The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 2 — Section 129

YI. OUR LORD J~us CHRIST IS THE BUPI\EME EXAMPLE OF THIS, Despised of men. My soul, what is he to thee ?-S. C. Yer. 1.-The responsibaity of heai·ers. "Incline your ears." 'l'his pso.lm is regarded ne the first 11nd great.est of the historicll.!. psalms. It is "an inspired comment on the sacred history, with an avowed didactic purpose of warning, by a recital of God's repeated mercies, and of Israel's repeated sins. The historical psalms he.ve a double value. They illustrate and confirm the historic record, always giving it vividness, and occasionally adding fresh touches of detail. But their real importance lies in the light which they throw on the religious conception of that history, which, indeed, alone makes it a cor.tinual lesson on the eternal will of God, and the unchanging characteristics of humanity." This psalm may be compared to the modem sermon or religious address; which differs from teaching in being an appeal to feeling, emotion, and principle, as well as to intellect. The Hebrew people were, and still are, easily interested in public teachers who ce.n skilfolly review the national history. But the point to which attention is now directed is, that there is a double responsibility when the teacher and the taught come together-an effort demanded of the hearer as well as of the teacher. He must "incline his ear." Dr. Clay Trumbull points out, in relation to Sunday school work, that " intelligent, purposeful teaching includes the idea of two persons, both of them active. 'Teaching,' as causing another to know, includes the mutual effort of two persons to the same end. The teacher must endeavour to cause the pupil to learn a particular fact or truth which he wants him to know; the learner must endeavour to learn that particular fact or truth. Until the two are at this common work, the process of teachiog has not begun: until the learner has learned, the teacher has not taught." The counsel to "incline our ears," or "our heart," is repeated again and again in Scripture (see Josh. xxiv. 23; 1 Kings viii. 58; Pss. cxix. 36, 112; cxli. 4; Prov. v. 13; Jer. vii. 24; x.xv. 4, etc.). It seems designed to impress on us that we are responsible for making the effort to hear profitably. Men make effort to listen to mu.~ic; they make effort to catch every word of the orator; they can and they ought to make effort to heed the religious teacher. The responsibility of hearers may be said to concern four things. L CULTIVATING THE HABIT OF LISTENING. Which involves drawing the mind in from other subjects, and fixing it on one. Of some people this praise can be spoken- they are good listenei·s. If. HEARING WITH INTELLIGENT ATTENTION. Involving the activity of the mind in relation to what is heard. Thinking as well as listening. lII. HEARING WITH PERSONAL INTEREST. For religious truth is not abstract, but relative to individuals. .A. man does not bear the right relation to it until he sees how it concerns himself. IV. HEARING WITH PURPOSE OF OBEDIENCE. For all religious teaching is designed to be, in some way, a guide to conduct.-R. T. Ver. 2.- Teaching by parable. The answering word to " parable," in this verse, is "dark sayina-s," 0 or" hard sentences," which reminds us of the Queen of Sheba, who journeyed to J erusalem to prove Solomon with "hard questions." We cannot bring the precise New Testament ideas of the word " parable" to bea: upon the word a~ used in this psalm, and yet its meaning is very exact. The parable 1e treate~ as a settmg of truth which veils or hides the truth, and compels the hearer to search, 1f he would find it. A parable is truth like a nut. The kernel_ of truth can only be r~ached )lY tho~e who will break the shell. Here the psalmist gives a sketch of the national history m such a way that, to many, it may only be a sketch of history; but he wraps up higher moral and spiritual teachings in it, and these those who are in earnes~ m~y discover. 'rhe parable, as used by our Lord, may be thus described: "It used an mc1dent, ta_ken from common life, and rounded into a gem-like picture, to set forth some correspond1n~ truth in the higher and spiritual region." The Old 'l'estament parable us~d "_pomte. of history" with a similar purpose. There is need for thiij method of teaching, m ~rec1se adaptation to every age; because the human mind needs help ~o the apl?r~hens1on of higher truth, and the human heart needs help to the reception of epmtual truth, Pleading for teaching by parable or by illustration still, we may point out that- PB, LXXVIII, 1-72.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 141