Undoubtedly the publication of the gospel is the constant fulfilment of
covenant engagements made by our Surety in the councils of eternity.
Messiah vowed to build up a spiritual temple for the Lord, and he will
surely keep his word.
Verse 26. "The meek shall eat and be satisfied." Mark how the dying
Lover of our souls solaces himself with the result of his death. The
spiritually poor find a feast in Jesus, they feed upon him to the
satisfaction of their hearts, they were famished until he gave himself for
them, but now they are filled with royal dainties. The thought of the joy
of his people gave comfort to our expiring Lord. Note the characters who
partake of the benefit of his passion; "the meek," the humble and lowly.
Lord, make us so. Note also the certainty that gospel provisions shall not
be wasted, "they shall eat;" and the sure result of such eating, "and be
satisfied." "They shall praise the Lord that seek him." For a while
they may keep a fast, but their thanksgiving days must and shall come.
"Your heart shall live for ever." Your spirits shall not fail through
trial, you shall not die of grief, immortal joys shall be your portion.
Thus Jesus speaks even from the cross to the troubled seeker. If his dying
words are so assuring, what consolation may we not find in the truth that he
ever liveth to make intercession for us! They who eat at Jesus' table
receive the fulfilment of the promise, "Whosoever eateth of this bread shall
live for ever."
Verse 27. In reading this verse one is struck with the Messiah's missionary
spirit. It is evidently his grand consolation that Jehovah will be known
throughout all places of his dominion. "All the ends of the world shall
remember and turn unto the Lord." Out from the inner circle of the present
church the blessing is to spread in growing power until the remotest parts
of the earth shall be ashamed of their idols, mindful of the true God,
penitent for their offences, and unanimously earnest for reconciliation with
Jehovah. Then shall false worship cease, "and all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship before thee," O thou only living and true God. This
hope which was the reward of Jesus is a stimulus to those who fight his
battles.
It is well to mark the order of conversion as here set forth; they shall
"remember" —this is reflection, like the prodigal who came unto
himself; "and turn unto Jehovah" —this is repentance, like Manasseh who
left his idols and "worship" —this is holy service, as Paul adored the
Christ whom once he abhorred.
Verse 28. "For the kingdom is the Lord's." As an obedient Son the dying
Redeemer rejoiced to know that his Father's interests would prosper through
his pains. "The Lord reigneth" was his song as it is ours. He who by his
own power reigns supreme in the domains of creation and providence, has set
up a kingdom of grace, and by the conquering power of the cross that kingdom
will grow until all people shall own its sway and proclaim that "he is the
governor among the nations." Amid the tumults and disasters of the present
the Lord reigneth; but in the halcyon days of peace the rich fruit of his
dominion will be apparent to every eye. Great Shepherd, let thy glorious
kingdom come.
Verse 29. "All they that be fat upon earth," the rich and great are not
shut out. Grace now finds the most of its jewels among the poor, but in the
latter days the mighty of the earth "shall eat," shall taste of redeeming
grace and dying love, and shall "worship" with all their hearts the God
who deals so bountifully with us in Christ Jesus. Those who are spiritually
fat with inward prosperity shall be filled with the marrow of communion, and
shall worship the Lord with peculiar fervour. In the covenant of grace
Jesus has provided good cheer for our high estate, and he has taken equal
care to console us in our humiliation, for the next sentence is, "all they
that go down to the dust shall bow before him." There is relief and
comfort in bowing before God when our case is at its worst; even amid the
dust of death prayer kindles the lamp of hope.
While all who come to God by Jesus Christ are thus blessed, whether they
be rich or poor, none of those who despise him may hope for a blessing.
"None can keep alive his own soul." This is the stern counterpart of the
gospel message of "look and live." There is no salvation out of Christ. We
must hold life, and have life as Christ's gift, or we shall die eternally.
This is very solid evangelical doctrine, and should be proclaimed in every
corner of the earth, that like a great hammer it may break in pieces all
self-confidence.
Verse 30. "A seed shall serve him." Posterity shall perpetuate the
worship of the Most High. The kingdom of truth on earth shall never fail.
As one generation is called to its rest, another will arise in its stead.
We need have no fear for the true apostolic succession; that is safe enough.
"It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation." He will reckon the
ages by the succession of the saints, and set his accounts according to the
families of the faithful. Generations of sinners come not into the
genealogy of the skies. God's family register is not for strangers, but for
the children only.
Verse 31. "They shall come." Sovereign grace shall bring out from among
men the bloodbought ones. Nothing shall thwart the divine purpose. The
chosen shall come to life, to faith, to pardon, to heaven. In this the
dying Saviour finds a sacred satisfaction. Toiling servant of God, be glad
at the thought that the eternal purpose of God shall suffer neither let nor
hindrance. "And shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall
be born." None of the people who shall be brought to God by the
irresistible attractions of the cross shall be dumb, they shall be able to
tell forth the righteousness of the Lord, so that future generations shall
know the truth. Fathers shall teach their sons, who shall hand it down to
their children; the burden of the story always being "that he hath done
this," or, that "It is finished." Salvation's glorious work is done, there
is peace on earth, and glory in the highest. "It is finished," these were
the expiring words of the Lord Jesus, as they are the last words of this
Psalm. May we by living faith be enabled to see our salvation finished by
the death of Jesus!
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Title.—Aijeleth Shahar. The title of the twenty-second Psalm is
Aijeleth Shahar— the morning hart. The whole Psalm refers to Christ,
containing much that cannot be applied to another: parting his garments,
casting lots for his vesture, etc. He is described as a kindly, meek and
beautiful hart, started by the huntsman at the dawn of the day. Herod began
hunting him down as soon as he appeared. Poverty, the hatred of men, and
the temptation of Satan, joined in the pursuit. There always was some
"dog," or "bull," or "unicorn," ready to attack him. After his first sermon
the huntsmen gathered about him, but he was too fleet of foot, and escaped.
The church had long seen the Messiah "like a roe, or a young hart, upon the
mountains," had "heard the voice of her Beloved," and had cried out,
"Behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills;"
sometimes he was even seen, with the dawn of the day, in the neighbourhood
of the temple, and beside the enclosures of the vineyards. The church
requested to see him "on the mountains of Bether," and upon "the mountains
of spices." The former probably signifying the place of his sufferings, and
the latter the sublime acclivities of light, glory, and honour, where the
"hart" shall be hunted no more. But in the afternoon, the huntsmen who had
been following the "young roe" from early day-break, had succeeded in
driving him to the mountains of Bether. Christ found Calvary a craggy,
jagged, and fearful hill—"a mountain of division." Here he was driven
by the huntsmen to the edges of the awful precipices yawning destruction
from below, while he was surrounded and held at bay by all the beasts of
prey and monsters of the infernal forest. The "unicorn," and the "bulls of
Bashan," gored him with their horns; the great "lion" roared at him; and the
"dog" fastened himself upon him. But he foiled them all. In his own time
he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. He was buried in a new grave; and
his assailants reckoned upon complete victory. They had not considered that
he was a "morning hart." Surely enough, at the appointed time, did he
escape from the hunter's net, and stand forth on the mountains of Israel
ALIVE, and never , NEVER to die again. Now he is with Mary in the garden,
giving evidence of his own resurrection; in a moment he is at Emmaus,
encouraging the too timid and bewildered disciples. Nor does it cost him
any trouble to go thence to Galilee to his friends, and again to the Mount
of Olives, "on the mountains of spices," carrying with him the day-dawn,
robed in life and beauty for ever more."
Christmas Evans, 1766-1838.
Title. It will be very readily admitted that the hind is a very
appropriate emblem of the suffering and persecuted righteous man who meets
us in this Psalm. . . . That the hind may be a figurative expression
significant of suffering innocence, is put beyond a doubt by the fact, that
the wicked and the persecutors in this Psalm, whose peculiar physiognomy is
marked by emblems drawn from the brute creation, are designed by the terms
dogs, lions, bulls, etc.
E. W. Hengstenberg.
Title. "The hind." Much extraordinary symbolism has by old authors been
conjured up and clustered around the hind. According to their curious
natural history, there exists a deadly enmity between the deer and the
serpent, and the deer by its warm breath draws serpents out of their holes
in order to devour them. The old grammarians derived Elaphas, or hart,
from elaunein tous opheis, that is, of driving away serpents. Even the
burning a portion of the deer's horns was said to drive away all snakes. If
a snake had escaped the hart after being drawn out by the hart by its
breath, it was said to be more vehemently poisonous than before. The
timidity of the deer was ascribed to the great size of its heart, in which
they thought was a bone shaped like a cross.
Condensed from Wood's "Bible Animals," by C. H. S.
Whole Psalm. This is a kind of gem among the Psalms, and is peculiarly
excellent and remarkable. It contains those deep, sublime, and heavy
sufferings of Christ, when agonising in the midst of the terrors and pangs
of divine wrath and death, which surpass all human thought and
comprehension. I know not whether any Psalm throughout the whole book
contains matter more weighty, or from which the hearts of the godly can so
truly perceive those sighs and groans, inexpressible by man, which their
Lord and Head, Jesus Christ, uttered when conflicting for us in the midst of
death, and in the midst of the pains and terrors of hell. Wherefore this
Psalm ought to be most highly prized by all who have any acquaintance with
temptations of faith and spiritual conflicts.
Martin Luther.
Whole Psalm. This Psalm, as it sets out the sufferings of Christ to the
full, so also his three great offices. His sufferings are copiously
described from the beginning of the Psalm to verse 22. The prophetical
office of Christ, from verse 22 to verse 25. That which is foretold about
his vows (verse 25), hath respect to his priestly function. In the rest of
the Psalm the kingly office of Christ is set forth.
William Gouge, D.D. (1575-1653), in "A Commentary on the whole Epistle
to the Hebrews." [Reprinted in Nichol's Series of Commentaries.]
Whole Psalm. This Psalm seems to be less a prophecy than a history.
Cassiodorus.
Whole Psalm. This Psalm must be expounded, word for word, entire and in
every respect, of Christ only; without any allegory, trope, or anagoge.
Bakius, quoted by F. Delitzsch, D.D., on Hebrews, ii. 12.
Whole Psalm. A prophecy of the passion of Christ, and of the vocation of
the Gentiles.
Eusebius of Cæsarea.
Verse 1. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" We contrast this