Psalm 55:14














I. CORRUPT CITY LIFE. (Vers. 10, 11.)

1. Corrupt in every part, on the walls and in the interior. Violence and strife reign unchecked universally.

2. Falsehood and deceit ruled in the market-place. (Ver. 11.) In the square, or market-place, near the gates, where was the general place of concourse, men cheated and deceived each other in their ordinary intercourse.

II. PICTURE OF CORRUPT PRIVATE LIFE. The sanctities of friendship were openly violated and renounced. The offence was aggravated by two things.

1. That he who had become the psalmist's enemy had been a closely intimate friend. Love had turned to hate, because of the triumph of evil designs or passions, or of "the whispering tongues that can poison truth."

2. Their friendship had been consecrated by religious associations. (Ver. 14.) A depraved life can sweep out of the mind the tenderest memories and the most holy associations, human and Divine.

III. THE PSALMIST PRAYS FOR GOD'S JUDGMENTS UPON THIS CORRUPT LIFE. The two forms of judgment which he imprecates are:

1. The judgment that fell upon the builders of Babel. (Ver. 9.) Discord among themselves and their counsels, so that they might destroy one another.

2. That they might go down to the grave alive. (Ver. 15.) Like Korah and his company, let them be carried away by death in the fulness of life and strength. The psalmist knew of none but violent means and temporal judgments by which such wickedness could be removed. - S.

We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
I. RELIGION WILL, IN A VERY HIGH DEGREE, MULTIPLY AND EXALT THE PRESENT PLEASURES OF FRIENDSHIP. The pleasure of sympathy, we know, always hears a direct proportion to the magnitude and intrinsic interest of the subject by which it is excited. It will be readily granted, that when the subjects of our contemplation possess intrinsic dignity, when our thoughts themselves are high and employed upon high things, we feel greater pleasure in their interchange, and mark with warmer satisfaction the sympathy of those whom we esteem. But for grandeur of extent and depth of interest united, where is the subject that will bear a moment's comparison with religion?

II. The pleasure which we take in the sympathy of our friends on any subject will be affected, not only by its inherent dignity and importance, but also by THE RELATION WHICH IT BEARS TO OURSELVES PERSONALLY, by the individual interest, greater or less, which we have in it. Those circumstances and events in which we feel ourselves most immediately and deeply concerned; our prospects in life, for instance, our plans of usefulness or enjoyment, the fortunes and interests of our connections, the characters and conduct of our friends — these are the subjects which are reserved most carefully for the private ear of friendship, on which we look for corresponding emotions of sympathy with the greatest anxiety, and hail them with the most lively pleasure. "To have the same desires and the same aversions," has been said to constitute true friend. ship; to the perfection of which, therefore, it must be necessary, that these desires and aversions exist in corresponding strength, where the exciting causes are the same. The deeper the interest felt, and the more complete the sympathy, the greater will be the pleasure derived from it. But what is there of more essential importance to our happiness than religion?

III. As the pleasures of religious sympathy are likely to be greater in proportion to the superior dignity and deeper interest of the exciting cause; so also will they be heightened by reflection on THE PURITY AND EXCELLENCE OF THE SOURCE FROM WHICH THEY SPRING. Combined pleasures heighten and improve each other. Do we receive gratification from a worthy object, from one which we know ought to excite it? The consideration of the worth of that object, and the moral approbation consequent thereon, increase the gratification. Sympathetic feelings of satisfaction and pleasure may be called forth very strongly by a trifling and unworthy cause; but when this is the case, such pleasure will unavoidably be diminished by reflection; it will not bear examination; it cannot stand the test of time. Not so the pleasures of religious sympathy; the sources of these are always high and exalted; the subjects of them ever worthy the contemplation of the immortal soul.

(A. R. Beard.)

I. IN THE TEDIOUS HOURS OF ABSENCE, HOW POWERFUL IS THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION TO CALM THE ANXIETIES, AND KEEP ALIVE THE SYMPATHIES, OF FRIENDSHIP. — Friends who have a lively faith, a firm confidence in an omnipresent God, need never consider themselves as separate or far distant from each other. Mountains may intervene, oceans may roll between them; one may dwell on the bosom of the boundless deep, the other far inland, in the valley amongst the hills; yet are they not apart; they have a bond of union of which the world thinks not; they are, and feel themselves, united in Him "who is never far from any one of us," but "in whom," at every instant of time, "we live, and move, and have our being." God is with them as their common father, benefactor, and friend,

II. RELIGION WILL HAVE POWER TO CONSOLE US WHEN OBLIGED TO WITNESS THE TEMPORAL SUFFERINGS OF THOSE WHOM WE LOVE. Who is there that does not grieve to trace the expression of pain or sorrow in the countenance of a friend, especially when he feels himself unable to remove the source from which it springs? A friend is cast down in the world, and we possess not the means of raising him; he is tortured by disease, to which we can bring no relief; these, indeed, are severe trials, yet religion will teach us how to bear and to improve them. It is from her we learn that the Father of our race doth "never willingly afflict or grieve His children " — that "He chastens them not for His own pleasure, but for their profit, that they may be made partakers of His holiness." These, surely, are consolatory words to him who is called to witness the sufferings of a friend; words that may serve at once to console his own mind, and to suggest to him the best topics of consolation.

III. RELIGION WILL BRING CONSOLATION TO US, WHEN SUFFERING UNDER A PAINFUL SENSE OF THE MORAL IMPERFECTIONS OF OUR FRIENDS. She will carry our view forward to that blessed country where sin and sorrow shall be no more, where the great enemy shall cease from troubling, and the good man, freed from the assaults of temptation, shall be at rest. Then shall the good qualities of the virtuous friend shine forth with unclouded lustre, and the attachment formed on earth be continued in heaven, unalloyed by sorrow and undisturbed by sin.

IV. EVEN TO HIM WHO MOURNS THE UTTER MORAL DEGRADATION AND CONSEQUENT ESTRANGEMENT OF A FRIEND, RELIGION WILL BRING SOME COMFORT. She will soothe him with the consciousness of having done everything to prevent a catastrophe so mournful. She will provide him with a sure refuge in that Friend who cannot become unworthy of him, and will not desert him.

(A. R. Beard.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Amid, Company, Converse, Counsel, Fellowship, God's, Held, Hold, Intercourse, Loving, Sweet, Sweeten, Talk, Throng, Walk, Walked, Within
Outline
1. David in his prayer complains of his fearful case
9. He prays against his enemies, of whose wickedness and treachery he complains
16. He comforts himself in God's preservation oh him, and confusion of his enemies

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 55:14

     7925   fellowship, among believers

Psalm 55:4-14

     5799   bitterness

Psalm 55:12-14

     5501   reward, human

Psalm 55:13-14

     5691   friends, good

Library
July 9. "Cast Thy Burden on the Lord" (Ps. Lv. 22).
"Cast thy burden on the Lord" (Ps. lv. 22). Dear friends, sometimes we bring a burden to God, and we have such a groaning over it, and we seem to think God has a dreadful time, too, but in reality it does not burden Him at all. God says: It is a light thing for Me to do this for you. Your load, though heavy for you, is not heavy for Him. Christ carries the whole on one shoulder, not two shoulders. The government of the world is upon His shoulder. He is not struggling and groaning with it. His mighty
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Out of the Deep of Fear and Anxiety.
My heart is disquieted within me. Tearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me.--Ps. lv. 4. Thou hast proved and visited my heart in the night season--Ps. xvii. 3. Nevertheless though I am sometimes afraid, yet put I my trust in Thee.--Ps. lv. 3. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?--Ps. xxvii. 1. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fear.--Ps.
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

The Arrest
Our study of the closing scenes of the life of our Lord begins at the point where He fell into the hands of the representatives of justice; and this took place at the gate of Gethsemane and at the midnight hour. On the eastern side of Jerusalem, the ground slopes downwards to the bed of the Brook Kedron; and on the further side of the stream rises the Mount of Olives. The side of the hill was laid out in gardens or orchards belonging to the inhabitants of the city; and Gethsemane was one of these.
James Stalker—The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ

If Then to Sin, that Others May not Commit a Worse Sin...
21. If then to sin, that others may not commit a worse sin, either against us or against any, without doubt we ought not; it is to be considered in that which Lot did, whether it be an example which we ought to imitate, or rather one which we ought to avoid. For it seems meet to be more looked into and noted, that, when so horrible an evil from the most flagitious impiety of the Sodomites was impending over his guests, which he wished to ward off and was not able, to such a degree may even that just
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Patrick, the Apostle of the Irish.
THIS remarkable man was prepared by very peculiar circumstances for his important work; and in his instance also it may be seen, how that infinite wisdom which guides the development of the kingdom of God amongst men, is able to bring great things out of what seems insignificant to the eyes of men. Patrick, called in his native tongue Succath, was born A. D. 372, in a village between the Scottish towns of Dumbarton and Glasgow, (then appended to England,) in the village of Bonaven, since named in
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Concerning Persecution
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 We are now come to the last beatitude: Blessed are they which are persecuted . . '. Our Lord Christ would have us reckon the cost. Which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have enough to finish it?' (Luke 14:28). Religion will cost us the tears of repentance and the blood of persecution. But we see here a great encouragement that may
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New.
1. Introduction, showing the necessity of proving the similarity of both dispensations in opposition to Servetus and the Anabaptists. 2. This similarity in general. Both covenants truly one, though differently administered. Three things in which they entirely agree. 3. First general similarity, or agreement--viz. that the Old Testament, equally with the New, extended its promises beyond the present life, and held out a sure hope of immortality. Reason for this resemblance. Objection answered. 4.
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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