The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 2 — Section 231

HOMILgTICS. , el'II. 1, 2.-The fundamental truths of all religion. "Lord, thou hast been our Dwelling-place," etc. Tbis psalm is a monument of spiritual power. It possesses in cmine11t_ degree the peren~ial freshness ~hich so wonderfully belongs to Scripture. Generat10ns p~s. _Cent~mes moun~ up rnto thousands of years; but this ancient psalm lifts up its v01ce with undecaymg strength and sweetness. It reminds us of a grnnite pillar which ~ts i~ 1;1nchanging image on a river which flows past, as it has flowed for ages. The mscnpt1on, cut thousands of years ago, is unworn by the finger of time; it is clear and sharp, as if cut yesterday. The psalm has been spoken of as "perhaps the most sublime of human compositions, the deepest in feeling, the loftiest in theologic conception, the most magnificent in its imagery" (Isaac Taylor). Even those who question the tradition that it was written by Moses (perhaps more from the habit of questioning than for any solid reason) are utterly at a loss to suuuest who else can have been its author. Whether Moses or not, he "wrote as he was ~oved by the Holy Ghost." These opening verses express the fundamental truths of all religion. the eternal existence of God ; the dependence of all other existence on him as Creator and our personal relation to him as our Almighty Father and Friend-" our Dwelling~ place in all generations." I. THE ETERNITY OF Gon. His underived, unchangeable, self-existent beinu • independent of time. "From everlasting . . . thou art God." The Hebrew wo~d means "duration," past or future; here, evidently, unlimited duration, or, as we say, eternity. The eternity of God, like bis immensity, his omniscience, omnipotence, one of the truths reason cannot grasp, but is compelled to affjrm. If we try to think of boundless, actually infinite space, we are baffied. Yet the moment we try to imagine a bound, thought overleaps it. So we cannot comprehend a past eternity; yet the momeut we suppose a beginning, we caunot help asking-What was before that 1 The greatest philosopher of Germany thought be had got rid of the perplexity by asserting that time and space have no existence except in our minds. Bnt this ignores the plain fact that the whole universe, from the movement of suns and systems to the growth of a grain of seed or the ticking of a watch, is based on the reality of time and space, and governed by them. Faith accepts what reason cannot grasp; and falls down and worships "him that liveth for ever and ever." 11. THE DEPENDENCE OF ALL OTHER EXISTENCE ON THE SELF-EXISTENT, 1'HE ETERNAL. "Ere ever tbou hadst formed," etc. All things, God excepted, had a beginnin,: (Heb. xi 3; Rev. iv. 11; Rom. xi. 36). Here, again, philosophy has striven hard tu get rid of the necessity for creation; to lead us to believe matter and force eternal, and the parents of life, order, beauty, happiness. But the deepest science assures us that the universe in its present state is far enough from either immutable or everlasting; that life can spring only from life; and that the primary material of the universe-atoms, or whatever else we like to call it-bears as clearly the marks of being fitted to its work, by weight, measure, number, exact proportion, as the rudder and screw of a ship, or the beam and fly-wheel of a steam-engine. Science, which is nothing but the study of God's plans and methods of working, le_ads us back from all vain imaginings to the throne of God. Our deepest thought, our widest, most searching :i_uestionings of nature, cannot take us outside of St. Paul's simple, profound declaration, "In him we live, and move, and have our being n (Acts xvii. 28). Ill. OUll PERSONAL RELATION TO Gon. "Lord, thou hast been our Dwelling-place." Our Refuge, our Rest, our Home. All that we can learn of God, or conjecture concern- ing him, would profit us nothing, if we do not say, "This God is our God for ever and ever" (Ps. xlviii. 14). The same word and thought meet us in the sublime blessing (Deut. xxxiii. 27). (Internal confirmation of Mosaic authorship.) 'l'he thought of God dwelling with bis people, is fre<!ueot; the great purpose of the t!'bern:i,cle, with itll PB, XO, 1-17,] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 257