Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Extreme Perils.

The psalmist proclaims the fact that he was saved from great dangers, celebrates his deliverance by giving praise to God alone, and pledges His public acknowledgment of his debt to Jehovah.

v. 1. I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications, the fact that God attended to His prayer and delivered him fills his heart with grateful love.

v. 2. Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, in the attitude of willing attention, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live, in prayers both of thanksgiving and of further supplication. He now pictures the situation in which he found himself, from which he was delivered.

v. 3. The sorrows, literally, “the cords,” of death compassed me, as in a net, and the pains, the oppressions, or straits, of hell, of the realm of death, gat hold upon me; I found trouble and sorrow, experiencing both in full measure. Cf Psa 18:4-5.

v. 4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord, depending upon the promises in His Word: O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul. The psalmist now pictures the manner in which the Lord delivered him.

v. 5. Gracious, full of merciful compassion, is the Lord and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. Cf Exo 34:6-7.

v. 6. The Lord preserveth the simple, guarding them against evil designs of the enemies on every hand. I was brought low, thrown to the ground in utter helplessness, and He helped me.

v. 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, being quiet and satisfied in the relief afforded by the Lord; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee, showing kindness far beyond any man’s merit. After this admonition to his own heart the poet turns back to his prayer.

v. 8. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling, these three expressions representing all calamities which may befall a man, and the deliverance therefore being complete in every way.

v. 9. I will walk before the Lord, leading his whole life with the consciousness that he is in the presence of Jehovah and His omniscient eye, in the land of the living; instead of becoming a prey to death, he enjoys life and is able always to have his Savior before his eyes.

v. 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken, literally, “for [this] I speak,” in speaking he exercised his faith, his speaking was a proof of his faith, 2Co 4:13. I was greatly afflicted, but in spite of his affliction his faith manifested itself in the free confession of his mouth.

v. 11. I said in my haste, in his trembling and terror, the result of his deep dejection, All men are liars. Forsaken by men, miserably neglected by those from whom he expected assistance in his troubles, he has learned to put all his trust in God alone, to depend upon Him in the midst of all calamities.

v. 12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? How repay His manifold expressions of love and goodness?

v. 13. I will take the cup of salvation, lifting up the cup of thanksgiving for his deliverance, the allusion probably being to this ceremony at the paschal meal, and call upon the name of the Lord, proclaiming Him and His attributes everywhere.

v. 14. I will pay my vows unto the Lord, the special offerings made to express his gratitude to Jehovah, now in the presence of all His people, he was willing and eager to do so in public, that all men might be witnesses of his sacrifice, Num 15:3-5.

v. 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord, esteemed very highly by Him, is the death of His saints, that is, He will not readily let death take them away from before Him.

v. 16. O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant and the son of Thine handmaid, wherefore, as a home-born servant, he claims the privileges of God’s covenant love toward His people. Thou hast loosed my bonds, giving him the freedom of the people of God. Hence he once more expresses his gratitude.

v. 17. I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord.

v. 18. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His people,

v. 19. in the courts of the Lord’s house, where the congregation assembled for public worship, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord, all the believers of the New Testament joining in this hallelujah in honor of the God of their salvation and paying their vows to Him in cheerful service.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

A PSALM of thanksgiving on deliverance from an imminent peril, placed in the mouth of an individual, but possibly intended for liturgical use on some occasion of a national deliverance. Hengstenberg regards it as composed for use at a festival service shortly after the return from the Captivity. Others adhere to the old Hebrew tradition, which ascribed it to Hezekiah, and considered it to have been written on the occasion of his deliverance from death, as narrated in Isa 38:1-22. Many resemblances are traced between the phraseology of the psalm and expressions attributed to Hezekiah in Isa 37:1-38; Isa 38:1-22.

Psa 116:1, Psa 116:2

An introduction, in which the writer declares his love to God, and his resolution to call on him continually, on ac count of his having been delivered from an imminent peril.

Psa 116:1

I love the Lord, because he hath heard; literally, I love, because the Lord (Jehovah) hath heard. The object of this love is not expressed, but can only be Jehovah. Still, the grammatical construction is unusual, and has caused the suggestion of an emendation. For Professor Cheyne would read as at the beginning of Psa 116:10. My voice and my supplications; literally, my voice, my supplicationsthe latter expression being exegetical of the former.

Psa 116:2

Because he hath inclined his ear unto me (compare the expression of Hezekiah in Isa 37:17, “Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear”). Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live; literally, in my daysanother expression attributed to Hezekiah in the history (Isa 39:8). Lifelong gratitude and praise are promised by Hezekiah to God in Isa 38:20.

Psa 116:3-9

The psalmist describes his trouble (Psa 116:3), his prayer for deliverance (Psa 116:4), and his actual deliverance (Psa 116:5-9).

Psa 116:3

The sorrows of death compassed me; literally, the cords of death (comp. Psa 18:4, where the same expression is used). Death is pictured as seizing his victim and binding him with cords. And the pains of hell gat hold upon me; or, “the straits of hell” (comp. Psa 118:5; Lam 1:3). Death and hell (shell) are closely connected together in the prayer of Hezekiah (Isa 38:10, Isa 38:18). I found trouble and sorrow; or, “anguish and woe” (comp. Isa 38:12-17).

Psa 116:4

Then celled I upon the Name of the Lord. “Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord” (Isa 38:2). O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul (compare the words of Isa 38:3, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee“).

Psa 116:5

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous. God’s answers to prayer show him to be both “gracious” and “righteous”gracious, because it is of his mercy that he listens to men; righteous, because, having promised to hear prayer, he is bound to keep his promises. Yea, our God is merciful; or, “compassionate.”

Psa 116:6

The Lord preserveth the simple; i.e. “the simple-minded”those who are without guile or artifice (comp. Psa 19:7). I was brought low. The same verb is used here as in Isa 38:14, where it is translated “fail” (“mine eyes fail”). It expresses extreme weakness, or exhaustion. And he helped me; or, “saved me” (comp. Isa 38:20).

Psa 116:7

Return unto thy rest, O my soul. “Return,” i.e; “to thy state of tranquility, the condition in which thou wast before the imminent danger showed itself.” For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. If Hezekiah is the writer, the “bountiful dealing” will be the addition of fifteen years to his life (Isa 38:5). If a poet just re turned from the Captivity, the return and the reoccupation of the Holy Land will be especially in his thoughts (comp. Psa 85:1).

Psa 116:8

For thou hast delivered my soul from death. This verse is exegetical of the last clause of Psa 116:4. The expressions are taken from Psa 56:13, and suit a personal better than a national deliverance. Mine eyes from tears. Hezekiah, when told that his death was approaching, had “wept sore” (Isa 38:3). And my feet from falling; literally, and my foot from slipping When man is greatly tried, there is always danger lest his foot should slip. Whether the trial befall an individual or a nation, there is the same temptation to rebel and murmur.

Psa 116:9

I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living; rather, lands of the living; i.e. my deliverance will enable me to walk at leisure, unhurried and free from care, in the broad regions of earth inhabited by the living.

Psa 116:10, Psa 116:11

Parenthetic and obscure. Both the connection and rendering are doubtful. Professor Cheyne translates, “I was confident that I should speak thus;” i.e. even while my affliction was going on, I felt confident that relief would come, and that I should one day speak as I have just spoken. I was, however, too sorely afflicted to give utterance to my feeling. Instead of so doing, I vented my unhappiness in abuse of my fellow-men. Thus understood, the words are an apologia.

Psa 116:10

I believed, therefore have I spoken. So the LXX; . But many other meanings are suggested. See the preceding paragraph. I was greatly afflicted (comp. Psa 116:3).

Psa 116:11

I said in my haste, All men are liars. The connection of the thoughts is not apparent, unless God’s faithfulness (Psa 116:5-8) suggests man’s unfaithfulness.

Psa 116:12-19

The psalm closes with a thanksgiving for the deliverance vouchsafed. What return can the psalmist make? First, he will accept the blessing joyfully; next, he will ever continue to call upon God (Psa 116:13; comp. Psa 116:4, Psa 116:17); thirdly, he will pay his vows openly in the temple, in the presence of the whole congregation (Psa 116:14, Psa 116:18); fourthly, he will offer continually the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psa 116:17) for the benefits vouchsafed him. The enumeration of his pious intentions is itself a song of praise to the Almighty.

Psa 116:12

What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? Natural piety suggests a return for favors received. What shall this be? the psalmist asks, and then proceeds to give the answer.

Psa 116:13

I will take the cup of salvation. It has been usual to explain this of actual participation in the contents of a cup offered at a sacrificial meal, and then passed round to the worshippers. But there is no clear evidence of any such usage, except in connection with the Passover, which cannot here be in question. Hengstenberg there fore proposes to regard the phrase as a mere metaphor, like the “cup of trembling” (Isa 51:17, Isa 51:22), and understands the psalmist to mean that he will gladly and thankfully receive God’s mercy vouchsafed to him, and thus show his gratitude for it. And call upon the Name of the Lord (comp. Psa 116:4 and Psa 116:17).

Psa 116:14

I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people (comp. Psa 116:18, Psa 116:19, where the thought is repeated, and lengthened out). We are not told in Isaiah or 2 Kings that Hezekiah made any vows when he lay on his sick bed, but he may probably have done so. He certainly intended, as soon as his cure was complete, to “go up to the house of the Lord” (2Ki 20:8; Isa 38:22).

Psa 116:15

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (comp. Psa 72:14). It is not a matter of indifference to God, when and under what circumstances each of his saints dies. Rather, it is a matter of deep concern to him. “In him are the issues of life and death” (Psa 68:20), and he appoints to each man the day and attendant circumstances of his demise.

Psa 116:16

O Lord, truly I am thy servant; rather, even so, O Lord, for I am thy servant. Entitled, therefore, to thy care and consideration. I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid (comp. Psa 86:16). “Thine handmaid”the Church; or, if the writer is Hezekiah, “thy handmaid, Abiyah, the daughter of Zechariah,” who “had under standing in the vision of God” (2Ch 26:5; 2Ch 29:1). Thou hast loosed my bonds. The “cords of death” (verse 3) are probably intended.

Psa 116:17

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Scarcely an actual sacrifice. Rather, simple thanksgiving, which, from a sincere heart, is the best sacrifice (see Psa 50:14 and Hos 14:2). And will call upon the Name of the Lord (comp. Psa 116:4 and Psa 116:13).

Psa 116:18

I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Compare the comment on Psa 116:14, whereof this is a repetition.

Psa 116:19

In the courts of the Lord’s house. Thanksgiving was always most appropriately offered in the temple courts, where close at hand dwelt the mysterious presence of God, and where God had appointed that his worshippers should appear before him. In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. This expression and the preceding suit well with Hezekiah’s authorship of the psalm, as Dr. Kay well argues. Praise ye the Lord. The writer calls on all those present (see Psa 116:18) to join him in singing praise to God (comp. Psa 104:1-35; Psa 105:1-45; Psa 106:1-48; Psa 113:1-9; Psa 115:1-18; Psa 117:1-2.).

HOMILETICS

Psa 116:1-19

Danger and deliverance.

It is probable that the danger to which the psalmist was exposed was due to a very serious illness, threatening to end in death. It is certain that this is the most common danger we have to confront now. We look, therefore, at

I. A RECURRING EVIL IN OUR MORTAL LIFESICKNESS. With so complicated a structure as the human frame, and so intricate a system as that which has to be kept in working order, if we are to be in perfect health, it is no marvel that there should be frequent disorder within. And though improved sanitary conditions and the advance of physiological and medical science are favorable to health and long life, yet the increasing artificiality and luxuriousness of our age are counteracting forces; so that it may be fairly questioned whether serious sickness, in more varied forms than ever, is not as often a recurring feature of life as it was in the psalmist’s day.

II. ITS COMMON ATTENDANTS. These are:

1. Pain; to which no reference is made in the text, though it may be included in “trouble and sorrow” (Psa 116:3).

2. Dependence; being so reduced that the feet would fall (Psa 116:8) without help from a friendly hand; the strong man, accustomed to sustain others, is brought down in a few days, or even hours, to depend on the ministry of the servant or the child.

3. Displacement. The must serious “trouble” (Psa 116:3) which worries and perplexes the busy man is found in being laid aside from his activities; it is nothing less than “sorrow” to him to feel that his work is undone, and that he does not know how provision is to be made for his home. Many and bitter are the tears (Psa 116:8) of anxiety and distress.

4. The apparent approach of death. (Psa 116:3.) How bitter to the soul is the vision of death, when it comes in the midst of life, is well exemplified in the grief of Hezekiah (Isa 38:1-22.); so also Epaphroditus (Php 2:25-27). It is not the bodily sufferings endured at death which men fear; it is the departure from kindred and friends, the laying down of work and leaving a happy sphere of usefulness, the going away from so much that is fair and good, leaving the light and joy and hope that our soul has loved below. Even to him who is looking for so much that is better beyond, this deep feeling of regret is not unnatural or unbecoming.

5. Despondency. (Psa 116:10, Psa 116:11.) As with the psalmist, so is it often with us: when the strength is feeble, the spirits are low; we are distrustful; we begin to doubt those in whom we did confide; we come, hastily and without ground, to unfavorable conclusions; we think we are forgotten, ill-treated, abandoned.

III. ITS ALWAYS PRESENT AND MOST PRECIOUS REFUGE. “Then called I upon the Name of the Lord,” etc. (Psa 116:4). Him whom we are apt to overlook in the light, we remember when the shadows fall. To him who, though unperceived, is ever at our right hand we gladly turn, when human helpers and our own resources fail us. God is “our very present Help in trouble.” We are sure of his pity, and we may ask for the exercise of his power. We know that he who is interested in the flowers of the field and the birds of the air (Mat 6:1-34.) will not suffer one of his own children to die until his hour has fully come; that “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psa 116:15). Who shall estimate the measure of comfort and relief which afflicted humanity has found in submission to the will and prayer for the succor of the heavenly Friend!

IV. ITS MERCIFUL REMOVAL. (Psa 116:5-8.) Recovery from illness, though a very ordinary and familiar thing, is a reason for reverent wonder. How is it that the organ which is impaired, after getting worse and worse and becoming less and less effective recovers its efficiency, and begins to do its proper work again? This we do not under stand. We can only say that the Divine Lord of our life has implanted recuperative powers within us which bring about recovery, and make us well and strong. We supply the ascertained conditions, but the unseen Hand does the work. God is the Healer of our sicknesses. It is not only piety, but truth, to say, “I was brought low, and he helped me” (Psa 116:6).

V. THE GLADNESS AND GRATITUDE OF CONVALESCENCE, (Psa 116:1, Psa 116:2, Psa 116:5, Psa 116:7-9, Psa 116:13, Psa 116:14, Psa 116:16-19.) There is a tone of great gladness of heartperhaps we may detect some exuberance of spiritin this outpouring. Is not the affliction amply repaid by the joy of returning strength and the sense of newness of life and power. Let such gladness always rake the form of gratitude and praise; let it “lift up its eyes to heaven and say, Father, I thank thee.” There should be:

1. Gratitude; the distinct reference of the good received to God himself, “Thou hast dealt bountifully with me” (Psa 116:7, Psa 116:8).

2. Praiseoffered in the sanctuary as well as in the home (Psa 116:17-19).

3. Love. The hearing and answering of our prayer may well deepen our attachment to our loving and faithful Lord (Psa 116:1).

4. Reconsecration. (Psa 116:2, Psa 116:16.) The best spiritual result of this experience of sickness and recovery is the solemn renewal of the vow by which we first yielded ourselves to the Person and the service of our Savior.

HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY

Psa 116:1

I love the Lord, because.

I. WE MIGHT FILL UP THE TEXT IN MANY WAYS. As St. John does, “because God first loved us.” Or because of what he is in himself. Or because of what he has done for us, is doing, and will do for us or for others dear to us. And there are other ways still.

II. HOW IT IS FILLED UP. “Because he hath heard my voice,” etc. God’s heating of our prayer is the reason given for loving him.

1. Now, can we say this? Not if we never pray. Not if we do not look out for the answers in the right waybelievingand in the place where they are to be looked for.

2. But many, like the psalmist, can say this.

III. AND HOW REASONABLE IS THIS FILLING UP! It is fitting that we should “love the Lord, because,” etc. If we think of the sad characteristics of our prayers. How unworthy! How slow we are to pray I What a number of desires we have! What unbelief mingles with them! How trivial! How impatient! How misused! What his answering of our prayers has cost!

CONCLUSION.

1. If he hears our prayer, he shall hear our praise, and we will hear his word.

2. And we will tell others of this.S.C.

Psa 116:3, Psa 116:4

The experience of a deeply distressed soul.

The psalm is the utterance of the glad gratitude of some devout Israelite on his deliverance from mortal sickness. But it is capable of many applications. In the temple service it was used as a psalm of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance of Israel from their exile. Many have seen in it the setting forth of the sufferings of our Lord, and have applied the psalm generally to him. Others, again, take it, as do we, as describing, in vivid, impressive way, the experience of a soul that has known deep distress, but has been delivered therefrom by God’s exceeding grace. Therefore note

I. THE DISTRESS. It is told of:

1. As the sorrows of death and the pains of hell, or the grave. Some render it “the snares,” others, “the cords,” of death. But the meaning is much the same, however the word be rendered. It must he remembered that the psalm was written in the dim light of the Old Testament as to the believer’s condition after death. And, compared with our own, that light was very dim. To the faithful servant of God now, who “dies in the Lord,” there are no sorrows of death. Christ hath abolished death; and still less are there any pairs of hell. But the writer of this psalm did believe in them, as did all the saints of his day. And they meant for him, not burning flames or purgatorial fires, but exclusion from the presence of God (see Psa 115:17, and parallels; Psa 31:22, etc.). These were the sorrows they dreaded. In death they would no more seeso they fearedGod’s power and glory as they had seen them in the sanctuary (Psa 63:2). The grave was to them the pit, the land of darkness and the shadow of death. These were the sorrows of death and the pains of hell, and they caused the deepest spiritual distress.

2. And there are the like of these still. When the soul feels itself shut out from God; when it has no hope; when nothing but the Divine condemnation seems possible to it; when it knows and feels itself to be utterly and hopelessly wrong; when it gazes wistfully upon the blessed promises of God, but is in abiding despair as to ever realizing themis certain it never shall; and that for it there is nothing but the fearful looking for of God’s indignation and of his fiery wrath. Souls not a few have passed, and are passing, through experience like that.

3. It is caused in various ways. Sometimes through deep conviction of sin when first the soul is awakened. And it is well for the after-life of the soul that there should be deep conviction wrought by the Holy Spirit, for then there is likely to be a permanent work done, and not a mere ephemeral and superficial one, such as is all too common. And oftentimes this experience is the result of back sliding from God (see Peter after his denial; Judas after his betrayal of the Lord). “Keep me, O Lord, as the apple of thine eye,” let every Christian pray. At other times it is through a perverse habit of mistrust and doubt. The melancholy mass of miserable Christians are nearly all begotten of this wretched and God-dishonoring habit. And sometimes it is the result of disease in mind or body, or both. Then it is a pure affliction, and has to be accepted as such. But this is not often the case.

II. THE DELIVERANCE.

1. See how thorough it was. (Psa 116:8.) “My soul from death.” Sin is death, and until we are not free from that, whatever else we may be, we are not saved. “Mine eyes from tears.” There has come peace and joy in God instead of anguish of soul. “My feet from falling.” I not only begin the better life, but go and keep on in it. God’s salvation means this for us.

2. How it was won. Through prayer (Psa 116:4). How direct, definite, and to the point, this prayer was! So is all real prayer.

3. And how evident. (See Psa 116:9, Psa 116:13.) When we are saved, people will know it. Walking is a very visible act, as is the walking before the Lord. There is no invisible religion.

III. THE DIVINE TEACHING FOR US ALL IN ALL THIS.

1. If till now you have never been convicted of sin, be thankful for your soul-distress, remembering its gracious intent.

2. If you are in Christi pray that you may never come into the soul-agony that the backslider knows.

3. If from any cause such distress be on you, despair not, but turn to God in prayer, earnest and definite, and persevere in faith till the deliverance comes.

4. If you have been delivered, go and declare to others what God has done for your soul.

5. And let your life show your love to God.S.C.

Psa 116:7

Rest.

These well-known words show

I. THAT REST IS ONE OF THE RIGHTFUL POSSESSIONS OF THE SOUL. It was designed for the soul. God would not have created a soul to be the perpetual victim of fret, worry, and distress, as we see many souls now are. It must have belonged to the soul. Hence it is called “thy rest.” In the primal paradise, in which our first parents were placed, they enjoyed this rest. Theirs was the repose of the intellect, of the affections, of the will; all were at rest in God.

II. BUT THE SOUL HAS GOT AWAY FROM THIS REST. What need to labor any proof of this?

1. You can read the fact in men‘s very looksthe careworn countenance, the anxious mien, the sad, disappointed air.

2. In their words, whether spoken or written; weariness is written on them all.

3. In the frantic but futile efforts they make to find a substitute for what they have lost.

III. THAT IT CAN, IF IT WILL, RETURN UNTO ITS REST. Yes, in forsaking sin, surrender to Christ, and trust in him, rest is still attainable.S.C.

Psa 116:7

God, the Rest of the soul.

Text is addressed to those who have already known God as their Rest. Before we can return, we must have turned to God. But arguments for the one are the same as for the other. Hence let believers take the text as it stands; let others read it as if it were “turn” instead of return. It teaches

I. THERE IS A REST FOR THE SOULGOD. He is so by virtue of his atonement, his Spirit, his Word. And this for the individual soul.

II. BUT WE FOOLISHLY LEAVE THAT REST. By neglect of communion. By unbelief. By disobedience.

III. NEVERTHELESS, WE ARE BIDDEN RETURN. We do so as we first of all turned to himin penitence and prayer and trust.

IV. WE HAVE A MIGHTY ARGUMENT FOR THIS. “He hath dealt bountifully with thee.” Thus he meets us.

V. WE MUST EACH DO THIS FOR OURSELVES. “Return unto thy rest, O my soul!“

VI. HE IS CERTAIN TO RECEIVE US.S.C.

Psa 116:12

The inquiry of the grateful heart.

Many are the blessed spirits that worship Godpenitence, faith, reverence, hope, and others. But none are more acceptable than the spirit of gratitude. It is that spirit which speaks here in our text. The following verses contain the answer which the same spirit gives. The inquiry before us implies remembrance of

I. THE BENEFITS WHICH THE LORD HATH CONFERRED UPON US.

1. It is difficult because of their number, character, variety; and because of Satan’s never-ceasing endeavor to hinder us herein.

2. But is full of advantage. More glory comes to God. Our own soul is blessed. We become able to help others.

3. It is a habit which we should cultivate.

II. THE RESPONSE WHICH THESE BENEFITS DEMAND. That of a grateful heart, first and chief of all. God is ever seeking to make up this response; and the devil is ever seeking to prevent it.

III. THE LORD WHO PROMPTS THE INQUIRY WILL ENABLE US TO GIVE THE RESPONSE.S.C.

Psa 116:13, Psa 116:14

The answer of the grateful heart.

That answer is threefold.

I. HE WILL ACCEPT GOD‘S SALVATION. This the meaning of the words, “I will take the cup of salvation.” God has designed salvation for each one of us; he puts it before us as the master of a feast was wont to hand the cup to each guest. And the grateful heart here says, “I will take thy salvation, O Lord, the pardon which is in Christ, the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life.” No worship or service is pleasing to God until this is done.

II. HE WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD. Thus, by fervent prayer, will he keep in communion with God, and look to him day by day for all needed grace.

III. HE WILL OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE GOD. “I will pay my vows,” etc. What has gone before has been transacted between God and the soul; this should be before all men. If there be these three things, all holy obedience will follow; there will be the consecrated life.S.C.

Psa 116:15

The Divine estimate of the saint’s death.

The text is one of the precious words of the Bibleone of the instances in which the Bible sheds bright light over the darker facts of life. Sorrow, temptation, disappointment, sin, and, as here, death, are all irradiated by the light the Bible sheds upon them. Our text calls death “precious.” This a strange epithet for deathone we should never have given to it. But it is true, nevertheless, as here used. Therefore note

I. THE MEANING OF THE WORD “PRECIOUS.” It is used frequently in a like sense, and means:

1. God will not suffer death to come to his saints save as he permits; and never shall his saints cease from off the earth. The fact of the old age to which they commonly attain seems to confirm what the text affirms. But:

2. The word “precious“ denotes also the mind of God in contemplating the death of his saints. He delights in all their lifein its beginning, its progress, and now its end. This is the last step of the saint, and our text tells with what loving regard the Lord looks down upon it.

II. THE REASON OF THIS DIVINE ESTIMATE.

1. Because of his love and sympathy. His saints are dear to him.

2. At the time of their death there is more than ever a response of trust and desire made to the heart of God. In the full vigor of life we are apt to forget, or to think but seldom and slightly, of God; we do not feel our dependence upon him as we should. But when heart and flesh failwhen all our strength is gone, then there is that utter casting of the soul upon God in which God delights.

3. The wondrous witness to others on behalf of God which the death of many a saint has borne. See how Paul never forgot the dying speech of Stephen. The blood of the martyrs has been ever the seed of the Church. And in calmer deaths than these witness for God has also been borne, and with power unknown before.

4. The precious blood of Christ is glorified. For at such times that is all their trust, During life we discuss all manner of questions, doctrines, and beliefs; but when we come to die, it is, “Thou, O Christ, art all I want!”

5. It is the moment of their safe ingathering. Till then, they have been, as the sheep in the wilderness, liable to wander, exposed to peril, watched for hungrily by the wolves of hell, often all but lost. But death is God’s angel gathering them safe within the eternal sheepfold. Such are some of the grounds wherefore “precious in the sight,” etc.

III. BUT NOTE THE CONCLUSIONS THIS WARRANTS CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

1. Death cannot end all. How could such death be “precious?”

2. Nor can it introduce us into a state of mere unconsciousness. Death for God’s saints is not a sleep, but the entrance on fullness of life with Christ.

3. Still less into any purgatory. Scripture has nothing to say of such condition for God’s saints. But:

4. It is a departing and being with Christ, which is far better. Surely we may “comfort one another with these words.”

IV. THE ONE LIMITATION OF THIS STATEMENT.

1. It is not as to time. We may die at any moment.

2. Nor as to place. It may be anywhere.

3. Nor as to manner. It may be in deep peace or dreadful pain.

4. But it is as to character. Of the saints of God alone is it said that their deaths are “precious in,” etc. Therefore, by surrender to Christ, be one of God’s saints.S.C.

Psa 116:16

The Lord’s service commended.

It is so

I. BY SCRIPTURE. (See text.) The one trouble of the psalmist seems to be lest he should not be owned by the Lord as his servant. Hence:

1. He asserts with emphasis, “Truly I am thy servant.” Here is not a mere make-believe, as so many professed servants of the Lord are.

2. And he reasserts it. “I am thy servant,” not was, or will be, but I am, here and now, this day, thine.

3. And he cites a fact which unanswerably proves his assertion. I am “the son of thine handmaid.” Slaves born in the house, home-born of another slave, were regarded as the property of their master, even more than those gained by purchase or taken captive in war. The meaning, therefore, is, “I am thy very own.” Thus completely and altogether does the psalmist dedicate himself to God.

4. And he brings forward the mighty motive which had led him thus to do. “Thou hast loosed my bonds.” He was speaking, probably, of the bonds of death, from the very gates of which he had been delivered (Psa 116:8). In his over whelming gratitude for this deliverance, he yields himself entirely to God. What a contrast does the psalmist present to the ordinary run of men! They care nothing for God’s service. If they begin it, they soon forsake it; or if perchance they seem to continue in it, with what sloth and slackness is it pursued! But the psalmist feels that no service he can render is too great; his one desire is to be confessed as the servant of the Lord.

II. AND RIGHT REASON ENDORSES THIS COMMENDATION.

1. We cannot escape service of some sort; some lord will have rule over us. Where is one whose rule is righteous and reasonable as is that of the Lord?

2. Has he not all claim? He is our Creator, Preserver, our Redeemer, and daily Benefactor, our heavenly Father.

3. The noblest of mankind have been the first to confess this.

III. So ALSO DOES EXPERIENCE. Who ever repented of having served the Lord too well, or thought he had done so sufficiently? The best of his servants are eager to have all those they love, and all whom they can influence, in his service. It brings here and now such rich recompense of reward, and promises eternal reward by-and-by. Our happiest hours are those spent in serving him. “He has loosed my bends, and I must and will serve him.”S.C.

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK

Psa 116:1

The various bases on which love rests.

A tradition associates this psalm with the serious sickness of Hezekiah. It may not be a trustworthy tradition. The Aramaisms of the language suggest that it belongs to the time of the restored exiles. It is a psalm of one who passed through a similar sickness to that of Hezekiah; and we are justified in illustrating the psalm from the experiences of the good king. The writer was evidently a man who had been brought through a sickness which had imperiled his life. He feels and sings as one who has just stepped up from the “border-laud.” He is in the first flush of restored life, deeply feeling what God has done for him, and realizing a new personal affection for God, which is bringing to him a thrill of holy joy. Compare Hezekiah’s psalm on his recovery. One thing especially seems to be present to thought, and it is made the basis of new love. That restored life was a direct answer to prayer. It therefore indicated God’s personal interest in him. God loved him; and love surely begets love.

I. GOD HEARING IS A BASIS OF LOVE. “He hath heard my voice and my supplications.” Then God is a living Being; in his image we are made; and he is responsive to his children. Contrast the feeling of the heathen, who prays to the stone figure of his god. He can only vaguely fear or vaguely hope, for there is no response from the stone face; and if he gets what he asks he cannot associate it with the action of the godit is but a happy accident. We can only love living persons. We use the term “love” in a very secondary sense when we apply it to things. God hearing is God living; and the living God can be the Object of human love.

II. GOD LOVING TO HEAR IS A FURTHER BASIS OF LOVE. “He hath inclined his ear unto me.” Inclining the ear is a sign of disposition, even of personal feeling and regard. When we do not care for those who make requests of us, how short and sharp we are with them! When we have personal regard for them, how patiently we listen. How we bend down to attend to them! How we incline our car! The psalmist read personal interest and affection in that inclining of the Divine ear; and it was precisely fitting that he should respond to love with love.

III. GOD‘S ACTING ON WHAT HE HEARS BECOMES A FURTHER BASIS OF LOVE. He may incline his ear, and so show his interest in us, but go no further. Then he would but be like so many of our earthly friends, who sympathize with us, but can or will do nothing for us. For God to hear is for God to heed, and for God to heed is for God to bless and help. And new love to him is kindled as we experience his deliverances and salvations. From every man God asks worship. From his healed, restored, redeemed ones he asks the worship of love.R.T.

Psa 116:3

Depression attending sickness.

There is a most subtle connection between the body and the mind. This was recognized by the psalmist, when he found such comfort in saying of God, “He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” It is embodied in the familiar idea of the healthy manMens sana in corpore sano. The mind can only work through the body as its agent, and is as dependent on its condition as the workman on the state of his tools. The influence of body on mind is fully recognized in certain forms of sickness. When the nerves or certain vital organs are affected by disease, fits of depression are characteristic features, and extremely distressing features. When life is imperiled, there is often a bodily prostration which acts upon the mind, and produces something approaching despair. It is often hard to get sick folk to see the “bright light in the cloud.” We are in danger, however, of making two mistakes in connection with this subject. We may make too much of the influence of the body on the mind, and so unworthily excuse bad mind-conditions. We may make too little of the influence of the body on the mind, and so unduly distress ourselves about our mental conditions. Both extremes should be avoided.

I. THE DIVERSE INFLUENCE OF SICKNESSES. Different diseases have different effects. And the influence of any disease depends on the bodily organization, mental disposition, and even religious sentiments of the man in whom it works. It has different effects according to the season of the year, and the state of the atmosphere; and it varies even according as the patient is well or badly nursed. All these things man cannot estimate, but we may be sure God does.

II. THE SPECIAL EFFECT OF SOME DISEASES. They directly affect the brain. They make a man become a sort of double self, as did the devil-possessions of our Lord’s time. There is the man of Christian trust and hope, and at the same time a man saying all sorts of bitter and unreasonable things against himself, and so a distress to him self and to all who have to deal with him.

III. THE MENTAL CONFLICT OCCASIONED BY SICKNESSES. When this dual life is created, there must be conflict between the man of trust and the man of despair. The soul’s love to God struggles hard to hold its own. It persists in hoping on. And its persistency is seen at every moment when the tight grip of the disease is loosened. It is the constant conflict of the flesh and the spirit.

IV. THE CONDITIONS OF SOUL–VICTORY UNDER SICKNESSES. To use a business expression, we must discount the influence of the body. We must keep from thinking about our spiritual state till we are free to judge it fairly. We must cling to what God is, and is to us.R.T.

Psa 116:6

Simple as opposed to guileful.

“The Lord preserveth the simple.” This is not the “simple” of the Book of Proverbsthe young, inexperienced, susceptible souls, who are only too easily led astray. “Simple” hero rather means gentle, sincere, genuine, inoffensive, guileless, not ordering conduct by the subtlety of this world’s wisdom; this very simplicity, which lays them most readily open to attack, is in itself an appeal for God’s protection. Compare our Lord’s commendation of the passive graces in his Beatitudes, especially this, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

I. THE SIMPLE MAN LETS GOD WORK. “The Lord preserveth the simple.” He has no confidence to make his own plans; he waits to know and fit in with God’s plans for him. This may seem weakness; and it sometimes is weakness. But it need not be. It should only be the simplicity of the child-spirit, which depends on the father, and has the fullest confidence in the fatherly wisdom and ways. He has no confidence in his own working out of the plan. So he leans on Divine help continually, ever saying, “What I know not, that teach thou me;” “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe,” This, too, may seem to be weakness, but it is not; it is only man meeting fully the conditions of his being, for man is as a climbing plant, only strong and able to attain his best when he leans upon the strong. It is the problem of life, and the simple man most easily solves itHow can humanity reach its best? The simple man says, “By being always open to God’s working in us.”

II. THE GUILEFUL MAN DOES HIS OWN WORK. He is quite satisfied with his own plans. They are such as will bring the best possible to himself. He has an eye to the “main chance” always, and means to secure it straightforwardly if he can, otherwise if he cannot. And he is quite satisfied with his resources. There is nothing that he cannot do, or thinks he cannot do. Life is to him the sphere in which things have to yield to his wishes. The guileful man has no particular need of God, and, indeed, he sometimes finds him in his way, and so is aroused to an active antagonism. “God is not in all his thoughts.” There is no place in him for humilityself-confidence fills all the space. There is no call to prayer, for he wants no help. He is sufficient unto himself, or thinks he is. The guileful man will not have it that he is a dependent creature.

III. THE GUILEFUL MAN REACHES PRESENT RESULTS; THE SIMPLE MAN REACHES ABIDING RESULTS. This is precisely the difference which having God makes. With out him there is nothing that abideth. With him everything worth having abideth forever.R.T.

Psa 116:7

Rest won and re-won.

I. A problem to solve is given to every dependent moral creature, and to the human race. It is this; WHERE, IN WHAT, OR IN WHOM, WILL YOU FIND YOUR REST? A husband finds rest in home. A thinker finds rest in truth. A worker finds rest in the products of his toil. Israel found rest in Canaan. The saint hopes to find rest in heaven. Where does the soul find its present rest? As the psalmist uses the expression, “Return,” we infer that he had solved the problem and found his rest. He must have found it in God, and in personal relations with God. The soul’s rest comes in the voluntary uniting of the soul with God; it comes when the soul goes out of itself to trust God fully; or, more precisely, rest comes by winning the character that can trust. And that character is gained only by discipline, which roots out the self-reliance. This rest is no mere idling quiescence. It is not destroyed individuality. It is such rest as the “Man Christ Jesus” knew all the while he was going to and fro on the earth’s highways. Many, looking over the conflicts of their early life, can remember how they won rest. They can recall their soul-struggle. They can remember how it ended in a glad surrender, which brought them peace.

II. THE SOUL‘S REST, WHEN WON, NEEDS PROVING. It must be tried. It may have to be tried “so as by fire.” In Birmingham there is a “proving-house.” The gun-barrels are skillfully made, but there is no security in their use until they have been tested and proved. The bridge may be completed, but traffic cannot be permitted until it has been proved. Young people go from country homes with good characters, but the full strong manhood does not come until those characters have been submitted to stern city-tests. Our earthly life, more especially, perhaps, the early years of our manhood, are the proving-house of the soul-rest that we have gained.

1. Our soul-testings often come in the way of enlarged faculties and increasing knowledge. Perhaps there never was a time when our discipline in this way was more severe. The man must grow out of his childish notions. Every year is bringing us richer stores of knowledge. Much of it is antagonistic to our previous knowledge; more of it is felt to be incompatible with it. We are half tempted to associate ignorance with faith, and knowledge with doubt, and then to wish that we need not know. But the trouble passes when we can see that this is a part of the soul’s proving-house, one feature of the discipline through which alone can come virtue and strength. “Let knowledge grow from more to more:” what matter, if only “more of reverence in us dwell”?

2. Our soul-testing often comes in the self-activity demanded in order to win world-success. Many a godly man has, for a time, lost his soul in the all-absorbing business, and civic, and political strain. There is no pressure put on men equal to that of heaped-up daily responsibilities. Under it their souls are flattened right down, silenced, stifled, crushed.

3. Our soul-testing often comes in the discipline of disappointment and failure. This we find represented in the psalms of Asaph. Such experiences made him feel uncertain about Godwhether he really was on the side of the good. But these provings need but have a passing and temporary influence. Bunyan shows his pilgrim sleeping in the arbor, and letting his roll drop out of his bosom, losing it thus for a while. Only when lost soul-rest becomes a permanent state does it become fatal.

III. THE SOUL‘S REST, THOUGH TEMPORARILY LOST, MAY BE REGAINED. God is always watching for the first opportunity to give it back; and the soul that has once had it is keen enough to seize the first occasion to get it hack. Here is the peculiarity of the psalmisthe had lost his soul-rest, but he was troubled by the loss.

1. All through the dark time in the proving-house he wanted to keep trust if he could. That made all the difference. There are two attitudes which we may take. We may want to doubt, if we can. We may want to trust, if we can. And though the false notion prevails that doubtingwanting to doubtis the more intelligent, it is surely more reasonable that dependent creatures should want to trust.

2. All through the dark time in the proving-house the psalmist kept that love to God on which his trust was based. The trust was no mere intellectual conclusion, which could be upset by enlarging knowledge. He had gained his soul-rest by self-abandonment. He gained it by entering fully into the sonship which is based on affection. There is no fear of love-relations with God. Love may have its faded times. Other interests may seem to come in, and for a time push love aside. It will never consent to be pushed aside very long; it will soon say, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul!”R.T.

Psa 116:7, Psa 116:8

God works in our human lives.

It seems as if God had not done some thing for the psalmist which he wanted him to do; and this troubled the psalmist, and filled him with doubts. He found consolation in thinking how much God had done for him. If he could not see God in a particular circumstance, he could see God in his life. The varied movements in a factory are quite bewildering to us, but the master knows, and guides them all to ends of his fashioning.

I. GOD‘S DELIVERANCE FROM BODILY PERILS. “Soul from death.” The “soul” here is the animal life. Spiritual need is not, here, in the psalmist’s mind. We all have had perils of deathfrom drowning, accident, or disease. Illust.: Hezekiah. Man walking in the dark, stopped at very edge of quarry. Do we keep the memory of God’s restorations of imperiled life? In this God has “dealt bountifully with us.” And we are bound to God by the claims

(1) of life given; and

(2) of life restored.

II. GOD‘S DELIVERANCE FROM HUMAN SORROWS. “Eyes from tears.” The thought here is of the trouble that causes grief-tears. We can look back over trials that were distresses, anxieties. Illustrate by the pathetic picture of David going up Olivet weeping, when fleeing before his willful son Absalom. Cannot bear to see a man disheartened unto tears. It is always a sad sight. It has been such to God. For us he has “wiped the tears away.” Illustrate by the fact that, in our family discipline, we let the child cry; but it is very hard to us to see it cry; and all the while we mean to wipe the tears away. See the bountifulness of God in dealing with us thus.

III. GOD‘S DELIVERANCE FROM MORAL TEMPTATIONS. “Feet from stumbling.” Who can look over life and fail to see times when the “feet were almost gone, the steps had well-nigh slipped”? We are liable to fall. “Prone to wander.” Exposed to temptation. We may learn a lesson from the spread of infectious diseases. Every thing depends on the measure of inward susceptibility. Then, should it not be our unceasing wonder that we have not fallen? Why have we not? There can be but one answer: “The Lord hath dealt bountifully with us.” There is, then, a threefold memory-bend binding us to God, and ever setting us upon asking, “What shall we render unto the Lord for all his mercy to us?” There is one fitting answer: “I will pay thee my vows.” We can just be God’s servants, in all holy love and obedience.R.T.

Psa 116:11

Hasty thought and hasty speech.

“I said in my haste, All men are a lie” (Revised Version). The idea is not simply that all men tell lies. It is that men constantly disappoint our expectations; and no security can come by reliance upon men. This kind of feeling comes to the good man still at times, especially when friends fail, and human reliances prove as broken reeds. It is so easy for a despondent soul to argue that since one trusted friend has failed, all must be untrustworthy. But the argument is a hasty one, and is quite unfounded, since one instance can never suffice to establish a rule. This also has to be taken into accountmen are constantly ready to undertake and promise more than they can possibly perform. Then their failure ought not to surprise us; it is a natural and necessary failure. The fault, indeed, is in part ours, seeing that we put an unreasonable trust in them. Before we complain of men’s disappointing us, we should question and criticize our trust in them. Dr. Barry explains the term, “in my haste,” thus: “in that sweeping and precipitate generalization of bitter experience, despairing of humanity, which is a sign of our own human frailty.” We are all liable to hasty thinking; but it is a special temptation to those who, like the Apostle Peter, are of an impulsive disposition. They form ideas on first impressions; and before there is any opportunity of weighing them and criticizing them, they speak them out, and act them out. Only the discipline of life cultivates wise self-restraint and careful reserve.

I. HASTY THOUGHT IS BEST KEPT AS THOUGHT. It is not always clearly recognized that suggestions made to the mind are not sin. They may be made by circumstances, or made by our fellow-men, or made by the spirit of evil. So far as they only awaken thought in us, no sin has been committed; our will has not been concerned in the matter. There is no more than response to suggestion according to the ordinary working of mental laws. So far there is something which we cannot help. If left alone, it will soon pass away. Only that is kept in memory on which the attention is fixed. Passing thought passes into oblivion. And this is the best fate for such a hasty thought as this of the psalmist.

II. HASTY THOUGHT DOES MISCHIEF WHEN IT GETS INTO SPEECH. So our Lord taught that the things which come out of a man defile him. It takes an act of will to give expression to a thought. That act of will makes the thought our own. If it is a bad thought, it must do a bad work by getting expression; for that expression starts bad thoughts in others. The psalmist’s hasty word sowed the seed of mistrust, which spoils the relations of human society.R.T.

Psa 116:13

The only return God looks for.

“I will take the cup of salvation.” Visiting Muller’s Orphan House at Ashley Down, Bristol, some years ago, we were shown into a room where, ranged on a gallery, were some seventy or eighty infant orphans of from three to five years of age, fatherless, if not motherless too. They sang to us a little hymn, and the pathetic refrain of it, as sung by those infant voices, we hear still in our souls

“What shall we render, O heavenly Friend, to thee,

For care so tender, for love so free?”

It is the feeling of all pious souls, the ever-growing feeling of the deepening experience, that no fitting return can be made to God, and that the only possible return we can make is to let him do all his work of grace in usto take his “cup of salvation.” We know how, sometimes, in the ordinary associations of life, the gifts of our friends altogether overwhelm us. We cannot keep pace with them in returning their gifts. At last we give up attempting to do so, and just let them spend their love on us as they will. This may help us to understand the psalmist’s feeling concerning God. Possibly there is a reference to the “cup of blessing” in the observance of the Pass over, which may have been introduced after the Exile; but it is better to regard it simply as a poetical figure, and as meaning, “I will accept thankfully and with devout acknowledgment the blessings which God gives me as my portion.” The Christian can flu the term “salvation” with higher and holier meanings.

I. THE HOPELESSNESS OF FINDING ANY WAY OF RETURNING GOD‘S GOODNESS. Because he wants nothing of us. When we would return a gift, how anxiously we try to find out what our friend wants I But it is hopeless to think of finding out any thing that God wants. Illust. by the reproachful plea through the psalmist (Psa 1:1-6.), “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.” And because we could find nothing that he wanted, if he did want. Things are not in our possession or control. How can we give when we have nothing? And all the things we seem to have are his.

II. THE HOPEFULNESS OF RESPONDING TO GOD‘S WAY FOR OUR RECOGNIZING HIS GOODNESS. What he asks of us is to let him bless usto be willing recipients of his benedictions, to take his cup of salvation; he wants not things, but thanks; not gifts but love; not offerings, but praise. “Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving.” That we can do.R.T.

Psa 116:14

Vow-making and vow-paying.

An important duty of Christian life is keeping ever fresh and vivid the memory of God’s saving mercies to us. Constantly throughout their history the Israelites were reminded of their deliverance from thee house of bondage, and of the vows and pledges involved in that deliverance. The effect of every quickened memory should be a new examination of our vows, that we may discover what of them we are failing to pay or to keep. God does expect a return from us for all his mercies towards us. That return is put in three forms.

I. “I WILL TAKE THE CUP OF SALVATION.” It honors God for us cheerfully to accept the blessings which he sends. It may be proper to refuse gifts offered by our fellow-men. It is never a true and worthy humility that hesitates to act upon God’s promises or to accept what God offers. And yet that we find beginners in the Christian life, and even experienced Christians, often do, especially when what God provides is not just “according to their mind.” Note also how the very freeness of God’s gifts makes them unacceptable to human pride. We like to have things on our conditions, and at our price.

II. “I WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD.” That is, in the spirit and act of thankfulness. Thankfulness should be regarded

(1) as an important Christian obligation;

(2) as an enjoined Christian duty; and

(3) as a most real help to the brightness, the joyfulness, and the steadiness of the Christian life.

The utterance of thankfulness is a public testimony of our recognized and happy dependence on God. “I have set the Lord always before me.”

III. “I WILL PAY MY VOWS UNTO THE LORD.” Give some account of Jewish vow-making in times of special thankfulness; as when recovering from a serious sickness.

1. Sincere and right-intentioned, vow-making is acceptable and pleasing to God.

2. The earnest endeavor at vow-paying is much more acceptable. Our resolves match the ancient vows; and our lives have witnessed many resolves made and few resolves carried out. Illust.; resolves in times of conversion, of success, of sickness, of trouble, of rescue from peril. Try to think what unpaid vows or resolves of yours God has on his record. Vow, but be sure to “pay your vows unto the Lord.”R.T.

Psa 116:15

Consolations for the bereaved.

Health and sickness, joy and sorrow, life and death, are strangely intermingled in the stories of human lives. They are the threads, the warp and the weft, of which the web of life is woven. Until sin is gone, it is better for us to keep the sorrows and the sicknesses and even the dyings; for these are God’s agents for stamping upon sin its true character, and he makes them to be but the anguish of our deliverance from sin’s power and dominion. In our times of bereavement we ought to know

I. THAT THE DEATH OF OUR BELOVED ONES IS A PRECIOUS THING TO GOD. These “deaths” are certainly very precious things to us, whether they come as a sudden call or follow upon many days of weary watching. There is peculiar sacredness in a time of death for a family. The family bend never seems so closely knit as then. Each member makes so much of each other member in those hours of common sorrow. Our text says that the dying of our friends is so precious to God. We may think of God as our Father; as one of our family, the very Head of our family, and therefore the one on whom the heaviest part of the burden falls. No one feels so deeply as the father and the mother; and in calling himself the great Father, he unveils a heart of infinite sympathy, that “bears our griefs, and carries our sorrows.” How God feels toward us finds its illustration in the manifested GodChrist Jesus. The sympathies of Nain, the tears of Bethany, show us our God. The death of the saint is so precious to God:

1. Because the trust of the dying is so severely tested. What the mysterious conflicts of the time of death are none of us can know, perhaps none of us can imagine. In perilous disease we may have been to the “border-land;” but, then, the border-land is a very wide space, and we have not really felt what it is for the soul fully to face the eternal, The struggle must be a great and sore one, for even the best of men, when they come to die, have a time during which their faith seems to fail, and their hope to die out. It is a most “precious” thing to God for a human soul to be in struggle.

2. Because the living who are left are so overwhelmed with sorrow. Of the heavenly sphere it is said, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” That means that the sympathy felt by God in their tear-bringing sorrows will by-and-by be able to express itself without limit or hindrance. Our tears are precious things to our heavenly Father, though, for the holiest ends, he may bid them flow on while we tarry here below.

3. Because through death God brings his children home to himself. To him death is precious; he thinks about it, is anxious about it, rejoices in the anticipation of that which follows it, looks on it much as the parent looks on the perilous journey which brings his absent child home. If we could always think of our beloved as gone home to our Father and theirs, their death would become precious to us. We think of them as dead, gone from earthly love and fellowship. Better think of them as having found the true love and the eternal fellowship.

II. THAT THE DEATH OF OUR FRIENDS FITS IN WITH GOD‘S PERFECT AND LOVING PLAN FOR US. When we look over our past lives we often can see the wisdom and goodness manifested in isolated scenes and incidents; but we fail to see the wonderful ways in which the various experiences fit in together. It is not always an easy thing to discern what the common things have to do with the special things, or how the special things have become necessary in order to teach more effectively the lessons learned from the common things. We fail to discern the plan. God’s plan in our life is not at present offered to our comprehension. It is offered to our faith. Our life is a worked pattern of various colors; the pattern is large, and it scarcely comes out until it is nearly complete. Our life is a complicated mosaic, and each day new shapes and new colors are added. God makes the pattern complete, but keeps it for a heaven-view.

III. THAT THE MYSTERY HANGING ABOUT THE DEATH OF OUR BELOVED WILL ONE DAY BE DISPELLED. Familiar as we are with death, its ways always seem strange to us. We think it has stricken the wrong person; it has come at the wrong time; or it has done its work in the wrong way. Sometimes Death comes too suddenly. In a moment our friend went in, and all left to us was the outer robe flung off as he passed through. Sometimes Death tarries wearyingly. Sometimes Death gathers about him circumstances which add peculiar painfulness to the death-scenes. We incline to say, “It is all wrong.” And yet it is God who arranges it. The wise God. The faithful Creator. The loving Father. It is precious to him. “Thou shalt know hereafter.” Let us wait. We all have some mysteries to keep until the time for unfolding mysteries shall come. By-and-by “we shall know as we are known.”R.T.

Psa 116:17

Spiritual sacrifices.

“Sacrifice of thanksgiving.” Acceptable to God, the great Spirit, not as thanksgiving, which may be as much a formality as a sacrifice, but as the sign of the thankful, loving heart, which gives itself to God in the thanks giving. The story of Cain and Abel, in the earliest age, stamps this truth. They did not merely bring their offerings as expressions of their thankfulness for temporal prosperity. The story clearly indicates that they looked for the Divine acceptance of themselves, in some sense, for the sake of their gift. Abel’s humble, earnest, grateful, trusting heart can receive God’s favor; from Cain’s formalities God’s favor must be withheld. Religion is not acts, but it can express itself in acts. Religion is heart-feeling. It is the devotion of a man’s self to God. Formal sacrifices are but the representation of the spiritual sacrifices for which God calls; and their value depends on the spiritual sacrifice being offered through them. “They that worship the Father must worship him in spirit and in truth.” “Not sacrifices, not temples, not services, not prayers, not good deeds, not steadfast morality, not generous giving, can of them selves ever gain Divine favor. The Spirit-God asks for spirit-worship. Because man is a spirit, it is beneath his dignity to offer, and it is beneath the dignity of God to accept, other than spirit-worship.”

I. SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES AS THANKSGIVINGS. The formality of thanksgiving was strikingly illustrated in the great national services held when the Prince of Wales was restored to health. It was an appropriate national act; and to many devout souls it was also a spiritual sacrifice. The worship of the Church is a sacred duty to be formally done; but it only rises to its highest when the souls of the worshippers are fully in the praise. The spiritual element in formal worship is an unceasing care to all devout souls. God asks to hear men’s souls sing when their voices raise the psalm.

II. SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES AS ADORATIONS. Calling upon the “Name.” There is a feature in the early Jewish ritual which it is difficult to retain in the Christian. The Jew had sublime, reverent, oppressive views of the majesty and holiness of God. So there was an element of adoration in the worship, and an element of adoration in the psalms. The truth of the Divine Fatherhood is misapprehended if it is allowed to lighten the soul’s august impressions of the Divine glory.

III. SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES AS PRAYERS. Our Lord spoke against “vain repetitions.” Prayer is soul-dependence and soul-desire. It may be spoken out, but it may not. God reads hearts.R.T.

HOMILIES BY C. SHORT

Psa 116:1-9

God the Deliverer.

I. CELEBRATES A GREAT DELIVERANCE. (Psa 116:3-8.)

1. From threatened death. (Psa 116:3.)

2. From the pains of the unseen world or of death. (Psa 116:3.)

3. His whole nature is troubled and sorrowful. (Psa 116:3.)

II. THE MEANS OR INSTRUMENTS OF HIS DELIVERANCE.

1. Prayer. (Psa 116:1-4.)

2. The goodness and mercy of God. (Psa 116:5, Psa 116:6.)

III. THE EFFECTS OF THIS DELIVERANCE.

1. An increase of love. (Psa 116:1.)

2. An increase of obedience to the Divine will. (Psa 116:9.)

3. A more untroubled rest in Godthe rest of faith. (Psa 116:7.)S.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Psalms 116.

The Psalmist professeth his love and duty to God for his deliverance: he studieth to be thankful.

THIS psalm was probably written by David upon his deliverance from Absalom’s rebellion; though some think that it was composed by Esdras at the return of the Jews from Babylon. The Jews were accustomed to sing this psalm with some others after their passover; for which, doubtless, they had the direction of some of their prophets, who saw that it represented Christ, the true paschal lamb, singing thus after his last passover, to preserve himself, as it were, for immediate sufferings and death; in full assurance of being heard in that he feared; and with the most affectionate praise and thanksgiving then devoutly offered, and promised also to be continually offered in the courts of the heavenly sanctuary, whither he was going to prepare a place for all his faithful servants: who, therefore, have here a most affecting example of offering praise even in a day of trouble, within the courts of the Lord’s house, here on earth, till they come to do it in the Jerusalem above; in the courts of the heavenly sanctuary. See Fenwick and Houbigant.

Psa 116:1. I love, &c. Hebrew, I love; i.e. “I am full of love:I love ardently and most affectionately,”as commentators well explain it; “And that because the Lord accepts, or will hear my prayer; [ ishmang,] helping me, in that I feared; so that in my days of distress or trouble [ ekra].”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Psalms 116

1I love the Lord, because he hath heard

My voice and my supplications.

2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me,

Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

3 The sorrows of death compassed me,

And the pains of hell gat hold upon me:
I found trouble and sorrow.

4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord;

O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

Yea our God is merciful.

6 The Lord preserveth the simple:

I was brought low, and he helped me.

7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul;

For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death,

Mine eyes from tears,

And my feet from falling.

9 I will walk before the Lord

In the land of the living.

10 I believed, therefore have I spoken:

I was greatly afflicted:

11 I said in my haste,

All men are liars.

12 What shall I render unto the Lord

For all his benefits towards me?

13 I will take the cup of salvation,

And call upon the name of the Lord.

14 I will pay my vows unto the Lord

Now in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the eight of the Lord

Is the death of his saints.

16 O Lord, truly I am thy servant;

I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid:

Thou hast loosed my bonds.

17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving,

And will call upon the name of the Lord.

18 I will pay my vows unto the Lord

Now in the presence of all his people,

19 In the courts of the Lords house,

In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.

Praise ye the Lord.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Contents and Composition.This is not a psalm of complaint (Hupfeld), but the song of thanksgiving of an Israelite rescued from death. It is interspersed with fragments of his yearnings, reflections, complaints, and prayers in that time of peril. It is penetrated also by the refrain-like utterance, gradually and ever more richly unfolding itself, of a vow to proclaim with praises, now after his deliverance, the name of Jehovah, whom he had invoked in his distress; and this he would do as long as he should live, before the whole people, and in the place of Gods worship in Jerusalem. Neither the peculiar nature of this distress, nor the position occupied by the author, nor the time of composition, is discoverable. The Psalm however, by the strong Aramaic coloring of the linguistic forms, set off as they are with all kinds of ornaments (Delitzsch), as well as by its numerous passages borrowed from Psalms composed before the exile, is proved to belong to a late period. A division into two distinct psalms, Psa 116:1-19, (Sept. and others) is not justified by the character of the poem. [Perowne: The Psalm is an evidence of the truth and depth of the religious life in individuals after the return from the Exile, for there is little doubt that it must be assigned to that period. Many words and turns of phrases remind us of earlier Psalms, and especially of the Psalms of David. His words must have laid hold in no common degree of the hearts of those who were heirs of his faith, and have sustained them in times of sorrow and suffering, and nothing would be more natural than that later poets would echo his strains, and mingle his words with their own when they poured forth their prayers and praises before God.J. F. M.].

Psa 116:1-3. I love. The explanation: It is dear to me, that is: I am glad or like to see, I rejoice, that thou, etc., (Isaaki, Aben Ezra, Luther, Geier, De Wette, Hitzig), is possible only if we assume an imitation of the Greek, and so descend to a very late period. It is more natural to suppose that the object is omitted, for the same anomaly occurs also in Psa 116:2; Psa 116:10, and therefore characterizes the style of the Psalmist. This object is naturally Jehovah, not grammatically but logically (Kimchi, Calvin, Grotius, Stier, Hengst., Del.), and therefore it is not necessary to transpose that word (Hupfeld). The change also in Psa 116:3, by which nets (Hupfeld) is put for oppressions, straits, [E. V.: pains] is not demanded, although on account of the affinity with Psa 18:2, it is not to be utterly slighted.

[Psa 116:5. Perowne: Instead of saying directly, Jehovah answered me, he magnifies those attributes of God, which, from the days of His wonderful self-revelation to Moses (Exo 34:6), had been the joy and consolation of every tried and trusting heart. Psa 116:7 : The deliverance vouchsafed in answer to prayer stills the tumult of the soul. The rest is the rest of confidence in God.J.F.M.]

Psa 116:10-11. The words of Psa 116:10 are in 2Co 4:13, after the Sept., employed to express the sense: , . But this does not compel us to give the same translation here (Luth. and others, Hengst.), and to understand the words as a confession expressive of belief in the mercy and help of God, and to refer the other member of the verse to the circumstances or consequences of that confession. The words and their connection are obscure. The second member is most simply viewed as expressing what is spoken. It is not admissible to take as meaning even if or although (Rosenmller, De Wette). To explain it as equivalent to: than that (Hitzig) would make the poet say, that his trust was greater than that he could declare it. But this thought would then be very obscurely expressed. It is better to explain: I have believed and do believe henceforth, when I speak, that is, have to speak, must speak (Delitzsch). Psa 116:10 would then contain the result of what was experienced, and Psa 116:11 would recall the time when he, abandoned by all those from whom he expected assistance and help, experienced the truth and faithfulness of God. [Dr. Moll accordingly renders: I trust, when I must say: I am greatly bowed down, I said in my terror: all men are liars. The following rendering with its accompanying exposition, taken from Dr. Alexander, seems to me to be the best, because it gives substantially the same idea as that conveyed in the citation made, and because it adopts the most frequent meaning of : I believed, for (this) I speak: I was afflicted greatly. I must have exercised faith, or I could not thus have spoken. The Sept. version, retained in the New Testament (2Co 5:13), clothes the same idea in a different form, I believed, therefore have I spoken. It was because his faith enabled him to speak, so that his speaking I was a proof of faith.I said in my terror all mankindkind are false. The form of expression in the first clause is borrowed from Psa 31:23. But instead of being a confession of error, it is here rather a profession of faith. The proposition; all mankind are false, i.e., not to be trusted or relied upon, implies as its complement or converse that therefore God alone is to be trusted. See the same contrast stated more explicitly in Psa 118:8, and comp. Psa 62:9-10; Psa 108:13; Psa 146:3-4.J. F. M.]

Psa 116:13-14. The figure of the cup of salvation, or the cup of deliverance, is perhaps taken from the cup of thanksgiving for the deliverance from Egypt, drunk at the paschal meal. Psa 116:18, especially, favors this view. The allusion made by Gesenius and Hupfeld to the fact that among the Arabs the cup was the symbol of fortune, does not explain the lifting up of this cup in connection with the proclamation and praise of Gods name. [Perowne: Many see in the words an allusion to the cup of blessing, at the Paschal meal (Mat 26:27), and this would accord with the sacrificial language of Psa 116:14; Psa 116:17. It is true that there is no evidence of any such custom at the celebration of the Passover in the Old Testament, but, as the custom existed in our Lords time, the only question is, as to the time of its introduction. If it was introduced shortly after the Exile this Psalm may very well allude to it. Dr. Moll renders the whole verse, I will raise the cup of salvation, and proclaim the name of the Lord. E. V. renders call upon the name. Probably both senses are included, according to the remark of Delitzsch that the expression is the usual one for invoking and proclaiming publicly Gods name. Psa 116:14 b (as likewise 18b) should be translated: Let me (do so) in the presence of all his people.J. F. M.]

Psa 116:15-16. Psa 116:15 is said to have been sung by Babylas, bishop of Antioch, when he was being led forth to death under the emperor Decius. The Apostolical Constitutions, 6:30, recommend the chanting of the same verse, along with others from the Psalms, at the funeral solemnities of those who have died in faith (Augusti, Denkwrdigkeit, 9:563). [In Psa 116:16 a. the true rendering is: Ah now Jehovah!2 for I am thy servant. Alexander: The expression of entreaty at the beginning has reference to something not expressed, though easily supplied, namely, permission thus to express his gratitude. J.F. M.].

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Our love to God is essentially a reciprocal love, as being a grateful return for the love actually bestowed upon us (1Jn 4:19; Psa 18:2), and is expressed in the readiness, exhibited by those whom He has delivered, to devote themselves to His name while they live, to invoke and proclaim Him all their days, whether by praying, thanking, confessing, or instructing, and to fix their whole trust and all their hopes upon God alone, and no longer upon men.

2. It reflects no dishonor upon one who has been blessed and saved, to recall his former temptations, cares, and complaints, as well as the misery and distress which he endured, and his natural helplessness. It rather tends to the salvation of himself and others, if he, before God, and in the Church, calls this weakness to remembrance with humility, and thankfully confesses what God has done for his soul. It helps, at the same time, to fix him more firmly in a state of grace, and serves as a defence against the danger of relapsing into his former weakness.
3. When we earnestly endeavor to pay our vows to the Most High, we must bear in mind, that we have not the power to return His benefits. And when we reflect how far our practice falls below our obligations, we are not to infer that we are released from our responsibility, but are to be urged to employ only the more zealously and conscientiously, the means of salvation and grace which God affords in the Church and in the ordinances of her service. We are strongly encouraged to this by the assurance that God has an earnest care over our lives, and that they have a value in His sight; that, therefore, He keeps watch over His chosen, and protects His saints, in order that they, as His servants, should serve Him, for their own salvation, for His glory, and for the building up of the Church.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

God bestows upon us so many blessings that none of us can return them to Him; and He asks nothing in exchange but our love.If we love God sincerely, we will trust in Him implicitly in our times of need, will give Him thanks for His help, and serve Him in His Church.It is not equally well with us at all times; but we are blessed indeed if we, with Gods help, have happily overcome the evil days, not merely of earthly calamity and outward danger, but also of spiritual weakness and inward trial.Our life has a value in Gods sight. Do we employ it to His praise?Wouldst thou come to thy rest? Cling always to God with simplicity of heart.

Starke: Who would be saved from despair when the tempest rages in the poor conscience, if God would not deliver?He who can pray in distress and trials has gained half the victory; but this it is hard to do.Childlike simplicity has powerful protection from God, and therefore also have believing souls.Far from the world is rest; far from God is unrest.We can never learn better what men are than in times of great distress, when we most need their help.If the death of Gods saints is precious in His sight, He will know the right time to avenge it on those who have poured out their blood as water.The true application of redemption consists in a life spent in obedience to God, in His kingdom, and in His service.

Selnecker: Gods love to me and mine to Him are here brought together.Believing, the confession of our belief, and suffering, are mutually connected.Frisch: Receive with thanksgiving what you must else receive whether you are thankful for it or not. Remember (1) that this cup comes from the hand of the Lord; (2) that it has been filled for many saints and beloved ones of God before you; (3) that it is not dealt out at random, but that all that you are to drink has been carefully measured; (4) that it is not a cup of wrath or intoxication, but rather a cup of salvation; (5) that, after the cup of affliction, comes the cup of rejoicing.Stier: A joyful testimony to the confidence of Gods saints in Christ, who die and yet live.Tholuck: A sincere prayer of gratitude is to the Lord the most pleasing sacrifice.Guenther: It is a wonderful mystery in the relationship in which men stand to God as His children, that the more they give thanks, the more they have to be thankful for, and thus receive the more good.Diedrich: We have all been raised from death and hell by Gods mercy helping us; therefore do we love and praise Him, and find described in this Psalm our own experience.Lean much on Gods help, and thou wilt learn what He is; avail thyself of it much, yea, even to the utmost; have recourse to Him in order that thou mayest be purified and quickened, and thou wilt experience who and what kind of a God He is.Taube: All true thanksgiving and songs of praise have their final result in an upright walk before the Lord. If the feet stand again upright through Him, they should also run in His ways, and walk according to His precepts and laws.

[Bp. Patrick: The very bonds which Thou hast loosed shall tie me faster to Thee.

Matt. Henry: As long as we continue living, we must continue praying; this breath we must breathe till we breathe our last; because then we shall take our leave of it, and till then we shall have occasion for it.Gods people are never brought so low but that the everlasting arms are under them, and they cannot sink who are thus sustained.Quiet thyself and then enjoy thyself: God has dealt kindly with thee, and thou needest never fear that He will deal hardly with thee.I know no word more proper to close our eyes with at night, when we go to sleep, nor to close them with at death, that long sleep, than this: Return unto thy rest, O my soul.The land of the living is a land of mercy, which we ought to be thankful for: it is a land of opportunity, which we should improve. If God has delivered our soul from death, we must walk before Him. Our new life must be a new life indeed.

Barnes: What does not the world owe, and the cause of religion owe, to such scenes as occurred on the death-beds of Baxter, and Thomas Scott, and Halyburton, and Payson!J. F. M.]

Footnotes:

[2][ (here for ). In regard to its composition and intensity of expression, see Ewald Gr. 262, Boettcher, 967, B. It is unnecessary to assume that the in the last word of the verse is the sign of the accusative. It is often assumed as an imitation of the Aramaic without the least necessity, as by Hupfeld in Psa 73:18, where see the addition. It is better to regard the noun to which it is joined as the indirect object. See Green, Gr. 272, 2, a. For the other view see Ewald, 277 e.J. F. M.].

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 689
THANKSGIVING FOR DELIVERANCE

Psa 116:1-7. I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful! The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

THE abruptness of this psalm shews, that it was the fruit of much previous meditation: the writer of it had been musing in his heart, till at last the fire kindled, and he spake with his tongue. It begins, I love: and, though our translators had not supplied the deficiency, there would have remained no doubt on the mind of the reader, who it was that was the object of the Psalmists regard. The fact is, that nothing so endears the Deity to the souls of men as answers to prayer; nor does any thing so encourage sinners to address him with unwearied importunity. The two first verses of the psalm are a kind of summary of the whole; setting forth in few words what he afterwards expatiates upon more at length: but though we shall, on this account, pass them over in our discussion, we shall not be unmindful of the resolution contained in them, but shall conclude our subject with commending it to your most serious attention.
The points which now call for our notice are,

I.

The troubles he had endured

[We know not for certain what these were; but we are sure, that the psalm was written after the ark had been brought up to mount Zion, and the worship of God had been permanently settled at Jerusalem [Note: ver. 18, 19.]: and therefore we apprehend, that is was written on occasion of Davids deliverance from some overwhelming distress both of body and mind, resembling that specified in the sixth psalm [Note: Psa 6:2-3.]. The terms used in our text might indeed be interpreted of death only; because the word hell often means nothing more than the grave: but we rather think that terrors of conscience, on account of his sin committed in the matter of Uriah, had given a ten-fold poignancy to the fear of death, and that his experience was similar to that described in the 25th Psalm, where he says, The troubles of my heart are enlarged; O bring thou me out of my distresses! Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins [Note: Psa 25:17-18.]!

But whatever was the precise occasion of Davids sorrows, it is manifest, that, sooner or later, we must all be brought into a situation wherein his language will be exactly suitable to us. The sorrows of death will shortly encompass us, and the pains of hell, if we have not previously obtained a sense of reconciliation with God, will get hold upon us; and, in the contemplation of an approaching eternity, we shall find trouble and sorrow, such as in our present state of carelessness and security we have no conception of. O that we could but bring our hearers to realize that awful hour, when we shall look back upon our mis-spent hours with unavailing regret, and look forward to our great account with fear and trembling, wishing, if it were possible, that we might have a fresh term of probation allowed us, or that the hills and mountains might cover us from the face of our offended God! Let all, even though, like David, they be monarchs upon their thrones, know, that the time must shortly arrive, when the things of time and sense will appear in all their real insignificance; and nothing will be deemed of any importance but the eternal welfare of the soul.]
Whatever his troubles had been, we have no doubt respecting,

II.

The means he had used for his relief from them

David had had recourse to prayer; Then called I on the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul!
This is the proper remedy for all our troubles
[Is any afflicted? let him pray; says an inspired apostle. And God himself says, Call upon me in the time of trouble; and I will hear thee; and thou shalt glorify me. Indeed, where else can we go with any hope of relief? If it be the death of the body that we dread, man can do nothing for us, any farther than it shall please God to employ him as an instrument for our good. If it be the death of the soul which we fear, who but God can help us? Who can interpose between a sinner and his Judge? If we betake ourselves to a throne of grace, and pray unto our God with strong crying and tears, we shall find that He is able to save us from death: but created powers are physicians of no value ]
We must however, in our prayers, resemble David
[Behold what humility and fervour were manifested in this petition; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul! Prayer does not consist in fluent or eloquent expressions, but in ardent desires of the soul: and it may as well be uttered in sighs and groans, as in the most energetic words that language can afford. God knoweth the mind of the Spirit, by whose inspiration all acceptable supplications are suggested. Never was there a petition more pleasing to God than that of the publican, God be merciful to me a sinner! nor did any prove more effectual for immediate relief than that recorded in our text. Truly this is a comfortable consideration to the broken-hearted penitent: the greatness of his sorrows perhaps prevents the enlargement of his heart in prayer: but God estimates his prayers, not by their fluency, but by their sincerity; and that which is offered in indistinct and unutterable groans, is as intelligible and as acceptable to him, as if every request were offered in the most measured terms. Prayer thus offered, shall never go forth in vain.]
This appears from,

III.

The success of those means

Most encouraging is the testimony which the Psalmist bears to the condescension and goodness of God
[Not a word intervenes between his petition for mercy and his acknowledgment of mercy received: Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. Here the Psalmist marks the union of justice and mercy in the dispensations of Gods grace towards him: and that union is invariable, whenever we plead before him that great sacrifice which was made for the sins of the whole world, and which has fully satisfied the justice of our God. Moreover, he represents this mercy as the common lot of all, who in simplicity and godly sincerity implore it at Gods hands; The Lord preserveth the simple, and will never suffer one of them to perish. But then he brings it back again to his own experience, and acknowledges with heartfelt gratitude that God had received his prayer, and made him a most distinguished monument of his mercy.]
Such is the testimony which every contrite and believing suppliant shall be able to bear
[Yes; justice is on the Believers side, as well as mercy. Whoever comes to God in the name of Christ, may plead, that all his debts have been discharged by his great Surety, and that all the glory of heaven has been purchased for him by his Redeemers blood. Through this infinitely meritorious atonement God is reconciled to man, and the righteousness of Jehovah, no less than his mercy, is declared in the remission of sins [Note: Rom 3:25-26.]: so that, if we humbly confess our sins, God will be faithful and just in forgiving our sins, and in cleansing us from all unrighteousness [Note: 1Jn 1:9.]. Let the simple-hearted penitent rejoice in this assurance; and let every one labour from his own experience to say, I was brought low, and he helped me.]

In the close of our text we see,

IV.

The improvement which he made of his whole experience

He determined henceforth to make God the rest of his soul
[Truly there is no rest for the soul in any other. We may renew our attempts to seek it in this lower world, but we shall find none, except in the ark of God. Indeed the great use of troubles is to bring us to a conviction of this truth: and, whatever we may have suffered from the sorrows of death, or the pains of hell, we may bless and adore our God for the dispensation, if it dispose us at last to seek all our happiness in him ]
To the same Rest must we also continually return
[As the needle of a compass which has sustained some violent concussion will continue its tremulous motion till it returns to the pole again, so must our souls do, if at any time through the violence of temptation they be diverted for a season from their God. Not a moments rest should we even wish to have, till we find it in him alone. In all his perfections we have chambers into which we may enter, and in which we may enjoy security from every impending danger. His omniscience will prevent surprise: his omnipotence will defeat our most potent adversaries: his love will comfort us under our most painful circumstances: and his faithfulness will preserve us even to the end. Let our troubles then drive us to him, and our experience of past mercies determine us to cleave unto him with full purpose of heart.]

Address

[We now revert to the resolution announced by the Psalmist at the very beginning of the psalm: Because the Lord hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. This shews how justly he appreciated the Divine goodness; that he regarded it as an inexhaustible fountain, from whence the whole creation may incessantly draw water with joy. The very command which God himself has given us, attests the same, and proves, that it is no less our privilege than our duty to pray without ceasing, to pray, and not faint. O Brethren, let every answer to prayer bring you back again more speedily to the throne of grace; and every communication of blessings to your souls make you more importunate for further blessings, till your cup runneth over, and you are filled with all the fulness of God.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

This Psalm contains some very gracious breathings of a devout soul; whether, by the spirit of prophecy, the sacred writer penned them as the suited language of Christ in the days of his flesh; or whether, as the pious ejaculations of one of the Lord’s people, following the example of Christ, I do not presume to determine; but certainly here is a blessed assemblage of devout expressions, highly becoming the faithful to adopt and use, with their hearts raised upwards to Jesus.

Psa 116:1

It is a point never to be forgotten, that if we love Christ, it is because he first loved us. 1Jn 4:19 . Laying this down as the foundation, the superstructure must be proper. It was God the Father’s love that first gave us his dear Son; it was Jesus’ love that first prompted his infinite mind to love us. Reader! never lose sight of these grand points of faith.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 116:10

Ernest Naville, the eminent philosopher of Geneva, wrote to the Countess de Gasparin in 1892: ‘I often ask myself what view, as death approaches, can be taken of their own past by men of letters who have used their pens in the service of evil passions, or have employed their talent in spreading a doubt which consumes them and the melancholy effects of which they cannot fail to recognize. People of that sort arouse within me feelings which fluctuate between scorn and pity. Happy are those who can say, borrowing the words of Holy Scripture, “I believed, therefore have I spoken”.’

La Comtesse Agnor de Gasparin et sa Famille, pp. 426, 427.

References. CXVI. 13. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 89. CXVI. 15. J. Keble, Sermons for the Saints’ Days, p. 30. CXVI. 16. Spurgeon, Sermons to Young Men, p. 325. CXVI. International Critical Commentary, vol. ii. p. 397.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

PSALMS

XI

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS

According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:

1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.

2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.

3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.

4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.

5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.

6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.

7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.

At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.

The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.

The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.

They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”

The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:

1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.

2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.

3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .

In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.

It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.

There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.

The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.

The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.

The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:

Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)

Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)

Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)

Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)

Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)

They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.

There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:

Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.

Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:

1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.

2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.

3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.

4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.

5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.

All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:

In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).

In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).

In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).

In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).

The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .

QUESTIONS

1. What books are commended on the Psalms?

2. What is a psalm?

3. What is the Psalter?

4. What is the range of time in composition?

5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?

6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?

7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?

8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.

9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?

10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?

11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?

12. How many psalms in our collection?

13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?

14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?

15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?

16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?

17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?

18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?

19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?

20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?

21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?

22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?

23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?

24. How many of the psalms have no titles?

25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?

26. How do later Jews supply these titles?

27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?

XII

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)

The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:

1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).

2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).

3. The nature, or character, of the poem:

(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).

(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).

4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).

5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).

6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).

7. The kind of musical instrument:

(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).

(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).

(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).

8. A special choir:

(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).

(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).

(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).

9. The keynote, or tune:

(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).

(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).

(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).

(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).

(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).

(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.

(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.

(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.

10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).

11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)

12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).

The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.

The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.

David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:

1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.

2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.

3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.

4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.

5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.

As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:

1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.

2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.

3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.

4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.

5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.

6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.

The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.

Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.

Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:

I. By books

1. Psalms 1-41 (41)

2. Psalms 42-72 (31)

3. Psalms 73-89 (17)

4. Psalms 90-106 (17)

5. Psalms 107-150 (44)

II. According to date and authorship

1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )

2. Psalms of David:

(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).

(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).

(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).

3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).

4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).

5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).

6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )

7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )

8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)

III. By groups

1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.

2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )

3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)

4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )

5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”

IV. Doctrines of the Psalms

1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.

2. The covenant, the basis of worship.

3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.

4. The pardon of sin and justification.

5. The Messiah.

6. The future life, pro and con.

7. The imprecations.

8. Other doctrines.

V. The New Testament use of the Psalms

1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.

2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.

We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:

1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )

2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )

3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )

4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )

5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )

6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )

7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )

8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )

9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )

The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.

There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.

It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.

The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.

Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:

1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.

2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.

3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.

The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.

QUESTIONS

1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.

2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?

3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?

4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?

5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.

6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?

7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?

8. What other authors are named in the titles?

9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?

10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.

11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?

12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.

13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?

14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?

15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?

16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?

17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.

18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?

19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?

20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?

XVII

THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS

A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.

Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.

The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:

1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.

2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.

3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.

In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).

This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.

It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:

1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.

2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.

We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.

1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.

The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.

The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”

In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).

But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .

Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).

This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.

2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:

(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).

(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .

(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”

(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).

What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!

3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.

(1) His divinity,

(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;

(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .

(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .

(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .

(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .

(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .

(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.

(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .

4. His offices.

(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).

(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).

(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).

(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).

(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).

5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:

(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .

(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.

(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .

(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).

And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).

And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).

Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).

These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .

(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).

(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .

(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).

(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).

(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).

(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).

(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).

The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).

The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).

The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).

His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).

In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).

His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).

Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).

With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).

We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.

QUESTIONS

1. What is a good text for this chapter?

2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?

3. What is the last division called and why?

4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?

5. To what three things is the purpose limited?

6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?

7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?

8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?

9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?

10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?

11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.

12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?

13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?

14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?

15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.

16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.

17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.

18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

XVI

THE MESSIANIC PSALMS AND OTHERS

We commence this chapter by giving a classified list of the Messianic Psalms, as follows:

The Royal Psalms are:

Psa 110 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 72 ; Psa 45 ; Psa 89 ;

The Passion Psalms are:

Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 ;

The Psalms of the Ideal Man are Psa 8 ; Psa 16 ; Psa 40 ;

The Missionary Psalms are:

Psa 47 ; Psa 65 ; Psa 68 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 100 ; Psa 117 .

The predictions before David of the coming Messiah are, (1) the seed of the woman; (2) the seed of Abraham; (3) the seed of Judah; (4) the seed of David.

The prophecies of history concerning the Messiah are, (1) a prophet like unto Moses; (2) a priest after the order of Melchizedek; (3) a sacrifice which embraces all the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament; (4) direct references to him as King, as in 2Sa 7:8 ff.

The messianic offices as taught in the psalms are four, viz: (1) The Messiah is presented as Prophet, or Teacher (Psa 40:8 ); (2) as Sacrifice, or an Offering for sin (Psa 40:6 ff.; Heb 10:5 ff.) ; (3) he is presented as Priest (Psa 110:4 ); (4) he is presented as King (Psa 45 ).

The psalms most clearly presenting the Messiah in his various phases and functions are as follows: (1) as the ideal man, or Second Adam (8); (2) as Prophet (Psa 40 ); (3) as Sacrifice (Psa 22 ) ; (4) as King (Psa 45 ) ; (5) as Priest (Psa 110 ) ; (6) in his universal reign (Psa 72 ).

It will be noted that other psalms teach these facts also, but these most clearly set forth the offices as they relate to the Messiah.

The Messiah as a sacrifice is presented in general in Psa 40:6 . His sufferings as such are given in a specific and general way in Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 . The events of his sufferings in particular are described, beginning with the betrayal of Judas, as follows:

1. Judas betrayed him (Mat 26:14 ) in fulfilment of Psa 41:9 .

2. At the Supper (Mat 26:24 ) Christ said, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him,” referring to Psa 22 .

3. They sang after the Supper in fulfilment of Psa 22:22 .

4. Piercing his hands and feet, Psa 22:16 .

5. They cast lots for his vesture in fulfilment of Psa 22:18 .

6. Just before the ninth hour the chief priests reviled him (Mat 27:43 ) in fulfilment of Psa 22:8 .

7. At the ninth hour (Mat 27:46 ) he quoted Psa 22:1 .

8. Near his death (Joh 19:28 ) he said, in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 , “I thirst.”

9. At that time they gave him vinegar (Mat 27:48 ) in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 .

10. When he was found dead they did not break his bones (Joh 19:36 ) in fulfilment of Psa 34:20 .

11. He is represented as dead, buried, and raised in Psa 16:10 .

12. His suffering as a substitute is described in Psa 69:9 .

13. The result of his crucifixion to them who crucified him is given in Psa 69:22-23 . Compare Rom 11:9-10 .

The Penitential Psalms are Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 . The occasion of Psa 6 was the grief and penitence of David over Absalom; of Psa 32 was the blessedness of forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah; Psa 38 , David’s reference to his sin with Bathsheba; Psa 51 , David’s penitence and prayer for forgiveness for this sin; Psa 102 , the penitence of the children of Israel on the eve of their return from captivity; Psalm 130, a general penitential psalm; Psa 143 , David’s penitence and prayer when pursued by Absalom.

The Pilgrim Psalms are Psalms 120-134. This section of the psalter is called the “Little Psalter.” These Psalms were collected in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, in troublous times. The author of the central psalm of this collection is Solomon, and he wrote it when he built his Temple. The Davidic Psalms in this collection are Psa 120 ; Psa 122 ; Psa 124 ; Psa 131 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 133 . The others were written during the building of the second Temple. They are called in the Septuagint “Songs of the Steps.”

There are four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents,” viz:

1. The first theory is that the “Songs of the Steps” means the songs of the fifteen steps from the court of the women to the court of Israel, there being a song for each step.

2. The second theory is that advanced by Luther, which says that they were songs of a higher choir, elevated above, or in an elevated voice.

3. The third theory is that the thought in these psalms advances by degrees.

4. The fourth theory is that they are Pilgrim Psalms, or the songs that they sang while going up to the great feasts.

Certain scriptures give the true idea of these titles, viz: Exo 23:14-17 ; Exo 34:23-24 ; 1Sa 1:3 ; 1Ki 12:27-28 : Psa 122:1-4 ; and the proof of their singing as they went is found in Psa_42:4; 100; and Isa 30:29 . They went, singing these psalms, to the Feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Psa 121 was sung when just in sight of Jerusalem and Psa 122 was sung at the gate. Psa 128 is the description of a good man’s home and a parallel to this psalm in modern literature is Burns’s “Cotter’s Saturday Night.” The pious home makes the nation great.

Psa 133 is a psalm of fellowship. It is one of the finest expressions of the blessings that issue when God’s people dwell together in unity. The reference here is to the anointing of Aaron as high priest and the fragrance of the anointing oil which was used in these anointings. The dew of Hermon represents the blessing of God upon his people when they dwell together in such unity.

Now let us look at the Alphabetical Psalms. An alphabetical psalm is one in which the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are used alphabetically to commence each division. In Psalms 111-112, each clause so begins; in Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 145 ; each verse so begins; in Psa 37 each stanza of two verses so begins; in 119 each stanza of eight verses so begins, and each of the eight lines begins with the same letter. In Psa 25 ; 34 37 the order is not so strict; in Psa 9 and Psa 10 there are some traces of this alphabetical order.

David originated these alphabetical psalms and the most complete specimen is Psa 119 , which is an expansion of the latter part of Psa 19 .

A certain group of psalms is called the Hallelujah Psalms. They are so called because the word “Hallelujah” is used at the beginning, or at the ending, and sometimes at both the beginning and the ending. The Hallelujah Psalms are Psalm 111-113; 115-117; 146-150. Psa 117 is a doxology; and Psalms 146-150 were used as anthems. Psa 148 calls on all creation to praise God. Francis of Assisi wrote a hymn based on this psalm in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister. Psa 150 calls for all varieties of instruments. Psalms 113-118 are called the Egyptian Hallel. They were used at the Passover (Psalm 113-114), before the Supper and Psalm 115-118 were sung after the Supper. According to this, Jesus and his disciples sang Psalms 115-118 at the last Passover Supper. These psalms were sung also at the Feasts of Pentecost, Tabernacles, Dedication, and New Moon.

The name of God is delayed long in Psa 114 . Addison said, “That the surprise might be complete.” Then there are some special characteristics of Psa 115 , viz: (1) It was written against idols. Cf. Isa 44:9-20 ; (2) It is antiphonal, the congregation singing Psa 115:1-8 , the choir Psa 115:9-12 , the priests Psa 115:13-15 and the congregation again Psa 115:16-18 . The theme of Psa 116 is love, based on gratitude for a great deliverance, expressed in service. It is appropriate to read at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Psa 116:15 is especially appropriate for funeral services.

On some special historical occasions certain psalms were sung. Psa 46 was sung by the army of Gustavus Adolphus before the decisive battle of Leipzig, on September 17, 1631.Psa 68 was sung by Cromwell’s army on the occasion of the battle of Dunbar in Scotland.

Certain passages in the Psalms show that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices. For instance, Psa 118:27 ; Psa 141:2 seem to teach very clearly that they approved the Mosaic sacrifice. But other passages show that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important and foresaw the abolition of the animal sacrifices. Such passages are Psa 50:7-15 ; Psa 4:5 ; Psa 27:6 ; Psa 40:6 ; Psa 51:16-17 . These scriptures show conclusively that the writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the Royal Psalms?

2. What are the Passion Psalms?

3. What are the Psalms of the Ideal Man?

4. What are the Missionary Psalms?

5. What are the predictions before David of the coming Messiah?

6. What are the prophecies of history concerning the Messiah?

7. Give a regular order of thought concerning the messianic offices as taught in the psalms.

8. Which psalms most clearly present the Messiah as (1) the ideal man, or Second Adam, (2) which as Prophet, or Teacher, (3) which as the Sacrifice, (4) which as King, (5) which as Priest, (6) which his universal reign?

9. Concerning the suffering Messiah, or the Messiah as a sacrifice, state the words or facts, verified in the New Testament as fulfilment of prophecy in the psalms. Let the order of the citations follow the order of facts in Christ’s life.

10. Name the Penitential Psalms and show their occasion.

11. What are the Pilgrim Psalms?

12. What is this section of the Psalter called?

13. When and under what conditions were these psalms collected?

14. Who is the author of the central psalm of this collection?

15. What Davidic Psalms are in this collection?

16. When were the others written?

17. What are they called in the Septuagint?

18. What four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents”?

19. What scriptures give the true idea of these titles?

20. Give proof of their singing as they went.

21. To what feasts did they go singing these Psalms?

22. What was the special use made of Psa 121 and Psa 122 ?

23. Which of these psalms is the description of a good man’s home and what parallel in modern literature?

24. Expound Psa 133 .

25. What is an alphabetical psalm, and what are the several kinds?

26. Who originated these Alphabetical Psalms?

27. What are the most complete specimen?

28. Of what is it an expansion?

29. Why is a certain group of psalms called the Hallelujah Psalms?

30. What are the Hallelujah Psalms?

31. Which of the Hallelujah Psalms was a doxology?

32. Which of these were used as anthems?

33. Which psalm calls on all creation to praise God?

34. Who wrote a hymn based on Psa 148 in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister?

35. Which of these psalms calls for all varieties of instruments?

36. What is the Egyptian Hallel?

37. What is their special use and how were they sung?

38. Then what hymns did Jesus and his disciples sing?

39. At what other feasts was this sung?

40. Why was the name of God delayed so long in Psa 114 ?

41. What are the characteristics of Psa 115 ?

42. What is the theme and special use of Psa 116 ?

43. State some special historical occasions on which certain psalms were sung. Give the psalm for each occasion.

44. Cite passages in the psalms showing that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices.

45. Cite other passages showing that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Psa 116:1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice [and] my supplications.

Ver. 1. I love the Lord ] Heb. I love, because the Lord hath heard, &c., Vex abrupta et ecliptica, an abrupt concise ecliptical expression, betokening an inexpressible, inconceivable passion, or rather pang of love, such as intercepteth his voice for a time, till recollecting himself, and recovering his speech, he becometh able to tell us, not only that he loveth, or is well satisfied ( Sat habeo. Tremel.), but also why he loveth, and is all on a light flame, as it were, viz.

Because he hath heard my voice ] Though but an articulate incondite voice: Lam 3:56 , “Thou hast heard my voice; hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.”

And my supplications ] My prayers for grace, when better formed and methodized.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Here we see the loving-kindness of Jehovah (Who is therefore loved) in delivering the simple ones, the righteous remnant from under the shadow of death that oppressed them. But the truth of this habitually applies to the suffering Christian (2Co 4 ), and not merely at a special time or Jacob’s hour, when be is to be delivered out of it. The “haste” is not carnal precipitancy, but of such alarm as would make one hurry away at once. Comfort comes, but Jehovah is trusted in faith, which is better still. The end is praise of Jah.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 116:1-4

1I love the Lord, because He hears

My voice and my supplications.

2Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

3The cords of death encompassed me

And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;

I found distress and sorrow.

4Then I called upon the name of the Lord:

O Lord, I beseech You, save my life!

Psa 116:1-4 This Psalm was written by a faithful follower facing death (cf. Psa 116:3). He explains his thought processes on how to deal with this situation.

1. affirmation – I love the Lord, BDB 12, KB 17, Qal perfect (cf. Deu 6:5; Deu 30:6; Psa 31:23)

2. why he loves YHWH

a. He hears my prayers, BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal imperfect

b. He has inclined His ear to me (parallel to a.), BDB 639, KB 692, Hiphil perfect

3. result – I will call upon Him, BDB 894, KB 1128, Qal imperfect

4. the psalmist’s condition

a. cords of death (cf. Psa 18:4-5) encompassed him, BDB 67, KB 79, Qal perfect

b. terrors (BDB 865 twice, of distress, cf. Psa 118:5; Lam 1:3) of Sheol came upon (lit. found, BDB 592, KB 619, Qal perfect) him (see Special Topic: Where Are the Dead? )

5. conclusion – I called upon the name of the Lord, BDB 894, KB 1128, Qal imperfect

His words were, O Lord, I beseech You, save my life, BDB 572, KB 589, Piel imperative

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

My voice and my supplications = My supplicating voice. Figure of speech Hendiadys. App-6. So some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “the voice of my supplication”.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Psa 116:1. I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

You cannot help loving God if he has heard your prayers. Have you tried him? If you have, you can join with David and thousands of others in confessing that he is a prayer-hearing God, and therefore you love him. I find the verse might be read, I love the Lord, because he hears. He is always hearing. I am always speaking to him, and he is always hearing me, and therefore I love him. Can you imagine a better reason for love?

Psa 116:2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

He hath inclined his ear stooped down, as it were, as you do to a sick person to catch his faintest word. He hath inclined his ear. He has heard my prayer, when I could hardly hear it myself. When it was such a broken prayer, such a feeble prayer, that I was afraid I had not prayed, yet he heard me. He inclined his ear, and therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. That is, I will never leave off praying, and I will never leave off praising.This is the best gratitude we can show to God. Now, if a beggar were to say to us, If you will help me today, I will beg of you as long as ever I live, we should not be very thankful to him; but when we say this to God, he is glad, for he wants us to be thus continually calling upon him.

Psa 116:3-4. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

He felt as if he had been hunted. As in hunting, they sometimes surround the stag with dogs as with a cordon, so he says, the sorrows of death compassed me. There was no getting away. I was in a circle of sorrow. Worse than that, his pains of conscience and heart were so great that he says, The pains of hell gat hold upon me got the grip of him, as though he were arrested by them as though those dogs had come so close as to seize and grasp him. Then, says he, I called. At the worst extremity he prayed. There is no time too bad to pray in. When it is all over with you, still pray. Often the end of yourself is the beginning of your God. He means to get you away from every other confidence, that you may fling yourself upon him. Then called I upon the name of the Lord. And what was the prayer? A very short one: O Lord, I beseech thee deliver my soul. God does not measure prayers by the yard. It is not by the length but by the weight. If there is life, earnestness, heart in your prayer, it is all the better for being short. Read the Bible through, and you will scarcely find a long prayer. Prayers that come from the soul are often like arrows shot from the bow quick, short, sharp; and God hears such prayers as these O Lord, I beseech thee deliver my soul.

Psa 116:5. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;

Wonderful combination gracious and yet righteous. And if you want to know how this can be, look at Calvary, where Jesus dies that we may live. Oh! the sweet wonders of that cross, where God the Saviour loved and died where there was the justice of God to the full, and the mercy of God without bound. Gracious is the Lord and righteous.

Psa 116:5-6. Yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple:

Those that have such a deal of wit may take care of themselves, but the Lord preserveth the simple, the straightforward, the plain-minded those who believe his word without raising questions. The Lord preserveth the simple.

Psa 116:6. I was brought low and he helped me.

Oh! many of you can say this, I trust, and if you cannot I hope you will before long I was brought low, and he helped me.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Psa 116:1-2

Psalms 116

PRAISING GOD FOR RECOVERY FROM SERIOUS ILLNESS

As an introduction here, we submit these discerning words of Derek Kidner.

There is an infectious delight and a touching gratitude about this psalm, the personal tribute of a man whose prayer has found an overwhelming answer. He has come now to the temple to tell the whole assembly what has happened, and to offer God what he had vowed to him in his extremity.

This writer feels an especially deep appreciation for this psalm, because three years ago, in 1988, he was diagnosed by six of the leading orthopedic surgeons in Houston as having the most “acute case of spinal stenosis” the doctors had ever seen. Included in the list of doctors was the head of the orthopedic surgery department of Baylor Medical University. The diagnosis included such words as “inoperable,” “incurable” and “wheel-chair.” Many people prayed for him, and many treatments were tried; God heard the prayers and healed him. Even the distinguished physician, Dr. Dean Cline, who supervised this writer’s illness, monitored all the treatments, and at last expressed astonishment at the complete recovery that God granted, when asked by this writer, “What shall I tell people who inquire as to what helped me to get well?” simply pointed upward and replied, “It is my medical opinion that the Great Physician on high laid his hand upon you”!

There can be no wonder, then, that this writer can identify with almost every word of this psalm.

Some commentators are reluctant to view the crisis from which the psalmist was rescued here as a serious illness, but there is no acceptable alternative. The great majority of the scholars whose works we have consulted prefer the interpretation expressed by Kidner in our opening lines. These include Clyde Miller, Albert Barnes, J. R. Dummelow, Arnold Rhodes, G. Rawlinson, W. Stewart McCullough, and a number of others. The interpretation accepted by all of these was thus stated by McCullough: “This psalm is an individual’s hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance from an illness that brought him to the very brink of death.

Briggs insisted that, “The psalm is not individual but national. But we cannot harmonize Brigg’s interpretation with the fact that in the RSV, the words, “I,” “me” and “my” occur no less than thirty-three times in nineteen verses!

Regarding the date and authorship, this writer is willing to accept, “The ancient Hebrew tradition which ascribed it to Hezekiah, and considered it to have been written on the occasion of his deliverance from death, as narrated in Isaiah 38. Many resemblances are traced between the phraseology of the psalm and expressions attributed to Hezekiah in Isaiah 37 and Isaiah 38.

To this writer, that old tradition is much more satisfactory than the `We don’t have the slightest idea’ opinions of some present-day scholars. Briggs cited the structure of Psalms 12 b and Ps. Psalms 18 b, stating that, “This favors an early date.

The presence of Aramaisms in the psalm has been interpreted by some as evidence of a late date; but the use of Aramaisms as an indication of date has been totally discredited by the discovery of the great corpus of Canaanite religious poetry dating back to 1400 B.C., called the Ras Shamra Discoveries (1929-1937). As Merrill F. Unger stated, “Aramaisms cannot be made a criterion for determining the date or authorship, for they occur in Old Testament books from both early and late periods.”

Psa 116:1-2

WHY THE PSALMIST LOVED THE LORD

“I love Jehovah because he heareth

My voice and my supplications.

Because he hath inclined his ear unto me.”

Nothing so thrills the human heart as the realization, sweeping like a tidal wave over one’s soul, that God, even the Almighty and Eternal God, has heard the feeble and distressed cry of a sufferer. For one not to love such a merciful and compassionate God would press the limits of human ingratitude.

E.M. Zerr:

Psa 116:1. The Lord heard the voice of David in that he granted his requests. For such a favor the Psalmist was led to love Him.

Psa 116:2. One favor encourages a man to ask for and expect another. Inclined his ear means the Lord lent a favorable ear to the prayer of David. For this reason he would continue to call upon God throughout life.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This is the fourth song of the Hallel. In it the note of triumph over death, with which the last one closed, is elaborated. The singer had evidently been in some grave peril in which he had practically despaired of life. From the peril he had been delivered by Jehovah, and now he sings His praise. It has two movements. The first tells of his love, and declares its reason and its issue (vv. Psa 116:1-9). The second tells of his resulting faith, breaks forth into new exultation, and affirms his determination to praise (vv. Psa 116:10-19).

His love is the outcome of Jehovahs love manifested on his behalf when in the very bonds of death he cried to Him. The issue is that he will walk before Jehovah. His faith thus confirmed, he breaks into new song, and dedicates himself afresh to the high service of thanksgiving.

Whatever the local circumstances which gave rise to this song, it is evident that all its rich meaning was fulfilled, when in the midst of that little company of perplexed souls, the shadows of the One Death already on Him, Jesus sang this song of prophetic triumph over the sharpness of the hour of passion to which He was passing. He has made it over to all His own as their dtriumph song over death.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

He Delivered My Soul

Psa 116:1-11

Throughout this psalm we meet the pronoun in the first person. Only in two verses, Psa 116:15 and Psa 116:19, does it not so occur. There is no fear of egotism, however, when the heart of the singer overflows with divine love.

Psa 116:1-4

The psalmist here compares himself to some wild animal ensnared by the hunter and bound by the sharp cords which make free movement impossible. Bow many of Gods saints have felt the deep incision of these cords! It has been with them as with Joseph, when let down into the pit. But there is no pit so deep that a cry from it may not reach the heart of God.

Psa 116:5-11

When the quiet faith of answered prayer is ours, the fluttering soul seems to settle down to its nest in peace. The feet which were slipping now walk in the paths of life. Notice the prayer of Psa 116:4 and the reply of Psa 116:8. God does more than deliver; He wipes the tears from our faces, and holds us as a mother who places her hands under the armpits of her child, teaching it to walk. Paul quotes Psa 116:10 in 2Co 4:13. How often must this psalm have been in his thought and on his lips! Do not speak hastily. An eminent religious leader said once, I shall have good hopes of you, when you can speak and move slowly.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Psa 116:1

(1) There are multitudes who are utterly careless about God, in whose minds He exists as the object neither of one feeling nor another, who never think of Him so as either to love Him or be displeased with Him. (2) There are those who think much about God, but, instead of loving Him, are full of terror of Him. (3) There are not a few who, instead of loving God, hate Him, verily hate Him.

I. Notice some other species of love with the manifestations of which those of Divine love are liable to be confounded by the undiscriminating. (1) The saints’ love of God has nothing in it of the nature of that affection of appetite by which so much of the love of earthly objects is characterised. (2) The love of God has nothing in it of the nature of that affection of instinct which is characteristic of the love of a mother for her infant child. (3) The saints’ love of God has nothing in it of the nature of the love of compassion. (4) The saints’ love of God is not of that character or degree which is produced by sensible intercourse.

II. In what does the saints’ love of God positively consist? (1) In its purest form, it consists in an admiration and esteem of His excellence-the love of moral approbation. All God’s moral perfections make Him an object of love: (a) His justice; (b) His benevolence. (2) All love of God must commence at least with the love of gratitude, with loving Him because He has loved us, each one discerning for himself that God has been bountiful to him, is bountiful to him now, and will continue bountiful in all time to come. (a) Neither any consideration of God’s bounty in creation nor any review of His bounty in providence will beget love for Him in the bosom of a man who is conscious of guilt, for the obvious reason that neither of these two works of nature contains any assurance for him of that which above all things else he needs: mercy, to pardon his iniquities. (b) No man can attain to the love of God who does not appropriate the tidings of the Gospel to himself.

W. Anderson, Discourses, p. 170.

Psa 116:7

The rest of which the text speaks is the rest of a being who has found again his proper and congenial sphere. In reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ the soul regains its lost equilibrium, finds again the centre of repose for which it had been sighing in vain. “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden,” is the invitation of incarnate love; “and I will give you rest.” And in the soul that yields to this invitation there rises the response of its deepest nature, the instinctive throb of a new yet natural affection, the calm sense of existence fulfilled and unexplained hope and desire solved in fruition-the witness in its own inmost consciousness that its true rest is found at last.

I. The rest of which the text speaks is not bodily or physical, but mental or spiritual, rest. (1) Bodily repose reaches not to the true centre of man’s peace; but mental repose entrenches itself in the deepest region of man’s nature, and renders him impregnable to outward assault. (2) Physical repose can only be periodic; the rest of the soul is essentially continuous.

II. The rest of which the psalmist speaks may be described, again, as the rest not of immobility, but of equipoise. In the repose of a saintly spirit there is latent power. The inward repose which, sooner or later, true religion brings, is the result of the final conquest and subjugation of man’s lower nature. The peace of the holy mind is the peace not of stagnation, but of self-conquest.

III. The true rest of the soul is that not of inactivity, but of congenial exertion. Labour is rest to the active and energetic spirit. The mind itself does not waste or grow weary; and but for the weight of the weapons wherewith it works, it might think, and imagine, and love on for ever. The service of God, beyond all other kinds of labour, may become the most perfect rest to the soul. As love to Christ deepens in the soul that is truly given to Him, the work which it prompts us to do for Him loses the feeling of effort and passes into pleasure.

IV. This rest is not absolute, but relative. Whilst it is a great thing to be an earnest worker in Christ’s service, yet the Christian life is not mainly a life of action, but of trust, not of independent exertion, but of self-abandonment to the working of a mightier agency than ours. Calmly as the midnight voyager sleeps whilst, under watchful guidance, the vessel bears him onwards, so calmly, with such trustful humility, does the believer commit himself and his fates for time and eternity to the unslumbering providence of God.

V. This rest is attainable through Christ alone. “No man cometh unto the Father but by Him.” He offers pardon to the guilty, purity to the defiled, peace, joy, hope, heaven, to the wretched, or that which includes them all: that strange, unearthly blessing rest to the weary and heavy-laden soul.

J Caird, Sermons, p. 192.

References: Psa 116:7.-M. R. Vincent, Gates into the Psalm Country, p. 215; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 339. Psa 116:8.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 105. Psa 116:9.-M. Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical, p. 319.

Psa 116:11

The text reveals the psalmist as having passed through the shadow of that mood of mind to which we give the name of cynicism. The great danger is lest the mood should pass into a habit, lest we should nurse it until it becomes a chronic attitude of mind, and we begin to lose the taste of its bitterness and to take a morbid pleasure in indulging it. Notice one or two practical safeguards against the attitude or habit of cynicism.

I. Let us cherish a modest estimate of our own abilities and our own importance.

II. Let us cultivate the habit of looking out for human excellences, and of putting the most generous construction on human actions.

III. Let us seek to look at all men as through the eyes of Christ.

T. Campbell-Finlayson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 353.

References: Psa 116:11.-S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 186. Psa 116:12.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi., No. 910.

Psa 116:12-13

The great thought which lies here is that we best requite God by thankfully taking what He gives.

I. Note how deep that thought goes into the heart of God. We requite God by taking rather than by giving, not merely because He needs nothing, and we have nothing which is not His. The motive of His giving to us is the deepest reason why our best recompense to Him is our thankful reception of His mercies. The principle of our text reposes at last on “God is love, and wishes our hearts,” and not merely on “God has all, and does not need our gifts.”

II. Look at the elements which make up this requital of God in which He delights. (1) Let us be sure that we recognise the real contents of our cup. It is a cup of salvation, however hard it is sometimes to believe it. (2) Be sure that you take what God gives. There can be no greater slight and dishonour to a giver than to have his gifts neglected. (3) One more element has still to be named: the thankful recognition of Him in all our feasting. “Call on the name of the Lord.” Only he who enjoys life in God enjoys it worthily. Only he who enjoys life in God enjoys it at all.

A. Maclaren, Weekday Evening Addresses, p. 142.

Psa 116:13

I. We see here, first, God giving. The form which the giving takes in this representation is the hand of God presenting a cup. Goodness is manifested in all God’s giving, in the cup of wrath as in the cup of blessing; but the cup of blessing is a revelation of love, God giving. This is the ultimate Owner giving. This is giving on His part in whom the absolute right of possession is vested. This is righteous giving. This is giving which need not make us afraid of taking.

II. Man taking. The taking here is not a simple laying hold of that which God gives, but the use and enjoyment of what God bestows. To take the cup of salvation is to receive a blessing in all its fulness, to the utmost limit of our receptive capacity and of our power to accept and to enjoy.

III. God’s servant seeing God in what he takes. There is a name of God on every cup, and in every act of offering a cup.

IV. Worship, the fruit of what we receive and see. Past and present gifts on the part of God should encourage us in three things: prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

S. Martin, Rain upon the Mown Grass, p. 273.

References: Psa 116:13.-S. H. Booth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 161; C. J. Vaughan, Ibid., vol. viii., p. 273. Psa 116:15.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1036; Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. ii., p. 278; J. Keble, Sermons for Saints’ Days, p. 30.

Psa 116:16

There is service in the very fact and nature of existence. A man whose heart, and mind, and soul are right with God, whose affections are really given to Him, whose intellect grasps Him, and whose inner spiritual life is united to Him-that man is truly a servant of God, and in so far does his proper part, though you may call it the mere “service of being.”

I. We are right always according as we view anything as God views it. Now God, surveying all His vast creation, regards all things which He has made as created for this one end: to do Him homage and adoration. Even in irrational and in insensible creation there is the service of being. Man is sent to render the service of all the handiwork of God. What then if man himself do not serve God? Then the whole series is idle; then God’s design is frustrated; then throughout the world the absence of man’s service mars the whole system and design of universal being.

II. Every man is a temple. The body is its holy walls, the intellect or the feelings are the sacred interior of the edifice, the soul is the shrine, and the indwelling spirit is the consecrated presence. Let all these be simply there, in their harmony and proportion, and there is the service of being.

III. Service is something beyond and better than obedience. (1) It involves community; you cannot serve right without an identity of interest with the person you are serving. (2) Service is not compatible with divided allegiance. (3) Service must be of the whole man at once.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 34.

Psa 116:16

I. David’s design here is to represent his piety as hereditary; and he mentions his mother because to her especially, in all probability, his religious convictions and impressions were instrumentally due. If this were the case, how much does the Church owe, under God, to the kindly wisdom of that godly mother, for it is the mother, after all, that has most to do with the making or the marring of the man.

II. David and Moses may be regarded as instances in which the good seed fell into good soil, and in which the return was speedy as well as rich. But it is not always so; usually, we may say, it is not so. For the most part the seed lies apparently dormant, the spring is long and unpromising, and the faith of the sower has to be exercised in a patient waiting for the promised growth. Nay, sometimes it seems as if all were lost, as if the seed had utterly perished, and as if the soil that had been so carefully cultured and watched over must be hopelessly given up to desolation or to rank and abominable weeds. But a mother’s teachings have a marvellous vitality in them; there is a strange, living power in that good seed which is sown by a mother’s hand in her child’s heart in the early dawn of the child’s being; and there is a deathless potency in a mother’s prayers and tears for those whom she has borne, which only God can estimate.

W. Lindsay Alexander, Christian Thought and Work, p. 255.

References: Psa 116:16.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 42; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi., No. 312, and vol. xxix., No. 1740; J. Vaughan, Sermons, 13th series, p. 5; Good Words, 1861, p. 190. Psa 116:18.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 38. Psa 117:1.-B. M. Palmer, Ibid., vol. ix., p. 143.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Psalm 116

The Praise of Israel for Deliverance from Death

1. The Deliverance-Experience (Psa 116:1-9)

2. Thanksgiving (Psa 116:10-19)

Redeemed Israel expresseth in this Psalm her love to Jehovah for His gracious deliverances, for answered prayer and for His salvation. They were, during the great tribulation, as a faithful remnant; surrounded by the sorrows of death, the pains of Sheol were upon them. Death stared them in the face. Then they cried to the Lord, and, as of old, He heard them and sent deliverance. He dealt bountifully with them, delivered them from death, the eyes from tears, the feet from falling. And now they serve Him, taking the cup of salvation and performing their vows unto the Lord. The death of those who died in the tribulation period as martyrs is mentioned in Psa 116:15. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. Compare with Rev 14:13, which also refers to the Jewish martyrs during the tribulation. The Psalm ends with another hallelujah.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

am 3468, bc 536 – Title From several instances of the Chaldee dialect being used in this Psalm, it appears to have been written after the Babylonian captivity.

love: Psa 18:1-6, Psa 119:132, Mar 12:33, Joh 21:17, 1Jo 4:19, 1Jo 5:2, 1Jo 5:3

because: Psa 18:6, Psa 31:22, Psa 31:23, Psa 34:3, Psa 34:4, Psa 40:1, Psa 66:19, Psa 66:20, Psa 69:33, Gen 35:2, 1Sa 1:26, Joh 16:24

Reciprocal: Gen 19:19 – and thou Gen 24:21 – wondering at Gen 24:52 – worshipped Gen 35:3 – who answered Deu 11:1 – thou shalt Deu 26:7 – we cried 1Sa 1:27 – and the Lord 2Sa 22:1 – David 1Ki 9:3 – I have heard 1Ki 22:32 – Jehoshaphat 1Ch 4:10 – God granted 2Ch 18:31 – Jehoshaphat Est 5:2 – she Job 9:16 – If I had Job 22:27 – make thy Job 33:26 – pray Psa 3:4 – I cried Psa 6:9 – will receive Psa 28:6 – General Psa 59:16 – day Psa 66:17 – I cried Psa 71:2 – incline Psa 77:1 – gave Psa 118:21 – General Son 1:7 – O thou Isa 38:9 – writing Lam 3:56 – hast

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The God of resurrection, and the recall of Israel’s heart to Him.

This does not, however, complete the story; and the 116th psalm comes in here to show how nearly Israel had been in those terrible jaws of death, -ingulfed, but for the mercy of God, to utter perdition. It is the sense of this deliverance that brings their hearts to God, and makes them His servants for ever.

1. The opening of the psalm is simple enough: a story which every one brought to God will recognize as his own. Israel, in the realization of the grace that has answered her, takes her place of confession of Jehovah her God, henceforth to own Him alone.

2. The deliverance is then recounted from the toils of death and the straits of sheol. They calling on Jehovah in distress, He manifested Himself in loving mercy and salvation.

3. The soul can now return to its rest. Delivered from death, Israel walks before God in the land of the living.

4. The fourth section; though only of two verses, is as important as it is emphatic. Experience has shown absolutely what the psalmist believes as a most certain truth, that all confidence in man is vain. “I said in my haste to escape” -not that it was, as we say, a mere hasty speech, for it is this in which he is so confident that he speaks it out -“all men are liars.”

This realized in the soul, with honest self-application; sweeps it clean of the last remnant of self-righteousness and self-dependence. Out of a wreck so absolute nothing is saved, except what was never in it. God remains, and there is nothing else. The ground is clear for faith to build its temple for Him alone.

5. He turns, therefore, to ask, “What shall I render to Jehovah for all His benefits toward me?” What is right and suitable when all that is of value is what I find in Him? Well, I can receive and own His grace: “take the cup of salvation; and call upon Jehovah’s Name.”

But there is more than this. There are vows now to be performed to Jehovah: and this is repeated in the same words before the close of the psalm. Israel’s legal vow she has, as we know, utterly failed in, and is still suffering the consequences of her failure; but there are thanksgiving vows that in the day of coming blessing shall be fulfilled. (Psa 56:12; Isa 19:21.) They imply no legality, but the consciousness of what grace has done, and the praise with which the heart is filled and empowered. Praise is now easy, -necessary: it is, indeed, but what His vow implies who will be in that day the Leader of His people’s praises (Ps. 22: 22, 33); and who will be silent then? Thus these vows are evangelic only. They are connected with the “cup of salvation,” and Another’s work, -the joyful assurance of what that work means for them.

The 15th verse is a kind of enigma, in the connection in which it stands. It is, in fact, however, the solution of an enigma, and one most important for the soul at all times. For the law, death, as we have elsewhere seen abundantly, and as we see in the earlier part of this very psalm, was necessarily a shadow. The blessings declared by law are so thoroughly blessings to be enjoyed on earth, the dead thus losing part in them; those of the prophets themselves being so much of this character -Israel’s blessings in the land in coming times -that of necessity this would be so until, with the New Testament, the full revelation of the heavenly things should come. Going through the sufferings and trials of the latter days, in which the question of their title to national blessing was pressing upon them; death would again have for the remnant of Israel all its significance. Were they to die or live would seem to involve fully the question of the wrath or favor of God; and under the bitter persecution of that time many, in fact, will die. Resurrection might explain this: for the orthodox in Israel have, as we know, always believed in resurrection; but here again there might be a question: Was not the resurrection already passed? For Christians, and along with these the whole of the saints of former times, it will in fact have taken place when Israel’s travail-pangs come upon her; and can they be ignorant of this who are under the teaching of Christ, specially addressed to those in view of that time of unequaled tribulation (Mat 24:1-51)? His word there, moreover, is that “he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” What, then; as to the saints of that period does death mean?

Most confirming it is to find in the book of Revelation,which so clearly brings before us the trials and sufferings of these very Israelitish saints, the same question anticipated and provided for. In the 14th chapter, which has to do with those who are seen anticipatively in the commencement of it as standing upon Mount Zion with the victorious “Lamb,” after Babylon is fallen (ver. 8), and when the time of the antichristian “beast” and his followers is in contemplation; it is suddenly announced, as if in contrast with the woe upon the beast-worshipers, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” (ver. 13.)

The words “from henceforth” show the special application of what must seem otherwise a general truth; and the connection shows that the application must be, pre-eminently at least, to the latter-day remnant of Israel. And here is again the assurance so needful, just to those of this class, of death being no loss to these, but rather gain. How perfectly has the tenderness of the Lord provided for the peculiar need of these peculiarly tried and needy sufferers! The New Testament clasps hands, as it were, with the Old about them; to give them an assurance specially needed, as is plain, in their case: while the comfort abides, of course, for all of every time. Such are the “oracles” of God’s living word; and so sweet a testimony have we of the heart behind them!

In the psalm, where it reaches prophetically in the history of the nation; Israel’s salvation has come, and the blessedness of the dead saints has come into open light, and is a matter of experience. And so the numerical structure declares it. But, as already said, by this anticipative expression of it, it has been made the property of believers of every time; and lightens the shadows of the Old Testament with its emphatic assurance, “Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of His pious ones.” It is not “holy ones” here, but those whose heart toward Himself the Lord realizes and acknowledges.

6. The closing section beautifully expresses in the number of it the triumph of His ways in bringing thus the heart of Israel back to Himself. We have, first of all, and as the foundation of all else, the spirit of obedience which is the fruit of His grace. They serve in liberty, in the constraining sense of His love who has loosed them from their bonds. They confess His Name with sacrifices of thanksgiving, and thus perform their vows. The circumstances are now added which assure us in what a scene the vision ends for us: “in the courts of Jehovah’s house, in the midst of thee, Jerusalem.” Jehovah has taken His place once more in the midst of His gathered people; and that is the sign which shows the day has now come for the earth; and for the “gathering of the peoples” so long foretold, at last to Shiloh. (Gen 49:10.)

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

Psa 116:1-2. I love the Lord Hebrew, I love, because the Lord hath heard my voice. The soul, transported with gratitude and love, seems, at first, to express her affection without declaring its object, as thinking that all the world must know who is the person intended. Thus Mary Magdalene, at the sepulchre, though no previous mention had been made of Jesus, says to one, whom she thought to be the gardener, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, &c. Joh 20:15. And ought not the love of God to be excited in all our hearts by the consideration, that when we were not able to raise ourselves up to him, he mercifully and tenderly inclined and bowed down his ear to us? Horne. Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live Hebrew, , bejamai ekra, in my days, that is, as long as I have a day to live, as this phrase is used 2Ki 20:19; Isa 39:8.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

It is scarcely doubted but David is the author of this psalm, and that he wrote it when in exile from Sauls persecution, or when Absalom rebelled, or on some similar occasion of danger and grief. It is a psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance. He loved the Lord, because he had heard the voice of his supplication.

Psa 116:3. The sorrows of death. See Psa 18:4.

Psa 116:6. The Lord preserveth the simple. Hebrews pethayim, the hasty, or those who offend, not through malice, but frail impetuosity. Parkhurst. The Versions read, the little ones, the weak of his flock, whose angels do always behold the face of their Father in heaven. Mat 18:10.

Psa 116:7. Return unto thy rest. Be composed, after the storm of Absaloms rebellion, and rest in the ample perfections of thy God. The temple was the rest which God had chosen. To him shall the gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. Isa 11:10. David would approach with humility, and pay his vows to the Lord in Jerusalem, as in the following verses.

Psa 116:9. I will walk before the Lord. I will be more circumspect than ever I was in former life.

Psa 116:11. I said in my haste. The LXX, , exstacei, in the excess of my grief, depression and fear.

REFLECTIONS.

Every fresh mercy is a fresh argument to piety, praise and love. We ought indeed to love the Lord when he puts off our prayers, and covers himself with a cloud, through which they cannot pass; but his gifts and answers to prayer revive the soul, and quicken our returns of grateful affection and love.

To heighten his gratitude, and excite similar sentiments in the church, David describes his danger and anguish. The sorrows, or rather the snares or cords of death, entangled him. He was in great trouble and brought low, but the Lord helped him through. He charged his soul to return to its rest, and to be grateful and obedient. The divine perfections are the proper rest of the soul; the atonement of Christ is the rest of the conscience; and on taking refuge there, love, joy and peace inundate the soul with the earnest of an eternal rest.

David encourages others to trust in the Lord. I believed, therefore have I spoken; though there was a moment when he seemed not to believe, but said, all men are liars. Either thinking Samuel deceived, who had promised him a kingdom, or in after troubles accounting all his courtiers no better than traitors, St. Paul applies this text to the preaching of the gospel. 2Co 4:13.

While reviewing past mercies he was so deeply impressed with gratitude, that he scarce knew how to praise the Lord sufficiently. But he would take the cup of salvation, he would drink a little, and make a libation of the rest on the altar. So our blessed Lord took the cup, and gave thanks; which cup was his most precious blood about to be shed on the altar of Calvary.

He would pay his vows to the Lord, not merely in additional sacrifices, but by praise and obedience. And how many are our obligations to the like fidelity? We are the Lords creatures, we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, we have been devoted by our parents, and by our personal vows oft repeated. Besides, the Lord has preserved us in a thousand dangers, and precious in the sight of the Lord are both the life and the death of his saints.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

CXVI. A Song of Comfort in Affliction.There is nothing to justify the division into two Pss. (a) Psa 116:1-9, (b) Psa 116:10-19 (LXX); the same theme in its double aspect is continued throughout.

Psa 116:2 b. Read, and I will call on the name of Yahweh.

Psa 116:3. Cf. Psa 18:4 f.

Psa 116:6. simple: in a good sense: contrast Pro 1:4, etc.

Psa 116:10 a. Read, I believed: therefore have I spoken (LXX, cf. 2Co 4:13).

Psa 116:11. Translate (cf. LXX), I said in my alarm (mg.), all men are a deceit. They do not tell lies, but there is no trusting them: they lack the power of help.

Psa 116:13. The cup of salvation, i.e. the cup poured out in thanksgiving for deliverance vouchsafed. No such rite is mentioned in the OT, but on the pillar of Yehavmilk, king of Gebal, the king is represented as pouring out wine before the goddess (after victory).

Psa 116:15. The sense is that Yahweh will not easily suffer His saints (see on Psalms 4) to perish; the cost of their death is too great. In other words the godly need Yahwehs help: He needs their service.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

PSALM 116

The response of love in the Lord’s people, to the grace that had delivered them when at the point of death.

(vv. 1-2) The end of the Lord’s dealing with His people is to surround Himself with those who respond to His love and confide in Him. This end is reached in the godly soul that can say, I love the Lord, and I will call upon him as long as I live (cp. Eph 1:4; 1Jn 4:16-19).

(vv. 3-6) In the verses that follow the psalmist describes the circumstances which revealed the love of the Lord, and called forth his own love. He was brought nigh to death and found trouble and sorrow. When at death’s door, beyond all human help, the godly man had called upon the name of the Lord. In response to his cry, he found the Lord to be gracious, righteous, and merciful – One who is the preserver of the simple, and the helper of the helpless. The simple man is not necessarily a wicked person, but one that may be easily deceived by the wicked.

(vv. 7-11) The psalmist proceeds to describe the effect upon his soul of the Lord’s gracious dealings with him in the time of trial. First, he is brought into rest, as the outcome of the Lord’s bountiful dealings – the rest that comes from confidence in God. Then he gladly ascribes every blessing he has received to the Lord. He can say, Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. The Lord has done it all. The Lord has given him rest of soul, and deliverance from death: He has dried his tears and kept his feet. Thus he can look on with confidence to the future and say, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Rest of soul leads to a godly walk that has the Lord for its object.

Moreover, confidence in the Lord opens his mouth to witness to the Lord; I believed, therefore have I spoken (2Co 4:13). If his affliction drew out his confidence in the Lord, it also destroyed his confidence in man, as such. In his haste, or agitation, he had said All men are liars.

(vv. 12-15) The delivered soul owns its indebtedness to the Lord. The cup of sorrow has been exchanged for a cup of salvation. The psalmist gladly takes this cup, and confesses the name of the Lord. His vows, made in the presence of death, will be paid to the Lord in the presence of all His people. If indeed, he had succumbed to death, instead of being recalled to the land of the living, his death would have been precious in the eyes of the Lord.

(vv. 16-19) He now delights to own that he is the willing servant of the One who has set him free. In the presence of all His people in the courts of the Lord, in the midst of Jerusalem, he will pay his vows, and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Thus, the Lord secures a loving and praising people to fill the courts of His house.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

116:1 I {a} love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice [and] my supplications.

(a) He grants that no pleasure is so great as to feel God’s help in our need, neither that anything more stirs up our love toward him.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Psalms 116

An unnamed writer gave thanks to God for delivering him from imminent death and for lengthening his life. He promised to praise God in the temple for these blessings. This is a hymn of individual thanksgiving.

". . . if ever a psalm had the marks of spontaneity, this is surely such a one." [Note: Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 407.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. A promise to praise God from a loving heart 116:1-2

The psalmist loved God because the Lord had granted his prayer request. Consequently he promised to continue praying to Him as long as he lived. This expression of love for God is unusual in the psalms. More often the psalmists spoke of their respect for Yahweh. This writer was uncommonly affectionate.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 116:1-19

THIS psalm is intensely individual. “I,” “me,” or “my” occurs in every verse but two (Psa 116:5, Psa 116:19). The singer is but recently delivered from some peril, and his song heaves with a groundswell of emotion after the storm. Hupfeld takes offence at its “continual alternation of petition and recognition of the Divine beneficence and deliverance, or vows of thanksgiving,” but surely that very blending is natural to one just rescued and still panting from his danger. Certain grammatical forms indicate a late date, and the frequent allusions to earlier psalms point in the same direction. The words of former psalmists were part of this singers mental furniture, and came to his lips, when he brought his own thanksgivings. Hupfeld thinks it “strange” that “such a patched up (zusammengestoppelter) psalm,” has “imposed” upon commentators, who speak of its depth and tenderness; it is perhaps stranger that its use of older songs has imposed upon so good a critic and hid these characteristics from him. Four parts may be discerned, of which the first (Psa 116:1-4) mainly describes the psalmists peril; the second (Psa 116:5-9), his deliverance; the third glances back to his alarm and thence draws reasons for his vow of praise (Psa 116:10-14); and the fourth (Psa 116:15-19) bases the same vow on the remembrance of Jehovahs having loosed his bonds.

The early verses of Psa 18:1-50 obviously colour the psalmists description of his distress. That psalm begins with an expression of love to Jehovah, which is echoed here, though a different word is employed. “I love” stands in Psa 116:1 without an object, just as “I will call” does in Psa 116:2, and “I believed” and “I spoke” in Psa 116:10. Probably “Thee” has fallen out, which would be the more easy, as the next word begins with the letter which stands for it in Hebrew. Cheyne follows Graetz in the conjectural adoption of the same beginning as in Psa 116:10, “I am confident.” This change necessitates translating the following “for” as “that,” whereas it is plainly to be taken, like the “for” at the beginning of Psa 116:2, as causal. Psa 116:3 is moulded on Psa 18:5, with a modification of the metaphors by the unusual expression “the narrows of Sheol.” The word rendered narrows may be employed simply as distress or straits, but it is allowable to take it as picturing that gloomy realm as a confined gorge, like the throat of a pass, from which the psalmist could find no escape. He is like a creature caught in the toils of the hunter Death. The stern rocks of a dark defile have all but closed upon him, but, like a man from the bottom of a pit, he can send out one cry before the earth falls in and buries him. He cried to Jehovah, and the rocks flung his voice heavenwards. Sorrow is meant to drive to God. When cries become prayers, they are not in vain. The revealed character of Jehovah is the ground of a desperate mans hope. His own Name is a plea which Jehovah will certainly honour. Many words are needless when peril is sore and the suppliant is sure of God. To name Him and to cry for deliverance are enough. “I beseech Thee” represents a particle which is used frequently in this psalm, and by some peculiarities in its use here indicates a late date.

The psalmist does not pause to say definitely that he was delivered, but breaks into the celebration of the Name on which he had called, and from which the certainty of an answer followed. Since Jehovah is gracious, righteous (as strictly adhering to the conditions He has laid down), and merciful (as condescending in love to lowly and imperfect men), there can be no doubt how He will deal with trustful suppliants. The psalmist turns for a moment from his own experience to sun himself in the great thought of the Name, and thereby to come into touch with all who share his faith. The cry for help is wrung out by personal need, but the answer received brings into fellowship with a great multitude. Jehovahs character leads up in Psa 116:6 to a broad truth as to His acts, for it ensures that He cannot but care for the “simple,” whose simplicity lays them open to assailants, and whose single-hearted adhesion to God appeals unfailingly to His heart. Happy the man who, like the psalmist, can give confirmation from his own experience to the broad truths of Gods protection to ingenuous and guileless souls! Each individual may, if he will, thus narrow to his own use the widest promises, and put “I” and “me” wherever God has put “whosoever.” If he does he will be able to turn his own experience into universal maxims, and encourage others to put “whosoever” where his grateful heart has put “I” and “me.”

The deliverance, which is thus the direct result of the Divine character, and which extends to all the simple, and therefore included the psalmist, leads to calm repose. The singer does not say so in cold words, but beautifully wooes his “soul,” his sensitive nature, which had trembled with fear in deaths net, to come back to its rest. The word is in the plural, which may be only another indication of late date, but is more worthily understood as expressing the completeness of the repose, which in its fulness is only found in God, and is made the more deep by contrast with previous “agitation.”

Psa 116:8-9, are quoted from Psa 56:13 with slight variations, the most significant of which is the change of “light” into “lands.” It is noticeable that the Divine deliverance is thus described as surpassing the psalmists petition. He asked, “Deliver my soul.” Bare escape was all that he craved, but he received, not only the deliverance of his soul from death, but, over and above, his tears were wiped away by a loving hand, his feet stayed by a strong arm. God over answers trustful cries, and does not give the minimum consistent with safety, but the maximum of which we are capable. What shall a grateful heart do with such benefits? “I will walk before Jehovah in the lands of the living,” joyously and unconstrainedly (for so the form of the word “walk” implies), as ever conscious of that presence which brings blessedness and requires holiness. The paths appointed may carry the traveller far, but into whatever lands he goes, he will have the same glad heart within to urge his feet and the same loving eye above to beam guidance on him.

The third part (Psa 116:10-14) recurs to the psalmists mood in his trouble, and bases on the retrospect of that and of Gods mercy the vow of praise. Psa 116:10 may be variously understood. The “speaking” may be taken as referring to the preceding expressions of trust or thanksgivings for deliverance. The sentiment would then be that the psalmist was confident that he should one day thus speak. So Cheyne; or the rendering may be “I believed in that I spake thus”-i.e., that he spake those trustful words of Psa 116:9 was the result of sheer faith (so Kay). The thing spoken may also be the expressions which follow, and this seems to yield the most satisfactory meaning. “Even when I said, I am afflicted and men fail me, I had not lost my faith.” He is recalling the agitation which shook him, but feels that, through it all, there was an unshaken centre of rest in God. The presence of doubt and fear does not prove the absence of trust. There may live a spark of it, though almost buried below masses of cold unbelief. What he said was the complaint that he was greatly afflicted, and the bitter wail that all men deceive or disappoint. He said so in his agitation. {Psa 31:22} But even in recognising the folly of trusting in men, he was in some measure trusting God, and the trust, though tremulous, was rewarded.

Again he hurries on to sing the issues of deliverance, without waiting to describe it. That little dialogue of the devout soul with itself (Psa 116:12-13) goes very deep. It is an illuminative word as to Gods character, an emancipating word as to the true notion of service to Him, a guiding word as to common life. For it declares that men honour God most by taking His gifts with recognition of the Giver, and that the return which He in His love seeks is only our thankful reception of His. mercy. A giver who desires but these results is surely Love. A religion which consists first in accepting Gods gift and then in praising by lip and life Him who gives banishes the religion of fear, of barter, of unwelcome restrictions and commands. It is the exact opposite of the slavery which says, “Thou art an austere man, reaping where thou didst not sow.” It is the religion of which the initial act is faith, and the continual activity, the appropriation of Gods spiritual gifts. In daily life there would be less despondency and weakening regrets over vanished blessings, if men were more careful to take and enjoy thankfully all that God gives. But many of us have no eyes for other blessings, because some one blessing is withdrawn or denied. If we treasured all that is given, we should be richer than most of us are.

In Psa 116:14 the particle of beseeching is added to “before,” a singular form of expression which seems to imply desire that the psalmist may come into the temple with his vows. He may have been thinking of the “sacrificial meal in connection with the peace offerings.” In any case, blessings received in solitude should impel to public gratitude. God delivers His suppliants that they may magnify Him before men.

The last part (Psa 116:15-19) repeats the refrain of Psa 116:14, but with a different setting. Here the singer generalises his own experience, and finds increase of joy in the thought of the multitude who dwell safe under the same protection. The more usual form of expression for the idea in Psa 116:15 is “their blood is precious”. {Psa 72:14} The meaning is that the death of Gods saints is no trivial thing in Gods eyes, to be lightly permitted. (Compare the contrasted thought, {Psa 44:12} Then, on the basis of that general truth, is built Psa 116:16, which begins singularly with the same beseeching word which has already occurred in Psa 116:4 and Psa 116:14. Here it is not followed by an expressed petition, but is a yearning of desire for continued or fuller manifestation of Gods favour. The largest gifts, most fully accepted and most thankfully recognised, still leave room for longing which is not pain, because it is conscious of tender relations with God that guarantee its fulfilment. “I am Thy servant.” Therefore the longing which has no words needs none. “Thou hast loosed my bonds.” His thoughts go back to “the cords of death” (Psa 116:3), which had held him so tightly. Gods hand has slackened them, and, by freeing him from that bondage, has bound him more closely than before to himself. “Being made free from sin, ye became the slaves of righteousness.” So, in the full blessedness of received deliverance, the grateful heart offers itself to God, as moved by His mercies to become a living sacrifice, and calls on the Name of Jehovah, in its hour of thankful surrender, as it had called on that Name in its time of deep distress. Once more the lonely suppliant, who had waded such deep waters without companion but Jehovah, seeks to feel himself one of the glad multitude in the courts of the house of Jehovah, and to blend his single voice in the shout of a nations praise. We suffer and struggle for the most part alone. Grief is a hermit, but Joy is sociable; and thankfulness desires listeners to its praise. The perfect song is the chorus of a great “multitude which no man can number.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary