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 121
Vers. 89-96.-.A gratefu,l ronfession of Divine aid. How fitly this section follows o:i the foregoing one I There was darkness, indeed ; but here is light. The psalmist celebrates-let us do so with him-the help of God. l. fr IS SETTLED IN IIEAVEN FOR EVER TIIAT SUCH AID SHALL BE FODTHCOMING, (Ver. 89.) Therefore: 1. …
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this, for example, that occasionally they may allow themselves in some evil way. And so they never attain to holiness; such double-hearted ones never can. God must teach us this (ver. 102). IV. BECOMES HIS DELIGHT. (Ver. 103.) This is the meaning of the metaphor of this verse. The soul has its relish as well as the p…
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I. HoLY sour,s HATE THEM. (Ver. 113.) They constitute and creato that luke- warmness which is s0 nauseous in the esteem of Christ (Rev. iii. 16). He would prefer that men were cold altogether rather than this (cf. also Elijah, 1 Kings xviii. 21). This double-mindedness, ever seeking to serve God and mammon, compromisi…
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IV. CoNFF.SSEB BIB NEED OF MEBOY. (Ver. 124.) Before men he could hold up his head, and declare that he was guilty of no wrong, as in ver. 121; but before God it is mercy that he implores, for he, as all who know themselves, knew full well his need thereof. V. Fon THE THIRD TIME AVOWS THAT HE IS Goo's" SERVANT." (Vers…
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forbidden or held back by fear I God's people have to hide away; they cannot do the things that they would. Also be prays (2) that God's face may shine upon him; for that is like the warm shining of the sun upon the plant-world, causing it to spring and grow as otherwise it could not. 5. Made him deeply grieve over men…
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II. ITs PETITION. "Save me" (ver. 146). We know not what -the nature of the peril was in which be then was, but it was evidently very great. This petition, tbouuh very concise, is very complete and direct and definite. We have many such pray;'rs recorded. Blessed is it when the soul seeks to be saved-seeks with a cr…
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nel'cr been so precious, nor so clearly seen and understood. 4. He would be able ta comfort others as he could not have done before. Then his words would come with power, for he himself would know not merely what deep affliction was, but how God can sustain the soul beneath it all. 5, This very affiiction would prov…
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a tone of triumph and elation, but it is quite the reverse that we find. There is impassioned fervour in prayer, but no glorying; there is the same constant loncring0 for deeper und~rstanding of God's T(Yord 1 which we_ have met with all through; but no self. congratulation that he has gamed 1t; there 1s the same c…
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that, according to God's Word, he was forgiven, even as he knew he was an altered man. God had pardoned him and renewed him. Why, then, should he think or speak of himself as if neither of these blessed facts was true? And for ourselves, if the blood of Jesus Christ is keeping me cleansed from all sin-and if I am sin…
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sincerity. The one supreme offence to man, and to our Divine Lord, the Son of man, is hypocrisy. The suspicion of it kills trust. Let a. man have an apparently complete set of good qualities, if we suspect insincerity it is all spoiled for us, as is the good shield a.cross which lies the "bar sinister." .A.II the goodn…
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a thousand things of daily life we prove the usefulness of good habits. We do things again and again, or do things at the same time and in the same way day after day, ".ntil they be_come not so much easy to do as a joy to \he doer, They make up the hfe, and provide the pleasure of the life. Let, then, any one pu1pos…
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pitfalls that may be put in our way. "Not defiled their garments•" "Unspotted from the world." ~ppeal. thus : In view of life, do you think you can' safely go all alone? Can you certarnly tnumph over all the subtlety and all the strength of evil in your own sufficiency? "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest…
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. Ver. 15.-The treasures of medit,a,tion. " I will meditate in thy precepts; n "In bis Law doth he meditate day and night." There would be no need to explain to an Eastern man what is meant by meditation, and wherein lies the pleasure of it. He can sit still and think; both the physical and social atmosphere of the …
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Ver. 18.-Eye-opening. "Open thou mine eyes." This figure of speech is a familiar Eaatern one. It is baseil on the observed fact that the eye, as an organ, is dependent on the mind and the will. Men I.Jave to he helped to see everything that is really worth seeing; and if they are to apprehend Divine and spiritual thiug…
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Ver. 25.-Quickening the exhausted. In this verse there is characteristic extravagant Eastern _figure, which is difficult for the calmer Western mind to appreciate. Such exaggerated descriptions of mental conditions seem to us untruthful. '.l'he presentation does not accord with the fact. But the Eastern would urge t…
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Ver. 33.-Man's purpose, and God's help. In multiplied forms the difficulty of reconciling God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, God's help and man's energy, is presented to us in Scripture. But the difficulty is always intellectual only. It is one that the heart solves with perfect ease. It knows well how the ins…
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Ver. 45.-The freedom of right-u illedneas. "I will walk at liberty : for I have sought rs. oxxx.1-176.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. Vil thy precepts." The AposUe Paul earnestly contends that" we are called unto liberty," but he carefully distinguishes liberty from self-willedness. A man can never have his liberty save on th…
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our pleasure iu what we do. The soul moves freely in its delights. Make a joy of your obedience, and the result is that obedience becomes your joy.-R. T. Ver. 49.-Man's trust a plea for securing God's faithfulness. "Because 'thou hast made me t-0 hope.'' "Those that make God's promises their portion may with bumble …
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Ver. 54.-.A good man's songs. "Thy statutes have been my songs." "When the Ea.stern tra.veller takes sheltc:r from the scorching heat of noon, or halts for the night in some inn or caravansary, which is for the time the house of his pilgrimage, he takes the sackbut or the lyre, and soothes his rest witb a song-a song,…
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Ver. 63.-.The good man's friends. "I am a companion of all them that fear thee." The man who most entirely turns to God as his Helper is the man who most anxiously seeks, and most wisely uses, the help of godly associations and friendships. Men's help to one another in the godly life is brought before us in this ver…
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Ver. 15.-The faithfulness of the Divine Chastener. "lu faithfulness thou hast afflicted me; " "'fhou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled n (Prayer- book Version)- "Who guideth mortals to wisdom, mo.keth them grasp lore Firmly through their pain." (Esch., 'Age.en.,' 172.) It was the marked peculiarity …
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Ver. SO.- What is a perfect heart? It is necessary to see that the term "perfect" varies its connotation according to the substantive word with which it stands con- nected. We speak of a perfect animal, and mean completely and healthily organized, according to the standard of that particular animal, We speak of a per…
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Ver. 88.-Divine quickening our supreme need. "Judge.d by his own, nnd, so far as we know, only work, the author of this psalm was a man wholly devoted to God and the Word of God. His confidence in that Word or Law, as the true rule of human life, bad been exposed to the severest trials. He had seen the wicked in author…
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I. ALL AROUND UB WE MAY BEE THE END OF PERFECTIO"ITB, The story of the ages is the story of well-conceived ideals in social and national lifo that were never realized. The story of individual iives that had only self-centred aims is this wail," My purposes are broken off." It is even a large truth that no life ever was…
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I. THE NECESSARY LIMITS OF HUMAN TEACJllNGS, 1. They nre limited by the mental ?apacily ~f those who tet1eh and those who are taught. 2. They are limited by the 11nperf,ict1011 of the vehicle by which human knowledge is conveyed. No human word has the same connotation for every one who uses it, and few words keep th…
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Ver. 106.-00'Tlji,rming our pledges by keeping them. "I have sworn, and am steadfastly purposed" (Prayer-book Version) ; " have confirmed it" (Revised Version). It is not enough that the light shines on our path; it is necessary that we should steadfastly fix our gaze on that part which the light illumines. The lamp sh…
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the matter to God i_n prnyer. But he did not ask for any change of his circumstances ; he asked to be quickened, soul-quickened; to be so filled with Divine life, and made so_ soul-strong, that he could rise above his circumstancee, however distressful they might be. And the apostle had to be taught by God the lesson …
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things, set on musing and meditation of heavenly things. The psalmist took and bent his heart, a.~ a. thing bending too much to other things; set his mind on musing on it. He found hie heart and the Law of God too far asunder, and 1;o would continue, unless be brought them together and mado them one. If he bad not brou…
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wicked!" (Prayer-book Version). If we take the psalmist ae representing the nation Israel establishing itself again after the Captivity, then the verse expresses its determi• nation to purify itself from the leaven of evil influence; from the power of every one who, and everything which, could be a hindrance to the ful…
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Vera. 119, 120.-Oonfidence in Goil:sjudgments blendingwithfe,ars. "Thou puttest away all the ungodly of the earth like dross. . . . My flesh trembleth for fear of thee." 'l'he good man h ve.riously affected by the judgments of God. He is not always in the mood to view them aright. It is intended that he should be influ…
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that was all very well as an ornament, but of no real use in this workaday world. There are many who still treat God's ,vord in this way. They do not take the trouble to deny its claims, to oppose its demands, or to doubt its teachings; they simply "shunt it off on a side line," and a.long the main track their train…
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Barry's outline of this section is suggestive. "The key-note of this meditative section is struck in the first words. God's dispensation is wondP.rful: • As the heaven is higher than the earth, BO are his ways higher than our ways.' His Word gives light only to simple faith (ver, 130); it sa:tisfies only those who long…
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Ver. 135.-The shining face. The expression is clearly a figurative one, and the i<lea is suggested by life at court. The courtiers watch the expression on the counten- ance of their king. The i.ign of bis favour and acceptance is given in his bright, smiling, "shining" face. If they are out of favour, they know it by t…
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Yer. 142.-All-round rigldeousness. "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteous- ness." The psalmist uses the word "everlasting" in a figurative way. He would never take the trouble to say so small, and indeed so unnecessary, a thing as that God's righteousness would last for ever. That is a truism. All righteousness…
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outside the mind, and presented to it. Meditation deals with the contents of the mind itself, and that which may be Auggested by the indwelling Spirit. A panorama of the ,;:ontents of our mind is continually moving before us. Usually we rapidly select to meet the need of the moment, according to the mental laws of asso…
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when what they really need is Divine hdp; not that God should do for them, but should enable them to do. Apply this to the deliverance of the soul from sin. Here man is helpless. "God must save, and God alone." But usually the saved man must unite his labour and h_is dependence on God in every endeavour to live out t…
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Ver. 162.-Finding spoil. The contrast suggested is between the possible aims a man may set before him. He may want to gain material success, wealth, fame, posi- tion-things which the psalmist satirizes cleverly by calling them "spoil." He may want to gain that personal culture, that perfecting of character, which is th…
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Ver. 171.--Joy in God's response. The metaphor in the Hebrew is "pour forth a stream of praise." "You have stood at the fountain-bead of a stream of water, and admired while it bubbled up and ran down in a clear little rivulet, till at length it swelled into the mighty river. Such is the allusion here. The heart taught…
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over reai:on and affection and conscience. 2. A law that guides by aiming at el1e i·e11ewal of our nature. In this respect how different from all human law I "'l'he Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." This Law not merely bids us obey, but urges us by grand arguments of love and obligation. And helps us …
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Ver. 15.-The use of ad·uersity. "I know, 0 Lord, that thy juclgments a,e right, and that thou in faithfulness bast afflicted me." I. A RECOG:?;llTION OF AFFLIOTI0N AB ONE OF GoD'B JUDGMENTS, God's judgmente are: 1. Remarkable punishments which God inflicts for sins. "J udgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes f…
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Ver. 5.-Woe is ma, that I sojonm in PSALM CXX. Mesech. This ill scarcely to be understood literally. Israel never "sojourned in Ver. 1.-In my distress I cried unto the Mesech," i.e. among the Moschi, who dwen Lord, and he heard me. The particulllr in Cappadocia, nor dwelt among the tents "distress" intended can only…
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tougue which is itself "a fire" (Jas. iii. 6) is to be consumed with burning conls. As is the sin,. so is the sorrow and the shame. The king that had done grievous domestic ~rong was to suffer in his own family (2 Sam. xii. 11). The traitor who betrayed his Master was to be deserted and thrown over by his own compan…
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deceitful men towards tbe people of God; In,the persecuting ac,es it was not ·unusual nor unnatural for_ the persecuted ones to ~int ,out, as proofs of°the Divine wrath, the fearful deaths which overtook many of their persecutors. True it is to-day that be who blesses the servants of God is blessed, and he who curses t…
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Ver. 3.-Sins of the tongue. "Thou deceitful tongue." Describing this tongue, the psalmist adds, "It is as the sharp arrows of the mighty man, as coals of broom." The sin specially in the view of the psalmist is that of the slanderer. What shall be done to him? "The law of retaliation can hardly meet the case, since …
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Ver. 4.-" Coals of juniper." This verse, and Its connection with the preceding one, may be explained in two ways. Ver. 4 may describe the" deceitful tongue," likening it to the sharp arrow of a mighty man, or to the fierce coals of the broom, which long keep their beat. Or it may indicate the swift and sure and overwhe…
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EXPOSITION. blessing, even life for evermore" (Ps. CllllxliL PSALM CXXI. 3). From whence cometh my help. Most THE preceding psalm is one of complaint; modern critics regard this clause as interro- tho present, one of comfort and consolation. gative, nnd transl11te," Whence is it that my help shall come?" Dut" the qu…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1--8.-Kept from all evt1. This is what the writer of this precious psalm looks for from God (see the first two verses), and this is what the psalm promises, and that with the utmost particularity. There shall not be even a slip of the foot, a thing so common in mountainous lands, …
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beautiful scenery to the blind. But if God be able-as be is-to impart that eame and even gr_eater inward happiness, peace, and joy by other means, and does so, as, blessed be his Name I he so often does, then again we ask-Has not God been true to his word ? is not this psalm actual fact? 'l'herefore we rest assured tha…
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Yers. 1, 2.-Looking up. "Shall I lift up mine eyes unto the hills? Whence should my help come?" The precise associations of the psalm cannot be fixed with any certainty. Perhaps it is best regarded as a psalm of the Exile. It mi"'ht havo been wri_tten by a Daniel, as he Mt at his open window, and looked away over"th…
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addresses bis inner self in words of comfort which are framed as if proceeding from another person. 'l'he peo.lmist is, as it were, holding a colloquy with himself. It is not that he expects help from the mountains-his hope i11 fixed on him who made the mountains. This comes out plainly in Perowne's rendering," Whence …
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Ver. 6.-Types of peril by day and by night. The sun and the moon. To under- stand these figures, it is necessary to keep in mind, n,1t only what the sun and moon actually are in Eastern countries, but also the sentiments which have gathered about them in those lands. I. THE SUN IS THE TYPE OF THE OPEN PERILS OF THE GO…
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Ver. 1.-Tlie safety of our life. "He shall keep thy soul." The term "soul" stands often in the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments for the animal life; but we use it for that spiritual being which man is, as distinguished from that bodily form which man has. Taking the first idea, it may be shown that God's c…
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EXPOSITION. Ver. 2.-0ur feet sh&ll st&nd; rather, PSALM CXXII. stand, or are standing. The pilgrim-band he.a entered the oity, and is on its way to THB " title " &11signs this psalm to De. vid; God's houso, Within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem, and there seems to be no sufficient reason Jerusalem he.s its "we.Ila" (ver. …
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(ver. 3); its forces not scattered, dissipated, lost, but united, well-ordered for defence and for aggression. ,vhere there is unity of spirit, aim, and action, there is strenath to withstand and to achieve. 4. A wise regard for onr own welfare and n true conc~rn for others' good will make us love and serve the Church …
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VII. SHE IS TO BE DEVOTEDLY LOVED AND PRAYED l!'OB. (Vers. 6-9.) For God the Lord dwells within her (ver. 9). All her excellence, authority, and strength are because of this, and only this. Do owr feet stand within her gates ?-8. C. Ver. 1.-Glad to go to the house of the Lord. The feeling expressed here is note- worth…
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of Olives; his sense of its past glories and of its present titles to honour-the thrones of David 1md of Solomon, the sacred temple. But there are presages of coming trouble in the air, and as the psalmist thinks of his brethren in the faith who live within its walls, and of the house of God, which was its prominent…
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compact 1-Jsut,:r of a highland fortress, its buildings as seen from below standincr out e.;;;e.inst the clear Syria:i sky, and conveying an impression of grace and strencrth that would long linger in the memory " (Liddon). The attachment of Mohamm:dans to the sacred city of Mecca is well known, and almost every rel…
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is lo,·c. Those multitudes of Jews in the temple had one common love, and so one co1.1,JJ1un life. They loved Jerusalem, they loved the God who glorified Jerusalem by his presence. And so the Christian unity is the unity of a common life, whose sign is a common love to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every Christian will join…
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key-note of the Jewish religion. It expresses the conception of God. "Hear, O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord." So unity most be the idea everywhere and in every~ thing. The pri_m~r:r idea. of the r?ligion most ~et representation in every conceivable form. A mult1phc1ty of concept10ns of God 1s condemned. A variety…
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a poet who usul\lly lived in the country. Describes the.pleasure felt at invitation to join I\ pl\rty who were going up to one of the feasts. We have the joy and music of the journey; then the impressions on arrival, the first passionate delight of bei □ g in the holy city-a city beautifully built, well compacted, ador…
809 wordsSource & rights
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.