Verse 18. Now. God gave an order that no part of the thank offering should be kept till the third day, to teach us to present our praises when benefits are newly received, which else would soon wax stale and putrefy as fish doth. "I will pay my vows now, " saith David. Samuel Clarke (1599-1682) in "A Mirror or Looking glass, both for Saints and Sinners."
Verse 18. In the presence of all his people. For good example's sake. This also was prince like, Eze 46:10. The king's seat in the sanctuary was open, that all might see him there, 2Ki 11:14, and 2Ki 23:3. John Trapp.
Verse 18. In the presence of all his people. Be bold, be bold, ye servants of the Lord, in sounding forth the praises of your God. Go into presses of people; and in the midst of them praise the Lord. Wicked men are over bold in pouring forth their blasphemies to the dishonour of God; they care not who hear them. They stick not to do it in the midst of cities. Shall they be more audacious to dishonour God, than ye zealous to honour him? Assuredly Christ will shew himself as forward to confess you, as you are, or can be to confess him. Mt 10:32. This holy boldness is the ready way to glory. William Gouge.
Verse 19 ( second clause ). He does not simply say in the midst of Jerusalem: but, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem? He speaks to the city as one who loved it and delighted in it. We see here, how the saints were affected towards the city in which was the house of God. Thus we should be moved in spirit towards that church in which God dwells, the temple he inhabits, which is built up, not of stones, but of the souls of the faithful. Wolfgang Musculus.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verses 1-2.
1. Present—"I love."
2. Past—"He hath."
3. Future—"I will."
Verses 1-2. Personal experience in reference to prayer.
1. We have prayed, often, constantly, in different ways, etc.
2. We have been heard. A grateful retrospect of usual answers and of special answers.
3. Love to God has thus been promoted.
4. Our sense of the value of prayer has become so intense that we cannot cease praying.
Verses 1, 2, 9. If you cast your eyes on the first verse of the Psalm, you find a profession of love — I love the Lord ; if on the second, a promise of prayer — I will call on the Lord ; if on the ninth, a resolve of walking — I will walk before the LORD. There are three things should be the object of a saint's care, the devotion of the soul, profession of the mouth, and conversation of the life: that is the sweetest melody in God's ears, when not only the voice sings, but the heartstrings keep tune, and the hand keepeth time. Nathanael Hardy.
Verse 2. "He hath, "and therefore "I will." Grace moving to action.
Verses 2, 4, 13, 17. Calling upon God mentioned four times very suggestively—I will do it (Ps 116:2), I have tried it (Ps 116:4), I will do it when I take (Ps 116:13), and when I offer (Ps 116:17).
Verses 2, 9, 13-14, 17. The "I wills" of the Psalm. I will call (Ps 116:2), I will walk (Ps 116:9), I will take (Ps 116:13), I will pay (Ps 116:14), I will offer (Ps 116:17).
Verses 3-4, 8. See Spurgeon's Sermon, "To Souls in Agony, " Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No 1216.
Verses 3-5. The story of a tried soul.
1. Where I was. Ps 116:3.
2. What I did. Ps 116:4.
3. What I learned. Ps 116:5.
Verses 3-6.
1. The occasion . (a) Bodily affliction. (b) Terrors of conscience. (c) Sorrow of heart. (d) Self accusation: "I found, "etc.
2. The petition . (a) Direct: "I called, "etc. (b) Immediate: "then, "when the trouble came; prayer was the first remedy sought, not the last, as with many. (c) Brief—limited to the due thing needed: "deliver my soul." (d) Importunate: "O Lord, I beseech thee."
3. The restoration . (a) Implied: "gracious, "etc., Ps 116:5. (b) Expressed, Ps 116:6, generally: "The Lord preserveth, "etc.; particularly; "I was brought low, " etc.: helped me to pray, helped me out of trouble in answer to prayer, and helped me to praise him for the mercy, the faithfulness, the grace, shown in my deliverance. God is glorified through the afflictions of his people: the submissive are preserved in them, and the lowly are exalted by them. G. R.
Verse 5.
1. Eternal grace, or the purpose of love.
2. Infinite justice, or the difficulty of holiness.
3. Boundless mercy, or the outcome of atonement.
Verse 6.
1. A singular class—"simple."
2. A singular fact—"the Lord preserveth the simple."
3. A singular proof of the fact—"I was, "etc.
Verse 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. Rest in God may be said to belong to the people of God on a fourfold account.
1. By designation. The rest which the people of God have in him is the result of his own purpose and design, taken up from his mere good pleasure and love.
2. By purchase. The rest which they wanted as creatures they had forfeited as sinners . This, therefore, Christ laid down his life to procure.
3. By promise. This is God's kind engagement. He has said, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest, "Ex 33:14.
4. By their own choice gracious souls have a rest in God. D. Wilcox.
Verse 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. When, or upon what occasion a child of God should use the Psalmist's language.
1. After converse with the world in the business of his calling every day.
2. When going to the sanctuary on the Lord's day.
3. In and under any trouble he may meet with.
4. When departing from this world at death. D. Wilcox.
Verse 7.
1. The rest of the soul: "My rest, "this is in God. (a) The soul was created to find its rest in God. (b) On that account it cannot find rest elsewhere.
2. Its departure from that rest. This is implied in the word "Return."
3. Its return. (a) By repentance. (b) By faith, in the way provided for its return. (c) By prayer.
4. Its encouragement to return. (a) Not in itself, but in God. (b) Not in the justice, but in the goodness of God: "for the Lord, "etc. "The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." G.R.
Verse 8. The trinity of experimental godliness.
1. It is a unity—"Thou hast delivered"; all the mercies come from one source.
2. It is a trinity of deliverance, of soul, eyes, feet; from punishment, sorrow, and sinning; to life, joy, and stability.
3. It is a trinity in unity: all this was done for me and in me—"my soul, mine eyes, my feet."
Verse 9. The effect of deliverance upon ourselves: "I will walk, " etc.
1. Walk by faith in him.
2. Walk in love with him.
3. Walk by obedience to him. G. R.
Verses 10-11.
1. The rule: "I believed, "etc. In general the Psalmist spoke what he had well considered and tested by his own experience, as when he said, "I was brought low and he helped me." "The Lord hath dealt bountifully with me."
2. The exception; "I was greatly afflicted, I said, "etc. (a) He spoke wrongfully: he said "All men are liars, " which had some truth in it, but was not the whole truth. (b) Hastily: "I said in my haste, "without due reflection. (c) Angrily, under the influence of affliction, probably from the unfaithfulness of others. Nature acts before grace—the one by instinct, the other from consideration. G. R.
Verse 11. A hasty speech.
1. There was much truth in it.
2. It erred on the right side, for it showed faith in God rather than in the creature.
3. It did err in being too sweeping, too severe, too suspicious.
4. It was soon cured. The remedy for all such hasty speeches is—Get to work in the spirit of Ps 116:12.
Verse 12. Overwhelming obligations.
1. A sum in arithmetic—"all his benefits."
2. A calculation of indebtedness—"What shall I render?"
3. A problem for personal solution—"What shall I? " See Spurgeon's Sermon, No. 910.
Verses 12, 14. Whether well composed religious vows do not exceedingly promote religion. Sermon by Henry Hurst, A.M., in "The Morning Exercises."
Verse 13. Sermon on the Lord's supper. We take the cup of the Lord
1. In memory of him who is our salvation.
2. In token of our trust in him.
3. In evidence of our obedience to him.
4. In type of communion with him.
5. In hope of drinking it new with him ere long.
Verse 13. The various cups mentioned in Scripture would make an interesting subject.
Verse 14. Vow. Or the excellence of time present.
Verse 15.
1. The declaration . Not the death of the wicked, nor even the death of the righteous is in itself precious; but, (a) Because their persons are precious to him. (b) Because their experience in death is precious to him. (c) Because of their conformity in death to their Covenant Head; and (d) Because it puts an end to their sorrows, and translates them to their rest.
2. Its manifestation. (a) In preserving them from death. (b) In supporting them in death. (c) In giving them victory over death. (d) In glorifying them after death.
Verse 15. See Spurgeon's Sermons "Precious Deaths, "No. 1036.
Verse 16. Holy Service .
1. Emphatically avowed.
2. Honestly rendered—"truly."
3. Logically defended—"son of thine handmaid."
4. Consistent with conscious liberty.
Verse 17. This is due to our God, good for ourselves, and encouraging to others.
Verse 17. The sacrifice of thanksgiving.
1. How it may be rendered. In secret love, in conversation, in sacred song, in public testimony, in special gifts and works.
2. Why we should render it. For answered prayers (Ps 116:1-2), memorable deliverances (Ps 116:3), choice preservation (Ps 116:6); remarkable restoration (Ps 116:7-8), and for the fact of our being his servants (Ps 116:16).
3. When should we render it. Now , while the mercy is on the memory, and as often as fresh mercies come to us.
Verse 18.
1. How vows may be paid in public. By going to public worship as the first thing we do when health is restored. By uniting heartily in the song. By coming to the communion. By special thank offering. By using fit opportunities for open testimony to the Lord's goodness.
2. The special difficulty in the matter. To pay them to the Lord , and not in ostentation or as an empty form.
3. The peculiar usefulness of the public act. It interests others, touches their hearts, reproves, encourages, etc.
Verse 19. The Christian at home.
1. In God's house.
2. Among the saints.
3. At his favourite work, "Praise."
WORKS UPON THE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH PSALM
David's Harpe full of most delectable harmony newly stringed and set in tune by Thomas Becon. This is an exposition of Ps 116:10-19, or Psalm 115 according to the Latin Version. It was originally published in 12mo, in 1542, and reprinted in "The Early Works of Thomas Becon. S. T. P. Chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, Prebendary of Canterbury, &c., "by "The Parker Society." 1843.
AN EXPOSITION upon some select Psalms of David , containing great store of most excellent and comfortable doctrine, and instruction for all those, that (under the burden of sin) thirst for comfort in Christ Jesus. Written by that faithful servant of God, M. ROBERT ROLLOK, sometime Pastor in the Church of Edinburgh: And translated out of Latin into English, by C. L. CHARLES LUMISDEN Minister of the Gospel of Christ at Dudingstoun. 12mo. EDINBURGH. 1600. Contains an Exposition of this Psalm.
The Saints' Sacrifice : or, A Commentary on Psalm 116 . Which is a gratulatory Psalm, for Deliverance from Deadly Distress. By William Gouge, D.D. London. 1631. Reprinted, with S. Smith, on. Psalm 1, and T. Pierson, on Psalms 27, 84, 87, in Nichol's Series of Commentaries. 1868.
Sermons Experimental: on Psalms 116 and 117.
VERY USEFUL for A Wounded Spirit. By William Slater, D.D., sometimes Rector of Linsham, and Vicar of Pitminster, in SOMMERSETSHIRE. Published by his Son WILLIAM SLATER, Mr. of Arts... London: 1638 4to.
Meditations and Disquisitions upon Seven Consolatory Psalms of David : namely, The 23. The 27, The 30, The 34, The 84, The 103, The 116.—By Sir Richard Baker, Knight. London. 1640. 4to.
Divine Drops Distilled from the Fountain of Holy Scriptures: Delivered in several Exercises before Sermons, upon Twenty-three Texts of Scripture. By that worthy Gospel Preacher Gualter Cradock, Late Preacher at All Hallows Great in London. 1650. In this old quarto there is an Exposition of Psalm 116; but it is almost wholly political, and worthless for our purpose; we mention it only as a caution, and to prevent disappointment.
In "The Golden Diary of Heart Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms. —By the Rev. Dr. EDERSHEIM, Torquay, 1873, "there is a brief exposition of Ps 116:1-12.