The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3 — Section 341

where our love is stirred. Admiration is good, but love is that in which God delights, and only his saints can render him that. Admiration, that which excites our praise, may leave our heart cold and uncheered; but love enkindles a. blessed inward fire, which illuminates and cheers the heart wherein it burns. Those who bless the Lord are blessed or him, and blessed they arc. III. 'l1HE TRANSITION FROM ONE TO THE OTHER. From the outer circle to the inner. 1. For men it is possible. For it has often been accomplished. Every regenerated heart has been translated from the one to the other, and the transition is ever taking place. And the whole Bible is full of declarations and directions on the matter. 'l'o ·bring it about is the a.im of all God's dealings with us. 2. And the means are plainly shown. Let there be the desire to enter into this inner circle, then the steps are lhe renunciation or all known sin; for it is sin alone that keeps us back. '!'hen tho surrender of the will to God, that which he means when he says, "Give me thine heart." This will involve obedience to God's commands, and then, for the maintenance of all this, and for the full entrance into the state of grace, Jet there be continual trust in God to do his work in your soul. 3. And how infinitely desirable all this is I For our own sake, for that of others, and for the honour of Christ.-S. C. Ver. 14.-For the fallen and the falling. How different are the ways of him whose everlasting kingdom and enduring dominion are told or in the previous verse, from the ways of the world and of hard and selfish men I Vre victis ! is the world's verdict, and the facts of life too often confirm it; but the Lord, he is the Saviour of the unsuccessful, the Speaker of heart-cheering words to the crushed ones in life's stern conflict, and the Performer for them of correspondiug deEds. I. CONSIDER THE TWO CLASSES OF PERSONS BEBE SPOKEN OF. 1. The:m that fall. How many of these there are in the secular struggle I The fight for mere life is not seldom so severe that ma.ny are beaten down, and unless men have some upholJer, 6ome strong support a.nd prop, there would be no hope for any of them. And in the eocial struggle: there ie the perpetual effort to advance in position; but there nre many who are not only utterly unable to raise themselves to a higher social grade, but are unable even to maintain the position in which they now are; they are on the verge of a precipice, and they are in constant peril of falling over and down. An,! in the intellectual struggle: how the eager scholar strives, but the contests seem to get harder every day, and the overtaxed brain too often threatens to give way altogether I And there is the physical struggle: the conditions of life are often so destructive to health that they render full vigour of body an unattainable thing, or, if at first preserved, inevitably and speedily lost, and then what ca.n a man do? And, above all, there ie the spiritual struggle, to keep the garment of the soul unspotted, and the heart pnre, and tho will steadfast and true to God. Ah, how difficult is all this I How often we are compelled to confess, "My feet !,ad well-nigh slipped" I How many are there of those fallen or falling ones I 2. .And then, there are" those that be bowed down." They do not fall, but it is with bent form and weary feet and burdened spirit that they stagger on ns they best con. How frequent are the cries and complaints of such bowed-down ones heard in these Psalms (Eee Ps. xiii., etc.) I II. Sim WHAT TllE LORD DOES FOR Tmrn:. l. He upholdeth the fallin_q ones. Illustrati,,n: the woman taken in adultery (John viii.; Luke vii. 37, etc.). He docs this by, as in these cases, gracious words; or through human ministries of symp.,thy and help; or by tho kindly ordering of his providence; or, and yet more, by the ministry of tho Holy Spirit shedding a.broad in our hearts the love or God. 2. He raiseth up them that are bowed down. (Luke xiii. 16.) 'l'be worl<l. says that tho weakest must go to the wall; but the Lord's thoughts concerning them are far other- wise. And so, also, have been and are his deeds, Tho saiats on earth nnd in heaven attest this. III. WHEREFORE Goo THUB DEALS wrrn THEM. Becaueo God is love. So he wins trophies of his grace; and his most devoted servants, and successful workers ; and thus he encourages all men to trust in him. IV. IN WHAT WAY flHOULD WE DESPOND? By rendering heartfelt praise; by imitating his example; by turning to and trusting him for ourselves; by making known bis 1race,-S. C.  3S4 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PB, OXLV, 1-21. ----- -~--- ---------------·--------- Ver. 16.-The opening of Go~s hand. We are wont to admire much in our fellow- men the open band, the free, generous impartation of what we have to those who have not. It is by no means too common a sight, bnt a very pleasant one when it can be 8Cen. Close-fistedness is much more the rule than open-handedness. BL1t God is the God of the open hand; the bounteous Benefactor of a.II, of good and bad alike. And not alone the love of God is shown, but his power likewise. Wit.h what toil and stress do we accomplish our works I what strain of effort we put forth I But God has but to open his band: he speaks, and it is done; he commands, and, etc. All the processes and products of nature are but the opening of his hand; thus simply, and with the aug_ust and Divine spontaneity of omnipotence, be supplies and satisfies the innumerable, varied, ever-recurring, and vast necessities of all his creatures. I. How ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND THIS? Certainly the broad declarations of this verse need explanation. Hence we remark: 1. That the desires which God will th'IJ,B satisfy do not mean all desires. Those of the wicked God does not satisfy. He may at times seem to; but ask the wicked themselves whether ernn then they are satisfied. They are not, and never can be. And there are many foolish and mistaken desires of good men which God does not satisfy; it would be ill for us if he did. 2. But they are the desires which he himself purposed that they should be satisfied. He created them, and designs that they should be met; they belong both to the body and the soul; they have to do with time, and with eternity likewise. 3. The universality of the text must not be insisted on even/or these. For it declares only what is the general order of God's dealings with his creatures; it is his rule, but that rule has many exceptions. The lower and lesser purpose of satisfying our desires may have to give way to one that is higher and greater. This is the meaning of all the afflictions of the righteous. 4-. Nevertheless, the rule holds good. God does open his hand, etc. We a.re apt so to gaze on the exceptions as to lose sight of the rule; this is wrong and hurt- ful every way. 5. And God acts in varied ways, not in any one way only. For all creatures other than man he ministers directly to their need; but for man he employs our own faculties, and thus only indirectly are our desires satisfied. II. ,VHAT IB ITB PROOF? Many think in their hearts, Hnd some openly say, that it is their own efforts that secure to them the satisfaction of their desires. God does not give to them their daily bread-they earn it; man is his own provider. Hence they demur to snch declarations as in this verse. But a little reflection will show the fallacy of such thoughts; for: 1. Does not God provide both the tools-powers of mind and body-with which we work, and the material on which we work 1 Heuce, were there o □ ly our work, where would our satisfied desires be? And the energy, too, the living force without which we could not work at all-is not this also from God? What a mere fraction of all that needs to be done is that which we do I 2. .And were it much greater, what would that be in view of the magnitude, variety, and urgency of need that meets us on every hand 1 If God did not do as is here said, what could man do? How idle, then, is it to attribute to any other than God the supply of all our wants I Ill. WHAT DOES IT SAY TO us? Yery much indeed; God help us to give heed I .And : 1. "Bless ye the Lord, praise him and mngnify him for ever." That surely is the first claim which this truth makes upon us. 2. "011,put thy trust in the Lord." Does not tl,at word come to us from all these bounties of our God? 3. "1/ God thus cares/or my body, wi7l he not much more care/or my soul 1" Will he thus minister to the short- Iived, material nature, and neglect or forget the eternal and spiritual? It is impossible. 4. What must the abominableness of sin be that compels a God so gracious to inflict on us, because of it, so great and awful distresses? Not for a little thing would man have to suffer as we see be has. 5. JJ the opening of his hand be so blessed/or us, what must be the result of the shedding of the blood of his well-beloved Son P Let us not be content with the lower gifts, as too many are, but seek those highest ones which are the purchase of the blood of Christ. 6. Let us be open-handed ourselves. (Altered and ,bridged from A. Fuller.)-S. C.