The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3 — Section 88

to the altar. Do we not find how our hearts would go off to the world again? What tendency to turn from Christ there is I The down-drag of the world the flesh and the devil are terrible indeed. Do we not find this in our prayers? How ~ur minds wander I how difficult to fix our attention I Sa.tan is ever busy with suggestions aud temptations to make us take back our sacrifice. IV, Bu1• THEClE ARE OOBDS1 TRUSTY AND STRONG, WITH WHICH WE MAY ll!ND THE SACRIFICE TO THE ALTAR. As it was with our Lord-to whom this whole psalm is fur ever pointing us-there were cords which bound him, and the same will bind us. 1. The cord of love. This was his motive, and must be ours. Not fear, not the goadings of conscience, not mere sense of duty, but love. "The love of Christ constraineth me," said St, Paul. This is one chief cord. 2. Faith. Not mere creed, but trnst, reliance. This was one of Christ's cords. His enemies mocked him on the cross, "He trusted in God, that he would deliver him!" They were right; he did ever trust in God. Hs wns sure that his Father's will was right, and that the path ordained for him was the right one. And so must it be with us. We have to walk by faith, not by sight. If we let go our trust, we shall certainly take back the sacrifice we have brought. But trust keeps it on the altar of consecration. 3. Obedience. This was tlie habit of our Lord's life. He did always that which pleased God. And so with us. Let us form the habit of obedience, and we shall find that the very idea of a contrary course becomes alien to the mind. To do God's will becomes almost instinctive with us. 4. Deli9ht, not mere duty. (Cf. our Lord's words, Ps. xl. 8.) It is good to do God's will, even when we feel no delight; but how much happier and more effectual is our service when we do I And if we persistently serve the Lord, we shall find delight in his service. These are the cords which held our Lord to his sacrifice, and will hold us to ourd.-8. C. Ver. 3.-Fumily experience of Divine mercies. This is evidently a liturgical psalm., and on the whole it seems best to associate it either with the dedication of the second temple by the returned exiles, or with their keeping of the Feast of Tabernacles. The personal expressions in it need not be misunderstood. The speaker is a typical individual representing the nation. (For the probable occasion, see Neh, viii.13-18.) "The psalm is vividly dramatic, representing the leader of Israel with his train coming to the temple, calling for the gates to be opened to his triumplial entrance, and going in to worship the Lord, The psalm is dramatically distributed to different actors. In vers. 1-4 we have (a) the opening chorus of thanksgiving from the train of the king or leader without and the priests within; then (b) in vers. 5-9 the king thankfully records his deliverance and confidence in the Lord, and his thanksgiving is taken up by a response of like trust; next (c) in vers. 10-16 he again exults in his sure victory over all nations in the Lord's Name, in spite of fierce opposition ancl danger, and i8 answered similarly by utterance of triumph from the people; on this, (d) in vers. 16-- 20, follows his summons to open the gates, answered by consent from within; then (e) in vers, 21-24, entering the temple, he pours out his thanksgiving, u.ncl all alike, priests and people, glorify the Lord on ' the day that he has made ; ' finally, (/) in vers. 25-29, he prays, 'Save, I beseech thee' (HoBanna), and is' blessed as coming in the Name of the Lord;' and the whole psalm ends with 11, chorus of universal praise to God" (Barry). "One or two writers have thought this psalm to be too legal in its constant dwelling upon the idea of duty, But duty is the fly-wheel of the spiritual machinery. It does not inspire the noble life, it regulates it, and the psalm is for the use of thoRe who have already received inspiration from the sight of the city of God.'' We fix attention on thi, first sphere of the enduring Divine mercy. For his goodness in family life our thanks are continually due. The house of .Aaron was the type and representative of the houses (families) of Israel. And God's dealings with it suggest his dealings with them. I. Goo's FAMILY MERCIES APPEAR AS DIVINE SELECTIONS. We are fawiliar with the idea that God, in his wisdom and mercy, selects individuals for particular ministries, and honours them with the trust of such ministries; and it is but an enlargement of the truth to see, that in a similar way he selects families and com• munities and nations. The selection of the lwuse, or family, of Aaron fur priestly services, and of Heman for musical services, aud of David for kingly services, are illustrations. And it is well when families can re:ilize that the mercies of Uod to them 96 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS, (XVIIL 1-29,