It
does not appear, nor is it material to enquire, upon what occasion David
penned this psalm; but in it, I. He looks back with thankfulness upon the
experiences he had had of God's goodness to him, ver. 1-3. II. He looks
forward with comfort, in hopes, 1. That others would go on to praise God
like him, ver. 4, 5. 2. That God would go on to do good to him, ver. 6-8. In
singing this psalm we must in like manner devote ourselves to God's praise
and glory and repose ourselves in his power and goodness.
A psalm
of David.
1 I will praise thee with my whole heart:
before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. 2 I will worship
toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for
thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with
strength in my soul. 4 All the kings of the earth shall praise
thee, O LORD,
when they hear the words of thy mouth. 5 Yea, they shall sing in
the ways of the LORD:
for great is the glory of the LORD.
I. How he would praise God, compare Ps. cxi. 1. 1. He will praise him with
sincerity and zeal--"With my heart, with my whole heart, with
that which is within me and with all that is within me, with uprightness of
intention and fervency of affection, inward impressions agreeing with
outward expressions." 2. With freedom and boldness: Before the gods
will I sing praise unto thee, before the princes, and judges, and great
men, either those of other nations that visited him or those of his own
nation that attended on him, even in their presence. He will not only praise
God with his heart, which we may do by pious ejaculations in any company,
but will sing praise if there be occasion. Note, Praising God is work which
the greatest of men need not be ashamed of; it is the work of angels, the
work of heaven. Before the angels (so some understand it), that is,
in religious assemblies, where there is a special presence of angels, 1 Cor.
xi. 10. 3. In the way that God had appointed: I will worship towards thy
holy temple. The priests alone went into the temple; the people, at the
nearest, did but worship towards it, and that they might do at a distance.
Christ is our temple, and towards him we must look with an eye of faith, as
Mediator between us and God, in all our praises of him. Heaven is God's holy
temple, and thitherward we must lift up our eyes in all our addresses to
God. Our Father in heaven.
II. What he would praise God for. 1. For the fountain of his comforts--for
thy lovingkindness and for thy truth, for thy goodness and for thy
promise, mercy hidden in thee and mercy revealed by thee, that God is a
gracious God in himself and has engaged to be so to all those that trust in
him. For thou hast magnified thy word (thy promise, which is truth) above
all thy name. God has made himself known to us in many ways in creation
and providence, but most clearly by his word. The judgments of his mouth are
magnified even above those of his hand, and greater things are done by them.
The wonders of grace exceed the wonders of nature; and what is discovered of
God by revelation is much greater than what is discovered by reason. In what
God had done for David his faithfulness to his work appeared more
illustriously, and redounded more to his glory, than any other of his
attributes. Some good interpreters understand it of Christ, the essential
Word, and of his gospel, which are magnified above all the discoveries God
had before made of himself to the fathers. He that magnified the law, and
made that honourable, magnifies the gospel much more. 2. For the streams
flowing from that fountain, in which he himself had tasted that the Lord is
gracious, v. 3. He had been in affliction, and he remembers, with
thankfulness, (1.) The sweet communion he then had with God. He cried, he
prayed, and prayed earnestly, and God answered him, gave him to understand
that his prayer was accepted and should have a gracious return in due time.
The intercourse between God and his saints is carried on by his promises and
their prayers. (2.) The sweet communications he then had from God: Thou
strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. This was the answer to his
prayer, for God gives more than good words, Ps. xx. 6. Observe, [1.] It was
a speedy answer: In the day when I cried. Note, Those that trade with
heaven by prayer grow rich by quick returns. While we are yet speaking
God hears, Isa. lxv. 24. [2.] It was a spiritual answer. God gave him
strength in his soul, and that is a real and valuable answer to the prayer
of faith in the day of affliction. If God give us strength in our souls to
bear the burdens, resist the temptations, and do the duties of an afflicted
state, if he strengthen us to keep hold of himself by faith, to maintain the
peace of our own minds and to wait with patience for the issue, we must own
that he has answered us, and we are bound to be thankful.
III. What influence he hoped that his praising God would have upon others, v.
4, 5. David was himself a king, and therefore he hoped that kings would be
wrought upon by his experiences, and his example, to embrace religion; and,
if kings became religious, their kingdoms would be every way better. Now, 1.
This may have reference to the kings that were neighbours to David, as Hiram
and others. "They shall all praise thee." When they visited David,
and, after his death, when they sought the presence of Solomon (as all
the kings of the earth are expressly said to have done, 2 Chron. ix.
23), they readily joined in the worship of the God of Israel. 2. It may look
further, to the calling of the Gentiles and the discipling of all nations by
the gospel of Christ, of whom it is said that all kings shall fall down
before him, Ps. lxxii. 11. Now it is here foretold, (1.) That the
kings of the earth shall hear the words of God. All that came near David
should hear them from him, Ps. cxix. 46. In the latter days the preachers of
the gospel should be sent into all the world. (2.) That then they shall
praise God, as all those have reason to do that hear his word, and receive
it in the light and love of it, Acts xiii. 48. (3.) That they shall sing
in the ways of the Lord, in the ways of his providence and grace towards
them; they shall rejoice in God, and give glory to him, however he is
pleased to deal with them in the ways of their duty and obedience to him.
Note, Those that walk in the ways of the Lord have reason to sing in those
ways, to go on in them with a great deal of cheerfulness, for they are ways
of pleasantness, and it becomes us to be pleasant in them; and, if we are
so, great is the glory of the Lord. It is very much for the honour of
God that kings should walk in his ways, and that all those who walk in them
should sing in them, and so proclaim to all the world that he is a good
Master and his work its own wages.
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God's
Care of His People.
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6 Though the LORD
be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth
afar off. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt
revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine
enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. 8 The LORD
will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD,
endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
David here comforts himself with three things:--
I. The favour God bears to his humble people (v. 6): Though the
Lord be high, and neither needs any of his creatures nor can be
benefited by them, yet has he respect unto the lowly, smiles upon
them as well pleased with them, overlooks heaven and earth to cast a
gracious look upon them (Isa. lvii. 15; lxvi. 1), and, sooner or later, he
will put honour upon them, while he knows the proud afar off, knows
them, but disowns them and rejects them, how proudly soever they pretend to
his favour. Dr. Hammond makes this to be the sum of that gospel which the
kings of the earth shall hear and welcome--that penitent sinners shall be
accepted of God, but the impenitent cast out; witness the instance of the
Pharisee and the publican, Luke xviii.
II. The care God takes of his afflicted oppressed people, v. 7.
David, though a great and good man, expects to walk in the midst of
trouble, but encourages himself with hope, 1. That God would comfort
him: "When my spirit is ready to sink and fail, thou shalt revive
me, and make me easy and cheerful under my troubles." Divine
consolations have enough in them to revive us even when we walk in the midst
of troubles and are ready to die away for fear. 2. That he would protect
him, and plead his cause: "Thou shalt stretch forth thy hand,
though not against my enemies to destroy them, yet against the wrath of
my enemies, to restrain that and set bounds to it." 3. That he
would in due time work deliverance for him: Thy right hand shall save me.
As he has one hand to stretch out against his enemies, so he has another to
save his own people. Christ is the right hand of the Lord, that shall save
all those who serve him.
III. The assurance we have that whatever good work God has begun in and for
his people he will perform it (v. 8): The Lord will perfect that
which concerns me, 1. That which is most needful for me; and he knows
best what is so. We are careful and cumbered about many things that
do not concern us, but he knows what are the things that really are of
consequence to us (Matt. vi. 32) and he will order them for the best. 2.
That which we are most concerned about. Every good man is most concerned
about his duty to God and his happiness in God, that the former may be
faithfully done and the latter effectually secured; and if indeed these are
the things that our hearts are most upon, and concerning which we are most
solicitous, there is a good work begun in us, and he that has begun it will
perfect it, we may be confident he will, Phil. i. 6. Observe, (1.) What
ground the psalmist builds this confidence upon: Thy mercy, O Lord!
endures for ever. This he had made very much the matter of his praise
(Ps. xiii. 6), and therefore he could here with the more assurance make it
the matter of his hope. For, if we give God the glory of his mercy, we may
take to ourselves the comfort of it. Our hopes that we shall persevere must
be founded, not upon our own strength, for that will fail us, but upon the
mercy of God, for that will not fail. It is well pleaded, "Lord, thy
mercy endures for ever; let me be for ever a monument of it." (2.)
What use he makes of this confidence; it does not supersede, but quicken
prayer; he turns his expectation into a petition: "Forsake not,
do not let go, the work of thy own hands. Lord, I am the work of thy
own hands, my soul is so, do not forsake me; my concerns are so, do not lay
by thy care of them." Whatever good there is in us it is the work of
God's own hands; he works in us both to will and to do; it will fail
if he forsake it; but his glory, as Jehovah, a perfecting God, is so much
concerned in the progress of it to the end that we may in faith pray,
"Lord, do not forsake it." Whom he loves he loves to the end; and,
as for God, his work is perfect.
