1. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion. Though Babylon adores Antichrist, Zion remains faithful to
her King; to him, and to him only, she brings her perpetual oblation of
worship. Those who have seen in Zion the blood of sprinkling, and know
themselves to belong to the church of the firstborn, can never think of her
without presenting humble praise to Zion’s God; his mercies are too numerous
and precious to be forgotten. The praises of the saints wait for a signal from
the divine Lord, and when he shows his face they burst forth at once. Like a company
of musicians gathered to welcome and honor a prince, who wait till he makes his
appearance, so do we reserve our best praises till the Lord reveals himself in
the assembly of his saints. Praise attends the Lord’s pleasure, and continues
to bless him, whether he shows tokens of present favor or no. The passage may
be rendered, “praise is silent for thee”; it is calm, peaceful, and ready to
adore thee in quietness. Or, it may mean, our praise is but silence compared
with thy deservings, O God. Or, in solemn silence we worship thee, because our
praise cannot be uttered; accept, therefore, our silence as praise. Or, we are
so engrossed in thy praise, that to all other things we are dumb; we have no
tongue for anything but thee. When the soul is most filled with adoring awe,
she is least content with her own expressions, and feels most deeply how
inadequate are all mortal songs to proclaim the divine goodness. A church,
bowed into silent adoration by a profound sense of divine mercy, would
certainly offer more real praise than the sweetest voices aided by pipes and
strings; yet, vocal music is not to be neglected, for this sacred hymn was
meant to be sung. It is well before singing to have the soul placed in a
waiting attitude, and to be humbly conscious that our best praise is but
silence compared with Jehovah’s glory.
And unto thee shall the vow be performed. Perhaps a special vow made during a season of drought and
political danger. Nations and churches must be honest and prompt in redeeming
their promises to the Lord. So, too, must individuals. We are not to forget our
vows, or to redeem them to be seen of men—unto God alone must they be
performed. Believers are all under covenant, which they made at conversion, and
have renewed upon being baptized, joining the church, and coming to the table,
and some of them are under special pledges which they entered into under
special circumstances: these are to be piously and punctually fulfilled.
2. O thou that hearest prayer. This is thy name, thy nature, thy glory. God not only has
heard, but is now hearing prayer, and always must hear prayer, since he is an
immutable being, and never changes in his attributes. What a delightful tide
for the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Every right and sincere prayer
is as surely heard as it is offered. Here the psalmist brings in the personal
pronoun thou; notice how often “thou,” “thee,” and “thy” occur in
this hymn; David evidently believed in a personal God, and did not adore a mere
idea or abstraction. Unto thee shall all flesh come. This will encourage
people of all nations to become suppliants to the one and only God, who proves
his Deity by answering those who seek his face. Flesh they are, and therefore
weak; frail and sinful, they need to pray; and thou art such a God as they
need, for thou art touched with compassion, to hear the cries of poor flesh and
blood. To come to God is the life of true religion; we come weeping in
conversion, hoping in supplication, rejoicing in praise, and delighting in service.
Each one who tries the true God is encouraged by his own success to persuade
others also, and so the kingdom of God comes to us, and we to it.
3. Iniquities prevail against me. Others accuse and slander me, and in addition my own sins
rise up and would beset me to my confusion, were it not for the remembrance of
the atonement which covers every one of my iniquities. Our sins would, but for
grace, prevail against us in the court of divine justice, in the court of
conscience, and in the battle of life. Unhappy is the man who despises these
enemies, and worse still is he who counts them his friends! He is best
instructed who knows their deadly power, and flees for refuge to him who
pardons iniquity. As for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.
Thou hast provided a covering propitiation. Note the word our; the faith of the
one penitent sinner who speaks for himself in the first clause here embraces
all the faithful in Zion; and he is so persuaded of the largeness of forgiving
love that he leads all the saints to sing of the blessing. What a comfort that
iniquities which prevail against us do not prevail against God. They would keep
us away from God, but he sweeps them away from before himself and us. As the
priest washed in the laver before he sacrificed, so David leads us to obtain
purification from sin before we enter upon the service of song. Then we shall
acceptably sing, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.”
4. After
cleansing comes benediction, and truly this is a very rich one. It comprehends
election, effectual calling, access, acceptance, and sonship. First, we are
chosen of God, according to the good pleasure of his will, and this alone is
blessedness. Then, since we cannot and will not come to God of ourselves, he
works graciously in us, and attracts us powerfully; he subdues our
unwillingness, and removes our inability by the mighty workings of his
transforming grace. Furthermore, we, by his divine drawings, are made nigh by
the blood of his Son, and brought near by his Spirit, into intimate fellowship;
so that we have access with boldness, and are no longer as those who are far
off by wicked works. To crown all, we approach as chosen and accepted ones, to
become dwellers in the divine household; this is heaped-up blessedness, vast
beyond conception. But dwelling in the house we are treated as sons, for the
servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. Behold what
manner of love and blessedness the Father has bestowed upon us; happy are those
who dwell at home with God. That he may dwell in thy courts. Acceptance
leads to abiding: God does not make a temporary choice. Permanence gives
preciousness. This is the portion of everyone whom God has chosen and caused to
approach him, though once their iniquities prevailed against them.
5. By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us,
O God of our salvation. God’s
memorial is that he hears prayer, and his glory is that he answers it in a
manner fitted to inspire awe in the hearts of his people. The saints, in the
commencement of the psalm, offered praise in reverential silence; and now, in
the like awe-stricken spirit, they receive answers to their prayers. The direct
allusion here is, no doubt, to the Lord’s overthrow of the enemies of his
people to strike terror into both friends and foes. We do not always know what
we are asking for when we pray; when the answer comes, it is possible that we
may be terrified by it. We seek sanctification, and trial will be the reply: we
ask for more faith, and persecution scatters us. Nevertheless, it is good to
ask on, for nothing which the Lord grants in his love can do us any harm.
Terrible things will turn out to be blessed things after all, when they come in
answer to prayer. The God who saves may answer our prayers in a way which puts
unbelief into a flutter; but when faith spies the Saviour, she is of good
courage. He who is terrible is also our refuge from terror. Who art the
confidence of all the ends of the earth. Even those who dwell in countries
where nature puts on her varied terrors, and those who see dread wonders on the
deep, yet fly from the terrors of God and place their confidence in the God of
terrors. His arm is strong to smite, but also strong to save. And of them
that are afar off upon the sea. All people are equally dependent upon God:
the seafarer is usually most conscious of this, but in reality is not more so
than the farmer, nor the farmer than anyone else. There is no room for
self-confidence on land or sea, since God is the only true confidence. Blessed
be God, those who exercise faith in him anywhere will find that he is swift and
strong to answer their prayers.
6. Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains. He, as it were, fixed them in their sockets, and preserved
them from falling by earthquake or storm. Philosophers of the forget-God school
are too much engrossed with their laws of upheaval to think of the Upheaver.
Their theories of volcanic action and glacier action are frequently used as
bolts and bars to shut the Lord out of his own world. Our poet is of another
mind, and sees God’s hand setting Alps and Andes on their bases, and therefore
he sings in his praise. Being girded with power. The Lord is so himself,
and he therefore casts a girdle of strength around the hills. The poetry is
such as would naturally suggest itself to anyone familiar with mountain
scenery; power everywhere meets you, and God is there, the author and source of
all. If we wish for true establishment, we must go to the strong for strength.
7. Which stilleth the noise of the seas. Calms are of the God of peace. His great seventh day is not
yet over, and he is always “the Lord and giver of peace.” The noise of
their waves. Each separate brawler amid the riot of the storm is quieted by
the divine voice. And the tumult of the people. Nations are as difficult
to rule as the sea itself; they are as fitful, treacherous, restless, and
furious. Canute had not a more perilous seat by the rising billows than many a
king and emperor has had when the multitude have been set on mischief, and have
grown weary of their lords. God alone is King of nations. Human society owes
its preservation to the continued power of God: evil passions would secure its
instant dissolution; envy, ambition, and cruelty would create anarchy tomorrow,
if God did not prevent. The child of God in seasons of trouble should fly at
once to him who stills the seas: nothing is too hard for him.
8. They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid
at thy tokens. Signs of God’s presence are not
few, nor confined to any one region. When terrible phenomena in nature are
seen, even the most barbarous people tremble before God. The rumor of the
judgments of providence, such as the overthrow of Sodom, impresses all people
with a fear and trembling at such a just and holy God. We bless God that we are
not afraid but rejoice at his tokens; with solemn awe we are glad when we
behold his mighty acts. We fear, but not with slavish fear. Thou makest the
outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. East and west are made happy
by God’s favors to the dwellers therein. Our rising hours are bright with hope,
and our evening moments mellow with thanksgiving. We do not believe that the
dew weeps the death of the day; we only see jewels bequeathed by the departing
day for its successor to gather up from the earth. Faith, when she sees God,
rounds the day with joy. She cannot fast, because the bridegroom is with her.
9. Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it. God’s visits leave a blessing behind; this is more than can
be said of every visitor. When the Lord goes on visitations of mercy, he has an
abundance of necessary things for all his needy creatures. He is represented
here as going round the earth, as a gardener surveys his garden, and as giving
water to every plant that requires it, and that not in small quantifies, but
until the earth is drenched and soaked with a rich supply of refreshment. O
Lord, in this manner visit thy church, and my poor, parched, and withering
piety. Thou greatly enrichest it. How truly rich are those who are
enriched with grace; this is great riches. With the river of God, which is
full of water. God’s provision for the supply of rain is inexhaustible. The
wealth of men lies mainly in the harvest of their fields, without which even
gold would be of no value whatever. Thou preparest them corn. Corn is
specially set apart to be the food of man. As surely as manna was prepared of
God for the tribes, so certainly is corn made and sent by God for our daily
use. When thou hast so provided for it. When all is prepared to produce
corn, the Lord puts the finishing stroke, and the grain is forthcoming; not
even will the wheat be perfected without the continuous and perfecting
operation of the Most High.
10. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou
settlest the furrows thereof.
Ridge and furrow are drenched. The ridges are beaten down and settled, and the
furrows made to stand like gutters flooded to the full. Thou makest it soft
with showers. The drought turned the sods into iron, but the plenteous
showers dissolve and loosen the soil. Thou blessest the springing thereof.
Vegetation enlivened by moisture leaps into vigor, the seed germinates and
sends forth its green shoot, and the smell is as that of a field which the Lord
has blessed. All this may furnish us with a figure of the operations of the
Holy Spirit in beating down high thoughts, filling our lowly desires, softening
the soul, and causing every holy thing to increase and spread.
11. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness. The harvest is the plainest display of the divine bounty,
and the crown of the year. Or, we may understand the expression to mean that
God’s love encircles the year as with a crown; each month has its gems, each
day its pearl. Unceasing kindness girdles all time with a belt of love. The
providence of God makes a complete circuit, and surrounds the year. And thy
paths drop fatness. The footsteps of God, when he visits the land with
rain, create fertility. For spiritual harvests we must look to him, for he
alone can give “times of refreshing” and feasts of Pentecost.
12. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness. Ten thousand oases smile while the Lord of mercy passes by.
The most lonely and solitary souls God will visit in love. And the little
hills rejoice on every side. On all sides the eminences are girt with
gladness. Soon they languish under the effects of drought, but after a season
of rain they laugh again with verdure.
13. The pastures are clothed with flocks. The clothing of man first clothes the fields. Pastures appear
to be quite covered with numerous flocks when the grass is abundant. The
valleys also are covered over with corn. The arable as well as the pasture
land is rendered fruitful. God’s clouds, like ravens, bring us both bread and
flesh. Grazing flocks and waving crops are equally the gifts of the Preserver
of mankind, and for both praise should be rendered. They shout for joy.
The bounty of God makes the earth vocal with his praise, and in opened ears it
lifts up a joyous shout. The cattle low out the divine praises, and the
rustling ears of corn sing a soft sweet melody unto the Lord. They also
sing. Nature has no discords. Her airs are melodious, her chorus is full of
harmony. The world is a hymn to the Eternal.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
