into the water of which he made Israel to drink, and so shall our cherished
idols become bitter portions for us, unless we at once forsake them. Our
Lord had no selfishness; he served but one Lord, and served him only. As
for those who turn aside from Jehovah, he was separate from them, bearing
their reproach without the camp. Sin and the Saviour had no communion. He
came to destroy, not to patronize or be allied with the works of the devil.
Hence he refused the testimony of unclean spirits as to his divinity, for in
nothing would he have fellowship with darkness. We should be careful above
measure not to connect ourselves in the remotest degree with falsehood in
religion; even the most solemn of Popish rites we must abhor. "Their drink
offerings of blood will I not offer." The old proverb says, "It is not
safe to eat at the devil's mess, though the spoon be never so long." The
mere mentioning of ill names it were well to avoid,— "nor take up their
names into my lips." If we allow poison upon the lip, it may ere long
penetrate to the inwards, and it is well to keep out of the mouth that which
we would shut out from the heart. If the church would enjoy union with
Christ, she must break all the bonds of impiety, and keep herself pure from
all the pollutions of carnal will-worship, which now pollute the service of
God. Some professors are guilty of great sin in remaining in the communion
of Popish churches, where God is as much dishonoured as in Rome herself,
only in a more crafty manner.
Verse 5. "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup."
With what confidence and bounding joy does Jesus turn to Jehovah, whom his
soul possessed and delighted in! Content beyond measure with his portion in
the Lord his God, he had not a single desire with which to hunt after other
gods; his cup was full, and his heart was full too; even in his sorest
sorrows he still laid hold with both his hands upon his Father, crying, "My
God, my God;" he had not so much as a thought of falling down to worship the
prince of this world, although tempted with an "all these will I give thee."
We, too, can make our boast in the Lord; he is the meat and the drink of our
souls. He is our portion, supplying all our necessities, and our cup
yielding royal luxuries; our cup in this life, and our inheritance in the
life to come. As children of the Father who is in heaven, we inherit, by
virtue of our joint heirship with Jesus, all the riches of the covenant of
grace; and the portion which falls to us sets upon our table the bread of
heaven and the new wine of the kingdom. Who would not be satisfied with
such dainty diet? Our shallow cup of sorrow we may well drain with
resignation, since the deep cup of love stands side by side with it, and
will never be empty. "Thou maintainest my lot." Some tenants have a
covenant in their leases that they themselves shall maintain and uphold, but
in our case Jehovah himself maintains our lot. Our Lord Jesus delighted in
this truth, that the Father was on his side, and would maintain his right
against all the wrongs of men. He knew that his elect would be reserved for
him, and that almighty power would preserve them as his lot and reward for
ever. Let us also be glad, because the Judge of all the earth will
vindicate our righteous cause.
Verse 6. Jesus found the way of obedience to lead into "pleasant places."
Notwithstanding all the sorrows which marred his countenance, he exclaimed,
"Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do
thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." It may seem strange,
but while no other man was ever so thoroughly acquainted with grief, it is
our belief that no other man ever experienced so much joy and delight in
service, for no other served so faithfully and with such great results in
view as his recompense of reward. The joy which was set before him must
have sent some of its beams of splendour a-down the rugged places where he
endured the cross, despising the shame, and must have made them in some
respects pleasant places to the generous heart of the Redeemer. At any
rate, we know that Jesus was well content with the blood-bought portion
which the lines of electing love marked off as his spoil with the strong and
his portion with the great. Therein he solaced himself on earth, and
delights himself in heaven; and he asks no more "GOODLY HERITAGE" than that
his own beloved may be with him where he is and behold his glory. All the
saints can use the language of this verse, and the more thoroughly they can
enter into its contented, grateful, joyful spirit the better for themselves,
and the more glorious to their God. Our Lord was poorer than we are, for he
had not where to lay his head, and yet when he mentioned his poverty he
never used a word of murmuring; discontented spirits are as unlike Jesus as
the croaking raven is unlike the cooing dove. Martyrs have been happy in
dungeons. "From the delectable orchard of the Leonine prison the Italian
martyr dated his letter, and the presence of God made the gridiron of
Laurence pleasant to him." Mr. Greenham was bold enough to say, "They never
felt God's love, or tasted forgiveness of sin, who are discontented." Some
divines think that discontent was the first sin, the rock which wrecked our
race in paradise; certainly there can be no paradise where this evil spirit
has power, its slime will poison all the flowers of the garden.
Verse 7. "I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel." Praise as
well as prayer was presented to the Father by our Lord Jesus, and we are not
truly his followers unless our resolve be, "I will bless the Lord." Jesus
is called Wonderful, Counsellor, but as man he spake not of himself, but as
his Father had taught him. Read in confirmation of this, John 7:16; 8:28;
and 12:49, 50; and the prophecy concerning him in Isaiah 11:2, 3. It was
our Redeemer's wont to repair to his Father for direction, and having
received it, he blessed him for giving him counsel. It would be well for us
if we would follow his example of lowliness, cease from trusting in our own
understanding, and seek to be guided by the Spirit of God. "My reins also
instruct me in the night seasons." By the reins understand the inner man,
the affections and feelings. The communion of the soul with God brings to
it an inner spiritual wisdom which in still seasons is revealed to itself.
Our Redeemer spent many nights alone upon the mountain, and we may readily
conceive that together with his fellowship with heaven, he carried on a
profitable commerce with himself; reviewing his experience, forecasting his
work, and considering his position. Great generals fight their battles in
their own mind long before the trumpet sounds, and so did our Lord win our
battle on his knees before he gained it on the cross. It is a gracious
habit after taking counsel from above to take counsel within. Wise men see
more with their eyes shut by night than fools can see by day with their eyes
open. He who learns from God and so gets the seed, will soon find wisdom
within himself growing in the garden of his soul; "Thine ears shall hear a
voice behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to
the right hand and when ye turn to the left." The night season which the
sinner chooses for his sins is the hallowed hour of quiet when believers
hear the soft still voices of heaven, and of the heavenly life within
themselves.
Verse 8. The fear of death at one time cast its dark shadow over the soul
of the Redeemer, and we read that, "he was heard in that he feared." There
appeared unto him an angel, strengthening him; perhaps the heavenly
messenger reassured him of his glorious resurrection as his people's surety,
and of the eternal joy into which he should admit the flock redeemed by
blood. Then hope shone full upon our Lord's soul, and, as recorded in these
verses, he surveyed the future with holy confidence because he had a
continued eye to Jehovah, and enjoyed his perpetual presence. He felt that,
thus sustained, he could never be driven from his life's grand design; nor
was he, for he stayed not his hand till he could say, "It is finished."
What an infinite mercy was this for us! In this immovableness, caused by
simple faith in the divine help, Jesus is to be viewed as our exemplar; to
recognize the presence of the Lord is the duty of every believer; "I have
set the Lord always before me;" and to trust the Lord as our champion and
guard is the privilege of every saint; "because he is at my right hand, I
shall not be moved." The apostle translates this passage, "I foresaw the
Lord always before my face;" Acts 2:25; the eye of Jesus' faith could
discern beforehand the continuance of divine support to his suffering Son,
in such a degree that he should never be moved from the accomplishment of
his purpose of redeeming his people. By the power of God at his right hand
he foresaw that he should smite through all who rose up against him, and on
that power he placed the firmest reliance.
Verse 9. He clearly foresaw that he must die, for he speaks of his flesh
resting, and of his soul in the abode of separate spirits; death was full
before his face, or he would not have mentioned corruption; but such was his
devout reliance upon his God, that he sang over the tomb, and rejoiced in
vision of the sepulchre. He knew that the visit of his soul to Sheol, or
the invisible world of disembodied spirits, would be a very short one, and
that his body in a very brief space would leave the grave, uninjured by its
sojourn there; all this made him say, "my heart is glad," and moved his
tongue, the glory of his frame, to rejoice in God, the strength of his
salvation. Oh, for such holy faith in the prospect of trial and of death!
It is the work of faith, not merely to create a peace which passeth all
understanding, but to fill the heart full of gladness until the tongue,
which, as the organ of an intelligent creature, is our glory, bursts forth
in notes of harmonious praise. Faith gives us living joy, and bestows dying
rest. "My flesh also shall rest in hope."
Verse 10. Our Lord Jesus was not disappointed in his hope. He declared his
Father's faithfulness in the words, "thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,"
and that faithfulness was proven on the resurrection morning. Among the
departed and disembodied Jesus was not left; he had believed in the
resurrection, and he received it on the third day, when his body rose in
glorious life, according as he had said in joyous confidence, "neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Into the outer prison of
the grave his body might go, but into the inner prison of corruption he
could not enter. He who in soul and body was pre-eminently God's "Holy
One," was loosed from the pains of death, because it was not possible that
he should be holden of it. This is noble encouragement to all the saints;
die they must, but rise they shall, and though in their case they shall see
corruption, yet they shall rise to everlasting life. Christ's resurrection
is the cause, the earnest, the guarantee, and the emblem of the rising of
all his people. Let them, therefore, go to their graves as to their beds,
resting their flesh among the clods as they now do upon their couches.
"Since Jesus is mine, I'll not fear undressing,
But gladly put off these garments of clay;
To die in the Lord is a covenant blessing,
Since Jesus to glory through death led the way."
Wretched will that man be who, when the Philistines of death invade his
soul, shall find that, like Saul, he is forsaken of God; but blessed is he
who has the Lord at his right hand, for he shall fear no ill, but shall look
forward to an eternity of bliss.
Verse 11. "Thou wilt shew me the path of life." To Jesus first this way
was shown, for he is the first begotten from the dead, the first-born of
every creature. He himself opened up the way through his own flesh, and
then trod it as the forerunner of his own redeemed. The thought of being
made the path of life to his people, gladdened the soul of Jesus. "In thy
presence is fulness of joy." Christ being raised from the dead ascended
into glory, to dwell in constant nearness to God, where joy is at its full
for ever: the foresight of this urged him onward in his glorious but
grievous toil. To bring his chosen to eternal happiness was the high
ambition which inspired him, and made him wade through a sea of blood. O
God, when a worldling's mirth has all expired, for ever with Jesus may we
dwell "at thy right hand," where "there are pleasures for evermore;" and
meanwhile, may we have an earnest by tasting thy love below. Trapp's note
on the heavenly verse which closes the Psalm is a sweet morsel, which may
serve for a contemplation, and yield a foretaste of our inheritance. He
writes, "Here is as much said as can be, but words are too weak to utter it.