PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 3
Alexander Maclaren, 1826-1910 · 128,788 words · 179 reading sections
Psalm Cxxiii.
1 To Thee lift I mine eyes, O Thou that art enthroned in the heavens. 2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves are towards the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid are towards the hand of her mistress, So [are] our eyes towards Jehovah our God, Till He be gracious to us. 3 Be gracious to us, Jehovah, be gracious …
579 wordsSECTION 122Psalm Cxxiv.
1 Had not Jehovah been for us, --Thus let Israel say-- 2 Had not Jehovah been for us, When men rose against us: 3 Then had they swallowed us alive, When their wrath blazed out upon us; 4 Then had the waters overwhelmed us, The torrent had gone over our soul; 5 Then had gone over our soul The proud waters. 6 B…
818 wordsSECTION 123Psalm Cxxv.
1 They who trust in Jehovah Are like Mount Zion, [which] cannot be moved, For ever it shall sit steadfast. 2 Jerusalem--mountains are round her, And Jehovah is round His people From now and for ever. 3 For the sceptre of the wicked shall not rest on the lot of the righteous ones, Lest the righteous put forth th…
706 wordsSECTION 124Psalm Cxxv.
Ver. 3 seems at first sight to be appended to the preceding in defiance of logical connection, for its "for" would more naturally have been "therefore," since the deliverance of the land from foreign invaders is a consequence of Jehovah's protection. But the psalmist's faith is so strong that he regards that still furt…
659 wordsSECTION 125Psalm Cxxvi.
1 When Jehovah brought back the captives of Zion, We were like as if dreaming. 2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, And our tongues with joyful cries; Then said they among the nations, Jehovah has done great things with these [people]. 3 Jehovah has done great things with us; We were glad. 4 Bring back, J…
710 wordsSECTION 126Psalm Cxxvi.
But the work was but partly done. Difficulties and hardships were not abolished from the world, as Israel had half expected in the first flush of joy. We all are apt to think so, when some long wished and faintly hoped-for good is ours at last. But not such is the Divine purpose for any life here. He gives moments of u…
603 wordsSECTION 127Psalm Cxxvii.
1 If Jehovah build not a house, Vainly do its builders toil upon it; If Jehovah keeps not a city, Vainly wakes the keeper. 2 Vain is it for you, ye that make early [your] rising and your sitting down late, That eat the bread of painful toil; Even so He gives [it] to His beloved while in sleep. 3 Behold, sons ar…
798 wordsSECTION 128Psalm Cxxviii.
The lesson of the psalm is one that needs to be ever repeated. It is so obvious that it is unseen by many, and apt to be unnoticed by all. There are two ways of going to work in reference to earthly good. One is that of struggling and toiling, pushing and snatching, fighting and envying, and that way comes to no succes…
826 wordsSECTION 129Psalm Cxxviii.
"True to the kindred points of heaven and home"! Israel first taught the world how sacred the family is; and Christianity recognises "a church in the house" of every wedded pair whose love is hallowed by the fear of Jehovah. In vv. 5, 6, petitions take the place of assurances, for the singer knows that none of the go…
277 wordsSECTION 130Psalm Cxxix.
1 Sorely have they oppressed me from my youth, Let Israel now say, 2 Sorely have they oppressed me from my youth, But they have not also prevailed against me. 3 On my back the ploughers ploughed, They made their furrows long. 4 Jehovah the righteous Has cut the cord of the wicked. 5 Let them be shamed and turne…
828 wordsSECTION 131Psalm Cxxx.
Such reapers have no joy in harvest, and no man can invoke Jehovah's blessing on their bad work. Ver. 8 brings up a lovely little picture of a harvest field, where passers-by shout their good wishes to the glad toilers, and are answered by these with like salutations. It is doubtful whether ver. 8_c_ is spoken by the p…
701 wordsSECTION 132Psalm Cxxx.
Vv. 3, 4, are the second stage. A dark fear shadows the singer's soul, and is swept away by a joyful assurance. The word rendered above "mark" is literally _keep_ or _watch_, as in ver. 6, and here seems to mean to _take account of_, or _retain_ in remembrance, in order to punish. If God should take man's sin into acco…
864 wordsSECTION 133Psalm Cxxxi.
"He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities"; not only from their consequences in punishment, but from their power, as well as from their guilt and their penalty. The psalmist means something a great deal deeper than deliverance from calamities which conscience declared to be the chastisement of sin. He speaks New T…
763 wordsSECTION 134Psalm Cxxxii.
The psalmist would fain have all Israel share in his quietness of heart, and closes his tender snatch of song with a call to them to hope in Jehovah, whereby they, too, may enter into peace. The preceding psalm ended with the same call; but there God's mercy in dealing with sin was principally in question, while here H…
665 wordsSECTION 135Psalm Cxxxii.
If, on the other hand, we disregard its place in the Psalter and look at its contents, it must be admitted that they perfectly harmonise with the supposition that its occasion was the completion of Solomon's Temple. The remembrance of David's long-cherished purpose to build the House, of the many wanderings of the Ark,…
682 wordsSECTION 136Psalm Cxxxii.
Vv. 6-10 are the petitions grounded on the preceding plea, and asking that Jehovah would dwell in the sanctuary and bless the worshippers. Ver. 6 offers great difficulties. It seems clear, however, that it and the next verse are to be taken as very closely connected (note the "we" and "us" occurring in them for the onl…
828 wordsSECTION 137Psalm Cxxxii.
From this petition all the others flow. If "the Ark of Thy strength" dwells with us, we too shall be strong, and have that Might for our inspiration as well as our shield. "Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness." The pure vestments of the priests were symbols of stainless character, befitting the ministers of a…
673 wordsSECTION 138Psalm Cxxxii.
Ver. 13 appears to be spoken by the people. It breaks the stream of promises. God has been speaking, but now, for a moment, He is spoken of. His choice of Zion for His dwelling is the glad fact, which the congregation feels so borne in on its consciousness that it breaks forth into speech. The "For" at the beginning of…
581 wordsSECTION 139Psalm Cxxxiii.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] That brethren dwell in unity! 2 Like the precious oil on the head, Flowing down on the beard, [Even] Aaron's beard, That flows down on the opening of his garments. 3 Like the dew of Hermon, that flows down on the mountains of Zion. For there Jehovah has commanded the b…
736 wordsSECTION 140Psalm Cxxxiv.
That brotherly unity is blessed, not only because it diffuses itself, and so blesses all in whose hearts it dwells, but also because it is the condition on which still higher gifts are spread among brethren by their brethren's mediation. God Himself pours on men the sacred anointing of His Divine Spirit and the dew of …
589 wordsSECTION 141Psalm Cxxxv.
1 Hallelujah! Praise the name of Jehovah, Praise, ye servants of Jehovah, 2 Who stand in the house of Jehovah, In the courts of the house of our God. 3 Praise Jah, for Jehovah is good; Harp to His name, for it is pleasant. 4 For Jah has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession. 5 For I--I know t…
733 wordsSECTION 142Psalm Cxxxv.
In vv. 5-7 God's majesty as set forth in Nature is hymned. The psalmist says emphatically in ver. 5 "I--I know," and implies the privilege which he shared, in common with his fellow-Israelites (who appear in the "our" of the next clause), of knowing what the heathen did not know--how highly Jehovah was exalted above al…
611 wordsSECTION 143Psalm Cxxxvi.
1 Give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good, For His loving-kindness endures for ever. 2 Give thanks to the God of gods, For His loving-kindness endures for ever, 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His loving-kindness endures for ever. 4 To Him who alone does great wonders, For His loving-kindness endures for …
858 wordsSECTION 144Psalm Cxxxvii.
In the last triplet (vv. 23-25) the singer comes to the Israel of the present. It, too, had experienced Jehovah's remembrance in its time of need, and felt the merciful grasp of His hand plucking it, with loving violence, from the claws of the lion. The word for "low estate" and that for "tore us from the grasp" are on…
718 wordsSECTION 145Psalm Cxxxvii.
But there was another reason than their own sadness for hanging their idle harps upon the willows. Their coarse oppressors bade them sing to make mirth. They wished entertainment from the odd sounds of foreign music, or they were petulantly angry that such dumb hang-dog people should keep sullen faces, like unilluminat…
898 wordsSECTION 146Psalm Cxxxviii.
Undoubtedly, the words are stern, and the temper they embody is harsh discord, when compared with the Christian spirit. But they are not the utterances of mere ferocious revenge. Rather they proclaim God's judgments, not with the impassiveness, indeed, which best befits the executors of such terrible sentences, but sti…
752 wordsSECTION 147Psalm Cxxxviii.
The special occasion for this singer's praise has been some act, in which Jehovah's faithfulness was very conspicuously shown. "Thou hast magnified Thy promise above all Thy name." If the history of David underlies the psalm, it is most natural to interpret the "promise" as that of the establishment of the monarchy. Bu…
668 wordsSECTION 148Psalm Cxxxviii.
In the third part (vv. 7, 8), the psalmist comes back to his own needs, and takes to his heart the calming assurance born of his experience, that he bears a charmed life. He but speaks the confidence which should strengthen every heart that rests on God. Such an one may be girdled about by troubles, but he will have an…
362 wordsSECTION 149Psalm Cxxxix.
1 Jehovah, Thou hast searched me and known [me]. 2 Thou, Thou knowest my down-sitting and my up-rising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 My walking and my lying down Thou siftest, And with all my ways Thou art familiar. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, --Behold, Thou, Jehovah, knowest it all. 5 B…
684 wordsSECTION 150Psalm Cxxxix.
The psalmist is so thoroughly possessed by the thought of his personal relation to God that his meditation spontaneously takes the form of address to Him. That form adds much to the impressiveness, but is no rhetorical or poetic artifice. Rather, it is the shape in which such intense consciousness of God cannot but utt…
784 wordsSECTION 151Psalm Cxxxix.
Darkness is the friend of fugitives from men; but is transparent to God. In ver. 11 the language is somewhat obscure. The word rendered above "cover" is doubtful, as the Hebrew text reads "bruise," which is quite unsuitable here. Probably there has been textual error, and the slight correction which yields the above se…
756 wordsSECTION 152Psalm Cxxxix.
In vv. 17, 18, the poet gathers together and crowns all his previous contemplations by the consideration that this God, knowing him altogether, ever near him, and Former of his being, has great "thoughts" or purposes affecting him individually. That assurance makes omniscience and omnipresence joys, and not terrors. Th…
755 wordsSECTION 153Psalm Cxl.
It makes much difference, not indeed in the reality or completeness of God's knowledge of us, but in the good we derive therefrom, whether we welcome and submit to it, or try to close our trembling hearts, that do not wish to be cleansed of their perilous stuff, from that loving and purging gaze. God will cleanse the e…
695 wordsSECTION 154Psalm Cxl.
The first two strophes (vv. 1-3 and 4, 5) cover the same ground. Both set forth the psalmist's need, and plead for deliverance. The first verse of the second strophe (ver. 4) is almost identical with ver. 1. Both paint the psalmist's enemies as evil and violent, plotting against him privily. The only difference in the …
793 wordsSECTION 155Psalm Cxli.
In vv. 13, 14, the poet comes back to brighter thoughts, and his words become limpid again with his change of mood. He "knows," as the result of meditation and experience, that not only he, but all the afflicted and needy, who are righteous and upright, have God on their side. He will stand by their side in their hour …
739 wordsSECTION 156Psalm Cxli.
The prayer in vv. 3, 4, is for deliverance not from dangers, but from temptation to sin in word or deed. The psalmist is not suffering from the hostility of the workers of iniquity, but dreads becoming infected with their sin. This phase of trial was not David's in Absalom's revolt, and the prominence given to it here …
654 wordsSECTION 157Psalm Cxli.
The darkness thickens in ver. 6. The words indeed are all easily translatable; but what the whole sentence means, or what an allusion to the destruction of some unnamed people's rulers has to do here, or who they are who hear the psalmist's words, are questions as yet unanswered. To cast men down "by the sides [lit., _…
877 wordsSECTION 158Psalm Cxlii.
1 With my voice to Jehovah will I cry, With my voice to Jehovah will I make supplication. 2 I will pour out before Him my complaint, My straits before Him will I declare. 3 When my spirit wraps itself in gloom upon me, Then Thou--Thou knowest my path; In the way wherein I have to go They have hidden a snare for …
794 wordsSECTION 159Psalm Cxlii.
Thus utterly naked of help, allies, and earthly hiding-place, what can a man do but fling himself into the arms of God? This one does so, as the rest of the psalm tells. He had looked all round the horizon in vain for a safe cranny to creep into and escape. He was out in the open, without a bush or rock to hide behind,…
521 wordsSECTION 160Psalm Cxliii.
1 Jehovah, hear my prayer, give ear to my supplications, In Thy faithfulness answer me, in Thy righteousness; 2 And enter not into judgment with Thy servant, For before Thee shall no man living be righteous. 3 For the enemy has pursued my soul, Crushed my life to the ground, Made me to dwell in dark places, like …
897 wordsSECTION 161Psalm Cxliii.
In vv. 4-6 the record of the emotions caused by his peril follows. They begin with the natural gloom. As in Psalm cxlii. 3 (with which this has many points of resemblance, possibly indicating identity of author), he describes his "spirit" as swathed in dark robes of melancholy. His heart, too, the centre of personality…
832 wordsSECTION 162Psalm Cxliii.
The last part (vv. 10-12) puts foremost the prayer for conformity of will with God's, and, though it closes with recurring prayer for outward deliverance, yet breathes desires for more inward blessings. As in the preceding verses, there are, in these closing ones, many echoes of other psalms. The sequence of petitions …
573 wordsSECTION 163Psalm Cxliv.
1 Blessed be Jehovah my rock, who trains my hands for battle, My fingers for war; 2 My loving-kindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, My shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. 3 Jehovah, what is man, that Thou takest knowledge of him? The son of frail man, that Tho…
795 wordsSECTION 164Psalm Cxliv.
The appended fragment (vv. 12-15) is attached to the preceding in a most embarrassing fashion. The first word of ver. 12 is the sign of the relative. The LXX. accordingly translates "Whose sons are," etc., and understands the whole as a description of the prosperity of the enemies, which view necessarily involves the a…
719 wordsSECTION 165Psalm Cxlv.
The last verse sums up all the preceding picture of growth, prosperity, and tranquillity, and traces it to the guardian care and blessing of Jehovah. The psalmist may seem to have been setting too much store by outward prosperity. His last word not only points to the one Source of it, but sets high above the material c…
800 wordsSECTION 166Psalm Cxlv.
Ver. 3_a_ is from Psalm xlviii. 1, and _b_ is tinged by Isaiah xl., but substitutes "greatness," the key-note of the first part of this psalm, for "understanding." That note having been thus struck, is taken up in vv. 4-6, which set forth various aspects of that greatness, as manifested in works which are successively …
795 wordsSECTION 167Psalm Cxlv.
The Kingship of God was lightly touched in ver. 1. It now becomes the psalmist's theme in vv. 11-13. It is for God's favoured ones to _speak_, while Creation can but _be_. It is for men who can recognise God's sovereign Will as their law, and know Him as Ruler, not only by power, but by goodness, to proclaim that kingd…
734 wordsSECTION 168Psalm Cxlv.
These common blessings of Providence avail to interpret deeper mysteries. Since the world is full of happy creatures nourished by Him, it is a reasonable faith that His work is all of a piece, and that in all His dealings the twin attributes of righteousness and loving-kindness rule. There are enough plain tokens of Go…
691 wordsSECTION 169Psalm Cxlvi.
1 Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah, my soul. 2 I will praise Jehovah while I live, I will harp to Jehovah as long as I exist. 3 Trust not in nobles, In a son of Adam, who has no deliverance [to give]. 4 His spirit goes forth, he returns to his earth, In that same day his schemes perish. 5 Blessed he who has the God o…
858 wordsSECTION 170Psalm Cxlvi.
But the psalmist passes swiftly from celebrating trust to magnify its object, and sets forth in an impressive series the manifold perfections and acts which witness that Jehovah is worthy to be the sole Confidence of men. The nine Divine acts, which invite to trust in Him, are divided into two parts, by a change in co…
676 wordsSECTION 171Psalm Cxlvii.
The series of afflictions which God alleviates is resumed in ver. 9 with a pathetic triad--strangers, widows, and fatherless. These are forlorn indeed, and the depth of their desolation is the measure of the Divine compassion. The enumeration of Jehovah's acts, which make trust in God blessed in itself, and the sure wa…
806 wordsSECTION 172Psalm Cxlvii.
The main theme of vv. 1-6 is God's manifestation of transcendent power and incalculable wisdom, as well as infinite kindness, in building up the ruined Jerusalem and collecting into a happy band of citizens the lonely wanderers of Israel. For such blessings praise is due, and the psalm summons all who share them to swe…
917 wordsSECTION 173Psalm Cxlvii.
The third part (vv. 12-20) travels over substantially the same ground as the two former, beginning with the mercy shown to the restored Israel, and passing on to wider manifestations of God's goodness. But there is a difference in this repeated setting forth of both these themes. The fortifications of Jerusalem are now…
660 wordsSECTION 174Psalm Cxlviii.
1 Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah from the heavens, Praise Him in the heights. 2 Praise Him, all His angels, Praise Him, all His host. 3 Praise Him, sun and moon, Praise Him, all stars of light. 4 Praise Him, heavens of heavens, And waters that are above the heavens-- 5 Let them praise the name of Jehovah, For He,…
678 wordsSECTION 175Psalm Cxlviii.
Vv. 5, 6, assign the reason for the praise of the heavens--Jehovah's creative act, His sustaining power and His "law," the utterance of His will to which they conform. Ver. 6_a_ emphatically asserts, by expressing the "He," which is in Hebrew usually included in the verb, that it is Jehovah and none other who "preserve…
923 wordsSECTION 176Psalm Cxlix.
1 Sing to Jehovah a new song, His praise in the congregation of His favoured ones. 2 Let Israel rejoice in his Maker, Let the children of Zion be glad in their King. 3 Let them praise His name in [the] dance, With timbrel and lyre let them play to Him. 4 For Jehovah takes pleasure in His people, He adorns the me…
800 wordsSECTION 177Psalm Cl.
"The judgment written," which is to be executed by the militant Israel on the nations, does not seem to have reference either to the commandment to exterminate the Canaanites or to the punishments threatened in many places of Scripture. It is better to take it as denoting a judgment "fixed, settled, ... written thus by…
734 wordsSECTION 178The End.
Too little is known of Jewish music to enable us to determine whether the epithets applied to cymbals refer to two different kinds. Probably they do; the first being small and high-pitched, the second larger, like the similar instrument used in military music, and of a deep tone. But the singer would fain hear a volum…
251 wordsSECTION 179*** End Of The Project Gutenberg Ebook The Expositor'S Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 3 ***
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174 wordsSource & rights
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.