The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1 — Section 355

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-9.-A song for all the peoples I That it is possible this psalm may have been penned immediately after some specific victory, such 11s that of Jehoshaphat over the formidable combination of peoples that came up against him (2 Chron. xx.), we may admit; but we can scarcely understand how the peoples should have been invited to clap their hands at their own humiliating defeat. And it seems to us altogether unworthy of the sublime elevation of this psalm to look at it solely, or even mainly, from a military point of view, as if all the nations were invited to II song of triumpli over their utter i,owerlessness to prevail against the ohosen people of God. Delitzscli remarks, "In tho mirror of the present event, the poet reads the great fact of the  368 TUE BOOK 01<' PSALl\1S, [PS, XLVII, 1-9, ----- ---------------------------- 'conversion of all peoples to Jehovah, which closes the history of tho world." 1 Perowne writes, " This is a hymn of triumph, in which the singer calls upon all tho nations to praise Jehovah as their King, and joyfully anticipates the time when they ~hall all become one body with the people of the God of Abraham." 9 Canon Cook ~1tys, ""While celebrating a transaction of immediate interest to God's people the psalmist uses expressions throughout which have their adequate fulfilment ir{ the Person and work of the Messiah." 3 And Dr. Binnie wisely remarks that the invita- t.ion to the nations, in the first verse, plainly implies that the subjuaation is not a carnal one, but "the yearning of men's minds and hearts for God."• w: are not called on to decide, nor even to ask the question-How much did the human penman of this psalm understand by it? Nor are we to perplex ourselves by asking-How could any human mind forecast all this? For it is not by any law of naturalistic psychology that such a psalm as this is to be tested. 'l'he Apostle Peter tells us that "no prophecy of the Scripture comes out of any private interpretation" of the will of God. Nay, further, that the will of man was not the origin of prophecy (2 Pet. i. 21), but that holy men of God spake as they were borne on by the Holy Ghost. He tells us, too (1 Pet. i. 10-12), that they did not comprehend the full significance of the words which came from their lips; that they diligently inquired into their meaning; that they uttered th~m, not for themselves, but for us; that their theme was "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." So that, having this key to the interpretation of the prophetic songs of Scripture, we see that such remarks as those of Cheyne concerning prophecy and psychology 6 are utterly wide of the mark, and that the sole question before us is- What do the words of this psalm declare, when dealt with acccrding to the analogy of faith, concerning the prophetic forecast of the lcingdom of the Messiah 1 I. ~ WORDS OF THIS PSAL:lil DISCLOSE A GREAT THEME FOB SONG. A theme evidently much vaster and more far-reaching than the results of any material, local, or national triumph could possibly be; for it is one which is calculated to make all peoples 6 clap their hands with joy, which could not possibly be true of any victory on an earthly battle-field. We feel increasingly that the terms of this psalm are intelli- gible only as referred immediately to the conflict and victory of the great Captain of salvation in undertaking to "save" his people from their sins. As Matthew Poole admirably remarks, "In Psalmo 45 actum est de Rege; in Psalmo 46 de civitate Dei; hie, de Gentium :idjunctione ad populum Dei, quam per Christum impletam vide- mus." 7 And thus we see how far ahead the expansiveness of the Old Testament predictions was of the narrow exclusiveness of the average Jew. Here there is a celebration of God's work which brings out expressions of greatest delight. 'l.'he delight is in a triu.mphant achievement that will link all nations in one; and the cause of the delight is uot their work, but God's work for them, To nothing but the redemption which is in Christ Jesus could all this possibly apply, Here is a fourfold work of God. 1. The descent of the King to earth. In ver. 6 we read, "God is gone up with a shout." So in Ps. lxviii. 18, "Thou hast ascended up on high," etc. In quoting this last-named verse, the Apostle Paul argues (Eph. iv. 9), "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth?" The ascension implies that he descended. How can it be otherwise here? That God has gone up from earth involves the truth that he was here; and that means that he came down from heaven (so John iii. 13; xvi. 28; xvii. 5, 24; Luke xix:. 10; 2 Cor. viii. 9; Phil. ii. 6, 7; 1 'fim. i. 15). The coming of the So!1 Incarna~e int? the world is the fact announced in the New Testament, and many times preclicted ID the Old • • Commentary on the Psalms,' in loc. : Introduction to his notes on this psalm, • • Speaker's Commentary,' vol. iv. p. 1180. • • The Psalms,' by William Binnie, D.D., eh, ix.," Tho Future Glories of the Church," 8pecially § 3. • Cont.empMary Rer,iew, August, 1889, article; also in Contemporary Review, April, 1890, sec a masterly article by Professor Cave, in reply to Cheyne and Driver on the Old Test&• ment and its critics. • Note the plural form as indicated in our Revised Versiou. • • Poli Synopsis Criticorum,' in loc.  re. xr,vu. 1-9.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 36()