swell with self-conceit, as if their summer would last for ever,
and their flowers bloom on eternally. Be humble, O man! for thou
art mortal, and thy lot is mutable.
The second crime is now to be
proved. The fact that the man is proud and arrogant may go a long
way to prove that he is vindicative and cruel. Haman's pride was
the father of a cruel design to murder all the Jews.
Nebuchadnezzar builds an idol; in pride he commands all men to
bow before it; and then cruelly stands ready to heat the furnace
seven times hotter for those who will not yield to his imperious
will. Every proud thought is twin brother to a cruel thought. He
who exalts himself will despise others, and one step further will
make him a tyrant.
Verse 7. Let us now hear the witnesses in court. Let the wretch
speak for himself, for out of his own mouth he will be condemned.
"His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud." There
is not only a little evil there, but his mouth is full of it. A
three-headed serpent hath stowed away its coils and venom within
the den of its black mouth. There is cursing which he
spits against both God and men, deceit with which he
entraps the unwary, and fraud by which, even in his common
dealings, he robs his neighbours. Beware of such a man: have no
sort of dealing with him: none but the silliest of geese would go
to the fox's sermon, and none but the most foolish will put
themselves into the society of knaves. But we must proceed. Let
us look under this man's tongue as well as in his mouth;
"under his tongue is mischief and vanity." Deep in his
throat are the unborn words which shall come forth as mischief
and iniquity.
Verse 8. Despite the bragging of this base wretch, it seems that
he is as cowardly as he is cruel. "He sitteth in the lurking
places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the
innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor." He acts
the part of the highwayman, who springs upon the unsuspecting
traveller in some desolate part of the road. There are always bad
men lying in wait for the saints. This is a land of robbers and
thieves; let us travel well armed, for every bush conceals an
enemy. Everywhere there are traps laid for us, and foes thirsting
for our blood. There are enemies at our table as well as across
the sea. We are never safe, save when the Lord is with us.
Verse 9. The picture becomes blacker, for here is the cunning of
the lion, and of the huntsman, as well as the stealthiness of the
robber. Surely there are some men who come up to the very letter
of this description. With watching, perversion, slander,
whispering, and false swearing, they ruin the character of the
righteous, and murder the innocent; or, with legal quibbles,
mortgages, bonds, writs, and the like, they catch the poor, and
draw them into a net. Chrysostom was peculiarly severe upon this
last phase of cruelty, but assuredly not more so than was richly
merited. Take care, brethren, for there are other traps besides
these. Hungry lions are crouching in every den, and fowlers
spread their nets in every field.
Quarles well pictures our danger in
those memorable lines,—
"The close pursuers' busy hands do plant
Snares in thy substance; snares attend thy wants;
Snares in thy credit; snares in thy disgrace;
Snares in thy high estate; snares in thy base;
Snares tuck thy bed; and snares surround thy board;
Snares watch thy thoughts; and snares attack thy word;
Snares in thy quiet; snares in thy commotion;
Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion;
Snares lurk in thy resolves; snares in thy doubt;
Snares lie within thy heart; and snares without;
Snares are above thy head, and snares beneath;
Snares in thy sickness; snares are in thy death.
O Lord! keep thy servants, and defend us from all our
enemies!
Verse 10. "He croucheth and humbleth himself, that the poor
may fall by his strong ones." Seeming humility is often
armour-bearer to malice. The lion crouches that he may leap with
the greater force, and bring down his strong limbs upon his prey.
When a wolf was old, and had tasted human blood, the old Saxon
cried, "Ware, wolf!" and we may cry, "Ware fox!" They who crouch
to our feet are longing to make us fall. Be very careful of
fawners; for friendship and flattery are deadly enemies.
Verse 11. As upon the former count, so upon this one; a witness
is forthcoming, who has been listening at the keyhole of the
heart. Speak up, friend, and let us hear your story. "He hath
said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he
will never see it." This cruel man comforts himself with the
idea that God is blind, or, at least, forgetful: a fond and
foolish fancy, indeed. Men doubt Omniscience when they persecute
the saints. If we had a sense of God's presence with us, it would
be impossible for us to ill-treat his children. In fact, there
can scarcely be a greater preservation from sin than the constant
thought of "Thou, God, seest me."
Thus has the trial proceeded. The
case has been fully stated; and now it is but little wonder that
the oppressed petitioner lifts up the cry for judgment, which we
find in the following verse:—
Verse 12. With what bold language will faith address its God! and
yet what unbelief is mingled with our strongest confidence.
Fearlessly the Lord is stirred up to arise and lift up his hand,
yet timidly he is begged not to forget the humble; as if Jehovah
could ever be forgetful of his saints. This verse is the
incessant cry of the Church, and she will never refrain therefrom
until her Lord shall come in his glory to avenge her of all her
adversaries.
Verse 13. In these verses the description of the wicked is
condensed, and the evil of his character traced to its source,
viz., atheistical ideas with regard to the government of the
world. We may at once perceive that this is intended to be
another urgent plea with the Lord to show his power, and reveal
his justice. When the wicked call God's righteousness in
question, we may well beg him to teach them terrible things in
righteousness. In verse 13, the hope of the infidel and his
heart-wishes are laid bare. He despises the Lord, because he will
not believe that sin will meet with punishment: "he hath said
in his heart, Thou wilt not require it." If there were no
hell for other men, there ought to be one for those who question
the justice of it.
Verse 14. This vile suggestion receives its answer in verse 14.
"Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to
requite it with thy hand." God is all-eye to see, and
all-hand to punish his enemies. From Divine oversight there is no
hiding, and from Divine justice there is no fleeing. Wanton
mischief shall meet with woeful misery, and those who harbour
spite shall inherit sorrow. Verily there is a God which judgeth
in the earth. Nor is this the only instance of the presence of
God in the world; for while he chastises the oppressor, he
befriends the oppressed. "The poor committeth himself unto
thee." They give themselves up entirely into the Lord's
hands. Resigning their judgment to his enlightenment, and their
wills to his supremacy, they rest assured that he will order all
things for the best. Nor does he deceive their hope. He preserves
them in times of need, and causes them to rejoice in his
goodness. "Thou art the helper of the fatherless." God is
the parent of all orphans. When the earthly father sleeps beneath
the sod, a heavenly Father smiles from above. By some means or
other, orphan children are fed, and well they may when they have
such a Father.
Verse 15. In this verse we hear again the burden of the
psalmist's prayer: "Break thou the arm of the wicked and the
evil man." Let the sinner lose his power to sin; stop the
tyrant, arrest the oppressor, weaken the loins of the mighty, and
dash in pieces the terrible. They deny thy justice: let them feel
it to the full. Indeed, they shall feel it; for God shall hunt
the sinner for ever: so long as there is a grain of sin in him it
shall be sought out and punished. It is not a little worthy of
note, that very few great persecutors have ever died in their
beds: the curse has manifestly pursued them, and their fearful
sufferings have made them own that divine justice at which
they could at one time launch defiance. God permits tyrants to
arise as thorn-hedges to protect his church from the intrusion of
hypocrites, and that he may teach his backsliding children by
them, as Gideon did the men of Succoth with the briers of the
wilderness; but he soon cuts up these Herods, like the thorns,
and casts them into the fire. Thales, the Milesian, one of the
wise men of Greece, being asked what he thought to be the
greatest rarity in the world, replied, "To see a tyrant live to
be an old man." See how the Lord breaks, not only the arm, but
the neck of proud oppressors! To the men who had neither justice
nor mercy for the saints, there shall be rendered justice to the
full, but not a grain of mercy.
Verses 16, 17, 18. The Psalm ends with a song of thanksgiving to
the great and everlasting King, because he has granted the desire
of his humble and oppressed people, has defended the fatherless,
and punished the heathen who trampled upon his poor and afflicted
children. Let us learn that we are sure to speed well, if we
carry our complaint to the King of kings. Rights will be
vindicated, and wrongs redressed, at his throne. His government
neglects not the interests of the needy, nor does it tolerate
oppression in the mighty. Great God, we leave ourselves in thine
hand; to thee we commit thy church afresh. Arise, O God, and let
the man of the earth—the creature of a day—be broken before the
majesty of thy power. Come, Lord Jesus, and glorify thy people.
Amen and Amen.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. There is not, in my judgment, a Psalm which
describes the mind, the manners, the works, the words, the
feelings, and the fate of the ungodly with so much propriety,
fulness, and light, as this Psalm. So that, if in any respect
there has not been enough said heretofore, or if there shall be
anything wanting in the Psalms that shall follow, we may here
find a perfect image and representation of iniquity. This Psalm,
therefore, is a type, form, and description of that man, who,
though he may be in the sight of himself and of men more
excellent than Peter himself, is detestable in the eyes of God;
and this it was that moved Augustine, and those who followed him,