PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Psalms
Alexander Maclaren, 1826-1910 · 244,462 words · 343 reading sections
A Sheaf Of Prayer Arrows
The final lesson is, Leave God to settle how He answers your prayer. The Psalmist prayed for preservation, for safety, for joy; but he did not venture to prescribe to God _how_ these blessings were to be ministered to him. He does not ask that the trouble may be taken away. That is as it may be; it may be better that i…
778 wordsSECTION 242A Sheaf Of Prayer Arrows
Again, the Psalmist brings this plea--'Thy servant that trusteth in Thee.' He does not say, 'I deserve to be answered because I trust,' but 'because I trust I am sure that I shall be answered'; for it is absurd to suppose that God will look down from heaven on a soul that is depending upon Him, and will let that soul's…
477 wordsSECTION 243Continual Sunshine
'Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.'--PSALM lxxxix. 15. The Psalmist has just been setting forth, in sublime language, the glories of the divine character--God's strength, His universal sway, the justice and judgment which are the foundation of …
681 wordsSECTION 244Continual Sunshine
Is not that just a definition of the Christian life as an unbroken realisation of the divine Presence, and an unbroken experience of the lovingkindness and favour of God? Is not that religion in its truest, simplest essence, in its purest expression? The people who are sure that they have their King in their midst, and…
732 wordsSECTION 245Continual Sunshine
There is only one thing that breaks the continuity of that blessedness, and that is our own sin. We carry our own weather with us, whether we will or no, and we can bring winter into the middle of summer by flinging God away from us, and summer into the midst of winter by grappling Him to our hearts. There is only one …
664 wordsSECTION 246The Cry Of The Mortal To The Undying
But there is one last word that I must say, and that is that a possible terror is intertwined with this blessedness. The next psalm to this says, with a kind of tremulous awe in the Psalmist's voice: 'Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.' In that sense all of us, go…
753 wordsSECTION 247The Cry Of The Mortal To The Undying
The prayer of the Psalmist that this beauty may be _upon_ us conceives of it as given to us from above and as coming floating down from heaven, like that white Dove that fell upon Christ's head, fair and meek, gentle and lovely, and resting on our anointed heads, like a diadem and an aureole of glory. Now that communi…
777 wordsSECTION 248The Cry Of The Mortal To The Undying
II. We have here the cry of the worker in a fleeting world for the perpetuity of his work. 'Establish,' or make firm, 'the work of our hands upon us, yea the work of our hands establish Thou it.' The thought that everything is passing away so swiftly and inevitably, as the earlier part of the psalm suggests, might lea…
711 wordsSECTION 249The Cry Of The Mortal To The Undying
And our work will stand if we quietly leave it in His hands. Quietly do it to Him, never mind about results, but look after motives. You cannot influence results, let God look after them; you can influence motives. Be sure that they are right, and if they are, the work will be eternal. 'Eternal? What do you mean by et…
312 wordsSECTION 250The Sheltering Wing
'He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.' --PSALM xci. 4. We remember the magnificent image in Moses' song, of God's protection and guidance as that of the eagle who stirred up his nest, and hovered over the young with his wings, and bor…
848 wordsSECTION 251The Sheltering Wing
For the protection that is granted to faith is only to be understood by faith. It is deliverance from the evil in the evil which vindicates as no exaggeration, nor as merely an experience and a promise peculiar to the old theocracy of Israel, but not now realised, the grand sayings of this text. The poison is all wiped…
777 wordsSECTION 252The Sheltering Wing
But just mark what comes out of that metaphor; that 'trust,' the faith which unites with God, and brings a man beneath the shadow of His wings, is nothing more or less than the flying into the refuge that is provided for us. Does that not speak to us of the urgency of the case? Does that not speak to us eloquently of t…
749 wordsSECTION 253The Sheltering Wing
God is 'faithful' to all the obligations under which He has come by making us. That is what one of the New Testament writers tells us, when he speaks of Him as 'a faithful Creator.' Then, if He has put desires into our hearts, be sure that somewhere there is their satisfaction; and if He has given us needs, be sure tha…
377 wordsSECTION 254The Habitation Of The Soul
'Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.'--PSALM xci. 9, 10. It requires a good deal of piecing to make out from the Hebrew the translation of our Authorised Version here. The simple, li…
713 wordsSECTION 255The Habitation Of The Soul
But let us be sure that we _are_ hearkening to the voice with which He speaks through our daily circumstances as well as by the unmistakable revelation of His will and heart in Jesus Christ. And then let us be sure that no word of His, that comes fluttering down from the heavens, meaning a benediction and enclosing a p…
751 wordsSECTION 256The Habitation Of The Soul
II. Now, note the still more abundant answer which that cry evokes. I said that the words on which I have been commenting thus far, seem to break in two the continuity of the stream of blessings and promises. But there may be observed a certain distinction of tone between those promises which precede and those which f…
976 wordsSECTION 257The Answer To Trust
Dear brother! the secret of exemption from every evil lies in no peculiar Providence, ordering in some special manner our outward circumstances, but in the submission of our wills to that which the good hand of the Lord our God sends us for our good; and in cleaving close to Him as our Refuge. Nothing can be 'evil' whi…
701 wordsSECTION 258The Answer To Trust
Let us cling to Him in our thoughts, hour by hour, moment by moment, amidst all the distractions of daily life. Whilst there are other things that must legitimately occupy our minds, let us see to it that, ever and anon, we turn ourselves away from these, and betake ourselves, with a conscious gathering in of our souls…
714 wordsSECTION 259The Answer To Trust
Besides our own vagrancies, and the waywardness and wanderings of our poor, unreliable natures, there come in, of course, as hindrances, all the interruptions and distractions of outside things, which work in the same direction of loosening our hold on God. If the shipwrecked sailor is not to be washed off the raft he …
799 wordsSECTION 260The Answer To Trust
II. Note, secondly, what God gives to the man in whom He finds such things. 'I will deliver him'; 'I will set him on high.' These two clauses are substantially parallel, and yet there is a difference between them, as is the nature of the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, where the same ideas are repeated with a shade of m…
672 wordsSECTION 261What God Will Do For Us
Then, perhaps, there is a hint in the words, as there is in subsequent words of the verse, of an elevation even higher than that, when, life ended and earth done, He shall receive into His glory those whom He hath guided by His counsel. 'I will set him on high, because he hath known My name,' says the Jehovah of the Ol…
710 wordsSECTION 262What God Will Do For Us
Again, we see here not only the unveiling of the very deepest and most characteristic attribute of the devout soul, but also the assurance of the privilege of access. God lets us speak to Him. And there is, further, a wonderful glimpse into the very essence of true prayer. 'He shall call upon Me.' What for? No particul…
749 wordsSECTION 263What God Will Do For Us
Then there follows the next stage, deliverance from trouble; 'I will _deliver_ him.' That is not the same word as is employed in the previous verse, though it is translated in the same way in our Bibles. The word here means lifting up out of a pit, or dragging up out of the midst of anything that surrounds a man, and s…
706 wordsSECTION 264What God Will Do For Us
So this promise assures us that, if we are of those who, in the midst of fleeting days, lay hold on the 'Ancient of Days' and live by Him, we shall find a table spread in the wilderness, and like travellers in an inn, having eaten enough, shall willingly obey the call to leave the meal provided on the road, and pass in…
422 wordsSECTION 265Forgiveness And Retribution
'Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.'--PSALM xcix. 8. When the prophet Isaiah saw the great vision which called him to service, he heard from the lips of the seraphim around the Throne the threefold ascription of praise: 'Holy! holy! holy! Lord God of hosts.' This p…
1,054 wordsSECTION 266Forgiveness And Retribution
The highest type of forgiveness is the paternal. Every one of us who remembers our childhood, and every one of us who has had children of his own, knows what paternal forgiveness is. It is not when you put away the rod that the little face brightens again and the tears cease to flow, but it is when _your_ face clears, …
831 wordsSECTION 267Forgiveness And Retribution
There is another department in which we see the same law working, and that is the inward consequences. A man does change his attitude to his former sins, when he knows that he is pardoned; but the results of these sins will follow all the same, whether he is forgiven or not. Memory will be tarnished, habits will be for…
689 wordsSECTION 268Forgiveness And Retribution
That holy love, in like manner, underlies retribution. I have been speaking of retribution mainly as it is seen in the working of natural law. It is none the less God's act, because it is the operation of the laws which He impressed upon His creation at the beginning. You have weaving machines in your mills that whenev…
259 wordsSECTION 269Inviolable Messiahs And Prophets
'He reproved kings for their sakes; 15. Saying, Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.'--PSALM cv. 14, 15. The original reference of these words is to the fathers of the Jewish people--the three wandering shepherds, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Psalmist transfers to them the great titles which properl…
650 wordsSECTION 270Inviolable Messiahs And Prophets
The word has been used of late with unwise significations, but the truth that has been inadequately expressed by such uses is the great truth of Scripture; 'He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit,' and there does flow the anointing oil from the head of the High Priest to the skirts of the garments. Every man and w…
686 wordsSECTION 271Inviolable Messiahs And Prophets
III. And so, lastly, every Christian man, in his double capacity of anointed and prophet, is watched over by God. One is tempted to diverge into wider considerations, and speak of the relative importance of things secular and sacred (to adopt a doubtful distinction) in the history of the world, and how the former are …
571 wordsSECTION 272God'S Promises Tests
'Until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him.' --PSALM cv. 19. I do not think I shall be mistaken if I affirm that these words do not convey any very clear idea to most readers. They were spoken with reference to Joseph, during the period of his imprisonment. For the understanding of them I thin…
725 wordsSECTION 273God'S Promises Tests
The promise was a test, says my text. The word which it employs to designate the manner of testing or trying, is one drawn from the smelting operations of the goldsmith, by which, heat being applied, the mass is made fluid and the dross is run off, and as the result of the trial, there flows out gold refined by fire. …
676 wordsSECTION 274God'S Promises Tests
Because Joseph was sure that God's long-lingering word would be fulfilled, he did not mind though he had to be the lackey of his brothers, the Midianites' chattel, Potiphar's slave, Pharaoh's prisoner, and a servant of servants in his dungeon. So with us, the measure of our willing acceptance of our present tasks, burd…
662 wordsSECTION 275Soldier Priests
'Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.'--PSALM cx. 3. It is no part of my present purpose to establish the reference of this psalm to our Lord. We have Christ's own authority for that. It does not seem to be typ…
689 wordsSECTION 276Soldier Priests
The King is going forth to conquest. But He goes not alone. Behind Him come His faithful followers, all pressing on with willing hearts and high courage. Then, to begin with, the warfare which He wages is one not confined to Him. Alone He offers the sacrifice by which He atones; but, as we shall see, we too are priests…
849 wordsSECTION 277Soldier Priests
There is another idea involved in this description. The soldiers are not only marked by glad obedience, but that obedience rests upon the sacrifice of themselves. The word here rendered 'willing' is employed throughout the Levitical law for 'freewill offerings.' And if we may venture to bring that reference in here, it…
829 wordsSECTION 278Soldier Priests
The main purpose, then, of this part of our text seems to be to bring out the priestly character of the Christian soldier--a thought which carries with it many important considerations, on which I can barely touch. Mark, then, how the warfare which we have to wage is the same as the priestly service which we have to r…
724 wordsSECTION 279Soldier Priests
He, our Lord, is our pattern for both; and from Him we derive the strength for each. He is the Captain of our salvation, and we fight beneath His banner, and by His strength. He is a merciful and faithful High Priest, and He consecrates His brethren to the service of the sanctuary. To Him look for your example of heroi…
654 wordsSECTION 280Soldier Priests
Then, with regard to the other point in this final clause--that emblem of the dew leads to many considerations upon which I can but inadequately touch. It comes into view here, I suppose, mainly for the sake of its effect upon the earth. It is as a symbol of the refreshing which a weary world will receive from the con…
677 wordsSECTION 281Soldier Priests
Brethren! that characteristic, like all else which is good, belongs to us in proportion as we keep near to Christ Jesus, and are filled with His fulness. All these emblems which have been occupying us now, originally belonged to Him, and we receive from Him the grace that makes us as He is in the world. He Himself is t…
622 wordsSECTION 282God And The Godly
'His righteousness endureth for ever.'--PSALMS cxi. 3; cxii. 3. These two psalms are obviously intended as a pair. They are identical in number of verses and in structure, both being acrostic, that is to say, the first clause of each commences with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second clause with the se…
776 wordsSECTION 283God And The Godly
Now, brethren! there are two ways in which we may look at this parallelism of our text: the one is as containing a stringent requirement; the other as holding forth a mighty hope. It contains a stringent requirement. Our religion does not consist in assenting to any creed. Our religion is not wholly to consist of devou…
667 wordsSECTION 284God And The Godly
II. God and the godly are alike in gracious compassion. If you will turn to the two psalms for a moment, and look at the last clauses of the two fourth verses, you will see how that thought is brought out. In the former psalm we read, 'The Lord is gracious and full of compassion': in the latter we find, 'he' (the upri…
671 wordsSECTION 285God And The Godly
But I would have you notice, further, as a very remarkable illustration of this correspondence between the gracious and compassionate Lord and His servant, that in the verses which follow respectively the two about which I am now speaking, the same idea is wrought out in another shape. In the psalm dealing with the div…
742 wordsSECTION 286Experience, Resolve, And Hope
The upshot of the whole matter is--we cannot work out for ourselves a righteousness that will satisfy our own consciences, nor secure for ourselves a strength that will give peace to our hearts, and stability to our lives, by any other means than by cleaving fast to God revealed in Jesus Christ. We have borne the imag…
895 wordsSECTION 287Experience, Resolve, And Hope
So, brethren! all the past, as it is recorded for us in Scripture, lives and throbs with faithful promises for us to-day. Though the methods of the manifestation may alter, the essence of it remains the same. As one of the Apostles says, 'Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our advantage, that we,…
956 wordsSECTION 288Experience, Resolve, And Hope
But there has to be something more. There have to be a firm resolve, and effort without which the firmest resolve will all come to nothing, and be one more paving-stone for the road that is 'paved with good intentions.' That firm resolve finds utterance in the not vain vow, 'I will'--in spite of all opposition and diff…
861 wordsSECTION 289Requiting God
'What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? 13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.'--PSALM cxvi. 12, 13. There may possibly be a reference here to a part of the Passover ritual. It seems to have become the custom in later times to lift high the wine cup at th…
714 wordsSECTION 290Requiting God
Take the illustration from our own love and gifts. Do we not feel that all the beauty and bloom of a gift is gone if the giver hopes to receive as much again? Do we not feel that it is all gone if the receiver thinks of repaying it in any coin but that of the heart? Love gives because it delights in giving. It gives th…
696 wordsSECTION 291Requiting God
Then, again, another of the elements of this requital of God is--be sure that you take what God gives. There can be no greater slight and dishonour to a giver than to have his gifts neglected. You give something that has, perhaps, cost you much, or which at any rate has your heart in it, to your child, or other dear o…
736 wordsSECTION 292Requiting God
One more element of this requital of God has still to be named, the thankful recognition of Him in all our feasting--'call on the name of the Lord.' Without this the preceding precept would be a piece of pure selfish Epicureanism--and without this it would be impossible. Only he who enjoys life in God enjoys it worthil…
518 wordsSECTION 293A Cleansed Way
'Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.'--PSALM cxix. 9. There are many questions about the future with which it is natural for you young people to occupy yourselves; but I am afraid that the most of you ask more anxiously 'How shall I _make_ my way?' than 'How sh…
826 wordsSECTION 294A Cleansed Way
And I press it upon you for another reason, because you have special temptations to make your ways unclean. It is a fearful ordeal that every young man and woman has to face, as he or she steps across the dividing boundary between childhood and youth, when parental authority is weakened, and the leading-strings are loo…
663 wordsSECTION 295A Cleansed Way
First, it is plain if we consider what sort of a world this is that we have got into. It is a world a great deal fuller of inducements to do wrong than of inducements to do right; a world in which there are a great many bad things that have a deceptive appearance of pleasure; a great many circumstances in which it seem…
655 wordsSECTION 296A Cleansed Way
The guard on the frontier who is to keep the path must have instructions from headquarters, and not choose and decide according to their own phantasy, but according to the King's orders. Or to use another metaphor, it is no use having a guard unless the guard has a lantern, and the lantern and light is the Word of God.…
725 wordsSECTION 297A Cleansed Way
My dear young friend! did you ever try to measure one day's actions by the standard of this Book? Let me press upon you this: Cultivate the habit--the habit of bringing all that you do side by side with this light; as a scholar in some school of art will take his feeble copy, and hold it by the side of the masterpiece,…
669 wordsSECTION 298Life Hid And Not Hid
'Thy word have I hid in my heart.'--PSALM cxix. 11. 'I have not hid Thy righteousness in my heart.'--PSALM xl. 10. Then there are two kinds of hiding--one right and one wrong: one essential to the life of the Christian, one inconsistent with it. He is a shallow Christian who has no secret depths in his religion. He i…
752 wordsSECTION 299Life Hid And Not Hid
Then there is the drive of our modern life which crowds out the word. Get up a quarter of an hour earlier and you will have time to read your Bible. It will be well worth the sacrifice, if it is a sacrifice. I do not mean by reading the Bible what, I am afraid, is far too common, reading a scrap of Scripture as if it w…
746 wordsSECTION 300Life Hid And Not Hid
II. The word not hidden, or the religion of the outward life. Our second text brings into view the outer side of the devout life, that which is turned to the world. The word is to be hidden in the heart, for this very end of being then revealed in the life. For what other purpose is it to be set in the centre of our b…
835 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.