Christ, or "save now," and made him Saviour of the world, the
Pharisees were angry, our Saviour confuteth them by this very Psalm:
"Have ye not read," saith he, "out of the mouths of babes and
sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" He quoteth this very Psalm
which speaks of himself; and Paul, by his warrant, and perhaps from
that hint, doth thus argue out of it, and convince the Jews by it.
Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 1. "How excellent is thy name in all the earth!"
How illustrious is the name of Jesus throughout the world! His
incarnation, birth, humble and obscure life, preaching, miracles,
passion, death, resurrection, and ascension, are celebrated through
the whole world. His religion, the gifts and graces of his Spirit,
his people—Christians, his gospel, and the preachers of it, are
everywhere spoken of. No name is so universal, no power and influence
so generally felt, as those of the Saviour of mankind. Amen. Adam
Clarke.
Verse 1. "Above the heavens;" not in the heavens, but
"above the heavens;" even greater, beyond, and higher than
they; "angels, principalities, and powers, being made subject unto
him." As Paul says, he hath "ascended up far above all heavens." And
with this his glory above the heavens is connected, his sending forth
his name upon earth through his Holy Spirit. As the apostle adds in
this passage, "He hath ascended up far above all heavens; and he gave
some apostles." And thus here: "Thy name excellent in all the world;"
"Thy glory above the heavens." Isaac Williams.
Verse 2. "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou
ordained strength," etc. In a prophetical manner, speaking of
that which was to be done by children many hundreds of years after,
for the asserting of his infinite mercy in sending his Son Jesus
Christ into the world to save us from our sins. For so the Lord
applieth their crying, "Hosannah to the Son of David" in the temple.
And thus both Basil and other ancients, and some new writers also
understand it. But Calvin will have it meant of God's wonderful
providing for them, by turning their mother's blood into milk, and
giving them the faculty to suck, thus nourishing and preserving them,
which sufficiently convinceth all gainsayers of God's wonderful
providence toward the weakest and shiftless of all creatures. John
Mayer, 1653.
Verse 2. Who are these "babes and sucklings?"
1. Man in general, who springeth from so
weak and poor a beginning as that of babes and sucklings, yet is at
length advanced to such power as to grapple with, and overcome the
enemy and the avenger.
2. David in particular, who being but a
ruddy youth, God used him as an instrument to discomfit Goliath of
Gath.
3. More especially our Lord Jesus
Christ, who assuming our nature and all the sinless infirmities of
it, and submitting to the weakness of an infant, and after dying is
gone in the same nature to reign in heaven, till he hath brought all
his enemies under his feet. Psalm 110:1., and 1 Corinthians 15:27.
Then was our human nature exalted above all other creatures, when the
Son of God was made of a woman, carried in the womb.
4. The apostles, who to outward
appearance were despicable, in a manner children and sucklings in
comparison of the great ones of the world; poor despised creatures,
yet principal instruments of God's service and glory. Therefore 'tis
notable, that when Christ glorifieth his Father for the wise and free
dispensation of his saving grace (Matthew 11:25), he saith, "I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes,"
so called from the meanness of their condition. . . . And you shall
see it was spoken when the disciples were sent abroad and had power
given them over unclean spirits. "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in
spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes." This he acknowledged to be an act of
infinite condescension in God.
5. Those children that cried
Hosannah to Christ, make up part of the sense, for Christ
defendeth their practise by this Scripture. . . . . . .
6. Not only the apostles, but all those
that fight under Christ's banner, and are listed into his
confederacy, may be called babes and sucklings; first, because of
their condition; secondly, their disposition. .
1. Because of their condition. . . . God
in the government of the world is pleased to subdue the enemies of
his kingdom by weak and despised instruments.
2. Because of their disposition: they
are most humbly spirited. We are told (Matthew 18:3), "Except ye be
converted and become as little children," etc. As if he had said, you
strive for pre-eminence and worldly greatness in my kingdom; I tell
you my kingdom is a kingdom of babes, and containeth none but the
humble, and such as are little in their own eyes, and are contented
to be small and despised in the eyes of others, and so do not seek
after great matters in the world. A young child knoweth not what
striving or state meaneth, and therefore by an emblem and visible
representation of a child set in the midst of them, Christ would take
them off from the expectation of a carnal kingdom. Thomas
Manton, 1620-1677.
Verse 2. "That thou mightest still the enemy and the
avenger." This very confusion and revenge upon Satan, who was the
cause of man's fall, was aimed at by God at first; therefore is the
first promise and preaching of the gospel to Adam brought in rather
in sentencing him than in speaking to Adam, that the seed of the
woman should break the serpent's head, it being in God's aim as much
to confound him as to save poor man. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 2. The work that is done in love loses half its tedium
and difficulty. It is as with a stone, which in the air and on the
dry ground we strain at but cannot stir. Flood the field where it
lies, bury the block beneath the rising water; and now, when its head
is submerged, bend to the work. Put your strength to it. Ah! it
moves, rises from its bed, rolls on before your arm. So, when under
the heavenly influences of grace the tide of love rises, and goes
swelling over our duties and difficulties, a child can do a man's
work, and a man can do a giant's. Let love be present in the heart,
and "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings God ordaineth
strength." Thomas Guthrie, D.D.
Verse 2. "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings,"
etc. That poor martyr, Alice Driver, in the presence of many
hundreds, did so silence Popish bishops, that she and all blessed God
that the proudest of them could not resist the spirit in a silly
woman; so I say to thee, "Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings" God will be honoured. Even thou, silly worm, shalt
honour him, when it shall appear what God hath done for thee, what
lusts he hath mortified, and what graces he hath granted thee. The
Lord can yet do greater things for thee if thou wilt trust him. He
can carry thee upon eagles' wings, enable thee to bear and suffer
strong affliction for him, to persevere to the end, to live by faith,
and to finish thy course with joy. Oh! in that he hath made thee low
in heart, thy other lowness shall be so much the more honour to thee.
Do not all as much and more wonder at God's rare workmanship in the
ant, the poorest bug that creeps, as in the biggest elephant? That so
many parts and limbs should be united in such a little space; that so
poor a creature should provide in the summer-time her winter's food?
Who sees not as much of God in a bee as in a greater creature? Alas!
in a great body we look for great abilities and wonder not.
Therefore, to conclude, seeing God hath clothed the uncomely parts
with the more honour, bless God, and bear thy baseness more equally;
thy greatest glory is yet to come, that when the wise of the world
have rejected the counsel of God, thou hast (with those poor
publicans and soldiers), magnified the ministry of the gospel. Surely
the Lord will also be admired in thee (1 Thessalonians 1), a poor
silly creature, that even thou wert made wise to salvation and
believest in that day. Be still poor in thine own eyes, and the Lord
will make thy proudest scornful enemies to worship at thy feet, to
confess God hath done much for thee, and wish thy portion when God
shall visit them. Daniel Rogers, 1642.
Verse 3. "When I consider." Meditation fits for
humiliation. When David had been contemplating the works of creation,
their splendour, harmony, motion, influence, he lets the plumes of
pride fall, and begins to have self-abasing thoughts. "When I
consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars
which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of
him?" Thomas Watson.
Verse 3. "When I consider thy heavens," etc. David
surveying the firmament, broke forth into this consideration:
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon
and the stars, which thou hast created, what is man?" etc. How
cometh he to mention the moon and stars, and omit the sun? the other
being but his pensioners, shining with that exhibition of light which
the bounty of the sun allots them. It is answered, this was David's
night meditation, when the sun, departing to the other world, left
the lesser lights only visible in heaven; and as the sky is best
surveyed by night in the variety of the same. Night was made for man
to rest in. But when I cannot sleep, may I, with the psalmist,
entertain my waking with good thoughts. Not to use them as opium, to
invite my corrupt nature to slumber, but to bolt out bad thoughts,
which otherwise would possess my soul. Thomas Fuller, 1608 -
1661.
Verse 3. "Thy heavens." The carnal mind sees God in
nothing, not even in spiritual things, his word and ordinances. The
spiritual mind sees him in everything, even in natural things, in
looking on the heavens and the earth and all the creatures—"THY
heavens;" sees all in that notion, in their relation to God as his
work, and in them his glory appearing; stands in awe, fearing to
abuse his creatures and his favours to his dishonour. "The day is
thine, and the night also is thine;" therefore ought not I to
forget thee through the day, nor in the night. Robert Leighton,
D.D.
Verse 3. "The stars." I cannot say that it is chiefly
the contemplation of their infinitude, and the immeasurable space
they occupy, that enraptures me in the stars. These conditions rather
tend to confuse the mind; and in this view of countless numbers and
unlimited space there lies, moreover, much that belongs rather to a
temporary and human than to an eternally abiding consideration. Still
less do I regard them absolutely with reference to the life after
this. But the mere thought they are so far beyond and above
everything terrestrial—the feeling, that before them everything
earthly so utterly vanishes to nothing—that the single man is so