1. Praise ye the Lord,
or, “Hallelujah!” All ye his
saints unite in adoring Jehovah, who worketh so gloriously. Do it now, do it
always: do it heartily, do it unanimously, do it eternally. Even if others
refuse, take care that you have always a song for your God. Put away all doubt,
question, grumbling, and rebellion, and give yourselves up to the praising of
Jehovah, both with your lips and in your lives. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart. The sweet
singer commences the song, for his heart is all on flame: whether others will
follow him or not, he will at once begin and long continue. What we preach we
should practice. The best way to enforce an exhortation is to set an example;
but we must let that example be of the best kind, or we may lead others to do
the work in a limping manner. David brought nothing less than his whole heart
to the duty; all his love went out towards God, and all his zeal, his skill,
and his ardor went with it. Jehovah the one and undivided God cannot be
acceptably praised with a divided heart, neither should we attempt so to
dishonor him; for our whole heart is little enough for his glory, and there can
be no reason why it should not all be lifted up in his praise. All his works
are praiseworthy, and therefore all our nature should adore him. In the
assembly of the upright, and in the congregation—whether with few or with
many he would pour forth his whole heart and soul in praise, and whether the
company was made up of select spirits or of the general mass of the people he
would continue in the same exercise. For the choicest society there can be no
better engagement than praise, and for the general assembly nothing can be more
fitting. For the church and for the congregation, for the family or the
community, for the private chamber of pious friendship, or the great hall of
popular meeting, the praise of the Lord is suitable; and at the very least the
true heart should sing hallelujah in any and every place.
2. The works of the Lord
are great. In design, in size, in number, in
excellence, all the works of the Lord are great. Even the little things of God
are great. In some point of view or other each one of the productions of his
power, or the deeds of his wisdom, will appear to be great to the wise in
heart. Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Those who love
their Maker delight in his handiworks; they perceive that there is more in them
than appears upon the surface, and therefore they bend their minds to study and
understand them. The devout naturalist ransacks nature, the earnest student of
history pries into hidden facts and dark stories, and the man of God digs unto
the mines of Scripture, and unearths each grain of its golden truth. God’s
works are worthy of our researches, they yield us instruction and pleasure
wonderfully blended, and they grow upon reflection, appearing to be far greater
after investigation than before. Men’s works are noble from a distance; God’s
works are great when sought out. Delitzsch reads the passage, “Worthy of being
sought after in all their purposes,” and this also is a grand truth, for the
end and design which God has in all that he makes or does is equally admirable
with the work.
3. His work is honorable and glorious. His one special work, the salvation of his people, is here
mentioned as distinguished from his many other works. It is deservedly
the theme of the highest praise, and compels those who understand it to ascribe
all honor and glory unto the Lord. Its conception, its sure foundations, its
gracious purpose, its wise arrangements, its gift of Jesus as Redeemer, its
application of redemption by the Holy Spirit in regeneration and
sanctification, and all else which make up the one glorious whole, all redound
to the infinite honor of him who contrived and carried out so astounding a
method of salvation. No other work can be compared with it: it honors both the
Saviour and the saved, and while it brings glory to God it also brings us to
glory. There is no salvation like that which God has wrought for his people. And
his righteousness endureth for ever. In the work of grace righteousness is
not forgotten, nor deprived of its glory; rather, it is honored in the eyes of
the intelligent universe. The bearing of guilt by our great Substitute proved
that not even to effect the purposes of grace would the Lord forget his
righteousness; no future strain upon his justice can ever be equal to that
which it has already sustained in the bruising of his dear Son; it must
henceforth assuredly endure forever. Moreover, the righteousness of God in the
whole plan can never now be suspected of failure, for all that it requires is
enduring the vengeance due, and in rendering perfect obedience to the law.
4. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. He meant them to remain in the recollection of his people,
and they do so: partly because they are in themselves memorable, and because
also he has taken care to record them by the pen of inspiration, and has
written them upon the hearts of his people by his Holy Spirit. By the
ordinances of the Mosaic law, the coming out of Egypt, the sojourn in the
wilderness, and other memorabilia of Israel’s history were constantly brought
before the minds of the people, and their children were by such means
instructed in the wonders which God had wrought in old time. Deeds such as God
has wrought are not to be admired for an hour and then forgotten; they are
meant to be perpetual signs and instructive tokens to all coming generations;
and especially are they designed to confirm the faith of his people in the
divine love, and to make them know that the Lord
is gracious and full of compassion. They need not fear to trust his grace
for the future, for they remember it in the past. Grace is as conspicuous as
righteousness in the great work of God; a fullness of tender love is seen in
all that he has done. He treats his people with great consideration for their
weakness, having the same pity for them as a father has towards his children.
5. He hath given meat unto them that fear him. Or “spoil,” as some read it, for the Lord’s people both
in coming out of Egypt and at other times have been enriched from their
enemies. Not only in the wilderness with manna, but everywhere else by his
providence he has supplied the necessities of his believing people. Somewhere
or other they have had food convenient for them, and that in times of great
scarcity. As for spiritual meat, that has been plentifully furnished them in
Christ Jesus; they have been fed with the finest of the wheat, and made to
feast on royal dainties. His word is as nourishing to the soul as bread to the
body, and there is such an abundance of it that no heir of heaven will ever be
famished. Truly the fear of the Lord is wisdom, since it secures to us all that
we need for soul and body. He will ever be mindful of his covenant. He
could not let his people lack meat, because he was in covenant with them, and
they can never want in the future, for he will continue to act upon the terms
of that covenant. No promise of the Lord will fall to the ground, nor will any
part of the great compact of eternal love be revoked or allowed to sink into
oblivion. The covenant of grace is the plan of the great work which the Lord
works out for his people, and it will never be departed from: the Lord has set
his hand and seal to it, his glory and honor are involved in it, his very name
hangs upon it, and he will not even in the least jot or tittle cease to be
mindful of it. Of this the feeding of his people is the pledge: he would not so
continually supply their needs if he meant after all to destroy them. Upon this
most blessed earnest let us settle our minds; let us rest in the faithfulness
of the Lord, and praise him with all our hearts every time that we eat bread or
feed upon his word.
6. He hath showed his people the power of his works. They have seen what he is able to do and what force he is
prepared to put forth on their behalf. This power Israel saw in physical works,
and we in spiritual wonders, for we behold the matchless energy of the Holy
Spirit and feel it in our own souls. We may well turn this verse into a prayer
and ask to see more and more the power of the Lord at work among us in these
latter days. O Lord, let us now see how mightily thou canst work in the saving
of sinners and in preserving and delivering thine own people. That he may
give them the heritage of the heathen. He put forth all his power to drive
out the Canaanites and bring in his people. Even thus may it please his
infinite wisdom to give to his church the heathen for her inheritance in the
name of Jesus. Nothing but great power can effect this, but it will surely be
accomplished in due season.
7. The works of his hands are verity and judgment. Truth and justice are conspicuous in all that Jehovah does.
Nothing like artifice or crooked policy can ever be seen in his proceedings; he
acts faithfully and righteously towards his people, and with justice and
impartiality to all mankind. This also should lead us to praise him, since it
is of the utmost advantage to us to live under a sovereign whose laws, decrees,
acts, and deeds are the essence of truth and justice. All his commandments
are sure. All that he has appointed or decreed will surely stand, and his
precepts which he has proclaimed will be found worthy of our obedience, for
surely they are founded in justice and meant for our lasting good. He is no
fickle despot, commanding one thing one day and another another, but his
commands remain absolutely unaltered, their necessity equally unquestionable,
their excellence permanently proven, and their reward eternally secure. Take
the word commandments to relate either to his decrees or his precepts,
and we have in each case an important sense; but it seems more in accordance
with the connection to take the first sense and consider the words to refer to
the ordinances or decrees of the great King.
8. They stand fast for ever and ever. That is to say, his purposes, commands, and courses of
action. The Lord is not swayed by transient motives, or moved by the
circumstances of the hour; immutable principles rule in the courts of Jehovah,
and he pursues his eternal purposes without the shadow of a turning. We take up
a purpose for a while and then exchange it for another, but he is of one mind,
and none can turn him. Much of this lasting character arises out of the fact
which is next mentioned, namely, that they are done in truth and
uprightness. Nothing stands but that which is upright. Falsehood soon
vanishes, for it is a mere show, but truth has salt in it which preserves it
from decay. God always acts according to the glorious principles of truth and
integrity, and hence there is no need of alteration or revocation; his works
will endure to the end of time.
9. He sent redemption unto his people. When they were in Egypt he sent not only a deliverer, but
an actual deliverance; not only a redeemer, but complete redemption. He has
done the like spiritually for all his people, having first by blood purchased
them out of the hand of the enemy, and then by power rescued them from the
bondage of their sins. Redemption we can sing of as an accomplished act: it has
been wrought for us, sent to us, and enjoyed by us, and we are in very deed the
Lord’s redeemed. He hath commanded his covenant for ever. His divine
decree has made the covenant of his grace a settled and eternal institution:
redemption by blood proves that the covenant cannot be altered, for it ratifies
and establishes it beyond all recall. This, too, is reason for the loudest
praise. Redemption is a fit theme for the heartiest music, and when it is seen
to be connected with gracious engagements from which the Lord’s truth cannot
swerve, it becomes a subject fitted to arouse the soul to an ecstasy of
gratitude. Holy and reverend is his name. The whole name or character of
God is worthy of profoundest awe, for it is perfect and complete, whole or
holy. It ought not to be spoken without solemn thought, and never heard without
profound homage. Even those who know him best rejoice with trembling before
him. How good men can endure to be called “reverend” we know not. Being
unable to discover any reason why our fellow-men should reverence us, we half
suspect that in other men there is not very much which can entitle them to be
called reverend.
10. The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. It is its
first principle, but it is also its head and chief attainment. The word beginning
in Scripture sometimes means the chief; and true religion is at once the first
element of wisdom, and its chief fruit. To know God so as to walk aright before
him is the greatest of all the applied sciences. Holy reverence of God leads us
to praise him, and this is the point which the psalm drives at, for it is a
wise act on the part of a creature towards his Creator. A good understanding
have all they that do his commandments. Obedience to God proves that our
judgment is sound. Does not reason itself claim obedience for the Lord of all?
Practical godliness is the test of wisdom. People may know and be very
orthodox, they may talk and be very eloquent, they may speculate and be very
profound; but the best proof of their intelligence must be found in their
actually doing the will of the Lord. The former part of the psalm taught us the
doctrine of God’s nature and character, by describing his works; the second
part supplies the practical lesson by drawing the inference that to worship and
obey him is the dictate of true wisdom. His praise endureth for ever.
The praises of God will never cease, because his works will always excite
adoration, and it will always be the wisdom of men to extol their glorious
Lord. Some regard this sentence as referring to those who fear the Lord—their
praise will endure forever; and indeed it is true that those who lead obedient
lives will obtain honor of the Lord, and commendations which will abide
forever. A word of approbation from the mouth of God will be an honor which
will outshine all the decorations which kings and emperors can bestow.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
