This
psalm is the first of those fifteen which are here put together under the
title of "songs of degrees." It is well that it is not material
what the meaning of that title should be, for nothing is offered towards the
explication of it, no, not by the Jewish writers themselves, but what is
conjectural. These psalms do not seem to be composed all by the same hand,
much less all at the same time. Four of them are expressly ascribed to
David, and one is said to be designed for Solomon, and perhaps penned by
him; yet cxxvi. and cxxix. seem to be of a much later date. Some of them are
calculated for the closet (as cxx. and cxxx.), some for the family (as
cxxvii. and cxxviii.), some for the public assembly (as cxxii. and cxxxiv.),
and some occasional, as cxxiv., and cxxxii. So that it should seem, they had
not this title from the author, but from the publisher. Some conjecture that
they are so called from their singular excellency (as the song of songs, so
the song of degrees, is a most excellent song, in the highest degree),
others from the tune they were set to, or the musical instruments they were
sung to, or the raising of the voice in singing them. Some think they were
sung on the fifteen steps or stairs, by which they went up from the outward
court of the temple to the inner, others at so many stages of the people's
journey, when they returned out of captivity. I shall only observe, 1. That
they are all short psalms, all but one very short (three of them have but
three verses apiece), and that they are placed next to Ps. cxix., which is
by much the longest of all. Now as that was one psalm divided into many
parts, so these were many psalms, which, being short, were sometimes sung
all together, and made, as it were, one psalm, observing only a pause
between each; as many steps make one pair of stairs. 2. That, in the
composition of them, we frequently meet with the figure they call climax, or
an ascent, the preceding word repeated, and then rising to something
further, as 120, "With him that hated peace. I peace." 121,
"Whence cometh my help; my help cometh." "He that keepeth
thee shall not slumber; he that keepeth Israel." 122, "Within thy
gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded." 123, "Until that he
have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us." And the like in most of them,
if not all. Perhaps for one of these reasons they are called songs of
degrees.
This psalm is supposed to have been penned by David upon occasion of Doeg's
accusing him and the priests to Saul, because it is like 52, which was
penned upon that occasion, and because the psalmist complains of his being
driven out of the congregation of the Lord and his being forced among
barbarous people. I. He prays to God to deliver him from the mischief
designed him by false and malicious tongues, ver. 1, 2. II. He threatens the
judgments of God against such, ver. 3, 4. III. He complains of his wicked
neighbours that were quarrelsome and vexatious, ver. 5-7. In singing this
psalm we may comfort ourselves in reference to the scourge of the tongue,
when at any time we fall unjustly under the lash of it, that better than we
have smarted from it.
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Confession
and Complaints.
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A song of degrees.
1 In my distress I cried unto the LORD,
and he heard me. 2 Deliver my soul, O LORD,
from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. 3 What
shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false
tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Here is, I. Deliverance from a false tongue obtained by prayer. David
records his own experience of this.
1. He was brought into distress, into great distress, by lying lips and a
deceitful tongue. There were those that sought his ruin, and had almost
effected it, by lying. (1.) By telling lies to him. They flattered him with
professions and protestations of friendships, and promises of kindness and
service to him, that they might the more securely and without suspicion
carry on their designs against him, and might have an opportunity, by
betraying his counsels, to do him a mischief. They smiled in his face and
kissed him, even when they were aiming to smite him under the fifth rib. The
most dangerous enemies, and those which it is most hard to guard against,
are such as carry on their malicious designs under the colour of friendship.
The Lord deliver every good man from such lying lips. (2.) By telling lies
of him. They forged false accusations against him and laid to his charge
things that he knew not. This has often been the lot not only of the
innocent, but of the excellent ones, of the earth, who have been greatly
distressed by lying lips, and have not only had their names blackened and
made odious by calumnies in conversation, but their lives, and all that is
dear to them in this world, endangered by false-witness-bearing in judgment.
David was herein a type of Christ, who was distressed by lying lips and
deceitful tongues.
2. In this distress he had recourse to God by faithful and fervent prayer: I
cried unto the Lord. Having no fence against false tongues, he appealed
to him who has all men's hearts in his hand, who has power over the
consciences of bad men, and can, when he pleases, bridle their tongues. His
prayer was, "Deliver my soul, O Lord! from lying lips, that my
enemies may not by these cursed methods work my ruin." He that had
prayed so earnestly to be kept from lying (Ps. cxix. 29) and hated it so
heartily in himself (v. 163) might with the more confidence pray to
be kept from being belied by others, and from the ill consequences of it.
3. He obtained a gracious answer to this prayer. God heard him; so that his
enemies, though they carried their designs very far, were baffled at last,
and could not prevail to do him the mischief they intended. The God of truth
is, and will be, the protector of his people from lying lips, Ps. xxxvii. 6.
II. The doom of a false tongue foretold by faith, v. 3, 4. As God
will preserve his people from this mischievous generation, so he will reckon
with their enemies, Ps. xii. 3, 7. The threatening is addressed to the
sinner himself, for the awakening of his conscience, if he have any left:
"Consider what shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done unto
thee, by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, thou false tongue."
Surely sinners durst not do as they do if they knew, and would be persuaded
to think, what will be in the end thereof. Let liars consider what shall be
given to them: Sharp arrows of the Almighty, with coals of juniper,
that is, they will fall and lie for ever under the wrath of God, and will be
made miserable by the tokens of his displeasure, which will fly swiftly like
arrows, and will strike the sinner ere he is aware and when he sees not who
hurts him. This is threatened against liars, Ps. lxiv. 7. God shall shoot
at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. They set God at a
distance from them, but from afar his arrows can reach them. They are sharp
arrows, and arrows of the mighty, the Almighty; for they will pierce through
the strongest armour and strike deep into the hardest heart. The terrors of
the Lord are his arrows (Job vi. 4), and his wrath is compared to burning
coals of juniper, which do not flame or crackle, like thorns under a pot,
but have a vehement heat, and keep fire very long (some say, a year round)
even when they seem to be gone out. This is the portion of the false tongue;
for all that love and make a lie shall have their portion in the lake that
burns eternally, Rev. xxii. 15.
5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that
I dwell in the tents of Kedar! 6 My soul hath long dwelt with
him that hateth peace. 7 I am for peace: but when I
speak, they are for war.
The psalmist here complains of the bad neighbourhood into which he was
driven; and some apply the two foregoing verses to this: "What shall
the deceitful tongue give, what shall it do to those that lie open to it?
What shall a man get by living among such malicious deceitful men? Nothing
but sharp arrows and coals of juniper," all the mischiefs
of a false and spiteful tongue, Ps. lvii. 4. Woe is me, says David,
that I am forced to dwell among such, that I sojourn in Mesech and Kedar.
Not that David dwelt in the country of Mesech or Kedar; we never find him so
far off from his own native country; but he dwelt among rude and barbarous
people, like the inhabitants of Mesech and Kedar: as, when we would describe
an ill neighbourhood, we say, We dwell among Turks and heathens. This made
him cry out, Woe is me! 1. He was forced to live at a distance from
the ordinances of God. While he was in banishment, he looked upon himself as
a sojourner, never at home but when he was near God's altars; and he cries
out, "Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged, that I cannot
get home to my resting-place, but am still kept at a distance!" So some
read it. Note, A good man cannot think himself at home while he is banished
from God's ordinances and has not them within reach. And it is a great grief
to all that love God to be without the means of grace and of communion with
God: when they are under a force of that kind they cannot but cry out, as
David here, Woe to me! 2. He was forced to live among wicked people,
who were, upon many accounts, troublesome to him. He dwell in the tents
of Kedar, where the shepherds were probably in an ill name for being
litigious, like the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot. It is a very grievous
burden to a good man to be cast into, and kept in, the company of those whom
he hopes to be for ever separated from (like Lot in Sodom; 2 Pet. ii. 8); to
dwell long with such is grievous indeed, for they are thorns, vexing, and
scratching, and tearing, and they will show the old enmity that is in the seed
of the serpent against the seed of the woman. Those that David
dwelt with were such as not only hated him, but hated peace, and proclaimed
war with it, who might write on their weapons of war not Sic sequimur
pacem--Thus we aim at peace, but Sic persequimur--Thus we persecute.
Perhaps Saul's court was the Mesech and Kedar in which David dwelt, and Saul
was the man he meant that hated peace, whom David studied to oblige and
could not, but the more service he did him the more exasperated he was
against him. See here, (1.) The character of a very good man in David, who
could truly say, though he was a man of war, I am for peace; for
living peaceably with all men and unpeaceably with none. I peace (so
it is in the original); "I love peace and pursue peace; my disposition
is to peace and my delight is in it. I pray for peace and strive for peace,
will do any thing, submit to any thing, part with any thing, in reason, for
peace. I am for peace, and have made it to appear that I am so."
The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable. (2.) The
character of the worst of bad men in David's enemies, who would pick
quarrels with those that were most peaceably disposed: "When I speak
they are for war; and the more forward for war the more they find me
inclined to peace." He spoke with all the respect and kindness that
could be, proposed methods of accommodation, spoke reason, spoke love; but
they would not so much as hear him patiently, but cried out, "To arms!
to arms!" so fierce and implacable were they, and so bent to mischief.
Such were Christ's enemies: for his love they were his adversaries, and for
his good words, and good works, they stoned him. If we meet with such
enemies, we must not think it strange, nor love peace the less for our
seeking it in vain. Be not overcome of evil, no, not of such evil as
this, but, even when thus tried, still try to overcome evil with
good.
