1. Rejoice in the Lord. Joy is the soul of praise. To delight ourselves in God is
most truly to extol him, even if we let no notes of song proceed from our lips.
That God is, and that he is such a God, and our God, ours for ever and ever,
should wake within us an unceasing and overflowing joy. To rejoice in temporal
comforts is dangerous, to rejoice in self is foolish, to rejoice in sin is
fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly. He who would have a double heaven
must begin below to rejoice like those above. O ye righteous. This is
your especial duty; your obligations are greater, and your spiritual nature
more adapted to the work; be first then in the glad service. Even the righteous
are not always glad, and need to be stirred up to enjoy their privileges. For
praise is comely for the upright. God has an eye to things which are
becoming. When saints wear their choral robes, they look fair in the Lord’s
sight.
2. Praise the Lord with harp. We need all the help we can get to stir us up to praise.
This is the lesson to be gathered from the use of musical instruments under the
old dispensation. Israel was at school, and used childish things to help her to
learn; but in these days, when Jesus gives us spiritual manhood, we can make
melody without strings and pipes. We who do not believe these things to be
expedient in worship, lest they should mar its simplicity, do not affirm them
to be unlawful, and if any George Herbert or Martin Luther can worship God
better by the aid of well-tuned instruments, who shall gainsay their right? Sing
unto him. This is the sweetest and best of music. No instrument like the
human voice. As a help to singing this instrument is alone to be tolerated, for
keys and strings do not praise the Lord. With the psaltery and an instrument
of ten strings. The Lord must have a full octave, for all notes are his,
and all music belongs to him. Where several pieces of music are mentioned, we
are taught to praise God with all the powers which we possess.
3. Sing unto him a new song. All songs of praise should be unto him. Singing for
singing’s sake is worth nothing; we must carry our tribute to the King, and not
cast it to the winds. Let us not present old worn-out praise, but put life and
soul and heart into every song, since we have new mercies every day, and see
new beauties in the work and word of our Lord. Play skillfully. It is
wretched to hear God praised in a slovenly manner. He deserves the best we
have. With a loud noise. Heartiness should be conspicuous in divine
worship. Men shout at the sight of their kings; shall we offer no loud hosannas
to the Son of David?
4. For the word of the Lord
is right. His ordinances, both natural,
moral, and spiritual, are right, and especially his incarnate Word, who is the
Lord our righteousness. Whatever God has ordained must be good, and just, and
excellent. And all his works are done in truth. His work is the outflow
of his word, and it is true to it. He neither does nor says anything ill; in
deed and speech he agrees with himself and the purest truth.
5. He loveth righteousness and judgment. The theory and the practice of right he intensely loves. He
does not only approve the true and the just, but his inmost soul delights
therein. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Come hither, astronomers, geologists, naturalists,
botanists, chemists, miners, yea, all of you who study the works of God, for
all your truthful stories confirm this declaration. From the midge in the
sunbeam to leviathan in the ocean all creatures own the bounty of the Creator.
6. By the word of the Lord
were the heavens made. The
angelic heavens and the firmament or terrestrial heavens were made to start
into existence by a word; what if we say by the Word, “For without him
was not anything made that is made.” It is interesting to note the mention of
the Spirit in the next clause, and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth; the word breath is the same as is elsewhere rendered
“Spirit.” Thus the three persons of the Godhead unite in creating all things.
How easy for the Lord to make the most ponderous orbs, and the most glorious
angels! A word, a breath could do it. It is as easy for God to create the
universe as for a man to breathe, nay, far easier, for man breathes not
independently, but borrows the breath in his nostrils from the infinite wisdom,
for his word may mean his appointment and determination. A wise and merciful
Word has arranged, and a living spirit sustains all the creation of Jehovah.
7. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap. The waters were once scattered like corn strewn upon a
threshing floor: they are now collected in one spot as an heap. Who else could
have gathered them into one channel but their great Lord, at whose bidding the
waters fled away? The miracle of the Red Sea is repeated in nature day by day,
for the sea which now invades the shore under the impulse of sun and moon would
soon devour the land if bounds were not maintained by the divine decree. He
layeth up the depth in storehouses. The depths of the main are God’s great
cellars and storerooms for the tempestuous element. Vast reservoirs of water
are secreted in the depths of the earth, from which issue our springs and wells
of water. What a merciful provision for a pressing need! May not the text also
refer to the clouds, and the magazines of hail, and snow and rain, those
treasuries of merciful wealth for the fields of earth? These aqueous masses are
not piled away as in lumber rooms, but in storehouses for future beneficial
use.
8. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Not only
Jews, but Gentiles. The psalmist was not blinded by national prejudice; he did
not desire to restrict the worship of Jehovah to the seed of Abraham. He looks
for homage even to far-off nations. Let all the inhabitants of the world
stand in awe of him. Let them forsake their idols, and reverently regard
the only living God. What is here placed as a wish may also be read as a
prophecy: the adoration of God will yet be universal.
9. For he spake, and it was done. Creation was the fruit of a word. Jehovah said, “Light
be,” and light was. The Lord’s acts are sublime in their ease and
instantaneousness. “What a word is this?” This was the wondering inquiry of
old, and it may ours to this day. He commanded, and it stood fast. Out
of nothing creation stood forth, and was confirmed in existence. The same power
which first uplifted now makes the universe to abide; although we may not
observe it, there is as great a display of sublime power in confirming as in
creating. Happy is the man who has learned to lean his all upon the sure word
of him who built the skies!
10. The Lord
bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought. While his own will is done, he takes care to anticipate the
willfullness of his enemies. Before they come to action he vanquishes them in
the council-chamber; and when, well armed with craft, they march to the
assault, he makes their promising plots to end in nothing. Not only the folly
of the heathen but their wisdom also will yield to the power of the cross of Jesus:
what a comfort is this to those who have to labor where sophistry, and
philosophy, falsely so called, are set in opposition to the truth as it is in
Jesus. He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. Their
persecutions, slanders, falsehoods, are like puff-balls flung against a granite
wall—they produce no result at all; for the Lord overrules the evil, and brings
good out of it.
11. The counsel of the Lord
standeth forever. He changes not his purpose, his
decree is not frustrated, his designs are accomplished. God has a
predestination according to the counsel of his will, and none of the devices of
his foes can thwart his decree for a moment. The thoughts of his heart to
all generations. Men come and go, sons follow their sires to the grave, but
the undisturbed mind of God moves on in unbroken serenity, producing ordained
results with unerring certainty. His power to fulfill his purposes is by no
means diminished by the lapse of years.
12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.
Israel was happy in the worship of the only true God. It was the blessedness of
the chosen nation to have received a revelation from Jehovah. All who confide
in the Lord are blessed in the largest and deepest sense, and none can reverse
the blessing. And the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Election is at the bottom of it all. The divine choice rules the day; none take
Jehovah to be their God till he takes them to be his people. What an ennobling
choice this is! We are selected to no mean estate, and for no ignoble purpose:
we are made the peculiar domain and delight of the Lord our God. Being so
blessed, let us rejoice in our portion, and show the world by our lives that we
serve a glorious Master.
13. The Lord
looketh from heaven. The Lord is represented as dwelling
above and looking down below; seeing all things, but peculiarly observing and
caring for those who trust in him. It is one of our choicest privileges to be
always under our Father’s eye, to be never out of sight of our best Friend. He
beholdeth all the sons of men. All Adam’s sons are as well watched as was
Adam himself, their lone progenitor in the garden.
14. Here the
sentiment is repeated: it is worth repeating, and it needs repeating, for we
are most prone to forget it. As great men sit at their windows and watch the
crowd below, so does the Lord; he gazeth intently upon his responsible
creatures, and forgets nothing of what he sees.
15. He fashioneth their hearts alike. By which is meant that all hearts are equally fashioned by the
Lord, kings’ hearts as well as the hearts of beggars. The text does not mean
that all hearts are created originally alike by God; such a statement would
scarcely be true, since there is the utmost variety in people’s constitutions
and dispositions. All equally owe the possession of life to the Creator, and
have therefore no reason to boast. He considereth all their works. Not
in vain does God see our acts: he ponders and judges them. He reads the secret
design in the outward behavior, and resolves the apparent good into its real
elements. This consideration foretokens a judgment when the results of the
divine thoughts will be meted out in measures of happiness or woe. Consider thy
ways, O man, for God considers them!
16. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host. Mortal power is a fiction, and those who trust in it are
dupes. The all-seeing God preserves the poorest of his people when they are
alone and friendless, but ten thousand armed men cannot insure safety to him
whom God leaves to destruction. A mighty man is not delivered by much
strength. So far from guarding others, the valiant veteran is not able to
deliver himself. When his time comes to die, neither the force of his arms nor
the speed of his legs can save him. The weakest believer dwells safely under
the shadow of Jehovah’s throne, while the most mighty sinner is in peril every
hour.
17. A horse is a vain thing for safety. Military strength among the orientals lay much in horses
and scythed chariots, but the psalmist calls them a lie, a deceitful
confidence. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Thus the
strongest defenses are less than nothing when most needed. God only is to be
trusted and adored.
18. Behold.
For this is a greater wonder than hosts and horses, a surer confidence than
chariots or shields. The eye of the Lord
is upon them that fear him. That eye of especial care is their glory and
defense. None can take them unawares, for the celestial watcher foresees the
designs of their enemies, and provides against them. They who fear God need not
fear anything else; let them fix their eye of faith on him, and his eye of love
will always rest upon them. Upon them that hope in his mercy. This one
would think to be a small evidence of grace, and yet it is a valid one. Humble
hope will have its share as well as courageous faith. These gentle words, like
soft bread, are meant for babes in grace, who need infants’ food.
19. To deliver their soul from death. The Lord’s hand goes with his eye; he sovereignly preserves
those whom he graciously observes. Rescues and restorations hedge about the
lives of the saints; death cannot touch them till the King signs his warrant
and gives him leave, and even then his touch is not so much mortal as immortal;
he does not so much kill us as kill our mortality. And to keep them alive in
famine. God has meal and oil for his Elijahs somewhere. The Preserver of
men will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish. His eye is upon you,
and his hand will not long delay.
20. Our soul waiteth for the Lord. Here the
godly avow their reliance upon him whom the psalm extols. To wait is a great
lesson. To be quiet in expectation, patient in hope, single in confidence, is
one of the bright attainments of a Christian. He is our help and our shield.
Our help in labor, our shield in danger. The Lord answers all things to his
people. He is their all in all. Note the three ours in the text. These
holdfast words are precious. Personal possession makes the Christian; all else
is mere talk.
21. For our hearts shall rejoice in him. The duty commended and commanded in the first verse is here
presented to the Lord. Because we have trusted in his holy name. The
root of faith in due time bears the flower of rejoicing. Doubts breed sorrow,
confidence creates joy.
22. Here is a
large and comprehensive prayer to close with. It is an appeal for mercy,
which even joyful believers need; and it is sought for in a proportion which
the Lord has sanctioned. “According to your faith be it unto you” is the
Master’s word, and he will not fall short of the scale which he has himself
selected. Yet, Master, do more than this when hope is faint, and bless us far
above what we ask or even think.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
