The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 2 — Section 265

le the strongest of all the trees. Not only is there the gre:~t grip of the mountain, but the wood is firm and lasting. So we need to have the texture of our souls firm and strong-the strength of our grip of God ever behind and supporting all our beauty of form and grace of relation.-R. T. Ver. 13.-The testimony of old age to God's faithfulness. Perowne thinks allusion may be to the "date-palm, which, when it reaches maturity, produces three or four hundred pounds weight of fruit, and has been known even to produce six hundred pounds weight." In contrast with the prosperity of the wicked, which is but for a moment, the prosperity of the righteous is declared to be long-lived. The aged are spared among us, not for any direct work they can do, but for the testimony they can render to the faithfulness and mercy of God. Over and over again we may hear them saying, "I have been young, and now am old, yet have I never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Godly old age testifies, on the basis of its personal, lengthened, and varied experiences, of three things. I. GRAOE EVER ADAPTED. According to the promise, "A.13 thy day, so shall thy strength be." II. GRACE EVER ABOUNDING, According to the promise, " God is able to make all grace aboUlld, so that ye, having all sufficiency unto all good things, may abound unto every good word and work." III. GRACE EVER CONTINUING. As we sing in our hymn- " His grace shall to the end Stronger and brighter shine.'' And according to the promise, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." John Owen says, " When believers are under all sorts of bodily and natural decays, and, it may be, have been overtaken with spiritual decays also, there is provision made in the covenant to render them fat, flourishing, and fruitful-vigorous in the power of internal grace, and flourishing in the expression of it in all duties of obedience. Blessed be God for this good word of grace that he bath given ns such encouragement against all the decays and temptations of old age which we have to conflict withal."-R. T. Vere. 1--8.-Joyful worship. "Celebrates in joyful strain the greatness of God's works, and especially his righteous government of the world, as manifested in the overthrow of the wicked, and the prosperity and final triumph of the righteous." I. A GOOD MAN REJOICES IN THE RIGHTEOUS WORK OF Go». (Ver. 4.) 1. Because God's work is a work of loving-kindnes.•. (Ver. 2.) 2. It is a work of Jaithfulness or truth. (Ver. 2.) He fulfils every word of promise and every threat of judgment. 3. God's good work is on a vast scale. (Vers. 5-8.) It is universal, embracing the heavens and the earth, extending throughout the universe. "God is in the height, supreme for evermore." 4. But God's way of accomplishing his righteous purpose is not always openly manifest. (Ver. 5.) "His thoughts are very deep." His methods of work are often deeper than we can fathom, II. THAT THE JOY OF THE GOOD MAN IN Gon BEEKS EXPRESSION AND UTTERANCE IN WORSHIP, "It is a good thing.'' 1. It becomcs a necessity of oor nature. If the emotion of praise is in us, it demands expression; as the poet must sing, and the artist must paint. Worship thus becomes acceptable to God, and a means of our own eleva- tion. 2. Worship such as this becomes the habit of the soul. " In the morning ... every night," and on the sabbath day. 3. The true worshipper will call to his aid all that will help him to utter his emotions. The voice and other instruments-public service and ministry. 4. But it is only to oor spiritual intelligenoo that worship becomes necessary. (Ver. 6.) "A brutish man knoweth not j neither doth a fool understand thill,"-S. 294, THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [Ps. xcm. 1-G.