In
this psalm we are directed to give to God the glory of his power and
goodness, which appear, I. In the kingdom of grace (ver. 1), hearing prayer
(ver. 2), pardoning sin (ver. 3), satisfying the souls of the people (ver.
4), protecting and supporting them, ver. 5. II. In the kingdom of
Providence, fixing the mountains (ver. 6), calming the sea (ver. 7),
preserving the regular succession of day and night (ver. 8), and making the
earth fruitful, ver. 9-13. These are blessings we are all indebted to God
for, and therefore we may easily accommodate this psalm to ourselves in
singing it.
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The
Praises of Zion; Motives for Devout.
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To the chief musician. A psalm and song of David.
1
Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be
performed. 2 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all
flesh come. 3 Iniquities prevail against me: as for our
transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. 4 Blessed is the
man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that
he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy
house, even of thy holy temple. 5 By terrible
things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who
art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are
afar off upon the sea:
The psalmist here has no
particular concern of his own at the throne of grace, but begins with an
address to God, as the master of an assembly and the mouth of a
congregation; and observe,
I. How he gives glory to
God, v. 1. 1. By humble thankfulness: Praise waiteth for thee, O
God! in Zion, waits till it arrives, that it may be received with
thankfulness at its first approach. When God is coming towards us with his
favours we must go forth to meet him with our praises, and wait till the day
dawn. "Praise waits, with an entire satisfaction in thy holy will and
dependence on thy mercy." When we stand ready in every thing to give
thanks, then praise waits for God. "Praise waits thy acceptance"
the Levites by night stood in the house of the Lord, ready to
sing their songs of praise at the hour appointed (Ps. cxxxiv. 1, 2), and
thus their praise waited for him. Praise is silent unto thee (so the
word is), as wanting words to express the great goodness of God, and being
struck with a silent admiration at it. As there are holy groanings which
cannot be uttered, so there are holy adorings which cannot be uttered,
and yet shall be accepted by him that searches the heart and knows what
is the mind of the spirit. Our praise is silent, that the praises of the
blessed angels, who excel in strength, may be heard. Let it not be told him
that I speak, for if a man offer to speak forth all God's praise surely
he shall be swallowed up, Job xxxvii. 20. Before thee praise is
reputed as silence (so the Chaldee), so far exalted is God above all our
blessing and praise. Praise is due to God from all the world, but it waits
for him in Zion only, in his church, among his people. All his works praise
him (they minister matter for praise), but only his saints bless him by
actual adorations. The redeemed church sing their new song upon Mount Zion,
Rev. xiv. 1, 3. In Zion was God's dwelling-place, Ps. lxxvi. 2. Happy are
those who dwell with him there, for they will be still praising him. 2. By
sincere faithfulness: Unto thee shall the vow be performed, that is,
the sacrifice shall be offered up which was vowed. We shall not be accepted
in our thanksgivings to God for the mercies we have received unless we make
conscience of paying the vows which we made when we were in pursuit of the
mercy; for better it is not to vow than to vow and not to pay.
II. What he gives him
glory for.
1. For hearing prayer (v.
2): Praise waits for thee; and why is it so ready? (1.) "Because
thou art ready to grant our petitions. O thou that hearest prayer!
thou canst answer every prayer, for thou art able to do for us more than we
are able to ask or think (Eph. iii. 20), and thou wilt answer every prayer
of faith, either in kind or kindness." It is much for the glory of
God's goodness, and the encouragement of ours, that he is a God hearing
prayer, and has taken it among the titles of his honour to be so; and we are
much wanting to ourselves if we do not take all occasions to give him his
title. (2.) Because, for that reason, we are ready to run to him when we are
in our straits. "Therefore, because thou art a God hearing
prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come; justly does every man's
praise wait for thee, because every man's prayer waits on thee when he is in
want or distress, whatever he does at other times. Now only the seed of
Israel come to thee, and the proselytes to their religion; but, when thy house
shall be called a house of prayer to all people, then unto thee shall
all flesh come, and be welcome," Rom. x. 12, 13. To him let us come,
and come boldly, because he is a God that hears prayer.
2. For pardoning sin. In
this who is a God like unto him? Micah vii. 18. By this he proclaims
his name (Exod. xxxiv. 7), and therefore, upon this account, praise waits
for him, v. 3. "Our sins reach to the heavens, iniquities
prevail against us, and appear so numerous, so heinous, that when they
are set in order before us we are full of confusion and ready to fall into
despair. They prevail so against us that we cannot pretend to balance them
with any righteousness of our own, so that when we appear before God our own
consciences accuse us and we have no reply to make; and yet, as for our
transgressions, thou shalt, of thy own free mercy and for the sake of a
righteousness of thy own providing, purge them away, so that we shall
not come into condemnation for them." Note, The greater our danger is
by reason of sin the more cause we have to admire the power and riches of
God's pardoning mercy, which can invalidate the threatening force of our
manifold transgressions and our mighty sins.
3. For the kind
entertainment he gives to those that attend upon him and the comfort they
have in communion with him. Iniquity must first be purged away (v. 3)
and then we are welcome to compass God's altars, v. 4. Those that
come into communion with God shall certainly find true happiness and full
satisfaction in that communion.
(1.) They are blessed. Not
only blessed is the nation (Ps. xxxiii. 12), but blessed is the man,
the particular person, how mean soever, whom thou choosest, and causest
to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts; he is a happy
man, for he has the surest token of the divine favour and the surest pledge
and earnest of everlasting bliss. Observe here, [1.] What it is to come into
communion with God, in order to this blessedness. First, It is to
approach to him by laying hold on his covenant, setting our best affections
upon him, and letting out our desires towards him; it is to converse with
him as one we love and value. Secondly, It is to dwell in his courts,
as the priests and Levites did, that were at home in God's house; it is to
be constant in the exercises of religion, and apply ourselves closely to
them as we do to that which is the business of our dwelling-place. [2.] How
we come into communion with God, not recommended by any merit of our own,
nor brought in by any management of our own, but by God's free choice:
"Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and so distinguishest
from others who are left to themselves;" and it is by his effectual
special grace pursuant to that choice; whom he chooses he causes to
approach, not only invites them, but inclines and enables them, to draw nigh
to him. He draws them, John vi. 44.
(2.) They shall be
satisfied. Here the psalmist changes the person, not, He shall be
satisfied (the man whom thou choosest), but, We shall, which teaches
us to apply the promises to ourselves and by an active faith to put our own
names into them: We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house,
even of thy holy temple. Note, [1.] God's holy temple is his house;
there he dwells, where his ordinances are administered. [2.] God keeps a
good house. There is abundance of goodness in his house, righteousness,
grace, and all the comforts of the everlasting covenant; there is enough for
all, enough for each; it is ready, always ready; and all on free cost,
without money and without price. [3.] In those things there is that which is
satisfying to a soul, and with which all gracious souls will be satisfied.
Let them have the pleasure of communion with God, and that suffices them;
they have enough, they desire no more.
4. For the glorious
operations of his power on their behalf (v. 5): By terrible things
in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation! This may
be understood of the rebukes which God in his providence sometimes gives to
his own people; he often answers them by terrible things, for the awakening
and quickening of them, but always in righteousness; he neither does them
any wrong nor means them any hurt, for even then he is the God of their
salvation. See Isa. xlv. 15. But it is rather to be understood of his
judgments upon their enemies; God answers his people's prayers by the
destructions made, for their sakes, among the heathen, and the recompence he
renders to their proud oppressors, as a righteous God, the God to whom
vengeance belongs, and as the God that protects and saves his people. By wonderful
things (so some read it), things which are very surprising, and which we
looked not for, Isa. lxiv. 3. Or, "By things which strike an awe upon
us thou wilt answer us." The holy freedom that we are admitted to in
God's courts, and the nearness of our approach to him, must not at all abate
our reverence and godly fear of him; for he is terrible in his holy
places.
5. For the care he takes
of all his people, however distressed, and whithersoever dispersed. He is the
confidence of all the ends of the earth that is, of all the saints all
the world over and not theirs only that were of the seed of Israel; for he
is the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews, the confidence of
those that are afar off from his holy temple and its courts, that dwell
in the islands of the Gentiles, or that are in distress upon the sea.
They trust in thee, and cry to thee, when they are at their wits' end, Ps.
cvii. 27, 28. By faith and prayer we may keep up our communion with God, and
fetch in comfort from him, wherever we are, not only in the solemn
assemblies of his people, but also afar off upon the sea.
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The
Almighty Power of God; Indications of Divine Power and Goodness.
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6
Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with
power: 7 Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of
their waves, and the tumult of the people. 8 They also that
dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the
outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. 9 Thou visitest
the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God,
which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so
provided for it. 10 Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly:
thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou
blessest the springing thereof. 11 Thou crownest the year with
thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. 12 They drop upon
the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every
side. 13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also
are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.
That we may be the more
affected with the wonderful condescensions of the God of grace, it is of use
to observe his power and sovereignty as the God of nature, the riches and
bounty of his providential kingdom.
I. He establishes the
earth and it abides, Ps. cxix. 90. By his own strength he setteth
fast the mountains (v. 6), did set them fast at first and still
keeps them firm, though they are sometimes shaken by earthquakes.
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------Feriuntque
summos.
Fulmina montes.
The lightning blasts and loftiest hills.
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Hence they are called everlasting
mountains, Hab. iii. 6. Yet God's covenant with his people is said to
stand more firmly than they, Isa. liv. 10.
II. He stills the sea, and
it is quiet, v. 7. The sea in a storm makes a great noise, which adds
to its threatening terror; but, when God pleases, he commands silence among
the waves and billows, and lays them to sleep, turns the storm into a calm
quickly, Ps. cvii. 29. And by this change in the sea, as well as by the
former instance of the unchangeableness of the earth, it appears that he
whose the sea and the dry land are is girded with power. And by this our
Lord Jesus gave a proof of his divine power, that he commanded the winds
and waves, and they obeyed him. To this instance of the quieting of the
sea he adds, as a thing much of the same nature, that he stills the
tumult of the people, the common people. Nothing is more unruly and
disagreeable than the insurrections of the mob, the insults of the rabble;
yet even these God can pacify, in secret ways, which they themselves are not
aware of. Or it may be meant of the outrage of the people that were enemies
to Israel, Ps. ii. 1. God has many ways to still them and will for ever
silence their tumults.
III. He renews the morning
and evening, and their revolution is constant, v. 8. This regular
succession of day and night may be considered, 1. As an instance of God's
great power, and so it strikes an awe upon all: Those that dwell in the
uttermost parts of the earth are afraid at thy signs or tokens;
they are by them convinced that there is a supreme deity, a sovereign
monarch, before whom they ought to fear and tremble; for in these things the
invisible things of God are clearly seen; and therefore they are said to be set
for signs, Gen. i. 14. Many of those that dwell in the remote and dark
corners of the earth were so afraid at these tokens that they were driven to
worship them (Deut. iv. 19), not considering that they were God's tokens,
undeniable proofs of his power and godhead, and therefore they should have
been led by them to worship him. 2. As an instance of God's great goodness,
and so it brings comfort to all: Thou makest the outgoings of the
morning, before the sun rises, and of the evening, before the sun
sets, to rejoice. As it is God that scatters the light of the morning
and draws the curtains of the evening, so he does both in favour to man, and
makes both to rejoice, gives occasion to us to rejoice in both; so that how
contrary soever light and darkness are to each other, and how inviolable
soever the partition between them (Gen. i. 4), both are equally welcome to
the world in their season. It is hard to say which is more welcome to us,
the light of the morning, which befriends the business of the day, or the
shadows of the evening, which befriend the repose of the night. Does the
watchman wait for the morning? So does the hireling earnestly desire the
shadow. Some understand it of the morning and evening sacrifice, which good
people greatly rejoiced in and in which God was constantly honoured. Thou
makest them to sing (so the word is); for every morning and every
evening songs of praise were sung by the Levites; it was that which the duty
of every day required. We are to look upon our daily worship, alone and with
our families, to be both the most needful of our daily occupations and the
most delightful of our daily comforts; and, if therein we keep up our
communion with God, the outgoings both of the morning and of the evening are
thereby made truly to rejoice.
IV. He waters the earth
and makes it fruitful. On this instance of God's power and goodness he
enlarges very much, the psalm being probably penned upon occasion either of
a more than ordinarily plentiful harvest or of a seasonable rain after long
drought. How much the fruitfulness of this lower part of the creation
depends upon the influence of the upper is easy to observe; if the heavens
be as brass, the earth is as iron, which is a sensible intimation to a
stupid world that every good and perfect gift is from above, omnia
desuper--all from above; we must lift up our eyes above the hills, lift
them up to the heavens, where the original springs of all blessings are, out
of sight, and thither must our praises return, as the first-fruits of the
earth were in the heave-offerings lifted up towards heaven by way of
acknowledgment that thence they were derived. All God's blessings, even
spiritual ones, are expressed by his raining righteousness upon us. Now
observe how the common blessing of rain from heaven and fruitful seasons is
here described.
1. How much there is in it
of the power and goodness of God, which is here set forth by a great variety
of lively expressions. (1.) God that made the earth hereby visits it, sends
to it, gives proof of his care of it, v. 9. It is a visit in mercy,
which the inhabitants of the earth ought to return in praises. (2.) God,
that made it dry land, hereby waters it, in order to its fruitfulness.
Though the productions of the earth flourished before God had caused it to
rain, yet even then there was a mist which answered the intention, and watered
the whole face of the ground, Gen. ii. 5, 6. Our hearts are dry and
barren unless God himself be as the dew to us and water us; and the plants
of his own planting he will water and make them to increase. (3.) Rain is the
river of God, which is full of water; the clouds are the springs of this
river, which do not flow at random, but in the channel which God cuts out
for it. The showers of rain, as the rivers of water, he turns which way
soever he pleases. (4.) This river of God enriches the earth, which without
it would quickly be a poor thing. The riches of the earth, which are
produced out of its surface, are abundantly more useful and serviceable to
man than those which are hidden in its bowels; we might live well enough
without silver and gold, but not without corn and grass.
2. How much benefit is derived from it to the
earth and to man upon it. (1.) To the earth itself. The rain in season gives
it a new face; nothing is more reviving, more refreshing, than the rain
upon the new-mown grass, Ps. lxxii. 6. Even the ridges of the
earth, off which the rain seems to slide, are watered abundantly, for
they drink in the rain which comes often upon them; the furrows of
it, which are turned up by the plough, in order to the seedness, are settled
by the rain and made fit to receive the seed (v. 10); they are
settled by being made soft. That which makes the soil of the heart tender
settles it; for the heart is established with that grace. Thus the springing
of the year is blessed; and if the spring, that first quarter of the year,
be blessed, that is an earnest of a blessing upon the whole year, which God
is therefore said to crown with his goodness (v. 11), to
compass it on every side as the head is compassed with a crown, and to
complete the comforts of it as the end of a thing is said to crown it. And
his paths are said to drop fatness; for whatever fatness there is in
the earth, which impregnates its productions, it comes from the out-goings
of the divine goodness. Wherever God goes he leaves the tokens of his mercy
behind him (Joel ii. 13, 14) and makes his path thus to shine after him.
These communications of God's goodness to this lower world are very
extensive and diffusive (v. 12): They drop upon the pastures of
the wilderness, and not merely upon the pastures of the inhabited land.
The deserts, which man takes no care of and receives no profit from, are
under the care of the divine Providence, and the profits of them redound to
the glory of God, as the great benefactor of the whole creation, though not
immediately to the benefit of man; and we ought to be thankful not only for
that which serves us, but for that which serves any part of the creation,
because thereby it turns to the honour of the Creator. The wilderness, which
makes not such returns as the cultivated grounds do, receives as much of the
rain of heaven as the most fruitful soil; for God does good to the evil and
unthankful. So extensive are the gifts of God's bounty that in them the
hills, the little hills, rejoice on every side, even the north side,
that lies most from the sun. Hills are not above the need of God's
providence; little hills are not below the cognizance of it. But as, when he
pleases, he can make them tremble (Ps. cxiv. 6), so when he pleases he can
make them rejoice. (2.) To man upon the earth. God, by providing rain for
the earth, prepares corn for man, v. 9. As for the earth, out of
it comes bread (Job xxviii. 5), for out of it comes corn; but every
grain of corn that comes out of it God himself prepared; and therefore he
provides rain for the earth, that thereby he may prepare corn for man, under
whose feet he has put the rest of the creatures and for whose use he has
fitted them. When we consider that the yearly produce of the corn is not
only an operation of the same power that raises the dead, but an instance of
that power not much unlike it (as appears by that of our Saviour, John xii.
24), and that the constant benefit we have from it is an instance of that
goodness which endures for ever, we shall have reason to think that it is no
less than a God that prepares corn for us. Corn and cattle are the two
staple commodities with which the husbandman, who deals immediately in the
fruits of the earth, is enriched; and both are owing to the divine goodness
in watering the earth, v. 13. To this it is owing that the pastures
are clothed with flocks, v. 13. So well stocked are the pastures that
they seem to be covered over with the cattle that are laid in them, and yet
the pasture not overcharged; so well fed are the cattle that they are the
ornament and the glory of the pastures in which they are fed. The valleys
are so fruitful that they seem to be covered over with corn, in the
time of harvest. The lowest parts of the earth are commonly the most
fruitful, and one acre of the humble valleys is worth five of the lofty
mountains. But both corn-ground and pasture-ground, answering the end of
their creation, are said to shout for joy and sing, because they are
serviceable to the honour of God and the comfort of man, and because they
furnish us with matter for joy and praise: as there is no earthly joy above
the joy of harvest, so there was none of the feasts of the Lord, among the
Jews, solemnized with greater expressions of thankfulness than the feast
of in-gathering at the end of the year, Exod. xxiii. 16. Let all these
common gifts of the divine bounty, which we yearly and daily partake of,
increase our love to God as the best of beings, and engage us to glorify him
with our bodies, which he thus provides so well for.
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