(b) saints;
(c) devils and lost souls.
—Warwell Fenn. 1830.
Verse 7. Consider the text, with reference to David, to Christ, and to the Christian.
1. With reference to David.
(a) David was a wonder as a man.
(b) As a king.
(c) As a servant of God.
2. With respect to Christ.
(a) Christ was a wonder in his person.
(b) In his life.
(c) In his miracles.
(d) In his teaching.
(e) In his sufferings.
(f) In his ascension and mediatorial glory.
3. With regard to the Christian.
(a) The Christian is a wonder to himself.
(b) To the world.
(c) To wicked spirits.
(d) To the angels in heaven.
—John Cawood. 1830.
Verse 8.
1. What? filled with what?—murmurings? doubts? fears? No! Praise. My own?—of men? No. Thy praise . Thy honour .
2. When? All the day.
(a) The whole day.
(b) Every day; a good preparation for heaven.
Verse 9. There are some peculiar circumstances of old age which render this blessing—the favour and presence of God—necessary.
1. Old age is a time of but little natural enjoyment, as Barzillai acknowledged, 2Sa 19:35.
2. It is a time of life in which the troubles of life are often known to increase.
3. Old age is a time in which the troubles of life not only increase, but become less tolerable.
4. Old age is a time which ought to command respect, and does so among dutiful children and all serious Christians: but it is often known to be attended with neglect. This is the case especially where they are poor and dependent. It has been the case where public characters have lost their youthful vivacity, and the brilliancy of their talents. A. Fuller.
Verse 9. There is,
1. Fear, mixed with faith.
(a) Natural to old age.
(b) Suggested by the usage of the world.
2. Faith mixed with fear: "Cast me not, "etc.
(a) Old age is not a sin.
(b) It is a crown of glory if found, etc.
Verses 11-12. Two great lies and two sweet prayers.
Verses 13-14.
1. What the wicked gain by opposing the righteous: Let them, etc. Ps 71:13.
2. What the righteous gain from being opposed by them, Ps 71:14: But I, etc.
Verse 14. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 998; "More and More."
Verse 15.
1. The determination avowed.
(a) To recount the instances of the divine faithfulness in his deliverances.
(b) To recount them publicly: My mouth, etc.
(c) Constantly: All the day.
2. The reason assigned: For I know not, etc. "Eternity's too short to utter all thy praise." Therefore I begin it now, and will continue it.
Verse 16.
1. The resolution: I will go.
2. The reservation: Thy strength only—thy righteousness only.
Verse 17. O God, thou hast taught me. None but God can teach us experimentally; and the lessons he teaches are always useful and important. He teaches all his scholars to know themselves—their depravity, poverty, and slavery. He teaches them his law—its purity, claims, and penalty. He teaches them his gospel—its fulness, freeness, and sensibility. He teaches them to know himself; as a reconciled God, as their Father and faithful friend. His teaching is accompanied with power and authority. We may know divine teaching by its effects: it always produces humility—they sit as his feet; dependence upon him; abhorrence of sin; love to God as a teacher; obedience to the lessons taught; thirst for further attainments; and it brings us daily to Jesus. James Smith.
Verse 18. The peculiar testimony of pious old age, what it is based upon, to whom it should be directed, and what we may hope from it.
Verse 19. A sermon might be instructively worked out upon "the high things of God."
Verse 20.
1. The future benefit of present trials: "Hereafter," said Aneas to his shipwrecked companions. "It will delight us to think of these things."
2. The present benefit of future mercies: "Glory to thee for all the grace we have not tasted yet."
Verse 22. A choice subject for song—"thy truth, "which may mean either doctrinal truth, or the attribute of faithfulness, its manifestation in history, and in our own experience.
Verse 22-23.
1. The soul of music: Not in the instrument or the voice, but in the soul. "I will sing with the understanding also." "Making melody in the heart, "etc.
2. The music of the soul. The soul which thou hast redeemed . Redemption is the music of souls once lost. Their only song in heaven.
Verse 24. How to make familiar talk edifying and useful.
WORK UPON THE SEVENTY-FIRST PSALM
Hieronymi Savonarolae Ferrariensis Meditationes in Psalmos— Miserere—In Te Domine Speravi, et Qui Regis Israel (12mo. Leyden: 1633).