PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 1
Alexander Maclaren, 1826-1910 · 116,814 words · 157 reading sections
Fourth Series.
EDITED BY THE REV. SIR W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D. _Editor of "The Expositor," etc._ HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO _Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d. each vol._ Colossians. By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D., D.Lit. St. Mark. By the Right Rev. the Bishop of Derry. Genesis. By Prof. MARCUS DODS, …
272 wordsSECTION 2Eighth Series.
The Psalms. By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. I. 1 and 2 Thessalonians. By Prof. JAMES DENNEY, D.D. The Book of Job. By the Rev. R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D. Ephesians. By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A., D.D. The Gospel of St. John. By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. II. The Acts of the Apostles. By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol.…
260 wordsSECTION 3Psalm I.
BY A. MACLAREN, D.D. _VOLUME 1._ PSALMS I.--XXXVIII. _Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._ A volume which appears in "The Expositor's Bible" should obviously, first of all, be expository. I have tried to conform to that requirement, and have therefore found it necessary to leave questions…
656 wordsSECTION 4Psalm I.
Increasing closeness and permanence of association are obvious in the progress from _walking_ to _standing_ and from standing to _sitting_. Increasing boldness in evil is marked by the progress from _counsel_ to _way_, or course of life, and thence to _scoffing_. Evil purposes come out in deeds, and deeds are formulari…
774 wordsSECTION 5Psalm I.
Such a life is vigorous and productive. It would be artificial straining to assign definite meanings to "fruit" and "leaf." All that belongs to vigorous vitality and beauty is included. These come naturally when the preceding condition is fulfilled. This stage of the psalm is the appropriate place for deeds to come int…
663 wordsSECTION 6Psalm I.
The remainder of the psalm has three thoughts--the real nullity of such lives, their consequent disappearance in "the judgment," and the ground of both the blessedness of the one type of character and the vanishing of the other in the diverse attitude of God to each. Nothing could more vividly suggest the essential not…
790 wordsSECTION 7Psalm Ii.
The way or course of life which God does not know perishes. A path perishes when, like some dim forest track, it dies out, leaving the traveller bewildered amid impenetrable forests, or when, like some treacherous Alpine track among rotten rocks, it crumbles beneath the tread. Every course of life but that of the man w…
663 wordsSECTION 8Psalm Ii.
The psalm falls into four strophes of three verses each, in the first three of which the reader is made spectator and auditor of vividly painted scenes, while in the last the psalmist exhorts the rebels to return to allegiance. In the first strophe (vv. 1-3) the conspiracy of banded rebels is set before us with extrao…
735 wordsSECTION 9Psalm Ii.
Psalm i. set side by side in sharp contrast the godly and the godless. Here a still more striking transition is made in the second strophe (vv. 4-6), which changes the scene to heaven. The lower half of the picture is all eager motion and strained effort; the upper is full of Divine calm. Hot with hatred, flushed with …
905 wordsSECTION 10Psalm Ii.
Built upon this exaltation to royalty and sonship follows the promise of universal dominion. Surely the expectation of "the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession" bursts the bonds of the tiny Jewish kingdom! The wildest national pride could scarcely have dreamed that the narrow strip of seaboard, whose inhabita…
761 wordsSECTION 11Psalm Ii.
The close connection between Jehovah and Messiah in the preceding sections, in each of which the dominion of the latter is treated as that of the former and rebellion as against both at once, renders it extremely improbable that there should be no reference to the King in this closing hortatory strophe. The view-point …
596 wordsSECTION 12Psalm Iii.
1 Jehovah, how many are my oppressors! Many are rising against me. 2 Many are saying to my soul, There is no salvation for him in God. Selah. 3 And yet Thou, Jehovah, art a shield round me; My glory, and the lifter up of my head. 4 With my voice to Jehovah I cry aloud, And He answers me from His holy mountain. S…
741 wordsSECTION 13Psalm Iii.
The Selah which parts the first from the second strophe is probably a direction for an instrumental interlude while the singer pauses. The second strophe (vv. 3, 4) is the utterance of faith, based on experience, laying hold of Jehovah as defence. By an effort of will the psalmist rises from the contemplation of surro…
923 wordsSECTION 14Psalm Iii.
The final strophe (vv. 7, 8) gives the culmination of faith in prayer. "Arise, Jehovah," is quoted from the ancient invocation (Num. x. 35), and expresses in strongly anthropomorphic form the desire for some interposition of Divine power. Fearlessness is not so complete that the psalmist is beyond the need of praying. …
489 wordsSECTION 15Psalm Iv.
1 When I cry answer me, O God of my righteousness; Thou hast in straits made space for me: Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 2 Sons of men! how long shall my glory be mocked, [in that] ye love vanity, [And] seek after a lie? Selah. 3 But know that Jehovah has set apart as His own him whom He favours: Jehova…
884 wordsSECTION 16Psalm Iv.
The Selah indicates a pause in the song, as if to underscore the question "How long?" and let it soak into the hearts of the foes, and then, in vv. 3 and 4, the remonstrating voice presses on them the great truth which has sprung anew in the singer's soul in answer to his prayer, and beseeches them to let it stay their…
733 wordsSECTION 17Psalm Iv.
Ver. 6 seems at first sight to belong more closely to what follows than to what precedes, and is taken by those who hold the Davidic authorship as addressed to his followers beginning to despond. But it may be the continuance of the address to the enemies, carrying on the exhortation to trust. The sudden appearance of …
534 wordsSECTION 18Psalm V.
1 Give ear to my words, Jehovah; Consider my meditation. 2 Listen to the voice of my crying, my King and my God, For to Thee do I make supplication. 3 Jehovah, in the morning Thou shalt hear my voice; In the morning will I order my [prayer] to Thee and keep watch. 4 For not a God delighting in wickedness art Thou…
872 wordsSECTION 19Psalm V.
Noteworthy is the intensely personal tone of the invocation in both its clauses, as in the whole of these first verses, in every clause of which "my" or "I" occurs. The poet is alone with God and seeking to clasp still closer the guiding hand, to draw still nearer to the sweet and awful presence where is rest. The invo…
791 wordsSECTION 20Psalm V.
But there is more than a negative side to the relation between God and evil, which the psalm goes on to paint in sombre colours, for God not only does not delight in sin, but hates it with a hatred like the physical loathing of some disgusting thing, and will gather all His alienation into one fatal lightning bolt. Suc…
699 wordsSECTION 21Psalm V.
The whole of the devout man's desires for himself are summed up in that prayer for guidance. All which the soul needs is included in these two: access to God in the depths of still prostration before His throne as the all-sufficient good for the inner life; guidance, as by a shepherd, on a plain path, chosen not by sel…
847 wordsSECTION 22Psalm V.
But we come into the sunshine again at the close, and hear the contrasted prayer, which thrills with gladness and hope. "When the wicked perish there is shouting." The servants of God, relieved from the incubus and beholding the fall of evil, lift up their praises. The order in which the designations of these servants …
339 wordsSECTION 23Psalm Vi.
1 Jehovah, not in Thine anger do Thou correct me, And not in Thy hot wrath do Thou chastise me. 2 Be gracious to me, Jehovah, for I am withered away; Heal me, Jehovah, for my bones are dismayed: 3 And my soul is sorely dismayed; And Thou, Jehovah--how long? 4 Return, Jehovah, deliver my soul; Save me for the sak…
860 wordsSECTION 24Psalm Vi.
Then follow in vv. 2 and 3 three short petitions, which are as much cries of pain as prayers, and as much prayers as cries of pain. In the two former the prayer is put first, and its plea second; in the last the order is reversed, and so the whole is, as it were, enclosed in a circlet of prayer. Two words make the peti…
692 wordsSECTION 25Psalm Vi.
The fact, as it appeared to those at the then stage of revelation, that remembrance and praise of God were impossible in Sheol, is urged as a plea. That implies the psalmist's belief that God cared for men's praise--a thought which may be so put as to make Him an almighty Selfishness, but which in its true aspect is th…
819 wordsSECTION 26Psalm Vii.
1 Jehovah, my God, in Thee I take refuge; Save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me, 2 Lest like a lion he tear my soul, breaking it while there is no deliverer. 3 Jehovah, my God, if I have done this, If there is iniquity in my hands, 4 If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me-- Nay, I have deli…
884 wordsSECTION 27Psalm Vii.
The first section has two main thoughts: the cry for help and the protestation of innocence. It is in accordance with the bold triumphant tone of the psalm that its first words are a profession of faith in Jehovah. It is well to look _to_ God before looking _at_ dangers and foes. He who begins with trust can go on to t…
740 wordsSECTION 28Psalm Vii.
The second section of the psalm (vv. 6-10) is a cry for the coming of the Divine Judge. The previous prayer was content with deliverance, but this takes a bolder flight, and asks for the manifestation of the punitive activity of God on the enemies, who, as usually, are identified with "evil-doers." The grand metaphors …
777 wordsSECTION 29Psalm Vii.
The accents require ver. 9 _a_ to be rendered "Let wickedness make an end of the wicked," but that introduces an irrelevant thought of the suicidal nature of evil. It may be significant that the psalmist's prayer is not for the destruction of the wicked, but of their wickedness. Such annihilation of evil is the great e…
829 wordsSECTION 30Psalm Viii.
So the end of all is thanksgiving. A stern but not selfish nor unworthy thankfulness follows judgment, with praise which is not inconsistent with tears of pity, even as the act of judgment which calls it forth is not inconsistent with Divine love. The vindication of God's righteousness is worthily hymned by the choral …
869 wordsSECTION 31Psalm Viii.
The relative at the beginning of the last clause of ver. 1 seems to require that the initial exclamation should not be isolated, as it is in the last verse; but, in any case, the two methods of revelation must be taken in the closest connection, and brought into line as parallel media of revelation. Ver. 2 gives the s…
923 wordsSECTION 32Psalm Viii.
Vv. 5-8 draw out the consequences of God's loving regard, which has made the insignificance of man the medium of a nobler manifestation of the Divine name than streams from all the stars. There is no allusion here to sin; and its absence has led to the assertion that this psalmist knew nothing of a fall, and was not in…
691 wordsSECTION 33Psalm Viii.
The use made of this psalm in the Epistle to the Hebrews proceeds on the understanding that it describes ideal humanity. Where, then, says the writer of the epistle, shall we look for the realisation of that ideal? Do not the grand words sound liker irony than truth? Is this poor creature that crawls about the world, i…
267 wordsSECTION 34Psalm Ix.
1 (א) I will thank Jehovah with my whole heart; I will recount all Thy wonders. 2 I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing Thy name, Most High, 3 (ב) Because mine enemies turn back; They stumble and perish at Thy presence. 4 For Thou hast upheld my right and my suit; Thou didst seat Thyself on Thy throne, j…
766 wordsSECTION 35Psalm Ix.
There is nothing to discredit the Davidic authorship. The singer's enemies are "nations," and the destruction of these foreign foes is equivalent to "maintaining his cause." That would be language natural in the mouth of a king, and there were foreign wars enough in David's reign to supply appropriate occasions for suc…
804 wordsSECTION 36Psalm Ix.
In the fourth pair of verses a slight emendation of the text is approved of by most critics. The last word of ver. 6 is the pronoun "they," which, though possible in such a position, is awkward. If it is transferred to the beginning of ver. 7, and it is further supposed that "are perished" has dropped out, as might eas…
679 wordsSECTION 37Psalm Ix.
Section 6, the last of the first part (Zayin, vv. 11, 12), circles round to section 1, and calls on all trusters and seekers to be a chorus to the solo of praise therein. The ground of the praise is the same past act which has been already set forth as that of the psalmist's thanksgiving, as is shown by the recurrence …
820 wordsSECTION 38Psalm Ix.
The Yod stanza (vv. 17, 18), like the He and Vav stanzas (vv. 7-10), passes to confidence for the future. The correspondence is very close, but the two verses of this stanza represent the four of the earlier ones; thus ver. 17 answers to vv. 7 and 8, while ver. 18 is the representative of vv. 9 and 10. In ver. 17 the "…
679 wordsSECTION 39Psalm X.
1 (ל) Why, Jehovah, dost Thou stand far off? Why veilest [Thine eyes] in times of extremity? 2 Through the pride of the wicked the afflicted is burned away; They are taken in the plots which these have devised. 3 For the wicked boasts of his soul's desire, And the rapacious man renounces, contemns, Jehovah. 4 The…
789 wordsSECTION 40Psalm X.
The psalm falls into two parts after the introductory verse of petition and remonstrance: vv. 3-11, the grim picture of the enemy of the "poor"; and vv. 12-18, the cry for deliverance and judgment. The first stanza (vv. 1, 2) gives in its passionate cry a general picture of the situation, which is entirely different f…
721 wordsSECTION 41Psalm X.
Thus armed, the wicked is in fancied security. "His ways are firm"--_i.e._, he prospers--and, in the very madness of arrogance, he scoffs at God's judgments as too high up to be seen. His scoff is a truth, for how can eyes glued to earth see the solemn lights that move in the heavens? Purblind men say, We do not see th…
835 wordsSECTION 42Psalm X.
The second part of the psalm (ver. 12 to end) is the prayer, forced from the heart of the persecuted remnant, God's little flock in the midst of wolves. No trace of individual reference appears in it, nor any breath of passion or vengeance, such as is found in some of the psalms of persecution; but it glows with indign…
671 wordsSECTION 43Psalm X.
Then at last comes the cry for the descent of God's uplifted hand (vv. 15, 16). It is not invoked to destroy, but simply to "break the arm" of, the wicked, _i.e._ to make him powerless for mischief, as a swordsman with a shattered arm is. One blow from God's hand lames, and the arm hangs useless. The impious denial of …
571 wordsSECTION 44Psalm Xi.
1 In Jehovah have I taken refuge; How say ye to my soul, Flee to the mountain as a bird? 2 For lo, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string, To shoot in the dark at those who are upright of heart. 3 For the foundations are being destroyed; The righteous--what hath he achieved? 4 Jeho…
761 wordsSECTION 45Psalm Xi.
The same figure employed in Psalm vii. 12 of God's judgments on the wicked is here used of the wicked's artillery against the righteous. The peril is imminent, for the bows are bent, and the arrows already fitted to the string. In midnight darkness the assault will be made (compare lxiv. 3, 4). The appeal to the instin…
1,002 wordsSECTION 46Psalm Xi.
The Divine estimate, which in ver. 5 is the result of God's trial of the two classes, is carried forward in vv. 6 and 7 to its twofold issues. But the form of ver. 6 is that of a wish, not of a prediction; and here again we encounter the tone which, after all allowances, must be regarded as the result of the lower stag…
646 wordsSECTION 47Psalm Xii.
1 Save, Jehovah, for the godly ceases, For the trusty have vanished from the sons of men. 2 They speak vanity every man with his neighbour; [With] smooth lip and a heart and a heart do they speak. 3 May Jehovah cut off all smooth lips, The tongue that speaks proud things, 4 That says, To our tongues we give stren…
741 wordsSECTION 48Psalm Xii.
Shall we venture to follow the psalmist in the second turn of his thoughts (vv. 3, 4), where the verb at the beginning is best taken as an optative and rendered, "May Jehovah cut off"? The deepest meaning of his desire every true man will take for his own, namely the cessation of the sin; but the more we live in the sp…
830 wordsSECTION 49Psalm Xii.
The listening psalmist rapturously responds in ver. 6 to God's great word. That word stands, with strong force of contrast, side by side with the arrogant chatter of irresponsible frivolity, and sounds majestic by the side of the shrill feebleness of the defiance. Now the psalmist lifts his voice in trustful acceptance…
817 wordsSECTION 50Psalm Xiii.
1 For how long, Jehovah, wilt Thou forget me for ever? For how long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me? 2 For how long shall I brood on schemes (_i.e._, of deliverance) in my soul, Trouble in my heart by day? For how long shall my foe lift himself above me? 3 Look hither, answer me, Jehovah, my God; Lighten mine ey…
702 wordsSECTION 51Psalm Xiii.
Left alone, without God's help, what can a man do but think and think, plan and scheme to weariness all night and carry a heavy heart as he sees by daylight how futile his plans are? Probably "by night" should be supplied in ver. 2 _a_; and the picture of the gnawing cares and busy thoughts which banish sleep and of th…
694 wordsSECTION 52Psalm Xiii.
The storm has all rolled away in the third strophe, in which faith has triumphed over doubt and anticipates the fulfilment of its prayer. It begins with an emphatic opposition of the psalmist's personality to the foe: "But as for me"--however they may rage--"I have trusted in Thy mercy." Because he has thus trusted, th…
334 wordsSECTION 53Psalm Xiv.
1 The fool says in his heart, There is no God; They corrupt; they make abominable their doings; There is no one doing good. 2 Jehovah looketh down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there is any having discernment, Seeking after God. 3 They are all turned aside: together they are become putrid; There is …
707 wordsSECTION 54Psalm Xiv.
The practical denial of God lies at the root of two forms of evil. Positively, "they have made their doings corrupt and abominable"--rotten in themselves and sickening and loathsome to pure hearts and to God. Negatively, they do no good things. That is the dreary estimate of his cotemporaries forced on this sad-hearted…
776 wordsSECTION 55Psalm Xiv.
This explanation of the words seems more congruous with ver. 1 than that of others, "made to know," _i.e._ by experience to rue. Ver. 4 _b_ is obscure from its compressed brevity "Eating my people, they eat bread." The A.V. and R.V. take their introduction of the "as" of comparison from the old translations. The Hebre…
776 wordsSECTION 56Psalm Xiv.
So, finally, the whole course of thought gathers itself up in the prayer that the salvation of Israel--the true Israel apparently--were come out of Zion, God's dwelling, from which He comes forth in His delivering power. The salvation longed for is that just described. The voice of the oppressed handful of good men in …
425 wordsSECTION 57Psalm Xv.
1 Jehovah, who can be guest in Thy tent? Who can dwell in Thy holy hill? 2 The man walking blamelessly, and doing righteousness, And speaking truth with his heart. 3 He has not slander on his tongue, He does not harm to his comrade, And reproach he does not lay on his neighbour. 4 A reprobate is despised in his …
818 wordsSECTION 58Psalm Xv.
Ver. 2 sums the qualifications of Jehovah's guest in one comprehensive demand, that he should walk uprightly, and then analyses that requirement into the two of righteous deeds and truthful speech. The verbs are in the participial form, which emphasises the notion of habitual action. The general answer is expanded in t…
659 wordsSECTION 59Psalm Xv.
The details of the qualifications as described in the psalm are simple and homely. They relate first to right speech, which holds so prominent a place in the ethics of the Psalter. The triplets of ver. 3 probably all refer to sins of the tongue. The good man has no slander on his tongue; he does not harm his companion …
759 wordsSECTION 60Psalm Xvi.
1 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in Thee 2 I have said to Jehovah, Thou art my Lord; Good for me there is none besides Thee. 3 As for the saints which are in the earth, They are the excellent, in whom is all my delight. 4 Their griefs are many who change [Jehovah] for another. I will not pour out their dri…
979 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.