Some souls are serfs among the free,
While others nobly thrive;
They stand just where their fathers stood
Dead, even while they live.
Others, all spirit, heart, and sense,
Theirs the mysterious power
To live in thrills of joy or woe,
A twelvemonth in an hour! Bryan W. Procter
Verse 16. Long life.
He liveth long who liveth well!
All other life is short and vain:
He liveth longest who can tell
Of living most for heavenly gain.
Fie liveth long who liveth well!
All else is being flung away;
He liveth longest who can tell of true things
truly done each day. Horatius Bonar
Verse 16. I will show him my salvation. The last, greatest, climax of blessing, including and concluding all! What God does is perfectly done. Hitherto has his servant caught glimpses of the "great salvation." The Spirit has revealed step by step of it, as he was able to bear it. The Word has taught him, and he has rejoiced in his light. But all was seen in part and known in part . But when God has satisfied his servant with length of days, and time for him is over, eternity begun, he will "shew him his salvation." All will be plain. All will be known. God will be revealed in his love and his glory. And we shall know all things, even as we are known! Mary B. M. Duncan.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. The secret dwelling place. There is the dweller in the dark world, in the favoured land, in the holy city, in the outer court; but the holy of holies is the "secret place"—communion, acceptance, etc.
2. The protecting shadow—security, peace, etc.; like hamlets of olden time clustered beneath castle walls. Charles A. Davis.
Verse 1.
1. The person. One who is in intimate, personal, secret, abiding communion with God, dwelling near the mercyseat, within the veil.
2. The Privilege. He is the guest of God, protected, refreshed, and comforted by him, and that to all eternity.
Verses 1-2. Four names of God.
1. We commune with him reverently, for he is the Most High.
2. We rest in him as the Almighty.
3. We rejoice in him as Jehovah or Lord.
4. We trust him as EL, the mighty God.
Verse 2.
1. Observe the nouns applied to God—refuge from trouble, fortress in trouble, God at all times.
2. Observe the pronouns applied by man— "I" will say, " my refuge, my fortress, "etc. G. R.
Verse 2. The power, excellence, fruit, reasonableness, and open avowal of personal faith.
Verse 3. Invisible protection from invisible dangers; wisdom to meet cunning, love to war with cruelty, omnipresence to match mystery, life to baffle death.
Verse 3. SURELY, or reasons for assured confidence in God's protection.
Verses 3-7. Pestilence, panic, and peace; (for times of widespread disease). Charles A. Davis.
Verses 3, 8-9.
1. Saints are safe— "surely, " (Ps 91:3).
2. The evil is bounded— "only, " (Ps 91:8).
3. The Lord has reasons for preserving his own— because, " (Ps 91:9).
Verse 4.
1. The compassion of God.
2. The confidence of saints.
3. The panoply of truth.
Verses 5-6.
1. The exposure of all men to fear. (a) Continually, day and night. (b) Deservedly: "conscience doth make cowards of us all."
2. The exemption of some men from fear. (a) Because of their trust. (b) Because of the divine protection.
Verse 7. How an evil may be near but not nigh.
Verse 8. What we have actually seen of the reward of the wicked.
Verses 9-10.
1. God our spiritual habitation.
2. God the keeper of our earthly habitation.
3. General truth that the spiritual blesses the temporal.
Verse 10.
1. The Personal Blessing.
2. The Domestic Blessing.
3. The connection between the two.
Verses 11-12. A "wrested" Scripture righted.
1. Satan's version—presumptuousness.
2. The Holy Spirit's version—trustfulness. Charles A. Davis.
Verses 11-12.
1. The Ministry of Angels as employed by God. (a) Official: "he shall give, "etc. (b) Personal: "over thee." (c) Constant: "in all thy ways."
2. As enjoyed by man. (a) For preservation: "shall bear thee, "etc.; tenderly but effectually. (b) Under limitation. They cannot do the work of God, or of Christ, or of the Spirit, or of the word, or of ministers, for salvation; "are they not all ministering spirits, "etc. G. R.
Verse 12. Preservation from minor evils most precious because they are often most grievous, lead to greater evils, and involve much damage.
Verse 13. The believer's love set upon God.
Verse 13.
1. Every child of God has his enemies. (a) They are numerous: "the lion, adder, young lion, dragon." (b) Diversified: subtle and powerful—"lion and adder; " new and old—"young lion" and the" old dragon."
2. He will finally obtain a complete victory over them—"Thou shalt tread, "etc.; "shall put thy foot, "etc.; "the Lord shall bruise Satan, "etc. G. R.
Verses 14-16. The six "I wills."
Verse 14. Here we have,
1. Love for love: "Because, "etc. (a) The fact of the saints' love to God. There is, first, love in God without their love, then love for their love. (b) The evidence of his love to them: "I will deliver him"—from sin, from danger, from temptation, from every evil.
2. Honour for honour. (a) His honouring God. "He hath known my name" and made it known; God honouring him; "I will set him on high"—high in honour, in happiness, in glory. G. R.
Verse 15-16. Observe,
1. The exceeding great and precious promises. (a) Answer to prayer: "he shall call, "etc. (b) Comfort in trouble: "I will be with him." (c) Deliverance from trouble: "I will deliver him." (d) Greater honour after trouble: deliver "and honour him." (e) Length of days; life long enough to satisfy him. (f) God's salvation; "show him my salvation; "far beyond what man could think or desire.
2. To whom these promises belong; who is the he and the him to whom these promises are made. He "calls upon God, "says Ps 91:15; he "hath known my name, "says Ps 91:14; he "hath set his love upon me, "says the former part of the same verse; he "has made the Lord his habitation, "says Ps 91:9; he "dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, "says Ps 91:1. Hannah More says, "To preach privileges without specifying to whom they belong is like putting a letter in the post office without a direction." It may be very good and contain a valuable remittance, but no one can tell for whom it is intended. All the promises of Scripture are plainly directed to those to whom they belong. The direction put upon the promises of this Psalm is unmistakably clear and often repeated. G. R.
WORKS UPON THE NINETY-FIRST PSALM
S. Patris Bernardi, in Psalmum 90. (91). Qui habitat. Sermones (In the Paris edition of Bernard's works, imperial 8vo. 1839, Volume one part 2, also in the quarto volume of Sermons, Salisburgi MDCLXVI.
The Shield of the Righteous: or, the Ninety-first Psalme, expounded, with the addition of Doctrines and Verses. Verie necessarie and comfortable in these dayes of heauinesse, wherein the Pestilence rageth so sore in London, and other parts of this Kingdome. By ROBERT HORN, Minister of God's Word...London. 1628 (4to).
The Righteous man's Habitation in the Time of the Plague and Pestilence; being a brief Exposition of the Ninety-first Psalm: (In the Works of William Bridge (1600-1670) Tegg's Edition, Volume one pg. 463-500.
In "UNDER THE SHADOW: being additional leaves from the Note Book of the late Mary B.M. Duncan, 1867", pp. 85-172, there is an Exposition of this Psalm.