureless heights of heaven, and His compassion to the
endless ages of eternity (103: 11-17).
Nevertheless He does not exercise His love at the expense of justice,
nor exact retribution at the cost of mercy.
As all the colours of the rainbow blend harmoniously together in one ray
of light so do all the attributes of God operate in entire compatibility and
perfection.
The Psalter Finds its Highest Fulfilment in Christ.
Like all the other books of the Bible, the Psalms find their
highest and completest realisation in the Lord Jesus Christ.* Many of the chief features of His career are
predicted in the Psalms, as, for instance:
* It is said that two-fifths of the Old
Testament passages cited in the New are taken from the Psalms. All the four quotations by Christ on the
Cross are from that book (22: 1, 31; 31: 5; 69: 21).
1. His advent and its purpose (40: 6-8).
2. His Sonship and birth (2: 7).
3. His deity and humanity (45: 6, 7).
[Page 15]
4. His Creatorship and eternal
existence (102: 25-28).
5. His human descent (89: 4,
29, 36).
6. His witness for God (22: 22).
7. His eternal priesthood (110: 4).
8. His pre-eminence over earthly kings
(72:
11).
9. His triumph acclaimed by children (8: 2).
10. His rejection (2: 1,
and 22: 6, 7).
11. His betrayal (41: 9).
12. His crucifixion (22: 15-18).
13. That His garments should be parted
(22:
18).
14. That lots should be cast upon His
vesture (22: 18).
15. That He should be faint and
thirsty on the Cross (22: 15).
16. That
gall and vinegar should be given Him (69: 21).
17. That His bones should be
dislocated (22: 14).
18. That
not one of His bones should be broken (34: 20).
19. That
He should be cut off in the prime of life (89: 45).
20. His resurrection (16: 8-10;
30: 3).
21. His ascension (68: 18).
22. His session at the right hand of
God (110. 1).
23. His Second Advent (50: 3-6).
24. His
being welcomed eventually by the Jews (118: 22-26).
25. His universal rule (72: 8).
[Page 16]
Many of these prophecies have had, no doubt, reference to some
local incidents in the life of David, but find a more exhaustive fulfilment in
the life of our Lord.* Some occurrence in the days of the inspired writer
called forth the prophetic utterance.
But the Spirit of God taking him up to a higher spiritual eminence gave
him a vision of a distant, but more important though similar event in the times
of our Saviour, thus testifying beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
* If we read over the Psalms first with an eye to the literal
David the meaning is obvious and put beyond dispute by the sacred history. There is, indeed, an uncommon glow in the
expression, and sublimity in the figures and the diction is now and then
exaggerated as it were on purpose to intimate and lead us to the contemplation
of higher and more important matters concealed within. In compliance with this admonition if we take
another survey of the Psalms in relation to the Person and concerns of the
Spiritual David, a noble series of events immediately rises to view, and the
meaning becomes more evident, as well as more exalted. The colouring which may perhaps seem too hold
and glaring for the King of
* * *
[Page 17]
CHAPTER 2
The
Messianic Psalms of Book 1
All the Psalms, as indeed the whole range of Scripture, point
to the Lord Jesus, but the specially Messianic Psalms
in the first book, I should say, are 2, 16, 22, 24, 40, 41.
The references to Christ in many of the others are very plain, but these
describe the events in the life of our Lord very accurately and most
graphically; and frequently they cannot fit any one else. We can only briefly refer to some of these,
following the events according to the time of their occurrence.
Christs First Advent (PSALM 40).
For the chief Musician, A Psalm of
David.
1 I waited
patiently for Jehovah;
And He inclined unto me, and
heard my cry.
2 He has also brought me up out of a pit of destruction, out of
the miry clay;
And He set my feet upon a
rock and established my steps.
3 And He put a
new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:
Many shall see it and fear,
and trust in Jehovah.
4 Blessed is
the man that maketh Jehovah his trust,
And turneth not to the proud
and those that turn aside deceitfully.
5 Much hast
Thou accomplished 0 Jehovah my God:
Thy wonders and Thy
thoughtfulness for us:
They cannot be set in order
unto Thee;
If I would declare and speak
of them,
They are too numerous to be
counted.
[Page 18]
6 Sacrifice and meal-offerings Thou dost not desire,
Ears hast Thou digged for me,
Burnt offering and sin
offering hast Thou not required.
7 Then said I,
Behold, I am come,
In the roll of the book it
is written of me;
8
I delight to do Thy will, 0 my God:
Yea, Thy law is within my
heart.
9 I have
published the good tidings of righteousness in the great assembly;
Behold I will not refrain my
lips,
0 Jehovah Thou knowest.
10 I have not
covered up Thy righteousness in my heart;
I have declared Thy
faithfulness and Thy salvation.
I have not concealed Thy
lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great assembly.
11 Thou wilt not
withhold Thy compassions from me, O Jehovah;
Thy lovingkindness and Thy
truth will continually guard me.
12 For
innumerable evils have encompassed me,
Mine Iniquities have
overtaken me, so that I cannot see,
They are more than the hairs
of my head,
And my heart has failed me.
13 Be pleased 0
Jehovah to deliver me:
0 Jehovah make haste to help
me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together, that seek my
soul to destroy it!
Let them be turned back and
dishonoured that desire my hurt.
15 Let them be
astonished because of their shame,
That say unto me, Aha, Aha!
16 Let all those
that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee;
Let those that love Thy
salvation say continually
Jehovah be magnified.
17
Though I am poor and needy
The Lord thinketh about me;
Thou art my help and
deliverer,
Make no tarrying, 0 my God.
In Psalm 40 we have a striking prediction of Christs coming in voluntary
humiliation and in obedience to the Fathers will; as the antitype of the
Levitical [Page 19] system He declares Slain offering and meal offering Thou
didst not desire, mine ears hast Thou digged; burnt offering and sin offering
hast Thou not required (or requested). Then (emphatic) said I, behold I come, in
the scroll of the book it is written of Me. The inspired Apostle explains the Lo, I come of Christ as
coming into the world He saith
(Heb. 10: 5). It is Davids
greater Son Who speaks concerning His advent because of the insufficiency of
all the Mosaic offerings. He enumerates
the various kinds of offerings to show that all are included, zevack, a general term embracing the eucharistic
sacrifices - the peace, votive and thank offerings; mincha, the meal offerings with which are connected the drink
offerings. Then the olah,
the burnt offerings, speaking of acceptance, and chatath standing for the expiatory sacrifices. The whole Levitical order which pointed to
Christ, and having found in Him their highest realisation were no more required
when He himself appeared. Is it not most
remarkable that within the very generation of Christs suffering on the Cross
the Temple was destroyed, the Jewish priesthood ceased, the sacrifices were
taken away, and from that day to this no opportunity has been given to
the Jews to offer sacrifice again? These
historical events, in full accord with the Divine plan as revealed in the Scriptures, point to Christ
and cry, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the [Page 20] sin of the world, there
is no other sacrifice needed for this dispensation.
As for the difference between the expressions, Mine ears
hast Thou digged (Psa. 40: 6); and A body hast Thou prepared me
(Heb. 10: 5); it appears that the Apostle, quoting from the
Septuagint, and seeing not a contradiction, but an explanation of the Psalm
retained it. The inspired writers of the
New Testament often explain as they quote.
The Holy Spirit has a perfect right to explain His own
writings.
Guided again by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who
renders, In the scroll of the book it is written of me by
(Heb. 10: 7) we hear in these words the voice of
Him Who when on earth said, Search the Scriptures ... they are they which testify of Me and again, All things
must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets
and in the Psalms concerning Me (John 5: 39; Luke 24: 44).
Christ on the Cross (PSALM 22).
For the chief Musician set to Ayyeleth
hashshachar
- the hind of the morning: A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my
God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
Far from my help are the
words of my entreating cry.
2 0 my God, I
cry in the day time but Thou answerest not,
And in the night season and
I am not silent.
3 But Thou art
Holy, inhabiting the praises of
4 Our fathers
trusted in Thee:
They trusted and Thou didst
deliver them.
5 Unto Thee did
they cry and were delivered;
They trusted and were not
put to shame,
6 But I am a
worm and not a man of high degree;
A reproach of men and
despised of the people.
7 All they that
see me laugh me to scorn:
They shoot out the lip, they shake
the head.
8 Cast (thyself) upon Jehovah, let Him deliver
him,
Let Him rescue him seeing He
delighteth in him.
9 But Thou art
He that took me out of the womb,
Thou didst cause me to trust
when I was on my mothers breast.
10 On Thee was I
cast from the womb.
Thou art my God since my
birth.
11 Be not far
from me, for trouble is near,
For there is no helper.
12 Many bulls
have compassed me,
Strong ones of
13 They gape
upon me with their mouth;
As a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured
out like water,
And my bones are all out of
joint
My heart is become like wax;
It is melted within me.
15 My strength
is dried up like a potsherd;
And my tongue cleaveth to my
jaws;
And Thou placest me in the
dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me,
A company of evildoers
encircled me;
They pierced my hands and my
feet.
17 I can count
all my bones;
They look, they stare
upon me.
18 They part my
garments among them,
And upon my vesture do they
cast lots.
19 But be Thou
not far away, 0 Jehovah;
Haste Thee to help me, 0 my
strength.
20 Rescue my soul
from the sword,
My only one from the power
of the dog.
21 Save me from
the mouth of the lion,
And from the horns of the
buffaloes - Thou hast answered me.
22 I will
declare Thy name unto my brethren,
In the midst of the
congregation will I praise Thee.
23 Ye that fear
Jehovah praise Him,
All ye seed of Jacob glorify
Him
And stand in awe of Him all
ye seed of
[Page 22] 24 For He hath
not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,
Neither hath He hid His face
from him,
And when he cried unto Him
He heard.
25 From Thee is
my praise in the great congregation;
I will pay my vows before
them that fear Him.
26 The meek
shall eat and be satisfied,
They shall praise Jehovah
that seek Him;
Let your heart live for ever.
27 All the ends of the
earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah,
And all the families of
the nations shall worship before Thee.
28 For the
kingdom is Jehovahs,
And He ruleth among the
nations.
29 All the fat
ones of the earth shall eat and worship,
All they that go down to the
dust shall kneel before Him.
And he that cannot keep his
soul alive.
30 A seed shall
serve Him,
It shall be counted to the
Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come and
declare His righteousness to a people that shall be born,
For He hath done it.
This Psalm brings before our view the Lord Jesus in His
sufferings and the happy results [upon this earth] that follow: first, we see our Lord nailed to the
Cross (ver. 16), surrounded by a hostile crowd (ver. 12), despised by the people (ver. 6), derided by the multitude (ver. 7), the soldiers parting His garments
and casting lots upon His vesture (ver. 18).
We hear His cry of agony, My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken me? (ver. 1).
At last He exclaims, and we think we can discern through His anguish a
tone of satisfaction, It is done, it is finished, as He yields His pure spirit into the
Fathers hands.*
* It has been well pointed out, there is no confession of sin in
this Psalm, nor is there any trace of bitterness in the heart of the
sufferer. For did He not pray for His
enemies on the cross, Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do? (Luke 23: 34).
Suddenly the scene
changes, we behold the Messiah in the midst of the congregation praising
Jehovah, and witnessing to the people (ver. 22). The ends of the earth turn unto Jehovah and all the families
of the nations worship before Him (ver. 27). The Kingdom is Jehovahs, and He is ruler among the nations (ver. 28).
Anticipating the wonderful results of His suffering and the events that
follow it, the resurrection, ascension, and glorious return, also the
multitudes of saved ones through His atoning work, He exclaims (ver. 24): And when He cried, He hath heard.
This is surely the meaning of Heb. 5: 7.
The Resurrection of Christ (PSALM 16).
A Michtam* of David.
* According to the Rabbis,
A golden poem from Kethem-gold. Luther,
a golden Jewel
1 Preserve me 0 God, for in
Thee do I take refuge,
2 I said to Jehovah
Thou art my Lord,
I have no good beyond Thee.
3 And to the
saints who are in the earth,
And the excellent in whom is
all my delight.
4 Their sorrows shall be
multiplied that give gifts to other gods,
Their drink-offering of
blood will I not offer,
And their names will I not
take upon my lips.
5 Jehovah is
the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup;
Thou maintainest my lot.
6 The lines are
fallen unto me in pleasant places;
Yea, the heritage is lovely
to me.
7 I will bless
Jehovah Who bath given me counsel;
Yea, in the night season
have my reins admonished me.
8 I have set
Jehovah always before me;
Because He is at my right
hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory
rejoices,
My flesh also shall rest in
hope,
[Page 24]10 For Thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol;
Thou wilt not suffer Thy
Holy One to see corruption
11 Thou wilt
make me know the path of life,
In Thy Presence is fulness
of joy,
At Thy right hand are
pleasures for evermore.
That the Lord Jesus was to be raised from the dead we find
clearly predicted in Psa. 16: 9-11: Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory
rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in confidence. For Thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol;
neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy
presence is fulness of joy, at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
This passage is quoted twice in the Acts of the Apostles (2: 25-31
and 13: 35-37).
On both these occasions
first by Peter, then by Paul we are informed that this prophecy has not
been fulfilled in David, but was accurately fulfilled by Christ. Davids soul was still left in Sheol,
for he has not yet ascended into the heavens, and his body, like those
of the rest of mankind, did see corruption.
Not so the Lord Jesus; His soul was not left in Sheol, for to Him it was
said, Thou hast ascended up on high, Thou hast led captivity
captive (Psa. 68: 18).
The Father also bade Him Sit Thou on My right hand until I
make Thine enemies Thy footstool (Psa. 110:
1). The same body that bore the marks of the
crucifixion, but which was incorruptible, was seen by the eleven Apostles, and
afterwards by more than five hundred brethren at once. He could say to His disciples after rising
from the dead, Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me
and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have (Luke 24: 39).
He could convince
doubting Thomas by saying to him, Reach thither thy finger and behold
My hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side: and be not
faithless, but believing (John 20: 27).
In that same
body will our Lord descend to the Mount of Olives, and sit upon the throne of
David.
The Resurrection of the Just (PSALM 17).
The sixteenth Psalm ends with a prediction of Messiahs
resurrection and His full enjoyment of His Fathers companionship. Thou wilt show me the path of life:
in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for
evermore. At the close of the Seventeenth Psalm we have
the promise that we, too, [if accounted worthy (Luke
20: 35; Phil. 3: 11] shall be raised [at
the first resurrection] to a life of joy, as much as to say that our hope of a happy resurrection
is based upon the fact that Christ rose from the dead. Because I live ye
shall live also, was our Lords assurance to us.
In contrast to his wicked enemies, who
are called men of the world, who have their portion in this life and its prosperity (ver. 14), David confidently declares that his full reward is in the life to come when he will have the
great delight of seeing the face of his [Page 26] Lord and the blessed experience of
being changed into His image. With a
note of triumph he exclaims, As for me, I shall behold Thy face in
righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness (ver. 15).
In this we surely have an adumbration of the Blessed hope set before us in the New Testament
when at the appearing of the Lord Jesus our body of humiliation will be changed
into the fashion of His glorious body, when with an enlarged vision and increased capacity we shall behold His face and share His glory! That will indeed be the moment of our supreme
satisfaction. As we read these words, I
shall behold Thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake in
Thy likeness, we at once think of another great passage (1 John 3:
2), Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall
appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.*
* Psalm 17: 15 has in it every element of 1 John 3: 2.
(a) Supreme satisfaction. (John), It
doth not yet appear what we shall be, but (Psalm), I shall be satisfied.
(b) A great transformation. (John), We
shall be like him; (Psalm) I shall awake in
His likeness.
(c) An enlarged vision. (John), We
shall see Him as He is; (Psalm), I shall behold
His face in righteousness. See also 1 Cor.
15: 51-55; Rev. 22: 4.
The usual objection to the above interpretation of the Psalm
is that the writer lived too early in
Christs Coming in Glory (PSALM 24).
A Psalm of David.
1 Jehovahs is the earth, and the
fulness thereof;
The world and they that
dwell therein.
2 For He hath founded
it upon the seas,
And established it upon the
streams.
3 Who shall
ascend unto the
And who shall stand in His
Holy place?
4 He that is of
clean hands and of pure heart,
Who hath not lifted up his
soul to vanity,
And hath not sworn
deceitfully.
5 He shall receive a blessing
from Jehovah,
And righteousness from the
God of his salvation.
6 This is the
generation of those that enquire of Him,
Of those that seek Thy face, even Jacob.
Selah.
7 Lift up your
heads, 0 ye gates;
And be ye lifted up, ye ancient
doors,
That the King of Glory may
come in!
8 Who is this
King of Glory?
Jehovah, strong and mighty;
Jehovah, mighty in
battle.
9 Lift up your
heads, 0 ye gates,
Yea, lift up the
ancient doors,
That the King of Glory may come
in!
10 Who, then, is this King of Glory?
Jehovah of Hosts,
He is the King of Glory. Selah.
[Page 28]
The Twenty-fourth Psalm is generally applied to our Lords
ascension, and, indeed, there may be many applications of a passage of
Scripture, though not many interpretations.
It may sound strange to us that in some quarters, especially in the
Greek Church, this Psalm has been applied to Christs entrance into Hades.
As a background the Psalm has probably the bringing of the
The
At the time of His coming,
As the gates are swung open the voice is heard again, This is the
gate of Jehovah, let the righteous enter therein (Psa. 118: 20), and as the triumphant King is recognised, the Jews, filled
with wonderment, exclaim, Lo, this is our God, we have waited for Him, and
He will save us; Lo, this is Jehovah, we have waited for Him; we shall be glad
and rejoice in His salvation (Isa. 25: 9). The stone which the
builders despised is become the head of the corner. This is the Lords doing; it is marvellous in
our eyes. Hoseana! Blessed is He that cometh (Psa.
118. 22, 25).
Then will the prediction at the commencement of the Psalm be fulfilled. The world and its inhabitants will be the
Lords, i.e.:
(a) His in possession (ver. 1);
(b) His by virtue of creation (ver. 2);
(c) His by reason of occupation (His
Holy place) (ver. 3).
[Page 30]
The Judgments (PSALM 29).
A Psalm of David.
1 Give unto
Jehovah, ye sons of God,
Give unto Jehovah glory and
strength,
2 Give unto
Jehovah the glory of His name;
Worship Jehovah in the
beauty of Holiness.
3 The voice of
Jehovah is upon the waters,
The God of glory thundereth,
Jehovah is upon many waters.
4 The voice of
Jehovah is in power,
The voice of Jehovah is in
majesty,
5 The voice of Jehovah
breaketh the cedars:
Yea, Jehovah
breaketh the cedars of Lebanon
6 He maketh them also to skip
like a calf,
7 The voice of
Jehovah cleaveth flames of fire.
8 The voice of
Jehovah shaketh the wilderness
Jehovah shaketh the
wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of
Jehovah giveth birthpangs to hinds,
He maketh bare the forest;
And in His Temple everything
saith glory.
10 Jehovah sat upon the flood,
And Jehovah sitteth as King
for ever.
11 Jehovah shall
give strength to His people.
Jehovah shall bless His
people with peace.
The Twenty-ninth Psalm describes a scene connected with that
of the Twenty-fourth. God in action,
putting down all the opposition of the world against Him; and finally
enthroned as ruler, receiving the homage of the mighty.
Was it a vivid Eastern thunderstorm that in the first place inspired
the poet with these sublime thoughts and forceful expressions? Was it as he
stood upon one of the wooded hills of
The word kol, here translated voice, is
rendered thunder in Ex. 20: 18; 1 Sam. 12: 17, 18.
Certain it is that God often interposed on behalf of His
people by sending heavy thunderstorms; one of the plagues of
According to Rev. 8: 7; and 16:
17, 21, God will again
deal with the sinful nations of the earth by similar phenomena; and it is
worthy of note that the judgments mentioned in Revelation are connected with
the seven Trumpets and seven Vials. In
the Twenty-ninth
Psalm we have also seven
voices or thunders coming in judgments upon the earth in order to subdue it.
1. The voice
of Jehovah is upon the waters.
2. The voice
of Jehovah is in power.
3. The voice
of Jehovah is in majesty.
4. The voice
of Jehovah breaketh the cedars
of
5. The voice
of Jehovah cleaveth flames of fire.
6. The voice
of Jehovah shaketh the wilderness.
7. The voice
of Jehovah gives birthpangs to hinds and maketh bare the forest.
This will be the time when Jehovah will rise to shake terribly
the earth, and men will go into the holes of the rocks and the caves of the
earth for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty (Isa. 2:
19).
Having dealt with these world forces that are opposed to Him,
Jehovah is pictured as seated upon the water-floods, as King for ever.
The Divine King (PSALM 2).
1 Why do the
nations rage,
And the peoples imagine a
vain thing.
2 Kings of the
earth set themselves up,
And rulers take counsel
together,
Against Jehovah, and against
His Anointed,
3 Let us break
their bonds asunder,
And cast away their cords
from us.
4 He that
sitteth in the heavens will laugh;
The Lord will have them in
derision.
5 Then will He
speak to them in His wrath,
And terrify them in His sore
displeasure:
6 Yet, have I set My King upon
My holy hill of Zion.
7 I will tell
of the decree,
Jehovah bath said unto Me, Thou art My
Son,
This day have I begotten
Thee.
8 Ask of Me,
and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance,
And the uttermost
parts of the earth for Thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron,
Thou shalt dash them to
pieces like a potter's vessel.
10 And now, be wise,
0 ye kings,
Be admonished ye judges of the earth
11 Serve Jehovah
with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest He be angry, and ye
perish in the way,
For His wrath may kindle in
a little,
Blessed are all they that
take refuge in Him.
The Second Psalm may have the experience of David a
background, but from the New Testament we [Page 33] learn that it speaks of Davids Son
and Lord. In Acts
4: 25-28 the Apostle Peter and those who were with him applied verses 1 and 2
to our Lords first advent when the Jews and the Gentiles raged and the princes
took counsel together against Jehovah because against His Messiah.
A similar scene will, however, be re-enacted at the second
coming of Christ, and this Psalm will have a more complete fulfilment as we
learn from Rev. 19: 15, where
this Scripture is again quoted.*
* Even the Rabbis could not exclude the Messianic interpretation
from this psalm. Eben Ezra says on verse 2,
Either the Psalmist says this concerning David, or he says it to himself, but
if we apply it to the Messiah it is much clearer. Rashi, though he explains it otherwise, has
to admit that the former Rabbis interpret it of the Messiah.
Two titles of our Lord are frequently found together in the
New Testament, Christ and Son of God.* Twice we hear
them from the lips of Peter. The
incident at Caesarea Philippi will readily come to our mind, how, to the question
Whom
say ye that I am? Peter, as spokesman of the other
disciples, whole-heartedly responded, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God (Matt. 16: 15, 16).
Likewise on another occasion Peter exclaimed feelingly, We believe
and are sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God (John 6: 69).
* Matt. 16:
16; 26: 63; Mark 14: 61; John 1: 49; 6: 69; 11: 27; 20: 31, etc.
Peter was told that this was not revealed unto him by flesh
and blood (any human being), but by the Father in heaven. And that revelation was in complete agreement
with the Second Psalm, where our [Page 34] Lord is spoken of as both the Anointed Messiah (vers. 2,
6), and as the Son
of God (vers. 7, 12).*
* Verse 6 is perhaps better translated I
anointed My King, nasach means
to pour, as is done in anointing, and the
noun nesech is rendered drink offering
because it was poured out. From this
root comes massecha, a molten image, something
cast, and nesichim rulers, translated Dukes (Josh. 13: 21);
Princes (Ezek. 32:
30; Principal men (Micah 5: 5).
The promise of the Davidic throne has, perhaps, its origin in
Nathans prediction in 1 Chron. 17: 11, 14: And it shall come to pass, when thy
days be expired; when thou must go to be with thy fathers; that I will raise up
thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons, and I will establish His kingdom.
... I will be His Father, and He shall be My Son.
... I will settle Him in Mine house and in My kingdom
for ever, and His throne shall be established for evermore. This prophecy running on through
the Davidic dynasty finds eventually its full realisation in the Divine King,
the Son of David and Son of God.
But the Second Psalm is not merely an echo of this gracious promise
through Nathan; it is also an
assurance that this anointed one will
one day destroy all the forces of evil, bruise the head of the serpent - the
enemy of God and mankind, overcome all the organised opposition to Gods will;
then amidst the acclamations of heavenly and earthly hosts will triumphantly
take to Himself His great power and reign, and the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and
His Christ (Rev. 11: 15, 17).
The nations will be given to our Lord as an [Page 35] inheritance and the uttermost parts
of the earth as a possession. The kings
of the world will then learn wisdom and the judges of the earth will be
instructed; they will serve Jehovah with fear and rejoice with trembling.
Then shall the moon be confounded
and the sun ashamed when Jehovah of
Hosts shall reign in
* * *
CHAPTER 3
Soul
Thirst for God
PSALM 42
To the chief Musician, Maskil, of the
sons of Korah.
1 As a hart
panteth after water brooks,
So panteth my soul after
Thee, 0 God.
2 My soul
thirsteth for God, for the Living God;
When shall I come and appear
before God?
3 My tears have
been my food day and night,
While they continually say
unto me, Where is thy God?
4 These things
I remember, and pour out my soul within me.
How I went with the throng,
I led them to the house of
God,
With the voice of joyous
song and thanksgiving -
A multitude keeping holy day.
5 Why art thou
cast down, 0 my soul,
And why art thou disquieted
within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall
yet praise Him,
For the salvations of His
countenance.
6 0 my God,
my soul is cast down within me,
Therefore do I remember Thee
from the land of the
And from the Hermons, from the
hill Mizar.
7 Deep calleth unto deep at
the noise of Thy waterfalls;
All Thy breaking waves and
rolling billows have passed over me.
8 Yet, Jehovah will command His loving kindness in the day time,
And in the night His song
shall be with me,
Even prayer to the God of my
life.
9 I will say
unto God, My rock,
Why hast Thou forgotten me?
Why go I mourning because of
the oppression of the enemy?
10 With a
crushing in my bones mine enemies reproach me,
While they continually say
unto me, Where is thy God?
11 Why art thou
cast down 0 my soul,
And why art thou disquieted
within me?
Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise Him,
For the salvations of my
countenance, and my God.
PSALM 43
1 Judge me 0
God, and plead my cause against an ungodly
nation.
Deliver me from the
deceitful and unrighteous man.
2 For Thou art
the God of my strength,
Why hast Thou cast me off?
Why go I mourning because of
the oppression of the enemy?
3 0 send out Thy
light and Thy truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Thy
holy mountain and to Thy tabernacles.
4 That I may go
to the altar of God,
Unto God my glad joy,
And I will praise Thee upon
the harp, 0 God my God.
5 Why art thou
cast down 0 my soul,
And why art thou disquieted
within me?
Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise Him,
Who is the salvations of my
countenance and my God.
PSALMS 42 to 72 form the second book, which the Rabbis say corresponds with
the second Book of Moses. There certainly are some parallelisms between
them. The first two of these Psalms were
evidently penned when the writer was in great distress and in exile (42: 6).
The Book of Exodus also commences with the story of
The Psalmist also speaks here of Gods house, Gods tabernacle
and Gods altar, with which so great a part of Exodus is taken up.*
* Ruth,
the second of the Megiloth or Scrolls, like Exodus deals with exile and
redemption. The five Scrolls, the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations,
Ecclesiastes, and Esther are all grouped together in the Hebrew Bible. An old Hebrew Bible in the writers
possession has these five Megiloth after the book of Deuteronomy. Usually they
follow Job in the Hebrew Bibles in the order here given.
Soul Thirst for God.
Though our chief concern in these articles is with the
prophetic or Messianic aspect of the Psalms, we linger to notice that Psalms 42 and 43, which are closely connected,* form a suitable introduction to the series by expressing a deep longing
for God, which in the highest sense finds its complete realisation in Christ, For in Him
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.** He is the
answer to the cry of the human heart for God.
Without Christ, God is invisible and incomprehensible. His spiritual nature necessarily transcends
our capacity for [Page 39] understanding Him, His greatness
overawes us, and His power overwhelms us.***
But in Christ He has graciously drawn near to us, that our eyes should
behold Him, our ears should hear Him, and that our hearts should feel, and be
thrilled by, His love and compassion, and that it should be possible for us to
enjoy intimate fellowship with Him.
*Though the Forty-third
Psalm stands separated from the Forty-second
in the Bible, textually it is a continuation of it. (a) It has no separate title or ascription. (b) It deals with the same
theme. (c) It repeats entire sentences of the Forty-secondPsalm. (d) It ends
with the same hopeful refrain as the preceding Psalm. (e) It is equally applicable to the time when David was exiled from
home by Absaloms rebellion. Neither
Absalom nor the nation that caused David the trouble are named; they are called
Ish
mirmak Veavlah wicked and deceitful man, and Goy lo hasid, unmerciful
nation very applicable to a people that treated their king in such a
manner. These facts prove, indeed, that
the Psalms are Davidic.
** Greek Somatikos
(Col. 2. 9).
*** The prophet strikingly calls Him El Mistater, The God Who hideth Himself (Isa.
45: 15). The Psalmist also says,
Clouds and darkness are round about Him (Psa. 97: 2).
The light that surrounds Him is so dazzling that our sight cannot
penetrate it, and is as impenetrable as the thick cloud.
The prayer of Moses was, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.* If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.** The cry of the Psalmist is, As the hart panteth after the
water-brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the Living
God; when shall I come and appear before God?
God was to the Psalmist as He is to us, the supreme necessity of his
being, we cannot do without Him. We need His power, we need His love, we need
His salvation, yea, we need Him! He is
not only the El Chay, the living
God (ver. 2), but the El Chayyay, the God of my life (ver. 8); also El Simchath Gili, God my glad joy; and Elohim
Elohay, God, my God (Psa. 43.
4). These expressions have an intensity that
shows them to come from the innermost being.
*By which he evidently meant, show me
Thy person. As we learn from the answer
God gave him, Thou canst not see my face; for there
shall no man see me, and live (Exod. 33:
18-20). **Exod.
33: 15.
[Page 40]
God, the Supreme Necessity of our Life.
The experience of the Psalmist is our experience. Thank God for the many thousands of all
nationalities who to-day can make the language of David their own, who have the
same thirst for God, and find similar satisfaction in Him. If we can say with David, My soul
thirsteth for God, we shall also be able to say with him, My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
and my mouth shall praise Him with joyful lips. Truly His loving-kindness is better than life.
0 ye, who declare that God is too great to interfere in our
affairs, and quite indifferent to our needs.
Is it thinkable, we ask you that God, having created us with a mind to
reason, a heart to love, and a soul to worship, and having instilled into our
being a yearning desire for Himself, will, after all, only mock us and leave us
to grope in darkness without making known to us His mind and His will, our
duties and our destinies? A thousand
times no! Thank God, He has not only
given us a revelation of all that is necessary to know for our spiritual
welfare in the Scriptures of truth, He has done more, He has given us a
manifestation of Himself in His Beloved Son, that we may enjoy communion with
Him and render Him acceptable worship and adoration.
Pained by Enemys Blasphemy.
This passionate ode was apparently,
written in the [Page 41] Erets Jarden, the vicinity of Jordan, under great stress of mind when the
Psalmist was driven from home, and deprived of the privilege of worshipping
Jehovah in His tabernacle. To us, as to
the Psalmist, the enemy is ever ready to come and question insinuatingly, Where is thy
God? Why does He not interpose on your
behalf when you are in trouble? Too often, alas! he
succeeds in harassing us, but the remedy is at hand.
The Psalmists zeal for God is thus
indicated. Twice over he tells us that
this scoffing query, Where is thy God? with its evil suggestion, pained him deeply. In verse 3 he says this aspersion against the holy character of God
changed his food into tears, My tears have been my meat day and night, while
they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? This is repeated in verse 10, As with a crushing in my bones, my
enemies reproach me; while they say every day unto me, Where is thy God?
This taunt was like an instrument of slaughter cutting into his very bones.
It is comparatively easy for the child
of God to put up with insults concerning himself, but when the wicked objector
blasphemes the holy name of our Lord it cuts him to the quick. Here it was attributing neglect or
unfaithfulness to God that tortured Davids very soul.
In this, moreover, as in many other
things, David [Page 42] was a type of Christ. A similar reproach was borne by our Saviour
as is predicted in Psa. 22: 8, All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they
shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He
would deliver him: let Him deliver him, seeing he delighted in Him.
This was accurately fulfilled in the experience of our Lord when on the
Cross (Matt. 27: 43).
Faiths Confidence.
In the writers experience light and shade rapidly chase each other,
but the dark shadows that creep over his soul are quickly dispelled by the
bright hope that comes to him through trusting an almighty and all-beneficent
Lord. Why art thou cast down, 0 my
soul? he cries, why art thou
disquieted in me?* Hope thou in God: for I shall
yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.
Faith in our omnipotent and gracious God is the secret of changing our
sorrow into joy. From the inward feeling
of despair we turn the upward look of confidence. Faith solves our perplexing problems and
answers satisfactorily our difficult questions.
When within us all is gloom and disappointment we turn to God and find
serenity and encouragement.
* Tehimi alay is
literally thou roarest against me. A picturesque expression.
The Psalmist promptly acted on his own advice. Hope thou in God, for I shall yet
praise Him, is [Page 43] immediately followed by 0 my God, my soul is cast down within me,
therefore will I remember Thee.
The swiftly rushing water of the Jordan, as it came leaping
noisily over its precipitous and rocky bed, supplied the Psalmist with a
graphic picture of the waves of sorrow and distress that passed over his soul, Deep calleth
unto deep at the noise of thy water-spouts*; all thy raging waves and rolling billows** are gone
over me. The cry was from the depth of his
helplessness to the depth of Gods power, from the depth of his need to the
depth of Gods love.
* The
Septuagint translates tsinor by katarrahion, Cataract.
** The
Hebrew words, mishbarecha vegallecha mean
thy breakers and thy rollers, and picture the
waves breaking up and rolling over as they come into the shore.
Confidence in a Righteous God.
Once again the genial rays from the Sun of Righteousness
dissipate the dark clouds and bring light and cheer, Yet the Lord
will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall
be with me. Three times over in these two short Psalms we
get the refrain, Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul, ending up, I shall yet
praise Him Who is the health of my countenance and my God.
Literally it is the salvations of my face, plural because salvation is so
manifold; social and physical as well as spiritual; salvation for every moment,
for every need and emergency, salvation [Page 44] commencing with the forgiveness of
our sin at the new birth, and continuing every day of our life till the time
when we shall stand in the presence of God, changed into His own image with an
enlarged vision to see Him and an increased capacity to know things as they
are; salvation will then be an accomplished fact, and the riches of His grace
will for us be merged into the riches of His glory.
A Present Application.
Have we not here also a picture of the Jewish people
in this age? They, like the
Psalmist, are exiled from the land of their fathers. They are without a temple and officiating
priest, and are deprived of the ancient worship prescribed for them in the Law
of Moses, yet many have a prayer in their hearts for a manifestation of Gods
presence, and for the return of the lost privileges they once enjoyed.*
* The Jewish
prayers, especially for the Festivals, are full of pathetic laments that they
are in exile and without a temple, without an officiating priesthood and
sacrifice and without their ancient forms of worship.
We believe that the time is soon coming when with real
distress of soul and earnest supplication they will cry in the words of David, O send forth
Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me, let them bring me unto Thy holy hill
and to Thy tabernacles, then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my
exceeding joy, and their petition will be answered. The light of God will lead them, as it has
led us, to [Page 45] His holy hill, to His tabernacle and
to His altar, the place of sacrifice, pardon, and communion. The harp that has remained silent through the
centuries of this dispensation will again be used in praising God by them when The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto
them that turn away from transgression in Jacob (Isa. 59: 20).
* *
*
CHAPTER
4
The
Nations Cry for God
PSALM 44.
For the Chief Musician, of the sons of
Korah, Maskil.
1 0, God, we have heard with
our ears
Our fathers have told us,
Thou hast accomplished a
work in their days,
In the days of old.
2 Thou, with Thy hand, didst
dispossess nations,
But them Thou didst plant;
Thou didst afflict peoples,
But them Thou didst spread
abroad.
3 For not by their sword did
they possess the land;
Nor did their own arm save
them;
But Thy right hand, and
Thine arm, and the light of Thy presence,
Because Thou wast favourable
unto them.
4 Thou art my King, 0 God,
Command deliverances for
Jacob.
5 By Thee shall we push down
our enemies,
By Thy name shall we tread
down those that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my
bow,
Neither shall my sword save
me.
7 But Thou hast saved us from
our adversaries,
And hast put to shame those
that hate us.
8 In God have we made our
boast all the day long,
And to Thy name will we give
thanks for ever. Selah.
9 Now, Thou hast cast us off,
and put us to shame,
And goest not forth with our
armies.
10 Thou makest us turn back
from our adversary,
And they that hate us have
plundered for themselves.
11 Thou hast appointed us as
sheep for food,
And Thou hast scattered us
among the nations.
12 Thou sellest Thy people for
nought,
And hast not enriched Thyself
greatly by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach
to our neighbours,
A scorn and derision to
those around us.
14 Thou makest us a proverb
among the nations,
A shaking of the head among
the peoples,
15 All the day long is my
dishonour before me,
And the shame of my
face hath covered me
16 Because of the voice of him
that defameth and blasphemeth,
Because of the enemy and the
revengeful.
17 All this is come upon us,
but we have not forgotten Thee,
And have not been false to
Thy covenant,
18 Our heart is not turned
back,
Neither has our step
declined from Thy path.
19 Thou hast crushed us in the
place of jackals,
And hast covered us
with the shadow of death
20 If we have forgotten the
name of our God,
Or stretched out our hands
to a strange deity,
21 Would not God search this
out?
For He knoweth the secrets
of the heart.
22 Yea, for Thy sake are we
killed all the day long,
We are counted as sheep for
the slaughter.
23 Rouse Thee, why sleepest
Thou 0 Lord?
Awake, cast us not off for
ever.
24 Wherefore hidest Thou Thy
face,
And forgettest our
affliction and our oppression ?
25 For our soul is bowed down
to the dust,
Our body cleaveth to the
earth.
26 0 arise for our help,
And redeem us for Thy
lovingkindness sake.
Psalm 44 is the nations call for God, just as
the two preceding Psalms are the cry of the individual for Him. God is as great
a necessity for the nation as He is for each man and woman separately.
When the Psalm was Written.
Commentators have found some difficulty
in determining the time the Forty-fourth Psalm
was composed. [Page 48] Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, and Keil
have assigned it to David, while others have placed it as late as the Maccabean
period. They have not, however, been
able to harmonise their theories with its internal evidence.
Calvin declared that this Psalm might have
been written by anyone except David. Verses 10 and 11 are certainly not applicable to his days. The Israelites were not then scattered among
the nations. Nor can we admit for a
moment that any part of the Psalter was composed as late as the Maccabean
period. The canon of Scripture was
surely completed long before then.
The chief difficulties in locating this Psalm in its proper
place in history are (1) the writer speaks of his people as scattered among the
nations (ver. 11); (2) he asserts their righteousness (ver.
17-19); and (3) he
disclaims any idolatrous tendency amongst them (ver. 20).
Light from an
Our conviction is that it was
written in the days of Hezekiah. If we accept this,
the difficulties actually become aids.
We consider them in order:
(1) The people being scattered. The second book of Kings 18, 13, tells us, In the
fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against
all the fenced cities of
We find that this was actually Sennacheribs boast. On one of the cuniform tablets now in the
Here, then, we have sacred and secular history together,
helping us to solve this problem.
Incidentally, we see how the Assyrian cylinder confirms the truths of
the Scripture.
(2) The assertion of their righteousness. Some commentators have found fault with this
self-righteous assertion, as not becoming an inspired prophet. We need, however, to remember that Hezekiah
was a great reformer, as we are told in 2 Kings 18: 3: He did that which was right in the
sight of the Lord according to all that David his father did.
This [Page 50] claim to piety was, therefore, in
harmony with the witness of the Spirit in other parts of Scripture. Moreover, we find that Hezekiah made a
similar claim for himself in another place, Then Hezekiah turned his face toward
the wall and prayed unto Jehovah, and said, Remember now, 0 Jehovah, I beseech
Thee, how I walked before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have
done that which is good in Thy sight (Isa.
38: 2, 3). As far as is known, the Lord did not find
fault with him, but answered his prayer.
(3) Disclaiming idolatrous practice. This also finds confirmation in 2 Kings 18: 4, 5: He
(Hezekiah) removed the high places, and brake the
images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that
Moses had made. ... He trusted in the Lord God
of
Verse 12 may also be better explained in the light of the Assyrian
tablet, Thou sellest thy people for nought, and art not enriched by
their price. Sennacherib
says that the cities which he took from
[Page 51]
Now in 2 Kings 18: 8, we are told that Hezekiah smote the Philistines unto
Gods Message for all Time.
This Psalm, like all Scripture, has a message for all people
of all ages. It has been fulfilled in
the history of
Some aspects of it have, undoubtedly, had their verification
to the Jews in the time of the Maccabees, and a more exhaustive
fulfilment of it awaits the faithful Jewish remnant at the return of our Lord,
as we learn from many parts of Scripture.
The Psalmist looks back to
0 God, we have heard with our ears,
our fathers have told us; Thou hast accomplished a work in their days - in the
days of old. Thou, with Thy hand, didst
dispossess nations and didst plant them, Thou [Page 52] didst requite evil to peoples, and didst send them forth (vers.
1, 2).
Encouragement to Prayer.
Study of
Encouragement to Trust.
It was not with their sword they
possessed the land, and their arm did not save them, for it was Thy right hand
and Thine arm and the light of Thy countenance (ver. 3).
As at the
[Page 53]
We have to do with the same unchanging and unchangeable
Jehovah, Who, in our utter helplessness, spiritual and physical, will hasten to
deliver us.
This will be the case with the Jewish remnant, when surrounded
by the Antichrist and the Confederacy of nations, and reduced to a state of
utter helplessness. The Lord will
suddenly appear to their help, and destroy their enemies. The multitude of thy strangers shall
be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff
that passeth away; yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. ... And the
multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel ... And that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision
(Isa. 29: 5-7).
Zechariah also predicts the same event (Zech. 9: 14,
15): Jehovah shall be seen over them, and His
arrow shall go forth as lightning, and the Lord Jehovah shall blow the trumpet
and shall go with the whirlwinds of the south.
And Jehovah of Hosts shall defend them.
The phrase the light of Thy countenance (ver. 3) needs some elucidation.
We can understand that God saved
This expression takes us back to Exod. 13: 21: Jehovah
went before them by day in a pillar of cloud [Page 54] to lead them the way, and
by night in a pillar of fire to give them light. Panim, here translated countenance, is twice rendered presence in Exod. 33: 14, 15.
Note the wording, Jehovah went before them in a pillar
of cloud. The pillar of cloud and fire was the visible
emblem of the invisible Presence of God.*
That this was so understood by the Israelites is clear from Exod. 33: 10, where we are told, And all the
people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the Tabernacle door, and all the people
rose up and worshipped, every man at his tent door.
They worshipped, surely, because they realised Gods Presence was in the
cloudy pillar. What the Psalmist means,
therefore, is that the Divine Presence in the pillar of fire or light saved
them. He pleads, Thou Thyself
art my King, 0 God, command deliverances (salvations)
for Jacob (as at the
* Exodus 14: 19, 20 also shows that there was a close connection between
the cloudy pillar and the Angel of His Presence, the One who, said, My presence (or face) shall go with thee (Exod.
3: 14).
Verse 5 is an oriental figure borrowed from the animal world. The word nagach, here translated push down, means pushing with a horn, as in Exod. 21: 29.
The Psalmist declares that through God he will be able to push down his
enemy as with the strength of a horn and tread him under, that is, obtain a
complete victory; just what we need over our spiritual foe.
[Page 55]
Encouragement to Praise.
In God we boast all the day long, and
praise Thy name for ever (ver. 8).
We can well imagine how the city of
The Psalm ends with an urgent appeal
to God, pleading in oriental figure for quick and strong action. Awake, why sleepest Thou, O
Lord? Arise, cast us not off for ever.
... Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercys
sake (vers. 23-26). We can well understand how the Jews in their
capital city felt as they saw their land devastated by the Assyrian and
Philistine hosts, and
To us Westerners an expression like that would be offensive,
but not so to the Eastern mind. In the
Bible this figure is often used of God, and no irreverence is meant by it. Of course the inspired writer knew that
Jehovah,
* Hope dawns.
Their God shall hear. He allows
them to awaken Him, and they in a manner cry through the curtains of His Pavilion, Up! why sleepest Thou. (Prayer Book
version). The Banner of the Deliverer
appears through the gloom. The sleeping
Saviour awakes at the cry of His disciples,
and is about to arise and still the storm.
For His
mercies sake
(ver. 26) - for the sake of the
tender love He bears to them. In the
Latter Day we shall see, what is meant by this arising in its full glory. Such is this Psalm. The cry of the slaughtered sheep to the
Shepherd. - A.
A. BONAR.
By a similar figure Gods vigorous exercise of power on behalf of His people is described
as awakening out of sleep and shouting like a mighty man (Psa. 78:
65).
All these figures of speech remind us that God is not
indifferent to our needs, but is deeply concerned in our affairs; that with
perfect confidence we may go to Him for guidance in times of perplexity, for
help in time of need, for comfort in time of trouble, He [Page 57] will intervene on our behalf, because He cares, He loves, He provides.
He that spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things? (Rom. 8: 32).
* *
*
[Page 58]
CHAPTER
5
The
Heavenly King and His Bride
PSALM 45.
To the chief Musician of the sons of Korah, an instructive love song.
1 My heart bubbles over with a
good word.
2 I speak, my work is
concerning the king,
My tongue is the pen of a
ready writer.
3 Thou art more beautiful
than the sons of men;
Grace is poured into thy
lips;
Therefore God hath blessed
thee for ever.
4 Gird thy sword upon thy
thigh, 0 mighty one,
Thy majesty and thy
splendour!
5 And in thy splendour,
prosper, ride on,
Because of the word of
truth, and meekness of righteousness;
And thy right hand shall
teach thee terrible deeds.
6 Thine arrows are sharp,
(Peoples shall fall under
thee)
They are in the heart of the
kings enemies.
7 Thy throne, 0 God, is for
ever and ever,
A sceptre of uprightness is
the sceptre of thy kingdom.
8 Thou hast loved
righteousness and hated wickedness,
Therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee
With the oil of gladness
above thy fellows.
9 Myrrh and aloes, yea,
cassia are all thy garments;
Out of ivory palaces
stringed instruments make thee glad.
10 Kings daughters are among
thy honourable women;
The queen standeth at thy
right hand in gold of Ophir.
11 Hearken, 0 daughter, and
see, incline thine ear;
Forget also thy people and
thy fathers house;
12 So shall the king desire
thy beauty;
For he is thy lord; and
worship thou him.
[Page 59] 13 And the daughter of
The rich among the people
shall entreat thy presence.
14 All glorious is the kings
daughter within the palace;
Her apparel is wrought with
gold.
15 In broidered garments shall
she be led unto the king.
The virgins, her friends,
following her, shall be brought unto thee.
16 With gladness and rejoicing
shall they be led;
They shall enter into the
kings palace.
17 Instead of thy fathers shall
be thy sons,
Thou shalt make them princes
in all the earth.
18 I will make thy name to be
remembered in all generations;
Therefore shall peoples
praise thee for ever and ever.
Title of Psalm.
This beautiful poem is evidently a nuptial song., it is called
shir
yedidoth, a song of loves, and celebrates a royal wedding of great importance.
Whether the title al shoshannim, upon lilies, refers to the tune, or is symbolic of the theme, it is a
suitable inscription for this eulogium of the Messiah, Who is elsewhere
compared to the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys (Cant. 2.
1). These flowers are not the
same as ours that go by these names, they are nevertheless emblems of beauty
and purity (Matt. 6: 28, 29), and they thus
set forth the spotlessness and sublimity of Messiahs life and character.
The historic background of this inspired epithalamium may well
be the eventful marriage of Solomon with the Egyptian princess soon after his
coronation (1 Kings 3: 1). The language used,
however, by the Psalmist goes beyond all poetic licence in praising a [Page 60] mere human monarch, however great and good he might be. But that which appears frivolous
flattery of an earthly king is honest, reverent homage to the Divine Messiah.
Indeed, our highest tribute of praise falls far short in expressing His actual
majesty, power and beneficence.
It was frequently the case that while the prophets were
speaking of some local incident in their own day, the spirit [or Spirit] of God took them up to a higher
eminence and gave them a vision of a similar but more important event of the
distant future. Especially is this so in
matters connected with the Messiah, in Whom the entire plan of God will find its
highest and completest realisation.
Solomon, as the illustrious son of David, king over a united
Have we a hint of this in the other part of the title? It is Maschil, an instruction from sachal to be prudent.
The causative form hiskil, is to make
prudent, to instruct. In Isaiah 52: 13 this form of the verb is also applied
to the Messiah, Behold my servant shall deal prudently. In Psa. 47: 7 maschil is translated with understanding. This Psalm is [Page 61] not a mere encomium of Solomon, but
it is Divine instruction making wise the simple.*
* The
Jewish Rabbis have recognised the Messianic character of this Psalm. The well-known commentary, Metsudath David,
says on ver. 2, Thou,
0 King Messiah, art more beautiful in thine acts than all the sons of men. Eben
Ezra says, The Psalm speaks of David or his son,
of whom it is said, My servant David shall be a
prince among them forever. The ancient Jewish Targum, the Aramaic tree translation of the Old Testament,
also paraphrases the second verse, Thou, 0 King
Messiah, art more beautiful than the sons of men.
Messiahs Loveliness.
Verse 1: My heart bubbles over with good
matter, I am giving utterance of my work concerning the King; my tongue is the
pen of a ready writer. Of the fulness of his heart his
mouth spoke. His feeling of joyous
emotion, making his lips to move and hands to write, was like the bubbling over
of a boiling cauldron or an overflowing fountain (as the word rachash means), and no wonder, for he caught
sight of the glorious Messiah in all His loveliness.
There are many who do not see any beauty in our Saviour, for
the god of this world hath blinded the eyes of them that believe not, and
like the daughters of
* O fair sun, and fair moon, and fair stars, and fair flowers,
and fair roses, and fair lilies; but O ten thousand times fairer Lord
Jesus! Alas! 1 have wronged Him in
making such a comparison. O black sun
and moon; but O fair Lord Jesus, O black flowers and black lilies and roses,
but O fair, fair, ever fair Lord Jesus!
O black heaven! but 0 fair Christ!
O black angels; but O surpassingly fair Lord Jesus! - SAMUEL
R.WRERFORD, as quoted in the Treasury of David.
[Page 62]
God Who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4: 6).
Alas! that the Jewish people are still blind to the moral and
spiritual excellence of their Messiah!
He is still despised and rejected by them; but we rejoice that
the time is near when they shall recognise Him as Saviour and Lord.
When they see Him coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory they will repent of their sin and
receive Him with acclamations of welcome, crying, Blessed
is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Psa.
118: 26; Matt. 23: 39). Ephraim will
then say, What have I to do any more with idols? I
have responded to Him, and I beheld Him (Hos. 14: 8). One
look at the glorified Messiah will so fascinate them that nothing the world can
offer will draw them away from Him.
Their whole attitude towards Him will be changed.
This Psalm will then find a fulfilment in
Messiahs Wonderful Teaching.
The Messiah is not only to be beautiful in His Person but also
gracious in His speech. The grace poured
into His lips issued forth in gracious words of wisdom and benignity; so that
the people were astonished at His doctrine.
They bare Him Witness and wondered at the gracious words that
proceeded out of His mouth (Matt. 7. 29;
Luke 4. 22).
Have ever words of men been known to accomplish such miracles
of grace in transforming the lives and ennobling the characters of their
followers, bringing pardon to the penitent, hope to the disconsolate, guidance
to the perplexed, peace and goodwill to the outcast and the downtrodden? Truly, Never man spake like this Man!
No wonder that the Psalmist adds, Therefore God hath blessed Thee for
ever. Blessed in the unbroken enjoyment of His
Fathers Presence; blessed in the perfect accomplishment of His wonderful
One day our Lords blessedness will be acclaimed by the
angelic hosts whose number is ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of
thousands, as they cry with a loud voice; Worthy is the Lamb that [Page 64] was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom
and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing; and this will be re-echoed by every creature in
heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea,
saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto Him, that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
Next we get a graphic description of Messiahs victory: Gird Thy
sword upon thy thigh, O Thou Mighty One, Thy glory and Thy majesty.* And in Thy
majesty prosper, ride on, in matters (or words) of verity and meekness of righteousness; and Thy right hand
shall teach Thee terrible things. Most beautiful in His Person,
most gracious in His utterance most blessed in His life, our Lord is now also
addressed as the most mighty (or Thou Mighty One) in His warfare. What a combination of excellencies! Yes, prosper, ride on triumphantly! No obstacle can really impede Thy progress;
no enemy can hinder Thine onward march!
The Messiah is to prosper not only in material things as did Solomon,
but in moral and spiritual matters. All
the conquests of the Lord Jesus were achieved not with carnal weapons, as sword
and spear, but by the word of truth, debhar emeth.** It was His wonderful teaching that changed the world, [Page 65] overthrew paganism, spread a knowledge of the true God among the nations, and that will yet bring the entire human race to His feet.
* In Psalm 104. 1 the words hod
vehadar here used express
divine majesty and splendour: 0 Jehovah, my God, Thou
art very great; Thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
** Even the rod of chastisement, and the
sword of retribution are said to proceed out of his mouth (Isa, 11: 4; Rev. 19: 15),
Connected with the word of truth in procuring this marvellous triumph
is His meekness of righteousness - anevah tsedek, a most striking
expression. Christs humiliation on the
Cross caused righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the
nations. A meekness that was prompted by righteousness
and that produced righteousness. What an
exhibition of meekness was His! From the
highest height of heavenly glory to the deepest depth of earthly shame and
suffering, He stooped in order to raise us to a higher level of righteousness.
Thine arrows are sharp in the heart
of the kings enemies.
The weapons of our all-conquering Lord are not carnal, but
mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.
His burning words like fiery darts winged by the power of the Holy
Spirit find a lodgement in the hearts of His enemies and bring them to His
feet.
One day His arrows will go forth as lightning against the anti-Christian
forces who come up against Judah (Zech. 9. 14).
Messiahs Kingdom.
Messiah's throne is Divine, therefore eternal, characterised
by righteous rule. Mishor from the root yashar is straightness,
uprightness, and sets forth [Page 66] righteousness, just as iniquity is
moral perverseness, crookedness. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever: a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Thy kingdom, Thou lovest
righteousness and hatest iniquity, therefore, God, Thy God hath anointed Thee
with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.
This prediction has its origin in Gods promise to David, And it shall come to pass,
when thy days are fulfilled, that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I
will set up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons; and I will establish
his kingdom. ... I will settle him in My
house and in My kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever (1
Chron. 17: 11, 14). No wonder that David, overwhelmed
with gratitude at such a gracious promise, exclaimed, Who am I, O Jehovah God, and
what is my house that Thou hast brought me thus far, and this was a small thing
in Thy sight, O God, but Thou hast spoken of Thy servants house for a great
while to come, literally
from
afar, lemerachok.
In harmony with this is also the striking prediction of Dan. 7: 13, 14. I saw in
the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like
the Son of Man, and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him
near before Him. And there was given Him
dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve Him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed. Prophecies like these cannot,
surely, be exhaustively fulfilled by a human being, but will be blessedly
realised by the Divine King. Of Him the
prophets took delight to predict. Every
king of Davids line was a pledge and an earnest that the heavenly King should
one day occupy the throne. When Isaiah
caught a vision of this wonderful time he cried out, Then
the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when Jehovah of Hosts shall reign in
[* Rom. 8:
19-21; Rev. 11; 15; Dan. 7: 14, 27; Rev. 20: 4.]
Messiah in His Deity and Humanity.
The Messiah is to be both Divine and human; while He is
addressed as Elohim, which is in perfect agreement with the prophecies we have
just quoted, He is at the same time said to be anointed by His Elohim. He Who is the child born, the
son given, is at the same time the Mighty God and Everlasting Father. He is anointed with the oil of gladness above
His companions. He was pre-eminently the
Anointed, in so far as all the three offices for which men were anointed were
to be combined in Him. He was the great
Prophet Who revealed not only Gods purposes, [Page 68] but Gods person, for He is the
brightness of His glory and the express image of His substance. He is the great High Priest of Whom all the
others were only types. He alone has
made full atonement for our sins and approaches God on our behalf. As King He will one day come forth from the
opened heaven, crowned with many diadems; on His garment and on His thigh He
will have a name written King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Again, all the others were anointed with oil, but Christ with
the Holy Spirit of Whom the oil was merely an emblem. What a joyful coronation will be Christs
when His people acclaim Him King. Heaven
and earth will resound with Hallelujahs when He is enthroned and crowned, Jehovah
reigneth, let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad. Will there not be cause for jubilation when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ? Oppression will then cease, iniquity
have an end, peace, and goodwill abound.
The garments of the Anointed are myrrh, aloes, and
cassia. Such an abundance of these
spices is put on the garments that they are spoken of as the spices
themselves. Kelsiah cassia is, according to Unkelos, the Chaldean
paraphrast, the same as kidah, also translated cassia.
Myrrh and cassia were of the ingredients of the holy oil used for
anointing the Tabernacle, the holy vessels and the priests [Page 69] (Exod. 30: 22-30). They were not
permitted to be used for ordinary purposes.
This, surely, sets forth the fragrance of Messiahs life and character
which so gladdened God and man. The Old
Testament prophet and the New Testament evangelist give Jehovahs testimony to
this, Behold My servant whom I uphold; Mine elect in whom My soul
delighteth, I have put My spirit upon Him (Isa.
42: 1). Again, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am
well pleased (Matt. 3: 17).
Messiahs Bride.
Upon Thy right hand standeth the
queen in gold of Ophir. Solomons queen in
all her wealth and embroidery is but a faint likeness of Messiahs bride, who
will be clothed with the garments of His salvation, robed in His righteousness
and adorned with the ornaments of His grace. The prophets frequently speak figuratively of
How fitting is the exhortation of verses 10 and 11:
Hearken, O daughter and consider, and incline thine
ear; forget also thine own people and thy fathers house; so shall the King
greatly desire thy beauty; for He is thy Lord and worship thou Him.
The Jewish people will have much to forget, as has every Hebrew
Christian to-day - the fathers house and all it implies. All the Mosaic rites and ceremonies that were
merely types and were fulfilled in Christ, as well as the prejudice and hard
thoughts of our Lord, pride of race, early upbringing, and tradition of the
elders. These and a thousand other
things will they gladly give up in order to find supreme satisfaction in
Christ, to render Him acceptable worship, and to gain His love and favour. Even Moses and Elias will recede from their
view that they may see Jesus only. When
we realise our privileges in Christ, we say like Paul, What things
were gain to me, these I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ [Page 71] Jesus my Lord (Phil. 3: 7, 8).
And like Paul, we also shall find that Christ is worth it all.
Verses 13 and 14
portray the kings bride, who is also a kings daughter, as all glorious within
the royal palace, her garments being of gold and embroidery. This, doubtless, represents the comeliness He
puts upon her. We have a striking
parallel to this in Ezek. 16: 10-14, where, in beautiful picture language the prophet describes
how Jehovah found
Nor will this bride be alone in adoring the King; according to
verses 12, 14, and 15,
other virgins, her friends, will also be brought in, and they, too, will share
in the joys and festivities.*
These are, no doubt, the Gentile nations who will be won for Christ by
Instead of thy fathers shall be thy
children, Thou shalt make them princes in all the earth (ver. 16). The spiritual
descendants of the Messiah will eclipse in greatness and glory His human
progenitors although they have been very honourable. A seed shall serve Him they shall be
counted unto the Lord for a generation. These He will
make princes in all the earth. [Page 73] Some will rule over the tribes of
Verse 17: I will cause Thy name to be
remembered in all generations. Unlike Solomon there
will be nothing to tarnish the fair fame and spotless character of our Lord,
and all people shall praise Him for ever and ever. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name
of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth, and
things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the Glory of God the Father (Phil.
2: 9-11).
When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
When sleep her balm denies
My silent spirit sighs;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
In heavens eternal bliss,
The loveliest strain is this;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
To God the Word on high,
The hosts of angels cry;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Let mortals, too, upraise
Their voice in hymns of praise;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Let earths wide circle round,
In joyful notes resound;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
[Page 74]
Let air and sea, and sky,
From depth to height reply;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Be this while life is mine,
My canticle divine;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Be this the eternal song,
Through all the ages long;
May Jesus Christ be praised.
* *
*
CHAPTER
6
[Page 75]
Messiahs
Happy Reunion with
His People
PSALM 46.
1 God is our refuge and
strength,
A help in trouble truly
proved,
2 Therefore shall we not fear
when the earth changeth,
And the mountains are moved
into the heart of the seas.
3 Let the waters thereof roar
and foam,
Let the mountains shake in
their elevation. Selah.
4 There is a river, the
streamlets thereof make glad the city of
The holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her,
she shall not be moved,
God will help her at the
early dawn.
6 The nations raged, kingdoms
were moved.
He uttered His voice, the
earth melted.
7 Jehovah of Hosts is with
us,
The God of Jacob is our
refuge. Selah.
8 Come, behold the works of
Jehovah,
What desolations He hath
made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to cease
unto the ends of the earth,
He breaketh the bow, and
cutteth the spear in sunder;
He burneth the chariots in
the fire.
10 Desist and know that I am
God,
I will be exalted amongst
the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 Jehovah of Hosts is with us,
The God of Jacob is our
refuge.
Psalm 45, which portrays Messiahs happy reunion with His people, is
followed by a trilogy of triumphal songs, describing in progressive order the
events that will take place at the return of [Page 76] the anointed King, and the setting up
of His kingdom on Mount Zion (Isa. 24: 23).
The grouping of these Psalms is very significant. They may all have had some historical
incidents that called them forth, but they undoubtedly have also a prophetic
aspect which will find a more exhaustive fulfilment at the second coming of
Christ. And as all other Scriptures,
they have furthermore an application to the people of God in all ages who put
their trust in Him when troubled or perplexed.
We are not surprised that Luther
was by this Psalm encouraged to write his great hymn, Eine
feste Burge ist unser Gott.
A sure
stronghold our God is He,
A timely shield and weapon.
Our help Hell be and set us free
From all ill that may
happen.
Psalm 46 brings before our mind other passages of Scripture,
predicting the great war at Armageddon, when the Messiah will obtain the
victory over the Antichrist and the confederacy of nations that oppose His
righteous rule. Psalm 47 is a joyful coronation scene of the
Divine King following immediately after His triumphant victory; while Psalm 48 describes the establishment of that
Kingdom on
The Forty-sixth Psalm may have for its background the deliverance of
A Great World War.
In verses 2 and 3, the raging of the nations in their
deadly warfare is compared to the raging of the sea and the shaking of the
mountains, just as in Isa. 8
the devastation of the Assyrian army is likened to a great inundation of waters
overflowing their banks and overwhelming the whole
This terrible war is predicted in many parts of
Scripture. Zechariah describes it most graphically, I will gather
all nations against
Joel similarly foretells the same event, Behold in
those days and in that time, when I shall bring again [Page 78] the captivity of Judah and
Jerusalem, I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley
of Jehoshaphat, and I will plead with them there for my people and for my
heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. ... Proclaim
ye this amongst the nations; prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the
men of war draw near, let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears,
let the weak say I am strong. Haste ye
and come all ye nations round about and gather yourselves together: Thither
cause Thy mighty ones to come down 0 Lord. ... Jehovah
shall roar from
Once again will the cry be heard concerning
Other voices are also heard.
They are the voices of the delivered Israelites raised in joyous praise
as they realise what God has done for them.
Jehovah of Hosts is with us they cry, the God of
Jacob is our refuge (ver. 7). Then in adoring wonder and
reverential awe they exclaim, as they point to the devastations around them, Come, behold
the works of the Lord, what desolations He hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the
earth; He breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder (vers. 8, 9). That will truly be
a war that will end war and usher in universal peace. We look forward to a literal fulfilment of
these predictions. There has not yet
been a point of time in the worlds history to which these words could be literally
applied.
Isaiah and Micah predict a time when the swords of the nations will be beaten
into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks while Joel prophesies on the contrary, that the plowshares will be beaten
into swords, and the pruning-hooks into spears; both will be fulfilled. To carry on the great world war of their
Antichrist the nations of the earth will require all the metal they will be
able to procure, as was, to some extent, the case in the last great war; so
that instruments of agriculture will be turned into weapons of warfare, but at
the end of it, when Christ begins His reign of peace and righteousness, weapons
of warfare will no longer be required, and will be turned into useful farming
implements. Nation will
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more
(Isa. 2: 4).
[Page 80]
Under the figure of the roaring and troubled waters the raging
of the nations against
The deliverance is described in verse 5, God shall help her, and that
right early,
literally, at the turn of the morning.
As at the Exodus, when the Israelites were pursued by the Egyptians into
the
In verse 10 the nations are exhorted to be still in submission; for resistance is
useless. Hereph means to let go, to drop the hands in inactivity. The nations will have learned the lesson not
to fight against God. Be still,
also (in adoring wonder), and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
[Page 81]
The River of the Water of Life.
In contrast to the raging and swelling sea which threatens to
overwhelm Gods people (verse 3), we get the picture of the softly flowing river (verse 4).
There is a river, its rivulets make glad the city of our God.
Is this figure suggested by the streamlet of Shiloah, the waters of
which go softly? (Isa. 8: 6, 7). There, too, it is contrasted with
the swiftly running water of the Euphrates, strong and abundant, representing
the Assyrians, flooding the
Spiritually it may refer to Gods gladdening presence,
imparting joy and tranquillity to the inhabitants of the city, and is likened
to a peaceful rivulet, rippling and sparkling in the sunlight as it flows,
imparting a sense of calm restfulness.*
Isaiah uses a similar figure, There the glorious Jehovah will be
unto us a place of broad rivers and streams wherein shall go no galley with
oars, neither shall mighty warships pass through her (33: 21).
* The streams are not transient like Cherith, nor muddy like
the Nile, nor furious like Kishon, nor treacherous like Jobs deceitful brooks,
neither are their waters naught like those of Jericho; they are clear, cool, fresh,
abundant, and gladdening. - C. H. SPURGEON.
As a present-day experience the
Prophetically, however, this will find its fulfilment in the fountain that
shall come forth from the House of the Lord, and shall water the
Ezekiel, likewise, beheld water issuing from
the threshold of the house eastward ... from the right side of the house on the
south side of the altar, ever widening and deepening till it became a great
river, that could not be forded, a river to swim in, imparting life and
fertility wherever it flowed (Ezek. 47: 1-5).
God the Protection of His People.
The time and occasion in which this Psalm is to have its
fulfilment we get in verses 5 and 11, when Jehovah will be in the midst of
With no uncertain sound will the refrain ring through the
[Page 83]
The declaration of comfort with which
our Psalm commences is emphasised in it over and over again. The expression mackseh va-oz, translated refuge and
strength, takes
us back to Joel 3: 16 where we
get almost the identical phrase machseh uma-oz, refuge and stronghold.
Jehovah shall roar out of
Primarily, then, we learn that it is Jehovah, Who, in the
Person of Christ, will be the refuge and strength to the Jews at Jerusalem,
when He will shield them from the Antichrist and the confederacy of nations
that follow him. It nevertheless has a
message of comfort to all the children of God in all ages who have made the
Most High their habitation. He is the same
yesterday, and to-day, and for ever, unchanging in His Person, purpose and principle. He, Who by the word of His mouth stilled the tempest on the sea,
still speaks peace to storm-tossed souls and there is a great calm.
On the other hand we dare not deny that these Psalms will find
an actual accomplishment in the future experience of
[Page 84]
As in response to this, twice over we get the peoples
refrain, Jehovah of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Verse 10 will then become true; the peoples will cease their
struggling and God will be exalted among the nations, exalted in the earth.
* * *
CHAPTER
7
[Page 85]
The
Joyous Coronation of the
Divine King
PSALM 47.
1 O clap your hands all ye
people,
Shout unto God with the
voice of joyous song.
2 For Jehovah Most High is to
be reverenced.
He is a great King over all
the earth.
3 He shall subdue peoples
under us,
And nations under our feet.
4 He shall choose our
inheritance for us,
The excellency of Jacob whom
He loved. Selah.
5 God is gone up with a shout,
Jehovah with the sound of a
trumpet.
6 Sing ye praises to God,
sing ye praises;
Sing ye praises to our King,
sing ye praises.
7 For God is King over the
whole earth.
Sing ye praises with
understanding.
8 God reigneth over the nations,
God sitteth upon His holy
throne.
9 The
nobles of the peoples are gathered together -
The people of the God of
Abraham.
For to God belong the
shields of the earth,
He is greatly exalted.
Psalm 47 describes the joyous coronation of the Divine King. It
commences, O, clap your hands all ye people! Shout unto God with the voice of
triumph! For Jehovah Most High is to be
reverenced. He is a great King over all
the earth. [Page 86] We are not surprised that
commentators have a difficulty in finding the occasion when this Psalm was
composed. A comparison of other
Scriptures will show that an exhaustive fulfilment still awaits it. We believe it will have its full realisation
at the return of our Lord, when His people, who for centuries have been persistently
rejecting Him, will gladly recognise and acclaim Him as their rightful
Monarch. But not only
An Old Testament Coronation Scene.
There is a striking event in the history of
The Coronation of Christ.
A similar scene will one day be enacted in unsurpassed
splendour, when the greater than Joash comes out of the heavenly sanctuary, where
He remained long unknown to His people as a nation, crowned with many diadems,
having on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of
kings, and Lord of lords. Heaven and earth will
resound with praises, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honour and power unto the
Lord our God. ... And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as
the [Page 88] voice of many waters, and
as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth (Rev. 19: 1, 6).
Messiahs Supremacy.
Verse 3 depicts the condition of things during our Lords Millennial
reign. The nations of the earth will be
entirely subdued under His supreme rule, but O happy people to be thus
subjugated to such a beneficent Ruler, Who will govern in peace and equity and
Who will fill the world with prosperity and blessing! In His days shall the righteous
flourish, and there shall be abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth
(Psa. 72: 7).
As for
His original purpose with
The promise to Abraham was, I will bless thee ... and make thee a blessing ... and in thee shall all [Page 89] the families of the earth be blessed (Gen.
12. 2, 3).
There was a time when God hated the excellency of Judah and
Jerusalem, that was when they followed their own choice and walked after the
stubbornness of their own heart (Jer. 13: 9, 10), but now He will delight in making them great and
glorious. Here it is called the
excellency of Jacob which He loved. By the prophet Nahum (2: 2) God promised to restore the
excellency of
Verse 5 refers to the shout of triumph and sound of the trumpet at
Christs coronation, when He is declared King over all the earth. How the streets of
The princes or nobles of the people whom the Psalmist sees
gathered round the King are the representatives of the nations who have come to
join in the glorious coronation of the universal Monarch; to render Him homage and
to take part in the joyous festivities that follow (verse 9).
They include those mentioned in Psa. 110: 3, where the expression amecha nedabholk [Page 90] translated thy people shall be willing is definitely related in the Hebrew
text to nedibhe ammim, here translated
the
princes or
willing ones of the people. Both Psalms refer to
the same event. When Jehovah shall
be King over all the earth, in that day shall Jehovah be one and His name one
(Zech. 14: 9).
All the earth shall own His
sway;
He will make His kingdom
glorious,
He will reign through
endless day.
Nations now from
God estranged
Then shall see a glorious
light,
Night to day shall then be
changed,
Heaven shall triumph in the
sight.
Then shall
Mourning, seek the Lord
their God,
Look on Him, Whom once they
pierced,
Own and kiss the chastening
rod;
Then all
War and tumult then shall
cease,
While the greater Son of
David,
Rules a conquered world in
peace.
Mighty King, Thine arm
revealing,
Now Thy glorious cause
maintain;
Bring the nations help and
healing,
Make them subject to Thy
reign.
Angels in their lofty
station,
Praise Thy name, Thou only
wise!
O! let earth with
emulation,
Join the triumph of the
skies.
- KELLY.
* * *
[Page 91]
CHAPTER
8
PSALM 48.
1 Great is Jehovah and greatly
to be praised,
In the city of our God, His holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in elevation, the
joy of the whole earth,
Is
The city of the great King.
3 God is in her palaces,
known as a high fortress.
4 For lo! the kings assembled
themselves,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, so they were amazed,
They were dismayed, they hasted away.
6 Trembling
took hold of them there,
Pangs
as of a woman in travail.
7 With an east wind thou didst break the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we
have heard so have we seen,
In
the city of
God
will establish her for ever. Selah.
9 We have thought of Thy loving kindness 0 God,
In the midst of Thy temple.
10
According to Thy name O God, so is Thy praise,
Unto
the ends of the earth;
Thy
right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount
Let the daughters of
Because of Thy judgments.
12 Walk about
Count the towers thereof,
13 Consider her bulwarks, contemplate her palaces,
That ye may tell it to a later generation.
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever.
He will guide us even over death.
[Page 92]
The Glory of the Messiah.
In this lovely little Psalm
we get a picture of the holy city during our Lords reign.
We have noted Messiahs victory in Psalm 46, His coronation in Psalm 47.
In Psalm 48 we get a glimpse of the beauty of
The first verse gives the key to it. Jehovah is great and exceedingly* to be praised, in the city
of our God, His holy mountain.
* The Hebrew word translated greatly is meod, and describes intensity.
It is translated with all thy might in Dent. 6:
5. It is not of the same root
word that is translated great in the same verse.
Our hearts rejoice as we think of the glory that shall be
given to our Lord. The place that
witnessed His humiliation will now witness His exaltation. In place of a shameful cross He will have a
glorious throne; instead of the cry, Crucify Him, will be heard the glad shout of
Hosanna to the Son of David; the brow that once wore the crown of thorns will
now be adorned with many diadems; the hands that held the rod with which they
smote Him will now hold the sceptre with which He will sway the universe. No longer will He wear purple robes in
mockery, but His royal robes will have written on them King of kings
and Lord of lords. This exaltation of our Lord will
first take place at
These and many other passages of Scripture make it clear that
the literal Zion is meant, Jerusalem will then be called the throne of
Jehovah (Jer. 3: 17), or as here, The city of
the great King (ver. 2), The city of
Jehovah of Hosts and the city of our God (ver. 8).
It is the presence of the Lord that will make
* See also Isa.
12: 6; Zeph. 3: 15-17. These
predictions are quite literal.
Effect of Messiahs Greatness.
Having mentioned that God is in the
midst of the city for a refuge, the Psalmist next gives a striking description
of the effect Gods presence has on the hostile forces that come up against
her.
The kings assembled themselves,
They passed by together,
They saw it so they were amazed,
They were dismayed, they hasted away,
Trembling took hold on them there,
Pangs as of a woman in travail.
As the Egyptians of old they will say,
Let us flee from the face of
A still more remarkable prophecy is
found in Jeremiah
33: 16, where the name of
Jehovah Tsidkenu, The Lord our righteousness, is given to
Verse 9 gives us a picture of the strangers
from afar standing in the temple and devoutly meditating on Gods loving
kindness. It is not only the grandeur of
the place that engages their thoughts but also Gods tender mercies to Israel
and the world, that are so strikingly exhibited before them, and after all is
there not a beauty in holiness that is real and enduring?
Messiahs Influence and Dominion.
Christs fame will reach to the uttermost parts of the world and
wherever His name will be mentioned He will be worshipped and adored, As thy name O
God so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth (verse 10).
His dominion shall be from sea to sea and from
the river unto the ends of the earth (Zech.
9. 10), and everywhere
men will acknowledge the justice of His rule, Thy right hand is full of
righteousness. In
Solomons wise sentence concerning the mother and child called
forth the admiration of a satisfied people, but the righteous judgment of
Christ will call forth the adoring wonder of the whole world: it will
especially [Page 97] cause joy and gladness to the sons
and daughters of Judah, for to them it will mean emancipation, safety and
peace, and a thousand other national and spiritual blessings.
In verses 12 and 13, the friends of Zion are bidden to
walk around the city, and to note well its strength and its beauty, that they
may be able to record to generations following that all this was done for them
by their God; for the greatness of the people and splendour of the land will
show forth the magnificence of Christ, Who will be the cause of it all.
This God is our God, for ever and
ever (verse 14).
This is first an avowal of their faith; He, Whom they have for so long
despised and rejected, is now acknowledged to be their God, for ever and ever.
Secondly, it is a claim of an intimate relationship with God, OUR GOD, with all that that can mean to
a person or a people.
Thirdly, it is a glorying in God, not in their own wisdom, or
strength, or riches, but in understanding and knowing God, Who exercises loving
kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth (Jer. 9: 23, 24).
Fourthly, it is a holy resolution that by His grace, God shall
be their God for ever and ever; and an expression of trust that He Who has done
so much for them in the past, will continue to guide them to the end and will
give them the victory over death.
[Page 98]
O come, O come,
Emmanuel,
And ransom captive
That mourns in lonely exile
here,
Until the Son of God
appear,
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O
Israel.
O come, Thou
Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satans
tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people
save,
And give them victory oer
the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O
Israel.
O come, Thou
Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine Advent
here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds
of night,
And deaths dark shadows put
to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O
Israel.
O come, Thou
Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly
home;
Make safe the way that
leads on high,
And close the path to
misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O
Israel.
O come, O
come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes on
Sinais height,
In ancient times didst give
the law
In cloud and majesty and
awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O
Israel.
- SELECTED
* *
*
[Page 99]
CHAPTER
9
The
Universal Judge
PSALM 50.
1 A Psalm of Asaph.
God, even God Jehovah hath
spoken,
And called the earth from
the rising of the sun unto its going down.
2 From
3 Our God shall come and
shall not keep silence,
A fire shall devour before
Him
And round about Him shall be
very tempestuous.
4 He shall call to the
heavens from above
And to the earth that He may
judge His people.
5 Gather unto Me My
godly ones,
Who make a covenant with Me by sacrifice.
6 And the heavens shall
declare His righteousness,
For God Himself is Judge.
Selah.
7 Hear, O My people, and I
will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify
unto thee;
I am God, even thy God.
8 Not for thy sacrifices will
I reprove thee
And thy burnt offerings are
continually before Me.
9 I will take no bullock out
of thy house,
Nor he-goat out of thy
folds.
10 For every beast of the
forest is Mine,
The cattle upon a thousand
hills.
11 I know all the fowls of the
mountains,
And the roaming beasts of
the field are by Me.
12 If I were hungry I would not
tell thee,
For the world is Mine and
the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of
bulls,
Or drink the blood of
he-goats?
14 Sacrifice unto God
thankoffering,
And pay thy vows to the Most
High.
[Page 100] 15 And call upon Me in the day of trouble,
I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify Me.
16 But unto the wicked God
saith,
What hast thou to declare
My statutes,
And that thou hast taken My
covenant in thy mouth,
17 Seeing thou hatest correction,
And castest My words behind
thee?
18 When thou seest a thief
thou consentest with him,
And with adulterers hast
thou a portion.
19 Thy mouth thou lettest loose
for evil,
And thy tongue frameth
deceit.
20 Thou sittest speaking
against thy brother,
Thou slanderest thy mothers
son.
21 These things hast thou done
and I kept silence,
Thou thoughtest I was
altogether like thyself,
I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine
eyes.
22 Consider now this, O ye that
forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces
and there will be none to deliver,
23 He that sacrifices a
thankoffering glorifieth Me,
And him that ordereth
the way, will I show the salvation of God.
The Author.
The Hebrew text ascribes this remarkable Psalm to Asaph who
was one of the three leaders in singing the praises of God (1 Chron.
15: 17, 19).
In 1 Chron. 16: 4, 5 we are told that Asaph was chief of those who
were appointed by David to minister before the ark of the Lord. In 2 Chron. 29: 30 Asaph is called the seer - a term equivalent to
prophet, and is mentioned together with David as a composer of hymns of
praise. In Nehemiah 12: 36, furthermore, Asaph and David are
linked together as chief singers. With
all the information we therefore get from the historical books of the Bible, we
do not hesitate for [Page 101] a moment in ascribing this Psalm to
Asaph, as does the Hebrew text at the commencement of the Psalm where it makes
it part of the first verse.
The Occasion when the Psalm was Written.
We venture to suggest that Asaph was probably inspired to
write it on the occurrence recorded in 1 Chron. 15 and 16 when
David brought back the ark of the Covenant from the house of Obed Edom to the
place he had prepared for it in the newly rebuilt city on
Mount Zion.
Asaph evidently took a prominent part in this great
procession. David also composed a
sublime hymn of praise for the occasion and handed it to Asaph that he should
set it to music (1 Chron. 16: 7). In that hymn several things are mentioned
that are referred to in Psalm 50. The heavens and the earth are made
glad witnesses when Jehovah reigns, and as in Psalm 50 Jehovah is spoken of as coming to judge the earth.
The joyous procession of the vast multitude representing the
whole nation of Israel; the Levites bearing the ark of the Covenant, with its
mercy-seat and cherubim, the symbol of Gods presence; the singers chanting the
inspired hymn of praise accompanied by various musical instruments; the priests
offering at frequent intervals bullocks and fatlings; and all the people
worshipping God and rejoicing. All this
must have had a great effect on Asaph, and probably inspired him to write this
grand Psalm in which he makes allusion to the things he saw and heard.
The Division of the Psalm.
1. The first verse forms a brief introduction, and is a
declaration that Jehovah Himself, in the threefold characteristics of His
exalted names, is speaking, so that the entire world should hear Him.
2. Verses 2-6 describe His appearing in splendour as the universal judge.
3. Verses 7-15 depict Him as judging His people, reproving them for misapprehending His
purpose in connection with sacrifice, and in giving to rites and observances a
first place instead of a second. This
section, verses
14, 15, ends up with
encouraging them to render spiritual worship in harmony with the Levitical
economy, and to seek direct personal touch with Himself.
4. Verses 16-23 set forth
His judgment of the wicked,* concluding (verses 22, 23) with a warning of
punishment and an appeal that they should order their way of life correctly, in
order to enjoy the salvation of God.**
[NOTE. *1. Keep in mind, the word wicked
has been used throughout the Holy Scriptures to describe some of the Lords redeemed
people! Depart,
I pray you, from the tents of these WICKED
men
(Num. 16: 26. cf.
1 Cor. 10: 1-5). Again, I
(Paul) write unto you not to keep company, if any man
that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a
reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner
for
what have I to do with judging them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within
(the church)?
Put away the WICKED man from among yourselves: (1
Cor. 5: 11, 12, R.V.).]
** 2. To enjoy the salvation of God, in this Psalm and in
this context, has to do with a future salvation a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,
the salvation of souls (1 Peter 1: 5, 9. cf. Heb.
10: But we are not of them that shrink back
unto perdition (destruction); but of them that have faith unto the salvation of the
soul. Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of
wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls: (Jas. 1: 21).
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades.{see
Psa. 16: 10}
He
(i.e., king David) forseeing this spake of the resurrection
of Christ, that neither was he (Christ) left in
Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
For David ascended NOT into the heavens: (Acts
2: 27, 31, 34, R.V.). This future
salvation of souls, is reserved for those who
rise out from the dead to reign with Messiah
in His Millennial Kingdom.
Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Rev. 20: 4-6.]
The Significance of Gods Names.
Verse 1. The Psalm commences with the three great
names of God, expressing His threefold personal attributes of Might, Majesty,
and Mercy, that are so [Page 103] eminently suitable for the universal
judge.
These three names are progressive in character.
El is traced to a root
meaning power; it is found some 217 times in the Bible and seventy-three
times in the Book of Psalms. In Isa. 9: 6 it is joined with the word gibor, and is translated the Mighty
God. There it is clearly a Messianic title. It is sometimes combined with other
appellations, as El-chay - the
Living God, El-olam - the Everlasting God, El-elyon - the Most High
God, and El-Shadday - the Almighty God.
The second of the names used is Elohim, the God who is reverenced and
worshipped. It is the plural form of Eloha which is mostly found in the poetical books
of the Bible. Elohim is the general term for God and sometimes
it is employed for the heathen deities, especially when coupled with acherim
- other. Occasionally it refers to
angels and judges in their capacity of representing God.
This double or triple use of Elohim is seen in Psalms 82, 96, 97.
In Psa.
82 God, the supreme
Judge, is pictured as standing in the midst of human judges, reproving them for
perverting judgment, and reminding them that though they are called by this
exalted title, in reality they are but dying men, subject to the Divine Judge
Whom they misrepresented here by their unjust sentences.
In Psa. 97 all the elohim are bidden to worship the [Page 104] true God, Whose judgment gives joy to
Not that they actually believed that there were heathen
deities amongst the other nations and that Jehovah was only the tribal God of
Palestine, as the critics are so fond of informing us. Confounded be all they that serve
graven images,
exclaims the Psalmist, that boast themselves of idols; worship Him all ye elohim. The word for idols in the original is elilim, which means nothings,
nonentities, having
no real existence. Similarly the
Psalmist declares (96: 5), All the elohim of
the peoples are elilim - nothings, but Jehovah has made the heavens. He is the true Creator.
Here, therefore, Elohim is the true
God Who is to receive the
worship and adoration of all in Heaven and
on earth.
The third name here used is Jehovah. The only other place in Scripture where these
three great names are thus grouped together is in Josh. 22: 22.
There it is twice repeated by the people on the other side of the
We do not believe in the higher critical theories of Elohist
and Jehovist redactors. The inspired
writers had good and definite reasons for using sometimes one [Page 105] name for God, and sometimes another, and for frequently combining them as
here.
It would take all the ingenuity of the critics to divide
satisfactorily some portions of the Bible where several names of God are found
close together. See, for instance, Psalm 80.
In verse
3 God is addressed as Elohim, but in verses 4 and 14 He is addressed as Jehovah God of Hosts. Can their theories assign a sufficient reason
for this, by attributing these verses to different authors?
The Rabbis have associated with Jehovah the attribute of
mercy, and with Elohim the attribute of judgment.
Elohim is God in a
general way of speaking, Jehovah is His personal name which distinguishes Him
from all other beings in heaven and on earth.
He declares, I am Jehovah, this is My name, and My glory will I not give to another
(Isa. 42: 8).
The Jews have gone to the extreme in their reverence for this
name. They never take it upon their lips
under penalty of losing their portion in the world to come. Instead of Jehovah they say Hashshent the name,
or hammakom the place, i.e., the Omnipresent. The Cabalists claimed the power of performing
miracles by the knowledge of this name.
In the early ages Hebrew was written without vowels; the
actual pronunciation of Jehovah has, therefore, been lost. Even in the Greek Septuagint [Page 106] version the word kurios, Lord has been substituted for it, and in our English version the translators
have followed them in this, so that while this tetragrammaton occurs 5,500
times in the Old Testament, only in four places is it left untranslated. Everywhere else it is translated LORD or GOD, but it is put all in capitals to show that in the original it
is Jehovah.
Import of the Name Jehovah.
The root meaning of Jehovah expresses eternal Being, underived
existence, everpresence and omnipresence.
He is always and everywhere. Thus
He is near us at all times to commune with His children and to accept their
worship, He is and is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him. This eternity of the Lords being
is expressed in Rev. 1: 8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending ...
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty. This is the explanation that God gives of His
name when He speaks of Himself as the I AM that I AM. To Him the ages of the past and the aeons
of the future are one great present.
Generally, Elohim speaks to us of God in nature, Jehovah, of God
in grace; Elohim, of God in
creation, Jehovah, of God in Covenant relationship; Elokim, of God in providence, jehovah, of God in prophecy or revelation. Hence we usually find this formula in the
Pentateuch, And the Lord (Jehovah) spake unto [Page 107] Moses. Only when there is a
special reason is Elohim used in this formula.
Similarly in the prophets we get the expression, And the word
of Jehovah came unto me. Another phrase
commonly employed is neum Jehovah, or adonai Jehovah - the word or oracle, of Jehovah, not the oracle of Elohim.
Jehovah Himself the Speaker.
This God of revelation, in His might, in His majesty and in His
mercy, hath spoken. The Psalmists,
prophets, and apostles were but the instruments, God was the actual speaker;
hence the importance of it. He speaks
when He chooses and through whom He chooses.
Having spoken so plainly through His servants the prophets, and made
clear the plan of salvation, He is one day going to speak again, and speak
personally, loudly and authoritatively, and speak in judgment, all will then
hear Him. He shall call the earth from
the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. This is an Hebraism for the whole world, from
extreme east where the sun rises to the extreme west where the sun sets. The Hebrew language picturesquely follows the
sun round the earth in the names of the cardinal points. The east is called mizrack, i.e., the place
where the sun rises, or kedem first, before, where the sun is
first visible. South is called negev, the dry place
where the sun is hottest, or darom, the light or shining region [Page 108] where the sun shines in its meridian
brightness. The west is called ma-ariv from arav, the dark,
obscure, hence erev, evening. It is
also called yammah, seaward,
because in
* Hophia is the hiphil
or causative form of yapha, to shine. His glorious presence is the cause of the shining
lustre. As a verb this word is only used
either of God or of light; Its Greek equivalent is epiphaino, to display, to give light, to
shine. Its derivative epiphaneia, appearance,
manifestation, is often used in the New Testament of the Coming of the Lord.
To the Psalmist
The Coming of Christ Predicted.
Verse 3.
Our God shall come and not keep silence. In His wisdom He thought it right to remain silent all through
this dispensation; it was neither slackness nor indifference on His part, but
longsuffering forbearance and mercy. The
time is, however, drawing near when He will break the long silence, He shall go
forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war; He shall
cry, yea roar; He shall prevail against His enemies. I have long time holden my peace; I have been
still and refrained myself, now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will
destroy and devour at once; I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up
all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the
pools (Isa. 42: 13-15).
The destruction thus described is the result of His judgments,
when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
[Page 110]
Our Lords Coming Described.
Our God shall come and not keep
silence. A fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous
round about Him.
These phenomena are the fitting concomitants of His august
presence. When He appeared on
* Four synonyms are used in this verse for Gods
appearing in magnificence. (1) ba
-to come, (2) zarach - to rise as the sun, (3) hophia - to shine forth and (4) atha - to come, the
poetic expression taken from Aramaic, as in maranatha.
The first advent of Christ was in great condescension and
humility. He came as a babe in the insignificant
village of Bethlehem, as the despised and rejected Nazarene, but when He comes
again it will be with power and great glory, As the lightning cometh out of
the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also [Page 111] the coming of the Son of man be. This is in agreement with the
vision Ezekiel had of Christs
return. Behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of
the east, and His voice was like the noise of many waters; and the earth shined
with His glory (Ezek. 43: 2).*
* See also Habak.
3. 3-5.
Verse 4. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth
that He may judge His people.
It is only God Who can thus summon the heavens and the earth;
no finite creature can do such a thing. It
is not the spaces merely that are here called, but metonymically, the
inhabitants of these spheres are bidden to appear before the Divine tribunal.* When on another occasion the Psalmist caught a
vision of this wonderful eschatological scene he exclaimed, The heavens
shall rejoice, and the earth shall be glad. ... In
the presence of Jehovah, for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth, He
shall judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in truth (Psa. 96: 11, 13).
* He shall send
His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matt. 24: 31)
From Matt. 25: 31, Mark 8: 38, Luke 9: 26 we learn that our Lord will be
accompanied by myriads of angels as well as by multitudes of human beings.
Those gathered are called saints, Chasidim - godly ones. This expression is used of God (Jer. 3:
12), translated merciful, and Psa. 145: 17, where it is [Page 112] rendered holy, and only those are chasidim who in identification with Himself are characterised by
holiness and mercy, just as He is distinguished by these qualities. Be ye holy, says He, even as I the
Lord your God am holy.* Again we get the process by which His saints attain to this title - those who have cut a covenant with Me by sacrifice. The first time the word covenant is mentioned
in Scripture is in Gen. 9
when God, having smelled the sweet savour of the burnt offering presented by Noah
on his coming out of the ark, graciously promised never again to destroy the
renewed creation by flood (Gen. 8: 20, 21).
* The root meaning of chesed is kindness, love, grace; and saints, chasidim are those who
have experienced Gods mercy and grace, and exhibit the same themselves.
The covenant with Abraham was likewise made when he, according
to the Divine command, cut in pieces the animals and birds and offered them in
sacrifice to God. It is very significant
that we are told, In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram (Gen. 15: 18).
The Israelites of old were also brought into covenant
relationship with God at Horeb when Moses took the blood of the sacrifice and sprinkled
it upon the people (and, as we are further informed in the Epistle to the
Hebrews, he also sprinkled the blood upon the book) and exclaimed, Behold the
blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these
words (Exod. 24: 8; Heb. 9: 19).
[Page 113]
We, therefore, see that the Noahic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic
covenants were all made over sacrifices, pointing to the great fact that the
new covenant made for us by Christ was also over a sacrifice. Indeed, all the Old Testament sacrifices -
burnt offerings, meal offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, peace
offerings, votive offerings, or any other kind mentioned in Scripture, point to
the Lord Jesus, in Whom they all find their highest and fullest realisation. His was the new, the everlasting covenant - even the sure mercies of
David (i.e., the mercies promised to
David).
Of this Christ said, This is My blood of the New Testament
which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matt. 26: 27).
The Lord Jesus calls His the New Covenant, no doubt, in
reference to Jer. 31: 31-33, where
the prophet clearly speaks of Messiahs covenant in contrast with the law of
Moses. Behold the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will make (literally cut) a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the
day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which
My covenant they annulled, although I was an husband to them, saith the Lord,
but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord, I will put [Page 114] My law in their inward
parts, and write it Upon their hearts, and will be their God and they shall be
My people.*
* The root
meaning of Berith, the Hebrew
word for covenant, has been much disputed; the most likely meaning is cutting,
hence the Hebrew idiom to cut a covenant.
Jer. 34. 18, 19 sheds some light on
this, for it shows that in making a covenant an animal used to be cut in
pieces, and the covenanters passed between them. This surely explains and confirms the
difficult passage of Hebrews 9: 15-18. In harmony with the Old Testament type and
practice it teaches that in association with the covenant there had to be the
death of a victim, and that a covenant is only of force when there has been a
death. In the new covenant not only was
there a death for our
redemption, but the death of our Lord, Who Himself made the covenant - hence
also the idea of testament, or will, becoming of force.
This whole passage is quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews (8: 8-12) to show its fulfilment in Christ,
and it is added, In that He saith a new covenant He has made the first old;
now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
The Levitical economy was typical and temporary, the sacrifice on the
Cross was actual and eternal; all-efficacious for all peoples of all ages.
Note the expression My covenant, He is the author and originator of
it, man by his efforts would never have attained to it. God graciously stooped and opened the
otherwise shut door. Scripture therefore
speaks of God as making the covenant with His people. On His part it is all of grace - wondrous
grace!
The Divine Judge.
Verse 6 And the heavens shall declare His
righteousness, for God Himself is judge. Being All wise He knows all the circumstances of every case, being Almighty He is able to carry out His sentence [Page 115] perfectly, and being All beneficent He will use His
wisdom and power righteously. In His
wrath He will remember mercy. The
inhabitants of heaven and earth will unite in acknowledging the justice of His
judgment; Hallelujah will they cry, Salvation and glory and power belong
to our God. For true and righteous are
His judgments (Rev. 16: 7; 19: 1, 2). Sing praises unto
Jehovah with the harp; with the harp and the voice of melody. ... Make a joyful noise before the King Jehovah. ... Before Jehovah, for He cometh to judge the earth; He will
judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity (Psa. 98: 5-9).
The Judgment.
Verse 7. Hear, O My people, and I will
speak; O Israel, and I will testify unto thee; God, thy God am I.
This, clearly, is the judgment of Gods people, but is there a judgment
for the people of God? Before we can
answer this question we must examine several passages of Scripture. The Bible speaks of several judgments. There
was already the terrible judgment on the Cross, when our Saviour was condemned
and suffered in our stead; but He, Who once underwent the indignities before
the Sanhedrin and ignominy at the Roman Tribunal and was unjustly condemned by
His own creatures (O, marvellous condescension!) is soon Himself to be the
Judge. And first of all His [Page 116] own redeemed ones will appear at His judgment seat to render account of
their conduct and motives, not to be condemned and punished, for there is no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
There is no question here either of salvation or of reprobation. If by faith we have been united to Christ
nothing can undo the effects of His finished work on our behalf, our [eternal] security
rests not upon anything that we can do ourselves, but upon what has been done
for us - a much safer foundation, thank God; hence even those, whose works -
being like wood, hay and stubble - are burned up, are themselves [eternally] saved,
though as by fire.
Nevertheless salvation as mere exemption from punishment is
not the highest and best to which the child of God is looking forward, God has
much more than that for us. Salvation
from sin and its consequences, though very blessed in itself, is only the
beginning of a happy and glorious life, it is the open portal that admits us
into His presence, where there is fulness of joy, and His right hand where
there are pleasures for evermore. Truly,
Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the
things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (1 Cor. 2: 9). The loyal steward
who is faithfully trading with His Lords talents
will one day hear the gracious words from the Masters lips, Well done
... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord (Matt. 25: 21). Not, mark you, thy
joy, but the [Page 117] joy of thy Lord, which is, surely, the highest form of bliss.
The people of God will, then, render account at Christs
tribunal, and will receive rewards for their fidelity and service.
Scripture speaks figuratively of these rewards as crowns. There is, for instance, the crown of
rejoicing for winning of souls (1 Thess. 2: 19),
the crown of righteousness for faithful service and loving His appearing (2 Tim. 4: 8), the crown of life* for enduring temptation and abiding
faithful (Jas. 1. 12; Rev. 2. 10), and the crown of glory
for feeding or shepherding the flock (1 Peter 5: 4). These are indeed incorruptible crowns that
will never fade away.
[* NOTE. This judgment
and crown of life, must take place before
the time of the first resurrection
to determine who will reign with Messiah in the age to come: Luke
20: 35; Rev. 20: 4-4. cf. Rev.
3: 21; 11: 15.]
This judgment of [regenerate] believers will be followed by the judgment of the
nations (Joel 3: 2, 12; Matt. 25: 31-46). These will, of course, be Pre-millennial, and
finally there will be the individual judgment at the Great White Throne after
the Millennium.
In verse 8
of our Psalm there is expressed only a slight disapprobation of those judged,
I will testify against thee is better rendered with Delitzsch and the Revised
Version testify unto thee. Not for thy sacrifices will I reprove thee; and thy burnt offerings
are continually before Me.
The expressions burnt offering and continually take us back to Numb. 28 and 29, where they are found together fourteen times. The Israelites were [Page 118] there commanded to offer the burnt offerings continually, i.e.,
regularly every morning and evening on the festivals and Sabbaths, as well as
on week days; they are thus called olath-tamid -
continual burnt offerings (see 1 Chron. 16: 40; 23: 31).
The meaning, therefore, of verse 8 is, I will not reprove you
concerning sacrifice, you do offer them regularly. Their fault was, however, in attaching
primary importance to that which was only secondary. God has greater delight in obedience than in
outer observances. To obey is
better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams (1 Sam. 15: 22). It was disobedience
that made sacrifice necessary. To illustrate:
here is a little laddie with weak rickety legs who has to wear iron supports
for them. It is a necessary remedy for a
disease; but who would put the irons on a healthy little fellow who enjoys his
run and his freedom? Do not put
sacrifice in place of a pure holy life in communion with God.
Nor did the people realise the typical, therefore temporary,
character of the sacrifices. The various
offerings were so many indicators pointing to the great sacrifice - the Lamb of
God that beareth away the sin of the world.
Nevertheless, things being as they were, sacrifices were
necessary during the Mosaic economy; through them the ancient Israelites
obtained the pardon of their sins (Lev. 4: 20, 26, 31, 35).
Not that the animals [Page 119] had any intrinsic value in themselves
to forgive sins, but they were divinely appointed cheques which God honoured in
view of the fact that they represented the all-sufficient and all-efficacious
Sacrifice on Calvary.
While the offerings were something man presented to God, they
set forth to a greater extent Gods better gift to mankind. He does not require to take of us sheep and
oxen. To Him belong all the beasts of
the forest and the cattle of a thousand hills.* He knows and can get at the fowls of the
mountains, and the roaming beasts of the field; all are under His control. Nor can we entertain such gross materialistic
thoughts of God that He requires the flesh of bulls for food and the blood of
goats for drink. These observances were
natural object lessons to teach the world in its childhood great spiritual
truths.
* A thousand hills, harere ekph has been
variously translated, as mountains of a thousand, mountains where a thousand
are, etc., but the Authorized Version is quite good. It is an expressive Hebrew idiom meaning
numerous mountains. Its parallels are, harere
kedem - mountains of old, ancient mountains; harere ad - mountains
of eternity, eternal mountains; harere kodesh - mountains of holiness,
holy mountains, etc.
This sublime section ends with the encouraging counsel of verses 14, 15: Sacrifice
to God thank-offerings, and pay thy vows (or
votive offering) unto the Most High. And call upon Me in the day of trouble, I
will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify Me.
The higher critic seeks to show from this Psalm that the
prophet is here repudiating the practice of sacrificing to God in contradiction
to other Scriptures. Surely verse 14 proves him wrong!
[Page 120]
How was this verse understood by the ancient Israelite who
lived in the days of the Psalmist while the
The word translated thanksgiving (todah), coupled with sacrifice (zevach)
refers us to Lev. 7: 12-15; 22. 29, 30, where we learn that it was a form of peace offering of which the offerer
was permitted to take part; so were the nedarim translated vows, but better
rendered votive offerings (see Lev. 7: 16). These are picturesquely called shelamim - peace offerings, because they
describe a peaceful scene of a reconciled party all partaking of a friendly
meal.
Sacrifices may be divided under three heads: (a) the burnt
offerings entirely given to God, i.e., burned on the altar; (b) sin and
trespass offerings, part of which was given to God, and part to the priest; (c)
the different peace offerings, part of which was given to God, part to the
priest, and the remainder to the offerer.
God and the reconciled party, with the mediator between them, all
partaking of the peaceful repast and enjoying happy communion. Is not this a lovely picture? This is what Gods people are here asked to
do with the assurance of deliverance and accepted worship. Call upon Me in the day of [Page 121] trouble; I will deliver thee; and thou shalt glorify me (verse
15).
For us who have the privilege of living in this Christian
dispensation, the beautiful scene of the peace meal finds its counterpart in a
holy life of enjoyable communion with God, for Christ, having made
peace through the blood of His Cross, has reconciled us unto the Father to present us holy
and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight.
The Wicked at the Bar of Judgment.
The last section of the Psalm, verses 16-22, is the judgment of the wicked, rasha, who is
contrasted with the godly ones, chasidim.
He has no
right to speak of Gods covenant into which Gods people have entered. Note the
difference between verses 5 and 16.
The wicked is not in covenant with God.
His conduct belies his profession, and this cannot
be hidden from the all-seeing eye of the Divine judge.
In mercy the wicked are asked to consider this matter, for in
spurning the love of God, the just penalty of their wickedness will be measured
out to them. Is not this a warning to
the careless ones, who forget God, to think of their ways lest the judgment of
God should overtake them? What an exhibition
of the yearning love of God for sinners!
In contrast to this, the last verse holds the assurance that
he who sacrifices a thankoffering to God glorifies [Page 122] Him.
I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for
your souls, for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul (Lev. 17: 11).
The blood of Jesus Christ, His (Gods) Son, cleanseth us from
all sin (1 John 1: 7).
The last sentence of the Psalm - To him who
thus orders his way will be shown the salvation of God - is an invitation to holy living,
and a vindication of the justice of the Divine judge. Jehovah is righteous in all His ways
and holy in all His works.
* *
*
[Page 123]
CHAPTER
10
The
joy of Communion with God
PSALM 63.
A Psalm of David when he was in the
wilderness of
1 0 God (Elohim), Thou art my God, earnestly will I seek Thee.
My soul thirsteth for Thee;
my flesh longeth for Thee;
In a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 Thus have I beheld Thee in
the sanctuary,
To see Thy power and Thy
glory.
3 Because Thy loving kindness
is better than life,
My lips shall praise Thee.
4 Thus will I bless Thee in
my life,
In Thy name will I lift up
my hands.
5 My soul shall be satisfied
as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise
Thee with lips uttering joyous shouts.
6 When I remember Thee upon
my couch,
And meditate upon Thee in
the night watches.
7 For Thou hast been my help,
And in the shadow of Thy
wings will I shout for joy.
8 My soul followeth hard after
Thee,
Thy right hand upholdeth me.
9 But as for those who seek
my soul to destroy it,
They shall enter into the
lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall deliver him to
the power of the sword,
They shall be a portion for
jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice
in God,
Every one that sweareth by
Him shall glory,
For the mouth of them that
speak falsehood shall be stopped.
The Time the Psalm was Composed.
It is intensely interesting to the
child of God to ascertain what the circumstances were that called forth this
beautiful poem.
That David was its author we cannot have the [Page 124] slightest doubt. In every line we
detect the pleasant notes of the sweet singer of Israel, and by the spiritual
refreshment it brings to our heart we are assured of the correctness of Davids
claim, The Spirit of Jehovah spake by (in) me and His word was upon
my tongue (2 Sam. 23: 2).
Many commentators, among them some Jewish Rabbis, hold that
this Ode was written by David while he was a fugitive from Saul (1 Sam.
22: 5; 23: 14-16). Others are of opinion that it was composed
during the Babylonian Captivity by some exile who missed the worship of the
sanctuary at
We feel that those are right who think that David wrote it
when he was compelled to flee from Absalom as narrated in 2 Sam. 15-18.
Verse 11 is against the idea that it was
written during Sauls lifetime, as it is hardly likely that David would then
speak of himself as the king. As long
as Saul was alive David regarded him as the Lords anointed, and, therefore, would not stretch
forth his hand against him, although he knew that Saul was seeking his life (1 Sam.
24: 6, 10). Moreover, verse 2 indicates that it was written after David had placed the Ark
of the Covenant in the tent he had prepared for it on Mount Zion (2 Sam. 6:
17; 1 Chron. 16: 1); and set in order the service of the Priests and Levites. This was evidently neglected in the days of
Saul. (See 1 Chron. 13: 3).
The whole of this Psalm fits in
accurately with the [Page 125] narrative we have in 2 Sam. 15-18 of Davids flight from Absalom. On hearing suddenly of his sons rebellion,
the king hastened to escape from
It was while lingering there, with his soul troubled at the
insurrection of his son, the treachery of his counsellor, and the rebellion of
his people, that his heart must have raised itself in prayer to God, in Whom he
had encouraged himself so many times before.
From the deepest depths of mental grief, the grace of God enabled him to
rise to the highest heights of spiritual joy.
What an example for us! Similarly
the Apostle could write, Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the
things that are seen, but at the [Page 126] things that are not seen; for the things that are
seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal (2 Cor.
4: 17, 18). Indeed this Psalm forms one of quite a
number that David composed at that time of crisis; for instance 3, 4, 5, 41-43, 61-63, and others.
The Significance of the Psalm.
This lovely song is not only an inspired record of Davids
intimate communion with God; it has, in addition, been the means of bringing
comfort and refreshment to thousands of the Lords children ever since it was
written. The spirit and soul of the
whole book is contracted into this Psalm, said Chrysostom.
Together with the historic incidents that formed its
background it further supplies us with a prophetic picture of what is to happen
to Christ, the Greater David, Who, for
the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12: 2).
The Division of the Psalm.
The first part of this Psalm (vers. 1-8) is characterized by an intensely
personal note, and breathes the spirit of devotion and affection. The writer is face to face with God, and sees
no one else. To him there is not for the
moment another living being in the universe.
He uses only the second and first personal [Page 125] pronouns, Thou,
Thee, Thine, referring to God, and I, me, mine, referring to himself. We may write over it, I am my
Beloveds and my Beloved is mine.
Verses 9 and 10,
which are mostly in the third person, contain a confident prediction of his
deliverance which inevitably involves the destruction of his enemies. Verse 11 concludes the Psalm with a note of triumph and exultation for
himself, but a warning of discomfiture for the ungodly.
Davids Deep Longing for God.
Verse 1 O God, Thou art my God, earnestly
will I seek Thee. My soul longeth for
Thee in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
The use of the Divine names is significant. The Psalmist addresses God in harmony with
his circumstances. Elohim, Thou art
my El. We may render it, O
God Whom I worship, Thou art the God of my strength, able to help me in this
time of my great need. Truly God
is a very present help in trouble, and He encourages us to come to Him,
for He says, Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and
thou shalt glorify Me (50: 15).
David had personal dealings with a personal God, Thou art my
God, though so
great as to fill all space; for the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain
Him (1 Kings 8: 27). God condescendingly [Page 128] comes down to the level of man that we may hold communion with Him. Thus saith the High and lofty One Who
dwells eternally and Whose name is Holy.
On high and in the holy place do I dwell, also with the contrite and
humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of
the contrite (Isa. 57: 15).
He is not indifferent to our need, He satisfies our longing
hearts not only with His gifts, but also with Himself. This, surely, is the
meaning of
Thou art my God.
This sums up the privilege of the child of God, and holds for him all
his blessings for time and eternity. It
is a declaration of faith and an avowal of close relationship with God.
Earnestly will I seek Thee, is just one word in the Hebrew, Ashachareka, translated in
our English version early will I seek Thee. The reason why
it is thus rendered is that from this Hebrew root we get the word shachar, which means the
dawn, and also to
seek. Those who give it the
first meaning see in it a picture of David in communion with God at the early
day-break, and this fits in with the circumstances of the occasion.
David, waiting in the wilderness of Judah for word of counsel
from his friends, and knowing that the rebellious army may swoop down on him
and his band of faithful followers, is up and in earnest prayer to [Page 129] God at the early dawn, and this is further in agreement with verse 6 which speaks of his remembering God
on his bed and meditating on Him in the watches of the night.
It is, very likely, for the above reason that in the early
Church this Psalm was chanted at the morning service every Sunday. Chrysostom
says, It was decreed and ordained by the primitive Fathers that no
day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm.
There is, however, no doubt that the word shichar as here in the piel form, has an intensive meaning and
indicates that the Psalmist was earnestly pouring out his heart to God for
deliverance, and, as we know, he was not disappointed, for deliverance came. Shichar has evidently the meaning of earnest seeking in Hosea 5: 15, and Psa. 78: 34. His
circumstances in the inhospitable desert mirrored the feeling of his soul and
the longing for communion with God. Welcome, O loneliness, if by thy means I can better enjoy the
companionship of my Lord!
The desert has often been the place where God has manifested
His presence and glory to His people. It
was in the wilderness of Horeb that He gave a revelation of Himself to Moses;
on the same spot He came in the still small voice to Elijah, and, figuratively
speaking, He often brings His children into the wilderness in order to give to
them a display of His glory and His [Page 130] grace. He hushes all human voices that we may the
more readily catch the slightest whisper that comes to us from Himself.
The ardent longing for God is expressed by the significant
picture of a man thirsting for water in a dry and weary land. The word thirsty Oyeph, really means faint, languid. It
takes us back to 2 Sam. 16: 1, 2. Ziba, learning of Davids enforced
flight into the wilderness, takes two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes
of dried raisins, a hundred summer fruits and a skin bottle of wine, puts them
on two asses, and brings them to David, and when asked what it means he says, The asses are
for the kings household to ride on, the bread and summer fruits for the young
men to eat, and the wine is to drink for those who are faint in the wilderness.
Ziba knew that David was in a dry and languid
wilderness as he speaks of it here in this Psalm. God can cause waters to break out in the
wilderness and streams in the desert.
The words soul and flesh represent mans whole being; the mental powers affected the physical frame
in his longing for God. This depth of
feeling is similarly exhibited in Psa. 84: 2, which literally translated is, My soul
pineth and also languishes for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh cry
out for the Living God. The heart, which to the ancient
Israelite was the seat of emotion and affection, is [Page 131] here added.* The void for God in the heart of His children
can be filled by no one and by nothing else.
He alone can slake our spiritual thirst.
* In that intense worship in which
every thought, feeling, desire, affection centred in the One true Object of
Love, body and soul both take their part.
It is as a living man, every pulse of his being filled with the love of
God, that he responds to that love. And
when he cries out, O God, Thou art my God, this is not merely an
appropriation of God as the God of his worship and trust; it is the hart
of flesh, stretching out its
human affections towards Him
Who has a personal affection for His creature, and Whose loving-kindness it
knows to he better than life. PEROWNE.
Experience in the Sanctuary.
Verse 2. Thus have I beheld Thee in the Sanctuary to see Thy power and
Thy glory.
His passion for God brought back to the Psalmist memories of
communion with Him in the sanctuary - the Tabernacle which he had erected on
David took great delight in the worship of that Tabernacle. He arranged the order of the services and the
ministry of the Priests and Levites in their various courses (1 Chron.
23-24); he took
pleasure in accompanying the Levites with his musical instruments in singing
the inspired Psalms he composed. Though
he was not given the desire of his heart to build the magnificent
It must have been with a heavy heart that he sent back the Ark
of the Covenant to
Thus have I beheld Thee; i.e.,
according to the deep yearning for Thee in my soul. God always graciously responds to the
Divinely created desire in our hearts for Him.
He gives us a vision of Himself in His grace and perfections.
This vision prepared and strengthened the Psalmist for the
trials and conflicts that followed. He
beheld Him in His power, as being able to deliver him from his enemies, natural
and spiritual. Have we not all great
battles to fight against enemies without and enemies within us? The enemies within our own bosom are the
hardest to overcome, but in Christ we shall be more than conquerors. How lovely to think that this longing to see
Him Whom our soul loveth, and Who has done so much for us will actually be
gratified one day! For on His return we
shall see Him bodily and personally. His servants
shall serve Him and they shall see His face.
In the highest and truest sense shall we then behold Him in His power
and glory.
Verse 3. Because Thy lovingkindness is
better than life my lips shall praise Thee.
Life without God is mere existence and does not fulfil the high purpose
of our creation, but to enjoy Gods loving-kindness [Page 133] includes true life and blessing for
time and eternity.*
* Life in His displeasure is worse than death, and death in
His favour is true life. - TRAPP.
The Chaldee Targum
paraphrases this, Better is Thy lovingkindness which Thou wilt do for the
righteous in the world to come than the life which Thou givest to the wicked in
this world. We need grace to prefer the
approval of our Lord rather than the things that tend to the comfort and
prolongation of this life. Thank God for those who, rather than deny their Lord and lose His favour,
have chosen to lay down their lives for His sake.
Christs utterance contains a spiritual paradox, He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he
that loseth his life for My sake shall
find it (Matt. 10: 39). This is explained in John 12: 25, He that
loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall
keep it unto life eternal. It, surely, means that to retain unworthily our lower life here is to lose
our higher life hereafter. In the self love there
are elements of destruction, but in the love for Christ, there is a pledge of [age-lasting
as well as] eternal
happiness. My lips shall praise Thee for
such lovingkindness whether in life or in death.
The Priestly Benediction.
Verse 4.
Thus will I bless Thee in my life, in Thy name
will I lift up my hands.
[Page 134]
Thus, that is with Thy grace in my heart and Thy praise on my
lips will I bless Thee. It is striking
that in Hebrew there is an intimate etymological connection between the word to
bless and the word to kneel, they both come from the root, barach;
the substantive for knee is berech, the same three consonants but different vowel points.
There is, of course, a great difference between our blessing
God and His blessing us. Mans blessing
God expresses itself in acts of homage and adoration, also our blessing a
fellow man can only be an invocation or prayer to God, on bended knee as it
were, that He should impart His grace and favour, but when God blesses us it is
accompanied with tangible benefits. The
English word to bless takes in, of course, all these meanings.
The double use of the word is illustrated by Paul in Eph. 1: 3: Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. While ours are
mere words, Gods blessings are favours for time and eternity.
Thus will, I bless Thee in my life.
The inseparable preposition beth affixed to the word Chayyay has a wider signification than the English while, it is usually translated in, by, or with, it frequently expresses instrumentality, or
agency, as, [Page 135] by the
word of the Lord were the heavens made, and
all their host by the breath of His lips.
In the preceding verse the Psalmist declares that his lips
shall praise God, now he adds that his very life shall be the instrument of
blessing. It is our privilege also by
lip and by life to show forth the praises of Him Who has called us out of darkness
into His marvellous light.
In Thy name will I lift up my hands.
The ancient Israelites used to lift up their hands in prayer
and praise to God as Moses did during the war with the Amalekites (Exod. 17: 11).
But the lifting up of the hands in Gods name has reference to blessing, especially to the priestly
benediction.
In Num. 6: 22-27 we read, And Jehovah spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto Aaron and
unto his sons, saying, on this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying
unto them, Jehovah bless thee and keep thee, Jehovah make His face shine upon
thee and be gracious unto thee: Jehovah lift up His face upon thee and give
thee peace. Then it is added, And they
shall put My name upon the children of
It was the prerogative of the priests to bless the people, but
there was no special potency in their words, except in so far as they were
according to the command of the Lord and in His name. Hence three times over was the sacred name put
on
* The
custom of the priests blessing the congregation with uplifted hands is still
continued among the Jews of to-day. The
writer of these lines, being of Aaronic descent, has frequently taken part in
it before his conversion. At all the
Festivals, the descendants of Aaron have, during the morning service, water
poured on their hands by the Levites, and then go up to the bemah,
or raised platform near the aron
hakodesh - the holy ark where the scrolls of the law are
kept - and with the Talith - the praying shawl - over their heads and with hands
raised high, they all together pronounce the Aaronic benediction over the
people. The cantor slowly and loudly
sings out every word of the blessing, and the priests repeat after him Yevarechecha Adonay-Veyishmerecha - Jehovah bless thee and keep thee, etc. Their hands are supposed to be raised above their
heads in the shape of the Kether Kehuna - the crown of the priesthood.
But the most beautiful illustration of the uplifted hand in
blessing is given us by our Lord Himself.
Having suffered on the cross as the great sacrifice for sin, and being
about to ascend to His Father as the great High Priest to plead the cause of
His redeemed, [Page 137] He led His disciples out as far as
Bethany on the slope of Olivet and lifted up His hands and blessed them and
while He blessed them, we are told, He was parted from them and carried up into
heaven. What a suitable finish to our
Lords wonderful career on the earth!
As He walked the streets of Jerusalem and Judea and Galilee He
scattered benefits wherever He went, His whole life was one prolonged
benediction; and now as He was about to leave these earthly scenes and part
from His loved disciples how fitting that He should give them His affectionate
blessing! Thus, with His hands raised
heavenward and His lips breathing out words of love and benignity He ascended
to His Fathers throne and His Fathers heart.
We are not told what the blessing was that He gave them. Was it that they might be kept in the
important ministry that they were about to take up? That they might have the illumination and grace
of Jehovah in their service? and that they might enjoy His presence and His
peace? All these are included in the
Aaronic benediction.
In harmony with this is the lovely little Psalm that concludes
the Songs of Degrees (Psa. 134). It is an exhortation
to the priests who were engaged in the
This should also be true of every child of God to-day. In this dispensation there are no priests in
the Levitical or sacerdotal sense, but in our identification with Christ we
have all been made priests unto God. It
is our privilege, therefore, to bless God by our life, and bless men and women
around us in His name.
Our Supreme Satisfaction.
Verse 5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my
mouth shall praise Thee with lips uttering joyous shouts.
Two words are here used meaning fatness; chelev, translated marrow, is in Gen. 45: 18 coupled with the word ha-arets and rendered fat of the land,
i.e., the best the land produced, as
we learn from the earlier part of that verse.
In Psalms
81: 16 and 147: 14 it is coupled with chittah, and translated the finest of
the wheat.
Likewise, deshen, fatness, is connected with tuv, good, in Psa. 65: 11; Isa. 55: 2, and Jer. 31: 14. From this usus loquendi it is easy to
see that the [Page 139] Psalmist meant by these words rich
food, or the best of food, i.e.,
communion with God was to his spiritual nature what the best of food was to his
physical being, giving enjoyment and satisfaction.
We may be doubly sure that the heart that has a Divinely
begotten thirst for God will find complete satisfaction in Him. The pre-requisite for spiritual satisfaction
is a longing for God. He that can say my soul
thirsteth for God will also be able to say my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and
fatness.
From the threshold of the sanctuary there flows a perennial
stream of living waters to slake our thirst and bring us refreshment and
satisfaction. Earthly riches and worldly
pleasures will not satisfy the child of God, they may amuse the worldling for a
time, but often they leave behind aching hearts and discontented minds.
The rabbinic maxim is not far wrong in saying, With
the increase of wealth is an increase of worry, but the blessing
of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
In His presence is fulness of joy and at His right hand there are
pleasures for evermore. O why will men
seek it elsewhere? Gods loving
invitation is, Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he
that hath no money; come ye buy and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Wherefore do ye
spend money for that which is not [Page 140] bread? and your labour for
that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is
good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (Isa. 55: 1, 2).
The mistake so many are making is that they desire to deal with
God as they deal with their fellow men to whom they give something for
something; money, labour, commodities.
We cannot thus barter with God and pay Him for any of His gifts. How much can we pay Him for the lovely
sunshine that so cheers and gladdens us?
How much for the refreshing, shower that watereth the earth and maketh
it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the
eater? Is not our very life God given and God
sustained? It is in Him
we live and move and have our being.
But God offers us not only water, that which is a bare
necessity to life. He offers us much
more, milk to nourish and wine to gladden us that our soul may delight itself
in fatness.
These surely set forth the spiritual enjoyments in communion
with God. All the Lords gifts are
characterised by a rich abundance. He
gives not merely the blessings of salvation, but also deep and lasting joy in
Himself. These things have I spoken unto you, said Christ, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
He does for us exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or even [Page 141] think, according to His own measure - the riches of His glory by
Christ Jesus.
It is related that Alexander
the Great, wishing once to show favour to one of his generals, made him a
very munificent gift, and when the general was told of it he was quite
overwhelmed and exclaimed, It is too much your
Majesty, too much. It may be too much for my general to receive, said
the king, but
it is not too much for Alexander to give. The standard [of rewards*] and gifts of the infinite God far surpass mans measure and capacity. We are not surprised that the Psalmist adds, My soul shall
praise Thee with lips uttering joyous shouts. Surely such wonderful [present and future] blessings
call forth deep gratitude expressing itself in heartfelt praise [and obedience now].
[* See Matt. 5: 3-12; 7: 7, 8; Acts 5: 32; 1
Cor. 15: 58; 2 Cor. 6: 17, 18; 2 Tim. 2: 12; Heb. 4: 44; 10: 35-37; Jas. 1: 12;
2 Pet. 1: 10, 11; Rev. 3: 10, 11, 21, etc.]
Night Meditation.
Verse 6. When I remember Thee upon my couch and meditate upon Thee in
the night watches.
Gods mercies to David in the past inspired him with
trustfulness for the future and filled his heart with gratitude and his lips
with praise. This verse also fits in
with the story of Davids flight from Absalom.
With the close pursuit of the enemy intent on taking his life, David was
hardly likely to sleep very restfully, yet his soul found rest in communion
with God as his mind must have travelled back to the wonderful experiences he
had of Gods gracious [Page 142] dealings with him in calling him from
the sheepfold to become king, first over Judah, and afterwards over a united
Israel with his dominion stretching from Egypt to the Euphrates. How much he had for which to praise God, and what great reason to trust Him
for his future. Have we not all, who are children of God,
much - very much for which to praise the Lord, as we take a retrospect of His
gracious dealings with us? Yet, it was
not so much the benefits that David received that occupied his mind and his
heart. It was God Himself that he
remembered on his couch, When I remember THEE, and meditate on THEE.
God is so much greater and better than all His
gifts, indeed, the gifts are only the outcome of His own beneficent
nature. All His mercies and benefits
find their source in Himself.
But how lovely to have God as the subject of our meditation in
the night watches? How better can we
spend a sleepless night? Scripture
speaks of rosh ha-ashmuroth, the
beginning of the watches (Lam. 2: 19), ashmoreth hatichonah the middle watch (Jud. 7: 19),
and ashmoreth haboker the morning
watch (Exod. 14: 24). From these passages of
Scripture commentators have concluded that the ancient Israelites had three
watches in the night, i.e., when the
watchmen were changed. The Rabbis in the
Talmud were not unanimous about
it. Some held that the night was divided
into three watches, while [Page 143] others thought it was composed of
four (see Ber. p. 3, Col. 1, 2). The expression the night watches would be equivalent to our saying the hours of the night. It was on some such occasion the Psalmist
wrote, All the night make I my bed to swim, I water my couch with my
tears (Psa. 6: 6). But God was his comfort and deliverer.
Verse 7. Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings
will I shout for joy.
The writer was praising God in anticipation of the victory he
was about to get. His intimate
relationship with the Lord inspired him with confidence to seek protection
under the shadow of His wings. God
sometimes allows His children to get into the desert of adversity that they may
have the joy of His deliverance, and find that His grace is sufficient for
them. He thus draws out their praise and
confidence.
A Close Walk with God.
Verse 8. My soul followeth hard after Thee, Thy right hand upholdeth
me. Literally my soul cleaveth after Thee.
It is the same expression that is used in Gen. 2: 24, Therefore
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one
flesh. It is a cleaving in tender affection and due
reverence unto God. The translators have
not rendered it literally, but have evidently caught the true meaning of the
text.
[Page 144]
The portraiture is that of a timid child who in his eagerness
to keep up with his father is tenaciously clinging to his fathers strong hand
which supports him as they walk along.
It is our privilege, too, to have the support of our Heavenly Father as
we seek to walk with Him; not running on before Him in
presumption,
nor lagging behind in disobedience,
but keeping step by step with Him as did Noah and Enoch (Gen. 5: 24; 6: 9).
The trials and difficulties that
surround us make us cling all the more to God in loving devotion, that we may
experience His protecting and sustaining grace.
A Vision of Victory.
Verses 9, 10. But as for those who seek my soul to destroy it, they shall
enter into the lower parts of the earth.
They shall deliver him to the power of the sword, they shall be a
portion for jackals. In the Hebrew the wording takes in
the chief enemy - him, as well as the numerous
enemies they.
These verses are not imprecatory, but prophetic of what
would happen to the rebellious army that were seeking Davids life, and it
was literally fulfilled.
They fell by the sword. We are
told that The battle was in the wood of Ephraim, where the people of
[* See Acts 2: 27, 34.
It is encouraging to see how the Holy Spirit is beginning to
reveal responsibility truths to regenerate believers. In his book, Being glorified
Together With Him, Charlie
Dines has written, - If resurrection unto eternal
life is Gods warrant to all who are in
Christ - and it is (John 6: 40, 44) - why is Paul here referring to
resurrection as something he was straining and pressing on to obtain?
The rendering, resurrection of the
dead of Phil. 3: 11, is incorrect and
misleading; for all who are
dead will not arise unto
the exanistasis. This exanistatasis is the special, exalted resurrection (the prize) which we hope to be
found worthy of by Christ.
If by any means he might
obtain unto this resurrection. While
resurrection, as such, was his warrant as Gods gift, Paul foresaw the wondrous value of the out-resurrection:
a resurrection to be gained as a reward
for faithful service to the Master. (pp. 124, 125, 126.) Bold
highlighting, underlining and italics
are all mine. Ed.]
Verse 11 once again anticipates Davids triumph, and sums up in brief
the contents of the whole Psalm. It reiterates
his joy in God, and contrasts the happy glorying in the Lord of the righteous
with the painful disappointment of the ungodly.
But the king shall rejoice
in God. Every one that sweareth by Him shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak falsehood
shall be stopped. We
have nothing of which to boast in ourselves, but we have much for which to
glory in our God, and those who speak falsely will have no word to utter, they will have to bear their disappointment in silence.
Those that swear by the name of Jehovah are the people who
worship Him. Thou shalt
fear Jehovah thy God; and Him shalt thou serve, and shall swear by His name.
Ye shall not go after other Gods was the divine command to the
Israelites. They were forbidden to swear
by the deities of the nations, not even to mention their name (Deut. 10:
20; Josh. 23: 7, 8).
When the prophet predicts that five cities of the
[Page 146]
Similarly when the prophet foretells the time
that Jehovah shall be universally worshipped, he declares in the
name of God, I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in
righteousness and shall not return. That
unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (Isa. 45: 23).
It is also worthy of note that when the Apostle Paul desires
to ascribe universal adoration to Christ he says that God gave unto Him the name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth,
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil.
2: 9-11). In this passage
and in Rom. 14: 11 the Apostle clearly identifies the Christ of the New Testament with
Jehovah of the Old Testament, Who shall receive the worship of the adoring
universe. The Lord hasten it in His
time!
Davids history that called forth the writing of this Psalm
foreshadowed the wonderful experience of our Lord Davids greater Son and
But as David was recalled and re-instated into his kingly
position so will our Lord be welcomed back by His people and acclaimed as their
anointed King.
We read in 2 Sam. 19: 9, 10,
And
all the people were at strife throughout all the land of Israel, saying, the
King delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and saved us out of the hand
of the Philistines ... now therefore, why
speak ye not a word to bring back the king?
The word nadon translated were at strife is passive in the original and
conveys the thought of their feeling blameworthy; their conscience smote them
at their ungrateful treatment of David, who had done so much for them.
This will be true to a far greater extent when the Jewish people
will recognise the Lord Jesus as their Messiah and Saviour. What sorrow, what remorse will fill their
soul as they think of their prolonged ungrateful conduct towards Him! How ready they will be to bring the King
back! In the words of another Psalm they
will exclaim, I will extol Thee my God O King; and I will bless Thy Name
for ever and ever (145: 1).
* * *
[Page 148]
CHAPTER
11
The
Golden Age
PSALM 72.
1 To Solomon.
O God, give Thy judgments to
the King,
And Thy righteousness unto
the Kings son.
2 He shall rule Thy people
with righteousness,
And Thine afflicted ones
with judgment.
3 The mountains shall bear
peace to the people,
And the hills by
righteousness.
4 He shall judge the
afflicted of the people,
He shall save the children
of the needy, and crush the oppressor.
5 They shall fear Thee with
the sun,
And before the moon,
throughout all generations.
6 He shall descend like rain
upon the mown grass,
As showers falling heavily
upon the earth.
7 In His days shall the
righteous flourish,
And abundance of peace till
the moon be no more.
8 He shall also have dominion
from sea to sea,
And from the river to the
ends of the earth.
9 The inhabitants of the
desert shall kneel before Him,
And His enemies shall lick
the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and
of the isles shall bring presents,
The kings of
11 Yea, all kings shall
worship Him,
All nations shall serve Him.
12 For He shall deliver the
needy when he crieth,
And the afflicted who have
no helper.
13 He shall have compassion on
the poor and needy,
And shall save the souls of
the needy.
14 He shall redeem their soul
from oppression and violence,
And their blood shall be
precious in His sight. [Page 149]
15 And He shall live, and to
Him shall be given of the gold of
prayer also shall be made
for Him continually,
All the day long shall they
bless Him.
16 There shall be an abundance
of corn in the land on the top of the mountains,
the fruit thereof shall
shake like
And the people of the city
shall flourish like the grass of the earth.
17 His name shall endure for
ever;
His name shall be fruitful
before the sun, and they shall bless themselves in Him;
All nations shall call Him
happy.
18 Blessed be Jehovah God, the
God of Israel,
Who only doeth wondrous
things;
19 And blessed be His glorious
name for ever,
And the whole earth shall be
filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David, the
son of Jesse, are ended.
This Psalm gives us a lovely picture
of the golden age, so graphically described by the inspired prophets, and so
ardently desired by the pious Israelites throughout the ages and which indeed
is, even in these days, the happy expectation of Gods children and the only hope for our sin-stricken and suffering world. It will be a reign of perfect peace and
harmony, righteousness and goodwill, bringing glory to God and blessing to
mankind.
The Psalmist here unfolds to our view the splendid vision of a perfect Ruler, Who will be the champion of the
oppressed, and Who will redress all human wrongs.
The imagery of this Psalm is taken from the times of Solomons
reign, but it will assuredly find a more glorious fulfilment when the greater
than Solomon will sit [Page 150] upon the
throne of David. All Scripture history leads to Christ. The Rabbinic maxim is correct in saying, All the
prophets only prophesied concerning the days of the Messiah. He was the theme and object of their
predictions, never did they rise to such heights of rapturous eloquence as when
they were describing His glory and greatness.
Historic Parallels.
The periods during which Saul, David and Solomon were reigning
(each of them for forty years) especially foreshadowed the times of our
Lord. The forty years of Sauls reign
sets forth
At their
request, then, an earthly king was given [Page 151] them, but his reign ended in a
terrible catastrophe upon the mountains of Gilboa when the Israelites were
defeated and Saul and his three sons were slain; the king falling upon his own
sword. Indeed Saul was rejected of God
long before that (see 1 Sam. 15: 28; 16. 1). The divinely
appointed king for a great part of the time was persecuted and driven from
place to place as was also our Lord persecuted by the rulers of the people, and
had not where to lay His head. The
period of His rejection ended likewise, in dreadful disaster to the Jews and
their rulers.
The forty years of Davids reign adumbrated the time of our Lords
conquests. As David slew Goliath so will our Lord destroy Satan. As David killed the lion and the bear, so
will Christ slay the symbolic beasts of Rev. 13. As David defeated the
Philistines, so will the Lord Jesus overthrow the forces of evil that will
oppose Him (Zech. 14: 1-5; Rev. 19: 1-21).
It is significant, that of David it is
said he behaved himself wisely in all his ways (1 Sam. 18: 5, 14), and concerning our Lord the prophet wrote, Behold My
Servant shall deal prudently or act wisely (Isa. 52: 13).
It is the same expression in the Hebrew.
David, the man after Gods own heart
and the king of His choice was thus made a type and earnest of the Divine King,
Who was to restore the theocracy to
Finally, as all the tribes of Israel came to David [Page 152] pleading kinship and saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh, acknowledging that it was he who had
led them out and brought them in, and anointing him king over the whole nation (2 Sam. 5:
1-3), so once
again will that people come to Christ, submit themselves to Him and acclaim Him
Lord and King. His enemies
shall be clothed with shame and upon Him shall His crown flourish (Psa. 132: 18).
Solomon, who was the third king to reign over
The life of Christ was so rich and full, His person so
wonderful and glorious, His attributes so exalted and Divine, His work so
manifold and so important that many types were needed to represent Him
adequately. Hence we have four Gospels giving various viewpoints of His
ministry, quite a number of sacrifices describing the different aspects of His
atoning work, etc.
Here, too, David falls far short in portraying the Heavenly
King. His reign was taken up with
subduing
Solomon is called Ish menucha, a man of rest, in contrast to David who is spoken of as
Ish milchamoth,
a man of wars (1 Chron. 28: 3).
[Page 153]
In 1 Chron. 22: 9 play is put upon his name, which means the peaceable. Shelomo (Solomon)
shall be his name, and Shalom, peace and quietness will I give to
At his birth the Lord sent through Nathan the prophet and
named him Jedidiah, the beloved of Jehovah, because Jehovah loved him (2 Sam. 12:
24-5) typifying
the Lord Jesus concerning Whom God testified, This is My beloved Son in Whom
I am well pleased.
The Title.
The foregoing will now help us better to understand the
contents of this wonderful Psalm, and will throw some light on its title. It is liShelomo, which may be rendered to
or for Solomon.*
The Hebrew letter I here affixed to
the name Solomon is the sign of the dative, and has usually the meaning of to or for, though in
some of the Psalms it is translated of and
expresses authorship. This is however,
not always the case. See, for instance, [Page 154] Psalm
39, where this letter is
affixed to three words in the title, lamenatststseach, rendered to the chief
musician, liYeduthun to Jeduthun, and leDavid to or of David.
It would, therefore, be in perfect harmony with grammatical construction
to translate liShelomo to Solomon, i.e., either with
reference to, or dedicated to him.** This is the
more likely as the word stands here by itself without any of the usual terms in
the titles such as mizmor, a Psalm, or tephillah, a prayer, etc.
* There is only one other Psalm in the
whole collection that has the name Solomon attached to it (Psa. 127).
** We dismiss as most unlikely that this Psalm was written at a
late date by someone who was seeking to eulogize the heathen king, Ptolemy Philadelphus, 285 B.C.
The Syriac has it,
A Psalm of David when he appointed Solomon King. The Arabic
and Septuagint refer it to
Solomon. Rabbi Yitschaki explains it as being a prayer of David, by the Holy
Spirit expecting that Solomon should ask of God an understanding heart to hear
judgment.
This, further, agrees with the fact that there are several
references in this Psalm to historic incidents connected with Solomon, such as
his wise judgment, his extensive and peaceful reign, his receiving gifts from
the Queen of Sheba, etc. Other parts of
the Psalm, however, did not, and could not find fulfilment in any earthly
monarch. Where Solomon failed Christ
will succeed, and the allusions to the life of Solomon serve as illustrations
of the Messiah in Whom all Scripture finds its highest and completest
realisation.
[Page 155]
The kingdom depicted in this Psalm goes far beyond that of
Solomon in righteousness and splendour. It is universal in extent and eternal [i.e.,
age-lasting] in duration. As in His Person the Lord Jesus far surpasses
all other beings in glory and greatness so will His [Millennial] kingdom surpass in moral and spiritual perfections
all the kingdoms of the world. It is of
that, surely, that the inspired writers predicted with such joy and gladness, God is King over all the earth; ... God reigneth over the nations; God sitteth upon the throne of
His holiness. Again, The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice, let the multitude
of isles be glad (47: 7, 8; 97: 1). When Isaiah caught a vision of it he
exclaimed, The moon shall be confounded, and the sun
ashamed when Jehovah of Hosts shall
reign in
The strophical divisions of this Psalm are not very
distinct. They may, however, be arranged
as follows:-
Messiahs perfect righteousness (14).
Messiahs benign influence (5-7).
Messiahs universal dominion (8-11).
Messiahs Divine compassion (12-14).
Messiahs material and spiritual
prosperity (15-17).
A glorious doxology (18-19).
A gratifying conclusion (20).
[Page 156]
Messiahs Perfect Righteousness.
1. O God, give
Thy judgments to the King,
And Thy righteousness unto
the Kings son.
This is a prayer of faith uttered in
the [Holy] Spirit,
and as it contains the assurance of fulfilment it merges itself into prediction
throughout the remainder of the Psalm.
The Hebrew word, ten, translated give is the only verb in the Psalm that is
in the imperative, expressing command or entreaty; all the other verbs till the
doxology at the end - some thirty of them - are in the simple future.
Those expositors who only see here the
reign of Solomon, realising that much of the Psalm was not fulfilled to him give to these future verbs the
force of the optative, implying a wish, for otherwise they would not harmonise
with their ideas. For ourselves,
we cannot think that these utterances were mere exaggerated desires that were
never gratified. We may be doubly sure
that our prayers being according to the revealed will of God will be abundantly
answered.
This first verse has its historic
background in the incident of the two women who came for judgment in which
Solomon showed such wonderful discernment given to him by God in answer to his
request. We are told, All Israel
heard of the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king; for
they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment (see 1 Kings 3: 9, 16-28). Its more exhaustive [Page 157] fulfilment will be in the Messiah, of Whom it is said, He shall
not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His
ears: but with righteousness shall He judge the poor and reprove with equity
for the meek of the earth. ... And righteousness shall be the girdle of His
loins and faithfulness the girdle of His reins. He shall sit upon
the throne in truth, in the tabernacle of David judging and seeking
judgment and hasting righteousness (Isa.
11: 34; 16. 5). Judgment is here used, of course, not in its
penal sense of carrying out the sentence of the judge against the offender, but
of the sentence itself as the standard of right and wrong based upon the laws
of God for the regulation of human conduct.
In this sense it is equivalent in meaning to equity.
The couplet, judgment and righteousness, is in Scripture the
characteristic of the Messiahs conduct and reign. The King and the Kings son
refer to the same Person. It was true of
Solomon, it is true of the Lord Jesus, Who is so frequently spoken of as the
Son of David. Gabriels message concerning Him was, He shall be great and shall be called
the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David (Luke 1: 32). As the
Son of David He will restore and
perpetuate the Davidic kingdom.
2. He shall rule Thy people with
righteousness, And Thine afflicted ones with judgment.
[Page 158]
In the Theocratic government all oppression will be put down, the
destroyer and destruction will be destroyed. Jehovah standeth up to
contend, yea, He standeth to rule peoples, Jehovah will enter into judgment
with the elders of His people and its princes, for ye have consumed the
vineyard; the spoil of the afflicted is in your houses. What mean ye that ye crush My people and
grind My afflicted ones? saith Jehovah of Hosts (Isa. 3: 13, 14). [During
the age to come,] Christ will thus champion the
cause of the wronged and the distressed.
Sometimes in the changed use of a word lies hidden a great
truth. Primarily our word Despot has the meaning of an absolute ruler
invested with full power to govern, but as those who had this authority so
abused it by their misrule, in course of time it assumed the meaning of a cruel
ruler. The same is true of our word tyrant which in Greek tyrannos also means an
absolute ruler. The Greek Despotes is one of Gods
titles and in Luke 1: 29 it is
translated Lord. The devout Simeon
addressing God, with the child Jesus in his arms, says, Sovereign
Lord, now lettest Thou Thy bond slave depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen
Thy Salvation.
The Messiah will be a despot in the best sense of the
term. Having all power in heaven and in
earth He will use it righteously and for the highest welfare of the subjects of
His world-wide dominion.
Yadin, translated He shall judge, is the future [Page 159] tense of dun to rule, and should be translated He will rule, not may He rule. This is the declared purpose of God and in
this lies the joy of His people and the hope of the world.
3. The
mountains shall bear peace to the people,
And the hills by
righteousness.
4. He shall
judge the afflicted of the people,
He shall save the children
of the needy, and crush the oppressor.
The natural mountain peaks and the commanding passes instead
of being fortified and garrisoned will, under the tranquil government of
Christ, be monuments of peace. With
great joy this was foretold by Isaiah (2: 24; 11: 9): And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lords
house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it. ... And He shall judge among the
nations and umpire many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; They shall
not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.
This peace will be the result of righteousness, no offence will be given
by anyone to cause enmity and strife.
What a lovely picture of this is
presented to our view by the prophet (Isa. 32: 16‑18). Then [Page 160] judgment shall dwell in the wilderness and
righteousness will remain on Carmel (the fruitful hill), and the work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect
of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever, and My people shall dwell
in a peaceable habitation, and in secure dwellings and in tranquil resting
places.
This is the case in a spiritual sense with us now, the
righteousness of faith brings us peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
but what is now true with us individually will at the return
of Christ be true universally. The
mountains and the hills will break out into singing and all the trees of the
field shall clap their hands (Isa. 55: 12).
Messiahs Benign Influence.
5. They shall
fear Thee with the sun, And before the moon, throughout all generations.
Those who only see Solomon here have a difficulty in the
change from the third person, He in the fourth verse to the
second person, Thee in the fifth verse. It cannot be an earthly king who
is thus addressed in so far as this can only be applied to God, but if we apply
it to Christ all is clear and consistent. He shall be feared with the sun and before
the moon throughout all generations, i.e.,
everywhere and always.
With the sun must mean all over the world. The Psalmist, follows the sun on its journey
round the [Page 161] earth, rising in the east, travelling along the south,
setting in the west, and continuing invisibly in the north, so that with the
sun wherever it travels our Divine Lord shall be feared or reverenced, but not
only in all places but in all times, before the moon from generation to
generation, by day and by night, for ever and ever.
6. He shall
descend like rain upon the Mown grass,
As showers falling heavily
on the earth.
A beautiful picture of our Lords gracious influence on the
world. As the refreshing showers upon
the newly mown meadow produce fresh verdure and fertility, so will the presence
and teaching of Messiah bring forth the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy,
peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, etc. His doctrine shall drop as the rain
and His speech shall distil as the dew, as small rain on the tender herb and as
the showers upon the grass (Deut. 32: 2).
7.
In His days shall the righteous flourish,
And abundance of peace till
the moon be no more.
This verse describes the actual outcome of Christs influence
mentioned in verse 6. What the showers produce in the natural world
the benign influence of our Lord will bring about in the spiritual realm. The righteous will flourish and peace will
abound as long as the moon will exist.
This is in entire agreement with many other prophecies that
the Messiah shall bring in everlasting [Page 162] righteousness, and shall spread a
knowledge of God throughout the earth, so that even the common things of life,
the bells on the horses and the pots in the houses shall be holiness unto
Jehovah (Zech. 14: 20, 21).
Messiahs Universal Dominion.
8. He shall
also have dominion from sea to sea,
And from the river to the
ends of the earth.
This is an expansion of Gods promise to Abraham (Gen. 15:
18). The dominion of Solomon ended at the Euphrates,
but that of Christ will have a double boundary, the inner one in Palestine,
from sea to sea, and the outer from the river reaching to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:
10). Solomons rule never extended thus, but
according to the Scriptures the Messianic Kingdom is to be world-wide, reaching
to the extremities of the earth, all embracing, all including. According to Daniels vision (7: 13, 14),
There was given Him dominion and a glory and a Kingdom
that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an
everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed.
Both Daniel and Zechariah prophesied long after
Solomon, and even after all the kings of the Davidic dynasty, so their prophecy
could only be fulfilled in Christ. In
this the historic background falls short, and the inspired utterance still
awaits accomplishment.
[Page 163]
How lovely to think that the whole world, now groaning under a
load of care, stricken by sin, torn by strife and dissension, ravaged by war
and bloodshed, will soon be unified under the benignant sway of Christ, when
God shall be worshipped and adored, and when peace and harmony will abound.
9. The inhabitants of the desert shall kneel before Him,
And His enemies shall lick
the dust.
The nomadic tribes of the desert, war-like and difficult to
subdue, shall kneel before Him in submission and His enemies shall prostrate
themselves with their face to the ground.
The licking of the dust was, in fact, an ancient custom
amongst the nations of the East expressing homage. It is related that Alexander the Great, on
his return home after his conquests, tried to introduce that custom in
10. The kings of Tarshish and of the
isles shall bring presents,
The kings of
All classes will acknowledge Messiahs rule. The wandering tribes of the desert and the
wealthy potentates of distant Tarshish and the isles, or coast line on [Page 164] the north-west, as well as Sheba and Seba on the south and south-east will
entreat His favour.
11. Yea, all kings shall worship Him,
All nations shall serve Him.
This again has never been true of any human king, but will be
true [during the millennium] of our Lord.
When He comes out of the opened heaven He will be crowned with many
diadems, and on His side and garment there will be a name written King of
kings, and Lord of lords. The whole human race will adore
Him. Then Jehovah shall be King over the
whole earth; in that day shall Jehovah be one and His name one (Zech. 14: 9). As King of Israel
David was only Jehovahs viceregent and he speaks of Him as my King and
my God (Psa. 5: 2), also in His fuller title, Jehovah of
Hosts, my King and my God (Psa. 84: 3).
Messiahs Divine Compassion.
12.
For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth,
And the afflicted who have no helper. [Page 166]
13. He shall have compassion on the poor and needy,
And shall save the souls of
the needy ones.
How often our Lord exhibited this tender sympathy for the
people! We are told, When He saw
the multitude He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and
were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd (Matt. 9: 36). It was this compassion
for mankind in their deep need that brought Him down from the highest height of
heavenly glory to the deepest depth of earthly suffering; and it is this Divine
compassion that He is described here as exercising on behalf of the poor
shepherdless people in their distress when He sets up His Millennial kingdom.
14. And He
shall redeem their soul from oppression and violence,
And their blood shall be
precious in His sight.
Christ raised the standard of human life, and put a higher
value on it; before He came mans life was not of much account. He paid a high price in order to redeem us,
and so precious was our blood in His sight that He was willing to shed His own
precious blood to atone for us.
According to His own parables the love He had for His people
impelled Him to sell all that He had and buy the priceless treasure and goodly
pearls. In plain language, He made Himself of no reputation [Page 166] (stripped Himself of His glory) ... humbled Himsel and became obedient unto death to save us.
Yigal naphshom, He shall
redeem their soul as the kinsman redeemer, i.e., nearest
in blood relationship. Christ has taken our nature in order to redeem us. This verse may imply more. The goel was not only a redeemer with a right to re-purchase
what was sold for his next of kin, it was his duty to avenge his relatives, he
was, therefore, called goel hadam, translated, revenger of blood (Num. 35: 9, 21, 25, 27; Deut. 19: 6; 2 Sam. 14: 11).
Christ will not only
re-purchase our possessions for us, but because our blood is precious in His
sight He will avenge us from oppression and violence. There is no city of refuge to shelter our
enemy who is a murderer from the beginning, and he will not escape from the
hand of our Redeemer.
Messiahs Spiritual and Material Prosperity.
15. And He shall live;
and to Him shall be given of the gold of
All the day long shall they
bless Him.
He shall live in the power of an endless life. Almost as an explanation of this Christ told
us, I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive for
evermore. Death could not hold Him Who is the
resurrection and the life. His, indeed,
is not contingent [Page 167] life depending on other sources for
existence, He is the life and the source of it; He could
say, Because I live ye shall live also.
Some find it difficult to determine to whom the expression, He shall live, refers. Does it refer to the King, or to those whom
He delivers [and resurrects]? and He shall live
is just one word in the Hebrew, and stands detached from the rest of the
verse. It seems an abbreviation of a
sentence. If so, the sentence can only
be the well-known exclamation to a king, YeChi hammelech, long live the
king.*
This expression was actually used to Solomon when he was anointed king (1 Kings
1: 39). And
Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed
Solomon. And they blew the trumpet, and
all the people said, God save king Solomon, yechi hammelech literally the king shall live, or as we say, long live the king.
* See Chapter 7 on Psa. 47.
for the usage of this phrase.
In their hearts the happy subjects of
the King will constantly renew His coronation, bring in of their treasures and
pray for His prosperity and His kingdom, and bless Him all the day long for His
deliverance, and for His righteous rule.
Not that He will need their prayers, but the hearts of His happy
subjects will overflow with good wishes for the prosperity of His kingdom and
for His glory.
[Page 168]
16.
There shall be an abundance of corn in the land
on the top of the mountain, the fruit thereof shall shake like
And the people of the city
shall flourish like the grass of the earth.*
* The Rabbis refer this to the
Messiah. In Midrash Koheleth they say, As
the first redeemer (Moses) caused manna to come down, so the last Redeemer
(Messiah) will also cause manna to come down, as it is said, There shall be an abundance of corn in the earth.
We are here given a description of the earths condition in
the Millennial reign. When our first parents sinned against God they dragged the whole
creation down with them; Gods sentence was, Cursed be
the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life. Thorns also and thistles shall it
bring forth to thee. For how could man expect
Nature to obey him when he rendered no obedience to God Who put the forces of
Nature under mans control? When, however our Lord will remove the curse and bring in the blessing,
Nature will again yield her pristine fertility. The wilderness and the arid place
shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the
rose. It shall blossom abundantly and
rejoice with joy and singing. The glory
of
The Psalmist thus sees the top of the mountains, generally so
rocky and bare, now full of luxurious [Page 169] vegetation waving in the breeze like
the trees of
Not only will there be a superabundance of plant life, but
great increase in human life; the people of the city shall flourish like the
grass of the earth.
17. His name
shall endure for ever,
His name shall be fruitful
before the sun, And they shall bless themselves in Him,
All nations shall call Him
happy.
The Chaldaic paraphrase representing Jewish interpretation in
the days of Christ applies this to the Messiah, and renders it like the
Septuagint, His name was prepared before the sun, and in His merits will
all people bless themselves.
The Midrash also applies this to Messiah, and says, His name is
here called Yinnon (fruitful) because He will
cause those who sleep in the dust of the earth to spring up.* Yinnon means fruitful
in progeny, A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for
a generation (Psa. 22: 30).
* The Talmud (San. 95, b) also has it Rabbi Johanan says, The world was created only for Messiah. What is His name? The
[Page 170]
The statement men shall bless themselves in Him takes us back to the promise given to
Abraham (Gen. 12: 3) which finds its highest realisation in Christ.
A Glorious Doxology.
18.
Blessed be Jehovah Elohim, the God of Israel,
Who alone doeth wondrous things.
19.
And blessed be His glorious name for ever,
And the whole earth shall be full of His glory, Amen
and Amen.
We are not surprised that the Psalmist on getting such a
magnificent vision of Messiahs [millennial] glory and the worlds blessing, as is described
here, should burst forth in praise to God.
Surely the doxology finds an echo in our hearts too, as we meditate on
this beatific vision; and we also cry, Amen and Amen, not only giving our assent and
consent, as Amen implies, identifying ourselves whole-heartedly with the sacred
writer in praising Jehovah, but also in looking forward to
the time when the whole earth shall be full of His glory.
This beautiful poem forms a suitable ending to the second book
of the Psalms, and the doxology is a fitting conclusion both to the whole book
and to this Psalm. Every one of the
books ends with a similar expression of praise as Psa. 41: 13; 89: 52;
106: 48. For the last book the whole Psalm is a grand
doxology.
Some of the Rabbis think that the double Amen is the response
of Keneseth Israel - the congregation of
A Gratifying Conclusion.
20.
The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are
ended.
This last verse takes us back to the first which is the prayer
of faith, and which finds its answer in the prediction of the Psalm. On more than one occasion has God given David
the promise that it would be accomplished, and he knew that no one word of it
would fail (see Psa. 89: 35). The word translated ended also means to complete, to
accomplish. Davids faith views the
distant prospect and cries Amen to the predictions he was led by the Spirit to
utter.
To us also all the promises of God in Him (Christ) are Yea, and in Him
Amen, unto the glory of God by us (2 Cor.
1: 20).
* *
*
[Page 172]
CHAPTER
12
The
Great Hallel
PSALM 118.
1 O give thanks unto Jehovah for He is good;
For His loving kindness
endureth for ever.
2 Let
For His loving kindness
endureth for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now say ...
For His loving kindness
endureth for ever.
4 Let those that fear Jehovah
now say ...
For His loving kindness
endureth for ever.
5 Out of my distress I called
upon Jah;
Jah answered me in a wide
place.
6 Jehovah is for me I will not
fear;
What shall man do unto me?
7 Jehovah is for me among my
helpers,
Therefore shall I look on
those that hate me.
8 It is better to take
shelter in Jehovah,
Than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take shelter
in Jehovah,
Than to trust in princes.
10 All nations have surrounded
me,
In the name of Jehovah I
will verily cut them off.
11 They have surrounded me, yea they have completely surrounded me;
In the name of Jehovah I
will verily cut them off.
12 They
have surrounded me like bees; They are extinguished as
a fire of thorns,
In the name of Jehovah I
will verily cut them off.
13 Thou didst thrust sore at me
that I might fall,
But Jehovah helped me.
14 Jah is my strength and
song,
And He is become my
salvation. [Page 173]
15 The voice of rejoicing and
salvation is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of Jehovah
doeth valiantly;
16 The right hand of Jehovah is
exalted;
The right hand of Jehovah
doeth valiantly.
17 I shall not die but live,
And declare the works of
Jehovah.
18 Jah hath chastened me sore,
But He hath not given me
over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of
righteousness;
I will enter into them; I
will give thanks unto Jah.
20 This is the gate of
Jehovah,
Let the righteous ones enter
into it.
21 I will give thanks unto
Thee, for Thou hast answered me,
And hast become my
salvation.
22 The stone which the
builders rejected,
Is become the head of the
corner.
23 This is Jehovahs doing;
It is marvellous in our
eyes.
24 This is the day Jehovah has
made;
We will rejoice and be glad
in it.
25 Save now, we beseech Thee,
O Jehovah;
O Jehovah, we beseech Thee,
grant us now prosperity.
26 Blessed be He that cometh in
the name of Jehovah;
We have blessed you out of
the house of Jehovah.
27 Jehovah is God, and He has
given us light;
Bind the festive sacrifice
with thick cords up to the horns of the altar.
28 Thou art my God and I will
give thanks unto Thee;
Thou art my God, I will
exalt Thee.
29 O give thanks unto Jehovah
for He is good;
For His loving kindness
endureth for ever.
This is the last of the Hallel Psalms comprising 113-118,
which are repeated by the Jews at their festivals. It also forms part of the Haggadah or prayer for
the Passover night. It was, therefore,
most probably repeated by the Lord Jesus and His disciples at the inauguration
of the Lords Supper.
[Page 174]
And when they
had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of
Olives (Matt. 26: 30).
The Time of the Psalms Composition.
As in the case with many of the prophetic Psalms, commentators
are not at all agreed as to its authorship and the time of its
composition. It is thought that it was
written,
1. By David when he became king over
and obtained the victory over the
surrounding nations (2 Sam. 8-10).
2. By Hezekiah on his restoration from
sickness
(2 Kings 19-20).
3. At the first
celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles
after the return from
4. At the
laying of the foundation of the second
(Ezra 3: 8-13).
5. At the
completion of the second
(Ezra 6: 15-18); or,
6. At the
celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles
after the rebuilding of the second
The reason why there is such a divergence of opinion about it
is because nothing recorded in the Old Testament fully accounts for this Psalm.
There were probably several historic
incidents in connection with the return from the Babylonian Exile [Page 175] which drew out the peoples gratitude to God, and caused them to sing such
Psalms of praise which had been composed long before. In Ezra 3 we are told that the Priests, the Levites and all the people
joined in praising God, and the very phraseology of this Psalm was used by
them. When the builders laid the
foundation of the Temple of the Lord, they set the Priests in their apparel
with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the
Lord after the ordinance of David, King of Israel, and they sang together by
course (literally,
they responded in song, that is they sang antiphonally) in praising
and giving thanks unto the Lord, because He is good, for His loving kindness
endureth for ever towards Israel (Ezra 3:
10, 11). Please note the expression, After the
ordinance of David, King of Israel. This very likely refers to the writings of David. And it is certainly striking that the very
note of praise which characterises this Psalm is first used by David. (Compare verses 1, 2, 3, 4, 25, 29
with 1
Chron. 16: 34, 35).
The Hallel Psalms as Prayers.
The singing of this, and similar Psalms, might have been
repeated on all the occasions mentioned above, especially at the Feast of
Tabernacles recorded in Nehemiah 8: 13-18, but they were not
necessarily composed at that time.
[Page 176]
These Hallel Psalms still form part of the morning prayer in
the Jewish service for the Feast of Tabernacles*; and on the seventh or last day of
the Feast which is called Hoshanna Rabba,
the great Hosanna day, the Jews walk round the aisles of the Synagogue carrying
branches of palm tree, myrtle twigs, and sprigs of willow, chanting the
twenty-fifth verse of our Psalm, O, Jehoyah, save I beseech Thee, which in
the Hebrew is Hoshiahna. **
* The Hallel Psalms are repeated in the Haggadah, the order of service for the Passover
Night, the first two days of the Passover Feast, the Feast of Weeks, or
Pentecost, every day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Feast of Chanuca or
Dedication.
On the New Moons and the last six days of the Passover only
part of the Hallel is said. The chanting
of the Hallel is usually connected by the Jews with joy. It is, not repeated in a house of mourning.
** This is done according to the command in Lev. 23: 40, And ye shall take you on the first
day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick
trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God
seven days.
We cannot think that there was anything at the return of the
Jews from
The opposition with which the Jews met from their neighbouring
chieftains, Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Gesham the Arabian, brought them
discomfort and inconvenience, but did not amount to actual warfare of which Psa. 118 speaks, and did not cause the
returned exiles the distress mentioned in verse 5; nor were the surrounding nations destroyed by the Israelites
as verses 10-12 imply.
The Key to the Psalm.
The complete fulfilment of this Psalm is
still in the future, and we believe that the second Coming [Page 177] of our Lord is the key to this as to so many other passages of the Bible,
hence the difficulty of fitting it into any historical event of the past
recorded in the Scriptures.
Here we have a brief but graphic
description of Israels tribulation, deliverance, and conversion at the return
of Christ. As a title we may write over it the words of Jeremiah 30: 7, It is even
the time of Jacobs trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
Our Lord evidently quoted verse 26 and referred it to the future when Israels judicial
blindness shall be removed and their eyes will be opened to recognise in Him
their long-awaited Messiah and Saviour, when they will welcome Him, exclaiming,
Blessed
is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (see Matt.
23: 39).
With this key in our possession the Psalm, which is otherwise
disconnected and difficult to explain, becomes clear, congruent and in harmony
with other parts of Scripture.
The Divisions of the Psalm.
Verses 1-4 are a call for thanksgiving to God.
Verses 5-7 give the reason for the thanksgiving.
Verses 8 and 9 are the moral lesson resulting therefrom.
Verses 10-18 give a description of the terrible
battle and the Divine interposition.
Verses 19-29 set forth
[Page 178]
Introduction.
O give thanks unto Jehovah, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness
endureth for ever.
This is the introduction of praise in this antiphonal song.* The whole nation is asked to join in giving
thanks unto Jehovah, evidently for some great national deliverance, all
sections of the Israel nation are called upon to join in this public acknowledgment
of Gods goodness in intervening on their behalf at a time of desperate need.
* This Psalm is still chanted
antiphonally by the Jews on the Feast of Tabernacles. The cantor sings part and the congregation
responds.
Let
Chesed is better translated loving
kindness than mercy (see Psa. 103: 4). Ki, which is in the first verse
translated for, is in the three following verses translated that.
The fact is, there is an ellipsis here, and some words have to be
supplied where we put some dots. This is
recognised in the Septuagint where
after Let Israel now say is added that He is good, the same in verses 3 and 4. The Chaldaic
paraphrase has it, Let Israel now say so, i.e., let
them say, Give thanks unto Jehovah for He is good, then, as a reason for it, for His
loving kindness endureth for ever.
This is a frequently-used expression of praise acknowledging
Gods goodness (see Psa. 106: 1; 107: 1; [Page 179] 136: 1; 1 Chron. 16: 34; Ezra 3: 11), and all the sections of the nation
are called upon to take part in this declaration of gratitude for a national
deliverance. First the Israelites, the
main section, are thus requested to praise God, next the house of Aaron, the priests,
then those who fear Jehovah are asked to join.
In the New Testament they that fear God are generally the Proselytes, but
here this evidently refers to the Levites, who as a tribe first rallied round
Moses after the sin of the golden calf (Exod. 32: 26-29; Deut. 33: 8-10; but see specially Mal. 2. 4, 5, where the Levites are characterised
as those who fear God).
It is right that we should encourage one another in praising
God. We have so much for which to thank
Him, for physical mercies, for social benefits and spiritual blessings. All are traced to Him. There may be many channels, but He is the
source, there are many instruments, but He is the mighty Worker Who uses them for our highest welfare.
Nationally
[Page 180]
Verse 5 gives the reason of this special gratitude.
Out of my
distress I called upon Jah,
Jah answered me in a wide
place.
Six times in this Psalm is found Jah as a name of God, twice
in this verse, once each in vers. 14, 17, 18 and 19.
It is, of course,
the Hebrew first syllable of Jehovah, and is, therefore, only an abbreviated
form of it. It is mostly found in Bible
poetry. It forms the last syllable of
Hallelujah, which means praise ye
Jah. Occasionally it is joined on to other words, then it adds
intensity of meaning to them, as for instance mappeljah, intense darkness (Jer. 2: 31) or shalhebhethjah, most
vehement flame (
The Hebrew metsar here rendered distress
means a strait, contracted place, and is contrasted with the wide place into
which God brings His people in answer to their cry.*
* Verse 5b is a pregnant construction.
He answered me in an open place, i.e., bringing me into it. The contrast of a narrow gorge and a wide
plain, picturesquely express past restraints and present freedom of movement.
This national distress, as is made clearer later in the Psalm,
is really the time of Jacobs trouble mentioned by Jeremiah (30: 5-7).
The prophet brings before the mind of his readers a terrible picture of
suffering. He depicts strong men going
about with bowed heads, bent figures, and pale faces, with their hands on their
[Page 181] loins as in great pain, and then as in explanation calls out,
It
is even the time of Jacobs trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
The deliverance out of this distress is attributed to God.
Jehovah is
for me, I shall not fear,
What shall man do unto me?
Jehovah is for me with (or among)
my helpers;
Therefore shall I look on
them that hate me.
Jehovahs appearance on the battlefield turns defeat into
victory. It is concerning that same time
that Zechariah (9: 14, 16) writes, And Jehovah shall be seen over them;
and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning, and the Lord Jehovah will blow
the trumpet (as a commander) and move with
whirlwinds of the south. ... And Jehovah their
God shall save them in that day as the flock of His people.
Looking on those that hate me means fearlessly to face the enemy,
and answers to the preceding verse, I shall not fear; What
shall man do unto me? My desire of the English version is not in the original. Come, let us look one another in the
face said Amaziah to Jehoash (2 Kings 14: 8). By that he meant let us face each
other on the battlefield. The Presence
of Jehovah will impart courage and strength to the besieged and enfeebled
Israelites.
[Page 182]
Verses 8 and 9
indicate the moral lesson the Jewish people will have learnt from it.
It is better
to take shelter in Jehovah, Than to trust in man.
It is better to take shelter
in Jehovah, Than to trust in princes.
This is a lesson that we all need to learn for our happiness,
and it applies for all time. Thus saith
Jehovah, cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm. ... Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah,
and whose hope is Jehovah. For he shall
be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the
river, and shall not fear when heat cometh and its leaf shall be green; and
shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit (Jer. 17: 5-8). Israel will have
learned the lesson no longer to lean upon world forces for support, nor to rely
upon their own valour; in the words of the prophets they will say, Asshur
shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses neither will we say any more to
the works of our hands, Ye are our gods. Behold God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid
(Hos. 14: 3; Isa. 12: 2).
Thus far we have had in these verses only
a general introduction, now the writer commences his story in detail.
[Page 183]
The Anti-Christian Confederacy.
All nations have surrounded me,
In the name of
Jehovah I will verily cut them off.
They have
surrounded me, yea, they have completely surrounded
me;
In the name of
Jehovah I will verily cut them off.
They have
surrounded me like bees;
They are
extinguished as a fire of thorns,
In the name of
Jehovah I will verily cut them off.
This gives us a picture of the Jews who will have returned to
A few quotations will make this clear.
Isa. 29: 2-7, I will distress Ariel,* and
there shall be lamentation and mourning, and it shall be unto Me as Ariel. And I
will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a
mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
And thou shalt be brought low, and shalt speak out of the ground, [Page 184] and thy
speech shall be out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as one that hath a
familiar spirit. ... And the multitude of thy
strangers shall be as the small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones
shall be as chaff that passeth away; yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly.
... And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all her
army and her munitions and that distress her shall be as a dream of a night
vision.
* Ariel is a picture name for
This almost reads as a commentary on vers. 10-12 of our Psalm.
Zech.
12: 9 also refers to
these nations, And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to
destroy all the nations that
come against
[Page 185]
Speaking of the same event, Joel (3. 1, 2) likewise depicts the scene, Behold in
those days and in that time, when I will bring again the captivity of Judah and
Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will
plead with them there for My people, and for My heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations and parted My land; and again, verses 11 and 12, Assemble yourselves and come all ye nations, and gather yourselves together round about;
thither, cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah. Let the nations be wakened and come up to the
It was of this event that the inspired Psalmist caught a vision. A battlefield with a feeble remnant of Jews
entrenched probably in the upper parts of Jerusalem (as Josephus tells us was the case during the Jews war with the Romans
in A. D. 70), hard pressed on all sides by the merciless enemy and despairing
of any help; but suddenly the Lord Jesus appears with His mighty ones [i.e.,
angels] and speedily destroys the
anti-Christian armies, who are as hostile towards Him as towards His
people. The Jews, now set free, exclaim,
All
nations compassed me about, they compassed me about as bees, numerous and with a sting, but in the
name of Jehovah I cut them off. Amilam, from the root mul, to cut off,
to destroy, is the [Page 186] imperfect tense which has frequently, in the Hebrew, the peculiarity of
describing a vivid act in the present.
The Secret of Power
Three times over
David, weaponless, but empowered by God, was more than a match
for the giant with his complete panoply. Verily there is power in that Name.
They are
extinguished as a fire of thorns.
The dry thorns in the Eastern climate,
when gathered together and set alight, give out one great flare and burn out
instantly. Isaiah also speaks of these nations as chaff
passing away in an instant suddenly.
Victory Attributed to God.
Jah is my strength and song, and He
is become my salvation. This takes us back to the exodus
from
On other occasions, too, this note of praise has found an echo in the heart
of
It may be noted that the first time Jah, the abbreviated form
of Jehovah, occurs is in this verse sung at the
Verses 15 and 16 give us the effect
the God-given victory has upon the Jewish warriors. The voice of rejoicing and of
salvation is in the tents of the righteous.
The tents are of the encamped army on the battlefield. As they see how wonderfully God is fighting
for them, they joyfully exclaim,
The right
hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly,
The right hand of Jehovah is
exalted,
The right hand of Jehovah
doeth valiantly.
Of this very battle Zechariah
predicted (14: 3), Then shall
Jehovah go forth and fight against those nations as when He fought in the day
of battle. And His feet shall stand in
that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before
These verses form a link between this Psalm and the song of
the
Then, as with a sigh of relief,
I shall not
die but live
And declare the works of Jah.
[Page 189]
Poor people, they are almost giving up all hope of ever being rescued
from the powerful foe, but God is much better to them than they either expect
or deserve. And true to His gracious
promises and purposes He hastens to their help and sets them free.
How gladly, how earnestly, and how effectively will
What a wonderful story Israel will have to tell the world of
Gods merciful dealings with them throughout their whole history, from the time
that He chose Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees and blessed him, to the moment when
as a people they stand reconciled face to face with their Messiah. And how trustworthy and forceful will their
witness for Him be when they declare His doings among the peoples and make
mention that His name is exalted. It is
then that
Now looking back upon the past
Jah has
chastened me sore,
But hath not delivered me
over unto death.
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God declares, Though I make
a full end of all nations where I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full
end of thee, I will correct thee in measure and will not leave [Page 190] thee altogether unpunished (30: 11).
That is precisely what God has been doing. He has not left the Jews
unpunished, but corrected them in measure, literally according to judicial
sentence‑what is right. In His severity and in His goodness God is just.
Messiah Welcomed
The Psalmist has already described to us Israel in great
difficulty, surrounded by the nations who have come up to the land with the
intention of destroying them, and how Jehovah in the Person of the Messiah
descends from heaven, vanquishes the enemy, and sets the Jews free. Now, in his story, the battle is over, and
the Psalmist hears a knocking at the door, with the request,
Open to Me the gates of righteousness,
I will enter into them and I
will praise Jah.
It is the relieving army, having defeated the mighty foe is
now desiring admission to the part of the city that has not been destroyed, and
where the remainder of the army are still entrenched (Zech.
14: 2); the gates are then swung open from inside, with the exclamation,
This gate of,
or for, Jehovah,
Let the righteous enter into
it.
A striking expression, the gate for
Jehovah Jehovahs gate. This surely takes us
back to Psalm
24,
[Page 191]
Lift up your
heads, 0 ye gates;
And be lifted up ye everlasting doors,
And the King of glory will
come in.
Who is this King of glory?
Jehovah strong and mighty,
Jehovah mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates!
Yea, lift up the everlasting
doors,
And the King of glory will
come in.
Who is this King of glory?
Jehovah of Hosts, He is the
King of glory.
This is generally applied to the
Ascension of Christ; some have actually referred it to Christs descent into
Hades. Well, Scripture may have several
applications, but only one [true] interpretation.
It is true that, in the purpose of
God, Christ is King from all eternity, but it was not as King that Christ
ascended to heaven, or descended into Hades.
He was Prophet on earth, He is Priest now in heaven, but He will
return to earth as King, crowned with many diadems, as King of kings and Lord
of lords.
When our Saviour
destroys the Antichrist and all his confederates He will indeed be mighty in
battle, and universally acknowledged as King of glory.*
*We also take quite literally Ezek.
43: 2-7, where we get a lovely picture of Christ, resplendent in glory,
coming to the eastern gate of the
As Messiah enters the city accompanied
by His saints, outbursts of applause meet His ears from the grateful people
whom He has saved.
[Page 192]
I will give thanks unto Thee for Thou hast answered me,
And art become my salvation
they cry.
How natural that the people should thus say Thank You to their Deliverer! And how worthy He will be of their heartfelt
praise and adoration!
Then, as they come into closer proximity with Him, and find
that He Who thus saved them is none other than the Lord Jesus, Whom they have
been despising and rejecting all through the centuries of this age, they
exclaim with astonishment,
The stone
which the builders rejected,
Is become the head of the
corner.
This is Jehovahs doing,
It is marvellous in our eyes!
This is the nations acknowledgment of Christ as their Saviour
and Lord. It is the moment when they
look to Him Whom they have pierced, and mourn and
repent; when the heavenly Joseph makes Himself known to His brethren.
But what wonderment! what grief! what
remorse will fill their hearts as they realise the wrong they have done their
Messiah! How they will marvel at their
blindness and sinfulness! and still more at the wonderful compassion of Christ,
at His clemency and pardoning grace.
Referring to this verse, Peter speaks
of Christ as [Page
193] the living stone,
rejected indeed of men, but elect and precious to God. He then quotes Isa. 28: 16, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah,
Behold I lay in
In this spiritual temple which God is building, Christ is
first the corner stone binding together the foundation upon which rests the
entire superstructure. Alas, that this
foundation should have been rejected by Israel, who have tried to lay another
foundation that no man can lay, but in the unfailing purposes of God, Israel,
recognising in the Lord Jesus their Messiah and Saviour, will give Him the most
honoured position in the building - they will place Him as the ornamental
topmost stone, crowning the whole structure.
This they will do as Zerubbabel did
when he completed the second
* Zerubbabel, scattered in Babyloa as
his name means, was the chief and representative of his people.
We similarly get the figurative house that God promised to
build for David - that is a dynasty of living persons to succeed him on the
Throne culminating in the Lord Jesus, the topmost stone Who
completes the building and perpetuates the kingdom for ever.
These figures are based upon the peculiarity of the Hebrew
language in which Bayith, a house, ben,
a son, bath, a daughter, all come
from the root [Page 194] banah, to build. Beth Israel - the house of
In recognition that all this is in harmony with Gods purposes
as predicted in the Scriptures, they cry,
This is the
day Jehovah hath made,
We will rejoice and be glad
in it.
We may be doubly sure that none of Gods purposes will ever be
frustrated either with
It will truly be a day of joy and gladness, because it will be
the day of
The happy crowd next acclaim their Messiah with hosannas,
Save now, we
beseech Thee 0 Jehovah,
0 Jehovah, grant us now
prosperity,
Blessed is He that cometh in
the name of Jehovah.
Save I pray in the original is hoshiah na, and in its
abbreviated form - Hoshanna, Greek, hosanna, is the [Page 195] expression of welcome with which the
Jews acclaimed the Lord Jesus on His triumphal entry into
The scene in Jerusalem, when the people spread their garments
and strewed the branches of palm trees on the path for Our Lord to ride over
them, and cried, Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is He that cometh in the
name of the Lord, will be repeated with greater fervour and enthusiasm by the Jewish people
when they welcome Christ on His return, and never more will they waver in their
adherence and fidelity to Him.* The prayer for
salvation and prosperity will be abundantly answered to them, for indeed, it is
a petition and prediction combined, as every prayer of faith based upon Gods
gracious promises ought to be (see Psa. 20: 9).
* Baruch habba, Blessed is the coming
One. O orxomenos. The One predicted to come.
The time of His coming, the manner of His coming, the place of
His coming, the purpose of His coming, the result of His coming, were all
foretold (see Hab. 2: 3; Heb. 10: 37; Rev. 1: 4, 7,
8).
Verse 27 takes us back to two Old Testament scenes. The first is that of Elijah on
Great numbers of
Jehovah
is God and He hath given us light,
Bind the Festive sacrifice
with cords up to the horns of the altar.
Truly in His light shall they see light.
When Gods light flashes upon them what
a revelation they will get! Their whole past will stand out before them; they
will see themselves and others as they have never done before. How glorious will the Saviour appear to their
illumined eyes! Seeing Christ in a new
way they will see everything else in a
new light.
The sacrifice, in the Hebrew simply chag - feast, has here the meaning of
offering for the feast and takes us back to Solomons accession to the throne,
when a great hecatomb which took place on the chag feast on the seventh month - Tabernacles, was offered (1 Kings 8: 2-5). Of these sacrifices the people could partake
(see also 2
Sam. 6: 18, 19). The Psalmist sees another such time, when the
Lord Jesus will be enthroned by His people, and a joyous feast will be held. In Old Testament language this time of rejoicing
is pictured by a great number of festive sacrifices [Page 197] filling the whole Temple area right up
to, not unto, the very altar.*
* The writer has
seen in the East a piece of rope attached at each end to wedges driven into the
ground and the two front legs of animals tied loosely with cord which was also
attached to the rope. This gave the
animals some freedom of movement, but did not allow them to get away. This was probably the way the animals were
kept in the
The twenty-eighth verse is a further acknowledgment of Christs Deity, for the people
cry not only Jehovah is God, but, looking into the face of Christ Whom they have welcomed
into their midst, they say,
Thou art my God and I will give thanks unto Thee,
My God I will exalt Thee.
Eli Attah, Thou art my mighty God, as Thou hast just exhibited Thy
power on our behalf, and therefore Thou art my Elohim, the God worthy
of our worship, and we will exalt Thee.
As Israel look upon Him Whom they have pierced, they, like
Thomas of old when he saw the wounds in the hands and side of Christ, will cry
out, My LORD and my GOD. Their unbelief will vanish and their faith
will become strong. And again the entire
nation encouraging themselves and one another cry in the concluding words of
the Psalm, and in which we heartily join,
O give thanks unto Jehovah for He is good,
For His loving kindness
endureth for ever.
* *
*
[Page 198]
CHAPTER
13
The So-Called Imprecatory Psalms
To deal fully with this subject would require more time and
space than we can give to it here.
It is a great pity that in some quarters the so-called
Imprecatory Psalms have been made a reason for blaspheming and finding fault
with Divine inspiration. Even Christian
friends have found some expressions in the book a difficulty. The following few thoughts maybe found
helpful.
First, we need to remember that these
Psalms were written by men who were inspired by the Spirit of God, and the Holy
Spirit has the perfect right to denounce sin and pronounce judgment against the
sinner.
This is, moreover, in harmony with the Law* and the
prophets of the Old Testament,** and with the teaching
of our Lord*** and the apostles in the New Testament. ****
* See
the maledictions pronounced against the Israelites for failing into idolatry
and sin in Leviticus 26, also Deut. 27 and 28.
** For
instance, Isa. 5: 24, 25; 8: 14, 15; 28: 13,
et passim; also Jer. 6: 21; 7: 32-34, et Passim.
*** What
strong denunciations the Lord Jesus Himself used against the Scribes and
Pharisees of His day! (Matt. 23).
**** See
Gal. 1: 8, 9; 5: 12; James 5: 3; and Jude 13, 15. Apokopsontai (Gal. 5: 12) is certainly a very strong expression
to use, as it implies the cutting off of a limb.
[Page 199]
2. David, though not perfect, for, There is no
man righteous on earth, who doeth good and sinneth not, is often condemned too harshly. In his private capacity he frequently
exercised great forbearance, and was ready to forgive even his enemies when
they were in his power, as in the case of Saul and others.* In the Psalms he makes Gods cause his cause,
and prays from that standpoint. See Psa. 5: 10, 11:
Destroy them
O God, let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the
multitude of their transgressions
For they have rebelled
against Thee.
* It is not our desire to justify the wrong done by any one - however
good. The Bible never covers up the
blemishes of the greatest saints whose history it records, as men are apt to
do; but let us do them justice. The
finger of scorn is often pointed at the incident recorded in 1 Chron. 20: 3, which speaks of David as cutting
the Ammonites with saws, etc. It is only
right to say that some ancient manuscripts have vayyasem, he placed them, instead of vayyasar, he cut them with saws, i.e., he made them work for the Israelites with saws and harrows,
etc., as Joshua made the Gibeonites do (Josh. 9: 23).
This would then be in harmony with the
original record of this incident in 2 Sam. 12: 31,
which reads literally, And the people that were in it
brought he forth, and put them with saws and harrows of iron, and with axes of
iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln. It is evident that he set them to do useful
work for him. The only difference
between 1 Chron. 20: 3 and 2 Sam. 12: 31, is in the shape of one letter (
is put instead of
)
and please remember the early manuscripts were written by hand.
A paragraph in Biblia Hebraica after the text of Kennicott on 2 Sam. 12: 31, is well
worth quoting:
David was a prince truly eminent and illustrious. And though it is certain, that he was guilty
of some great crimes; yet it is as certain, that he ought not to be charged
with crimes, or cruelties, of which he was really innocent. One heavy charge has been urged against him,
from this part of the sacred history; as if it represented him sawing, and
harrowing, and chopping, and burning, all the Ammonites: a savage
representation, which has raised much clamour among the enemies of revelation! But, a charge so
severe as this, and so very unlikely to be true, should be examined with great
care; and if the original records are consulted accurately, they will, I humbly
apprehend, set the matter in a different light. Here in Samuel,
the 2 first words signify et
posuit in serra, as in the interlinear Latin version, which words are a
true key to the following, and fairly show that David put them to the saw, and sentenced them to other hard works of
slavery. The whole mistake here seems to
have arisen from an error in the Hebrew text of the parallel place in
Chronicles; by the omission of one small part of one letter; for the word,
instead of
, et Posuit, is now
, et serravit, In 1 Chron. 20: 3. This corruption was probably very ancient,
because expressed in the Greek version. But still, there can be little doubt, that the two words were at first the same; and if so,
the context requires the word in Samuel; especially, as that reading in confirmed by five Hebrew MSS. in
Chronicles.
[Page 200]
But let all those who put their trust in Thee rejoice.
Let them ever shout for joy because Thou defendest them.
Again, Psa. 21: 10, 11,
Their fruit
shalt Thou destroy from the earth,
And their seed from among
the children of men.
For they intended evil
against Thee;
They imagined evil thoughts which they cannot accomplish.
Similarly Psa. 139: 19-22:
Surely Thou
wilt slay the wicked, 0 God,
Depart from me ye blood-guilty men.
For they speak against Thee
wickedly,
And Thine enemies take Thy
name in vain.
Do not I hate them, O Jehovah,
that hate Thee?
And am not I grieved with
them that rise up against Thee?
I hate them with perfect
hatred,
I count them mine enemies.
The Psalmist is thus seeking the will and the glory of God. With sincerity he could add:
Search me, 0
God, and know my heart,
Try me, and know my
thoughts,
And see if there be any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way
everlasting.
3. It is also true that David lived in a
dispensation when the higher principles of grace and mercy as [Page 201] inculcated by our Lord in the Gospels were not generally practised, and
his sentiments were more in harmony with the Mosaic economy with its promises
of national reward for obedience and threatenings of temporal punishment for
disobedience. Thus the Psalmist says:
Give them
according to their deeds,
And according to the
wickedness of their endeavours;
Give them after the work of
their hands;
Render to them their desert (Psa.
28: 4).
It is true that the principles of righteousness do not change
with the times, yet the circumstances that govern them are not always the same.
Men have not always been able to follow
the wonderful truths taught by Christ, and the Law was preparatory to the
Gospel.
4. In his denunciations the object of the
Psalmist was to teach men the great moral lesson of Gods holiness and sovereignty, that the righteous may see and fear.
I will praise
Thee for ever because Thou hast done it.
Behold the
man who has not made God his strength,
But trusted in the abundance
of his wealth,
And has strengthened himself
in his wickedness.
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Again,
A man shall
say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous;
Verily there is a God
judging in the earth (Psa. 52: 7-9; 58: 11).
5. We should also recognise the fact that the
Oriental was accustomed to use stronger language to express his thoughts than
the Westerner, his denunciations are more vehement, his praises are more
exaggerated, though his feelings may not be more intense than ours, and his
words may not have any deeper significance to him than our more moderate
expressions have to us.*
* The writer once witnessed at Fez, Morocco, a woman who had
lost a chicken, standing in a crowded market place, and cursing the unknown
thief; his father and his mother, his brothers and his sisters, his sons and
his daughters; pronouncing a malediction on every limb of their bodies, from
the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, but it made little impression,
no one seemed to take the slightest notice of her curses. Similarly for Thank
you, the Moor would say, Gods blessing in
you.
6. Many of these harsh expressions were evidently
uttered from a sense of justice and a feeling of sympathy with the injured and
the oppressed, as in Psa. 10: 8-10:
He
(the wicked of verse 4) sitteth in the lurking places of the courts,
In the secret places doth he
murder the innocent:
His eyes are privily set
against the poor.
He lieth in wait secretly as
a lion in His den.
He lieth in wait to catch
the poor,
He doth catch the poor when
he draweth him into his net.
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This is followed by the prayer,
Arise, O
Lord, O God lift up Thine hand;
Forget not the humble.
7. These Psalms express a confidence in God that
in His holiness and righteousness He will not clear the unrepentant guilty.* As Isaiah (2: 9) declares that God will not forgive the idolatrous
Israelites who continued in their idolatry. And as Jeremiah was told not
to pray for those who provoked God by worshipping the heathen deities (Jer. 7: 16, 17).
Even in the New Testament we are told
that there is a sin unto death beyond the point of prayer (1 John 5:
16).
* That sin is
punished is a Divine principle taught throughout the Scriptures.
Punishing the evil-doer is the practice of all nations;
necessity demands it. It is essential
for the security, and well-being of mankind; hence the law courts in all
civilised countries.
Who would ever advocate the abolition of our courts of
justice, the discharging of our judges, and the disbanding of our police force?
How often are we ourselves stirred with
indignation at the report of crimes committed in our days, and have we not a
feeling of satisfaction when the criminals are brought to justice? My, then, blame David for his expressed
determination to suppress the evil of his day, and to establish good
government, for which he, as King of Israel, was chiefly responsible (see Rom. 13: 3-4).
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8. Again, some of these Psalms are prayers for
success in warfare. What nation does not
pray for victory on the battlefield? We
may not use the language of the Oriental for the destruction of the enemy, but
in our prayer for victory is surely implied the defeat of the enemy. David realised that power belongs unto God and
He gives the victory to Whom He wills, and therefore prays,
Bow Thy
heavens, O Jehovah, and come down;
Touch the mountains and they
shall smoke.
Cast forth lightning, and
scatter them,
Shoot out Thine arrows and
destroy them,
Send forth Thine hand from
above,
Rescue me and deliver me out
of great waters,
From the hand of the sons of
the alien (Psa. 144: 5-7).
9. Some of the petitions in the Psalms have
reference to Scripture predictions.
Fault has been found with Psa. 137: 8, 9, as manifesting a revengeful spirit.
O daughter of
Happy shall he be that
rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
Happy shall he be that
taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
The fact is that the Psalmist has before him a direct prophecy
where the fall of
Jeremiah, too, in predicting the overthrow of Babylon by the
Medo‑Persians says (50: 15): Shout
against her round about, she has given her hand, her bulwarks are fallen, her
walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of Jehovah; Take vengeance upon
her; as she hath done, do unto her. Also
verse 28, The voice of them that flee
and escape out of the
A comparison of these passages of Scripture with Psa. 137 will show that the Psalmist was
alluding to these definite predictions, knowing also that the overthrow of
Babylon would mean the redemption of Israel and the restoration of the Temple
worship as promised by God, Who declares it to be His vengeance, and the
vengeance of His Temple,
10. Finally, some of these so-named Imprecatory
Psalms are predictions concerning our Lord and His betrayers, and were all
accurately fulfilled. Among these are Psa. 40, which depicts Christ as the all
sufficient sacrifice, His suffering for our sins, and the punishment of His
enemies. Psa. 55, which has David
and Ahitophel as a background, but
which found a more complete fulfilment in the treacherous acts of Judas and
their consequences, as is seen from [Page 206] John 12: 11-17, which refers to it. Psa. 69, which is a prophecy of Christ, and those that hated Him
without a cause; cf. verse 4 with John 15: 25. How true this
was of Christ! Reproach broke His heart. There was no one to express pity or to comfort
Him, for His disciples forsook Him and fled. Gall and vinegar were offered Him, truly
emblematic of His bitter experience. Verses 22-25 describe the punishment meted out to
Judas as a result (Acts 1: 20).
Psa. 109 sometimes called the Iscariot Psalm
is a similar prophecy which was accurately fulfilled in Judas and his
associates responsible for the terrible crime against the Lord Jesus.
To see how literally these predictions were fulfilled one need
only read Josephus account of the cruel war with the Romans, and the terrible
suffering the Jews endured. Indeed their
sufferings commenced soon after Christs crucifixion in the reign of Caligula, (27-41 A.D.) who claimed
Divine honours and insisted that his image should be placed in the
With this commenced the distress of the Jewish people, and it
led to the great war.
Thus, instead of these Psalms being a hindrance to faith they
are evidences of the veracity of the Scripture, the awfulness of sin and the holiness
of God.
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