ark wo.s brought home." He asks," Was it composed after the triumphant extermination of tho Syro-Arumonitisb War?" Hengstenberg remarks, "The relation which Davin had in view when he composed this psalm for public use was that of the Church of God to its external enemies." Note: It is a fitting occasion for sanctuary-song when God's people are delivered from threatening perils. Many English hearts would send up such a shout of praise as we find here, over England's deliverance from the Spanish Armada. The joy, however, was not in its destruction, but in Britain't1 safety. For a pulpit exposition of the psalm, we have five lines of thought presented to us. I. WE HAVE HERE SHOWN us IN WHAT PERIL GoD's PEOPLE HAD BEEN PLACED. Although we cannot be sure to what specific events this psalm refers, yet several phrases therein show us the kind of peril to which the writer alludes, and thus put both expositor and preacher on the line for usefully and helpfully dealing therewith on any special occasion when unusual perils beset the Church of God. E.g.: 1. Enemies (ver. 3). 2. Oppression (ver. 12). 3. Murder (ver. 12). 4. Deceit (ver. 15). Four formidable terms, surely-sufficiently typical of perils which have bad to be con- fronted again and again in the history of God's Church, whether from paganism, or from the papacy, or from mere worldly hostility to goodness and truth. II. GoD HAD WROUGHT A GREAT DELIVERANCE FOB BIS PEOPLE. The psalm is, owing to this deliverance, one of triumph and joy. 1. It was so illustrious as to be altogether marvellous, yea, miraculous (ver. 1). 2. God had manifested his judg- ments (ver. 7). 3. He bad rebuked the nations (ver. 6). 4. Had brought guilty cities low, and even blotted them out (ver. 6). 5. Had shown himself as the Goel, the Avenger of innocent blood (ver.12). 6. Had manifested his remembrance of the poor and of the oppressed (ver. 12). 7. Had made the devices of the wicked to recoil upon themselves, These are but so many illustrative forms of the way in which God's pro- vidence is ever work.iag in the world, even now, under the administralion of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Head over all things to his Church. III. Suon DELIVERANCES HAD THROWN GREAT LIGHT ON Gon's CHARACTER, wom:s, AND WAYS, They had shown: 1. How truly there is a throne high above all the scheming and plotting of men (ver. 7)1 2. That under the sway of that throne judg- ment is administered for all who are oppressed. 3. That this judgment is manifested in vindicating right and putting wrong to shame (vers. 7, 8). 4. That such glorious and gracious government reveals the lustre of God's everlasting Name. .All providential dealings are disclosers of God. "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, eveu they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." IV. A BONG OF GRATITUDE, TRIUMPH, AND TRUST IS BEREDY AWAKENED. The very beginning of the psalm is an outburst of thankfulness (ver, 1). The psalmist gathers from deliverances already effected, a ground of trust in God for future days (vers. n, 10). Judgments already brought to pass prove that God will not let evil deeds slumber in everlasting forgetfulness, aud that he will not let the cry of the humble and down- trodden remain for ever unheard (ver. 12). Yea, more. They prove the glorious tmth which is triumphantly proclaimed in ver. 17, "The wicked shall return to Sheol, nnd all the nations that forget God." Few verses, indeed, have been more violently twisted than this to make it suit the exigencies of medireval theology. It bas been repeatedly dealt with as if it were a sentence on the wicked of everlasting woe. 'l'be question of future punishment is dealt with clearly enough in other parts of the Word of God. But it is not that which is intended here. The verso means- God will not suffer wicked people or nations perpetually to oppress the Church. In a little, in his own good time, they shall return to the dust whence they came, anll enter the invisible realm of the dead.1 'l'hat this is the meaning intended is shown by the verse which follow3 (ver. 18; cf. also Ps. xxxvii. 10). Cheer up, ye poor, dis- l)ised, and oppressed peop! e of God I Your Vindicator liveth. He will bring you forth to the light when your foes shall have vanished from the scene. V, THE GRATEFUL BONG OVRB MERCIES PAST IS FOLLOWED BY A PRAYER THAT MERCIES YET NEEDED MAY BE vouoBSAFED, 1. Althou~h there had been n marked deliverance, yet the affliction from which the psalmist bad suffered still loft its scars upon him. Hence the prayer in vers. 13, 14. 'l'he oppression and the oppressor may be speedily removed, but the depression thereby caused lnsts long arter, And on\y th:, 1 Calvin'~ striking words on this verse should be pondered. 62 THE DOOK OF l'SALMS. [PS, IX. 1-20,
r,rolonged bestowal of grace to help in time of need will ever bo sufficient to moet the caso. 2. The future security of the world depends on tho manifestation of tho Divine presence aud power; in counteracting the base designs of men, in assertin.-r tho right, and avenging the wrong (ver. 19). 3. This co,n only be done, perhnps, by°such judgments ns will make the nations tremble, and so will cause them to feel their utter impntence in the grasp of the mighty God (vr.r. 20). Note: The remarks, applicable to so many psalms, should not be overlooked here. 1. That we have here, not words of God to man, but words of man to Goel. Hence they mny or may not be models for our imitation. Anywny, no inspiration in prayer can rise above the level of the revelation which had been granted where and when ~uch prayer was offered. 2. Although, in every country and age, prayer from the heart must be limited by the measure of light in the conscience, yet a gracious God will answer it, not according to its limitation or imperfection, but accordin.-r0 to his infinite wisdom, his boundless love, and his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 3. The Divine answers to such prayers as we find in the psalm, although they bring deliver- ance to the righteous, will bring terror and confusion to the wicked, The destruction of Pharaoh's host is the salvation of the hosts of the Lord.-C.