Psalms - From The Treasury of David By Charles Spurgeon

[nChrist]

Psalms 2
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

        Notice the firmness of the divine purpose with respect unto this matter. "Yet have I set" him "King;" that is, whatever be the plots of hell and earth to the contrary, he reigns by his Father's ordination. Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680.

Verse 6. Yet have I set my KING, etc.

Jesus Christ is a threefold King:
First, his enemies' King;
secondly, his saints' King;
thirdly, his Father's King.

        First, Christ is his enemies' King, that is - he is King over his enemies. Christ is a King above all kings. What are all the mighty men, the great, the honorable men of the earth, as compared to Jesus Christ? They are but like a little bubble in the water; for if all the nations, in comparison to God, be but as the drop of the bucket, or the dust of the balance, as the prophet speaks in Isa 40:15, how little then must be the kings of the earth! Nay, beloved, Christ Jesus is not only higher than kings - but he is higher than the angels; yes, he is the head of angels, and, therefore, all the angels in heaven are commanded to worship him. Col 2:12 Heb 1:6 ... He is King over all kingdoms, over all nations, over all governments, over all powers, over all people. Daniel 7:14 ... The very heathen are given to Christ, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. Psalm 2:8

        Secondly, Jesus Christ is his saints' King. He is King of the bad, and of the good; but as for the wicked, he rules over them by his power and might; but the saints, he rules in them by his Spirit and graces. Oh! this is Christ's spiritual kingdom, and here he rules in the hearts of his people, here he rules over their consciences, over their wills, over their affections, over their judgments and understandings, and nobody has anything to do here but Christ. Christ is not only the King of nations - but the King of saints; the one he rules over, the other he rules in.

        Thirdly. Jesus Christ is his Father's King too, and so his Father calls him: "I have set MY King upon my holy hill of Zion." Well may he be our King, when he is God's King. But you may say, how is Christ the Father's King? Because he rules for his Father. There is a twofold kingdom of God committed to Jesus Christ; first, a spiritual kingdom, by which he rules in the hearts of his people, and so is King of saints; and, secondly, a providential kingdom, by which he rules the affairs of this world, and so he is King of nations. William Dyer's Christ's Famous Titles, 1665.

        Verse 7. The divine decree concerning Christ, in connection with the decrees of election and providence. The Sonship of Jesus. This Psalm wears something of a dramatic form, for now another person is introduced as speaking. We have looked into the council chamber of the wicked, and to the throne of God, and now we behold the Anointed One declaring his rights of sovereignty, and warning the traitors of their doom.

        God has laughed at the counsel and ravings of the wicked, and now Christ the Anointed himself comes forward, as the Risen Redeemer, "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Romans 1:4. Looking into the angry faces of the rebellious kings, the Anointed One seems to say, "If this suffices not to make you silent" I will declare the decree. Now this decree is directly in conflict with the device of man, for its tenor is the establishment of the very dominion against which the nations are raving.

        You are my Son. Here is a noble proof of the glorious Divinity of our Immanuel. "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, this day have I begotten you?" What a mercy to have a Divine Redeemer in whom to rest our confidence!

        This day have I begotten you. If this refers to the Godhead of our Lord, let us not attempt to fathom it, for it is a great truth, a truth reverently to be received - but not irreverently to be questioned. It may be added, that if this relates to the Begotten One in his human nature, we must here also rejoice in the mystery - but not attempt to violate its sanctity by intrusive prying into the secrets of the Eternal God. The things which are revealed are enough, without venturing into vain speculations. In attempting to define the Trinity, or unveil the essence of Divinity, many men have lost themselves: here great ships have foundered. What have we to do in such a sea - with our frail skiffs?

        The dispute concerning the eternal sonship of our Lord betrays more of presumptuous curiosity, than of reverent faith. It is an attempt to explain - where it is far better to adore. The controversy is one of the most unprofitable which ever engaged the pens of theologians.

        Verse 8. Ask of me. It was a custom among great kings, to give to favored ones whatever they might ask. (Es 5:6 Mt 14:7.) So Jesus has but to ask - and have. Here he declares that his very enemies are his inheritance. To their face he declares this decree, and "Lo! here", cries the Anointed One, as he holds aloft in that once pierced hand the scepter of his power, "He has given me this, not only the right to be a king - but the power to conquer."

        As the portrait painter looks on the person whose picture he would take, and draws his lines to answer him with the nearest similitude that he can, so God looks on Christ as the archetype to which he will conform the saint, in suffering, in grace, in glory; yet so that Christ has the preeminence in all. Every saint must suffer, because Christ suffered: Christ must not have a delicate body under a crucified head; yet never any suffered, or could suffer, what he endured. Christ is holy, and therefore so shall every saint be - but in an inferior degree; an image cut in clay cannot be so exact as that engraved on gold. Now, our conformity to Christ appears, that as the promises made to him were performed upon his prayers to his Father, his promises made to his saints are given to them in the same way of prayer: Ask of me, says God to his Son, and I shall give you. And the apostle tells us, "You have not, because you ask not." God has promised support to Christ in all his conflicts. Isa 42:1. "Behold my servant, whom I uphold;" yet he prayed "with strong cries and tears," when his feet stood within the shadow of death. A seed is promised to him, and victory over his enemies, yet for both these he prays. Christ toward us acts as a king - but toward his Father as a priest. All he speaks to God is by prayer and intercession. So the saints, the promise makes them kings over their lusts, conquerors over their enemies; but it makes them priests toward God, by prayer humbly to sue out these great things given in the promise. William Gurnall, 1617-1679.

[nChrist]

Psalms 2
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

        Verse 9. "You will break them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery." The ruin of the wicked is certain, irresistible, terrible, complete and irretrievable! Yes! Jehovah has given to his Anointed a rod of iron with which he shall break rebellious nations in pieces, and, despite their imperial strength, they shall be but as pottery, easily dashed into shivers, when the rod of iron is in the hand of the omnipotent Son of God. Those who will not bend - must break. Pottery cannot to be restored if dashed in pieces, and the ruin of sinners will be hopeless if Jesus shall smite them.

"You sinners seek his grace,
Whose wrath you cannot bear;
Fly to the shelter of his cross,
And find salvation there!"

        The rod has a variety of meanings in Scripture. It might be of different materials, as it was employed for different purposes. At an early period, a wooden rod came into use as one of the insignia of royalty, under the name of scepter. By degrees the scepter grew in importance, and was regarded as characteristic of an empire, or of the reign of some particular king. A golden scepter denoted wealth and pomp. The straight scepter, of which we read in Psalm 45:6, is expressive of the justice and uprightness, the truth and equity, which shall distinguish Messiah's reign, after his kingdom on earth has been established. But when it is said in Re 19:15, that he, "whose name is called the Word of God," will smite the nations, and "rule them with a rod of iron," if the rod signifies "his scepter," then the "iron" of which it is made must be designed to express the severity of the judgments which the omnipotent "King of kings" will inflict on all who resist his authority. But to me it appears doubtful whether the "rod of iron" symbolizes the royal scepter of the Son of God at his second advent. It is mentioned in connection with "a sharp sword," which leads me to prefer the opinion that it also ought to be regarded as a weapon of war; at all events, the "rod of iron" mentioned in the Psalm we are endeavoring to explain is evidently not the emblem of sovereign power, although represented as in the hands of a king - but an instrument of correction and punishment. In this sense the word "rod" is often used.

        When the correcting rod, is represented as in this second Psalm, to be of "iron," it only indicates how weighty, how severe, how effectual the threatened chastisement will be - it will not merely bruise - but it will break. You shall break them with a rod of iron.

        Now it is just such a complete breaking as would not readily be effected excepting by an iron rod, that is more fully expressed in the following clause of the verse, "You shall dash them in pieces like pottery." The completeness of the destruction, however, depends on two things.

        Even an iron rod, if gently used, or used against a hard and firm substance, might cause little injury; but, in the case before us, it is supposed to be applied with great force, "You shall dash them;" and it is applied to what will prove as brittle and frangible as pottery, "You shall dash them in pieces." Here, as in other respects, we must feel that the predictions and promises of this Psalm were but very partially fulfilled in the history of the literal David. Their real accomplishment, their solemn completion, abides the day when the spiritual David shall come in glory and in majesty as Zion's King, with a rod of iron to dash in pieces the great anti-Christian confederacy of kings and peoples, and to take possession of his long promised and dearly purchased inheritance. And the signs of the times seem to indicate that the coming of the Lord draws near. David Pitcairn.

        Verse 10. "Now then, you kings, act wisely! Be warned, you rulers of the earth!" True wisdom, fit for kings and judges, lies in obeying Christ. The gospel, a school for those who would learn how to rule and judge well. They may consider its principles, its exemplar, its spirit, etc.

        The scene again changes, and counsel is given to those who have taken counsel to rebel. They are exhorted to obey, and give the kiss of homage and affection to him whom they have hated.

        Be wise. It is always wise to be willing to be instructed, especially when such instruction tends to the salvation of the soul. "Now then, you kings, act wisely!" delay no longer - but let good reason weigh with you. Your warfare cannot succeed, therefore desist and yield cheerfully to him who will make you bow if you refuse his yoke. O how wise, how infinitely wise is obedience to Jesus - and how dreadful is the folly of those who continue to be his enemies!

        As Jesus is King of kings and Judge of judges, so the gospel is the teacher of the greatest and wisest. If any are so great as to spurn its admonitions, God will make little of them; and if they are so wise as to despise its teachings, their fancied wisdom shall make fools of them. The gospel takes a high tone before the rulers of the earth, and they who preach it should, like Knox and Melvill, magnify their office by bold rebukes and manly utterances even in the royal presence. A clerical sycophant is only fit to be a scullion in the devil's kitchen.

        Verse 11. Serve the Lord with fear. True religion is a compound of many virtues and emotions.

        Let reverence and humility be mingled with your service. He is a great God, and you are but puny creatures; bend you, therefore, in lowly worship, and let a filial fear mingle with all your obedience to the great Father of the Ages.

        Rejoice with trembling. There must ever be a holy fear mixed with the Christian's joy. This is a sacred compound, yielding a sweet fragrance, and we must see to it that we burn no other upon God's altar. Fear without joy, is torment; and joy without holy fear, would be presumption.

[nChrist]

Psalms 2
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

        The fear of God promotes spiritual joy; it is the morning star which ushers in the sunlight of comfort. "Walking in the fear of God, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit." God mingles joy with fear, that fear may not be slavish. Thomas Watson, 1660.

        Verse 12. "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who put their trust in him."

        Mark the solemn argument for reconciliation and obedience. It is an awful thing to perish in the midst of sin, in the very way of rebellion; and yet how easily could his wrath destroy us suddenly. It needs not that his anger should be heated seven times hotter; let the fuel kindle but a little, and we are consumed. O sinner! Take heed of the terrors of the Lord; for "our God is a consuming fire."

        Note the blessing with which the Psalm closes: Blessed are all who put their trust in him. Have we a share in this blessedness? Do we trust in him? Our faith may be slender as a spider's thread; but if it is real, we are in our measure blessed. The more we trust, the more fully shall we know this blessedness. We may therefore close the Psalm with the prayer of the apostles, "Lord, increase our faith."

        The first Psalm was a contrast between the righteous man - and the lost sinner; the second Psalm is a contrast between the tumultuous disobedience of the ungodly world - and the sure exaltation of the righteous Son of God. In the first Psalm, we saw the wicked driven away like chaff; in the second Psalm we see them broken in pieces like a potter's vessel. In the first Psalm, we beheld the righteous like a tree planted by the rivers of water; and here, we contemplate Christ the Covenant Head of the righteous, made better than a tree planted by the rivers of water, for he is made king of all the islands, and all the heathen bow before him and kiss the dust; while he himself gives a blessing to all those who put their trust in him. The two Psalms are worthy of the very deepest attention; they are, in fact, the preface to the entire Book of Psalms, and were by some of the ancients, joined into one.

        They are, however, two Psalms; for Paul speaks of this as the second Psalm (Acts 13:33). The first shows us the character and lot of the righteous; and the next teaches us that the Psalms are Messianic, and speak of Christ the Messiah - the Prince who shall reign from the river even unto the ends of the earth. That they have both a far reaching prophetic outlook we are well assured - but we do not feel competent to open up that matter, and must leave it to abler hands.

Kiss:
A sign of love among equals.
A sign of subjection in inferiors.
A sign of religious adoration in worshipers.
John Richardson, 1655.

        Kiss the Son, lest he be angry. From the Person, the Son, we shall pass to the act (kiss the Son); in which we shall see, that since this is an act which licentious men have depraved (carnal men do it, and treacherous men do it - Judas betrayed his Master by a kiss), and yet God commands this, and expresses love in this. Everything that has, or may be abused, must not therefore be abandoned.

        Then let us consider and magnify the goodness of God, who has brought us into this distance, that we may kiss the Son, that the expressing of this love lies in our hands, and that, whereas the love of the church, in the Old Testament, even in the Canticle, went no farther but to "O that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!" So 1:1, now, in the Christian church, and in the visitation of a Christian soul, he has invited us, enables us to kiss him, for he is presently among us.

        This leads us to give an earnest persuasion and exhortation to kiss the Son, with all those affections, which we shall there find to be expressed in the Scriptures, in that testimony of true love, a holy kiss. But then, lest that persuasion by love should not be effectual and powerful enough to us, we shall descend from that duty, to the danger, from love, to fear, "lest he be angry;" and therein see first, that God, who is love, can be angry; and then, that this God who is angry here, is the Son of God, he who has done so much for us, and therefore in justice may be angry; he who is our Judge, and therefore in reason we are to fear his anger! And then, in a third branch, we shall see how easily this anger departs - a kiss removes it.

        Kiss the Son. That is, embrace him, depend upon him as your sovereign. Kiss him, and be not ashamed of kissing him.

        "Lest he be angry." Anger, as it is a passion that troubles, and disorders, and discomposes a man - is not in God; but anger, as it is a sensible discerning of foes from friends, and of things that conduce, or disconduce to his glory - so it is in God. When God inflicts such punishments as a king justly incensed would do, then God is thus angry. Now here, our case is heavier; it is not this great, and almighty, and majestic God, that may be angry - that is bad enough; but even the Son, whom we must kiss, may be angry. From Sermons of John Donne.

        Verse 12. Kiss the Son. To make peace with the Father - kiss the Son. "Let him kiss me," was the church's prayer. Song 1:2. Let us kiss him - that is our endeavor. Indeed, the Son must first kiss us by his mercy - before we can kiss him by our piety. Lord, grant in these mutual kisses and interchangeable embraces now, that we may come to the wedding supper hereafter; when the choir of heaven, even the voices of angels, shall sing nuptial songs, at the wedding of the spouse of the Lamb. Thomas Adams.

        Verse 12. His wrath. Unspeakable must the wrath of God be when it is kindled fully, since perdition may come upon the kindling of it but a little. John Newton.

[nChrist]

Psalms 3
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

        TITLE. "A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his Son." You will remember the sad story of David's flight from his own palace, when in the dead of the night, he forded the brook Kedron, and went with a few faithful followers to hide himself for awhile from the fury of his rebellious son. Remember that David in this was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He, too, fled; he, too, passed over the brook Kedron when his own people were in rebellion against him, and with a feeble band of followers he went to the garden of Gethsemane. He, too, drank of the brook by the way, and therefore does he lift up the head. By very many expositors this is entitled THE MORNING HYMN. May we ever wake with holy confidence in our hearts, and a song upon our lips!

        With regard to the authority of the TITLES, it befits us to speak with diffidence, considering the very opposite opinions which have been offered upon this subject by scholars of equal excellence. In the present day, it is too much the custom to slight or omit them altogether, as though added, nobody knows when or by whom, and as, in many instances, inconsistent with the subject matter of the Psalm itself. Augustine and various other early writers of the Christian church, regard them as a part of the inspired text; and the Jews still continue to make them a part of their chant, and their Rabbis to comment upon them.

        It is certainly unknown who invented or placed them where they are; but it is unquestionable that they have been so placed from time immemorial; they occur in the Septuagint, which contains also in a few instances titles to Psalms that are without any in the Hebrew; and they have been copied after the Septuagint by Jerome. So far as the present writer has been able to penetrate the obscurity that occasionally hangs over them, they are a direct and most valuable key to the general history or subject of the Psalms to which they are prefixed; and, excepting where they have been evidently misunderstood or misinterpreted, he has never met with a single instance in which the drift of the title and its respective Psalm do not exactly coincide.

        Many of them were, doubtless, composed by Ezra at the time of editing his own collection, at which period some critics suppose the whole to have been written; but the rest appear rather to be contemporary, or nearly so, with the respective Psalms themselves, and to have been written about the period of their production. John Mason, 1854.

        Here we have the first use of the word 'Psalm'. In Hebrew, Mizmor, which has the signification of pruning, or cutting off superfluous twigs, and is applied to songs made of short sentences, where many superfluous words are put away. Henry Ainsworth.

        DIVISION. This Psalm may be divided into four parts of two verses each. Indeed, many of the Psalms cannot be well understood unless we attentively regard the parts into which they should be divided. They are not continuous descriptions of one scene - but a set of pictures of many kindred subjects. As in our modern sermons, we divide our discourse into different heads - so is it in these Psalms. There is always unity - but it is the unity of a bundle of arrows, and not of a single solitary shaft. Let us now look at the Psalm before us.

        In these verses, you have David:
        making a complaint to God concerning his enemies (1-2),
        he then declares his confidence in the Lord (3-4),
        sings of his safety in sleep (5-6),
        and strengthens himself for future conflict (7-8 ).

        EXPOSITION.

        Verse 1. Here we have,
        The saint telling his griefs to his God:
        (1) His right to do so.
        (2) The proper manner of telling them.
        (3) The fair results of such holy communications with the Lord.

        When may we expect increased troubles? Why are they sent? What is our wisdom in reference to them?

        The poor broken-hearted father complains of the multitude of his enemies: and if you turn to 2 Sam. 15:12, you will find it written that "the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom, " while the troops of David constantly diminished!

        Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! Here is a note of exclamation to express the wonder of woe which amazed and perplexed the fugitive father. 'Alas! I see no limit to my misery, for my troubles are enlarged! There was enough at first to sink me very low; but lo! my enemies multiply. When Absalom, my darling, is in rebellion against me, it is enough to break my heart; but lo! Ahithophel has forsaken me, my faithful counselors have turned their backs on me; lo! my generals and soldiers have deserted me!'

        Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! Troubles always come in flocks. Sorrow has a numerous family.

        Many are those who rise up against me. Their armies are far superior to mine! Their numbers are too great for my reckoning! Let us here recall to our memory the innumerable multitude which beset our Divine Redeemer. The legions of our sins, the armies of fiends, the crowd of bodily pains, the host of spiritual sorrows, and all the allies of death and hell - set themselves in battle against the Son of Man. O how precious to know and believe that he has routed their hosts, and trodden them down in his anger! They who would have troubled us - he has removed into captivity, and those who would have risen up against us - he has laid low. The dragon lost his sting when he dashed it into the soul of Jesus.

        Upon this note an old writer remarks, "Let us learn from this, that in times of sore trouble, men will not use fine words in prayer - but will offer a prayer which is pruned of all luxuriance of wordy speeches."

[nChrist]

Psalms 3
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

        Thus you may plainly see how God has wrought in his church in old time, and therefore should not discourage yourselves for any sudden change; but with David, acknowledge your sins to God, declare unto him how many there be that vex you and rise up against you. Let the wicked idolaters brag that they will prevail against you and overcome you, and that God has given you over, and will be no more your God. Let them put their trust in Absalom, with his large golden locks; and in the wisdom of Ahithophel, the wise Counselor; yet say you, with David, You, O Lord, are my defender, and the lifter up of my head. Persuade yourselves, with David, that the Lord is your defender, who has compassed you round about, and is, as it were, a shield that covers you on every side. It is he only that may and will compass you about with glory and honor. It is he who will thrust down those proud hypocrites from their seat, and exalt the lowly and meek. It is he which will smite your "enemies on the cheek bone," and burst all their teeth in sunder. He will hang up Absalom by his own long hair; and Ahithophel through desperation, shall hang himself. The bands shall be broken, and you shall be delivered; for this belongs unto the Lord, to save his from their enemies, and to bless his people, that they may safely proceed in their pilgrimage to heaven without fear. Thomas Tymme's "Silver Watch Bell", 1634.

        Absalom's faction, like a snowball, strangely gathered in its motion. David speaks of it as one amazed; and well he might, that a people he had so many ways obliged, should almost generally revolt from him, and rebel against him, and choose for their head such a silly, giddy young fellow as Absalom was. How slippery and deceitful are the many! And how little fidelity and constancy is to be found among men! David had had the hearts of his subjects as much as ever any king had, and yet how suddenly he had lost them! As people must not trust too much to princes (Psalm 146:3), so princes must not build too much upon their interest in the people. Christ, the Son of David, had many enemies, when a great multitude came to seize him, when the crowd cried, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" how were they then increased who troubled him! Even good people must not think it strange if the stream goes against them, and the powers that threaten them grow more and more formidable. Matthew Henry.

        Verse 2. The lie against the saint and the libel upon his God.

        David complains before his loving God of the worst weapon of his enemies' attacks, and the bitterest drop of his distresses. "Oh!" says David, many there be that say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Some of his distrustful friends said this sorrowfully - but his enemies exultingly boasted of it, and longed to see their words proved by his total destruction.

        This was the most unkind cut of all, when they declared that his God had forsaken him. Yet David knew in his own conscience that he had given them some ground for this exclamation, for he had committed sin against God in the very light of day. Then they flung his crime with Bathsheba into his face, and they said, "Go up, you bloody man; God has forsaken you and left you!" Shimei cursed him, and swore at him to his very face, for he was bold because of his backers, since multitudes of the men of Belial thought of David in like fashion. Doubtless, David felt this infernal suggestion to be staggering to his faith.

        If all the trials which come from heaven, all the temptations which ascend from hell, and all the crosses which arise from earth, could be mixed and pressed together - they would not make a trial so terrible as that which is contained in this verse. It is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that God will never rescue us! And yet remember our most blessed Savior had to endure this in the deepest degree when he cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He knew full well what is was to walk in darkness and to see no light. This was the curse of the curse. This was the wormwood mingled with the gall. To be deserted by his Father - was worse than to be the despised of men. Surely we should love him who suffered this bitterest of temptations and trials for our sake. It will be a delightful and instructive exercise for the loving heart to mark the Lord in his agonies as here portrayed, for there is here, and in very many other Psalms - far more of David's Lord than of David himself!

        When the believer questions the power of God, or his interest in it, his joy gushes out as blood out of a broken vein. This verse is a sore stab indeed. William Gurnall.

        A child of God startles at the very thought of despairing of help from God; you cannot vex him with anything so much as if you persuade him that, There is no help for him in God. David comes to God, and tells him what his enemies said of him, as Hezekiah spread Rabshakeh's blasphemous letter before the Lord; they say, "There is no help for me in you;" but, Lord, if it is so, I am undone. They say to my soul, "There is no salvation" (for so the word is) "for him in God;" but, Lord, do you say unto my soul, "I am your salvation" (Psalm 35:3), and that shall satisfy me, and in due time silence them. Matthew Henry.

        Selah. This is a musical pause; the precise meaning of which is not known. Some think it simply a rest, a pause in the music; others say it means, "Lift up the strain - sing more loudly - pitch the tune upon a higher key - there is nobler matter to come, therefore retune your harps!" Harp strings soon get out of order and need to be adjusted to their proper tightness, and certainly our heart strings are evermore getting out of tune, Let "Selah" teach us to pray,

"O may my heart in tune be found
Like David's harp of solemn sound."

        At least we may learn that wherever we see "Selah," we should look upon it as a note of observation. Let us read the passage which precedes and follows it with greater earnestness, for surely there is always something excellent where we are required to rest and pause and meditate, or when we are required to lift up our hearts in grateful song. "SELAH."

        Selah. Much has been written on this word, and still its meaning does not appear to be wholly determined. The word occurs seventy-three times in the Psalms, and three times in the book of Habakkuk. It is never translated in our version - but in all these places the original word Selah is retained. It occurs only in poetry, and is supposed to have had some reference to the singing of the poetry, and to be probably a musical term. In general, also, it indicates a pause in the sense, as well as in the musical performance. Gesenius supposes that the most probable meaning of this musical term or note is silence or pause, and that its use was, in chanting the words of the Psalm, to direct the singer to be silent, to pause a little, while the instruments played an interlude or harmony. Perhaps this is all that can now be known of the meaning of the word, and this is enough to satisfy every reasonable enquiry. It is probable, if this was the use of the term, that it would commonly correspond with the sense of the passage, and be inserted where the sense made a pause suitable; and this will doubtless be found usually to be the fact. Albert Barnes, 1868.

[nChrist]

Psalms 3
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

        Verse 3. The threefold blessing which God affords to his suffering ones -  Defense, Honor, Joy. All these may be enjoyed by faith, even in our worst estate.

        Here David avows his confidence in God. You, O Lord, are a shield for me. The word in the original signifies more than a shield; it means a buckler round about, a protection which shall surround a man entirely, a shield above, beneath, around, without and within. Oh! what a shield is God for his people! He wards off the fiery darts of Satan from beneath, and the storms of trials from above, while, at the same instant, he speaks peace to the tempest within the bosom.

        You are my glory. David knew that though he was driven from his capital in contempt and scorn, he would yet return in triumph, and by faith he looks upon God as honoring and glorifying him. O for grace to see our future glory - amid present shame! Indeed, there is a present glory in our afflictions, if we could but discern it; for it is no small thing to have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. David was honored when he made the ascent of Olivet, weeping, with his head covered; for he was in all this made like unto his Lord. May we learn, in this respect, to glory in tribulations also!

        And the lifter up of my head - you shall yet exalt me. Though I hang my head in sorrow, I shall very soon lift it up in joy and thanksgiving. What a divine trio of mercies is contained in this verse!  - defense for the defenseless, glory for the despised, and joy for the comfortless. Truly we may well say, "there is none like the God of Jeshurun."

        Lifter up of my head. There is a lifting up of the head by elevating to office, as with Pharaoh's butler; this we trace to the divine appointment. There is a lifting up in honor after shame, in health after sickness, in gladness after sorrow, in restoration after a fall, in victory after a temporary defeat; in all these respects the Lord is the lifter up of our head.

        Verse 4. I cried unto the Lord with my voice. Why does he say, "with my voice?" Surely, silent prayers are heard. Yes - but good men often find that, even in secret, they pray better aloud than they do when they utter no vocal sound. Perhaps, moreover, David would think thus, "My cruel enemies clamor against me; they lift up their voices, and, behold, I lift up mine, and my cry outsoars them all." They clamor - but the cry of my voice in great distress pierces the very skies, and is louder and stronger than all their tumult; for there is one in the sanctuary who harkens to me from the seventh heaven, and he has heard me out of his holy hill. Answers to prayers are sweet cordials for the soul. We need not fear a frowning world - while we rejoice in a prayer-hearing God.

        He heard me. I have often heard persons say in prayer, "You are a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God, " but the expression contains a superfluity, since for God to hear is, according to Scripture, the same thing as to answer.

        (1) In dangers we should pray.
        (2) God will graciously hear.
        (3) We should record his answers of grace.
        (4) We may strengthen ourselves for the future - by remembering the deliverances of the past.

        When prayer leads the van - in due time deliverance brings up the rear. Thomas Watson.

        Here stands another Selah. Rest awhile, O tried believer, and think on these comforting truths.



        Verse 5. David's faith enabled him to lie down; anxiety would certainly have kept him on tiptoe, watching for an enemy. Yes, he was able to sleep, to sleep in the midst of trouble, surrounded by foes. "So he gives his beloved sleep."

        There is a sleep of presumption; God deliver us from it! There is a sleep of holy confidence; God help us so to close our eyes!

        But David says he awaked also. Some sleep the sleep of death; but he, though exposed to many enemies, reclined his head on the bosom of his God, slept happily beneath the wing of Providence in sweet security, and then awoke in safety.

        For the Lord sustained me. The sweet influence of the Pleiades of promise shone upon the sleeper, and he awoke conscious that the Lord had preserved him. An excellent divine has well remarked, "This quietude of a man's heart by faith in God, is a higher sort of work than the natural resolution of manly courage, for it is the gracious operation of God's Holy Spirit upholding a man above nature, and therefore the Lord must have all the glory of it."

        Would you be secured in evil times? Get grace and fortify this garrison; a good conscience is a Christian's fort royal. David's enemies lay round about him; yet, says he, I laid me down and slept. A good conscience can sleep in the mouth of a cannon; grace is a Christian's coat of armor, which fears not the arrow or bullet. True grace may be shot at - but can never be shot through; grace puts the soul into Christ, and there it is safe, as the bee in the hive, as the dove in the ark. "There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." Thomas Watson.

        The Lord sustained me. It would not be unprofitable to consider the sustaining power manifested in us while we lie asleep. In the flowing of the blood, heaving of the lung, etc., in the body, and the continuance of mental faculties while the image of death is upon us.

[nChrist]

Psalms 3
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

        Verse 6. Here we see faith surrounded by enemies - and yet triumphant.

        Buckling on his armor for the day's battle, our hero sings, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. Observe that he does not attempt to under estimate the number or wisdom of his enemies. He reckons them at tens of thousands, and he views them as cunning huntsmen chasing him with cruel skill. Yet he trembles not - but looking his enemy in the face, he is ready for the battle.

        There may be no way of escape; they may hem me in as the deer is surrounded by a circle of hunters; they may surround me on every side - but in the name of God I will dash through them; or, if I remain in the midst of them - yet shall they not hurt me; I shall be free in my very prison.

        But David is too wise to venture to the battle without prayer; he therefore betakes himself to his knees, and cries aloud to Jehovah.

        I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. The psalmist will trust, despite appearances. He will not be afraid though ten thousands of people have set themselves against him round about. Let us here limit our thoughts to this one idea, "despite appearances." What could look worse to human sight than this array of ten thousands of people? Ruin seemed to stare him in the face; wherever he looked an enemy was to be seen. What was one against ten thousand? It often happens that God's people come into circumstances like this; they say, "All these things are against me!" They seem scarcely able to count their troubles; they cannot see a loophole through which to escape; things look very black indeed; it is great faith and trust which says under these circumstances, "I will not be afraid."

        At such seasons as these, the reasonable men of the world, those who walk by sight and not by faith, will think it reasonable enough that the Christian should be afraid. Weak believers are now ready to make excuses for us, and we are only too ready to make them for ourselves; instead of rising above the weakness of the flesh, we take refuge under it, and use it as an excuse. But let us think prayerfully for a little while, and we shall see that it should not be thus with us. To trust only when appearances are favorable, is to sail only with the wind and tide, to believe only when we can see. Oh! let us follow the example of the psalmist, and seek that unreservedness of faith which will enable us to trust God, come what will, and to say as he said, "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about". Philip Power, 1862.

        I will not be afraid, etc. It makes no matter what our enemies be, though for number, legions; for power, principalities; for subtlety, serpents; for cruelty, dragons; for vantage of place, a prince of the air; for maliciousness, spiritual wickedness. Stronger is he who is in us - than those who are against us! Nothing is able to separate us from the love of God. In Christ Jesus our Lord, we shall be more than conquerors. William Cowper.


        Verse 7. Our enemies are vanquished foes, toothless lions!

        (1) Describe the Lord's past dealing with his enemies; "you have."

        (2) Show that the Lord should be our constant resort, "O Lord," "O my God."

        (3) Enlarge upon the fact that the Lord is to be stirred up: "Arise."

        (4) Urge believers to use the Lord's past victories as an argument with which to prevail with him.

        David's only hope is in his God - but that is so strong a confidence, that he feels the Lord has but to arise - and he is saved. It is enough for the Lord to stand up, and all is well. He compares his enemies to wild beasts, and he declares that God has broken their jaws, so that they could not injure him; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. Or else he alludes to the peculiar temptations to which he was then exposed. They had spoken against him; God, therefore, has smitten them upon the cheek bone. They seemed as if they would devour him with their mouths; God has broken their teeth, and let them say what they will, their toothless jaws shall not be able to devour him. Rejoice, O believer, you have to do with a dragon whose head is broken, and with enemies whose teeth are dashed from their jaws!

        Arise, O Lord, Jehovah! This is a common scriptural mode of calling upon God to manifest his presence and his power, either in wrath or favor. By a natural anthropomorphism, it describes the intervals of such manifestations as periods of inaction or of slumber, out of which he is besought to rouse himself. Save me, even me, of whom they say there is no help for him in God. Save me, O my God, mine by covenant and mutual engagement, to whom I therefore have a right to look for deliverance and protection. This confidence is warranted, moreover, by experience. For you have, in former exigencies, smitten all my enemies, without exception on the cheek or jaw, an act at once violent and insulting. J. A. Alexander.

        Verse 7. Upon the cheek bone. - The language seems to be taken from a comparison of his enemies with wild beasts. The cheek bone denotes the bone in which the teeth are placed, and to break that is to disarm the animal. Albert Barnes.

        Verse 7. When God takes vengeance upon the ungodly, he will smite in such a manner as to make them feel his almightiness in every stroke. All his power shall be exercised in punishing - and none in pitying. O that every obstinate sinner would think of this, and consider his foolishness in thinking himself able to grapple with Omnipotence! Stephen Charnock.

        Verse 8. Salvation belongs to the Lord. This verse contains the sum and substance of Calvinistic doctrine. Search Scripture through, and you must, if you read it with a candid mind, be persuaded that the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is the great doctrine of the word of God. This is a point concerning which we are daily fighting. Our opponents say, "Salvation belongs to the free will of man; if not to man's merit - yet at least to man's will." But we hold and teach that salvation from first to last, in every iota of it, belongs to the Most High God. It is God who chooses his people. He calls them by his grace; he quickens them by his Spirit, and keeps them by his power. It is not of man, neither by man; "not of him that wills, nor of him that runs - but of God who shows mercy." May we all learn this truth experimentally, for our proud flesh and blood will never permit us to learn it in any other way.

[nChrist]

Psalms 3
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

        In the last sentence the peculiarity and speciality of salvation are plainly stated: Your blessing is upon your people. Neither upon Egypt, nor upon Tyre, nor upon Nineveh; your blessing is upon your chosen, your blood - bought, your everlastingly beloved people.

        Selah: Lift up your hearts, and pause, and meditate upon this doctrine! "Your blessing is upon your people." Divine, discriminating, distinguishing, eternal, infinite, immutable love, is a subject for constant adoration. Pause, my soul, at this Selah, and consider your own interest in the salvation of God; and if by humble faith you are enabled to see Jesus as your by his own free gift of himself to you, if this greatest of all blessings be upon you, rise up and sing,

"Rise, my soul! adore and wonder!
Ask, 'O why such love to me?'
Grace has put me in the number
Of the Savior's family!
Hallelujah! Thanks, eternal thanks, to Thee!"

        Salvation belongs to the Lord. There is a parallel passage in Jonah 2:9, "Salvation is of the Lord." The mariners might have written upon their ship, instead of Castor and Pollux, or the like device, Salvation is the Lord's; the Ninevites might have written upon their gates, Salvation is the Lord's! It is the argument of both the Testaments, the staff and support of heaven and earth. They would both sink, and all their joints be severed, if salvation was not of the Lord.

        Your blessing is upon your people. The saints are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to flesh and blood. What, reproached and maligned - yet blessed! A man that looks upon the children of God with a carnal eye, and sees how they are afflicted, and like the ship in the gospel, which was covered with waves (Mt 8:24), would think they were far from blessedness. Paul brings a catalogue of his sufferings (2 Co 11:24-26), "Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck," etc. And those Christians of the first magnitude, of whom the world was not worthy, "Had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, they were sawn asunder, they were slain with the sword." Heb 11:36,37. What! and were all these during the time of their sufferings, blessed? A carnal man would think, if this be to be blessed - then God deliver him from it. But, however sense would give their vote, our Savior Christ pronounces the godly man blessed; though a mourner, though a martyr - yet blessed. Job on the ash-heap was blessed Job. The saints are blessed when they are cursed. Shimei did curse David (2 Samuel 16:5), "He came forth and cursed him;" yet when he was cursed David - he was blessed David. The saints though they are bruised - yet they are blessed. Not only they shall be blessed - but they are so. Psalm 119:1. "Blessed are the undefiled." Psalm 3:8. "Your blessing is upon your people." Thomas Watson.

        Salvation of God from first to last. They were blessed in Christ, through Christ, and shall be blessed with Christ. The blessing rests upon their persons, comforts, trials, labors, families, etc. It flows from grace, is enjoyed by faith, and is insured by oath, etc. James Smith's Portions, 1802-1862.

[nChrist]

Psalms 4
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

Title - This Psalm is apparently intended to accompany the third, and make a pair with it. If the last may be entitled The Morning Psalm, this from its matter is equally deserving of the title of The Evening Hymn. May the choice words of the 8th verse be our sweet song of rest as we retire to our repose!

"Thus with my thoughts composed to peace,
I'll give mine eyes to sleep;
Thy hand in safety keeps my days,
And will my slumbers keep."

The inspired title runs thus: "To the chief Musician on Neginoth, a Psalm of David." The chief musician was the master or director of the sacred music of the sanctuary. Concerning this person carefully read 1 Chronicles 6:31, 1 Chronicles 6:32; 1 Chronicles 15:16-22; 1 Chronicles 25:1, 1 Chronicles 25:7. In these passages will be found much that is interesting to the lover of sacred song, and very much that will throw a light upon the mode of praising God in the temple. Some of the titles of the Psalms are, we doubt not, derived from the names of certain renowned singers, who composed the music to which they were set.

On Neginoth, that is, on stringed instruments, or hand instruments, which were played on with the hand alone, as harps and cymbals. The icy of the Jewish church was so great that they needed music to set forth the delightful feelings of their souls, our holy mirth is none the less overflowing because we prefer to express it in a more spiritual manner, as becometh a more spiritual dispensation. In allusion to these instruments to be played on with the hand, Nazianzen says. "Lord I am an instrument for thee to touch." Let us lay ourselves open to the Spirit's touch, so shall we make melody. May we be full of faith and love, and we shall be living instruments of music.

Hawker says "The Septuagint read the word which we have rendered in our translation chief musician Lamenetz, instead of Lamenetzoth, the meaning of which is unto the end." From whence the Greek and Latin fathers imagined, that all psalms which bear this inscription refer to the Messiah the great end. If so, this Psalm is addressed to Christ; and well it may, for it is all of Christ, and spoken by Christ, and hath respect only to his people as being one with Christ. The Lord the Spirit give the reader to see this, and he will find it most blessed.

Division - In the Psalms 4:1 David pleads with God for help. In the second he expostulates with his enemies, and continues to address them to the end of Psalms 4:5. Then from Psalms 4:6 to the close he delightfully contrasts his own satisfaction and safety with the disquietude of the ungodly in their best estate. The Psalm was most probably written upon the same occasion as the preceding, and is another choice flower from the garden of affliction. Happy is it lot us that David was tired, or probably we should never have heard these sweet sonnets of faith.

Hints to Preachers

Psalms 4:1 - Is full of matter for a sermon upon, past mercies a plea for present help. The first sentence shows that believers desire, expect, and believe in a God that heareth prayer. The title - God of my righteousness, may furnish a text (see exposition), and the last sentence may suggest a sermon upon, "The best of saints must still appeal to God's mercy and sovereign grace."

Psalms 4:2 - Depravity of man as evinced

(1)   by continuance in despising Christ,

(2)   loving vanity in his heart, and

(3)   seeking lies in his daily life.

Psalms 4:2 - The length of the sinner's sin. "How long?" May be bounded by repentance, shall be by death, and yet shall continue in eternity.

Psalms 4:3 - Election - Its aspects towards God, our enemies, and ourselves.

Psalms 4:3 - "The Lord will hear when I call unto him." Answers to prayer certain to special persons. Mark out those who can claim the favour.

Psalms 4:3 - The gracious Separatist. Who is he? Who separated him? With what end? How to make men know it?

Psalms 4:4 - The sinner directed to review himself, that he may be convinced of sin - Andrew Fuller, 1754-1815.

Psalms 4:4 - "Be still." Advice - good, practical, but hard to follow. Times when seasonable. Graces needed to enable one to be still. Results of quietness. Persons who most need the advice. Instances of its practice. Here is much material for a sermon.

Psalms 4:5 - The nature of those sacrifices of righteousness which the Lord's people are expected to offer - William Ford Vance, 1827.

Psalms 4:6 - The cry of the world and the church contrasted. Vox populi not always Vox Dei.

Psalms 4:6 - The cravings of the soul all satisfied in God.

Psalms 4:6, Psalms 4:7 - An assurance of the Saviour's love, the source of unrivalled joy.

Psalms 4:7 - The believer's joys.

(1)   Their source, "Thou;"

(2)   their season - even now - "Thou hast;"

(3)   their position, "in my heart;"

(4)   their excellence, "more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased."

[nChrist]

Psalms 4
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

Another excellent theme suggests itself - "The superiority of the joys of grace to the joys of earth;" or, "Two sort of prosperity - which is to be the more desired?"

Psalms 4:8 - The peace and safety of the good man - Joseph Lathtop, D.D., 1805.

Psalms 4:8 - A bedchamber for believers, a vesper song to sing in it, and a guard to keep the door.

Psalms 4:8 - The Christian's good-night.

Psalms 4:2 - The means which a believer should use: to win the ungodly to Christ.

(1).   Expostulation, Psalms 4:2.

(2)   Instruction, Psalms 4:2.

(3)   Exhortation, Psalms 4:4, Psalms 4:5.

(4)   Testimony to the blessedness of true religion, as in Psalms 4:6, Psalms 4:7.

(5)   Exemplification of that testimony by the peace of faith, Psalms 4:8.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Psalms 4:1

"Hear me when I call," etc. Faith is a good orator and a noble disputer in a strait; it can reason from God's readiness to hear: "Hear me when I call, O God." And from the everlasting righteousness given to the man in the justification of his person: "O God of my righteousness." And from God's constant justice in defending the righteousness of his servant's cause: "O God of my righteousness." And from both present distresses and those that are by-past, wherein he hath been, and from by-gone mercies received: "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress." And from God's grace, which is able to answer all objections from the man's unworthiness or ill-deserving: "Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer." - David Dickson, 1653.

Psalms 4:1

"Hear me." The great Author of nature and of all things does nothing in vain. He instituted not this law, and, if I may so express it, art of praying, as a vain and insufficient thing, but endows it with wonderful efficacy for producing the greatest and happiest consequences. He would have it to be the key by which all the treasures of heaven should be opened. He has constructed it as a powerful machine, by which we may, with easy and pleasant labour, remove from us the most dire and unhappy machinations of our enemy, and may with equal ease draw to ourselves what is most propitious and advantageous. Heaven and earth, and all the elements, obey and minister to the hands which are often lifted up to heaven in earnest prayer. Yea, all works, and, which is yet more and greater, all the words of God obey it. Well known in the sacred Scriptures are the examples of Moses and Joshua, and that which James (James 5:17) particularly mentions of Elijah, whom he expressly describes in the ancient languages as a man subject to like infirmities with ourselves, that he might illustrate the admirable force of prayer, by the common and human weakness of the person by whom it was offered. And that Christian legion under Antoninus is well known and justly celebrated, which, for the singular ardour and efficacy of its prayers, obtained a name meaning the thundering legion. - Robert Leighton, D.D., Archbishop of Glasgow, 1611-1684.

Psalms 4:2

"O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah." Prayer soars above the violence and impiety of men, and with a swift wing commits itself to heaven, with happy omen, if I may allude to what the learned tell us of the augury of the ancients, which I shall not minutely discuss. Fervent prayers stretch forth a strong, wide-extended wing, and while the birds of night hover beneath, they mount aloft, and point out, as it were, the proper seats to which we should aspire. For certainly there is nothing that cuts the air so swiftly, nothing that takes so sublime, so happy, and so auspicious a flight as prayer, which bears the soul on its pinions, and leaves far behind all the dangers, and even the delights of this low world of ours. Behold this holy man, who just before was crying to God in the midst of distress, and with urgent importunity entreating that he might be heard, now, as if he were already possessed of all he had asked, taking upon him boldly to rebuke his enemies, how highly soever they were exalted, and how potent soever they might be even in the royal palace. - Robert Leighton, D.D.

Psalms 4:2

"O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame?" etc. We might imagine every syllable of this precious Psalm used by our Master some evening, when about to leave the temple for the day, and retiring to his wonted rest at Bethany (Psalms 4:8), after another fruitless expostulation with the men of Israel. And we may read it still as the very utterance of his heart, longing over man, and delighting in God. But further, not only is this the utterance of the Head, it is also the language of one of his members in full sympathy with him in holy feeling. This is a Psalm with which the righteous may make their dwellings resound, morning and evening, as they cast a sad look over a world that rejects God's grace. They may sing it while they cling more and more every day to Jehovah, as their all-sufficient heritage, now and in the age to come. They may sing it, too, in the happy confidence of faith and hope, when the evening of the world's day is coming, and may then fall asleep in the certainty of what shall greet their eyes on the resurrection morning -

"Sleeping embosomed in his grace,
Till morning-shadows flee."
Andrew A. Bonar, 1859.

[nChrist]

Psalms 4
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

Psalms 4:2

"Love Vanity." They that love sin, love vanity; they chase a bubble, they lean upon a reed, their hope is as a spider's web.

"Leasing." This is an old Saxon word signifying falsehood.

Psalms 4:2

"How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity." This our first parents found, and therefore named their second son Abel, or vanity. Solomon, that had tried these things, and could best tell the vanity of them, he preacheth this sermon over again and again, "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity." It is sad to think how many thousands there be that can say with the preacher, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity;" nay, swear it, and yet follow after these things as if there were no other glory, nor felicity, but what is to be found in these things they call vanity. Such men will sell Christ, heaven, and their souls, for a trifle, that call these things vanity, but do not cordially believe them to be vanity, but set their hearts upon them as if they were their crown, the top of all their royalty and glory. Oh! let your souls dwell upon the vanity of all things here below, till your hearts be so thoroughly convinced and persuaded of the vanity of them, as to trample upon them, and make them a footstool for Christ to get up, and ride in a holy triumph in your hearts.

Gilemex, king of Vandals, led in triumph by Belisarius, cried out, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." The fancy of Lucian, who placeth Charon on the top of a high hill, viewing all the affairs of men living, and looking on their greatest cities as little birds' nests, is very pleasant. Oh, the imperfection, the ingratitude, the levity, the inconstancy, the perfidiousness of those creatures we most servilely affect! Ah, did we but weigh man's pain with his payment, his crosses with his mercies, his miseries with his pleasures, we should then see that there is nothing got by the bargain, and conclude, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Chrysostom said once, "That if he were the fittest in the world to preach a sermon to the whole world, gathered together in one congregation, and had some high mountain for his pulpit, from whence he might have a prospect of all the world in his view, and were furnished with a voice of brass, a voice as loud as the trumpets of the archangel, that all the world might hear him, he would choose to preach upon no other text than that in the Psalms, O mortal men, 'How long will ye love vanity, and follow after leasing?'" - Thomas Brooks, 1608-1680.

Psalms 4:2

"Love Vanity." Men's affections are according to their principles; and every one loves that most without him which is most suitable to somewhat within him: liking is founded in likeness, and has therefore that word put upon it. It is so in whatsoever we can imagine; whether in temporals or spirituals, as to the things of this life, or of a better. Men's love is according to some working and impression upon their own spirits. And so it is here in the point of vanity; those which are vain persons, they delight in vain things; as children, they love such matters as are most agreeable to their childish dispositions, and as do suit them in that particular. Out of the heart comes all kind of evil. - Thomas Horton, 1675.

Psalms 4:3

"The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself." When God chooseth a man, he chooseth him for himself; for himself to converse with, to communicate himself unto him as a friend, a companion, and his delight. Now, it is holiness that makes us fit to live with the holy God for ever, since without it we cannot see him (Hebrews 12:14), which is God's main aim, and more than our being his children; as one must be supposed a man, one of mankind, having a soul reasonable, ere we can suppose him capable of adoption, or to be another man's heir. As therefore it was the main first design in God's eye, before the consideration of our happiness, let it be so in ours. - Thomas Goodwin, 1600-1679.

Psalms 4:3

What rare persons the godly are: "The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour." Proverbs 12:26. As the flower of the sun, as the wine of Lebanon, as the sparkling upon Aaron's breastplate, such is the orient splendour of a person embellished with godliness.... The godly are precious, therefore they are set apart for God, "Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself." We set apart things that are precious; the godly are set apart as God's peculiar treasure (Psalms 135:4); as his garden of delight (Song of Solomon 4:12); as his royal diadem (Isaiah 43:3); the godly are the excellent of the earth (Psalms 16:3); comparable to fine gold (Lamentations 4:2); double refined. Zechariah 13:9. They are the glory of the creation. Isaiah 46:13. Origen compares the saints to sapphires and crystals: God calls them jewels. Malachi 3:17. - Thomas Watson.

Psalms 4:3

"The Lord will hear when I call unto him." Let us remember that the experience of one of the saints concerning the verity of God's promises, and of the certainty of the written privileges of the Lord's people, is a sufficient proof of the right which all his children have to the same mercies, and a ground of hope that they also shall partake of them in their times of need. - David Dickson, 1653.

[nChrist]

Psalms 4
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

Psalms 4:4

"Stand in awe, and sin not." Jehovah is a name of great power and efficacy, a name that hath in it five vowels, without which no language can be expressed; a name that hath in it also three syllables, to signify the Trinity of persons, the eternity of God, One in Three and Three in One; a name of such dread and reverence amongst the Jews, that they tremble to name it, and there: lore they use the name Adonai (Lord) in all their devotions. And thus ought every one to "stand in awe, and sin not," by taking the name of God in vain; but to sing praise, and honour, to remember, to declare, to exalt, to praise and bless it; for holy and reverend, only worthy and excellent is his name. - Rayment, 1630.

Psalms 4:4

"Commune with your own heart." The language is similar to that which we use when we say, "Consult your better judgment," or, "Take counsel of your own good sense." - Albert Barnes, in loc.

Psalms 4:4

If thou wouldst exercise thyself to godliness in solitude, accustom thyself to soliloquies, I mean to conference with thyself. He needs never be idle that hath so much business to do with his own soul. It was a famous answer which Antisthenes gave when he was asked what fruit he reaped by all his studies. By them, saith he, I have learned both to live and talk with myself. Soliloquies are the best disputes; every good man is best company for himself of all the creatures. Holy David enjoineth this to others, Commune with your own hearts upon your bed, and be still." "Commune with your own hearts;" when ye have none to speak with, talk to yourselves. Ask yourselves for what end ye were made, what lives ye have led, what times ye have lost, what love ye have abused, what wrath ye have deserved. Call yourselves to a reckoning, how ye have improved your talents, how true or false ye have been to your trust, what provision ye have laid in for an hour of death, what preparation ye have, made for a great day of account. "Upon your beds." Secrecy is the best opportunity for this duty. The silent night is a good time for this speech. When we have no outward objects to disturb us, and to call our eyes, as the fool's eyes are always, to the ends of, the earth; then our eyes, as the eyes of the wise, may be in our heads; and then our minds, like the windows in Solomon's temple, may be broad inwards. The most successful searches have been made in the night season; the soul is then wholly shut up in the earthly house of the body, and hath no visits from strangers to disquiet its thoughts. Physicians have judged dreams a probable sign whereby they might find out the distempers of the body. Surely, then, the bed is no bad place to examine and search into the state of the soul. "And be still." Self-communion will much help to curb your headstrong, ungodly passions. Serious consideration, like the casting up of earth amongst bees, will allay inordinate affections when they are full of fury, and make such a hideous noise. Though sensual appetites and unruly desires are, as the people of Ephesus, in an uproar, pleading for their former privilege, and expecting their wonted provision, as in the days of their predominancy, if conscience use its authority, commanding them in God's name, whose officer it is, to keep the king's peace, and argue it with them, as the town-clerk of. Ephesus, "We are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this day's concourse;" all is frequently by this means hushed, and the tumult appeased without any further mischief. - George Swinnock, 1627-1673.

Psalms 4:4

"Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." When we are most retired from the world, then we are most fit to have, and usually have, most communion with God. If a man would but abridge himself of sleep, and wake with holy thoughts, when deep sleep falleth upon sorrowful labouring men, he might be entertained with visions from God, though not such visions as Eliphaz and others of the saints have had, yet visions he might have. Every time God communicates himself to the soul, there is a vision of love, or mercy, or power; somewhat of God in his nature, or in his will, is showed unto us. David shows us divine work when we go to rest. The bed is not all for sleep: "Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." Be still or quiet, sad then commune with your hearts; and if you will commune with your hearts, God will come and commune with your hearts too, his Spirit will give you a loving visit and visions of his love. - Joseph Caryl.

Psalms 4:4

"Stand in awe."
With sacred awe pronounce his name,
Whom words nor thoughts can reach.
John Needham, 1768.

Psalms 4:6

Where Christ reveals himself there is satisfaction in the slenderest portion, and without Christ there is emptiness in the greatest fulness. - Alexander Grosse, on enjoying Christ, 1632.

Psalms 4:6

"Many," said David, "ask who will shew us unit good?" meaning riches, and honour, and pleasure, which are not good. But when he came to godliness itself, he leaves out "many," and prayeth in his own person, "Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us;" as if none would join with him. - Henry Smith.

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Psalms 4
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

Psalms 4:6

"Who will shew us any good?" This is not a fair translation. The word any is not in the text, nor anything equivalent to it; and not a few have quoted it, and preached upon the text, placing the principal emphasis upon this illegitimate. The place is sufficiently emphatic. There are multitudes who say, Who will shew us good? Man wants good; he hates evil as evil, because he has pain, suffering, and death through it; and he wishes to find that supreme good which will content his heart, and save him from evil. But men mistake this good. They look for a good that is to gratify their passions; they have no notion of any happiness that does not come to them through the medium of their senses. Therefore they reject spiritual good, and they reject the supreme God, by whom alone all the powers of the soul of man can be gratified. - Adam Clarke.

Psalms 4:6

"Lift thou up," etc. This was the blessing of the high priest and is the heritage of all the saints. It includes reconciliation, assurance, communion, benediction, in a word, the fulness of God. Oh, to be filled therewith! - C. H. S.

Psalms 4:6, Psalms 4:7

Lest riches should be accounted evil in themselves, God sometimes gives them to the righteous; and lest they should be considered as the chief good, he frequently bestows them on the wicked. But they are more generally the portion of his enemies than his friends. Alas I what is it to receive and not to be received? to have none other dews of blessing than such as shall be followed by showers of brimstone? We may compass ourselves with sparks of security, and afterwards be secured in eternal misery. This world is a floating island, and so sure as we cast anchor upon it, we shall be carried away by it. God, and all that he has made, is not more than God without anything that he has made. He can never want treasure who has such a golden mine. He is enough without the creature, but the creature is not anything without him. It is, therefore, better to enjoy him without anything else, than to enjoy everything else without him. It is better to be a wooden vessel filled with wine, than a golden one filled with water. - William Secker's Nonsuch Professor, 1660.

Psalms 4:7

What madness and folly is it that the favourites of heaven should envy the men of the world, who at best do but feed upon the scraps that come from God's table! Temporals are the bones; spirituals are the marrow. Is it below a man to envy the dogs, because of the bones? And is it not much more below a Christian to envy others for temporals, when himself enjoys spirituals? - Thomas Brooks.

Psalms 4:7

"Thou hast put gladness in my heart." The comforts which God reserves for his mourners are filling comforts (Romans 15:13); "The God of hope fill you with joy" (John 16:24); "Ask that your joy may be full." When God pours in the joys of heaven they fill the heart, and make it run over (2 Corinthians 7:4); "I am exceeding joyful;" the Greek is, I overflow with joy, as a cup that is filled with wine till it runs over. Outward comforts can no more fill the heart than a triangle can fill a circle. Spiritual joys are satisfying (Psalms 63:5); "My heart shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; Thou hast put gladness in my heart." Worldly joys do put gladness into the face, but the spirit of God puts gladness into the heart; divine joys are heart joys (Zechariah 10:7; John 16:22); "Your heart shall rejoice" (Luke 1:47); "My spirit rejoiced in God." And to show how filling these comforts are, which are of a heavenly extraction, the Psalmist says they create greater joy than when "corn and wine increase." Wine and oil may delight but not satisfy; they have their vacuity and indigence. We may say, as Zechariah 10:2, "They comfort in vain;" outward comforts do sooner cloy than cheer, and sooner weary than fill. Xerxes offered great rewards to him that could find out a new pleasure; but the comforts of the Spirit are satisfactory, they recruit the heart (Psalms 94:19), "Thy comforts delight my soul." There is as much difference between heavenly comforts and earthly, as between a banquet that is eaten, and one that is painted on the wall. - Thomas Watson.

Psalms 4:8

It is said of the husbandman, that having cast his seed into the ground, he sleeps and riseth day and night, and the seed springs and grows he knoweth not how. Mark 4:26, Mark 4:27. So a good man having by faith and prayer cast his care upon God, he resteth night and day, and is very easy, leaving it to his God to perform all things for him according to his holy will. - Matthew Henry.

[nChrist]

Psalms 4
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

Psalms 4:8

When you have walked with God from morning until night, it remaineth that you conclude the day well, when you would give yourself to rest at night. Wherefore, first look back and take a strict view of your whole carriage that day past. Reform what you find amiss; and rejoice, or be grieved, as you find you have done well or ill, as you have advanced or declined in grace that day. Secondly, since you cannot sleep in safety if God, who is your keeper (Psalms 111:4, Psalms 111:5), do not wake and watch for you (Psalms 127:1); and though you have God to watch when you sleep, you cannot be safe, if he that watcheth be your enemy. Wherefore it is very convenient that at night you renew and confirm your peace with God by faith and prayer, commending and committing yourself to God's tuition by prayer (Psalms 3:4, Psalms 3:5; Psalms 92:2), with thanksgiving before you go to bed. Then shall you lie down in safety. Psalms 4:8. All this being done, yet while you are putting off your apparel, when you are lying down, and when you are in bed, before you sleep, iris good that you commune with your own heart. Psalms 4:4. If possibly you can fall asleep with some heavenly meditation, then will your sleep be more sweet (Proverbs 3:21, Proverbs 3:24, Proverbs 3:25); and more secure (Proverbs 6:21, Proverbs 6:22); your dreams fewer, or more comfortable; your head will be fuller of good thoughts (Proverbs 6:22), and your heart will be in a better frame when you awake, whether in the night or in the morning. - Condensed from Henry Scudder's Daily Walk, 1633.

Psalms 4:8

"I will both," etc. We have now to retire for a moment from the strife of tongues and the open hostility of foes, into the stillness and privacy of the chamber of sleep. Here, also, we find the "I will" of trust. "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." God is here revealed to us as exercising personal care in the still chamber. And there is something here which should be inexpressibly sweet to the believer, for this shows the minuteness of God's care, the individuality of his love; how it condescends and stoops, and acts, not only in great, but also in little spheres; not only where glory might be procured from great results, but where nought is to be had save the gratitude and love of a poor feeble creature, whose life has been protected and preserved, in a period of helplessness and sleep. How blessed would it be if we made a larger recognition of God in the Still chamber; if we thought of him as being there in all hours of illness, of weariness, and pain; if we believed that his interest and care are as much concentrated upon the feeble believer there as upon his people when in the wider battle field of the strife of tongues. There is something inexpressibly touching in this "laying down" of the Psalmist. In thus lying down he voluntarily gave up guardianship of himself; he resigned himself into the hands of another; he did so completely, for in the absence of all care he slept; there was here a perfect trust. Many a believer lies down, but it is not to sleep. Perhaps he feels safe enough so far as his body is concerned, but cares and anxieties invade the privacy of his chamber; they come to try his faith and trust; they threaten, they frighten, and alas! prove too strong for trust. Many a poor believer might say, "I will lay me down, but not to sleep." The author met with a touching instance of this, in the case of an aged minister whom he visited in severe illness. This worthy man's circumstances were narrow, and his family trials were great; he said, "The doctor wants me to sleep, but how can I sleep with care sitting on my pillow?" It is the experience of some of the Lord, s people, that although equal to an emergency or a continued pressure, a reaction sets in afterwards; and when they come to be alone their spirits sink, and they do not realise that strength from God, or feel that confidence in him which they felt while the pressure was exerting its force....There is a trial in stillness; and oftentimes the still chamber makes a larger demand upon loving trust than the battle field. O that we could trust God more and more with personal things! O that he were the God of our chamber, as well as of our temples and houses! O that we could bring him more and more into the minutiae of daily life! If we did thus, we should experience a measure of rest to which we are, perhaps, strangers now; we should have less dread of the sick chamber; we should have that unharassed mind which conduces most to repose, in body and soul; we should be able to say, "I will lie down and sleep, and leave tomorrow with God!" Ridley's brother offered to remain with him during the night preceding his martyrdom, but the bishop declined, saying, that "he meant to go to bed, and sleep as quietly as ever he did in his life." - Philip Bennett Power's 'I Wills' of the Psalms.

Psalms 4:8

Due observation of Providence will both beget and secure inward tranquility in your minds amidst the vicissitudes and revolutions of things in this unstable vain world. "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for the Lord only maketh me dwell in safety." He resolves that sinful fears of events shall not rob him of his inward quiet, nor torture his thoughts with anxious presages: he will commit all his concerns into that faithful fatherly hand that had hitherto wrought all things for him; and he means not to lose the comfort of one night's rest, nor brings the evil of tomorrow upon the day; but knowing in whose hand he was, wisely enjoys the sweet felicity of a resigned will. Now this tranquility of our minds is as much begotten and preserved by a due consideration of providence as by anything whatsoever. - John Flayel, 1627-1691.

Psalms 4:8

Happy is the Christian, who having nightly with this verse, committed himself to his bed as to his grave, shall at last, with the same words, resign himself to his grave as to his bed, from which he expects in due time to arise, and sing a morning hymn with the children of the resurrection. - George Horne, D.D., 1776.

Psalms 4:8

"Sleep."
"How blessed was that sleep
The sinless Saviour knew!
In vain the storm-winds blew,
Till he awoke to others' woes,
And hushed the billows to repose.
How beautiful is sleep -
The sleep that Christians know!
Ye mourners! cease your woe,
While soft upon his Saviour's breast,
The righteous sinks to endless rest."
Mrs. M'Cartree.

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Psalms 5
From The Treasury of David
By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Biographical Information

Short Biographical Information:  Charles Hadden Spurgeon was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London's famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to 10,000 - all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861 the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.

The Treasury of David was first published in weekly installments over a twenty-year span in the London Metropolitan Tabernacle's periodical, The Sword and the Trowel. Completed sections were released volume by volume, until the seventh and final volume was released in 1885.

The Treasury of David is a superb literary achievement. Eric Hayden, pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle a century after Spurgeon's ministry began there, calls this work "Spurgeon's magnum opus." Spurgeon's wife said that if Spurgeon had never written any other work, this would have been a permanent literary memorial.

Psalms 5

Title - "To the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth, a Psalm of David." The Hebrew word Nehiloth is taken from another word, signifying "to perforate, to bore through," whence it comes to mean a pipe or a flute; so that this song was probably intended to be sung with an accompaniment of wind instruments, such as the horn, the, trumpet, flute, or cornet. However, it is proper to remark that we are not sure of the interpretation of these ancient titles, for the Septuagint translates it, "For him who shall obtain inheritance," and Aben Ezra thinks it denotes some old and well-known melody to which this Psalm was to be played. The best scholars confess that great darkness hangs over the precise interpretation of the titles; nor is this much to be regretted, for it furnishes an internal evidence of the great antiquity of the Book. Throughout the Psalms 1:1-6, Psalms 2:1-12, Psalms 3:1-8, and Psalms 4:1-8, you will have noticed that the subject is a contrast between the position, the character, and the prospects of the righteous and of the wicked. In this Psalm you will note the same. The Psalmist carries out a contrast between himself made righteous by God's grace, and the wicked who opposed him. To the devout mind there is here presented a precious view of the Lord Jesus, of whom it is said that in the days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears.

Division - The Psalm should be divided into two parts, from the first to the seventh verse, and then from the eighth to the twelfth. In the first part of the Psalm David most vehemently beseeches the Lord to hearken to his prayer, and in the second part he retraces the same ground.

Hints to Preachers

Psalms 5:1, Psalms 5:2 - Prayer in its threefold form. "Words, meditation, cry." Showing how utterance is of no avail without heart, but that fervent longings and silent desires are accepted, even when unexpressed.

Psalms 5:3 - The excellence of morning devotion.

Psalms 5:3 (last two clauses).

1.   Prayer directed.

2.   Answers expected.

Psalms 5:4 - God's hatred of sin an example to his people.

Psalms 5:5 - "The foolish." Show why sinners are justly called fools.

Psalms 5:7 - "Multitude of thy mercy." Dwell upon the varied grace and goodness of God.

Psalms 5:7 - The devout resolution.

Psalms 5:7

I.   Observe the singularity of the resolution.

II.   Mark the object of the resolution. It regards the service of God in the sanctuary. "I will come into thine house.... in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy temple."

III.   The manner in which he would accomplish the resolution.

(1)   Impressed with a sense of the divine goodness: "I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy."

(2)   Filled with holy veneration: "And in thy fear will I worship." - William Jay, 1842.

Psalms 5:8 - God's guidance needed always, and especially when enemies are watching us.

Psalms 5:10 - Viewed as a threatening. The sentence, "Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions," is specially fitted to be the groundwork of a very solemn discourse.

Psalms 5:11

I.   The character of the righteous: faith and love.

II.   The privileges of the righteous.

(1)   Joy - great, pure, satisfying, triumphant (shout), constant (ever).

(2)   Defence - by power, providence, angels, grace, etc.

Psalms 5:11 - Joy in the Lord both a duty and a privilege.

Psalms 5:12 (first clause) - The divine blessing upon the righteous. It is ancient effectual, constant, extensive, irreversible, surpassing, eternal, infinite.