The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1 — Section 298

it was looked on by him a.s a. chastisement for his transgressions (cf. vere. 8, 11). 2. It is, under s'UCh cr'.rcurr.stances, very hai·d to be absolutely still. So the first verse implies. There is little indication tha.t the disturbing trouble arose (as some suggest) from seeing the prosperity of the wicked; but evidently there ie some distinctively personal trouble, probably sickness a.nd weakness, which, with all the public demands made upon him, weighs heavily upon his soul, a.nd he is tempted to complain aud to seek sympathy from without. But: 3. He is in the midst of uncongenial soul~. (Ver. 1.) "The wicked is before me." Note: Earthly men are poor companions in the distresses of spiritual men, To the natural man the sorrows of a spiritual man would be altogether unintelligible. .And supposing that the troubles here referred to aroso about the time of and in connection with .Absalom's rebellion, the majority of those round about David would be men whose thoughts and aims moved entirely in the military or political sphere. Hence: 4. Here is a wise resolve. (Vers. 1, 2.) He will say nothing. There would be many reasons for this. (1) No one would enter into his feelings. (2) What he said would be misunderstood. (3) He would conse- quently be misrepresented. (4) The more he said, the worse matters would be. .And (5) if he told men what he thought and felt, he would be very likely to say something which he would afterwards regret, "That I sin not with my tongue." Hence silence is his wisest course. 5. But suppressed grief consumes like a fire. (Ver. 3.) There is nothing which so wears out the soul, nor which so burns within, as woe to which no vent can be given; so David found it, a.nd consequently: 6. The silence is broken. "Then spake I with my tongue." But, in breaking the silence, he speaks not to man, but to God, .After the word " tongue," the .Authorized Version has a comma, but the Revised Version a colon, indicating that what he said is about to follow. What an infinite mercy that when we cannot say a word to man, through fenr of being mis- understood, we can speak to God, a.nd tell him exactly what we feel, as we feel it, knowing that then we touch a heart infinitely tender, and address an intelligence infinitely wise I 7. In speaking to God he moans and groans. (Vera. 4--6.) Does David speak petulantly i' Is he asking God to let him know how long he has to endnre all this? Is he adducing the frailty and nothingness of man as an argument against his being allowed to suffer thus? So many think, and some, as Calvin, are very h.ard on David-very. But why? There is a vast difference between the fretful- ness of an overburdened man and the waywardness of a rebellious man. .And he who knows our frame, :takes the difference into account. When Elijah pettishly said, "Now, 0 Lord, take away my life I" God did not rebuke him; he sent an angel to him, and said, ".Arise and eat; the journey is too grent for thee." 1 8. He declares tl,at his expectation of relief is in God alone. (Ver. 7.) Just so. These are not the words of a rebellious, but of a trusting one. .And from that point of view the whole psalm must be regarded (cf. Ps. lxii.). 9. Be will not utter a word of complaint. (Ver. 9.) Render," I a.m dumb; I open not my mouth, because thou hast done it" (' Variorum Dible'). "Thyself hast done it." On this fact faith fastens; and when this is tho case, not e. word of murmuring will escape the lips. The cry of e. trusting soul is, "Bero am I; let him do with me as seemeth him good " (2 Sam. xv. 26). 10. Yet he supplicates. (Vera. 8, 10, 13.) First, he desires deliverance from sin, then a mitiga- tion of the suffering; such is the order, and the order which only e. saint would name. The last verse is, in our versions, obscure. The word "spare" should not be read in the sense intended when we say, "If I am spared," etc., but in the sense of" 0 spare me this sorrow I" It is a repetition of ver. 10, "Remove this stroke a.way from me." It asks not for prolongation of life, but for mitigation of pain. The Revised Version margin gives a more correct translation of the phrase, "that I may recover strength; " rather, "that I may brighten up." No conclusion can be drawn from the end of the thirteenth verse, as to the psalmist's view of another life. 'l'he Prayer-book Version, "and be no more seen," gives the sense. 11. The supplication is accompanied by a tender plea. (Ver. 12.) "I am a stranger with thee, and a sojour □ er, as all my fathe~s were." .Archbishop Leighton beautifully expresses the force of this plea, "lu this world, wherein thou hast appointed me to sojourn a. few days, and I betake myself to thy protection in this strange country. I seek shelter under the shadow of th7 wings, therefore have compassion upon me." 1 Bee a serrnon on Elijah, by Robertson of Brighton.  1'11, XXXIX, 1-13.] TllE BOOK OF PSALMS. 809