Some
of the ancients were of opinion that Moses was the penman, not only of the
foregoing psalm, which is expressly said to be his, but also of the eight
that next follow it; but that cannot be, for Ps. xcv. is expressly said to
be penned by David, and long after Moses, Heb. iv. 7. It is probable that
this psalm also was penned by David; it is a writ of protection for all true
believers, not in the name of king David, or under his broad seal; he needed
it himself, especially if the psalm was penned, as some conjecture it was,
at the time of the pestilence which was sent for his numbering the people;
but in the name of the King of kings, and under the broad seal of Heaven.
Observe, I. The psalmist's own resolution to take God for his keeper (ver.
2), from which he gives both direction and encouragement to others, ver. 9.
II. The promises which are here made, in God's name, to all those that do so
in sincerity. 1. They shall be taken under the peculiar care of Heaven, ver.
1, 4. 2. They shall be delivered from the malice of the powers of darkness
(ver. 3, 5, 6), and that by a distinguishing preservation, ver. 7, 8. 3.
They shall be the charge of the holy angels, ver. 10-12. 4. They shall
triumph over their enemies, ver. 13. 5. They shall be the special favourites
of God himself, ver. 14-16. In singing this we must shelter ourselves under,
and then solace ourselves in, the divine protection. Many think that to
Christ, as Mediator, these promises do primarily belong (Isa. xlix. 2), not
because to him the devil applied one of these promises (Matt. iv. 6), but
because to him they are very applicable, and, coming through him, they are
more sweet and sure to all believers.
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The
Security of Believers.
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1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the
most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will
say of the LORD,
He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from
the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers,
and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;
nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor
for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the
destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall
fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall
not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and
see the reward of the wicked.
In these verses we have,
I. A great truth laid down in general, That all those who live a life of
communion with God are constantly safe under his protection, and may
therefore preserve a holy serenity and security of mind at all times (v.
1): He that dwells, that sits down, in the secret place of the
Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he that by
faith chooses God for his guardian shall find all that in him which he needs
or can desire. Note, 1. It is the character of a true believer that he dwells
in the secret place of the Most High; he is at home in God, returns to
God, and reposes in him as his rest; he acquaints himself with inward
religion, and makes heart-work of the service of God, worships within the
veil, and loves to be alone with God, to converse with him in solitude. 2.
It is the privilege and comfort of those that do so that they abide under
the shadow of the Almighty; he shelters them, and comes between them and
every thing that would annoy them, whether storm or sunshine. They shall not
only have an admittance, but a residence, under God's protection; he will be
their rest and refuge for ever.
II. The psalmist's comfortable application of this to himself (v. 2):
I will say of the Lord, whatever others say of him, "He is my
refuge; I choose him as such, and confide in him. Others make idols
their refuge, but I will say of Jehovah, the true and living God, He is my
refuge: any other is a refuge of lies. He is a refuge that will
not fail me; for he is my fortress and strong-hold." Idolaters
called their idols Mahuzzim, their most strong-hold (Dan. xi.
39), but therein they deceived themselves; those only secure themselves that
make the Lord their God, their fortress. There being no reason to question
his sufficiency, fitly does it follow, In him will I trust. If
Jehovah be our God, our refuge, and our fortress, what can we desire which
we may not be sure to find in him? He is neither fickle nor false, neither
weak nor mortal; he is God and not man, and therefore there is no danger of
being disappointed in him. We know whom we have trusted.
III. The great encouragement he gives to others to do likewise, not only
from his own experience of the comfort of it (for in that there might
possibly be a fallacy), but from the truth of God's promise, in which there
neither is nor can be any deceit (v. 3, 4, &c.): Surely he
shall deliver thee. Those who have themselves found the comfort of
making God their refuge cannot but desire that others may do so. Now here it
is promised,
1. That believers shall be kept from those mischiefs which they are in
imminent danger of, and which would be fatal to them (v. 3), from
the snare of the fowler, which is laid unseen and catches the unwary
prey on a sudden, and from the noisome pestilence, which seizes men
unawares and against which there is no guard. This promise protects, (1.)
The natural life, and is often fulfilled in our preservation from those
dangers which are very threatening and very near, while yet we ourselves are
not apprehensive of them, any more than the bird is of the snare of the
fowler. We owe it, more than we are sensible, to the care of the divine
Providence that we have been kept from infectious diseases and out of the
hands of the wicked and unreasonable. (2.) The spiritual life, which is
protected by divine grace from the temptations of Satan, which are as the snares
of the fowler, and from the contagion of sin, which is the noisome
pestilence. He that has given grace to be the glory of the soul will
create a defence upon all that glory.
2. That God himself will be their protector; those must needs be safe who
have him for their keeper, and successful for whom he undertakes (v.
4): He shall cover thee, shall keep thee secret (Ps. xxxi.
20), and so keep thee safe, Ps. xxvii. 5. God protects believers, (1.) With
the greatest tenderness and affection, which is intimated in that, He
shall cover thee with his feathers, under his wings, which alludes to
the hen gathering her chickens under wings, Matt. xxiii. 37. By
natural instinct she not only protects them, but calls them under that
protection when she sees them in danger, not only keeps them safe, but
cherishes them and keeps them warm. To this the great God is pleased to
compare his care of his people, who are helpless as the chickens, and easily
made a prey of, but are invited to trust under the shadow of the wings of
the divine promise and providence, which is the periphrasis of a proselyte
to the true religion, that he has come to trust under the wings of the
God of Israel, Ruth ii. 12. (2.) With the greatest power and efficacy.
Wings and feathers, though spread with the greatest tenderness, are yet
weak, and easily broken through, and therefore it is added, His truth
shall be thy shield and buckler, a strong defence. God is willing to
guard his people as the hen is to guard the chickens, and as able as a man
of war in armour.
3. That he will not only keep them from evil, but from the fear of evil, v.
5, 6. Here is, (1.) Great danger supposed; the mention of it is enough to
frighten us; night and day we lie exposed, and those that are apt to be
timorous will in neither period think themselves safe. When we are retired
into our chambers, our beds, and have made all as safe as we can about us,
yet there is terror by night, from thieves and robbers, winds and storms,
besides those things that are the creatures of fancy and imagination, which
are often most frightful of all. We read of fear in the night, Cant.
iii. 8. There is also a pestilence that walketh in darkness, as that
was which slew the first-born of the Egyptians, and the army of the
Assyrians. No locks nor bars can shut out diseases, while we carry about
with us in our bodies the seeds of them. But surely in the day-time, when we
can look about us, we are not so much in danger; yes, there is an arrow
that flieth by day too, and yet flies unseen; there is a destruction
that wasteth at high-noon, when we are awake and have all our friends about
us; even then we cannot secure ourselves, nor can they secure us. It was in
the day-time that that pestilence wasted which was sent to chastise David
for numbering the people, on occasion of which some think this psalm was
penned. But, (2.) Here is great security promised to believers in the midst
of this danger: "Thou shalt not be afraid. God by his grace will
keep thee from disquieting distrustful fear (that fear which hath torment)
in the midst of the greatest dangers. Wisdom shall keep thee from being
causelessly afraid, and faith shall keep thee from being inordinately
afraid. Thou shalt not be afraid of the arrow, as knowing that though it may
hit thee it cannot hurt thee; if it take away the natural life, yet it shall
be so far from doing any prejudice to the spiritual life that it shall be
its perfection." A believer needs not fear, and therefore should
not fear, any arrow, because the point is off, the poison is out. O
death! where is thy sting? It is also under divine direction, and will
hit where God appoints and not otherwise. Every bullet has its commission.
Whatever is done our heavenly Father's will is done; and we have no reason
to be afraid of that.
4. That they shall be preserved in common calamities, in a distinguishing
way (v. 7): "When death rides in triumph, and diseases rage, so
that thousands and ten thousands fall, fall by sickness, or fall by
the sword in battle, fall at thy side, at thy right hand, and the
sight of their fall is enough to frighten thee, and if they fall by the
pestilence their falling so near thee may be likely to infect thee, yet
it shall not come nigh thee, the death shall not, the fear of death
shall not." Those that preserve their purity in times of general
corruption may trust God with their safety in times of general desolation.
When multitudes die round about us, though thereby we must be awakened to
prepare for our own death, yet we must not be afraid with any amazement,
nor make ourselves subject to bondage, as many do all their life-time, through
fear of death, Heb. ii. 15. The sprinkling of blood secured the
first-born of Israel when thousands fell. Nay, it is promised to God's
people that they shall have the satisfaction of seeing, not only God's
promises fulfilled to them, but his threatenings fulfilled upon those that
hate them (v. 8): Only with thy eyes shalt thou behold and see the
just reward of the wicked, which perhaps refers to the destruction of
the first-born of Egypt by the pestilence, which was both the punishment of
the oppressors and the enlargement of the oppressed; this Israel saw when
they saw themselves unhurt, untouched. As it will aggravate the damnation of
sinners that with their eyes they shall behold and see the reward of the
righteous (Luke xiii. 28), so it will magnify the salvation of the saints
that with their eyes they shall behold and see the destruction of the
wicked, Isa. lxvi. 24; Ps. lviii. 10.
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The Security of Believers.
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9 Because thou hast made the LORD,
which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befal thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy
dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to
keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt
tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou
trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me,
therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known
my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will
be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
Here are more promises to the same purport with those in the foregoing
verses, and they are exceedingly great and precious, and sure to all the
seed.
I. The psalmist assures believers of divine protection, from his own
experience; and that which he says is the word of God, and what we may rely
upon. Observe, 1. The character of those who shall have the benefit and
comfort of these promises; it is much the same with that, v. 1. They
are such as make the Most High their habitation (v. 9), as are
continually with God and rest in him, as make his name both their temple and
their strong tower, as dwell in love and so dwell in God. It is our duty to
be at home in God, to make our choice of him, and then to live our life in
him as our habitation, to converse with him, and delight in him, and depend
upon him; and then it shall be our privilege to be at home in God; we shall
be welcome to him as a man to his own habitation, without any let,
hindrance, or molestation, from the arrests of the law or the clamours of
conscience; then too we shall be safe in him, shall be kept in perfect
peace, Isa. xxvi. 3. To encourage us to make the Lord our habitation,
and to hope for safety and satisfaction in him, the psalmist intimates the
comfort he had had in doing so: "He whom thou makest thy habitation
is my refuge; and I have found him firm and faithful, and in him there
is room enough, and shelter enough, both for thee and me." In my
father's house there are many mansions, one needs not crowd
another, much less crowd out another. 2. The promises that are sure to all
those who have thus made the Most High their habitation. (1.)
That, whatever happens to them, nothing shall hurt them (v. 10):
"There shall no evil befal thee; though trouble or affliction
befal thee, yet there shall be no real evil in it, for it shall come from
the love of God and shall be sanctified; it shall come, not for thy hurt,
but for thy good; and though, for the present, it be not joyous but
grievous, yet, in the end, it shall yield so well that thou thyself
shalt own no evil befel thee. It is not an evil, an only evil, but
there is a mixture of good in it and a product of good by it. Nay, not thy
person only, but thy dwelling, shall be taken under the divine protection: There
shall no plague come nigh that, nothing to do thee or thine any
damage." Nihil accidere bono viro mali potest--No evil can befal a
good man. Seneca De Providentia. (2.) That the angels of light
shall be serviceable to them, v. 11, 12. This is a precious promise,
and speaks a great deal both of honour and comfort to the saints, nor is it
ever the worse for being quoted and abused by the devil in tempting Christ,
Matt. iv. 6. Observe, [1.] The charge given to the angels concerning the
saints. He who is the Lord of the angels, who gave them their being and
gives laws to them, whose they are and whom they were made to serve, he
shall give his angels a charge over thee, not only over the church in
general, but over every particular believer. The angels keep the charge
of the Lord their God; and this is the charge they receive from him. It
denotes the great care God takes of the saints, in that the angels
themselves shall be charged with them, and employed for them. The charge is to
keep thee in all thy ways; here is a limitation of the promise: They shall
keep thee in thy ways, that is, "as long as thou keepest in the way
of thy duty;" those that go out of that way put themselves out of God's
protection. This word the devil left out when he quoted the promise to
enforce a temptation, knowing how much it made against him. But observe the
extent of the promise; it is to keep thee in all thy ways: even where
there is no apparent danger yet we need it, and where there is the most
imminent danger we shall have it. Wherever the saints go the angels are
charged with them, as the servants are with the children. [2.] The care
which the angels take of the saints, pursuant to this charge: They shall
bear thee up in their hands, which denotes both their great ability and
their great affection. They are able to bear up the saints out of the reach
of danger, and they do it with all the tenderness and affection wherewith
the nurse carries the little child about in her arms; it speaks us helpless
and them helpful. They are condescending in their ministrations; they keep
the feet of the saints, lest they dash them against a stone, lest
they stumble and fall into sin and into trouble. [3.] That the powers of
darkness shall be triumphed over by them (v. 13): Thou shalt tread
upon the lion and adder. The devil is called a roaring lion, the old
serpent, the red dragon; so that to this promise the apostle seems to
refer in that (Rom. xvi. 20), The God of peace shall tread Satan under
your feet. Christ has broken the serpent's head, spoiled our spiritual
enemies (Col. ii. 15), and through him we are more than conquerors;
for Christ calls us, as Joshua called the captains of Israel, to come and
set our feet on the necks of vanquished enemies. Some think that this
promise had its full accomplishment in Christ, and the miraculous power
which he had over the whole creation, healing the sick, casting out devils,
and particularly putting it into his disciples' commission that they should take
up serpents, Mark xvi. 18. It may be applied to that care of the divine
Providence by which we are preserved from ravenous noxious creatures (the
wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, Job v. 23); nay,
and have ways and means of taming them, Jam. iii. 7.
II. He brings in God himself speaking words of comfort to the saints, and
declaring the mercy he had in store for them, v. 14-16. Some make
this to be spoken to the angels as the reason of the charge given them
concerning the saints, as if he had said, "Take care of them, for they
are dear to me, and I have a tender concern for them." And now, as
before, we must observe,
1. To whom these promises do belong; they are described by three
characters:-- (1.) They are such as know God's name. His nature we cannot
fully know; but by his name he has made himself known, and with that we must
acquaint ourselves. (2.) They are such as have set their love upon him; and
those who rightly know him will love him, will place their love upon him as
the only adequate object of it, will let out their love towards him with
pleasure and enlargement, and will fix their love upon him with a resolution
never to remove it to any rival. (3.) They are such as call upon him, as by
prayer keep up a constant correspondence with him, and in every difficult
case refer themselves to him.
2. What the promises are which God makes to the saints. (1.) That he will,
in due time, deliver them out of trouble: I will deliver him (v.
14 and again v. 15), denoting a double deliverance, living and dying,
a deliverance in trouble and a deliverance out of trouble. If God
proportions the degree and continuance of our troubles to our strength, if
he keeps us from offending him in our troubles, and makes our death our
discharge, at length, from all our troubles, then this promise is fulfilled.
See Ps. xxxiv. 19; 2 Tim. iii. 11; iv. 18. (2.) That he will, in the mean
time, be with them in trouble, v. 15. If he does not
immediately put a period to their afflictions, yet they shall have his
gracious presence with them in their troubles; he will take notice of their
sorrows, and know their souls in adversity, will visit them
graciously by his word and Spirit, and converse with them, will take their
part, will support and comfort them, and sanctify their afflictions to them,
which will be the surest token of his presence with them in their troubles.
(3.) That herein he will answer their prayers: He shall call upon me;
I will pour upon him the spirit of prayer, and then I will answer,
answer by promises (Ps. lxxxv. 8), answer by providences, bringing in
seasonable relief, and answer by graces, strengthening them with strength
in their souls (Ps. cxxxviii. 3); thus he answered Paul with grace
sufficient, 2 Cor. xii. 9. (4.) That he will exalt and dignify them: I
will set him on high, out of the reach of trouble, above the stormy
region, on a rock above the waves, Isa. xxxiii. 16. They shall be
enabled, by the grace of God, to look down upon the things of this world
with a holy contempt and indifference, to look up to the things of the other
world with a holy ambition and concern; and then they are set on high. I
will honour him; those are truly honourable whom God puts honour upon by
taking them into covenant and communion with himself and designing them for
his kingdom and glory, John xii. 26. (5.) That they shall have a sufficiency
of life in this world (v. 16): With length of days will I satisfy
him; that is, [1.] They shall live long enough: they shall be continued
in this world till they have done the work they were sent into this world
for and are ready for heaven, and that is long enough. Who would wish to
live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him?
[2.] They shall think it long enough; for God by his grace shall wean them
from the world and make them willing to leave it. A man may die young, and
yet die full of days, satur dierum--satisfied with living. A wicked
worldly man is not satisfied, no, not with long life; he still cries, Give,
give. But he that has his treasure and heart in another world has soon
enough of this; he would not live always. (6.) That they shall have an
eternal life in the other world. This crowns the blessedness: I will show
him my salvation, show him the Messiah (so some); good old Simeon
was then satisfied with long life when he could say, My eyes have seen
thy salvation, nor was there any greater joy to the Old-Testament saints
than to see Christ's day, though at a distance. It is more probably that the
word refers to the better country, that is, the heavenly, which the
patriarchs desired and sought: he will show him that, bring him to
that blessed state, the felicity of which consists so much in seeing that
face to face which we here see through a glass darkly; and, in the mean
time, he will give him a prospect of it. All these promises, some think,
point primarily at Christ, and had their accomplishment in his resurrection
and exaltation.
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