Verse 7. What madness and folly is it that the favourites of
heaven should envy the men of the world, who at best do but feed upon
the scraps that come from God's table! Temporals are the bones;
spirituals are the marrow. Is it below a man to envy the dogs,
because of the bones? And is it not much more below a Christian to
envy others for temporals, when himself enjoys spirituals? Thomas
Brooks.
Verse 7. "Thou hast put gladness in my heart." The
comforts which God reserves for his mourners are filling comforts
(Romans 15:13); "The God of hope fill you with joy" (John 16:24);
"Ask that your joy may be full." When God pours in the joys of heaven
they fill the heart, and make it run over (2 Corinthians 7:4); "I am
exceeding joyful;" the Greek is, I overflow with joy, as a cup that
is filled with wine till it runs over. Outward comforts can no more
fill the heart than a triangle can fill a circle. Spiritual joys are
satisfying (Psalm 63:5); "My heart shall be satisfied as with marrow
and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips;"
"Thou hast put gladness in my heart." Worldly joys do put
gladness into the face, but the spirit of God puts gladness into the
heart; divine joys are heart joys (Zechariah 10:7; John 16:22); "Your
heart shall rejoice" (Luke 1:47); "My spirit rejoiced in God." And to
show how filling these comforts are, which are of a heavenly
extraction, the psalmist says they create greater joy than when
" corn and wine increase ." Wine and oil may delight but not
satisfy; they have their vacuity and indigence. We may say, as
Zechariah 10:2, "They comfort in vain;" outward comforts do sooner
cloy than cheer, and sooner weary that fill. Xerxes offered great
rewards to him that could find out a new pleasure; but the comforts
of the Spirit are satisfactory, they recruit the heart (Psalm 94:19),
"Thy comforts delight my soul." There is as much difference between
heavenly comforts and earthly, as between a banquet that is eaten,
and one that is painted on the wall. Thomas Watson.
Verse 8. It is said of the husbandman, that having cast his
seed into the ground, he sleeps and riseth day and night, and the
seed springs and grows he knoweth not how. Mark 4:26,27. So a good
man having by faith and prayer cast his care upon God, he resteth
night and day, and is very easy, leaving it to his God to perform all
things for him according to his holy will. Matthew Henry.
Verse 8. When you have walked with God from morning until
night, it remaineth that you conclude the day well, when you
would give yourself to rest at night. Wherefore, first, look back and
take a strict view of your whole carriage that day past .
Reform what you find amiss; and rejoice, or be grieved, as you find
you have done well or ill, as you have advanced or declined in grace
that day. Secondly, since you cannot sleep in safety if God, who is
your keeper (Psalm 121:4, 5), do not wake and watch for
you (Psalm 127:1); and though you have God to watch when
you sleep, you cannot be safe, if he that watcheth be your
enemy. Wherefore it is very convenient that at night you renew
and confirm your peace with God by faith and prayer, commending and
committing yourself to God's tuition by prayer (Psalm 3:4, 5); Psalm
92:2), with thanksgiving before you go to bed. Then shall you lie
down in safety. Psalm 4:8. All this being done, yet while you are
putting off your apparel, when you are lying down, and
when you are in bed, before you sleep, it is good that you
commune with your own heart. Psalm 4:4. If possibly you
can fall asleep with some heavenly meditation, then will your
sleep be more sweet (Proverbs 3:21, 24, 25); and more
secure (Proverbs 6:21, 22); your dreams fewer, or more
comfortable; your head will be fuller of good thoughts
(Proverbs 6:22), and your heart will be in a better frame when
you awake, whether in the night or in the morning.
Condensed from Henry Scudder's Daily Walk, 1633.
Verse 8. "I will both," etc. We have now to retire for
a moment from the strife of tongues and the open hostility of foes,
into the stillness and privacy of the chamber of sleep. Here, also,
we find the "I will" of trust. "I will both lay me down in peace,
and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." God
is here revealed to us as exercising personal care in the still
chamber . And there is something here which should be
inexpressibly sweet to the believer, for this shows the minuteness of
God's care, the individuality of his love; how it condescends and
stoops, and acts, not only in great, but also in little spheres; not
only where glory might be procured from great results, but where
nought is to be had save the gratitude and love of a poor feeble
creature, whose life has been protected and preserved, in a period of
helplessness and sleep. How blessed would it be if we made larger
recognition of God in the still chamber; if we thought of him as
being there in all hours of illness, of weariness, and pain; if we
believed that his interest and care are as much concentrated upon the
feeble believer there as upon his people when in the wider battle
field of the strife of tongues. There is something inexpressibly
touching in this "lying down" of the Psalmist. In thus lying down he
voluntarily gave up any guardianship of himself; he resigned himself
into the hands of another; he did so completely, for in the absence
of all care he slept; there was here a perfect trust. Many a believer
lies down, but it is not to sleep. Perhaps he feels safe enough so
far as his body is concerned, but cares and anxieties invade the
privacy of his chamber; they come to try his faith and trust; they
threaten, they frighten, and alas! prove too strong for trust. Many a
poor believer might say, "I will lay me down, but not to sleep." The
author met with a touching instance of this, in the case of an aged
minister whom he visited in severe illness. This worthy man's
circumstances were narrow, and his family trials were great; he said,
"The doctor wants me to sleep, but how can I sleep with care sitting
on my pillow?" It is the experience of some of the Lord's people,
that although equal to an emergency or a continued pressure, a
re-action sets in afterwards; and when they come to be alone their
spirits sink, and they do not realise that strength from God, or feel
that confidence in him which they felt while the pressure was
exerting its force. . . . . . There is a trial in stillness; and
oftentimes the still chamber makes a larger demand upon loving trust
than the battle field. O that we could trust God more and more with
personal things! O that he were the God of our chamber, as well as of
our temples and houses! O that we could bring him more and more into
the minutiae of daily life! If we did thus, we should experience a
measure of rest to which we are, perhaps, strangers now; we should
have less dread of the sick chamber; we should have that unharassed
mind which conduces most to repose, in body and soul; we should be
able to say, "I will lie down and sleep, and leave to-morrow with
God! " Ridley's brother offered to remain with him during the
night preceeding his martyrdom, but the bishop declined, saying, that
"he meant to go to bed, and sleep as quietly as ever he did in his
life." Philip Bennett Power's 'I Wills' of the Psalms.
Verse 8. Due observation of Providence will both beget and
secure inward tranquillity in your minds amidst the vicissitudes and
revolutions of things in this unstable vain world. "I will both
lay me down in peace, and sleep; for the Lord only maketh me dwell in
safety." He resolves that sinful fears of events shall not rob
him of his inward quiet, nor torture his thoughts with anxious
presages; he will commit all his concerns into that faithful fatherly
hand that had hitherto wrought all things for him; and he means not
to lose the comfort of one night's rest, nor bring the evil of
to-morrow upon the day; but knowing in whose hand he was, wisely
enjoys the sweet felicity of a resigned will. Now this tranquillity
of our minds is as much begotten and preserved by a due consideration
of providence as by anything whatsoever. John Flavel, 1627 -
1691.
Verse 8. Happy is the Christian, who having nightly with this
verse, committed himself to his bed as to his grave, shall at last,
with the same words, resign himself to his grave as to his bed, from
which he expects in due time to arise, and sing a morning hymn with
the children of the resurrection. George Horne, D.D., 1776.
Verse 8. "Sleep,"
"How blessed was that sleep
The sinless Saviour knew!
In vain the storm-sinds blew,
Till he awoke to others woes,
And hushed the billows to repose.
How beautiful is sleep —
The sleep that Christians know!
Ye mourners! cease your woe,
While soft upon his Saviour's breast,
The righteous sinks to endless rest."
Mrs. M'Cartree.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. Is full of matter for a sermon upon, past mercies
a plea for present help. The first sentence shows that believers
desire, expect, and believe in a God that heareth prayer. The title—
God of my righteousness, may furnish a text (see exposition),
and the last sentence may suggest a sermon upon, "The best of saints
must still appeal to God's mercy and sovereign grace."
Verse 2. Depravity of man as evinced
(1) by continuance in despising
Christ,
(2) by loving vanity in his heart,
and
(3) seeking lies in his daily life.
Verse 2. The length of the sinner's sin. "How long?" May be
bounded by repentance, shall be by death, and yet shall continue in
eternity.
Verse 3. Election. Its aspects toward God, our enemies,
and ourselves.
Verse 3. "The Lord will hear when I call unto him."
Answers to prayer certain to special persons. Mark out those who can
claim the favour.
Verse 3. The gracious Separatist. Who is he? Who
separated him? With what end? How to make men know it?
Verse 4. The sinner directed to review himself, that he may be
convinced of sin. Andrew Fuller, 1754-1815.
Verse 4. "Be still." Advice—good, practical, but hard
to follow. Times when seasonable. Graces needed to enable one to be
still. Results of quietness. Persons who most need the advice.
Instances of its practice. here is much material for a sermon.
Verse 5. The nature of those sacrifices of righteousness which
the Lord's people are expected to offer. William Ford Vance,
1827.
Verse 6. The cry of the world and the church contrasted.
Vox populi not always Vox Dei.
Verse 6. The cravings of the soul all satisfied in God.