The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3 — Section 175

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- worthy, to say the least of it; for- I. Suen GLADNESS IS BARE, The proof of that is seen in the multitudes that never go at all. And of those who do, how many go as seldom as possible !-an hour and a ha! f a week is considered ample for church-going. And of those whC' are more regular and frequent, can it be said that they are glad to go? Is it not the sense of duty, the necessity of upholding a religious reputation, desire to please friends, force of habit, wish to set good example, fear of a condemning conscience, or some other motive such as these? But bow seldom is there much gladness about it, except when it is all over! What a contrast to the exuberant delight which is evident throughout this psalm I We often sing it, but how often do we mean it? II. BuT BIGHT. Ought we not to be "glad when," etc.? Surely yes. For: 1. B is "Divine service." But how should we like a child of ours to grudge rendering us service, to get out of it whenever he could, and, when he could not, ti:> render it in as half-hearted a way as possible? But this is just how we treat God in this service which he enj0ins upon us. 2. .And it is God's chosen place of meeting with us. Ought we to be loth to meet him, or to avoid such meeting whenever we can find any sort of excuse to do so? We do not so deal with earthly pareuts or benefactors, 3. And it is the place where he blesses those who come. Mere gratitude should make us glad to "go into the house," etc. III. AND MOST REASONABLE. What led the psalmist to thus feel and speak? Be does so oftentimes. 1. The remembrance of the revelations of God he had received there. (Cf. Ps. !xiii. 3, "To see thy power and thy glory, so as," etc.) His soul had been filled with holy rapture and joy in God. 2. The confident expectation of similar blessing. He went desiring God, which is ever the condition of blessing from God. 3. His whole spiritual life had been so quickened and strengthened there. '!'here the chains of sin had fallen off, the burden of guilt removed, the sorrows of bis life soothed, and he had been filled with the Spirit of God, 4. The worship itself was beautiful, and the throng of worshippers, and all the associations and memories of the place, enhanced the joy of worship. 5. And like reasons are in force still. The age, place, forms, are all different; but the spiritual realities which the psalmist knew, the true worshipper knows still. He too has met with God, and God with bim, ns the holy Word has been preached, the fervent prayer offered, the hymn of praise sung, and the holy bread and wine of the Communion partaken of. Often and often bas it been the ante-chamber of heaven. IV. AND RESULTFUL, They who arc glad to join in worship, to whom it is a real delight, a.re a very favoured people. And the results of their worship will be many. 1. For themselves. It is a witness of the reality of their faith nnd love o.ml acceptance with God. It is full of inspiration; such glad worship will not evaporate in mere feeling, but will become embodied in holy word and deed and life. It gives them neo.ven before they get there, nncl it is a mighty means, through the Holy Spirit, of their so.nctification. 2. For the Church: they are the conservators and the promoters of its best life. 3. For the world : they are witnesses for the love of God and the joy of his service. 4. For God : he is glorified in them.-S. C. Ver. 1.-Joy in God's service. "l was glad," etc. It is well a.greed among Bible writers that this cannot be a psalm of David's; it must belong to the time immediately before, or the time subsequent to, the Exile, but very differe°:t opinions are entertained concerning its immediate ossocintions. Liddon says, "'l'bo pilgnm who composed the psalm would have belonged to one of the ten separated tribes, h~t he had remained, o.fter the general defection, true to the divinely orde~ed wors)11p at Jerusalem, nnd this psalm may well have been composed on the occasion of his first visit. We observe in it bis deli"bt at the mere prospect of the journey; his ecstasy at - finding himself, or at the very thought of finding himself, within the sacred gates; hie wonder at tho aspect of the city lying before him as he stood, probably, on tho Mount  196 THE BOOK OF PSALMS, [rs. oxxn. 1-9.