PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1
George Rawlinson [1812-1902] · 375,386 words · 408 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1 — Section 361
concerned in this lesson. Miracles are but lessons writ large, that none may be able to mistake their meaning. 'l'he promises of tbe Dible abundantly announce the same truth ; and the thanksgivings (in the Psalms and elsewhere) of those whose faith has tested those promises, bear witness to their fulfilment. So does…
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ments" or him whose right hand is full of righteousness; showing us that God's care for his Church is just as marked when he rebukes her for her sins as when he delivers her from her foes; and that both for bis faithful chastisement as for his mighty interposition, his loving-kindness is rehearsed in his temple with…
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perpetual Deliverer of his Church is the story of the past and the testimony of the present. Nor may we forget the double kind of deliverance: (1) from foes without; (2) from mischief within. If the view given above of ver. 7 is correct, the verse suggests that the Church owes quite as much to God's chastening love i…
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e.nd more of the Lord's goodness will be revealed to us. It is the "loving-kindness" of God that has blessed the past, and it will, in like manner, but in larger measure, bless the future. God's loving-kindness culminated in the cross. There could be nothing higher, And the cross is tha best help to our faith, and the …
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nnd imporfect, theodicy." Tile wicked man tlie wicked, "trusting in thoir wealth, and has his good tiliugs in this life, and II fter boasting themselves in tha multitude of death evil things, while ~ith the good man their riches" (ver. 6), so opulent that they tile case is exnctly the contrary. The date build houses w…
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likewise the fool and the brutish person them, allows none to qnit the fold. And the perish. 'fhe rich man must see that any upright shall have dominion over them in hope of raneoming himself by means of hie the morning. When the resurrection morn wealth, and so eeco.ping death and the comes-and no other explanation ap…
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Ver 17.-For when he dieth he shall "honour, reverence, and troops of friends," oarry nothing away. Nothing iri the way who will ndmire them and flatter them, of enrthly possessions-nothing but the Ver. 19.-Ke shall go to the generation of qualities which he hns imprinted on his his fathers. In the Hebrew it is "thou eh…
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these are the ruins of God's temple. It is lost, but not irredeemably. He has "found a rnneom" (cf. Luke xv. 24). 2. The greatness of man's nature is proved by the very greatness of his ruin. Only from an exalted height could he fall so terribly. Beasts are not capable of sin. Low, materialistic views of our nature nec…
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outlook when, while "money e.nswereth all things," tho great bulk of it should bo possessed by the godless, the selfish, the oppressors, and the vile. The fact creates fetu (ver. 5) in the evil day, since those who have the money-power, and are in a sense the lords of the world, use their power unrighteously. So muc…
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word often used to express the character of the people of God, in distinction from the ungodly (Pas. xxxiii. 1; xxxii. 11; cxii. 4). The word does not mean "perfection," but true sincerity of spirit, combined with the desire to be right in the sight of God. 'l'hree things are included therein: (1) repontance; (2) forgi…
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inspiration is from above, and he does not speak of himself, but as moved by Divine impulses. What he has gathered by leng meditation and experience he gives forth freely for the good of others. His ambition is to make the dark cle:ir, to discern between good and evil, to strip falsehood of its disguises, and to set fo…
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EXPOSITION. Ver. 1.-The mighty God, even the Lord, PSALM L. hath spoken. A combination of three names TIIE psalmLqt aunounces o.n o.ppe11r11noe of of God-viz. El, Elohim, and Jehovah- God to his people "out of Zion," and a only found here and in Josh. xxii. 22. There it is tro.nelated "the Lord God of pronouncement …
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covenant wittout frequent sacrifice (Exod. Ver. 9.-I will take no bnllook out of thy xii. 2-47, etc.) house, nor he goats out of thy folds. The Ver. 6.-And the heavens she.II declare offcri ngs of those who offer o.miss will not his righteousness. 'L'he angelic host, which be nccepted. God declines to reoeive them. …
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certnin extent, reproved (vere. 8-14), the paralld in the second hemistich-Thou pee.lwist now ad<lreeses to the ungodly, the elanderest thine own mother's son-implies open e.nd wilful tru.negressors, a. fe.r sterner tliat an actual brother is intended. It is rebuke. Th~y claim the privileges of God's one of tl.Je speci…
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think of him RS loving and merciful, "faithful and just to forgive," etc. (1 John i. 9), we she.11 learn to "love him, been.use he first loved us" (iv. 19); and lovin"', shall obey. And if we think of him as holy, we shall hate sin, and strive after holiness (Heb. xii. 14). Let us note (1) the wrong thought of God h…
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Man's voice is hushed. We o.re called into the very presence of God, like Israel at the foot of Sinai. It is God's voice that summons us to judgrnent, and sets our sins in order before our eyes. Yet it is the voice of merciful warning. "Consider I " (Isa. i. 18). The sin here rebuked isforgeifulness of God. I. IT IS N…
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the words of the living God, declaring the principles of eternal judgment. 11 In 11 magnificent vision the prophet to whom this psalm is d11e beholds the Almi"hty denouncing a solemn judgment against the degradation of his Name, and settin" forth the requirements of a spiritual religion." 1 In opening up this psalm, th…
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judgment ever being exercised; according to them will it finally proceed. And accorrlin'.!: to the measure of light granted to men, will be the standard by wl,ich they will be tried. Fuller li~ht on this theme comes to view in the New •restament. Peter's words (Acts x. 35; 1 ·Pet. iii. 18-iv. 6), Paul's words (Rom. ii.…
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be no possibility of eluding the officers of justice, or of evading the testimony of the witnesses. Conclusive: it is the last judgment, from which there can be no appeal, whose sentences are irre'l'ersible and eternal. III. THAT Gon WILL SETTLE THE DESTINIES OF MEN ON THE GROUNDS OF ETERNAL JUSTICE. There is a hint a…
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Vers. 16-23.-Hypor::risy. God speaks to the whole nation in the previous p:1.rt of the psalm; here to hypocrites. J. 'l'HEY MADE PROFESSION OF RELIGION, WRICH THEIR LIVES CONTRADICTED. (Vera. 16-20.) 1. They treated the Divine Law with open contempt. (Ver. 17.) Because they " hated" the control that it imposes. 2. The…
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prayer for mercy and forgiveness (vers. 1- mainly ngainst Go,1; nnd tho better sort of 4); a second strophe, of eight verses, which men always feel this. "How cau I <lo this is an entreaty for r('storation and renewal great wickedncsR," says Joseph, when (vers. 5-12); a third strophe, of five verses, tempted by Petipha…
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the Lcvitimtl Ln.w cleanse from contact oncl, had they been continued or not repented wilh a. corpse (Numb. xix. 18) c,r from U10 of, would have caused him to withdraw defilemont of leprosy (Lev. xiv. 4). Dadd himself; but they had not "wholly quenched recognizes that bis impurity is of the the Spirit" (1 These. v. 1…
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of proiee) and will especially exalt God's thought, in good condition. But it has righteousness. "Jehovah," as Professor been pointed out, very justly, that the Cheyne observes, "is equally righteous fortifications of Jernsalem were not complete when he sends and when he removes chastisements." in David's time, 1md…
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with such childlike faith in God's pardoning mercy. If the dark record of David's crime bad been silently omitted, we should have been utterly at a loss to understand this pee.Im. Who could he.ve thought that from the same harp which uttered the sweet strain of Ps. xxiii. could proceed so deep a wail of grief and se…
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ordained (see e.g. Exod. xix. 5, 10, 11). It hns been asserted by scholars, who ought to know better, that the original notion of sin, in the Old Testament Scriptures and among the ancient Hebrews, was merely ceremonial. The doctrine of tho inward, spiritual nature of sin, and need of inward purification, was graduall…
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but at his sin against God (v1Jr. 4). And in regard to salvation, he does not measure his expectation by anything he can offer to God-repentance or amendment or atone- ment-but Ly the infinite fulness of God's love ancl grace. 'l'herefore he is able to ask, not merely for pardon, to have his forfeited life and crown sp…
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Ver. 17.-" The sacrifices of God," etc. We may call this psalm "the penitent's prayer-book." The spectacle of a good man falling into open sin is a sight to make angels weep, especially a man so distinguished as David falling into sins so gross.and flagrant. We are ready t-0 ask why a veil of silence was not allowed…
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David himself would have bean bound to punish in another man, we kno\v not what answer he could have found, except to say, "God is Sovereign I" The gospel alone reveals how God is "just, e.nd the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus" (Rom. iii. 23-26). It was a wonderful new doctrine which the apostles proclaimed, t…
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are not only obstacles without) but there is the fearful obstacle within of II sinful heart. III. TRUER REALIZATION OF THE GREATNESS OF THE WORK OF RESTORATION, Experience is the best teacher. It is better to ju,ige from fact than from theory. Such. as have thcmsel ves been "restored" are the fittest to speak of resto…
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u My sin I" H is there, in memory, to be brought out at the call of conscience, "The austere romombranco of that deed Will hang upon thy spirit like a cloud, And tinge its world of happy imagos with hues of horror." There is also association. One of its chief uses is to add force to conscience. We are strangely link…
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source. We may not be able t-0 explain fully why and how the heart is corrupt, but of the fact there can be no question. It is better to seek deliverance from the pit, than to weary and vex ourselves in vain with inquiries how we came there. II. THAT THE EVIL OF SIN IS SEEN IN THE CONTRADICTION OF TRUTH. What God ,3es…
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Vers. 11, 12.-A great evil deprecated, and a great good desired. I. A GREAT EVIL DEPRECATED. The evil is twofold (ver. 11). It is felt that this judgment is deserved. God might justly do this. His presence had been outraged; his Spirit had been not only resisted and grieved, but for a time quenched. But such judgment …
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Ver. 12.-Tlie foy of salvation. "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a joyful [willing] spHr." J. THAT TIIE CON8CIOUS:,:EsS OF SALVATION IS ACCOMPANIED WITII A GREATEil OR LESS DEGREE OF "JOY." Salvation is a deliverance from the greatest d,rnger the soul can apprehend, and is, therefore, a ca…
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righteousness (sec the comment on ver. 2). doubt Saul richly rewarded him. And Doeg's crimes seem to ha¥e arisen out of a strengthened himself in his wiokedneBB ; or, mere 10¥0 of e¥il. in hiB substance (Cheyne). Ver. 4.-Thou lovest all devouring words. Ver. 8.-But I am like a green olive tree "Devouring words" are wo…
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Ver. 8.-27ie olive an emblem of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. "I am like a green olive tree," etc. In Ps. xcii. the righteous are compared to two of the noblest trees-the queenly palm and the imperial cedar. In P~. i. to an evergreen tree that loves to grow by flowing waters-the orange or citron, crowned at …
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Vns. 1~9.-" This psalm is a stern upbi-aiding addressed to th~ man. who! unscru- pulous in tLc exercise of his power, and proud of bia wealth, finds his delight 1n all the arts of tlie practised liar." I. Tim AllI:OGANC:U: OF A WICKED MAN IN WOilLDLY POWER. 1. He boasts of tht1 evil which he does. He is not ashamed …
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EXPOSITION. indicated by the pa.use-me.rlr, "Selah.'' PSALM LIV. Then, confident of his prayer having been Tms is a short psalm, written in a time of heard, the psalmist breaks out into e. joyous great trouble, and containing, first, an burst of thankfulness and self-gratulation (vers. 4-7). The Lord is with them th…
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EXPOSITION. and Canon Cook. The probable dato of the PSALM LV. psalm is the time of .A.bsalom's rebellion. Tms psalm has been assignecl to Jeremiah Do.vid, still o. dweller at Jorusalcrn (vors. by llitzig, and by others to an unknown 9-11), has become o.wo.re of tho conspimcy writer of the seventh century B.c. But no…
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on tile wnlls; only, instead of keeping watch to bring rlestrnction upon the whole mns~ or against the enemy, they 'watch fur i11i- his enemies. Of the two readings in the quity'" (Cheyne). Mischiof n!Go nnd sorrow original, the one e.rlopted by our translators are in the midst of it; mther, ini7uity also seem~ the bes…
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11 ; xviii. 6-8). He sees that there are the b11Uers of his mou.th-i.e. his flattering many with him ; i.e. " many that contend utteranceB. But war was in his heart; with him;" but his <'OUrage does not fail- litore.lly, but his heart was toar. His words he is nssured of being "delivered" and woro softer than oil, yet …
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This world-weariness may be of different kinds-from widely opposite causes. There is the case of the man who hll.S loved the world with all his heart, and is sick and sated, and still hungry and unsatisfied, He has loved pleasure, laid the reins on the neck of his luRts; and his reward is 11. diseased body, a worn-o…
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"A lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity or shade;" where, far from the si,rht of violence and fraud, the din of business, politics, or war, he might be alor,e with God. But he discerns that if he cannot flee from mankind he can take refuge in God. He appeals from au unjust and cruel world to ete…
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in revolt, and muHHudes flock to his standard. Even old companions in arms desert, and the very friend most trusted turns traitor. It was a terrible time. The a"'ed monarch, sad and dispirited, his name traduced, his tenderest feelings outra.ged, his life and kingdom threatened, is compelled, with the few found faithfu…
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troubbl mind, tossed to and fro amidst the endless strife of controversy, longs for some infallible guide. There is what Wordsworth calls," the universal instinct of repose- the longing for confirmed tranquillity." But this is not God's way. " Every man shall bear his own burden" (Gal. vi. 5). If. lT 18 VAIN TO HOPE F…
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Vere. 16-23.-0ontrasts in the character and experience of the righteous and the wicked. I. CHARACTER AND EXPERIENCE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 1. His life is a continued exercise of prayer and faith. Calls upon God, evening, morning, and at noon. Canies all his anxieties and fears to God; casts upon him his burden (ver. 22). An…
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PSALM XVIII. TllEHR P,t.G& TREK ■ PAOB The Ory of Despe.iz etroggling with God's Revelation of himself is sniled the Cry of Faith 161 to Man's Oe.paoity 121 Prayer in Suffering 162 Our Exaltation through God's Gentle- Consequences of Deliverance 162 ness 122 The Conqueror's Song of Praise and PSALM XXIII. Hope... 12…
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!"RRHR PJ.GB Oonfossion of Sin ,.. 239 The Believing Heart's Obedience to Divine Forghen<'ss 240 God's Command 200 The B:essednoss of Forgiveness 242 Tho Reward of Diligent Scm·ch 201 God's Guidanoe ... 243 A Douhle Safeguard 201 From Great Misery to Greater Blessed- Jehovah's Sdf-revelation, and Faith's ness ... …
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THBlfE rAGR PSALM LL The Kingship of Christ 356 TREJ<II P.t.OB Fe.tliers e.nd Children 357 The Penitent's Plea. for Pardon 896 Prayer for e. Pure Hee.rt ... 397 The Joy of God's Salvation 398,406 PSALM XLVI. "The Sacrifices of God," eto. 400 The Unchangeableness of God 358 Relations of Ruler e.nd People 401 " Our R…
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Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.