Psalm 16
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. MICHTAM OF DAVID. This is usually understood to mean THE GOLDEN
PSALM, and such a title is most appropriate, for the matter is as the most
fine gold. Ainsworth calls it "David's jewel, or notable song." Dr.
Hawker, who is always alive to passages full of savour, devoutly cries,
"Some have rendered it precious, others golden, and others, precious
jewel; and as the Holy Ghost, by the apostles Peter and Paul, hath shown us
that it is all about the Lord Jesus Christ, what is here said of him is
precious, is golden, is a jewel indeed!" We have not met with the term
Michtam before, but if spared to write upon Psalms 56, 57, 58, 59, and 60,
we shall see it again, and shall observe that like the present these psalms,
although they begin with prayer, and imply trouble, abound in holy
confidence and close with songs of assurance as to ultimate safety and joy.
Dr. Alexander, whose notes are peculiarly valuable, thinks that the word is
most probably a simple derivative of a word signifying to hide, and
signifies a secret or mystery, and indicates the depth of doctrinal and
spiritual import in these sacred compositions. If this be the true
interpretation it well accords with the other, and when the two are put
together, they make up a name which every reader will remember, and which
will bring the precious subject at once to mind. THE PSALM OF THE PRECIOUS
SECRET.
SUBJECT. We are not left to human interpreters for the key to this golden
mystery, for, speaking by the Holy Ghost, Peter tells us, "David speaketh
concerning HIM." (Acts 2:25.) Further on in his memorable sermon he said,
"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that
he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to
him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise
up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his
flesh did see corruption." (Acts 2:29-31.) Nor is this our only guide,
for the apostle Paul, led by the same infallible inspiration, quotes from
this psalm, and testifies that David wrote of the man through whom is
preached unto us the forgiveness of sins. (Acts 13:35-38.) It has been
the usual plan of commentators to apply the psalm both to David, to the
saints, and to the Lord Jesus, but we will venture to believe that in it
"Christ is all;" since in the ninth and tenth verses, like the apostles on
the mount, we can see "no man but Jesus only."
DIVISION. The whole is so compact that it is difficult to draw sharp lines
of division. It may suffice to note our Lord's prayer of faith, verse 1,
avowal of faith in Jehovah alone, 2, 3, 4, 5, the contentment of his faith
in the present, 6, 7, and the joyous confidence of his faith for the future
(8, 11).
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. "Preserve me," keep, or save me, or as Horsley thinks, "guard
me," even as bodyguards surround their monarch, or as shepherds protect
their flocks. Tempted in all points like as we are, the manhood of Jesus
needed to be preserved from the power of evil; and though in itself pure,
the Lord Jesus did not confide in that purity of nature, but as an example
to his followers, looked to the Lord, his God, for preservation. One of the
great names of God is "the Preserver of men," (Job 7:20,) and this gracious
office the Father exercised towards our Mediator and Representative. It had
been promised to the Lord Jesus in express words, that he should be
preserved, Isaiah 49:7, 8. "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and
his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, I
will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people." This
promise was to the letter fulfilled, both by providential deliverance and
sustaining power, in the case of our Lord. Being preserved himself, he is
able to restore the preserved of Israel, for we are "preserved in Christ
Jesus and called." As one with him, the elect were preserved in his
preservation, and we may view this mediatorial supplication as the petition
of the Great High Priest for all those who are in him. The intercession
recorded in John 17 is but an amplification of this cry, "Holy Father, keep
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one,
as we are." When he says, "preserve me," he means his members, his
mystical body, himself, and all in him. But while we rejoice in the fact
that the Lord Jesus used this prayer for his members, we must not forget
that he employed it most surely for himself; he had so emptied himself, and
so truly taken upon him the form of a servant, that as man he needed divine
keeping even as we do, and often cried unto the strong for strength.
Frequently on the mountain-top he breathed forth this desire, and on one
occasion in almost the same words, he publicly prayed, "Father, save me from
this hour." (John 12:27.) If Jesus looked out of himself for protection,
how much more must we, his erring followers, do so!
"O God." The word for God here used is EL (Heb.), by which name the
Lord Jesus, when under a sense of great weakness, as for instance when upon
the cross, was wont to address the Mighty God, the Omnipotent Helper of his
people. We, too, may turn to El, the Omnipotent One, in all hours of
peril, with the confidence that he who heard the strong crying and tears of
our faithful High Priest, is both able and willing to bless us in him. It
is well to study the name and character of God, so that in our straits we
may know how and by what title to address our Father who is in heaven.
"For in thee do I put my trust," or, I have taken shelter in thee.
As chickens run beneath the hen, so do I betake myself to thee. Thou art my
great overshadowing Protector, and I have taken refuge beneath thy strength.
This is a potent argument in pleading, and our Lord knew not only how to
use it with God, but how to yield to its power when wielded by others upon
himself. "According to thy faith be it done unto thee," is a great rule of
heaven in dispensing favour, and when we can sincerely declare that we
exercise faith in the Mighty God with regard to the mercy which we seek, we
may rest assured that our plea will prevail. Faith, like the sword of Saul,
never returns empty; it overcomes heaven when held in the hand of prayer.
As the Saviour prayed, so let us pray, and as he became more than a
conqueror, so shall we also through him; let us when buffeted by storms
right bravely cry to the Lord as he did, "in thee do I put my trust."
Verse 2. "O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord." In
his inmost heart the Lord Jesus bowed himself to do service to his Heavenly
Father, and before the throne of Jehovah his soul vowed allegiance to the
Lord for our sakes. We are like him when our soul, truly and constantly in
the presence of the heart-searching God, declares her full consent to the
rule and government of the Infinite Jehovah, saying, "Thou art my Lord." To
avow this with the lip is little, but for the soul to say it, especially
in times of trial, is a gracious evidence of spiritual health; to profess it
before men is a small matter, but to declare it before Jehovah himself is of
far more consequence. This sentence may also be viewed as the utterance of
appropriating faith, laying hold upon the Lord by personal covenant and
enjoyment; in this sense may it be our daily song in the house of our
pilgrimage.
"My goodness extendeth not to thee." The work of our Lord Jesus was
not needful on account of any necessity in the Divine Being. Jehovah would
have been inconceivably glorious had the human race perished, and had no
atonement been offered. Although the life-work and death-agony of the Son
did reflect unparalleled lustre upon every attribute of God, yet the Most
Blessed and Infinitely Happy God stood in no need of the obedience and death
of his Son; it was for our sakes that the work of redemption was undertaken,
and not because of any lack or want on the part of the Most High. How
modestly does the Saviour here estimate his own goodness! What overwhelming
reasons have we for imitating his humility! "If thou be righteous, what
givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?" (Job 35:7.)
Verse 3. "But to the saints that are in the earth." These sanctified
ones, although still upon the earth, partake of the results of Jesus'
mediatorial work, and by his goodness are made what they are. The peculiar
people, zealous for good works, and hallowed to sacred service, are arrayed
in the Saviour's righteousness and washed in his blood, and so receive of
the goodness treasured up in him; these are the persons who are profited by
the work of the man Christ Jesus; but that work added nothing to the nature,
virtue, or happiness of God, who is blessed for evermore. How much more
forcibly is this true of us, poor unworthy servants not fit to be mentioned
in comparison with the faithful Son of God! Our hope must ever be that
haply some poor child of God may be served by us, for the Great Father can
never need our aid. Well may we sing the verses of Dr. Watts:
"Oft have my heart and tongue confess'd
How empty and how poor I am;
My praise can never make thee blest,
Nor add new glories to thy name.
Yet, Lord, thy saints on earth may reap
Some profit by the good we do;
These are the company I keep,
These are the choicest friends I know."
Poor believers are God's receivers, and have a warrant from the Crown to
receive the revenue of our offerings in the King's name. Saints departed we
cannot bless; even prayer for them is of no service; but while they are here
we should practically prove our love to them, even as our Master did, for
they are the excellent of the earth. Despite their infirmities, their
Lord thinks highly of them, and reckons them to be as nobles among men. The
title of "His Excellency" more properly belongs to the meanest saint than to
the greatest governor. The true aristocracy are believers in Jesus. They
are the only Right Honourables. Stars and garters are poor distinctions
compared with the graces of the Spirit. He who knows them best says of
them, "in whom is all my delight." They are his Hephzibah and his land
Beulah, and before all worlds his delights were with these chosen sons of
men. Their own opinion of themselves is far other than their Beloved's
opinion of them; they count themselves to be less than nothing, yet he makes
much of them, and sets his heart towards them. What wonders the eyes of
Divine Love can see where the Hands of Infinite Power have been graciously
at work. It was this quicksighted affection which led Jesus to see in us a
recompense for all his agony, and sustained him under all his sufferings by
the joy of redeeming us from going down into the pit.
Verse 4. The same loving heart which opens towards the chosen people is
fast closed against those who continue in their rebellion against God.
Jesus hates all wickedness, and especially the high crime of idolatry. The
text while it shows our Lord's abhorrence of sin, shows also the sinner's
greediness after it. Professed believers are often slow towards the true
Lord, but sinners "hasten after another god." They run like madmen where
we creep like snails. Let their zeal rebuke our tardiness. Yet theirs is a
case in which the more they haste the worse they speed, for their sorrows
are multiplied by their diligence in multiplying their sins. Matthew Henry
pithily says, "They that multiply gods multiply griefs to themselves; for
whosoever thinks one god too little, will find two too many, and yet
hundreds not enough." The cruelties and hardships which men endure for
their false gods is wonderful to contemplate; our missionary reports are a
noteworthy comment on this passage; but perhaps our own experience is an
equally vivid exposition; for when we have given our heart to idols, sooner
or later we have had to smart for it. Near the roots of our self-love all
our sorrows lie, and when that idol is overthrown, the sting is gone from
grief. Moses broke the golden calf and ground it to powder, and cast it