1. Praise ye the Lord,
or Hallelujah, praise to Jah,
Jehovah. Praise is an essential offering at all the solemn feasts of the people
of God. Prayer is the myrrh, and praise is the frankincense, and both of these
must be presented unto the Lord. How can we pray for mercy for the future if we
do not bless God for his love in the past? The Lord hath wrought all good
things for us; let us therefore adore him. All other praise is to be excluded;
the entire devotion of the soul must be poured out unto Jehovah only. Praise,
o ye servants of the Lord. You
above all, for you are bound to do so by your calling and profession. If God’s
own servants do not praise him, who will? You are a people near to him, and
should be heartiest in your loving gratitude. While they were slaves of
Pharaoh, the Israelites uttered groans and sighs by reason of their hard
bondage; but now that they had become servants of the Lord, they were to
express themselves in songs of joy. His service is perfect freedom, and those
who fully enter into it discover in that service a thousand reasons for
adoration. They are sure to praise God best who serve him best; indeed, service
is praise. Praise the name of the Lord.
Extol his revealed character, magnify every sacred attribute, exult in all his
doings, and reverence the very name by which he is called. The name of Jehovah
is thrice used in this verse, and may by us who understand the doctrine of the
Trinity in Unity be regarded as a thinly-veiled allusion to that holy mystery.
Let Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all be praised as the one, only, living, and
true God.
2. Blessed be the name of the Lord. While
praising him aloud, the people were also to bless him in the silence of their
hearts, wishing glory to his name, success to his cause, and triumph to his
truth. By mentioning the name, the psalmist would teach us to bless each
of the attributes of the Most High, which are as it were the letters of his
name; not quarreling with his justice or his severity, nor servilely dreading
his power, but accepting him as we find him revealed in the inspired Word and
by his own acts, and loving him and praising him as such. From this time
forth. If we have never praised him before, let us begin now. As the
Passover stood at the beginning of the year it was well to commence the new
year with blessing him who wrought deliverance for his people. Every solemn
feast had its own happy associations, and might be regarded as a fresh
starting-place for adoration. Are there not reasons why the reader should make
the present day the opening of a year of praise? When the Lord says, “From
this time will I bless you,” we ought to reply, “Blessed be the name of the
Lord from this time forth.”
And for evermore.
Eternally. The psalmist could not have intended that the divine praise should
cease at a future date however remote. “Forevermore” in reference to the
praise of God must signify endless duration: are we wrong in believing that it
bears the same meaning when it refers to gloomier themes? Can our hearts ever
cease to praise the name of the Lord? Can we imagine a period in which the
praises of Israel shall no more surround the throne of the Divine Majesty?
Impossible. Forever, and more than “for ever” if more can be, let him be
magnified.
3. From
early morn till eve the ceaseless hymn should rise unto Jehovah’s throne, and
from east to west over the whole round earth pure worship should be rendered
unto his glory. So ought it to be; and blessed be God, we are not without faith
that so it shall be. We trust that ere the world’s dread evening comes, the
glorious name of the Lord will be proclaimed among all nations, and all people
will call him blessed.
4. The Lord is
high above all nations. Though
the Gentiles knew him not, yet was Jehovah their ruler: their false gods were
no gods, and their kings were puppets in his hands. The Lord is high above all
the learning, judgment, and imagination of heathen sages, and far beyond the
pomp and might of the monarchs of the nations. Like the great arch of the
firmament, the presence of the Lord spans all the lands where dwell the varied
tribes, for his providence is universal: this may well excite our confidence
and praise. And his glory above the heavens—higher than the loftiest
part of creation; the clouds are the dust of his feet, and sun, moon, and stars
twinkle far below his throne. His glory cannot be set forth by the whole
visible universe, nor even by the solemn pomp of angelic armies; it is above
all conception and imagination, for he is God—infinite. Let us above all adore
him who is above all.
5. Who is like unto the Lord
our God? The challenge will never be
answered. None can be compared with him for an instant; Israel’s God is without
parallel; our own God in covenant stands alone, and none can be likened unto
him. Even those whom he has made like himself in some respects are not like him
in Godhead, for his divine attributes are many of them incommunicable and
inimitable. None of the metaphors and figures by which the Lord is set forth in
the Scriptures can give us a complete idea of him: his full resemblance is
borne by nothing in earth or in heaven. Only in Jesus is the Godhead seen, but
he unhesitatingly declared, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Who
dwelleth on high. In the height of his abode none can be like him. His
throne, his whole character, his person, his being, everything about him, is
lofty, and infinitely majestic, so that none can be likened unto him. His
serene mind abides in the most elevated condition; he is never dishonored, nor
does he stoop from the pure holiness and absolute perfection of his character.
6. He dwells
so far on high that even to observe heavenly things he must humble himself. He
must stoop to view the skies, and bow to see what angels do. What, then, must
be his condescension, seeing that he observes the humblest of his servants upon
earth, and makes them sing for joy like Mary when she said, “Thou hast
regarded the low estate of thine handmaiden.” How wonderful are those words of
Isaiah, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose
name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a
contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive
the heart of the contrite ones.”
7. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust. This is an instance of his gracious stoop of love: he
frequently lifts the lowest of mankind out of their poverty and degradation,
and places them in positions of power and honor. His good Spirit is continually
visiting the down-trodden, giving beauty for ashes to those who are cast down,
and elevating the hearts of his mourners till they shout for joy. These
upliftings of grace are here ascribed directly to the divine hand, and truly
those who have experienced them will not doubt the fact that it is the Lord
alone who brings his people up from the dust of sorrow and death. When no hand
but his can help he interposes, and the work is done. It is worthwhile to be
cast down to be so divinely raised from the dust. And lifteth the needy out
of the dunghill, whereon they lay like worthless refuse, cast off and cast
out, left as they thought to rot into destruction, and to be everlastingly
forgotten. How great a stoop from the height of his throne to a dunghill! How
wonderful that power which occupies itself in lifting up beggars, all befouled
with the filthiness in which they lay! For he lifts them out of the
dunghill, not disdaining to search them out from amidst the base things of the
earth that he may by their means bring to nought the great ones, and pour
contempt upon all human glorying. Almighty were the arms which lifted us up,
which are still lifting us, and will lift us into the perfection of heaven
itself.
8. That he may set him with princes. The Lord does nothing by halves: when he raises people from
the dust he is not content till he places them among the peers of his kingdom.
We are made kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign forever and ever.
Instead of poverty, he gives us the wealth of princes; and instead of dishonor,
he gives us a more exalted rank than that of the great ones of the earth. Even
with the princes of his people. All his people are princes, and so the text
teaches us that God places needy souls whom he favors among the princes of
princes. He often enables those who have been most despairing to rise to the
greatest heights of spirituality and gracious attainment, for those who once
were last will be first. The Lord poureth contempt upon princes; but as for
those who are in the dust and on the dunghill, he looks upon them with
compassion, acts towards them in grace, and in their case displays the riches
of his glory by Christ Jesus. Those who have experienced such amazing favor
should sing continual hallelujahs to the God of their salvation.
9. The
strong desire of the easterns to have children caused the birth of offspring to
be hailed as the choicest of favors, while barrenness was regarded as a curse;
hence this verse is placed last as if to crown the whole, and to serve as the
climax to the story of God’s mercy. The glorious Lord displays his
condescending grace in regarding those who are despised on account of their
barrenness, whether it be of body or of soul. Sarah, Rachel, the wife of
Manoah, Hannah, Elizabeth, and others were all instances of the miraculous
power of God in literally fulfilling the statement of the psalmist. We marvel
greatly at the Lord who dwells on high, that he has deigned to visit such poor
worthless things. Like Hannah we have said, “There is none holy as the Lord;
for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.”
Praise ye the Lord. The psalm is a circle, ending where it began, praising the
Lord. May our life-psalm bless the Lord, whose mercies never cease. Let us
praise him in youth, and all along our years of strength; and when we bow in
the ripeness of abundant age, let us still praise the Lord, who does not cast
off his old servants.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
