This
psalm is composed alphabetically, as the former is, and is (like the former)
entitled "Hallelujah," though it treats of the happiness of the
saints, because it redounds to the glory of God, and whatever we have the
pleasure of he must have the praise of. It is a comment upon the last verse
of the foregoing psalm, and fully shows how much it is our wisdom to fear
God and do his commandments. We have here, I. The character of the
righteous, ver. 1. II. The blessedness of the righteous. 1. There is a
blessing entailed upon their posterity, ver. 2. 2. There is a blessing
conferred upon themselves. (1.) Prosperity outward and inward, ver. 3. (2.)
Comfort, ver. 4. (3.) Wisdom, ver. 5. (4.) Stability, ver. 6-8. (5.) Honour,
ver. 6, 9. III. The misery of the wicked, ver. 10. So that good and evil are
set before us, the blessing and the curse. In singing this psalm we must not
only teach and admonish ourselves and one another to answer to the
characters here given of the happy, but comfort and encourage ourselves and
one another with the privileges and comforts here secured to the holy.
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The Character of the Righteous.
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1
Praise ye the LORD.
Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD,
that delighteth greatly in his commandments. 2 His seed
shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be
blessed. 3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and
his righteousness endureth for ever. 4 Unto the upright there
ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of
compassion, and righteous. 5 A good man showeth favour, and
lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.
The psalmist begins with a
call to us to praise God, but immediately applies himself to praise the
people of God; for whatever glory is acknowledged to be on them it comes
from God, and must return to him; as he is their praise, so they are his. We
have reason to praise the Lord that there are a people in the world who fear
him and serve him, and that they are a happy people, both which are owing
entirely to the grace of God. Now here we have,
I. A description of those
who are here pronounced blessed, and to whom these promises are made.
1. They are
well-principled with pious and devout affections. Those have the privileges
of God's subjects, not who cry, Lord, Lord, but who are indeed well
affected to his government. (1.) They are such as stand in awe of God and
have a constant reverence for his majesty and deference to his will. The
happy man is he that fears the Lord, v. 1. (2.) They are such
as take a pleasure in their duty. He that fears the Lord, as a
Father, with the disposition of a child, not of a slave, delights greatly
in his commandments, is well pleased with them and with the equity and
goodness of them; they are written in his heart; it is his choice to be
under them, and he calls them an easy, a pleasant, yoke; it is his delight
to be searching into and conversing with God's commandments, by reading,
hearing, and meditation, Ps. i. 2. He delights not only in God's promises,
but in his precepts, and thinks himself happy under God's government as well
as in his favour. It is a pleasure to him to be found in the way of his
duty, and he is in his element when he is in the service of God. Herein he
delights greatly, more than in any of the employments and enjoyments of this
world. And what he does in religion is done from principle, because he sees
amiableness in religion and advantage by it.
2. They are honest and
sincere in their professions and intentions. They are called the upright
(v. 2, 4), who are really as good as they seem to be, and deal
faithfully both with God and man. There is no true religion without
sincerity; that is gospel-perfection.
3. They are both just and
kind in all their dealings: He is gracious, full of compassion, and
righteous (v. 4), dares not do any wrong to any man, but does to
every man all the good he can, and that from a principle of compassion and
kindness. It was said of God, in the foregoing psalm (v. 4), He is
gracious, and full of compassion; and here it is said of the good man
that he is so; for herein we must be followers of God as dear children;
be merciful as he is. He is full of compassion, and yet righteous;
what he does good with is what he came honestly by. God hates robbery for
burnt-offerings, and so does he. One instance is given of his beneficence (v.
5): He shows favour and lends. Sometimes there is as much charity in
lending as in giving, as it obliges the borrower both to industry and
honesty. He is gracious and lends (Ps. xxxvii. 26); he does it from a
right principle, not as the usurer lends for his own advantage, nor merely
out of generosity, but out of pure charity; he does it in a right manner,
not grudgingly, but pleasantly, and with a cheerful countenance.
II. The blessedness that
is here entailed upon those that answer to these characters. Happiness, all
happiness, to the man that feareth the Lord. Whatever men think or
say of them, God says that they are blessed; and his saying so makes them
so.
1. The posterity of good
men shall fare the better for his goodness (v. 2): His seed shall
be mighty on earth. Perhaps he himself shall not be so great in the
world, nor make such a figure, as his seed after him shall for his sake.
Religion has been the raising of many a family, if not so as to advance it
high, yet so as to fix it firmly. When good men themselves are happy in
heaven their seed perhaps are considerable on earth, and will themselves own
that it is by virtue of a blessing descending from them. The generation
of the upright shall be blessed; if they tread in their steps, they
shall be the more blessed for their relation to them, beloved for the
Father's sake (Rom. xi. 28), for so runs the covenant--I will be a
God to thee, and to thy seed; while the seed of evil-doers shall
never be renowned. Let the children of godly parents value themselves
upon it, and take heed of doing any thing to forfeit the blessing entailed
upon the generation of the upright.
2. They shall prosper in
the world, and especially their souls shall prosper, v. 3. (1.) They
shall be blessed with outward prosperity as far as is good for them: Wealth
and riches shall be in the upright man's house, not in his heart
(for he is none of those in whom the love of money reigns), perhaps not so
much in his hand (for he only begins to raise the estate), but in his house;
his family shall grow rich when he is gone. But, (2.) That which is much
better is that they shall be blessed with spiritual blessings, which are the
true riches. His wealth shall be in his house, for he must leave that
to others; but his righteousness he himself shall have the comfort of
to himself, it endures for ever. Grace is better than gold, for it
will outlast it. He shall have wealth and riches, and yet shall keep up his
religion, and in a prosperous condition shall still hold fast his
integrity, which many, who kept it in the storm, throw off and let go in
the sunshine. Then worldly prosperity is a blessing when it does not
make men cool in their piety, but they still persevere in that; and when
this endures in the family, and goes along with the wealth and riches, and
the heirs of the father's estate inherit his virtues too, that is a happy
family indeed. However, the good man's righteousness endures for ever
in the crown of righteousness which fades not away.
3. They shall have comfort
in affliction (v. 4): Unto the upright there arises light in the
darkness. It is here implied that good men may be in affliction; the
promise does not exempt them from that. They shall have their share in the
common calamities of human life; but, when they sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light to them, Mic. vii. 8. They shall be supported and
comforted under their troubles; their spirits shall be lightsome when their
outward condition is clouded. Sat lucis intus--There is light enough
within. During the Egyptian darkness the Israelites had light in
their dwellings. They shall be in due time, and perhaps when they least
expect it, delivered out of their troubles; when the night is darkest the
day dawns; nay, at evening-time, when night was looked for, it
shall be light.
4. They shall have wisdom
for the management of all their concerns, v. 5. He that does good
with his estate shall, through the providence of God, increase it, not by
miracle, but by his prudence: He shall guide his affairs with discretion,
and his God instructs him to discretion and teaches him, Isa.
xxviii. 26. It is part of the character of a good man that he will use his
discretion in managing his affairs, in getting and saving, that he may have
to give. It may be understood of the affairs of his charity: He shows
favour and lends; but then it is with discretion, that his charity may
not be misplaced, that he may give to proper objects what is proper to be
given and in due time and proportion. And it is part of the promise to him
who thus uses discretion that God will give him more. Those who most use
their wisdom see most of their need of it, and ask it of God, who has
promised to give it liberally, Jam. i. 5. He will guide his words
with judgment (so it is in the original); and there is nothing in which
we have more occasion for wisdom than in the government of the tongue;
blessed is he to whom God gives that wisdom.
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The Blessedness of the Righteous; The Misery of the Wicked.
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6
Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting
remembrance. 7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart
is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his
desire upon his enemies. 9 He hath dispersed, he hath given
to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted
with honour. 10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved;
he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall
perish.
In these verses we have,
I. The satisfaction of
saints, and their stability. It is the happiness of a good man that he
shall not be moved for ever, v. 6. Satan and his instruments
endeavour to move him, but his foundation is firm and he shall never be
moved, at least not moved for ever; if he be shaken for a time, yet
he settles again quickly.
1. A good man will have a
settled reputation, and that is a great satisfaction. A good man shall have
a good name, a name for good things, with God and good people: The
righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance (v. 6); in this
sense his righteousness (the memorial of it) endures for ever,
v. 9. There are those that do all they can to sully his reputation
and to load him with reproach; but his integrity shall be cleared up, and
the honour of it shall survive him. Some that have been eminently righteous
are had in a lasting remembrance on earth; wherever the scripture is
read their good deeds are told for a memorial of them. And the memory
of many a good man that is dead and gone is still blessed; but in heaven
their remembrance shall be truly everlasting, and the honour of their
righteousness shall there endure for ever, with the reward of it, in the crown
of glory that fades not away. Those that are forgotten on earth, and
despised, are remembered there, and honoured, and their righteousness
found unto praise, and honour, and glory (1 Pet. i. 7); then, at
furthest, shall the horn of a good man be exalted with honour, as
that of the unicorn when he is a conqueror. Wicked men, now in their pride, lift
up their horns on high, but they shall all be cut off, Ps. lxxv.
5, 10. The godly, in their humility and humiliation, have defiled their
horn in the dust (Job xvi. 15); but the day is coming when it shall
be exalted with honour. That which shall especially turn to the honour
of good men is their liberality and bounty to the poor: He has dispersed,
he has given to the poor; he has not suffered his charity to run all in
one channel, or directed it to some few objects that he had a particular
kindness for, but he has dispersed it, given a portion to seven and also
to eight, has sown beside all waters, and by thus scattering he
has increased: and this is his righteousness, which endures for
ever. Alms are called righteousness, not because they will
justify us by making atonement for our evil deeds, but because they are good
deeds, which we are bound to perform; so that if we are not charitable we
are not just; we withhold good from those to whom it is due. The
honour of this endures for ever, for it shall be taken notice of in the
great day. I was hungry, and you gave me meat. This is quoted as an
inducement and encouragement to charity, 2 Cor. ix. 9.
2. A good man shall have a
settled spirit, and that is a much greater satisfaction than the former; for
so shall a man have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
Surely he shall not be moved, whatever happens, not moved either from
his duty or from his comfort; for he shall not be afraid; his heart is
established, v. 7, 8. This is a part both of the character and of
the comfort of good people. It is their endeavour to keep their minds stayed
upon God, and so to keep them calm, and easy, and undisturbed; and God has
promised them both cause to do so and grace to do so. Observe, (1.) It is
the duty and interest of the people of God not to be afraid of evil
tidings, not to be afraid of hearing bad news; and, when they do, not to
be put into confusion by it and into an amazing expectation of worse and
worse, but whatever happens, whatever threatens, to be able to say, with
blessed Paul, None of these things move me, neither will I fear,
though the earth be removed, Ps. xlvi. 2. (2.) The fixedness of the
heart is a sovereign remedy against the disquieting fear of evil tidings. If
we keep our thoughts composed, and ourselves masters of them, our wills
resigned to the holy will of God, our temper sedate, and our spirits even,
under all the unevenness of Providence, we are well fortified against the
agitations of the timorous. (3.) Trusting in the Lord is the best and surest
way of fixing and establishing the heart. By faith we must cast anchor in
the promise, in the word of God, and so return to him and repose in him as
our rest. The heart of man cannot fix any where, to its satisfaction, but in
the truth of God, and there it finds firm footing. (4.) Those whose hearts
are established by faith will patiently wait till they have gained their
point: He shall not be afraid, till he see his desire upon his enemies,
that is, till he come to heaven, where he shall see Satan, and all his
spiritual enemies, trodden under his feet, and, as Israel saw the Egyptians,
dead on the sea-shore. Till he look upon his oppressors (so Dr.
Hammond), till he behold them securely, and look boldly in their faces, as
being now no longer under their power. It will complete the satisfaction of
the saints, when they shall look back upon their troubles and pressures, and
be able to say with St. Paul, when he had recounted the persecutions he
endured (2 Tim. iii. 11), But out of them all the Lord delivered me.
II. The vexation of sinners, v. 10.
Two things shall fret them:-- 1. The felicity of the righteous: The
wicked shall see the righteous in prosperity and honour and shall be
grieved. It will vex them to see their innocency cleared and their low
estate regarded, and those whom they hated and despised, and whose ruin they
sought and hoped to see, the favourites of Heaven, and advanced to have dominion
over them (Ps. xlix. 14); this will make them gnash with their teeth
and pine away. This is often fulfilled in this world. The happiness of
the saints is the envy of the wicked, and that envy is the rottenness of
their bones. But it will most fully be accomplished in the other world,
when it shall make damned sinners gnash with their teeth, to see Abraham
afar off, and Lazarus in him bosom, to see all the prophets in the
kingdom of God and themselves thrust out. 2. Their own disappointment: The
desire of the wicked shall perish. Their desire was wholly to the world
and the flesh, and they ruled over them; and therefore, when these perish,
their joy is gone, and their expectations from them are cut off, to their
everlasting confusion; their hope is as a spider's web.
Contents
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