Many
ancient translations join this psalm to that which goes next before it, the
Septuagint particularly, and the vulgar Latin; but it is, in the Hebrew, a
distinct psalm. In it we are taught to give glory, I. To God, and not to
ourselves, ver. 1. II. To God, and not to idols, ver. 2-8. We must give
glory to God, 1. By trusting in him, and in his promise and blessing, ver.
9-15. 2. By blessing him, ver. 16-18. Some think this psalm was penned upon
occasion of some great distress and trouble that the church of God was in,
when the enemies were in insolent and threatening, in which case the church
does not so much pour out her complaint to God as place her confidence in
God, and triumph in doing so; and with such a holy triumph we ought to sing
this psalm.
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The Absurdity of Idolatry.
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1 Not unto us, O LORD,
not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy
truth's sake. 2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is
now their God? 3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath
done whatsoever he hath pleased. 4 Their idols are silver
and gold, the work of men's hands. 5 They have mouths, but they
speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6 They have ears,
but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7 They
have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither
speak they through their throat. 8 They that make them are like
unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
Sufficient care is here taken to answer both the pretensions of self and the
reproaches of idolaters.
I. Boasting is here for ever excluded, v. 1. Let no opinion of our
own merits have any room either in our prayers or in our praises, but let
both centre in God's glory. 1. Have we received any mercy, gone through any
service, or gained any success? We must not assume the glory of it to
ourselves, but ascribe it wholly to God. We must not imagine that we do any
thing for God by our own strength, or deserve any thing from God by our own
righteousness; but all the good we do is done by the power of his grace, and
all the good we have is the gift of his mere mercy, and therefore he must
have all the praise. Say not, The power of my hand has gotten me this
wealth, Deut. viii. 17. Say not, For my righteousness the Lord has
done these great and kind things for me, Deut. ix. 4. No; all our songs must
be sung to this humble tune, Not unto us, O Lord! and again, Not
unto us, but to thy name, let all the glory be given; for whatever good
is wrought in us, or wrought for us, it is for his mercy and his truth's
sake, because he will glorify his mercy and fulfil his promise. All our
crowns must be cast at the feet of him that sits upon the throne, for
that is the proper place for them. 2. Are we in pursuit of any mercy and
wrestling with God for it? We must take our encouragement, in prayer, from
God only, and have an eye to his glory more than to our own benefit in it.
"Lord, do so and so for us, not that we may have the credit and comfort
of it, but that thy mercy and truth may have the glory of it." This
must be our highest and ultimate end in our prayers, and therefore it is
made the first petition in the Lord's prayer, as that which guides all the
rest, Hallowed be thy name; and, in order to that, Give us our
daily bread, &c. This also must satisfy us, if our prayers be not
answered in the letter of them. Whatever becomes of us, unto thy name
give glory. See John xii. 27, 28.
II. The reproach of the heathen is here for ever silenced and justly
retorted.
1. The psalmist complains of the reproach of the heathen (v. 2): Wherefore
should they say, Where is now their God? (1.) "Why do they say so?
Do they not know that our God is every where by his providence, and always
nigh to us by his promise and grace?" (2.) "Why does God permit
them to say so? Nay, why is Israel brought so low that they have some colour
for saying so? Lord, appear for our relief, that thou mayest vindicate
thyself, and glorify thy own name."
2. He gives a direct answer to their question, v. 3. "Do they
ask where is our God? We can tell where he is." (1.) "In the upper
world is the presence of his glory: Our God is in the heavens, where
the gods of the heathen never were, in the heavens, and therefore out
of sight; but, though his majesty be unapproachable, it does not therefore
follow that his being is questionable." (2.) "In the lower world
are the products of his power: He has done whatsoever he pleased,
according to the counsel of his will; he has a sovereign dominion and a
universal uncontrollable influence. Do you ask where he is? He is at the
beginning and end of every thing, and not far from any of us."
3. He returns their question upon themselves. They asked, Where is the God
of Israel? because he is not seen. He does in effect ask, What are the gods
of the heathen? because they are seen. (1.) He shows that their gods, though
they are not shapeless things, are senseless things. Idolaters, at first,
worshipped the sun and moon (Job xxxi. 26), which was bad enough, but not so
bad as that which they were now come to (for evil men grow worse and worse),
which was the worshipping of images, v. 4. The matter of them was silver
and gold, dug out of the earth (man found them poor and dirty in a
mine, Herbert), proper things to make money of, but not to make gods of.
The make of them was from the artificer; they are creatures of men's vain
imaginations and the works of men's hands, and therefore can have no
divinity in them. If man is the work of God's hands (as certainly he is, and
it was his honour that he was made in the image of God) it is absurd
to think that that can be God which is the work of men's hands, or that it
can be any other than a dishonour to God to make him in the image of man.
The argument is irrefragable: The workmen made it, therefore it is not
God, Hos. viii. 6. These idols are represented here as the most
ridiculous things, a mere jest, that would seem to be something, but were
really nothing, fitter for a toy shop than a temple, for children to play
with than for men to pray to. The painter, the carver, the statuary, did
their part well enough; they made them with mouths and eyes, ears
and noses, hands and feet, but they could put no life into
them and therefore no sense. They had better have worshipped a dead carcase
(for that had life in it once) than a dead image, which neither has life nor
can have. They speak not, in answer to those that consult them; the
crafty priest must speak for them. In Baal's image there was no voice,
neither any that answered. They see not the prostrations of their
worshippers before them, much less their burdens and wants. They hear not
their prayers, though ever so loud; they smell not their incense,
though ever so strong, ever so sweet; they handle not the gifts
presented to them, much less have they any gifts to bestow on their
worshippers; they cannot stretch forth their hands to the needy. They
walk not, they cannot stir a step for the relief of those that apply to
them. Nay, they do not so much as breathe through their throat; they
have not the least sign of symptom of life, but are as dead, after the
priest has pretended to consecrate them and call a deity into them, as they
were before. (2.) He thence infers the sottishness of their worshippers (v.
8): Those that make them images show their ingenuity, and doubtless
are sensible men; but those that make them gods show their stupidity
and folly, and are like unto them, as senseless blockish things; they
see not the invisible things of the true and living God in the works of
creation; they hear not the voice of the day and the night, which in
every speech and language declare his glory, Ps. xix. 2, 3. By worshipping
these foolish puppets, they make themselves more and more foolish like them,
and set themselves at a greater distance from every thing that is spiritual,
sinking themselves deeper into the mire of sense; and withal they provoke
God to give them up to a reprobate mind, a mind void of judgment,
Rom. i. 28. Those that trust in them act very absurdly and very
unreasonably, are senseless, helpless, useless, like them; and they will
find it so themselves, to their own confusion. We shall know where our God
is, and so shall they, to their cost, when their gods are gone, Jer. x.
3-11; Isa. xliv. 9, &c.
9 O Israel, trust thou in the LORD:
he is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron,
trust in the LORD:
he is their help and their shield. 11 Ye that fear the LORD,
trust in the LORD:
he is their help and their shield. 12 The LORD
hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of
Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless them
that fear the LORD,
both small and great. 14 The LORD
shall increase you more and more, you and your children. 15 Ye are
blessed of the LORD
which made heaven and earth. 16 The heaven, even the
heavens, are the LORD's:
but the earth hath he given to the children of men. 17 The dead
praise not the LORD,
neither any that go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the
LORD
from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.
In these verses,
I. We are earnestly exhorted, all of us, to repose our confidence in God,
and not suffer our confidence in him to be shaken by the heathens' insulting
over us upon the account of our present distresses. It is folly to trust in
dead images, but it is wisdom to trust in the living God, for he is a help
and a shield to those that do trust in them, a help to furnish
them with and forward them in that which is good, and a shield to fortify
them against and protect them from every thing that is evil. Therefore, 1.
Let Israel trust in the Lord; the body of the people, as to their public
interests, and every particular Israelite, as to his own private concerns,
let them leave it to God to dispose of all for them, and believe it will
dispose of all for the best and will be their help and shield. 2. Let
the priests, the Lord's ministers, and all the families of the house of
Aaron, trust in the Lord, (v. 10); they are most maligned and
struck at by the enemies and therefore of them God takes particular care.
They ought to be examples to others of a cheerful confidence in God, and a
faithful adherence to him in the worst of times. 3. Let the proselytes, who
are not of the seed of Israel, but fear the Lord, who worship him and
make conscience of their duty to him, let them trust in him, for he
will not fail nor forsake them, v. 11. Note, Wherever there is an
awful fear of God, there may be a cheerful faith in him: those that
reverence his word may rely upon it.
II. We are greatly encouraged to trust in God, and good reason is given us
why we should stay ourselves upon him with an entire satisfaction. Consider,
1. What we have experienced (v. 12): The Lord has been mindful of
us, and never unmindful, has been so constantly, has been so remarkably
upon special occasions. He has been mindful of our case, our wants and
burdens, mindful of our prayers to him, his promises to us, and the
covenant-relation between him and us. All our comforts are derived from
God's thoughts to us-ward; he has been mindful of us, though
we have forgotten him. Let this engage us to trust in him, that we
have found him faithful. 2. What we may expect. From what he has done for us
we may infer, He will bless us; he that has been our help and our
shield will be so; he that has remembered us in our low estate
will not forget us; for he is still the same, his power and goodness the
same, and his promise inviolable; so that we have reason to hope that he who
has delivered, and does, will yet deliver. Yet this is not all: He will
bless us; he has promised that he will; he has pronounced a blessing
upon all his people. God's blessing us is not only speaking good to us, but
doing well for us; those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. It is
particularly promised that he will bless the house of Israel, that
is, he will bless the commonwealth, will bless his people in their civil
interests. He will bless the house of Aaron, that is, the church, the
ministry, will bless his people in their religious concerns. The priests
were to bless the people; it was their office (Num. vi. 23); but God blessed
them, and so blessed their blessings. Nay (v. 13), he will bless
those that fear the Lord, though they be not of the house of Israel or
the house of Aaron; for it was a truth, before Peter perceived it, That
in every nation he that fears God is accepted of him, and blessed, Acts
x. 34, 35. He will bless them both small and great, both young and
old. God has blessings in store for those that are good betimes and for
those that are old disciples, both those that are poor in the world and
those that make a figure. The greatest need his blessing, and it shall not
be denied to the meanest that fear him. Both the weak in grace and the
strong shall be blessed of God, the lambs and the sheep of his flock. It is
promised (v. 14), The Lord shall increase you. Whom God
blesses he increases; that was one of the earliest and most ancient
blessings, Be fruitful and multiply. God's blessing gives an
increase--increase in number, building up the family--increase in wealth,
adding to the estate and honour--especially an increase in spiritual
blessings, with the increasings of God. He will bless you with the increase
of knowledge and wisdom, of grace, holiness, and joy; those are blessed
indeed whom God thus increases, who are made wiser and better, and fitter
for God and heaven. It is promised that this shall be, (1.) A constant
continual increase: "He shall increase you more and more; so
that, as long as you live, you shall be still increasing, till you come to
perfection, as the shining light," Prov. iv. 18. (2.) An hereditary
increase: "You and your children; you in your children." It
is a comfort to parents to see their children increasing in wisdom and
strength. There is a blessing entailed upon the seed of those that fear God
even in their infancy. For (v. 15), You are blessed of the Lord,
you and your children are so; all that see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed, Isa. lix. 9. Those
that are the blessed of the Lord have encouragement enough to trust in
the Lord, as their help and shield, for it is he that made
heaven and earth; therefore his blessings are free, for he needs not any
thing himself; and therefore they are rich, for he has all things at command
for us if we fear him and trust in him. He that made heaven and earth
can doubtless make those happy that trust in him, and will do it.
III. We are stirred up to praise God by the psalmist's example, who
concludes the psalm with a resolution to persevere in his praises. 1. God is
to be praised, v. 16. He is greatly to be praised; for, (1.) His
glory is high. See how stately his palace is, and the throne he has prepared
in the heavens: The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's; he is
the rightful owner of all the treasures of light and bliss in the upper and
better world, and is in the full possession of them, for he is himself
infinitely bright and happy. (2.) His goodness is large, for the earth he
has given to the children of men, having designed it, when he made it,
for their use, to find them with meat, drink, and lodging. Not but that
still he is proprietor in chief; the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness
thereof; but he has let out that vineyard to these unthankful
husbandmen, and from them he expects the rents and services; for, though he
has given them the earth, his eye is upon them, and he will call them to
render an account how they use it. Calvin complains that profane wicked
people, in his days, perverted this scripture, and made a jest of it, which
some in our days do, arguing, in banter, that God, having given the earth to
the children of men, will no more look after it, nor after them upon it, but
they may do what they will with it, and make the best of it as their
portion; it is as it were thrown like a prey among them, Let him seize it
that can. It is a pity that such an instance as this gives of God's bounty
to man, and such a proof as arises from it of man's obligation to God,
should be thus abused. From the highest heavens, it is certain, God beholds
all the children of men; to them he has given the earth; but to the children
of God heaven is given. 2. The dead are not capable of praising him (v.
17), nor any that go into silence. The soul indeed lives in a state
of separation from the body and is capable of praising God; and the souls
of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burdens of the flesh,
do praise God, are still praising him; for they go up to the land of perfect
light and constant business. But the dead body cannot praise God; death puts
an end to our glorifying God in this world of trial and conflict, to all our
services in the field; the grave is a land of darkness and silence, where
there is no work or device. This they plead with God for deliverance out of
the hand of their enemies, "Lord, if they prevail to cut us off, the
idols will carry the day, and there will be none to praise thee, to bear thy
name, and to bear a testimony against the worshippers of idols." The
dead praise not the Lord, so as we do in the business and for the
comforts of this life. See Ps. xxx. 9; lxxxviii. 10. 3. Therefore it
concerns us to praise him (v. 18): "But we, we that are
alive, will bless the Lord; we and those that shall come after us,
will do it, from this time forth and for evermore, to the end of
time; we and those we shall remove to, from this time forth and to
eternity. The dead praise not the Lord, therefore we will do it the
more diligently." (1.) Others are dead, and an end is thereby put to
their service, and therefore we will lay out ourselves to do so much the
more for God, that we may fill up the gap. Moses my servant is dead, now
therefore, Joshua, arise. (2.) We ourselves must shortly go to the land
of silence; but, while we do live, we will bless the Lord, will
improve our time and work that work of him that sent us into the world to
praise him before the night comes, and because the night comes, wherein
no man can work. The Lord will bless us (v. 12); he will do well
for us, and therefore we will bless him, we will speak well of him.
Poor returns for such receivings! Nay, we will not only do it ourselves, but
will engage others to do it. Praise the Lord; praise him with us;
praise him in your places, as we in ours; praise him when we are gone, that
he may be praised for evermore. Hallelujah.
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