The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3 — Section 349

IIOMILIES BY YAHIOUS AUTHORS. Vez:. 4.-Thoughts tha:t perish. It has been remarked that whilst In so large a part of the Bible we have the history of the Church, in the Psalms we have the voice of the Church. And a very varied voice it is-varied as are the vicissitudes and manifold experiences of the people of God. But here, at the close, the tremulous tones of sorrow a~d distress, of fear and anxiety, and of piteous pleading, which we have so often met with, are all hushed, and instead, we have one jubi11J.ot note of praise-at eventide there is light. It is with this Book of Psalms as it is with those who love it most that both for it and them there is this bright and gladsome endinc,. But it is for the~ only. Here, in the words which are before us, a very different t:'rmination is contem- plated. The enemies of God and of his people are spoken of; and concernin" them and their utter extinction, the psalmist declares that not only do they die-th;ir "breath goeth forth "-but their bodies crnm ble into dust-" he returneth to his earth "-and even their very thoughts perish. They may have boasted loudly of what they would do-have breathed out threatening and slaughter; but death comes, and in that very day their thoughts perish. Now, in considering this declaration, let us- L EXPLAIN ITS MEANING. 1. It tells Qf men's thoughts. Thoughts are the rulers and real governor~ of me!!· The power of thought is man's noblest faculty, and its results a.re more far-reaching than that of all his other powers. By it he is distinguished from, and raised above, all the rest of the creation of God; and upon the use of this faculty depend his character and condition now, and his eternal destiny beyond the grave. 2. But it is said that men's thoughts perish. This is not true of all thoughts of men, for many of them do not perish, but live with a vigour and vitality, after the death of him in whom they originated, far greater than ever they possessed during his lifetime. .And this has to be said even of many of those thoughts which it wero well for men that they should perish; for embodied in books, imprinted on the hearts and nature of children, transmitted from one generation to another, it is all too plain that evil thoughts may live on, and work wide mischief, though the men whose minds first conceived them have long passed away. Happy would it have been for us if their thoughts had perished with them; but they have not, and in a very real and awful sense, "he that is unholy is unholy still, and he that is filthy is filthy still." And assuredly good thoughts do not perish. What is the Bible, but the record of holy and precious thoughts, which have by no means perished, and which are fruitful of good now, perhaps, more than at auy previous period since they were given to the minds of the holy men of old who spake or wrote them down? And what do we not owe to the recorded or remembered thoughts of good men now no more? How the deep convic- tions of such men, expressed not only in words, but in their lives, have influenced those who have come after them, even to many generations I It is, therefore, certain that all men's thoughts do not perish in that very day on which they die. But our text is true of all unem bodied thoughts. Like as it was needful for God to become incarnate if men were to fully know him, or, indeed, to know him at all, so those spiritual product of our min<le-our thoughts-must take form and substance, body and shape, if they aro to have any influence upon ourselves or others. And they do this in many ways. 'l'hey a.re seen in character. "As a man thinketh .•. so is he ; " so that we can reason back from a man's character to the nature of his thoughts. And in the character of others. Now, a man's children reveal not seldom what he is; what his main thoughtR have been are shown by the impress they have left on them, and this both for good and evil. And they are heard or read in his wor<ls-in a man's letters, or books, or dis- course-and thus their influence is made permanent. And in deeds. 'l'hese stereotype thought, and make for it an abiding power. Now, such thoughts do not perish with a man's earthly life; they continue, and often increaso in power. But all other thoughts perish-all such as nre merely thoughts, and have never been embodied in character, or word, or deed. And there are a vast number of these. Mere purposes and intentions that remain such. The psalmist is comforting himself with the reflection that the wild, cruel purposes of the fo?s of God'&. people will all come to nought when those who have formed them die. And for the blessing of the Church of God, what a host of these thoughts have perished! And so, too, with good intenlions, if they arc not noted ou. The road to hell is raved with such. Death comes, and "in that very dny," etc. PS, oxtv.1. 1-10,] THE DOOK OF PSALMS.