1. Fret not thyself because of evildoers. To fret is to worry, to become vexed. Nature is very apt to
kindle a fire of jealousy when it sees lawbreakers riding on horses and
obedient subjects walking in the mire; it is a lesson learned only in the
school of grace, when one comes to view the most paradoxical providences with
the devout complacency of one who is sure that the Lord is righteous in all his
acts. Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. When one
is poor, despised, and in deep trial, our old Adam naturally becomes envious of
the rich and great; and when we are conscious that we have been more righteous
than they, the devil is sure to be at hand with blasphemous reasonings. Evil
men, instead of being envied, are to be viewed with horror and aversion; yet
their loaded tables, and gilded trappings, are too apt to fascinate our poor
half-opened eyes. Who envies the fat bullock the ribbons and garlands which
decorate him as he is led to the slaughter?
2. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass. Green grows the grass, but quick comes the scythe. The
destruction of the ungodly will be speedy, sudden, sure, overwhelming,
irretrievable. And wither as the green herb. Death kills the ungodly
like grass, and wrath withers him like hay; he dies, and his name rots. Is it
worthwhile to fret about the insect of an hour? Within believers there is a
living and incorruptible seed which lives and abides forever; why should they
envy mere flesh, which are but as grass?
3. Trust in the Lord. Faith cures fretting. Sight is cross-eyed, and views things
only as they seem, hence her envy; faith sees things as they really are, hence
her peace. And do good. True faith is actively obedient. Doing good is a
fine remedy for fretting. There is a joy in holy activity which drives away the
rust of discontent. So shalt thou dwell in the land. In the land
which flows with milk and honey; the Canaan of the covenant. Thou shalt not
wander in the wilderness of murmuring, but abide in the promised land of
content and rest (Hebrews 4:3). Where there is heaven in the heart there will
be heaven in the house. And verily thou shalt be fed, or “shepherded.”
The good shepherd will exercise his pastoral care over all believers. In truth
they will be fed, and fed on truth. The promise of God will be their perpetual
banquet. Some read this as an exhortation, “Feed on truth”; certainly this is
good cheer, and banishes forever the hungry heart-burnings of envy.
4. Delight thyself also in the Lord. Make
Jehovah the joy and rejoicing of your spirit. Bad men delight in carnal
objects; do not envy them if they are allowed to take their fill in such vain
idols. Fill yourself with your sublimer portion. The wicked delight in their
portion; take care to delight in yours, and so far from envying you will pity
them. There is no room for fretting if we remember that God is ours, but there
is every incentive to sacred enjoyment of the most elevated and ecstatic kind.
Every name, attribute, word, or deed of Jehovah should be delightful to us, and
in meditating thereon our soul should be as glad as is the epicure who feeds
delicately with a profound relish for his dainties. And he shall give thee
the desires of thine heart. Those who delight in God desire or ask for
nothing but what will please God; hence they may have what they will. Our
innermost desires are here meant, not our casual wishes; there are many things
which nature might desire which grace would never permit us to ask for; these
deep, prayerful, asking desires are those to which the promise is made.
5. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Leave with Jehovah not thy present fretfulness merely, but
all thy cares. Cast away anxiety, resign thy will, submit thy judgment. What a
medicine is this for expelling envy! How blessed those who live every day in
obedience to this precept! Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Our destiny will be joyfully accomplished if we confidently entrust all to our
Lord. The plowman sows and harrows, and then leaves the harvest to God. What
else can he do? To all of us it is truest wisdom, having obediently trusted in
God, to leave results in his hands, and expect a blessed issue.
6. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light. In the matter of personal reputation we may especially be
content to be quiet, and leave our vindication with the Judge of all the earth.
Our strength is to sit still. If we look to the Lord’s honor, he will see to
ours. It is wonderful how, when faith learns to endure calumny with composure,
the filth does not defile her. Even in the worst cases, where a good name is
for awhile darkened, Providence will send a clearing like the dawning light,
which will increase until the man once censured is universally admired. And
thy judgment as the noonday. No shade of reproach will remain. The darkness
of sorrow and ill-repute will both flee away.
7. Rest in the Lord. This requires much grace to carry it out. To await in holy
patience the time for clearing up the difficulties of Providence—this is what
every gracious heart should aim at. A silent tongue in many cases shows not
only a wise head, but a holy heart. And wait patiently for him. Time is
nothing to him; let it be nothing to you. God is worth waiting for. In a story
we wait for the end to clear up the plot; we ought not to prejudge the great
drama of life, but stay till the closing scene. Fret not thyself because of
him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices
to pass. There is no good, but much evil, in worrying your heart about the
present success of graceless plotters: be not enticed into premature
judgments—they dishonor God, they weary yourself. Let the wicked succeed as
they may, treat the matter with indifference and never allow a question to be
raised as to the righteousness and goodness of the Lord. What if the wicked
devices succeed and your own plans are defeated! There is more of the love of
God in your defeats than in the successes of the wicked.
8. Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Especially anger against the arrangements of Providence,
and jealousies of the temporary pleasures of those who are so soon to be
banished from all comfort. Since anger will try to keep us company, we must
resolvedly forsake it. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Many who
have indulged a grumbling disposition have at last come to sin, in order to
gain their fancied rights. Beware of carping at others; study to be yourself
found in the right way; and as you would dread outward sin, tremble at inward
repining.
9. For evil-doers shall be cut off. Their death will be a penal judgment, not a gentle removal
to a better state. But those that wait upon the Lord—those who in patient faith expect their portion in
another life—they shall inherit the earth. Even in this life they have
the most real enjoyment, and in the ages to come theirs shall be the glory and
the triumph.
10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be. When they reach greatness, the judgments of God frequently
sweep them away; their riches melt, their power decays, their happiness turns
to wretchedness; they themselves cease to be numbered with the living. The
shortness of life makes us see that the glitter of the wicked great is not true
gold. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
His house will be empty, his office vacant, his estate without an owner; he
will be utterly blotted out, perhaps cut off by his own debauchery, or brought
to a deathbed of penury by his own extravagance.
11. But the meek shall inherit the earth. Above all others they will enjoy life. Even if they suffer,
their consolations will overtop their tribulations. By inheriting the land is
meant obtaining covenant privileges and the salvation of God. Such as are truly
humble shall take their lot with the rest of the heirs of grace, to whom all
good things come by a sacred birthright. And shall delight themselves in the
abundance of peace. Peace they love and peace they shall have. If they find
not abundance of gold, abundance of peace will serve their turn far better.
Others find joy in strife, and thence arises their misery in due time, but
peace leads on to peace, and the more a man loves it the more will it come to
him. In the latter days, when universal peace makes the earth glad, the full
prophetic meaning of words like these will be made plain.
12–15. Here is
the portrait of a proud oppressor armed to the teeth.
12. The wicked plotteth against the just. Why can he not let the good man alone? Because there is
enmity between the serpent’s seed and the seed of the woman. Why not attack him
fairly? Because it is according to the serpent’s nature to be very subtle. And
gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The wicked show by their gestures what
they would do if they could; if they cannot gnaw they will gnash. This is what
they did with the Prince of Peace, yet he took no vengeance upon them.
13. The Lord
shall laugh at him. The godly need not trouble
themselves, but leave well-deserved vengeance to be dealt with by the Lord. For
he seeth that his day is coming. The evil man does not see how close his
destruction is; he boasts of crushing others when the foot of justice is
already lifted to trample him.
14. The wicked have drawn out the sword. They hold their weapon out of its sheath, and watch for a
time to use it. And have bent their bow. One weapon is not enough; they
carry another ready for action. They will lose nothing for lack of force or
readiness. To cast down the poor and needy. These cowards attack not
their equals, but seek out those excellent ones who, from the gentleness of
their spirits and the poverty of their estates, are not able to defend
themselves. Note how our meek and lowly Lord was beset by cruel foes, armed
with all manner of weapons to slay him. And to slay such as be of upright
conversation. Nothing short of the overthrow and death of the just will
content the wicked. The sincere and straightforward are hated by those who
delight in unrighteousness. See, then, the enemies of the godly doubly armed,
and learn how true were our Lord’s words, “the world hateth you” (John
15:19).
15. Their sword shall enter into their own heart. Saul, who sought to slay David, fell on his own sword; the
bow was not able to deliver him on Gilboa. And their bows shall be broken.
Their inventions of evil will be rendered useless. Malice outwits itself. Why
need we fret at the prosperity of the wicked when they are so industriously
ruining themselves while they fancy they are injuring the saints?
The next nine verses mainly describe the character and
blessedness of the godly, and the light is brought out with a few black touches
descriptive of the wicked and their doom.
16. The
little of one good man is contrasted with the riches of many wicked. In the
original there is allusion to the noise of a multitude, as if to hint at the
turmoil of riotous wealth, and to contrast it with the quiet of the humbler
portion of the godly. Happiness consists not in heaps of gold in store; content
finds much in little, while for a wicked heart the whole world is too little.
17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken. Their power to do mischief will be effectually taken away. But
the Lord upholdeth the righteous.
Their cause and course will be safe, for they are in good keeping. The sword of
two edges smites the wicked and defends the just.
18. The Lord
knoweth the days of the upright.
His foreknowledge made him laugh at the proud, but in the case of the upright
he sees a brighter future, and treats them as heirs of salvation. Ever is this
our comfort, that all the events are known to God, and that nothing in our
future can take him unawares. And their inheritance shall be forever.
None can deprive them of it, and none shall destroy it. What they have on earth
is safe enough, but what they shall have in heaven is theirs without end.
19. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time. Calamities will come, but deliverances will come also. As
the righteous never reckoned on immunity from trouble, they will not be
disappointed when they are called to take their share of it, but will cast
themselves anew upon their God, and prove again his faithfulness and love. And
in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. Their bread will be given
them. Our Lord stayed himself on this when he hungered in the wilderness, and
by faith he repelled the tempter. If God’s providence is our inheritance, we
need not worry about the price of wheat. Faith, if it do not preserve the crop,
can do what is better, namely, preserve our joy in the Lord.
20. But the wicked shall perish. Judgment has been given against them; they are reserved for
execution. If their wits were a little more awake, their mirth would turn to
misery. The enemies of the Lord
shall be as the fat of lambs. As the sacrificial fat was all consumed on
the altar, so will the ungodly utterly vanish from the place of their honor and
pride. They shall consume. As dry wood, they will soon be gone
altogether, for into smoke shall they consume away. Their fuming ends in
smoke. Consumers of the good they tried to be, and consumed they shall be.
21. The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again. Partly because he will not, but mainly because he cannot.
Want follows upon waste, and debt remains un-discharged. Often are the wicked
thus impoverished in this life. Their wanton extravagance brings them down to
the usurer’s door and to the bankrupt’s suit. But the righteous showeth
mercy, and giveth. Mercy was given to him, and therefore he gives in mercy.
He is generous and prosperous, not a borrower but a giver. So far as the good
man can do it, he lends an ear to the requests of need, and instead of being
impoverished by what he imparts, he grows richer, and is able to do more. He
does not give to encourage idleness, but in real mercy, which supposes real
need. How much better it generally is to give than to lend! Generally, lending
comes to giving in the end, and it is as well to anticipate the fact, and by a
little liberality forestall the inevitable. If these two sentences describe the
wicked and the righteous, the writer of these lines has reason to know that in
and about the city of London the wicked are very numerous.
22. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth. God’s benediction is true wealth after all. True happiness,
such as the covenant secures to all the chosen of heaven, lies wrapped up in
the divine favor. And they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. His
frown is death; nay, more, it is hell.
23. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
All his course of life is graciously ordained, and in lovingkindness all is
fixed. No fickle chance rules us; every step is the subject of divine decree. He
delighteth in his way as parents are pleased with the tottering footsteps
of their babes. All that concerns a saint is interesting to his Heavenly
Father. God loves to view the holy strivings of a soul pressing forward to the
skies. In the trials and the joys of the faithful, Jesus has fellowship with
them, and delights to be their sympathizing companion.
24. Though he fall.
Disasters and reverses may lay him low; he may, like Job, be stripped of
everything; like Joseph, be put in prison; like Jonah, be cast into the deep. He
shall not be utterly cast down. He will be brought on his knees, but not on
his face; or, if laid prone for a moment he shall be up again ere long. No
saint will fall finally or fatally. Sorrow may bring us to the earth, and death
may bring us to the grave, but lower we cannot sink, and out of the lowest of
all we shall arise to the highest of all. For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. He does not leave his
saints to mere delegated agency; he affords personal assistance. Where grace
does not keep us from going down, it will save from keeping down. Job had
double wealth at last, Joseph reigned over Egypt, Jonah was safely landed. It
is not that the saints are strong, or wise, or meritorious, that therefore they
rise after every fall, but because God is their helper, and therefore none can
prevail against them.
25. David
lived under a dispensation more outward and of this world than the present rule
of personal faith. Never are the righteous forsaken. Seldom indeed do their
children beg bread; and although it does occasionally occur, through
dissipation, idleness, or some such causes, yet doubtless it is so rare a thing
that there are many alive who never saw it. Poor ministers’ sons often become
rich. I am not old, but I have seen the families of the poor godly become rich,
and have seen the Lord reward the faithfulness of the father in the success of
the son, so that I have often thought that the best way to endow one’s seed
with wealth is to become poor for Christ’s sake.
26. He is ever merciful, and lendeth. The righteous are constantly under generous impulses; they
do not prosper through parsimony, but through bounty. Like the bounteous Giver
of all good, of whom they are the beloved sons, they delight in doing good. How
the stingy and covetous can hope for salvation is a marvel to those who read
such verses as this. And his seed is blessed. God pays back with
interest in the next generation. Where the children of the righteous are not
godly, there must be some reason for it in parental neglect, or some
other guilty cause.
27–29. Here is
the quintessence of the entire psalm.
27. Depart from evil, and do good. We must not envy the doers of evil, but depart altogether
from their spirit and example. As Lot left Sodom without casting a look behind,
so must we leave sin. We must turn away from it without hesitation, and set
ourselves practically to work in the opposite direction. And dwell for
evermore. Obtain an abiding and quiet inheritance. Short-lived are the
gains and pleasures of evil, but eternal are the rewards of grace.
28. For the Lord
loveth judgment. The awarding of honor to whom honor
is due is God’s delight, especially when the upright man has been traduced by
his fellow-men. And forsaketh not his saints. This would not be right,
and, therefore, will never be done. God is as faithful to the objects of his
love as he is just towards all mankind. They are preserved forever. By
covenant engagements their security is fixed; come what may, the saints are
preserved in Christ Jesus, and because he lives, they shall live also. But
the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. Honor and wealth ill-gotten seldom
reach the third generation; the curse grows ripe before many years have passed,
and falls upon the evil house. Among the legacies of the wicked the surest
entail a judgment on their family.
29. The righteous shall inherit the land. As heirs with Jesus Christ, the Canaan above, which is the
antitype of the land, shall be theirs with all covenant blessing. And
dwell therein forever. Paradise is theirs forever by inheritance, and they
will live forever to enjoy it. Who would not be a saint on such terms? Who
would fret concerning the fleeting treasures of the godless?
30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom. Where the whole psalm is dedicated to a description of the
different fates of the just and the wicked, it was meet to give a test by which
they could be known. A man’s tongue is no ill index of his character. The mouth
betrays the heart. Good men, as a rule, speak what is edifying, consistent with
the divine illumination which they have received. Righteousness is wisdom in
action; hence all good men are practically wise men, and well may the speech be
wise. His tongue talketh of judgment. He advocates justice, gives an
honest verdict on things and men, and foretells that God’s judgment will come
upon the wicked, as in the former days. His talk is neither foolish nor ribald,
neither vapid nor profane. Our conversation is of far more consequence than
some imagine.
31. To love
holiness, to have the motives and desires sanctified, to be in one’s inmost
nature obedient to the Lord—this is the surest method of making the whole run
of our life efficient for its great needs, and even for securing the details of
it, keeping our steps from any serious mistake. To keep the even tenor
of our ways, in such times as these, is given only to those whose hearts are
sound towards God. Sincerity plods on its plain pathway and reaches the goal.
32. If it
were not for the laws of the land, we should soon see a massacre of the
righteous. Jesus was watched by his enemies, thirsting for his blood; his
disciples must not look for favor where their Master found hatred and death.
33. The Lord
will not leave him in his hand.
God often appears to deliver his servants, and when he does not do so in this
life as to their bodies, he gives their souls such joy and peace that they
triumphantly rise beyond their tormentors’ power. Nor condemns him when he
is judged. Time will reverse the verdict of haste, or else eternity will
clear away the condemnation of time. Just men will be justified. Temporary
injustices are tolerated, in the order of Providence, for purposes most wise;
but the bitter will not always be called sweet, nor light forever be traduced
as darkness. If we have done faithfully, we may appeal from the petty sessions
of society to the solemn assize of the great day.
34. Wait on the Lord. Wait in obedience as a servant, in hope as an heir, in
expectation as a believer. This little word wait is easy to say, but
hard to carry out; yet faith must do it. And keep his way. Continue in
the narrow path; let no haste for riches or ease cause unholy action. Never
flag, or dream of turning aside (Matthew 10:22). And he shall exalt thee to
inherit the land. You will have all of earthly good which is really good, and
of heavenly good there will be no stint. Exaltation will be the lot of the
excellent. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. What a rebuke
for fretfulness! What an incentive to gratitude!
35. I have seen the wicked in great power. The man was terrible to others, ruling with much authority.
And spreading himself like a green bay tree. Adding house to house and
field to field, rising higher and higher in the state. He seemed to be ever
verdant like a laurel; he grew as a tree in its own native soil, from which it
had never been transplanted. No particular tree is here meant; its roots are in
the clay, its honors are fading leaves, and though its shadow dwarfs the plants
which pine beneath it, yet it is itself a dying thing. In the noble tree which
claims to be king of the forest, behold the grandeur of the ungodly today; wait
awhile and wonder at the change, as the timber is carried away and the very
root torn from the ground.
36. Yet he passed away.
Tree and man both gone, the son of man as surely as the child of the forest.
What clean sweeps death makes! And, lo, he was not. To the surprise of
all, the great man was gone, his estates sold, his business bankrupt, his house
alienated, his name forgotten, and all in a few months! Yea, I sought him,
but he could not be found. If we inquire for the ungodly, they have left no
trace; like birds of ill omen, none desire to remember them. Some of the
humblest of the ungodly are immortalized, their names are imperishably fragrant
in the church, while of the ablest of unbelievers and blasphemers hardly their
names are remembered beyond a few years. Only virtue is immortal.
37. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright. After having watched with surprise the downfall of the
wicked, give your attention to the sincerely godly, and observe the contrast.
Good men are men of mark, and worth our study; marvels of grace, and worth
beholding. For the end of that man is peace. The man of peace has an end
of peace. His way may be rough, but it leads home.
38. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together. A common ruin awaits those who joined in common rebellion. The
end of the wicked shall be cut off. Their time will be shortened, their
happiness ended, their hopes forever blasted, their execution hastened on.
Their present is shortened by their sins. They have no future worth having,
while the righteous count their future as their true heritage.
39. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.
By salvation is meant deliverance of every kind; not only the salvation
which finally lands us in glory, but all the minor rescues along the way; these
are all to be ascribed to the Lord alone. Let him have glory from those to whom
he grants salvation. He is their strength in the time of trouble. While
trouble overthrows the wicked, it only drives the righteous to their strong
Helper, who rejoices to uphold them.
40. And the Lord
shall help them. In all future time Jehovah will
stand up for his chosen. Our great Ally will bring up his forces in the heat of
the battle. He shall deliver them from the wicked. As he rescued Daniel
from the lions, so will he preserve his beloved from their enemies; they need
not therefore fret, nor be discouraged. And save them, because they trust in
him. Faith will ensure the safety of the elect. It is the mark of the sheep
by which they will be separate from the goats. Not their merit, but their
believing, will distinguish them. Who would not try the walk of faith? Whoever
truly believes in God will be no longer fretful against the apparent
irregularities of this present life, but will rest assured that what is
mysterious is nevertheless just, and what seems hard is, beyond a doubt,
ordered in mercy. So the psalm ends with a note which is the death-knell of the
unhallowed disquietude with which the psalm commenced. Happy are those who can
thus sing themselves out of ill frames into gracious conditions.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
