It
is the will of God that prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings, should be
made, in special manner, for kings and all in authority. This psalm is a
prayer, and the next a thanksgiving, for the king. David was a martial
prince, much in war. Either this psalm was penned upon occasion of some
particular expedition of his, or, in general, as a form to be used in the
daily service of the church for him. In this psalm we may observe, I. What
it is they beg of God for the king, ver. 1-4. II. With what assurance they
beg it. The people triumph (ver. 5), the prince (ver. 6), both together
(ver. 7, 8), and so he concludes with a prayer to God for audience, ver. 9.
In this, David may well be looked upon as a type of Christ, to whose kingdom
and its interests among men the church was, in every age, a hearty
well-wisher.
To the chief musician. A
psalm of David.
1 The LORD
hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend
thee; 2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee
out of Zion; 3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt
sacrifice; Selah. 4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and
fulfil all thy counsel. 5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and
in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD
fulfil all thy petitions.
This prayer for David is entitled a psalm of David; nor was it any
absurdity at all for him who was divinely inspired to draw up a directory,
or form of prayer, to be used in the congregation for himself and those in
authority under him; nay it is very proper for those who desire the prayers
of their friends to tell them particularly what they would have to be asked
of God for them. Note, Even great and good men, and those that know ever so
well how to pray for themselves, must not despise, but earnestly desire, the
prayers of others for them, even those that are their inferiors in all
respects. Paul often begged of his friends to pray for him. Magistrates and
those in power ought to esteem and encourage praying people, to reckon them
their strength (Zech. xii. 5, 10), and to do what they can for them, that
they may have an interest in their prayers and may do nothing to forfeit it.
Now observe here,
I. What it is that they are taught to ask of God for the king.
1. That God would answer his prayers: The Lord hear thee in the day of
trouble (v. 1), and the Lord fulfil all thy petitions, v.
5. Note, (1.) Even the greatest of men may be much in trouble. It was often
a day of trouble with David himself, of disappointment and distress, of
treading down and of perplexity. Neither the crown on his head nor the grace
in his heart would exempt him from the trouble. (2.) Even the greatest of
men must be much in prayer. David, though a man of business, a man of war,
was constant to his devotions; though he had prophets, and priests, and many
good people among his subjects, to pray for him, he did not think that
excused him from praying for himself. Let none expect benefit by the prayers
of the church, or of their ministers or friends for them, who are capable of
praying for themselves, and yet neglect it. The prayers of others for us
must be desired, not to supersede, but to second, our own for ourselves.
Happy the people that have praying princes, to whose prayers they may thus
say, Amen.
2. That God would protect his person, and preserve his life, in the perils
of war: "The name of the God of Jacob defend thee, and set thee
out of the reach of thy enemies." (1.) "Let God by his providence
keep thee safe, even the God who preserved Jacob in the days of his
trouble." David had mighty men for his guards, but he commits himself,
and his people commit him, to the care of the almighty God. (2.) "Let
God by his grace keep thee easy from the fear of evil.-- Prov. xviii. 10, The
name of the Lord is a strong tower, into which the righteous run by
faith, and are safe; let David be enabled to shelter himself in that
strong tower, as he has done many a time."
3. That God would enable him to go on in his undertakings for the public
good--that, in the day of battle, he would send him help out of the
sanctuary, and strength out of Zion, not from common providence, but
from the ark of the covenant and the peculiar favour God bears to his chosen
people Israel. That he would help him, in performance of the promises and in
answer to the prayers made in the sanctuary. Mercies out of the sanctuary
are the sweetest mercies, such as are the tokens of God's peculiar love, the
blessing of God, even our own God. Strength out of Zion is spiritual
strength, strength in the soul, in the inward man, and that is what we
should most desire both for ourselves and others in services and sufferings.
4. That God would testify his gracious acceptance of the sacrifices he
offered with his prayers, according to the law of that time, before he went
out on a dangerous expedition: The Lord remember all thy offerings and
accept thy burnt-sacrifices (v. 3), or turn them to ashes;
that is, "The Lord give thee the victory and success which thou didst
by prayer with sacrifices ask of him, and thereby give as full proof of his
acceptance of the sacrifice as ever he did by kindling it with fire from
heaven." By this we may now know that God accepts our spiritual
sacrifices, if by his Spirit he kindles in our souls a holy fire of pious
and divine affection and with that makes our hearts burn within us.
5. That God would crown all his enterprises and noble designs for the public
welfare with the desired success (v. 4): The Lord grant thee
according to thy own heart. This they might in faith pray for, because
they knew David was a man after God's own heart, and would design nothing
but what was pleasing to him. Those who make it their business to glorify
God may expect that God will, in one way or other, gratify them: and those
who walk in his counsel may promise themselves that he will fulfil theirs. Thou
shalt devise a thing and it shall be established unto thee.
II. What confidence they had of an answer of peace to these petitions for
themselves and their good king (v. 5): "We will rejoice in
thy salvation. We that are subjects will rejoice in the preservation and
prosperity of our prince;" or, rather, "In thy salvation, O God!
in thy power and promise to save, will we rejoice; that is it which we
depend upon now, and which, in the issue, we shall have occasion greatly to
rejoice in." Those that have their eye still upon the salvation of the
Lord shall have their hearts filled with the joy of that salvation: In
the name of our God will we set up our banners. 1. "We will wage
war in his name; we will see that our cause be good and make his glory our
end in every expedition; we will ask counsel at his mouth, and take him
along with us; we will follow his direction, implore his aid and depend upon
it, and refer the issue to him." David went against Goliath in the name
of the Lord of hosts, 1 Sam. xvii. 45. (2.) "We will celebrate our
victories in his name. When we lift up our banners in triumph, and set up
our trophies, it shall be in the name of our God; he shall have all the
glory of our success, and no instrument shall have any part of the honour
that is due to him."
In singing this we ought to offer up to God our hearty good wishes to the
good government we are under and to the prosperity of it. But we may look
further; these prayers for David are prophecies concerning Christ the Son of
David, and in him they were abundantly answered; he undertook the work of
our redemption, and made war upon the powers of darkness. In the day of
trouble, when his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, the Lord heard him, heard
him in that he feared (Heb. v. 7), sent him help out of the sanctuary,
sent an angel from heaven to strengthen him, took cognizance of his offering
when he made his soul an offering for sin, and accepted his burnt-sacrifice,
turned it to ashes, the fire that should have fastened upon the sinner
fastening upon the sacrifice, with which God was well pleased. And he
granted him according to his own heart, made him to see of the travail of
his soul, to his satisfaction, prospered his good pleasure in his hand,
fulfilled all his petitions for himself and us; for him the Father heareth
always and his intercession is ever prevailing.
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The
Subject's Prayer for the Sovereign.
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6 Now know I that the LORD
saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving
strength of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots, and
some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD
our God. 8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen,
and stand upright. 9 Save, LORD:
let the king hear us when we call.
Here is, I. Holy David himself triumphing in the interest he had in the
prayers of good people (v. 6): "Now know I (I that pen
the psalm know it) that the Lord saveth his anointed, because he hath
stirred up the hearts of the seed of Jacob to pray for him." Note, It
bodes well to any prince and people, and may justly be taken as a happy
presage, when God pours upon them a spirit of prayer. If he see us seeking
him, he will be found of us; if he cause us to hope in his word, he will
establish his word to us. Now that so many who have an interest in heaven
are praying for him he doubts not but that God will hear him, and grant him
an answer of peace, which will, 1. Take its rise from above: He will hear
him from his holy heaven, of which the sanctuary was a type (Heb. ix.
23), from the throne he hath prepared in heaven, of which the mercy-seat was
a type. 2. It shall take its effect here below: He will hear him with the
saving strength of his right hand; he will give a real answer to his
prayers, and the prayers of his friends for him, not by letter, nor by word
of mouth, but, which is much better, by his right hand, by the saving
strength of his right hand. He will make it to appear that he hears him by
what he does for him.
II. His people triumphing in God and their relation to him, and his
revelation of himself to them, by which they distinguish themselves from
those that live without God in the world. 1. See the difference between
worldly people and godly people, in their confidences, v. 7. The
children of this world trust in second causes, and think all is well if
those do but smile upon them; they trust in chariots and in horses,
and the more of them they can bring into the field the more sure they are of
success in their wars; probably David has here an eye to the Syrians, whose
forces consisted much of chariots and horsemen, as we find in the history of
David's victories over them, 2 Sam. viii. 4; x. 18. "But," say the
Israelites, "we neither have chariots and horses to trust to nor do we
want them, nor, if we had them, would we build our hopes of success upon
that; but we will remember, and rely upon, the name of the Lord
our God, upon the relation we stand in to him as the Lord our God and
the knowledge we have of him by his name," that is, all that whereby he
makes himself known; this we will remember and upon every remembrance of it
will be encouraged. Note, those who make God and his name their praise may
make God and his name their trust. 2. See the difference in the issue of
their confidences and by that we are to judge of the wisdom of the choice;
things are as they prove; see who will be ashamed of their confidence and
who not, v. 8. "Those that trusted in their chariots and horses
are brought down and fallen, and their chariots and horses were so far from
saving them that they helped to sink them, and made them the easier and the
richer prey to the conqueror, 2 Sam. viii. 4. But we that trust in the name
of the Lord our God not only stand upright, and keep our ground, but have
risen, and have got ground against the enemy, and have triumphed over
them." Note, A believing obedient trust in God and his name is the
surest way both to preferment and to establishment, to rise and to stand
upright, and this will stand us in stead when creature-confidences fail
those that depend upon them.
III. They conclude their prayer for the king with a Hosanna, "Save,
now, we beseech thee, O Lord!" v. 9. As we read this verse,
it may be taken as a prayer that God would not only bless the king,
"Save, Lord, give him success," but that he would make him a
blessing to them, "Let the king hear us when we call to him for
justice and mercy." Those that would have good of their magistrates
must thus pray for them, for they, as all other creatures, are that to us
(and no more) which God makes them to be. Or it may refer to the Messiah,
that King, that King of kings; let him hear us when we call; let him come to
us according to the promise, in the time appointed; let him, as the great
Master of requests, receive all our petitions and present them to the
Father. But many interpreters give another reading of this verse, by
altering the pause, Lord, save the king, and hear us when we call;
and so it is a summary of the whole psalm and is taken into our English
Liturgy; O Lord! save the king, and mercifully hear us when we call upon
thee.
In singing these verses we should encourage ourselves to trust in God, and
stir up ourselves to pray earnestly, as we are in duty bound, for those in
authority over us, that under them we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in
all godliness and honesty.
