David
being in great distress and danger by the malice of his enemies, does, in
this psalm, by prayer address himself to God, his tried refuge, and seeks
shelter in him. I. He appeals to God concerning his integrity, ver. 1-4. II.
He prays to God still to be upheld in his integrity and preserved from the
malice of his enemies, ver. 5-8, 13. III. He gives a character of his
enemies, using that as a plea with God for his preservation, ver. 9-12, 14.
IV. He comforts himself with the hopes of his future happiness, ver. 15.
Some make him, in this, a type of Christ, who was perfectly innocent, and
yet was hated and persecuted, but, like David, committed himself and his
cause to him that judgeth righteously.
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Sincere
and Importunate Prayer.
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A prayer of David.
1
Hear the right, O LORD,
attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of
feigned lips. 2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence;
let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. 3 Thou hast
proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried
me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall
not transgress. 4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of
thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear
unto me, and hear my speech. 7 Show thy marvellous
lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their
trust in thee from those that rise up against them.
This psalm is a prayer. As
there is a time to weep and a time to rejoice, so there is a time for praise
and a time for prayer. David was now persecuted, probably by Saul, who
hunted him like a partridge on the mountains; without were fightings, within
were fears, and both urged him as a suppliant to the throne of mercy. He
addresses himself to God in these verses both by way of appeal (Hear the
right, O Lord! let my righteous cause have a hearing before thy
tribunal, and give judgment upon it) and by way of petition (Give ear
unto my prayer v. 1, and again v. 6, Incline thy ear
unto me and hear my speech); not that God needs to be thus pressed with
our importunity, but he gives us leave thus to express our earnest desire of
his gracious answers to our prayers. These things he pleads with God for
audience, 1. That he was sincere, and did not dissemble with God in his
prayer: It goeth not out of feigned lips. He meant as he spoke, and
the feelings of his mind agreed with the expressions of his mouth. Feigned
prayers are fruitless; but, if our hearts lead our prayers, God will meet
them with his favour. 2. That he had been used to pray at other times, and
it was not his distress and danger that now first brought him to his duty:
"I have called upon thee formerly (v. 6); therefore,
Lord, hear me now." It will be a great comfort to us if trouble, when
it comes, find the wheels of prayer a-going, for then we may come with the
more boldness to the throne of grace. Tradesmen are willing to oblige those
that have been long their customers. 3. That he was encouraged by his faith
to expect God would take notice of his prayers: "I know thou wilt
hear me, and therefore, O God, incline thy ear to me." Our
believing dependence upon God is a good plea to enforce our desires towards
him. Let us now see,
I. What his appeal is; and
here observe,
1. What the court is to
the cognizance and determination of which he makes his appeal; it is the
court of heaven. "Lord, do thou hear the right, for Saul is so
passionate, so prejudiced, that he will not hear it. Lord, let my
sentence come forth from thy presence, v. 2. Men sentence me to
be pursued and cut off as an evil-doer. Lord, I appeal from them to
thee." This he did in a public remonstrance before Saul's face (1 Sam.
xxiv. 12, The Lord judge between me and thee), and he repeats it here
in his private devotions. Note, (1.) The equity and extent of God's
government and judgment are a very great support to injured innocency. If we
are blackened, and abused, and misrepresented, by unrighteous men, it is a
comfort that we have a righteous God to go to, who will take our part, who
is the patron of the oppressed, whose judgment is according to truth, by the
discoveries of which every person and every cause will appear in a true
light, stripped of all false colours, and by the decisions of which all
unrighteous dooms will be reversed, and to every man will be rendered
according to his work. (2.) Sincerity dreads no scrutiny, no, not that of
God himself, according to the tenour of the covenant of grace: Let thy
eyes behold the things that are equal. God's omniscience is as much the
joy of the upright as it is the terror of hypocrites, and is particularly
comfortable to those who are falsely accused and in any wise have wrong done
them.
2. What the evidence is by
which he hopes to make good his appeal; it is the trial God had made of him
(v. 3): Thou hast proved my heart. God's sentence is therefore
right, because he always proceeds upon his knowledge, which is more certain
and infallible than that which men attain to by the closest views and the
strictest investigations.
(1.) He knew God had tried
him, [1.] By his own conscience, which is God's deputy in the soul. The
spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord, with this God had searched
him, and visited him in the night, when he communed with his own
heart upon his bed. He had submitted to the search, and had seriously
reviewed the actions of his life, to discover what was amiss, but could find
nothing of that which his enemies charged him with. [2.] By providence. God
had tried him by the fair opportunity he had, once and again, to kill Saul;
he had tried him by the malice of Saul, the treachery of his friends, and
the many provocations that were given him; so that, if he had been the man
he was represented to be, it would have appeared; but, upon all these
trials, there was nothing found against him, no proof at all of the things
whereof they accused him.
(2.) God tried his heart,
and could witness to the integrity of that; but, for the further proof of
his integrity, he himself takes notice of two things concerning which his
conscience bore him record:-- [1.] That he had a fixed resolution against
all sins of the tongue: "I have purposed and fully determined,
in the strength of God's grace, that my mouth shall not transgress."
He does not say, "I hope that it will not," or, "I wish that
it may not," but, "I have fully purposed that it shall not:"
with this bridle he kept his mouth, Ps. xxxix. 1. Note, Constant resolution
and watchfulness against sins of the tongue will be a good evidence of our
integrity. If any offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, Jam.
iii. 2. He does not say, "My mouth never shall transgress" (for in
many things we all offend), but, "I have purposed that it shall
not;" and he that searches the heart knows whether the purpose be
sincere. [2.] That he had been as careful to refrain from sinful actions as
from sinful words (v. 4): "Concerning the common works
of men, the actions and affairs of human life, I have, by the
direction of thy word, kept myself from the paths of the destroyer."
Some understand it particularly, that he had not been himself a destroyer of
Saul, when it lay in his power, nor had he permitted others to be so, but
said to Abishai, Destroy him not, 1 Sam. xxvi. 9. But it may be taken
more generally; he kept himself from all evil works, and endeavoured,
according to the duty of his place, to keep others from them too. Note, First,
The ways of sin are paths of the destroyer, of the devil, whose name is Abaddon
and Apollyon, a destroyer, who ruins souls by decoying them into the
paths of sin. Secondly, It concerns us all to keep out of the paths
of the destroyer; for, if we walk in those ways that lead to destruction, we
must thank ourselves if destruction and misery be our portion at last. Thirdly,
It is by the word of God, as our guide and rule, that we must keep out of
the paths of the destroyer, by observing its directions and admonitions, Ps.
cxix. 9. Fourthly, If we carefully avoid all the paths of sin, it
will be very comfortable in the reflection, when we are in trouble. If we keep
ourselves, that the wicked one touch us not with his temptations (1 John
v. 18), we may hope he will not be able to touch us with his terrors.
II. What his petition is;
it is, in short, this, That he might experience the good work of God in him,
as an evidence of and qualification for the good will of God towards him:
this is grace and peace from God the Father. 1. He prays for the work of
God's grace in him (v. 5): "Hold up my going in thy paths.
Lord, I have, by thy grace, kept myself from the paths of the destroyer; by
the same grace let me be kept in thy paths; let me not only be restrained
from doing that which is evil, but quickened to abound always in that which
is good. Let my goings be held in thy paths, that I may not turn back from
them nor turn aside out of them; let them be held up in thy paths, that I
may not stumble and fall into sin, that I may not trifle and neglect my
duty. Lord, as thou hast kept me hitherto, so keep me still." Those
that are, through grace, going in God's paths, have need to pray, and do
pray, that their goings may be held up in those paths; for we stand no
longer than he is pleased to hold us, we go no further than he is pleased to
lead us, bear us up, and carry us. David had been kept in the way of his
duty hitherto, and yet he does not think that this would be his security for
the future, and therefore prays, "Lord, still hold me up." Those
that would proceed and persevere in the way of God must, by faith and
prayer, fetch in daily fresh supplies of grace and strength from him. David
was sensible that his way was slippery, that he himself was weak, and not so
well fixed and furnished as he should be, that there were those who watched
for his halting and would improve the least slip against him, and therefore
he prays, "Lord, hold me up, that my foot slip not, that I may never
say nor do any thing that looks either dishonest or distrustful of thee and
thy providence and promise." 2. He prays for the tokens of God's favour
to him, v. 7. Observe here, (1.) How he eyes God as the protector and
Saviour of his people, so he calls him, and thence he takes his
encouragement in prayer: O thou that savest by thy right hand (by thy
own power, and needest not the agency of any other) those who put their
trust in thee from those that rise up against them. It is the character
of God's people that they trust in him; he is pleased to make them
confidants, for his secret is with the righteous; and they make him their
trust, for to him they commit themselves. Those that trust in God have many
enemies, many that rise up against them and seek their ruin; but they have
one friend that is able to deal with them all, and, if he be for them, no
matter who is against them. He reckons it his honour to be their Saviour.
His almighty power is engaged for them, and they have all found him ready to
save them. The margin reads it, O thou that savest those who trust in
thee from those that rise up against thy right hand. Those that are
enemies to the saints are rebels against God and his right hand, and
therefore, no doubt, he will, in due time, appear against them. (2.) What he
expects and desires from God: Show thy marvellous loving-kindness.
The word signifies, [1.] Distinguishing favours. "Set apart thy
loving-kindnesses for me; put me not off with common mercies, but be
gracious to me, as thou usest to do to those who love thy name."
[2.] Wonderful favours. "O make thy loving-kindness admirable! Lord,
testify thy favour to me in such a way that I and others may wonder at
it." God's loving-kindness is marvellous for the freeness and the
fulness of it; in some instances it appears, in a special manner, marvellous
(Ps. cxviii. 23), and it will certainly appear so in the salvation of the
saints, when Christ shall come to be glorified in the saints and to be
admired in all those that believe.
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Prayer for Protecting Mercy; Character of David's Enemies.
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8
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy
wings, 9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly
enemies, who compass me about. 10 They are inclosed in
their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. 11 They have
now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the
earth; 12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and
as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. 13 Arise, O LORD,
disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is
thy sword: 14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD,
from men of the world, which have their portion in this life,
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of
children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied,
when I awake, with thy likeness.
We may observe, in these
verses,
I. What David prays for.
Being compassed about with enemies that sought his life, he prays to God to
preserve him safely through all their attempts against him, to the crown to
which he was anointed. This prayer is both a prediction of the preservation
of Christ through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to
the glories and joys of his exalted state, and a pattern to Christians to
commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them
to his heavenly kingdom. He prays,
1. That he himself might
be protected (v. 8): "Keep me safe, hide me close, where I may
not be found, where I may not be come at. Deliver my soul, not only my
mortal life from death, but my immortal spirit from sin." Those who put
themselves under God's protection may in faith implore the benefit of it.
(1.) He prays that God
would keep him, [1.] With as much care as a man keeps the apple of his eye
with, which nature has wonderfully fenced and teaches us to guard. If we
keep God's law as the apple of our eye (Prov. vii. 2), we may expect
that God will so keep us; for it is said concerning his people that whoso touches
them touches the apple of his eye, Zech. ii. 8. [2.] With as much
tenderness as the hen gathers her young ones under her wings with; Christ
uses the similitude, Matt. xxiii. 37. "Hide me under the shadow of
thy wings, where I may be both safe and warm." Or, perhaps, it
rather alludes to the wings of the cherubim shadowing the mercy-seat:
"Let me be taken under the protection of that glorious grace which is
peculiar to God's Israel." What David here prays for was performed to
the Son of David, our Lord Jesus, of whom it is said (Isa. xlix. 2) that God
hid him in the shadow of his hand, hid him as a polished shaft in
his quiver.
(2.) David further prays,
"Lord, keep me from the wicked, from men of the world," [1.]
"From being, and doing, like them, from walking in their counsel, and
standing in their way, and eating of their dainties." [2.] "From
being destroyed and run down by them. Let them not have their will against
me; let them not triumph over me."
2. That all the designs of
his enemies to bring him either into sin or into trouble might be defeated (v.
13): "Arise, O Lord! appear for me, disappoint him, and cast him
down in his own eyes by the disappointment." While Saul persecuted
David, how often did he miss his prey, when he thought he had him sure! And
how were Christ's enemies disappointed by his resurrection, who thought they
had gained their point when they had put him to death!
II. What he pleads for the
encouraging of his own faith in these petitions, and his hope of speeding.
He pleads,
1. The malice and
wickedness of his enemies: "They are such as are not fit to be
countenanced, such as, if I be not delivered from them by the special care
of God himself, will be my ruin. Lord, see what wicked men those are that
oppress me, and waste me, and run me down." (1.) "They are very
spiteful and malicious; they are my deadly enemies, that thirst after
my blood, my heart's blood--enemies against the soul," so the
word is. David's enemies did what they could to drive him to sin and drive
him away from God; they bade him go serve other gods (1 Sam. xxvi.
19), and therefore he had reason to pray against them. Note, Those are our
worst enemies, and we ought so to account them, that are enemies to our
souls. (2.) "They are very secure and sensual, insolent and haughty (v.
10): They are enclosed in their own fat, wrap themselves, hug
themselves, in their own honour, and power, and plenty, and then make light
of God, and set his judgments at defiance, Ps. lxxiii. 7; Job xv. 27. They
wallow in pleasure, and promise themselves that to-morrow shall be as this
day. And therefore with their mouth they speak proudly, glorying in
themselves, blaspheming God, trampling upon his people, and insulting
them." See Rev. xiii. 5, 6. "Lord, are not such men as these fit
to be mortified and humbled, and made to know themselves? Will it not be for
thy glory to look upon these proud men and abase them?" (3.)
"They are restless and unwearied in their attempts against me: They compass
me about, v. 9. They have now in a manner gained their point;
they have surrounded us, they have compassed us in our steps, they track us
wherever we go, follow us as close as the hound does the hare, and take all
advantages against us, being both too many and too quick for us. And yet
they pretend to look another way, and set their eyes bowing down to the
earth, as if they were meditating, retired into themselves, and thinking of
something else;" or (as some think), "They are watchful and intent
upon it, to do us a mischief; they are down-looked, and never let slip any
opportunity of compassing their design." (4.) "The ringleader of
them (that was Saul) is in a special manner bloody and barbarous, politic
and projecting (v. 12), like a lion that lives by prey and is
therefore greedy of it." It is as much the meat and drink of a wicked
man to do mischief as it is of a good man to do good. He is like a young
lion lurking in secret places, disguising his cruel designs. This is
fitly applied to Saul, who sought David on the rocks of the wild goats
(1 Sam. xxiv. 2) and in the wilderness of Ziph (1 Sam. xxvi. 2),
where lions used to lurk for their prey.
2. The power God had over
them, to control and restrain them. He pleads, (1.) "Lord, they are thy
sword; and will any father suffer his sword to be drawn against his own
children?" As this is a reason why we should patiently bear the
injuries of men, that they are but the instruments of the trouble (it comes
originally from God, to whose will we are bound to submit), so it is an
encouragement to us to hope both that their wrath shall praise him and that
the remainder thereof he will restrain, that they are God's sword, which he
can manage as he pleases, which cannot move without him, and which he will
sheathe when he has done his work with it. (2.) "They are thy hand,
by which thou dost chastise thy people and make them feel thy
displeasure." He therefore expects deliverance from God's hand because
from God's hand the trouble came. Una eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit--The
same hand wounds and heals. There is no flying from God's hand but by
flying to it. It is very comfortable, when we are in fear of the power of
man, to see it dependent upon and in subjection to the power of God; see Isa.
x. 6, 7, 15.
3. Their outward
prosperity (v. 14): "Lord, appear against them, for," (1.)
"They are entirely devoted to the world, and care not for thee and thy
favour. They are men of the world, actuated by the spirit of the
world, walking according to the course of this world, in love with the
wealth and pleasure of this world, eager in the pursuits of it (making them
their business) and at ease in the enjoyments of it--making them their
bliss. They have their portion in this life; they look upon the good
things of this world as the best things, and sufficient to make them happy,
and they choose them accordingly, place their felicity in them, and aim at
them as their chief good; they rest satisfied with them, their souls take
their ease in them, and they look no further, nor are in any care to provide
for another life. These things are their consolation (Luke vi. 24), their
good things (Luke xvi. 25), their reward (Matt. vi. 5), the penny
they agreed for, Matt. xx. 13. Now, Lord, shall men of this character be
supported and countenanced against those who honour thee by preferring thy
favour before all the wealth in this world, and taking thee for their
portion?" Ps. xvi. 5. (2.) They have abundance of the world. [1.] They
have enlarged appetites, and a great deal wherewith to satisfy them: Their
bellies thou fillest with thy hidden treasures. The things of this world
are called treasures, because they are so accounted; otherwise, to a
soul, and in comparison with eternal blessings, they are but trash. They are
hidden in the several parts of the creation, and hidden in the sovereign
disposals of Providence. They are God's hidden treasures, for the earth is
his and the fulness thereof, though the men of the world think it is their
own and forget God's property in it. Those that fare deliciously every day
have their bellies filled with these hidden treasures; and they will
but fill the belly (1 Cor. vi. 13); they will not fill the soul; they
are not bread for that, nor can they satisfy, Isa. lv. 2. They are husks,
and ashes, and wind; and yet most men, having no care for their souls, but
all for their bellies, take up with them. [2.] They have numerous families,
and a great deal to leave to them: They are full of children, and yet
their pasture is not overstocked; they have enough for them all, and leave
the rest of their substance to their babes, to their grand-children; and
this is their heaven, it is their bliss, it is their all. "Lord,"
said David, "deliver me from them; let me not have my portion
with them. Deliver me from their designs against me; for, they having so
much wealth and power, I am not able to deal with them unless the Lord be on
my side."
4. He pleads his own
dependence upon God as his portion and happiness. "They have their
portion in this life, but as for me (v. 15) I am none of them, I have
but little of the world. Nec habeo, nec careo, nec curo--I neither have,
nor need, nor care for it. It is the vision and fruition of God that I
place my happiness in; that is it I hope for, and comfort myself with the
hopes of, and thereby distinguish myself from those who have their portion
in this life." Beholding God's face with satisfaction may be
considered, (1.) As our duty and comfort in this world. We must in
righteousness (clothed with Christ's righteousness, having a good heart and
a good life) by faith behold God's face and set him always before us, must
entertain ourselves from day to day with the contemplation of the beauty of
the Lord; and, when we awake every morning, we must be satisfied with his
likeness set before us in his word, and with his likeness stamped upon us by
his renewing grace. Our experience of God's favour to us, and our conformity
to him, should yield us more satisfaction than those have whose belly is
filled with the delights of sense. 2. As our recompence and happiness in the
other world. With the prospect of that he concluded the foregoing psalm, and
so this. That happiness is prepared and designed only for the righteous that
are justified and sanctified. They shall be put in possession of it when
they awake, when the soul awakes, at death, out of its slumber in the body,
and when the body awakes, at the resurrection, out of its slumber in the
grave. That blessedness will consist in three things:-- [1.] The immediate
vision of God and his glory: I shall behold thy face, not, as in this
world, through a glass darkly. The knowledge of God will there be perfected
and the enlarged intellect filled with it. [2.] The participation of his
likeness. Our holiness will there be perfect. This results from the former
(1 John iii. 2): When he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. [3.] A complete and full satisfaction resulting from
all this: I shall be satisfied, abundantly satisfied with it. There
is no satisfaction for a soul but in God, and in his face and likeness, his
good-will towards us and his good work in us; and even that satisfaction
will not be perfect till we come to heaven.
