The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 2 — Section 235

Ver. 9.-" .As a tale that is told." Yes, it is true; we do spend our lives as is here said. I know the word rendered" tale" may bear other meanincrs-a thouaht a breath 11 meditation, a numbering (Exod. v. 8). But this in our text ~ets forth the psalmist'~ thought as well as, if not better than, any other. His view of life is a very sad one and is by no means true as concerns the blessed dead who die in the Lord. Thei; lives are not a.11 "labour and sorrow;" still less are they "all passed away in" God's wrath ; n~r :1re t~ey so vaJn _a_nd worthless as, in his sadness, the psalmist represents them. His idea, in the sim1htude he here employs of "a tale," has in view the bre,ity, the trifling character, the speedy forgetfulness into which they fell; but these are not all the characteristics of a tale that is told. Oriental peoples are very fond of short bright stories, and one who can tell such stories well is ever welcome amongst them. The psalmist had no doubt often heard such recitals, and he says--So is man's life. Well, it is so-- I. IN THAT ouR DAYS ARE sooN OVER. The tale that was told was never long, but soon done, and room made for another. And so is it with our life, even at the longest, and especially that portion of our life which is of paramount importance-the formative character-fixing years. How soon they are over I And the life takes its bent and bias from them, and generally continues so to the end. lo the tale of most lives you know very soon how it will go on. The child is father to the man, and you can generally foretell bow it will wind up. Let such as are young, therefore, take heed to their days, the days of their youth-they are all-important. II. IN ITS VARIED CHARACTER. There are tales told that are poor, mean, hurtful, not worth the telling; that stain the imagination, that incite to evil, and are doomed to a speedy and contemptuous oblivion. But there are others of an entirely different character. And so it is with men's lives-some evil, some blessed and good. !IL lF EITHER IS TO BE WORTHY, THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS ABE THE BAME. 1. Energy and activity. 2. Thoughtfulness. 3. Character must be revealed. 4. The aim must be generous and high. 5. It m'USt end welt.-S. C. Ver. 11.-Man's under-estimate of God's anger. "Who knoweth," etc.? I. SoME Do NOT KNOW IT AT ALL. They do not believe in God at all, or in a very faint way. Hence they turn at once to what they term "natural causes," when the judgments of God are abroad in the earth. "The fool bath said in his heart," etc. I I. MosT MEN HA VE SOME IDEA OF IT. 1. From tlie Bible. The records of God's wrath are there writ large-the Fall; the Flood; the destruction of Egypt ; the deaths in the wilderness, which were probably the occasion of this psalm. 2. From what they see. Vice and villainy come down with a crash from time to time, and men are forced to confess, "Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth." 3. From sad experienre in 1heir own hearts and lives. 4. From the frenzied fears of many godless ones when death seizes them. Their last awful hours betray the knowledge of God's wrath. Ill. BUT NONE KNOW IT ACCORDING TO THE FEAB OF Gon THAT 18 DUE. 1. They cannot, because of the limitation of human faculties. 2. But they will not know it as they might and should. The thought of it is a terror and torment_ to them. 3. But they must, if they are to be saved. If we see not our need of Christ, we shall never seek him. "Spirit of God's most holy fear," come to us, that we may come to thee! -s.c. Ver. 12.-The right numbering of ow daya. There are certain seasons 'Yhich co~e round to men-birthdays, anniversaries, the close of the year, and the like-which PI!, XC, 1-17.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 261