1–2. The poor
broken-hearted father complains of the multitude of his enemies; and if you
turn to 2 Samuel 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!
1. 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 my standard! How are they increased that trouble me. Troubles
always come in flocks. Sorrow has a numerous family. Many are they that rise
up against me. Their hosts are far superior to mine! Their numbers are too
great for me to count!
Let us here recall to our memory the innumerable hosts 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! Those 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.
2. David
complains before his loving God of the worst weapon of his enemies’ attacks,
and the bitterest drop of his distresses. 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 unkindest 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, thou bloody man; God hath
forsaken thee and left thee.” 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 there is no help for us in
God. And yet remember our most blessed Saviour had to endure this in the
deepest degree when he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He
knew full well what it was to walk in darkness and to see no light. This was
the wormwood mixed 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. Selah. The precise meaning 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 in a higher key—there
is nobler matter to come, therefore retune your harps.” Harp-strings soon get
out of order and need to be screwed up again to their proper tightness, and
certainly our heart-strings are evermore getting out of tune. 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 succeeds 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.
3–4. Here
David avows his confidence in God.
3. Shield.
The word in the original means more than a shield; it means a buckler round
about, a protection which surrounds a man entirely, a shield above, beneath,
around, without and within. What a shield God is 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. 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 mean 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 his Lord. May we learn, in this respect, to glory
in tribulation also! And the lifter up of mine head. Thou shalt 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.”
4. I cried unot 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 out-soars 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 hears 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.
Here is another Selah. Rest awhile, tried believer,
and change the strain to a softer air.
5. Laid me down.
David’s faith enabled him to lie down; anxiety would certainly have kept him on
tiptoe, watching for an enemy. And slept. Yes, he was able to sleep, in
the midst of trouble, surrounded by foes. “So he giveth 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.”
6. Buckling
on his harness for the day’s battle, our hero sings. Note that he does not
attempt to underestimate 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 foe in the face he is ready
for battle. There may be no way of escape; they may hem me in as the deer are
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,
they will 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.
7. His 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: thou hast
broken the teeth of the ungodly. Or else he alludes to the special
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 will 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!
8. 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: Salvation
belongeth unto the Lord. 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 that chooses his
people. He calls them by his grace; he brings them life by his
Spirit, and keeps them by his power. It is not of man, neither by man (Romans
9:16). May we all learn this truth in our own experience, for our proud flesh
and blood will never permit us to learn it in any other way. In the last
sentence the peculiarity and speciality of salvation are plainly stated: thy
blessing is upon thy people. Neither upon Egypt, nor upon Tyre, nor upon
Nineveh; thy blessing is upon thy chosen, thy blood-bought, thine
everlastingly-beloved people. Selah: lift up your hearts, and pause, and
meditate upon this doctrine. “Thy blessing is upon thy 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 yours by his own free gift of himself to you, if this greatest of
all blessings is upon you, rise and sing “Hallelujah!”
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
