Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 4:7
Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time [that] their corn and their wine increased.
7. more than &c.] Lit. more than (the joy of) the time of their corn and wine when they were increased: i.e. more than their rejoicings for harvest and vintage even when they were most abundant: well expressed in R.V., more than they have when their corn and their wine are increased. The persons referred to may be either the malcontents, or men in general. The boisterous mirth of harvest and vintage rejoicings (Isa 9:3; Jer 48:33) is the highest form of joy which they know whose desires are limited to earthly things; but deeper far is that inward joy which is the gift of God, for it is one of the fruits of the Spirit, Gal 5:11; cp. Rom 14:17.
The words gain fresh point when it is remembered that David was reduced to straits for the bare necessaries of life till he reached his hospitable friends at Mahanaim (2Sa 17:27-29).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
7, 8. A joy and peace which are independent of outward circumstances.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou hast put gladness in my heart – Thou hast made me happy, to wit, in the manner specified in Psa 4:6. Many had sought happiness in other things; he had sought it in the favor of the Lord, and the Lord had given him a degree of happiness which they had never found in the most prosperous worldly condition. This happiness had its seat in the heart, and not in any external circumstances. All true happiness must have its seat there, for if the heart is sad, of what avail are the most prosperous external circumstances?
More than in the time – More than they have had in the time referred to; or, more than I should have in such circumstances.
That their corn and their wine increased – When they were most successful and prosperous in worldly things. This shows that when, in Psa 4:6, he says that many inquired who would show them any good, what they aspired after was worldly prosperity, here expressed by an increase of grain and wine. The word rendered corn means grain in general; the word rendered wine – tyrosh – means properly must, new wine, Isa 65:8. The reference here is probably to the joy of harvest, when the fruits of the earth were gathered in, an occasion among the Hebrews, as it is among most people, of joy and rejoicing.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 4:7
Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
Thanksgiving for harvest
1. The joy in harvest is based on the successful result of labour. Labour is Gods law, and obedience to it secures a result corresponding to the means used, and that result is a real blessing in the ratio in which God is recognised and honoured, by obeying Him in the law which He has enjoined. Spiritual blessings are only attained through spiritual means. How few men recognise, in Gods ministration of natural plenty, a silent sermon on the passage, He giveth all things richly to enjoy. A Christian looks upon a plentiful harvest, not simply as a pledge of cheaper bread, but as a mark of Gods approval of the industry which wrought for this end. All industrious nations are thriving, though all are not God-fearing nations.
2. Joy in harvest commemorates the termination of solicitude, in reference to a favourable season for ripening and gathering in the crops. Scripture alludes to many of the trials and disappointments of the husbandman. There is a proverbial impatience and murmuring among tillers of the soil. A like impatience is not rare among some Christians. The harvest, as an annual ripening and realising of profit, should suggest annual inquiry into our own scale of personal maturity in the things of God. Has the past year yielded a good spiritual return for mental toil, and thought, and prayer, and the means of grace?
3. The joy of harvest reasonably includes the prospect of an adequate supply for our own and others necessities. There is danger, as well as misery, m a public deficiency of the necessaries of life. The law and the loaf flourish best together.
4. The joy of an abundant harvest should stimulate us to renewed and enhanced confidence in God. If He thus blesses the labour of the field, doubt not He will bless every believer in his personal calling. (Joseph B. Owen, M. A.)
Plus gladness
Christianity is a religion of gladness. You cannot have one Divine idea in you without being glad. You cannot have any Divine ideas so long as you are unpardoned. It is the distinction of the gospel to proclaim possible forgiveness, and when forgiveness has taken effect then joy begins; on every bough of every tree there is a singing bird. But until we are pardoned, and pardoned at the Cross, we cannot admit God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost into our hearts to abide with us and sup with us and manifest themselves to us, and therefore we cannot have this simple, pure, celestial, inexhaustible joy. Christianity gives joy unspeakable, joy unutterable. Joy has no words; joy takes up all our little words, and uses them, and then says, I want more, more, another language, and because it has no more articulation it bursts forth into songs without words, it mingles with the melody of the spheres. To that high festival we are called! But is not the religion of Christ a religion of melancholy? No. It has in it the deepest melancholy ever known, but one thing is so often forgotten by Christian evangelists: Christ died only once. They will not think of that–only once. He did die–died as never man died; He was despised and rejected of men, He gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that pluck off the hair; but He died only once. He lives for evermore. Why do we not at our Eastertides remember this?–the death for a moment, the life forever! So we come up out of darkness to sing of light; we leave the desert, one little mile long, and enter upon the boundless paradise of God. Do not condemn yourselves because you have not a continual consciousness of this joy. Much of that want of consciousness may be due to physical infirmity; we are fearfully and wonderfully made; the body may be having the upper hand for a time. Then some mens self lies such a long way within themselves they have to shed off coat after coat, to slough off bad skin after bad skin a thousand in number, before they get at their real Ego, their real I, their real and divinest self. Some of us have a hard fight. Some of you think you are going to lose. Hear me: you are not. Gad, a troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last. For the moment he is down, but God is in him, and he will spring from the dust, and at the last even the poor tribe called Gad shall sing of victory, sit down with conquerors! (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The duty, method, and importance of being happy
There are wants of the soul which no earthly good can satisfy. The happiness to meet these wants consists in a calm, cheerful, submissive, contented frame of mind.
I. This happiness is not only a privilege, it is a sacred and most important christian duty.
1. By far the greater part of the unhappiness which people complain of, is of their own procuring, and is to be set down as resulting, not from any unavoidable necessity, either in nature or circumstances, but from a perverted free agency, from violating some of the laws of our being, from voluntary indiscretions, errors, and sins. Remove the sources of unhappiness, and little comparatively would remain to embitter the cup of life, or make us unhappy. If the unhappiness is caused by ourselves, then it is our duty to cease from so profitless, so bad a work.
2. It is our duty to be happy, because it is our duty to be right–right in our feelings, principles, habits, and aims; and just so far as we are so, we must, and we shall be happy. The happiness of which I speak is in the state of the mind, and independent, in great measure, of outward circumstances.
3. God wishes us to be happy. This cannot be doubted by any who believe that God is a Being of infinite wisdom and goodness. True, in our present state, there are many things within and without, which tend to perplex and try us, and, in point of fact, do often greatly interrupt and disturb our happiness. These, we have seen, are partly our own procuring. So far as they come in the course of Divine Providence, they are means designed of our Father in heaven to promote our present and future happiness. They are among the all things that work together for good.
4. Look at the constitution of man as made in the image of God, and formed to share, in his measure, in the happiness of God. A law pervades your whole mental constitution, making it certain that the right normal exercise of your powers and affections can result only in making you happy.
5. From the abundant means God has provided to render you happy. He who made you, and made you to be happy, has provided means adapted to gratify all your desires and aspirations, so far as they are right and proper. The means God has provided for our happiness do not stop in the things of earth and time.
II. The method or way to be happy.
1. We must leave off making ourselves unhappy. Turn out all those consumers of happiness which are so apt to find a home in the bosom. Their name is legion, and by many they are indulged and nursed to the overthrow of all internal peace and comfort.
2. Cultivate kind and benevolent affections–love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, meekness, goodness, truth. These virtues, in habitual exercise, as they are required to be, cannot fail to diffuse sunshine and pleasantness over the whole mind and life.
3. Note the Saviours prescription for being happy, as contained in the opening of His Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are they, etc. What is the principle, the source, of the blessedness expressed in these different terms? Plainly it is internal; it springs from the affections.
III. The importance of being happy. It is not necessary to dwell on this. It is not, however, common for happiness to be inculcated as a duty. It is usually regarded as a matter which everyone must be left to dispose of as he chooses, without incurring any moral responsibility. (J. Hawes, D. D.)
Religion no enemy to joy
Joy and pleasure are things so truly desired by all mankind, that religion suffers by being thought an enemy to them. Religion restrains us from nothing, but what our own reason and interest should restrain us from, In all harmless and innocent satisfactions, that neither entrench upon the honour of God, nor the rights of others, nor our own peace and quiet, we have leave to pick and choose.
I. The nature of this inward joy and pleasure. Not a natural gaiety and cheerfulness of humour, or a few light and transient fits of mirth, nor yet any strong and confident presumptions of Gods love and favour, or any rapturous transports, and sensible ravishments of joy. That which I intend is, a solid and rational satisfaction of mind, in the goodness and soundness of a mans estate towards God, and flows usually from these two things–from a sincere and regular discharge of our duty, which brings its own comfort and tranquillity along With it. And from a cheerful reflection upon a mans innocency, and the integrity of his actions, when a man dares look back upon what he has done, and knows that he has the testimony and approbation of heaven on his side, bearing witness to the vote and suffrage of his own conscience.
II. What influence religion has upon the joy and pleasure of a mans mind.
1. Religion restores a man to the grace and favour of God, and assures him that his sins are pardoned, and his peace made with heaven.
2. A course of virtue and religion subdues our inordinate appetites and vicious inclinations, which are the great fountains of inquietude and trouble. Religion circulates through all our powers, disposes every faculty to act in its due place and order, and determines every affection to its peculiar object.
3. A pious and religious life secures to a man the peculiar care and protection of the Divine Providence, than which there cannot be a stronger support and comfort to the mind of a wise and good man.
4. Religion refreshes the mind of a good man with a joyful assurance of the glory and blessedness of the Other world.
III. The excellency of the pleasures of religion, above all the delights and pleasures of this world. More than when the corn and the wine increases.
1. The delights of this world are gross and corporeal, and affect only the external senses, and are the pleasures of the brute, rather than of the man.
2. The pleasures of religion are more solid and satisfying than anything this world can afford. They fill our appetites, and fix our desires, and settle the soul upon the right basis and temper.
3. Religions pleasures are more large and comprehensive, they take in a vaster compass, the delights both of this and of the other world.
4. The pleasures of religion have infinitely the advantage of all others in point of duration and continuance. They abide with us when other comforts fly, or are rifled away from us The sum is this–the work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever. (William Cave, D. D.)
The saints gladness
The chief distinction between a child of God and a man of the world lies in the prevailing tendency of their desires.
1. The Psalmists description of opposite characters. See the description of worldly men, in Psa 4:6 : It is obvious–
(1) That this question betrays a great degree of inward dissatisfaction and perplexity. They say any good, anything to fill up the craving vacuity of our minds. At the time of the question they cannot find anything in their lot that deserves the name of good.
(2) The only good they inquire for is some present sensible enjoyment, which may be pointed out to the eye of sense, They look not at the things which are unseen and eternal.
(3) They make no discrimination of the objects which they seek after.
(4) They do not turn their thoughts at all to God. They seek counsel from others, but none from Him. Turn to consider the temper of a child of God. He too seeks good; but
(i) It is not any good that will satisfy him. He cannot feed upon husks. He seeks the chief good.
(ii) He knows where that good is to be found. The favour of God, and the sense of His loving kindness, are the only sources of true happiness. The worldly mind is in a state of perpetual fluctuation.
(iii) The child of God goes directly to God Himself, and begs the blessing from Him.
(iv) The Psalmist, in the name of the godly, uses this prayer in direct opposition to the carnal language, of worldly men. Intimating to us, that a child of God can relish no sweetness m any inferior good, till he be assured of the Divine favour.
2. The propositions which arise from this comparison.
(1) Worldly men have little cause to rejoice in the temporal advantages which they possess. These outward things may consist with the present misery of the person who possesses them. Indeed, these things are frequently the means of making men miserable, and of fixing them in that deplorable state. These things may end in misery, and leave the owner in everlasting woe.
(2) Consider those solid grounds of joy which belong to the people of God. He is possessed of the joy which results from comparing his present and happy condition with the misery in which he was once involved. Source of joy to a child of God, also consists in the actual honours and privileges conferred upon him. He is advanced to the dearest and most intimate relation to God, adopted into His family, and invested with all the rights of a son. The joy of a saint also proceeds from the contemplation of those future blessings which are yet only the objects of hope. These sources of joy are of such a nature as that no outward distress or calamity can take them away.
Improvement of this subject.
1. Inquire which of the characters described by the Psalmist belongs to us.
2. I exhort those of you who are yet carnally minded, to think seriously of your condition.
3. Let those who have been taught to value the light of Gods countenance above all things, learn to be humble and thankful. (R. Walker.)
Christians should reflect on their felicity
Living in Rome, a famous antiquarian and artist (Winkelman) tells how he gave himself half an hour every day to meditate on his Italian happiness. Thousands have lived in Rome with the same pure sky smiling over them, and the same articulate antiquity on every side accosting them, and never been aware of their felicity. And is it not thus with the average Christian life? For the want of reflection and a calm survey of our standing and inheritance in Jesus Christ, our icy and gladness are intermittent instead of perennial and abiding. (James Hamilton, D. D.)
Happy without a fortune
Recovering from an illness, Mr. Wilberforce remarked, I can scarcely understand why my life is spared so long, except it be to show them a man can be as happy without a fortune as with one.
A happy life
Now, as they were going along and talking, they espied a boy feeding his fathers sheep. The boy was in very mean clothes, but of a very fresh and well-favoured countenance, and as he sat by himself, he sang–
He that is down needs fear no fall;
He that is low no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide.
I am content with what I have,
Little be it or much;
And, Lord, contentment still I crave,
Because Thou savest such.
Fulness to such a burden is,
That go on pilgrimage:
Here little, and hereafter bliss,
Is best from age to age.
Then said their guide, Do you hear him? I will dare to say that this boy lives a merrier life, and wears more of that herb called hearts ease in his bosom, than he that is clad in silk and velvet. (John Bunyan.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart] Thou hast given my soul what it wanted and wished for. I find now a happiness which earthly things could not produce. I have peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost; such inward happiness as they cannot boast who have got the highest increase of corn and wine; those TWO THINGS in the abundance of which many suppose happiness to be found.
To corn and wine all the versions, except the Chaldee, add oil; for corn, wine, and oil, were considered the highest blessings of a temporal kind that man could possess.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Whatsoever thou shalt do with me for the future, as to my outward distresses and concernments, I have at present unspeakable pleasure and full satisfaction in the impressions and testimonies of thy love in and to my soul; whereby also I am encouraged with confidence to expect good success to my righteous cause.
Than in the time that their corn and their wine increased; than worldly persons have in the time of a plentiful harvest, which is a time of great rejoicing, Jdg 9:27; Isa 9:3; Jer 48:33.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. corn and wineliterally,”new corn and wine.”
increasedan abundantharvest giving great joy (Isa 9:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou hast put gladness in my heart,…. The Ethiopic version reads it “into our heart”; in granting the above request; for, nothing so rejoices the hearts of God’s people as the light of his countenance, or the enjoyment of his gracious presence: this was matter of exceeding joy to Christ himself, Ps 21:6; and so it is to all his members; this causes inward gladness, gladness of heart, and is opposed to the external rejoicings of wicked men and of hypocrites: and this is of God’s putting into the heart; and indeed none can put gladness either into a wounded conscience, into the heart of a sensible sinner, or into the soul of one that is panting after the presence of God, and communion with him, but God himself;
more than in the time [that] their corn and their wine increased: meaning the time of harvest and of vintage; when there is a good harvest, and a good vintage, there is joy among men, and the contrary when it is otherwise, Isa 9:3; these things being of general use, spread an universal joy among people; there is scarce any earthly thing that occasions more joy than these do: and yet the joy on such occasions is not to be compared with spiritual joy, that is a joy unspeakable and full of glory. Some take the to be not comparative, but causal, and render the words s, “thou hast put gladness in ray heart from the time that their corn”, c. as do the Chaldee paraphrase and Syriac versions and the Arabic version renders it, “because of the multitude of fruits”, c. and then the sense is, as if David should say concerning his enemies,
“I never envied their prosperity, I always rejoiced when they had a good harvest, or vintage, and still do and yet they have rose up and rebelled against me, and requited me evil for good.”
And this sense is given into by the Jewish commentators t, and shows of what an admirable spirit, and in what a sweet disposition of mind, the psalmist was; that while his enemies were seeking his life he was rejoicing in their prosperity; and is a sad aggravation of their wickedness: and this may also be understood of the rejoicing of David, and even of the Messiah, and likewise of all good men, at the spiritual prosperity of the saints, at any increase of grace, spiritual knowledge, and joy, signified by these outward things, as in
Jer 31:12; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, add “oil” to corn and wine.
s “a vel ex tempore quo frumentum eorum”, &c. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Cocceius. t Jarchi, Aben Ezra, & Kimchi in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7. Thou hast given more joy to my heart. By another comparison he better expresses and illustrates the strength of his affection, showing that, having obtained the good which he had longed for, he does not in the least degree envy the wealth and enjoyments of others, but is altogether contented with his own lot. The sum is, that he had more satisfaction in seeing the reconciled countenance of God beaming upon him, than if he had possessed garners full of corn, and cellars full of wine. (61) Interpreters are not agreed as to the word מעת , me-eth, which we have translated, in the time. Some give this rendering, Thou hast put gladness into my heart, Since The Time that their corn and wine increased; as if David had said, I rejoice when I see mine enemies prospering in the world. (62) But the former translation appears to me much more suitable; according to which David declares, that he rejoices more in the favor of God alone, than earthly men rejoice when they enjoy all earthly good things, with the desire of which they are generally inflamed. He had represented them as so bent upon, and addicted to, the pursuit of worldly prosperity, as to have no great care about God; and now he adds, that their joy in the abundance and increase of their wine and corn is not so great as is his joy in a sense of the divine goodness alone. This verse contains very profitable instruction. We see how earthly men, after they have despised the grace of God, and plunged themselves over head and ears in transitory pleasures, are so far from being satisfied with them, that the very abundance of them inflames their desires the more; and thus, in the midst of their fullness, a secret uneasiness renders their minds uncomfortable. Never, therefore, shall we obtain undisturbed peace and solid joy until the favor of God shine upon us. And although the faithful also desire and seek after their worldly comforts, yet they do not pursue them with immoderate and irregular ardor; but can patiently bear to be deprived of them, provided they know themselves to be the objects of the divine care.
(61) The allusion is to the joy of the harvest and vintage.
(62) “ Or combien que les expositeurs varient en ce mot que nous avons traduit, Au temps: pource qu’aucuns traduisent, Tu m’as donne liesse au coeur depuis le temps que, etc., comme s’il disoit, Je suis joyeux quand je voy prosperer mes ennemis en ce monde.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Thou hast.Either Thou hast put a gladness in my heart more than when their corn and new wine are much, or, More than when one has much corn, &c. The expression is one of pregnant brevity for, A gladness greater than that when corn and wine are plentiful.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Thou hast put gladness Evidently this relates to some recent answer to prayer since he left Jerusalem, which lighted up his soul in joyful confidence. See on Psa 3:6.
More than in the time their corn and wine increased The supplies brought to the king in his flight and on his arrival at Mahanaim (2Sa 16:1-4; 2Sa 17:27-29) were cheering, especially as the latter evidenced a loyal spirit in the Gileadites, who, at the first, for seven years, had supported the house of Saul against David; but the allusion appears to be rather to the joy of the national harvest and the vintage, when the revenues of the king flowed in, and the land resounded with festive songs. Above this joy was that now experienced by some recent token of divine favour in answer to prayer.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘You have put gladness in my heart,
More than those have when their corn and their wine are increased.’
The greatest gladness in life in an agricultural society was for the corn and the wine to increase. And the harvest festivals, in a good year, were their time of greatest rejoicing (see Isa 9:3; contrast Jer 48:32-33). It meant plentiful food, much enjoyment, increasing wealth and a year of fullness. But the gladness that YHWH puts in the heart, David says, is greater far than that. David rejoiced in the pouring out of His goodness for it far exceeded the blessing of the harvest. And he especially rejoiced in that in his present situation God was working for Him and would continue to do so.
But every child of God can echo his experience. Like David they may sometimes find themselves in tight corners, seemingly unable to escape. But when His time comes they will be delivered, and great will be their rejoicing, far exceeding anything that the physical world offers.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 4:7. More than in the time that their corn, &c. i.e. “My gladness, my joy is as great as the joy of men in a plentiful harvest.” The meaning of this verse seems, in the plainest and most obvious sense of it, to be nearly parallel to Isa 9:3. Grotius connects it with the preceding verse in this manner: “If thou wilt lift the light of thy countenance upon us, O Lord, thou wilt put a greater gladness in my heart, than is generally expressed at a plentiful harvest of corn, or a great increase of wine.”
REFLECTIONS.1st. David opens this Psalm,
1. With earnest prayer to God. Hear me when I call. We have no demands on God for attention, nor can make him our debtor by waiting upon him: it is a mercy, an unspeakable mercy, if he condescend to hear our prayers. O God of my righteousness: My righteous God, who will do me right respecting my enemies; or, the vindicator of my righteousness, which men traduce and malign; or the God on whom I depend for righteousness, renouncing all trust in myself. Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; many a time have I experienced thy kind interposition, therefore I am still encouraged to hope for the repetition of the same mercy. And every true believer may adopt his words, acknowledging how often God has enlarged his heart, when straitened with temptations and beset with trials, and set his feet at liberty. Note; (1.) In every distress God is a sure refuge; let us fly to him. (2.) Past experience should engage present confidence.
2. He expostulates with his enemies, in order to their conviction and conversion: O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame; as the chiefs of Israel, who joined his rebellious son, sought to do; and as the high-priest and people of the Jews did, when they reviled, insulted, and mocked the Lamb of God, and ridiculed the glory that he assumed as king of Israel, degrading him to the condition of a malefactor, and making him die the death of a slave. In like manner do wicked men seek to reproach the faithful, brand them as hypocrites and deceivers, and ridicule their holy peculiarities.
3. He produces the reason why their attempts must be abortive. Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: which respects David himself, whose conduct God approved, and whose kingdom he would establish in spite of all his foes. Equally applicable is it to the Messiah, that elect in whom God’s soul delighteth.
4. He warns them of their danger, and the way of escaping it. Stand in awe of the judgments of God, threatened against transgressors; and sin not, to provoke it against you. Many versions read, Be angry, and sin not, according to the apostle, Eph 4:26. There is an anger not sinful, when it is directed against the evils that we see in ourselves and others, and leads us to zeal for their good, and God’s glory. Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Consider your ways, seriously examine them by the rule of God’s laws; search out your manifold offences; bring forth the awful sentences which is the appointed wages of sin, and suffer no avocation to divert your thoughts from this important subject: retire to your closet often; and let conscience faithfully do her office; that, self-condemned, and humbled under the sense of sin, your hearts may be laid in the dust, to seek mercy with an offended God. Then offer unto God the sacrifices of righteousness: the sacrifice of God’s appointment, which pointed to the atoning blood of the great Redeemer; and put your trust in the Lord, renouncing yourself as a vile sinner, and looking for the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, as your only soul-supporting hope: and this will produce sacrifices of praise to God for redeeming grace, with which he has declared himself to be well-pleased. Thus may all the evil that the sinner fears be averted, and the felicity of God’s faithful people become his happy portion. O that men were wise, that they understood these things!
2nd, Having exhorted men to seek the favour of a gracious God, David proceeds to shew the excellency of his regard beyond every earthly acquisition.
1. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? foolish worldlings, who place their chief happiness in the perishing enjoyments of present vanities; seeking their portion on earth, and grasping at this shadow, instead of God, the only author of true and abiding joy. Note; (1.) Sense governs the majority of mankind, and their pursuits after happiness scarcely rise to objects higher than those which the beasts enjoy in common with them. (2.) They who, with a rational and immortal soul, seek their rest in sublunary enjoyments, must ever, like the prodigal son, find them as husks, incapable of satisfying their hunger. (3.) They who take up with their portion in time, can have none in eternity.
2. The Psalmist, and all whose hearts, like his, divine grace has wrought upon, seek a nobler and more satisfying possession. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us; give us a sense of thy favour, the comforts of thy Spirit, and the experience of thy love shed abroad in our hearts: this is the only satisfying portion that an immortal soul can enjoy; and all the wealth of the world, compared with this, is dung and loss. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. A worldly man exults to see his barns full, and his vats overflow with wine: but how much greater the joy, to experience the riches of Divine grace, and to be filled with all the fulness of God! Note; They are wofully mistaken, who count God’s servants unhappy, and the ways of godliness melancholy: out of them there is no true joy, and the end of all other mirth is heaviness.
3. With this gladness of heart, which a sense of the Divine favour ministered, he forgot his troubles, and rested in peace and comfort. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: no fears shall disturb, or disappointment break my rest; if thou art with me, I have all that heart can wish: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Though other refuge I have none, the shadow of thy wings is sufficient security; my soul rests in thy love, my body under thy care, and both are perfectly safe. Note; Every true believer may with delight adopt these expressions of dependance upon God: he can sleep with peace on his bed, for God is there; he can lay with confidence his body in the dust, and sleep the sleep of death; for even in the grave he is safe: and, having committed his all into the hands of a faithful guardian, he is assured, that, whether for time or eternity, all is well.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Is not this an immediate answer to prayer? And doth it not prove t h e truth of that sweet promise, Isa 65:24 ?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.” Psa 4:7
Let us regard this as setting side by side physical and spiritual possessions. On the one side we have what the worldly man values most, namely, corn and wine, representing all manner of physical and natural bounty: on the other hand we find heart-gladness, a peculiar music in the soul, a tender and subtle joy which cannot be represented by earthly symbols. Both the bounties are supposed to be associated with “gladness.” The worldly man looks upon his corn and wine, and his whole nature laughs with selfish merriment; laying his hand upon his bounty he says, This will stand me in good stead when the day is rainy, and the winter has blocked up the thoroughfares. In the case of the spiritual man he lifts up his eyes to heaven and says, Although I have nothing in my hands, I have God in my heart, a source of strength, an inspiration to labour, an encouragement in all goodness; all the exceeding great and precious promises are singing to me like so many angel-birds sent from heaven to give, me foretaste of the music that makes the home of the saved perfect in happiness. We should grow away from the appreciation of mere natural and commercial bounty. Of course it has its place in civilisation; for the body it is essential; it is right and beautiful to cultivate the earth, and God’s blessing is upon all those who till the ground for his sake; but all the bounty of nature cannot touch the soul, educationally, sympathetically, progressively, except in some very distant and emblematic way. Our riches are in our consciousness of the divine presence, in our access to the divine throne, in our spiritual ideas, in our spiritual penetration, in all the attributes, elements, and forces that constitute the identity of the soul. How are our memories stored with divine promises? What hope have we for the scene beyond the earth? What are our soul’s companionships? What quality of intercourse is our supreme delight? When we can answer these questions satisfactorily we are rich; we have bread to eat that the world knoweth not of; we quench our thirst with the wine of divine love; and our soul knows no pang of hunger. Other property can be consumed. Other property can go down in value, Other property can be stolen. But the property of the soul the inheritance of the mind those great and glorious ideas which drive away all darkness from the horizon, these are in very deed “unsearchable riches,” the very wealth of God. All these gifts come through well-defined processes. They are not imposed upon men like burdens; they grow up in the souls of men like divinely inspired and directed comforts. Whoso does his duty, whoso suffers bravely and uncomplainingly, whoso says, In all this sorrow there is a hidden joy, will have more than corn and wine, will have the very peace of God as an imperishable treasure and defence.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Psa 4:7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time [that] their corn and their wine increased.
Ver. 7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than, &c. ] Joys unspeakable, and full of glory, 1Pe 1:8 . We read of some godly men, that they have been overwhelmed with spiritual joy, till they have cried out, Hold, Lord, stay thine hand, I can bear no more; like weak eyes, that cannot endure to bear the light. Indeed, this is not every good man’s case, witness that saying of sweet Master Bath, I thank God in Christ, sustentation I have, but suavities spiritual I taste not any. And that of holy Rolloc, While I live I never look to see perfect reformation in the Church, or to feel perfect ravishing joys in mine heart. But those God’s people have are far beyond all carnal comforts.
Than in the time that their corn, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
gladness. This was true “good”.
their corn. See note on Psa 144:15.
wine = new wine. Hebrew. tirosh. App-27.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psalm 4:7-8
Psa 4:7-8
“Thou hast put gladness in my heart,
More than they have when their grain and their new wine are increased.
In peace will I both lay me down and sleep;
For thou Jehovah, alone makest me dwell in safety.”
The dramatic contrast in these verses is between the pessimism, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness of the vast majority of mankind with the joyful gladness and satisfaction of the soul truly in harmony with God’s will.
It is truly pitiful how little there is to cheer the human heart other than what is promised for those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
What can the unbeliever expect? At best, his life cannot extend very far into the future; the world’s riches shall never be received except by a tragically small fraction of mankind; and those who do receive earthly affluence can never maintain their status except for a few fleeting tragic years. For every mortal life promises only a few days and much trouble. Sickness, disease, incompetence and death itself await every man.
But how wonderful are the precious promises to the children of God! The abundant life, the joyful heart, the happy souls are limited absolutely to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the pure in heart, the meek and lowly. Jesus came and suffered and died for the benefit of all men that indeed they might have “life and have it more abundantly”! How amazing it is that so few are willing to accept upon the terms under which God has made it available!
We like the concise way that Kyle M. Yates described the joyful gladness of Christian service, “God’s help in time of need causes more gladness than bumper crops.
“In peace … I will lay me down and sleep.” As Spurgeon said, “They slumber sweetly whom faith rocks to sleep.
These are days when environmentalists are very loud and demanding in their postulations about how to save our earth; but they are totally wrong. Our earth is unequivocally doomed to destruction. God’s Word has definitely projected “the end of the world” (Mat 28:20); and we can be very certain of its ultimate termination; and those who have anchored their hopes in this world alone will also be terminated with it.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 4:7. This means that David’s gladness because of the Lord’s coun- tenance was great. It exceeded that of people who had been blessed with temporal prosperity.
Psa 4:8. This verse is the same in thought as Psa 3:5.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
put: Psa 37:4, Psa 43:4, Psa 63:2-5, Psa 92:4, Son 1:4, 1Pe 1:8
the time: Jdg 9:27, Isa 9:3, Jer 48:33
Reciprocal: Job 33:26 – and he shall Psa 21:6 – made him exceeding glad Psa 61:3 – thou Ecc 5:20 – because Ecc 6:6 – yet Son 2:5 – Stay Son 5:13 – as a Joe 1:12 – joy Mat 5:6 – for Mat 13:45 – seeking Mat 26:29 – I will Luk 9:33 – it is Joh 6:55 – meat Act 2:28 – make Phi 3:19 – who
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 4:7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart Whatsoever thou shalt do with me for the future, as to my outward distresses and concerns, I have, at present, unspeakable pleasure and full satisfaction in the manifestations and testimonies of thy love to and in my soul. Hereby thou hast, many a time, put gladness into my heart; not only supported and refreshed me, but filled me with joy unspeakable, and therefore this it is which I will still pursue, and which I will seek after, all the days of my life. Observe, reader, when God puts grace into the heart, he puts gladness into it; nor is any joy comparable to that which gracious souls have in the communications of the divine favour, no, not the joy of harvest, even of a plentiful harvest, when the corn and wine greatly increase. This is gladness in the heart, inward, solid, substantial joy; but the mirth of carnal and worldly people is only a flash, a shadow, for even in laughter their hearts are sorrowful, Pro 14:13.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Knowing he was God’s chosen servant and that those who sought to overthrow him were acting contrary to the will of God brought great joy to David’s heart. He said he felt more joy than he experienced during Israel’s harvest festivals, that were some of the happiest occasions in the year.