1. Let God arise.
In some such words Moses spoke when the cloud moved onward, and the ark was
carried forward. The ark would have been a poor leader if the Lord had not been
present with the symbol. Before we move, we should always desire to see the
Lord lead the way. The words suppose the Lord to have been passive for a while,
suffering his enemies to rage, but restraining his power. Israel beseeches him
to arise, as elsewhere to “awake,” “gird on his sword,” and other
similar expressions. We also may thus cry to the Lord. Let his enemies be
scattered. He has but to arise, and they flee. Sin, death, and hell know
the terror of his arm; their ranks are broken at his approach. Our enemies are his
enemies, and in this is our confidence of victory. Let them also that hate him
flea before him. Hatred of God is impotent. Long before the army of Israel
can come into the fray, the haters of God will flee before him who is the
champion of his chosen. How fitting a prayer is this for the commencement of a
revival! How it suggests the true mode of conducting one: the Lord leads the
way, his people follow, the enemies flee.
2. As smoke is driven away. Easily the wind chases the smoke; no trace is left; so,
Lord, do thou to the foes of thy people. They fume in pride, they darken the sky
with their malice, they mount higher and higher in arrogance, they defile
wherever they prevail; Lord, let thy Spirit make them to vanish forever.
Philosophic skepticism is as flimsy and as foul as smoke; may the Lord deliver
his Church from the reek of it. As wax melteth before the fire, so let the
wicked perish at the presence of God. Wax is hard when by itself, but put
it to the fire, how soft it is. The wicked are haughty till they come into
contact with the Lord, and then they faint for fear; their hearts melt like wax
when they feel the power of his anger. Wax, also, is utterly consumed by the
flame; so shall all the boastful power of the opposers of the Gospel be as a
thing of nought. Israel saw, in the ark, God on the mercy-seat—power in connection
with propitiation—and they rejoiced in the omnipotence of such a manifestation;
this is even more clearly the confidence of the New Testament church, for we
see Jesus, the appointed atonement, clothed with glory and majesty, and before
his advance all opposition melts like snow in the sun.
3. But let the righteous be glad. The presence of God on the throne of grace is an
overflowing source of delight to the godly; let them not fail to drink of the
streams which are meant to make them glad. Let them rejoice before God.
The courtiers of the happy God should wear the garments of gladness, for in his
presence is fullness of joy. That presence which is the dread and death of the
wicked is the desire and delight of the saints. Yea, let them exceedingly
rejoice. Let them dance with all their might, as David did, for very joy.
Our hearts must leap within us with exultation, if we are indeed among those
made righteous in his righteousness, and sanctified by his Spirit.
4. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name. To time and tune, with order and care, celebrate the
character and deeds of God. Sing not for ostentation but devotion, not to be
heard of people but of the Lord himself. Extol him that rideth upon the
heavens by his name jah.
Reflect upon his self-existence and absolute dominion; rise to the highest
pitch of joyful reverence in adoring him. The Hebrew seems to be: “Cast up a
highway for him who marches through the wilderness,” in allusion to the
wanderings of the tribes in the desert. His eternal power and Godhead were
there displayed in his feeding, ruling, and protecting the vast hosts which he
had brought out of Egypt. The name JAH is an abbreviation of the name Jehovah;
it is not a diminutive of that name, but an intensified word, containing the
essence of the longer, august title. It only occurs here in our version of
Scripture, except in connection with other words such as Hallelujah. And
rejoice before him. In the presence of him who marched so gloriously at the
head of the elect nation, it is most fitting that all his people should display
a holy delight. We ought to avoid dullness in our worship. Our sense of divine
greatness must not minister terror but gladness to our souls. It should be our
wish and prayer that in this wilderness world a highway may be prepared for the
God of grace (Isaiah 40:3). Where the God of the mercy-seat comes, blessings
innumerable are given.
5. In the
wilderness the people were like an orphan nation, but God was more than a
father to them. As the generation which came out of Egypt gradually died away,
there were many widows and fatherless ones in the camp, but they suffered no
want or wrong, for the righteous laws and the just administrators whom God had
appointed looked well to the interests of the needy. The tabernacle was the
Palace of Justice; the ark was the seat of the great King. This was great cause
for joy to Israel, that they were ruled by One who would not let the poor and
needy be oppressed. To this day and forever God is, and will be, the especial
guardian of the defenseless. How zealously ought his church to cherish those
who are here marked out as Jehovah’s especial charge. Does he not here in
effect say, “Feed my lambs”?
6. God setteth the solitary in families. The people had been scattered over Egypt; family ties had
been disregarded, and affections crushed; but when the people escaped from
Pharaoh they came together again. He bringeth out those which are bound with
chains. The most oppressed in Egypt were chained and imprisoned, but the
divine Emancipator brought them all forth into perfect liberty. He who did this
of old continues his gracious work. The solitary heart, convinced of sin and
made to pine alone, is admitted into the family of the Firstborn; the fettered
spirit is set free, and its prison broken down, when sin is forgiven; and for
all this, God is to be greatly exalted. But the rebellious dwell in a dry
land. If any find the rule of Jehovah to be irksome, it is because their
rebellious spirits kick against his power. Israel did not find the desert dry,
for the smitten rock gave forth its streams; but even in Canaan itself people
were consumed with famine because they cast off their allegiance to their
covenant God. Even where God is revealed on the mercy-seat, some people persist
in rebellion, and these need not wonder if they find no peace, no comfort, no
joy, even where all these abound. Justice is the rule of the Lord’s kingdom,
and hence there is no provision for the unjust to indulge their evil lustings.
7. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people. Thou before, and thy people following. The Lord went before
and, therefore, whether the Red Sea or burning sand lay in the way mattered
not; the pillar of cloud and fire always led them by a right way. When thou
didst march through the wilderness. He was the Commander-in-Chief of
Israel, from whom they received all orders, and the march was therefore his
march. We may speak, if we will, of the “wanderings of the children of
Israel,” but we must not think them purposeless strayings; they were in
reality a well-arranged and well-considered march. Selah. This seems an
odd place for a musical pause or direction, but it is better to break a
sentence than spoil praise. The sense is about to be superlatively grand, and
it is never untimely to remind a congregation that the worship of God should be
thoughtfully and heartily presented.
8. The earth shook.
Beneath the sublime tread the solid ground trembled. The heavens also
dropped at the presence of God, as if they bowed before their God, the clouds
descended. Even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God. Moses
tells us (Exodus 19) that “the whole mountain quaked greatly.” That hill
bowed before the manifested God. The God of israel. The one only living
and true God, whom Israel worshiped and who had chosen that nation to be his
own above all the nations of the earth.
9. Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain. The march of God was not signalized solely by displays of
terror, for goodness and bounty were also made conspicuous. Bread from heaven
and winged fowls fell all around the host; good gifts were poured upon them,
rivers leaped forth from rocks. The earth shook with fear, and in reply, the
Lord, as from a cornucopia, shook out blessings upon it; so the original may be
rendered. Whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.
As at the end of each stage, when they halted, weary with the march, they found
such showers of good things awaiting them that they were speedily refreshed.
Their foot did not swell all those forty years. When they were exhausted, God
was not. They were his chosen heritage, and therefore, although for their good
he allowed them to be weary, yet he watchfully tended them. To this day, the
elect of God in this wilderness state are apt to become fired and faint, but
their ever-loving Jehovah comes in with timely succors, cheers the faint,
strengthens the weak, and refreshes the hungry. This timely supply of grace
stays them again upon the eternal foundation.
10. Thy congregation hath dwelt therein. In the wilderness thy chosen church has found a home; or,
rather, girdled by the shower of free gifts which fell all around the camp, thy
flock has rested. The congregation of the faithful find the Lord to be their
“dwelling-place in all generations.” Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy
goodness for the poor. All were poor in themselves, yet there were no
beggars, for celestial fare was to be had for the gathering. We, too, still
dwell within the circling protection of the Most High, and find goodness ready
for us; although poor and needy by nature, we are enriched by grace; divine
preparations in the decree, the covenant, the atonement, providence, and the
Spirit’s work have made ready for us a fullness of the blessing of the Lord.
Though in the wilderness, all things are ours, in possessing the favor and
presence of our God.
11. In the
next verses we do not sing of marching, but of battle and victory. The Lord gave the word. The enemy was
near, and the silver trumpet from the tabernacle door was God’s mouth to warn
the camp. Great was the company of those that published it. The women
ran from tent to tent and roused their lords to battle. Ready as always to
chant the victory, they were equally swift to publish that fact that the
battle-note had been sounded. When the Gospel is published today, may both men
and women eagerly spread the glad tidings.
12. Kings of armies did flee apace. No sooner did the ark advance than the enemy turned his
back; even the princely leaders took to flight. And she that tarried at home
divided the spoil. The feeblest in Israel had a portion of the prey. When
the Lord gives success to his Gospel, the very least of his saints are made
glad and feel themselves partakers in the blessing.
13. Though ye have lain among the pots. Does he mean that the women at home, who had been meanly
clad as they performed their household work, would be so gorgeously arrayed in
the spoil that they would be like doves of silver wing and golden plumage? Or,
would he say that Israel, which had been begrimed in the brick-kilns of Egypt,
would come forth lustrous and happy in triumph and liberty? Or, did the song
signify that the ark would be brought into a fairer dwelling-place? If we knew
all that was known when this ancient hymn was composed, the allusion would no
doubt strike us as being beautifully appropriate, but as we do not, we will let
it rest among the unriddled things. Of making many conjectures there is no end;
but the sense seems to be that from the lowest condition the Lord would lift up
his people into joy, liberty, wealth, and beauty. Their enemies may have called
them squatters among the pots—in allusion to their Egyptian slavery; they may
have jested at them as scullions of Pharaoh’s kitchen; but the Lord would
avenge them and give them beauty for blackness, glory for grime. Yet shall
ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow
gold. God’s saints have been in worse places than among the pots, but now
they soar aloft into the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
14. When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as
snow in Salmon. He scattered the haughty ones who
came against his people, and he did it as easily as snow is driven from the
bleak sides of Salmon. The word white appears to be imported into the
text, and by leaving it out the sense is easy. Whatever may be the precise
meaning, it was intended to portray the glory and completeness of the divine
triumph over the greatest foes.
15. Here the
priests on the summit of the chosen hill begin to extol the Lord for his choice
of Zion as his dwelling-place. The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan,
or more accurately, “a hill of God is Bashan”; that is to say, Bashan is an
eminent mountain, far exceeding Zion in height. Where we talk of the Devil’s
Dyke, the Devil’s Punch Bowl, etc., the more commendable idiom of the Hebrews
speaks of the hill of God, the trees of the Lord, etc. A high hill as the
hill of Bashan, or rather, “a mount of peaks is Bashan.” It does not
appear that Zion is compared with Bashan, but contrasted with it. Zion was
certainly not a high hill comparatively; and it is here conceded that Bashan is
a greater mount, but not so glorious, for the Lord in choosing Zion had exalted
it above the loftier hills. He selects Zion and passes by the proud, uplifted
peaks of Bashan; thus does he make the base things of this world, and things
that are despised, to become monuments of his grace and sovereignty.
16. Why leap ye, ye high hills? Why are you moved to envy? The Lord’s choice is fixed. Leap
from your seats; you cannot reach the sublimity which Jehovah’s presence has
bestowed on the little hill of Moriah. This is the hill which God desireth
to dwell in. Elohim makes Zion his abode. Yea, the Lord will dwell in it forever.
Spiritually the Lord abides eternally in Zion, his chosen church, and it was Zion’s
glory to be typical thereof. What were Carmel and Sirion, with all their
height, compared to Zion, the joy of the whole earth!
17. The chariots of God are twenty thousand. Other countries, which in the former verse were
symbolically referred to as “high hills,” gloried in their chariots of war;
but Zion, though far more lowly, was stronger than they, for the omnipotence of
God was to her as two myriads of chariots. The original is grandly expressive:
“the war-chariots of Elohim are myriads, a thousand thousands.” The marginal
reading of our Bibles, “even many thousands,” is far more correct than the
rendering even thousands of angels. It is not easy to see where our
venerable translators found these “angels,” for they are not in the text;
however, as it is a blessing to entertain them unawares, we are glad to meet
with them in English, even though the Hebrew knows them not; and the more so
because it cannot be doubted that they constitute a right noble squadron of the
myriad hosts of God. We read in Deuteronomy 33:2 of the Lord’s coming “with
ten thousands of saints,” or holy ones, and in Hebrews 12:22 we find upon
Mount Zion “an innumerable company of angels.” The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place, or,
“it is a Sinai in holiness.” Where God is, there is holiness. The displays of
his glory may not be so terrible under the new covenant as under the old; but
they are even more marvelous if seen by the spiritual eye. Sinai has no
excellency of glory beyond Zion; but the rather it pales its lights of law
before the noontide splendors of Zion’s grace and truth. How joyful was it to a
pious Hebrew to know that God was as truly with his people in the tabernacle
and temple as amid the terrors of the Mount of Horeb; but it is even more
heart-cheering to us to be assured that the Lord abides in his church, and has
chosen it to be his rest forever. May we be zealous for the maintenance of
holiness in the spiritual house which God condescends to occupy; let a sense of
his presence consume, as with flames of fire, every false way. The presence of
God is the strength of the church; all power is ours when God is ours. Twenty
thousand chariots will bear the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Providence is
on our side, and it “has servants everywhere.”
18. Thou hast ascended on high. The ark was conducted to the summit of Zion; God himself
took possession of the high places of the earth. The antitype of the ark, the
Lord Jesus, has ascended into the heavens with signal marks of triumph. To do
battle with our enemies, the Lord descended and left his throne; but now that
the fight is finished, he returns to his glory; high above all things is he now
exalted. Thou hast led captivity captive. As great conquerors of old led
whole nations into captivity, so Jesus leads forth from the territory of his
foe a vast company as the trophies of his mighty grace. From the gracious
character of his reign it comes to pass that to be led into captivity by him is
for our captivity to cease. The Lord Jesus puts death to death. Thou hast
received gifts for men, or, received gifts among men: they have paid thee
tribute, and will in every age continue to do so, delighting in thy reign.
Paul’s rendering is the Gospel one: Jesus has “received gifts for men,” of
which he makes plentiful distribution, enriching his church with the priceless
fruits of his ascension, such as apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers,
and all their varied endowments. In him we are endowed with priceless
treasures, and we give him ourselves, our all. Yea, for the rebellious also.
These gifts the rebels are permitted to share in; subdued by love, they are
indulged with the benefits peculiar to the chosen. The original runs, “even
the rebellious,” or, “even from the rebellious,” of which the sense is that
rebels become captives to the Lord’s power, and tributaries to his throne. That
the Lord God might dwell among
them. In his conquered territory, Jah Elohim would dwell as Lord of all,
blessing with his condescending nearness those who were once his foes. When
Canaan was conquered, and the fort of Zion carried by storm, then was there
found a resting-place for the ark of God; and so when the weapons of victorious
grace have overcome the hearts of men, the Lord God makes them to be his living
temples. Moreover, the ascension of Jesus is the reason for the descent of the
Lord God, the Holy Spirit.
19. Blessed be the Lord. At the mention of the presence of God among men the singers
utter an earnest acclamation suggested by reverential love, and return
blessings to him who so plentifully blesses his people. Who daily loedeth us
with benefits. Our version contains a great and precious truth, though
probably not the doctrine intended here. God’s benefits are not few nor light,
they are loads; neither are they intermittent, but they come daily; nor
are they confined to one or two favorites, for all Israel can say, he
loedeth us with benefits. Delitzsch reads it, “He
daily bears our burden,” and Alexander, “Whoever lays a load upon us, the
Mighty God is our salvation.” If he himself burdens us with sorrow, he gives
strength sufficient to sustain it; and if others endeavor to oppress us, there
is no cause for fear, for the Lord will come to the rescue of his people. Even
the God of our salvation. No matter how strong the enemy, we shall be
delivered out of his hands; for God himself, as King, undertakes to save his
people from all harm. Selah. Well may the strings need retuning; they
have borne an unparalleled strain in this mighty song.
20. He that is our God is the God of salvation. The Almighty who has entered into covenant with us is the
source of our safety, and the author of our deliverances. As surely as he is
our God he will save us. To be his is to be safe. And unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.
He has ways and means of rescuing his children from death; when they are at
their wit’s end, and see no way of escape, he can find a door of deliverance
for them.
21. But God shall wound the head of his enemies. The Preserver is also the Destroyer. There is no defense
against the Lord; he can in a moment smite with utter destruction the lofty
crests of his haughty foes. And the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on
still in his trespasses. He may glory in his outward appearance, and make
his hair his pride, as Absalom did; but the Lord’s sword will find him out.
Headstrong sinners will find that providence overcomes them despite their
strong heads. At the second coming of the Lord Jesus, his enemies will find his
judgments to be beyond conception terrible.
22. This
verse, by the insertion of the words my people, is made to bear the
meaning which the translators thought best; but if their interpolated word is
omitted, we probably get nearer to the sense. The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring
again from the depths of the sea. Though his foes should endeavor to
escape, they should not be able. As there is no resisting Israel’s God, so
there is no escape from him; neither the heights of Bashan nor the depths of
the great sea can shelter them from his eye of detection, and his hand of
justice. The powers of evil may flee to the ends of the earth, but the Lord will
arrest them, and lead them back in chains to adorn his triumph.
23. That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine
enemies. Vengeance will be awarded to the
oppressed people. And the tongue of thy dogs in the same. So
overwhelming would be the defeat that dogs would lick their blood. To us,
except in a spiritual sense, the verse sounds harsh, but read it with an inner
sense, and we also desire the crushing defeat of all evil and that wrong and
sin may be the objects of profound contempt. Contemplate Revelation 19.
24. They have seen thy goings, O God. In the song the marchings of the Lord had been described;
friends and foes had seen his goings forth with the ark and his people. We
suppose that the procession was now climbing the hill, and entering the
enclosure where the tabernacle of the ark was pitched; it was suitable at this
moment to declare with song that the tribes had seen the glorious progress of
the Lord as he led forth his people. Even the goings of my God, my King, in
the sanctuary. The splendid procession of the ark, which symbolized the
throne of the great King, was before the eyes of men and angels as it ascended
to the holy place; and the psalmist points to it with exultation. All nature
and providence are, as it were, a procession attending the great Lord. Winter
and summer, sun and moon, storm and calm, and all the varied glories of nature
swell the pomp of the King of kings.
25. The singers went before, the players on instruments
followed after. The song must lead the music, and
not the music drown the singing. Among them were the damsels playing with
timbrels. Some have imagined that this order indicates the superiority of
vocal to instrumental music. The procession depicted in this sublime song was
one of joy, and every means was taken to express the delight of the nation in
the Lord their God.
26. Bless ye God in the congregations. United praise is like the mingled perfume which Aaron made,
and it should all be presented unto God. He blesses us; let him be blessed. Even
the Lord, from the fountain of
Israel. The seat of the ark would be the fountain of refreshing for all the
tribes, and there they were to celebrate his praises. If the Lord overflows
with grace, we should overflow with gratitude.
27. There is little Benjamin with their ruler. The tribe was small, but it had the honor of including Zion
within its territory. Little Benjamin had been Jacob’s darling, and now the
tribe is made to march first in the procession, and to dwell nearest to the
holy place. The princes of Judah and their council. Judah was a large
and powerful tribe, not with one governor, like Benjamin, but with many princes
“and their company,” for so the margin has it. “From thence is the shepherd,
the stone of Israel,” and the tribe was a quarry of stones wherewith to build
up the nations: some such truth is hinted at in the Hebrew. The princes of
Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. Israel was there, as well as Judah:
there was no schism among the people. The north sent a representative
contingent as well as the south, and so the long procession set forth the
hearty loyalty of all the tribes to their Lord and King. O happy day, when all
believers will be one around the ark of the Lord, striving for nothing but the
glory of the God of grace.
28–31. The prophet
now puts into the mouth of the assembly a song foretelling the future conquests
of Jehovah.
28. Thy God hath commanded thy strength. His decree had ordained the nation strong, and his arm had
made them so. As a Commander-in-Chief, the Lord made the valiant men pass in
battle array, and bade them be strong in the day of conflict. This is a very
rich though brief sentence, and, whether applied to an individual believer or
to the whole church, it is full of consolation. Strengthen, O God, that
which thou hast wrought for us. As all power comes from God at first, so
its continual maintenance is also of him. We who have life should pray to have
it “more abundantly”; if we have strength we should seek to be still more
established. We expect God to bless his own work. He has never left any work
unfinished yet, and he never will. Being reconciled to God, we may look to him
to perfect that which concerns us, since he never forsakes the work of his own
hands.
29. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring
presents unto thee. The palace of God is prophesied as
becoming a wonder to all lands, and when it grew from the tabernacle of David
to the temple of Solomon, it was so splendid that the queen of far-off Sheba
came with her gifts, and many neighboring princes, overawed by its wealth and
power, came with tribute to Israel’s God. The church of God, when truly
spiritual, wins for her God the homage of the nations. In the latter-day glory
this will be far more largely verified.
30. Rebuke the company of spearmen, or, “the beasts of the reeds,” as the margin more
correctly renders it. Speak to Egypt; let its growing power and jealousy be
kept in order, by a word from thee. Israel remembers her old enemy, already
plotting the mischief which would break out under Jeroboam, and begs for a
rebuking word from her Omnipotent Friend. Antichrist also needs the effectual
word of the Lord to rebuke its insolence. The multitude of the bulls,
the stronger foes, which sought to gore the chosen nation—these also need the
Lord’s rebuke, and will have it too. All Egypt’s sacred bulls could not avail
against a “thus saith Jehovah.” With the calves of the people. The
poorer and baser sort are equally set on mischief, but the divine voice can
control them; multitudes are as nothing to the Lord when he goes forth in
power; whether bulls or calves, they are but cattle for the butcher when
Omnipotence displays itself. The Gospel, like the ark, has nothing to fear from
great or small; it is a stone upon which everyone who stumbles will be broken. Till
every one submit himself with pieces of silver. The Lord is asked to subdue
the enemies of Israel, till they render tribute in silver ingots. Subjection to
the Lord of hosts is liberty, and tribute to him enriches the one who pays it.
Pieces of silver given to God are replaced with pieces of gold. Scatter thou
the people that delight in war. So that, notwithstanding the strong
expression of verse 23, God’s people were peacemen, and only desired the
crushing of oppressive nations, that war might not occur again. Let the battles
of peace be as fierce as they will; heap coals of fire on the heads of enemies,
and slay their enmity thereby. “They who take the sword should perish by the
sword” is a just regulation for the establishment of quiet in the earth.
Devoutly may we offer this prayer, and we may bless God that it is sure to be
answered.
31. Princes shall come out of Egypt. Old foes will be new friends. Christ will gather a people
from the realms of sin. Great sinners will yield themselves to the scepter of
grace, and great men will become good men, by coming to God. Ethiopia shall
soon stretch out her hands unto God. Millions of Ethiopia’s sons have found
in their bondage the liberty with which Christ made men free. Hasten, O Lord,
the day when both the civilization and the barbarism of the earth will adore
thee.
32. Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth. Glorious will that song be in which whole empires join. So
sweet a thing is song that it ought to be all the Lord’s; a secular concert
seems almost a sacrilege, a licentious song is treason. O sing praises unto
the Lord. Again and again is
God to be magnified; we cannot have too much singing to God. Selah. Well
may we rest now that our contemplations have reached the millennial glory.
33. To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which
were of old. Before, he was described in his earthly
manifestations as marching through the desert; now, in his celestial glory, as
riding in the heavens of the primeval ages. Long before this heaven and earth
were made, the loftier abodes of the Deity stood fast; before men or angels
were created, the splendors of the great King were as great as now, and his
triumphs as glorious. Our knowledge reaches but to a small fragment of the life
of God, whose “goings forth were of old, even from everlasting.” Lo, he
doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. Was there a thunderclap
just then heard in heaven? Or, did the poet’s mind flash backward to the time
when from the heaven of heavens the voice of Jehovah broke the long silence and
said, “Light be,” and light was? The Gospel, which utters and reveals his
word, is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Our voices
are fitly called to praise him whose voice spoke us into being, and gives us
the effectual grace which secures our well-being.
34. Ascribe ye strength unto God. Let us never by our doubts or by our daring defiances
appear to deny power unto God; on the contrary, by yielding to him and trusting
in him, let our hearts acknowledge his might. When we are reconciled to God,
his omnipotence is an attribute of which we sing with delight. His
excellency is over Israel. The favored nation is protected by his majesty;
his greatness is to them goodness; his glory is their defense. And his
strength is in the clouds. He does not confine his power to the sons of
men, but makes it like a canopy over the skies. Rain, snow, hail, and tempest
are his artillery; he rules all nature with awe-inspiring majesty. Nothing is
so high as to be above him, or too low to be beneath him; praise him, then, in
the highest.
35. O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places. Thy saints obey with fear and trembling, and thine enemies
flee in dismay. From the holy of holies, thy majesty flashes forth and makes
the sons of men prostrate themselves in awe. The God of Israel is he that
giveth strength and power unto his people. All the power of Israel’s
warriors is derived from the Lord. He is strong, and makes strong: they who
draw from his resources shall renew their strength. Blessed be God. Let
our souls say, Amen.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
