PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3
George Rawlinson [1812-1902] · 356,243 words · 377 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3 — Section 1
THE PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BY THE VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN OF GLOUCESTER; AND BY THE REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A. WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY THE VERY REV. F. W. FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S., DEAN OF CANTERBURY. RIGHT REV. H. COTTERILL, D.D., F.R.S.E. VERY REV. PRINCIPAL J. TULLOCH, D.D. REV. CANON G. RAWL…
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out of their distresses. "Distrcss<'S" may Ver. 14.-He brought them out of dark- be a plural of nmplification, or it may point ness and the she.dow of doath. Wherein to the triple suffering-hunger, thirst, they ettt (vor. 10). And brake their bands faintness. in sunder. Freed them from their fetters Ver. ,.-And he …
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Ver, 21.-Oh that men, etc.l A repetition idiom of the Authorized Version is a very of vers. 8 and 15. happy one,e.nd exa.ctly expresses the writer's Ver. 22.-And let them se.orifioe the meaning. All the see.man's intelligence is saorifloee of thanksgiving; compare the ex- at fault, and can suggest nothing. pression," …
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22; I. 2; Jer. L 18-15, 88-40; Ii. IS, his displeasure and suffer at hie hands. 37---48, etc.). And the waterspringa into Their population is diminished; they are dry ground. The phrase is varied, but the "bowed down" (Revised Version), or meaning is the same. God has full control "brought low." Calamities of va1'io…
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HOMILETICS. Vers.1-32.-Deliverance and indebtednes,. We can never measure what we ow& to God for his daily loving-kindness. Indeed, it is only the wise who observe and take account of the Divine source of all human blessings, that at all understand how great is our debt of gratitude (ver. 43). But we are too apt to ov…
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HOMILIES BY VA.RIO US AUTHORS. Vers. 1-43.- Merefore men should praise the Lord. Such is the theme of tb.ili glorious psalm. "It contains the thanksgiving of exiles (ver. 3) apparently not yet returned to Jerusalem, but already escaped from the thraldom of Babylon." Note- I. lTs GlcNERAL LESSONS. 1. It teUs of prese…
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they. But the psalm mainly contemplates God's gree.t doliverances, and is a summons to all men to praise the Lord for his goodness. This is the burden of the text, and i~ pie.inly teaches that for men thus to praise the Lord is- I. INFINITELY DEBlllADLE. The psalmist longs that they should do this; he seems E"agerl…
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-wh&t is there for hi~ bu~ to ~ink do_wn into a wretched pessimism, a despair of good, such as may be met with m wide regions of the thought, speech, and writing of this unbelieving age? Pride, miserable atheistic pride, is another of the Dead-Sea fruits which grow on the tree of unbelief in the supernatural. Believ…
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effect of it is ever to wake up praise; to make the aoul long that others may praise, and to grieve that they do not.-S. C. Ver. 30.-The Pilot, the passage, and the port. "So he bringeth them to their desired haven." These three themes are suggested by the words. Therefore consider~ I. THE PILOT, He is the Lord Jesus…
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Ver. 2.-The Lord's people a,·e a ,·edeeined people. "The ransomed of Jehovah" (Perowne). This has been well called "the psalm of life." While its figures are partly ~uggested by the history of Israel, it is a meditative rather than historical psalm. "It presents to us, first, a magnificent series of pictures of vari…
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II. GoD THE LIBERATOR; or, the captive's Deliverer. Here the same two sources provide the fi~ures .. Once Israel was captive in Egypt, and then God brought bis people out "with a high band and outstretched arm." Recently they had been captive in Ilabylon, and the interweavings of Divine providence, which led to their r…
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the case introduced here is that of men who are persistent in their self-will, and let It fashion their course of conduct, their habit of life, I. AFFLICTIONS ARB THE NATURAL CONSEQUENCE OF WILFULNESS, Because the wilful spirit is sure to lead to acts which involve trouble. The world is ordered accord- ing to the will…
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"Praise ie the only employment in which self finds no part, In praise we go out o! ourselves, and think only of him to whom we offer it. lt_is the most purely disinterested of all services."-R. T. Ver. 30.-The desired ha1len. "So he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be" (Prayer-book Version). 'fhe picture …
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Ver. 43.-The wise observance of God's loving-kindness. The Prayer-book Version reads, " Whoso is wise will ponder these things;" will think about them; will brood over them. The signs of God's active and gracious working, in men's lives, is clear enough, but only to the "wise," who "thoughtfully ponder what the thou…
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EXPOSITION. Ver. 6.-T'Dat thy beloved (or, thy ielo-r,ecl PSALM CVIll. ones) may be delivered: save with thy right Tms is II composite pea.Im, made up of hand, and answer me. Absolutely irleotical with Pa. Ix. 5; but with a change iu the portions of two Davidical psalms, viz. lvii. connection which give the wort!s a…
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imrnrd, in circumstance or in the eoul. 1. We may be beaten in the battle of life or at any :ate tempo:arily overcome_. \Ve may sustain a serio\18 reverse; we may' be reduc00: m ou!' bold!ng and our position ; we may suffer in our reputation ; we may be sadly disappointed m some venture; we may fail to secure some c…
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him. nut Bishop Perowne thinks that some later poet probably adapted them to circumstances of his own time; possibly wishing thus to commemorate some victory over Edom or Philietia. For homiletic treatment, see the above-named psalms.-8. C. Ver.1.-God honoured byfiudresolves. "Myheartisfixed;" "My heart is ready" (Pra…
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of a man's self as a living sacrifice." The Prayer-book Version seal,; this in Hs rendering, "with the best member that I have."-H. 'l', Ver. 2.-Morning religion. "I myself will awake right early" (Revised Version). The (dea seems to be, that the anxiety to be praising God is so strong in the pealmiHt that 1t actua…
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the things that God "spoke in his holiness." But it is simpler to treat the verses as expressions of what the psalmiBt feel,i he can do, and means to endeavour to do, basing bis confidence on the fact that "God has spoken in his holiness "-bas made promise and pledge to him ; and God's pledges, he is sure, are holy, in…
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EXPOSITION, the month of the deoeitful; litero.lly, of PSALM CIX. deceit-the nbstract for the oonorete. Are l'nE title of this pso.lm-" To the cl1ief opened against me ; litero.lly, have they musician, a psalm of David "-is thought to opened t1pon me (Kny, Cheyne, Revised Ver- s10n ). They have spoken against me w…
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arte perire sua." And let Satan stand at his Ver. H.-Let the iniquity of his fathers right hand; ro.tber, an ad11ersary, or an be remembered with the Lord. Let the accuser. In courts of justice the accuser threatening of Exod. xx. 5 take effect in stood o.t the aooused person's right hand. his case, and tho sins of his…
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See the next clanse. And like oil into his Ver. 25.-I became (rather, am beoo,ne) bones. The oil, wherewith it was 11sual to also a reproach unto them; i.e. to my enemies. anoint the frame, was believed to penetrate, I am l\n object of their reproach and scorn. not only inoo the tissues, but into the very When they loo…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-31.-Explanation, warning, encouragement. This psalm of David con• tains- I. AN EXPLANATION TO DE BOUGHT. How came these strong imprecations to be uRed by the servant of the Lord? Are they worthy to find a place in the pages of Holy Scripture? Two things, at least, have to be considered in defence …
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old commentators, that these fearful curses are those of the Lord Jesus Christ on Judas, who betrayed him, has only made the difficulties connected with this psalm ever so much worse.. What is to be said? The solution we have to offer is that given by a learned theological writer, Mr. J. Hammond; and it is this-that…
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marrying Moabitish women, This was" the iniquity of his fathers." Then ver. 16, which at first sight seems not to correspond with David's character, finds its warrant in that da.rk page of his history when he slew Uriah, having first taken from him his wife, Natha.n distinctly charged him with having" no pity." What wo…
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so bitterly under any provocation. But we can clearly see that, if he did feel thUB, he did what was altogether the wisest and most hopeful thing, '\\"'hen he spoke his bad fo01ings to God rather than to men. It is generally agreed that David was the author of tbc p~alm, and that the treachery and wickedness of some in…
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and his wife a widow." There are few Bible difficulties more perplexing than that which is created by the fact, that a. man's punishments a.re reco,,nized as righteously affecting, not himself only, bnt also his children, and those de~ndent on him. We nnturally resist this, and say," Every man ought to bear his own bnr…
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hear mutterings after the loud thunder-peal~. There is gradually more earnest prayer for him$elf, less concern about his enemy, and a fuller confidence that God will answer his prayer, and, in his own wise way, bless the good and shame the evil. It is his praying on that has wrought this change of mood. He has prayed h…
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for rejecting the t.ro.ditiono.l viewa of the explELin, "As the dew of the morning, authorship and the interpretation. The abnodant, refreshing, spreading far and pso.lm belongs to the same class as Ps. ii wide, mirELcnlous, so is tbe might of thy H is wholly Messianic. Do.vid hllS had perpetual youth"(' Speaker's Oomm…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-7.-The victorious King. New Testament references leave no doubt as to the Messianic character of this psalm. "'l'he ima~e of a warrior destroying his foes may seem a strange representation of the establishment upon earth of Christ's spiritual dominion. But David described Messiah's victory over his…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver, 8.-The day of (Jhrist's power. Luther callR this psalm "the true high main psalm of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ.n Our Lord himself attests that it is inspired of the Holy Ghost, and there is no other Scripture in the Old Testament that is so frequently quoted in the New, The occasio…
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thr0ne, and then in Heb. vii. The record in Genesis is but brief, but the recurrence of the name lea?s to the inquiry as to the meaning and significance of that early record. The Epistle to the Hebrews supplies the answer. Note- . I. THE FACTS CONNECTED WITH MELCHIZEDEK, He is mentioned in the account of Abraham's i…
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regarded as a vindication; redemption is now regarded mainly as a moral force. It is quite natural that the conceptions of the promised and coming Medsiah should vary at different times, according to the varying conditions of the Jewish people. In Moses' days be was thought of as a " Prophet" like Moses, an inspired…
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Yer. 3.-Thepower ofrec-O!Jnizing power. "The:people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Power to submit, power to accept, power to respond, power to offer allegiance, come to the people when they recognize Messiah's power. Illustrated on the Day of Pentecost, when Messiah's power was so conviucingly displayed…
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as kings, or as Divine rulers, ministrants of Divine order, in the common family, socia:.. political, and national relations of life. Perhaps it may be said with truth that iri regard to Messiah, as in regard to David, the governmental priesthood is more pro~i- nent than the sacrificial priesthood. 'l'he royalty of Mel…
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Pa. oxii. is <'onoerned with "tho reflection Ver. 6.-B:e bath showed his people the of these in the happiness, beneficence, a.nd power of his works, that he may give them righteousness of God's servants" (Klly). the heritage of the heathen; rather, in giving The two together seem to have been in- them. God manifeste…
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delivered and preserved. But we may well give a much wider application to the thought; we therefore think of- I. 'fBE FOURFOLD WORK OF Goo. 1. In the broad field of nature; in the creation and formation of the earth and the heavens; in the agency of the sun and moon, of light and heat, of rain and dew, etc. 2. In the …
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Ps. cxix. is the most conspicuous instance of this. In the psalm boforo us the alphabet is not complete. An interesting and instructive study is to reproduce in English this same structure, being careful not to alter the sense. It has often been done. The psalm opens with a summons to all to praise the Lord, and decla…
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Ver. 1.-77ze duty of witnessing in public for God. The terms used seem to include the narrow and the wider spheres in which our witness for God may be, and Bhould be, made. The Prayer-book Version brings out this point. "Secretly, among the faithful, and in the congregation." It is a point with the psalmists that God's…
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Ver. 5.-The excelwncy of the Divine memory. "He will ever be mindful of his covenant." To the Jewish mind it WM a source of constant satisfaction that Jehovah was actually under covenant-pledge Lu his people. Every look-back over the history of his race brought to view the fact, again and again, that Jehovah kept hi…
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Ver, 9.-Reverence for the Name, "Holy and reverend is his Name." "Reverend" here means "worLhy of reverence," Horace Bushnell has a striking sentence: "This age is at the point of apogee from all the robuster notions of Deity." .And therefore this age is an irreverent age. Even in the shaping of religious beliefs there…
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in Ruth ii. l e,ncl 1 Sn.m. ix. 1, "wealthy, wards him, he will not ~nticipate misfor- prosperous." The genere,tion of the upright tunes. They may come, a.e even the best shall be bleeeed; i.e. she,11 receive blessing man is not exempt from them; but he will from the Most High, e,nd shall 1herefore not meet them half-w…
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may not press the sentences of this psalm to any nice exactitude, yet it is substnntially as true of the good man, and as applicable to his life on earth now, as it was at the hour when it was written. Piety, a reverence for God which shows itself in ready obedience to his will, has these solid advantages: it ensures-…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-10.-The blessed life. This psalm, like the previous one, begins with '' Hallelujah," e.nd is also an alphabetical psalm. -That one gave glad thanks because of what the Lord God himself, in his ways and works, was declared to be. Now this one gives like thanks for what, by the grace…
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Ver. 7.-Not afraid of evil tidings. I. MosT PEOPLE ARE. The postman's knock, much more a telegram, will often set their hearts palpitating. 'l'hey realize how precarious is the tenure by which they hold their good things; they have many times had experience of the instability of that in which they have most trusted;…
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V e.r. 3.-.A man's righteousness. "Righteousness" has come to be a sort of exclu- ,ively religious word; a theological word, with a connotation. fitting to a particular ~reed, over which learned men long have wrangled. Why cannot we let common aense win it for oommon, everyday uses? "Righteou~ness" is rightness, It is …
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nnd on till we can no longer see it, and can think of no agency that can stop it, we call it "everlasting." An illustration may be taken from the familiar garden flower which we call" everlasting," because, in contrast with other flowers, it will last, in our vases, nil the winter. II. "EVERLASTING" IS A FIGURE FOR TH…
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mine. A man keeps right so long as he feels-I am one of Christ's stewards, and it is "required of stewards that they be found faithful." 'l'he good man is "God's roservoir, and forth from his abundance flow streams of liberality to supply the needy." "Bene- volence of heart, when displayed in the benefaction of the han…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-9.-Reasons for reverential praise. The force of the psalmist's summons in the opening verse is felt as we proceed through the psalm itself, and when we rea.ch the end of it; for there are brought out- I. THE CONSTANOY OF Goo's GOODNESS. In no less than three verses (1-3) the Lord's Name is put for…
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'l'his and the following psalm were sung before the second cup. We need not think, however, that these psalms were composed for use at the feasts with which they were afterwards associated. Only Jewish minds could recognize any particular fitness for such. scenes. To us they are simply pmise psalms. Here we notice that…
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Ver. 5.-Likenesses to God. "Who is like unto tho Lord our God?" The precise point here may be thus expressed:" Who as he combines majesty with condescension?" Both heaven aud earth, glorious and wonderful though they nre, are alike immeasurably below the majesty of God. The psalmist evidently has tho idolatry in min…
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Ver. 7.-God the Remover of disabilitie.~. "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust." The expressions used in this and the following .verse are taken from the song of Hannah (see 1 Sam. ii. 1-10), and similar expressions are found in the song of the Virgin Mary (see Luke i. 51-53). Historical illustratior,s of the passag…
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EXPOSITION. "became his sanctuary;" Jude.h-i.e. the PSALM CXIV. land of Judah-received the special honoUl' A PSALM of reminiBcence, designed to en- of being chosen for the seat of God's sanc- courage the exiles on their return from tuary. And Israel his dominion. While Be.by lon, during their " day of small things" …
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-8.-God with us. This psalm, which is so full of fine poetry, is also charged with spiritual suggestiveness, In the few verses of which it is composed, it brings before us the nearness of God to us, and the power he is exerting on us. '\Ve have- I. HIS DWELLING-PLACE IN us. "Judah was his sanctu…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-8.-The soul's exodus. The psalm is a wonderfully vivid and beantiful de~cription of the deliverance of God's people from Egypt. In all ages of the Church this has been looked upon as the pattern and type of the soul's deliverance by the redemption of Christ. Much of that history is…
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Dnt what a morn! advance had been made when men could discern God's working in ordinary providences, and no longer needed miracles of astonishment I To the restored exiles common providences became signs of direct workin"0 on their behalf. And they were right in so thinking. God was making things work together to work …
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The iucideut is, no doubt, thus poetically recalled to the mind of the restored exiles, in order to assure them that God, in his power to provide, and his power to meet emer• gencies, was all that he had ever been; and this suggests a very suitable subject of meditation, which may be very effectively applied to our …
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EXPOSITION. devoid of all sense and intelligence. Tbe PSALM CXV. satire is somewhat roughly worked out A LlTUnGIOAL psalm, in which a divided (vers. 5-7), but idolatry provokes rough choir, together with a leader-a priest or speaking; and the tone here adopted is precentor-take eepe.re.te pa.rte. The occa- imitated i…
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who trust in idols. Rather, be an example was through tile conversion of tllo Gentiles, to them. He is their Help and their Shield who, when conveded, beoame th" true (comp. Ps. xxxiii. 20). The change of per- "Israel of God." Dut, even upart from son implies a change of speaker, this, tile lineul de,sccndants of Abro…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-11.-True and false worship. In strong, nervous language we have here presented to us- L THE llAJEBTY AND THE POWER OF Goo. (Ver. 3,) The heathen, in their ignor- ance want to know where Jehovah is; they cannot see him. The reply is that he does'not dwell in temples made with hands; that he is not …
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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.