All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace. Sermons I. THE MOAN. It is not that of an impenitent man; at the same time, it bears no very clear indication of being a penitential wail over sin. It is the plaint of one who is overwhelmed with sorrow - with sorrow that has come upon him through his enemies. So intense is his anguish that it haunts him by night and by day; it exhausts his frame, consumes his spirit. Note the various expressions: "withered away," "bones vexed," "sore vexed," "weary with groaning," "make my bed to swim," "water my couch with my tears," eyes dim" "eyesight wasting away," etc. What caused such overwhelming sorrow, we cannot tell. But this is of no consequence. The point to be noted is this - there are not unfrequently times in the experience of God's people when some care, or trouble, or perplexity is felt, and that so severe that they are haunted by it night and day; they cannot shake it off; and they cannot, even when at prayer, forget it. What are they to do? Let them not try to forget it; let them turn their prayers in that direction, so that the perplexity and the prayer are concurrent and not contrary forces. This is what the psalmist did. This is what we should do. "Give others the sunshine; tell Jesus the rest." II. THE PRAYER. It is twofold. 1. Deprecatory. (Ver. 1, "Rebuke me not," etc.; "nor chasten me in thine hot displeasure.") Here is one of the traces of the Old Testament saints' thinking about God: they regarded their afflictions as indications of God's anger. We are now taught rather to regard them as a part of the gracious training which our Father sees that we need. The sharpest trials often force out the most fervid prayers; yet, at the same time, we are permitted to cry to our Father to ask him to deal gently with us, and to "throw away his rod," since "love will do the work." 2. Supplicatory. "Mercy," "healing," "deliverance," "salvation," - for these he pleads. Probably his yearning is mainly for temporal relief and deliverance from his foes. But we, under similar circumstances, as we know more than the psalmist did, should rise higher than he could. We should regard temporal deliverances as entirely subordinate to the higher spiritual improvement, which ought to be earnestly prayed for as the result of every trial. We should always be more anxious to have our trials sanctified than to have them removed. III. THE PLEA. This also is twofold. 1. The psalmist feels that his burden is so great, it will soon bring him to the grave, if not removed. Hence he says, "In death there is no remembrance of thee; and in Sheol who shall give thee thanks?" Here is another proof that, in dealing with this specimen of the devotion of an Old Testament saint, we have to do with one to whom, as yet, life and immortality had not been brought to light; to whom death was but the passage to a dim and gloomy state of being; although, as we shall see in dealing with Psalm 16., 17., there was the hope of an awakening. Still, "Sheol," the all-demanding realm, was not as yet lit up with gospel light. The Greek word "Hades" and the Hebrew word "Sheol" both refer to the state after death, though under different symbolic expressions. Historically, there are three conceptions of Hades, or Sheol. (1) The pagan: all gloom and no hope. (2) The Hebrew: gloom, with hope of a blest awaking in the morning. (3) The Christian: no gloom at all, so far as the godly are concerned. Absent from the body; at home with the Lord. Hence we cannot now adopt ver. 5 of this prayer, knowing that our Lord Jesus Christ died for us, that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him; that hence our death is the gateway to rest, and that the time of our departure may be peacefully left in wiser hands than ours. 2. The psalmist grounds a second plea on the loving-kindness of God. This is better, surer ground (ver. 4). Very often is this plea used. It cannot be used too often. It takes hold of God's strength. IV. THE ISSUE. 1. The psalmist receives an answer to his prayer. (See Psalm 34:6.) Thousands can say the same. "The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping." 2. Consequently, there is: (1) New confidence Godward (ver. 9). "The Lord will receive my prayer." As he has done in the past, so he will continue to do. New courage manward (ver. 10, Revised Version). Yea, by prayer the spirit is calmed. Trouble is turned to rest, fear to bravery, and despair to hope. Note: How much care and worry good people would save themselves if they did but take all their troubles to God at once, without waiting till they obtained such hold upon them l (2) It is infinitely better to tell God everything, than to go about moaning and groaning to our fellows! God knows all. He never misunderstands us. He knows exactly how to help us. He will help us, at the right moment, in the best way, and to the full extent of our need; yea, he will do "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." - C. 1. I can find no difficulty in granting that the Old Testament spirit was a harder and a sterner spirit than that of the New. The emblem of the New Testament is the cross, which signifies passive endurance. The emblem of the Old Testament is the sword. As the Spirit of God freely uses individual thought, style and expression, overruling them so as to bring out His own higher meaning, I should not be surprised to find occasional phrases of a fiercer and an angrier complexion than any which occur in the New Testament, and which I should interpret with a different signification from that which their utterer designed. We need not consider these imprecatory Psalms as the utterance of David's longing for personal revenge It is very singular that each of the Psalms in which the strongest imprecatory passages are found contains also gentle undertones, breathings of beneficent love. 2. When under the old covenant, earthly prosperity was the portion of the wicked, and earthly adversity of the pious, the whole moral government of God seemed to be veiled in clouds and darkness. Now, when all seems troubled, we can look up and behold by faith the glory that shall be revealed. "God is patient because He is eternal." Man is impatient when he is not assured of his immortality. 3. We must interpret every book by the mind of the author. If so, we must apply this to the Bible and to the Psalms. The real author is the Holy Spirit. "The prophet seems to speak as if in prayer — when he sees that which will certainly come — showing that the known counsel of God, which He has firmly and immutably fixed, should not displease us." Conceive a created spirit enlarged so as to embrace the will of God in relation to all the children of men — a spirit looking from the margin of an eternal world upon the petty histories of the past, purified from personal hatred, partiality, and prejudice, measuring all things by the counsels of God, such a spirit could say without a taint of personal revenge, "let all mine enemies be ashamed." Turn to two passages of the New Testament (Luke 9:49, and sequel). We think of St. John as a man of angelic, or at least of feminine, gentleness. But in his nature, as in the blue sky of his native Galilee, there were sudden storms and fierce lightning flashes. As yet the brothers knew not Jesus thoroughly. They would build up by force the kingdom whose walls are cemented, not by "blood and iron," but by love. Such is the spirit of intolerance, which would in one age offer to God the hideous thing called by a fearful profanation an auto-da-fe; which in another would rivet the chains of penal laws upon a population; in another, with the cant of toleration upon its lips, stamp out an unpopular minority by rubrics and definitions. Is there any intolerance in the gospel? For answer see 2 John 10. To deny that Jesus was the God-Man was to question His legitimacy and impugn His truth. Pagan toleration has been invidiously compared with Christian intolerance. But pagan toleration is a conclusion drawn from the false premises that all religions are about equally true; while Christian persecution is a conclusion falsely drawn from the true principle of the exclusiveness of true religion. Commend the spirit of tolerance to all whom our Church tolerates. Amidst much that is depressing there is one happy sign of our times. There are tokens that Churches sundered hitherto are yearning to be one. A day is coming, even on the earth, when the inward unity of Christ's redeemed shall manifest itself outwardly; when the prayer of our High priest shall he fulfilled, "that they all may be one." (W. Alexander, D. D.). O Lord my God, in Thee do I put my trust. I. THE APPEAL (vers. 1, 2, 6). A petition for freedom and deliverance from his persecutors, in which he desires God to be attentive to him, because of the relation between them, and because he trusted Him: and he also desires God to be benevolent, because he was in danger of death, having many enemies.II. HIS REASONS. He makes protestation of his innocency, and appeals to God's justice. He wants God to do justice both to him and to the wicked. The close of the Psalm is a doxology, — thanks that a true, just, and merciful God would judge for the righteous, save those who are true of heart, establish the just, and take revenge upon the wicked; for this, says David, "I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness." (William Nicholson, D. D.) (Thomas Wilcocks.) It is reported of tigers that they enter into a rage on the scent of fragrant spices: so do ungodly men at the blessed savour of godliness. I have read of some barbarous nations, who when the sun shines hot upon them, they shoot up their arrows against it: so do wicked men at the light and heat of godliness. There is a natural antipathy between the spirits of godly men and the wicked (Genesis 3:15).(Jeremiah Burroughs.) Homilist. David's conduct indicates three things.I. EARNEST APPLICATION. In the midst of his trial he looks to heaven. In his supplication, see — 1. A strong confidence in God as ever accessible; equal to all emergencies; large enough to receive all sufferers; immutable amidst the revolution of ages. 2. A terrible sense of danger. "Lest he tear my soul like a lion." 3. A deep consciousness of innocence. "If there be iniquity in my hands." 4. An earnest invocation for help. "Arise, O Lord, lift up Thyself." His ideas of God throughout this Psalm are very anthropomorphic. In this invocation he has respect for three things — (1) (2) (3) II. DEVOUT MEDITATIONS (vers. 10-16). 1. On the character of God; as a friend of the just; an enemy of the wicked, whose opposition is constant, terrible, and avoidable. 2. On the condition of sinners. He regards his position as (1) (2) (3) III. REVERENT ADORATION. Note — 1. The character in which he worships the Almighty. As righteous and as supreme. 2. The spirit with which he worships the Almighty. "I will sing praise." Song is the language of happiness. True worship is happiness. All happy spirits worship, and worship is song. (Homilist.) II. PROTESTATION (3-5). (1 Samuel 24; 1 Samuel 26). So far had he been from the offence they charged him with. III. AN APPEAL (6-9). By a bold metaphor he attributes the success of his foes to some temporary abdication on God's part of His throne, and he entreats Him to reassume His throne and give His decisions, as Eastern judges are wont to do, in the midst of the people standing around. IV. PREDICTION (10-16). Evil recoils like a boomerang on those who set it in motion. Ralph the Rover perished at the Incheape Rock. The huntsman at eventide falls into the pit prepared in the morning for his prey. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.) 1. We must lay to heart the glorious truth of the everlasting love of God towards us, and realise that He is our reconciled Father in Christ. 2. We must ever seek to do His will. We cannot "rest in the calm sun glow of His face" if we are not earnestly seeking to do the things that please Him. 3. We must not trust in ourselves. The pride of the human heart is great, hence we are unwilling to confess our inability to keep God's commandments. 4. We must not trust in others. Asa's end a warning against trusting in an arm of flesh (2 Chronicles 16:12, 13). II. WE OUGHT TO TRUST IN GOD. 1. In times of loneliness and depression (John 16:32; Psalm 56:3). 2. Times of danger, difficulty, and temptation. God is our refuge (Psalm 57:1); our guide (Psalm 48:14); God is faithful (1 Corinthians 10:13). III. THE RESULT OF TRUST IN GOD. 1. Blessedness (Psalms 84:12). 2. Perfect peace (Isaiah 26:8). (J. P. Wright.) Weep Not. Pleading for Mercy. Ps 6 "O Save Me for Thy Mercies' Sake. " --Ps. vi. 4 Letters of St. Bernard The Tears of the Penitent. If Then to Sin, that Others May not Commit a Worse Sin... Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow. Epistle xxxix. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Epistle xv. To George, Presbyter. Epistle Xlvi. To Isacius, Bishop of Jerusalem . Rules to be Observed in Singing of Psalms. Motives to Holy Mourning Epistle Lxiv. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli . Psalms |
    |