Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 73:28
But it [is] good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
28. But as for me, to draw near to God is good for me:
In the Lord Jehovah have I made my refuge;
That I may speak of all thy works.
Emphatically he contrasts himself with those who ‘go far from God.’ Once he had been tempted to ask what profit there was in serving God, and openly to speak ( Psa 73:15) of his doubts: but now he can find an endless theme for praise in the dealings of God with the righteous and the wicked. The LXX reads, “that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion,” as in Psa 9:14; and this may preserve the original reading, for the present Heb. text sounds incomplete. The P.B.V. “to speak of all thy works in the gates of the daughter of Sion” combines the LXX with the Heb.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But it is good for me to draw near to God – That is, It is pleasant; it is profitable; it is the chief good. For myself, happiness is to be found in that alone; there I find what my nature pants for and desires. Others find, or attempt to find, happiness in other things; my happiness is found in God alone. This is the result to which the psalmist came after all his perplexity. With all his doubts and difficulties, his real desire was to be near to God; his supreme happiness was found there.
I have put my trust in the Lord God – I have truly confided in him; he is my portion and the sole ground of my reliance. The doubts which he had had were not, after all, real doubts about the claim of God to confidence. There was an underlying trust in God in the midst of all this. He had not desired to cherish such doubts; he did, on the most calm reflection, still trust in God.
That I may declare all thy works – That I might make known thy doings toward the children of men. I have desired rightly to understand thee and thy government, that I might vindicate thy name, and assert thy claim to the love and confidenee of mankind. His doubts and perplexities had not really been because he was an enemy of God, or because he desired to cherish doubts in regard to him, but because, when appearances were against the equity of the divine government, he wished to see how the things which occurred could be explained consistently with a proper belief in the goodness and justice of God, in order that he might go and explain the matter to his fellow-men. Such perplexities and doubts, therefore, are not really inconsistent with true love for God and genuine confidence in him; and it is well when such doubts are made the means of enabling us more clearly to explain the divine dealings – it is well when, under all such doubts and difficulties, we can still find evidence that we truly love God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 73:28
It is good for me to draw near to God.
An assuredly good thing
When a man is sick everybody knows what is good for him. They recommend specifics by the score. Amid such a babel, it is well for a man if he knows what is good for himself. And so in our spiritual troubles. Every friend commends some different course. But the psalmist puts them all aside, and declares, It is good for me to draw near unto God. Thus–
I. He tacitly condemns other courses of action. From the connection of the text it is plain that he repents of certain kinds of thought to which he had given way. The text tells of his recoil from them.
1. From trying to fathom the mysteries of Providence. What have we to do with measuring its great depths? And yet we are ever trying to. Gotthold in his Emblems tells us of the freaks of his child. The father was one day sitting in his study, and, when he lifted his eye from his book, he saw standing upon the window ledge his little son. He was troubled and affrighted to the last degree, for the child stood there in utmost peril of failing to the ground and being dashed to pieces. The little one had been anxious to know what his father was doing so many hours in the day in his study, and he had at last, by a ladder, managed to climb up, with boyish daring, till there he stood, outside the window, gazing at his father with all his eyes. So, said the father, as he took the child into his chamber, and rebuked him for his folly, so have I often tried to climb into the council chamber of God, to see why and wherefore He did this and that; and thus have I exposed myself to peril of falling to my destruction. My God, it is not good for me to pry into Thy secrets with curiosity, but it is good for me to draw near unto Thee in sincerity. And–
2. We learn also it is not good for us, under any circumstances, to go to a distance from God. The preceding verse reads, They that are far from Thee shall perish. Now, the tendency of repeated affliction is, in the carnal mind, to drive us away from God. A dog may follow you if you otter it a bone but strike it and see if it will follow you then. But it can never be good for us to go away from God.
II. Observe what is plainly commended–to draw near unto God.
1. This implies that we are reconciled to Him. To attempt to draw near while He is angry would be insanity. As well might the moth draw near to the candle. We must first be accepted in Christ.
2. To draw near the soul must realize that God is near to it, and must have a clear sense of who and what God is.
3. It is prayer, but it is more than prayer. There may be no words, but it is the laying open of the chamber of your soul that the Lord may enter and inspect the whole; it is the complete yielding up of yourself to God to be dealt with as He pleases.
4. It may assume the form of praise. As with David when he satin the Lords presence, wondering Whence is this to me? What am I and my fathers house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?
5. It is looking at the matter in the Divine light. If we judge God from our standpoint we shall misjudge; but see how that which troubles you looks in the light of God. Bereavement, poverty, when seen as Gods way of saving your soul, look very different then.
6. It is the being pleased with anything and everything that pleases God. We are often willing to give up our own way to please those we love; should we not be so in order to please God?
III. The grounds for the unqualified commendation of this drawing near to God.
1. It is good in itself. How can it be otherwise? The courtier delights to bask in the presence of his sovereign.
2. It is good if we consider our relations to God. Are we not His children? But is it not a good thing for the child to come near to its parents?
3. And because of our pitiable condition and character. We are the weakest of the weak.
4. It removes many evils to which you are constantly exposed. Man of business, absorbed in your work, day by day, what can so keep you from worldliness and fret and anxiety, as drawing near to God?
5. And there are many good things which it will confer. There is no blessing which prayer cannot obtain, which close approaches to God will not ensure. If then it be so good, let us do it at once. You who have been living afar off; you who are happy; and especially you who are penitent sinners. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A devotional spirit
I. Explain what is meant by such devotional spirit. Note then–
1. Its means–prayer, etc.
2. Its refuge–God.
3. Its exercises.
II. Its importance and advantages.
1. Such spirit furthers holiness.
2. Helps the understanding of Divine truth.
3. Becomes a habit full of help to the soul. Is–
4. One of the strongest safeguards against temptation.
5. Cultivates all the Christian graces.
6. Fixes his heart.
7. Is humble, tender, childlike.
8. Gives increase in holiness, which but for it would yield no help (Psa 104:1-35.).
9. Hangs round the very essentials of religion–Christ, God, the promises, etc. (I. S. Spencer, D. D.)
Drawing near to God
I. The conduct referred to.
1. It implies that there has been separation.
2. It is the religion of the heart.
3. It demands enlightenment of mind, and–
4. The realization of Gods presence.
II. The benefit of this drawing near to God. It is good for, etc. This must depend upon the character of the God to whom we draw near. If He be only my judge, how could I say, It is good, etc. But He is our Father, and hence it cannot but be good to draw near to Him. Now, the blessings of this are–
1. Deliverance from care and fear. See David; the three Hebrew youths; Paul and Silas, etc.
2. It is the only real preservative from sin.
3. It is the assurance to us of safety new and for ever.
4. It is a very foretaste of heaven. Remember it is not a mere isolated act, but our habit. How terrible to come to a death-bed without ever having drawn near to God. (Montagu Villiers, M. A.)
The excellence of drawing near to God
I. As to its nature, it comprehends much. It implies, first, that man is morally distant from God. This sacred exercise implies that a medium or a means of access is appointed. We have this blessed truth set forth by Christ Himself; No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. He is the Daysman; He heals the wide and awful breach. In further illustration of this exalted exercise, I would remark, that prayer is appointed as the act of our approach to Him. There is a sense in which we cannot be nearer to God in one view than another. I cannot go where He is not. But in the act of prayer I enter as it were into His presence. Prayer is the appointed means of communication betwixt God and man. Let me further observe, in illustration of this holy exercise, that God requires it should be accompanied with a suitable disposition. Would you draw near to God acceptably? you must come with humility. Would you draw near to God with acceptance? you must draw near with fervour–contemplating the magnitude of the blessings which you ask. To draw near to God acceptably, you must draw near in perseverance. The blessing which you ask may be for a season withheld; or the success you implore may for a time be suspended.
II. The advantages of this exalted exercise. For David says, It is good to draw near to God. And why so? Because God has commanded it; and this circumstance alone ought sufficiently to convince us of its value and necessity. It is good, because, apart from the authority of that command, it is reasonable. There is no truth more obvious, and eternal. And there is yet another great advantage; it tends to help us to cherish the calmness of mind, so essential to our advancement, and our spiritual prosperity and peace. It is, further, good, as instrumental in obtaining all spiritual blessings. The truth of the text is exemplified in all the events of life; but in the awful hour of death you shall find, with additional energy of conviction, that it is good for you to draw near to God. He will be the strength of your heart, and your portion for ever. (John Bowers.)
Let us pray
There are many ways by which we draw near to God, but prayer is the best used means. So then take our text–
I. As A touchstone. Try your prayers by it. Is there any drawing near to God in them? No matter how beautiful, venerable, scriptural the form, if the petitions be never presented. Suppose I should desire a favour of some friend. I shut myself up alone, and I commence delivering an oration, pleading earnestly for the boon I need. I repeat this at night, and so on month after month. At last I meet my friend, and I tell him that I have been asking a favour of him, and that he has never heard my prayer. Nay, saith he, I have never seen you; you never spoke to me. Ah, but you should have heard what I said; if you had but heard, it surely would have moved your heart. Ah, saith he, but then you did not address it to me. You wrote a letter, you tell me, but did you post the letter? No, no, you say; I kept the letter after I had written it; I never sent it to you. Now, mark, it is thus with many prayers. There has been no drawing near to God. This drawing near is at first with holy fear, then with holy reverence, then with joy as a child to a father. Next–
II. On the text as a whetstone. Pray, for prayer explains mysteries; brings deliverances; obtains promises. If thou hast a burden on thy back, remember prayer, for thou shalt carry it well if thou canst pray. Once on a time Christian had to carry it. He crept along on his hands and knees. There appeared to him a fair and comely damsel, holding in her hands a wand, and she touched the burden. It was there, it was not removed; but, strange to say, the burden lost its weight. That which had crushed him to the earth had become now so light that he could leap and carry it. And prayer ensures success in our work for God. Two labourers in Gods harvest met each other once upon a time, and they sat down to compare notes. One was sorrowful, and complained that though he diligently sowed, no harvest came. The other said, I steep my seed in prayer, and I have much success.
III. As a tombstone. For the prayerless soul is a Christless soul. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The saints happiness
It is good; that is, it puts in us a blessed quality and disposition. It makes a man to be like God; and, secondly, it is good, that is, it is comfortable; for it is the happiness of the creature to be near the Creator; it is beneficial and helpful. To draw near: How can a man but be near to God, seeing He filleth heaven and earth: Whither shall I go from Thy presence? (Psa 139:7). He is present always in power and providence in all places, but graciously present with some by His Spirit, supporting, comforting, strengthening the heart of a good man. As the soul is said to be in several parts by several faculties, so God present He is to all, but in a diverse manner. Now, we are said to be near to God in divers degrees.
1. When our understanding is enlightened; and so the young man speaking discreetly in things concerning God, is said not to be far from the kingdom of God (Mar 12:34).
2. In minding; when God is present to our minds, so as the soul is said to be present to that which it mindeth; contrarily it is said of the wicked, that God is not in all their thoughts (Psa 10:4).
3. When the will upon the discovery of the understanding comes to choose the better part, and is drawn from that choice to cleave to Him, as it was said of Jonathans heart, it was knit to David (1Sa 18:1).
4. When our whole affections are carried to God, loving Him as the chief good. Love is the first-born affection. That breeds desire of communion with God. Thence comes joy in Him, so as the soul pants after God, as the hart after the water-springs (Psa 42:1).
5. When the soul is touched with the Spirit of God working faith, stirring up dependence, confidence, and trust on God. Hence ariseth sweet communion. The soul is never at rest till it rests on Him. Then it is afraid to break with Him or to displease Him. But it groweth zealous and resolute, and hot in love, stiff in good cases; resolute against his enemies. And yet this is not all, for God will have also the outward man, so as the whole man must present itself before God in word, in sacraments; speak of Him and to Him with reverence, and yet with strength of affection mounting up in prayer, as in a fiery chariot; hear Him speak to us; consulting with His oracles; fetching comforts against distresses, directions against maladies.
6. When we praise Him; for this is the work of the souls departed, and of the angels in heaven, that are continually near unto Him. And thus much for the opening of the words. The prophet here saith, It is good for me. How came he to know this? Why, he had found it by experience, and by it he was thoroughly convinced of it. (R. Sibbes.)
Good to draw near
Who does not wish for good? But too many fail to understand what real good is, and choose that which is evil by mistake.
I. The action–drawing near. We may do so by prayer, by study, by preparation. But we must do so chiefly by being conformed to the likeness of the Holy Spirit and by being united through Jesus.
II. The reward. It is good–good in every way: good for our happiness; good for our holiness; good for our eternal interests; good for our usefulness; good for our Masters glory. (Homilist.)
The nature and benefits of communion with God
I. What it is to draw near to God. It is to have clear and realizing views of His character, and especially as that character is made known in and by Christ–to exercise towards Him suitable acts of faith, dependence, love, gratitude and worship.
II. Why it is good thus to draw nigh to God.
1. Because it is then the soul realizes in an especial manner Gods love, and finds its own love powerfully called into exercise.
2. Because it has a peculiarly sanctifying influence upon the mind.
3. Because it is a means of strengthening the soul to run the race that is set before it, and to persevere without wavering in the ways of the Lord. (R. Oakman, B. A.)
Advantages of communion with God
I. What is included.
1. A Scriptural knowledge of God.
2. Faith in God.
3. An explicit apprehension of the only medium of drawing nigh to God and of access, whether it be by prayer, meditation, or communion with Him.
4. Humble, yet confident dependence on the aids of the Divine grace.
II. The advantages.
1. It tends to the intellectual elevation of the soul.
2. It is essentially adapted to mans spiritual improvement.
3. It is the source of mans highest blessedness.
4. It is good as connected with our absolute safety.
5. It is an essential preparation for the glory of heaven. (J. Burns, D. D.)
On devotion
I shall endeavour to recommend the duties of devotion, by considering their influence on the virtue and the happiness of human life.
I. They are admirably calculated to promote your improvement in virtue. The duties of devotion, leading to the contemplation of infinite excellence, and improving the best affections of the heart, plant in our breasts the seeds of virtue. The exercises in which these duties engage us are favourable also to its growth; for we come into the presence of God, not merely to adore the perfection of His nature, and to celebrate the goodness to which we owe all our bliss–we come to lay open before Him the secrets of our souls–to bewail the transgressions by which we have offended Him–and to form our resolutions of future obedience. These exercises lead to a serious review, and produce a knowledge of our own characters extremely favourable to improvement.
II. The influence of devotion on the happiness of life.
1. Devotion is, itself, a source of the sublimest enjoyment. The human mind delights in exercise; and the duties of piety are the noblest exercise in which its powers can be employed.
2. Devotion exalts and purifies every earthly pleasure. It adds to the enjoyment of our present comforts the delightful emotion of gratitude to our Maker.
3. But adversity is the scene in which devotion triumphs; for, however in our prosperity we may forget our Maker, affliction reminds us of our dependence on Him. (W. Moodie, D. D.)
The benefits of drawing near to God
I. He is the author of our salvation, and the fountain from which we draw our spiritual supply. The waters of a stream become purer and better as we approach the fountain head.
II. Drawing near to God enables us the better to know God. To know our fellow-men we must draw near to them. We may know something of God from tradition–from nature–from a cold and critical study of the Bible; but to know Him more perfectly we must draw near to Him, and thus know Him in our own Christian experiences.
III. It involves a drawing away from the world. Our arms are too short for us to walk hand in hand with God and the world. The great, clutchy arms of the world are about us, and the loving arms of God are extended towards us, inviting us to come nearer to Him.
IV. It puts us in our proper attitude toward the world.
1. It enables the world to put a proper estimate on us. When we are far away from God, the world is in doubt whether or not to count on us.
2. It enables us to form a proper estimate of the world. We owe the world a great deal, and we never know how much until we draw near to God.
3. This is the secret of success in the Christian life. Are we to accomplish anything together for the Master? This will depend upon the distance between us and God. (John Hall, D. D.)
On drawing near to God
I. By the practice of holiness and virtue throughout the general tenor of our life. He who lives in the exercise of good affections, and in the regular discharge of the offices of virtue and piety, maintains, as far as his infirmity allows, conformity with the nature of that perfect Being, whose benevolence, whose purity and rectitude, are conspicuous, both in His works and His ways.
II. By acts of immediate devotion. There are two ways by which these contribute to bring us near to God.
1. The first is, by their strengthening in the soul that power of vital godliness and virtue in which consists our chief resemblance to God: for it is never to be forgotten, that all our devotional exercises are subservient to this great end. Herein consist their whole virtue and efficacy, that they purify and improve the soul, raise it above low passions, and thereby promote the elevation of the human nature towards the Divine.
2. When our acts of devotion are of this nature, they form tim other sense in which the words of the text are to be understood. We therein draw near to God, as we enter into the most immediate intercourse with Him, which the nature of our state admits; approaching Him through a great Mediator and Intercessor; sending up those prayers to which we are encouraged to believe that the Almighty is lending a gracious ear; resigning ourselves to His conduct, and offering up our souls to Him; exercising, in short, all those acts of faith, love and trust which become dependent creatures towards their Sovereign and Father. (Hugh Blair, D. D.)
The benefit of drawing near to God
I. It will establish your confidence in godliness as a reality. Nearness to God is nearness to all that is good; for with Him is the fountain of life. Nearness to God is nearness to the object to which all religious institutions are designed to bring you: it is this that explains their meaning, and in this they gain their end. Nearness to God is nearness to religious truth, which is the animating soul of all these institutions; nearness to that truth, not in intellectual perception merely, but in an experimental, sense of its sweetness and efficacy.
II. It will rectify your estimate of terrestrial things. It is in the mount of communion with God that you are drawn away from the sordid and the grovelling, and made to soar to the spiritual and the heavenly. There your range of view is exceedingly widened; your souls are elevated, enlarged, and filled; things unseen and eternal are realized in their transcendent greatness and importance, and things seen and temporal sink into insignificance; the sublime of heaven expands before you, and reveals earth in its littleness, and you say (Psa 17:14-15).
III. It will fortify your minds in the hour of temptation. What is the design of every temptation? To seduce from God. In nearness to Him, therefore, you are keeping your ground; you are resisting and overcoming. You are verifying what is said of the child of God (1Jn 5:18).
IV. It will quicken your spiritual desires. This is a thing of great importance. Just as your spiritual desires are, so is your spiritual health: when they are languid, it is infirm; when they are lively, it is vigorous. Again, just as your spiritual desires are, so is your affection to the things of earth: when they are keen, it is dull; when they are weak, it is strong. Moreover, just as your spiritual desires are, so is your spiritual prosperity as a whole; so is your growth in grace, and so is your spiritual enjoyment. It is of the nature of grace in the heart, that the more it enjoys, it craves the more; and the more it has of the best of earth, it longs the more for the bliss of heaven.
V. It will augment your christian usefulness. The fit agent for rousing consciences, and moving hearts, and winning souls, is the man that comes forth from the presence-chamber of the King, with the atmosphere of the Holiest about him, and his own face shining with the lustre of the glory of God upon it. To conclude: see from this subject–
1. One thing about godliness which we should keep prominently before our minds. The good that is in it, and that flows from it.
2. One reason why we so much underrate the future world. It is because we so much overrate the present.
3. Who the safest and happiest man among us is. The man who is nearest to his God.
4. The mistake of those who make communion with God to consist chiefly in pleasing feeling. They will have the way to heaven to be heaven itself.
5. What to look for after those days of high privilege we have been seeing. The full harvest of those blessed fruits or effects of drawing near to God, of some of which we have now been speaking, is yet to be reaped. Let us take good heed to ourselves that we reap this harvest in all its fulness and preciousness. (D. Young, D. D.)
Nearness to God the key to lifes puzzles
I. Nearness to God is the one good. Union with God is life, in all senses of the word, according as the creature is capable of union with Him. Why; there is no life in a plant except Gods power is vitalizing it. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow–because God makes them grow. There is no bodily life in a man unless He continually breathes into the nostrils the breath of life. If you stop the flow of the fountain then all the pools are dry. There is no life intellectual in a man unless by the inspiration of the Almighty in union with God, from whom all just thoughts do proceed. And high above all these forms of life, the only real life of a spirit is the life that it draws from its union with God Himself, whereby He pours Himself into it, and in the deepest sense of the words it is true–Because I live ye shall live also. I need scarcely go on pointing out other respects of this supreme–or more truly, this solitary–good. For instance, nothing is really good to me unless I have it within me, so as that it never can be wrenched away from me. The blessings that we cannot incorporate with the very substance of our being are only partial blessings after all; and all these things round us that do minister to our necessities, tastes, affections, and sometimes to our weaknesses, these good things fail just in this, that they stand outside us, and there is no real union between us and them. So changes come, and we have to unclasp hands, and the footsteps that used to be planted by the side of ours cease, and our track across the sands is lonely; and losses come, and death comes, and all the glory and the good that were only externally possessed by us we leave behind us. It is good for me, amidst the morasses and quicksands and bogs of lifes uncertain and shifting ill and good, to set my feet upon the rock, and to say, Here I stand, and my footing will never give way. Do you, brother, possess a changeless, imperishable, inwrought good like that? You may if you like. But remember, too, that in regard to this Christian good, it is not only the possession of it, but the aspiration after it, that is blessed. It is good to draw near; and the seeking after God is as far above the possession of all other good as the heaven is above the earth.
II. The way to nearness to God is twofold. On the one hand the true path is Jesus Christ, on the other hand the means by which we walk upon that path is our faith. The apostle puts it all in a nutshell when he says his prayer is that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, and then, by a linked chain, leads up to the final issues of that faith in that indwelling Christ–that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God. So to draw near and to possess that good, that only good which is God, all that is needed is–and it is needed–that we should turn with the surrender of our hearts, with the submission of our wills, with the outgoing of our affections, and with the conformity of our practical life, to Jesus. Seeing Him, we see the Father, and having Him near us, we feel the touch of the Divine hand, and being joined to the Lord, we are separated from the vanities of life, and united to the supreme good. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The delights of prayer
Alleine once wrote–Though I am apt to be unsettled and quickly set off the hinges, yet, methinks, I am like a bird out of the nest, I am never quiet till I am in my old way of communion with God; like the needle in the compass, that is restless till it be turned towards the pole. I can say through grace, with the Church, With my soul have I desired Thee in the night, and with my spirit within me have I sought Thee early. My heart is early and late with God; tis the business and delight of my life to seek Him. (Life of Alleine.)
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Psa 74:1-23
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 28. It is good for me to draw near] We have already seen that those who are far off shall perish; therefore, it is ill for them. Those who draw near-who come in the true spirit of sacrifice, and with the only available offering, the Lord Jesus, shall be finally saved; therefore, it is good for them.
I have put my trust in the Lord God] I confide in Jehovah, my Prop and Stay. I have taken him for my portion.
That I may declare all thy works.] That I may testify to all how good it is to draw nigh to God; and what a sufficient portion he is to the soul of man.
The Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic, add, in the gates of the daughter of Sion. These words appear to make a better finish; but they are not acknowledged by any Hebrew MS.
ANALYSIS OF THE SEVENTY-THIRD PSALM
The prophet shows the grief that many good men feel at the prosperity of the wicked, and the distresses of the godly; but at last, consulting the will of God, he finds that the felicity of the wicked ends in wretchedness, and the crosses of the godly are the way to happiness; and, with this consideration, he gains quiet to his troubled mind. Let the question be, Who is the happy man? The godly or ungodly? And then the parts of the Psalm will be as follows: –
I. The arguments produced for the happiness of the wicked, Ps 73:1-9.
II. The impression these arguments make in carnal minds, Ps 73:2-3; Ps 73:10-14.
III. The rejection of these doubts and impressions, Ps 73:15-17.
IV. The refutation of the former arguments, Ps 73:18-20.
V. The psalmist’s censure of himself for his precipitate judgment, Ps 73:21-22.
VI. His full resolution of the doubt, after the full examination of the reasons on both sides. That true happiness consists in union with God; and therefore the wicked, who are far from him, however they flourish, are unhappy, Ps 73:23-28.
But, more particularly, the Psalm is divisible into the following parts: –
I. There is, first, an assertion: “Certainly, God is good to Israel, to such as are of a clean heart,” Ps 73:1. But can this comport with their present afflicted state? With this he was greatly harassed, Ps 73:2. He saw the wicked in prosperity, which he states in several particulars.
II. What carnal minds think of them.
1. They have no conflicts in their death, Ps 73:4.
2. They are not troubled like other men, Ps 73:5.
3. They are proud and haughty, Ps 73:6, and yet are not punished.
4. They are oppressive tyrants: “Violence covereth them.”
5. They feed luxuriously, Ps 73:7.
6. They speak evil against the poor, Ps 73:8.
7. They even speak against God, and all the dispensations of his providence: “Their tongue walketh through the earth,” Ps 73:9.
8. They assert that he takes no cognizance of their ways, Ps 73:10-11.
III. The evil conclusion formed from these premises refuted.
1. It is the ungodly that prosper in the earth, Ps 73:12.
2. If so, then of what avail are my religious observances and sufferings, c.? Ps 73:13-14.
He resolves the question, –
1. From the testimony of ALL the godly, Ps 73:15.
2. He tried to solve it by reason, but did not succeed, Ps 73:16.
3. He consults with God, and the whole is made plain, Ps 73:17.
From him he learns, –
1. That the happiness of the wicked is unstable, Ps 73:18.
2. They stand on a precipice, and are cast down, Ps 73:19.
3. Their desolation comes suddenly and unexpectedly, Ps 73:19.
4. Their ruin is fearful: “They are consumed with terrors.”
5. Thus it is demonstrated that their happiness was vain, empty, as unsubstantial as a dream, Ps 73:20.
IV. He now acknowledges that he had formed an erroneous judgment. 1. That he gave way to animosity. 2. That he acted rather like a beast than a man, in looking only to the present life, Ps 73:21-22. He now receives instruction and encouragement.
1. The godly are not neglected: “They are continually with God,” Ps 73:23.
2. They are tenderly led as by the hand of a loving father, Ps 73:23.
3. They are directed by the word and Spirit of God, Ps 73:24.
4. They are often crowned with signal marks of God’s esteem, even in this life, Ps 73:24.
V. His resolution to live to God, as he sees that such alone are happy.
1. He expects nothing in heaven but God: “Whom have I in heaven,” &c.
2. He will seek no other portion on earth: “There is none on earth,” Ps 73:25.
3. I will cleave to him in life and death: “When my flesh and my heart fail.”
4. My confidence in him shall be unshaken, Ps 73:26.
VI. He draws two conclusions from what he had learned: –
1. They that are far from God perish.
2. They that draw nigh to him are saved, Ps 73:27.
Therefore, I will so trust in God that I shall be able to declare his works, Ps 73:28.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But whatsoever they do, I am abundantly satisfied that it is, as my duty, so my interest and happiness, to cleave unto thee, by faith, and love, and obedience, and diligent attendance upon all thine ordinances.
I have put my trust in the Lord God; I depend upon him alone for all my comfort and felicity.
That I may declare all thy works; from which I know I shall have this benefit, that I shall have many and great occasions to declare Gods acts of mercy and kindness to me.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But it is good for me to draw near to God,…. In prayer, and other acts of religious worship; to attend the word and ordinances in the sanctuary, where the psalmist had lately been delivered out of a sore temptation, and so had a recent experience, which was fresh in his mind, of the advantages of such exercises; for it is both an honourable good, what is becoming and commendable, and a pleasant good, what yields delight and satisfaction, and a profitable good, to draw nigh to God by Christ, the new and living way, assisted by the Holy Spirit; which, when done aright, is with faith, sincerity, reverence, and a holy boldness:
I have put my trust in the Lord God; as the rock of his refuge and salvation, as his portion and inheritance:
that I may declare all thy works; of providence and grace, by proclaiming the wisdom, power, goodness, and faithfulness of God in them; by giving him the glory of them, and by expressing thankfulness for them, both by words and deeds.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
28. As for me, it is good for me to draw near to God. Literally the reading is, And I, etc. David speaking expressly of himself, affirms that although he should see all mankind in a state of estrangement from God, and wandering after the ever-changing errors and superstitions of the world, he would nevertheless study to continue always in a state of nearness to God. Let others perish, says he, if their headstrong passions cannot be restrained, and they themselves prevented from running after the deceits of the world; but as for me, I will continue steadfast in the resolution of maintaining a sacred communion with God. In the subsequent clause he informs us that we draw near to God in a right manner when our confidence continues firmly fixed in him. God will not hold us by his right hand unless we are fully persuaded of the impossibility of our continuing steadfast and safe in any other way than by his grace alone. This passage is worthy of notice, that we may not be carried away by evil examples, to join ourselves to the wicked, and to act as they do, although even the whole world should fall into unbelief; but that we may learn to gather in our affections from other objects, and to confine them exclusively to God. In the close, the Psalmist intimates that after he shall have devoted himself to God alone, he shall never want matter for praising him, since God never disappoints the hope which his people repose in him. From this it follows, that none curse God or murmur against him, but those who wilfully shut their eyes and involve themselves in darkness, lest knowing and observing his providence, they should be induced to give themselves up to his faithfulness and protection.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) Works.Not Gods doings, but works prescribed to the psalmist, messages entrusted to him; no doubt here the conclusions he had come to, or the truths that had been revealed to him, in contrast with the false opinions from which he had been freed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. Good for me to draw near to God Literally, and I, nearness to God to me is good: that is, the ultimate good, the sum of all conceivable good, the summum bonum of the ancients a clear declaration of the unselfish and absolute morality of Bible religion. Not a religion of external rewards and honours, and of selfish aspirations and longings for paradisiacal bliss, but of communion and fellowship with God, whether it be on earth or in heaven. It stands opposed here to the distance and alienation from God of Psa 73:27. The first and closing verses of the psalm are thus beautifully coincident.
That I may declare all thy works The Septuagint and Vulgate add, “in the gates of the daughter of Zion;” the highest function of a redeemed Church, and God’s living protest against all atheism in form or spirit throughout the ages, and all faithlessness and doubt in his tempted saints.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 73:28. That I may declare all thy works The end breaks off a little abruptly, for want of what the LXX read, in the gates of the daughters of Zion.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The prosperity of the wicked has been a common temptation to the saints of God. The Psalmist was staggered at it, and musing, on the mysterious providence, he breaks forth, Truly, or notwithstanding, God is good to Israel, even to them that are of a clean heart: this he is assured of amidst all his doubts and perplexities, and, holding fast this principle, rides out the storm. Note; There are some first principles clear as the sun; to them we must recur under all our difficulties.
2nd, He was strongly tempted, but as strongly supported, and enabled at last to prevail.
1. He kept his thoughts to himself while he ruminated on the subject, lest he should offend God’s people; and, though he saw the rash suggestion of his spirit, he would not speak unadvisedly with his lips. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children; and that he was shocked to think of, and carefully avoided. Note; (1.) When evil thoughts arise, our labour must be to suppress them; when once uttered, their mischief may be endless and irreparable. (2.) There are a people in the world dear to God as children, and who love him as their father, whom we must be careful never to offend, to grieve, or discourage. (3.) It would be the greatest reproach on God’s service, and most effectually tend to weaken the hands of his people, to misrepresent his good ways, as unprofitable and vain. (4.) They who do so, shew that they have never truly served God, since the experience of every faithful soul proves his service to be the supreme felicity.
2. Though by the light of reason he could not reconcile this difficulty, yet when he went into the sanctuary, sought God by prayer, and communed with his word and ministers, then the mystery was unfolded; he saw the prosperity of sinners no longer to be envied, when they were fattening only as an ox for the slaughter. Their joy had no stability, was precarious and momentary; their destruction inevitable, sudden, and terrible. Like a dream of the night, when God awakes to judgment, their prosperity vanishes, and is exchanged for everlasting shame and contempt. Note; We must form our judgment of men and things, not by appearances, but by the word of God; and when we there see the end of prosperous iniquity in everlasting burnings, and of suffering piety in eternal glory, we shall no longer hesitate about our choice.
3rdly, The temptations of the faithful serve to brighten their graces, and end in their greater establishment. Such good the Psalmist found.
1. He owns his deep obligations to the grace of God. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee, the object of God’s tender regard, and cleaving to God amidst all his temptations; thou hast holden me by my right hand, as a tender parent who supports his falling child. Note; We are weak as helpless infancy, and stand wholly indebted to the everlasting arms which are under us, for our preservation. And the more we are convinced of this, the more shall we be engaged to love God.
2. He expresses his confidence of God’s continual guidance and support. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, his revealed word, and the teachings of his holy Spirit, and afterwards receive me to glory, when, every trial passed, and death the last overcome, thou wilt bring me to the consummation of bliss in thy eternal kingdom. Note; (1.) God’s counsel in his word infallibly conducts to his glory those who follow it. (2.) If there be a sure inheritance for the faithful in eternal glory, the godly little need envy sinners any thing that they possess above them here below.
3. His soul rises up in fervent aspirations after God, Whom have I in heaven but thee? A covenant God is the sole object of the believer’s worship and confidence, from whom alone he expects his felicity, and in the enjoyment of whom the eternal happiness of the faithful consists. He hopes to be happy in heaven, because God is there; and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee; all that earth affords, health, wealth, friends, family, honour, &c. are nothing, compared with a sense of God’s love, and the enjoyment of communion with him. All without him cannot satisfy; whilst in the want of all, he can satisfy our souls, and be to us a better portion than ten thousand worlds. Note; (1.) The more we see of God’s excellence and all-sufficiency, the less we shall regard every thing besides. (2.) What cause have we to lament the coldness of our hearts, which so little correspond with the Psalmist’s fervent desires?
4. In every distress he rests his soul upon this Almighty God, his all-sufficient portion. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength, or rock of my heart, to support me in every distress, and my portion for ever; when the body is laid in the dust and forgotten, God will be still the same to the faithful soul, its complete and eternal portion. Note; (1.) We must expect the hour when this feeble flesh shall fail, and sickness, or age, bring us to the grave. (2.) Death is terrible to nature; and our heart, as well as flesh, will fail us in that trying season, unless God be our strength, and faith in his power and grace remove the sting of death. (3.) They who have made God their rock in time, will find him their portion in eternity.
5. Miserable will be the end of the ungodly. For, lo, they that are far from thee, who depart from God in heart and conduct, and live estranged from his love, worship, and service, shall perish eternally. Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee, that follow other gods, or, idolatrously attached to the creature, love and serve it more than their Creator; all such sinners have perished, and all such will perish to the end of time, who thus apostatize from God.
6. He declares his fixed purpose of cleaving to God. But it is good for me to draw near to God in prayer, and all those means of grace whereby communion with God is maintained, and which they, who have their souls truly attached to him, find most profitable and delightful. I have put my trust in the Lord God, who will never disappoint the expectations of his faithful people; that I may declare all thy works of providence and grace, wherein his faithfulness and mercy appear, and for which we owe everlasting praise. Note; (1.) They who know the comfort of communion with God, can say by experience, it is good to draw near to him. (2.) None ever trusted in him, and were confounded. (3.) The more we are enabled to trust him, the more shall we see cause to praise him.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 627
BENEFIT OF DRAWING NEAR TO GOD
Psa 73:28. It is good for me to draw near to God.
THE dispensations of Providence are often so dark and inscrutable, that the proud man is ready to question the wisdom of them, and almost to doubt whether they are the result of design or chance. The prosperity of the wicked is more particularly a stumbling-block to those who limit their views to the things of this life. But a more enlarged acquaintance with God and his ways will silence every cavil, and oblige us to confess, that however clouds and darkness may be round about him, righteousness and judgment are the basis of his throne. The Psalmist himself for a season was unable to account for the prosperous state of the ungodly, while the righteous were regarded by them as objects of contempt and abhorrence. His reasonings upon the subject could not satisfy his mind: but at last he went into the sanctuary of God, and there learned to estimate the ways of God by a very different standard, and to think those the most happy who were happy for eternity. In the review of this experience, he was led to acknowledge the more than brutish stupidity of his soul [Note: ver. 22.], and the benefit which he had received from drawing near to God: It is good for me, says he, to draw near to God.
In discoursing on these words, we shall shew,
I.
What is meant by drawing near to God
We must not suppose that any bodily motion is necessary in order to the drawing nigh to God; since he filleth all space, and is never far from any one of us [Note: Act 17:27.]. The expression in the text imports a drawing nigh to him,
1.
With the mind
[Though God is a Spirit, and therefore not to be apprehended with bodily eyes, yet man is able, by the exercise of faith, to place him as it were before the eyes of his mind, and thereby to see Him that is invisible [Note: Heb 11:27.]. Nothing can be more absurd or delusive, than to draw a picture of him, as it were, in our imagination, and to present him before us in a way of vision. Whatever visions were granted to men in former times, it is rather a sense and consciousness of his presence, than a sight of him as present, which we are to expect. We must not look for such a luminous appearance as Moses saw; but it is our privilege to say with David, I have set the Lord always before me [Note: Psa 16:8.]. When, we set God before us, we also set ourselves before him: we summon ourselves into his presence; and endeavour to impress our minds with the conviction that he discerns our inmost thoughts. In this way we may properly be said to draw near to him; because, though in fact we are no nearer to him than before, yet we are much nearer in our own apprehension; and the effect upon our own minds is precisely the same as if the approximation were real.]
2.
With the heart
[The drawing nigh to God is not a work of the understanding only, but also of the heart [Note: 1Co 14:15.]: and the exercises of the one are as necessary as those of the other. Indeed the idea of approaching God without suitable affections, is vain; since man cannot remain unaffected in the Divine presence; nor would he be approved of God if he did. It is obvious therefore that an acceptable approach to God must be attended with such emotions, as become a sinner in the presence of his Judge, and a redeemed sinner in the presence of his Lord and Saviour. It must be accompanied with a fear of Gods majesty, an admiration of his goodnesss, an affiance in his mercy, a love to his name, a submission to his will, a zeal for his glory. Those various feelings must be expressed in such petitions and acknowledgments as the occasion requires. In short, our drawing nigh to God must somewhat resemble Esthers approach to Ahasuerus. She knew that none but the king could help her; and that she must perish if she did not obtain favour in his sight: and therefore, with much preparation of mind, she humbly presented herself before him, and then offered her petition in the manner she thought most likely to prevail [Note: Est 5:1-4. This whole head might be changed; and, in stead of it, one might show, How we are to draw nigh to God. This would be more in the common-place way; but it would be easier, and perhaps more profitable to the lower class of hearers.].]
Having ascertained the import of drawing nigh to God, we proceed to shew
II.
The benefit arising from it
There is no other thing under heaven so good for the soul, as this [Note: Lam 3:25.]:
1.
There is nothing so pleasant
[We will grant, for argument sake, that the things which this world afford are capable of imparting as much happiness as the votaries of pleasure expect: still the happiness of drawing near to God is incomparably greater. We appear indeed to speak parables [Note: Eze 20:49.] when we descant on such a subject as this, because the things we affirm can be known only from Scripture and experience: and people have an easy way of setting both these aside. The words of Scripture are represented as high eastern metaphors: and the experience of the primitive saints is supposed to be confined to the earlier ages of the Church. And with respect to the experience of living saints, that is derided as enthusiasm. But there is a blessedness in communion with God, whether man will admit it or not. To the ungodly it is an irksome task to approach God; but to the godly it is their chief joy. The Psalmist justly says, Blessed is the man, O Lord, whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee [Note: Psa 64:5.]. But how shall we describe this blessedness? How shall we paint the lowly self-abasing thoughts which lead a man to prostrate himself in the very dust before God? How shall we express the wonder and admiration with which he is filled, when he contemplates the goodness of God towards him? How shall we declare the ardour of his feelings when he is adoring that Saviour who bought him with his blood? We do not say, that any man feels at all times the same rapturous and exalted joys; but we do say, that the joys of those who live nigh to God are at some seasons unspeakable and full of glory [Note: 1Pe 1:5.], an earnest and foretaste of heaven itself.]
2.
There is nothing so profitable
[Not to mention the pardon and acceptance which flow from communion with God, it is certain that it will restrain from sin. The presence of a fellow-creature, yea, even of a child, will restrain men from the commission of crimes, which in secret they would perpetrate without remorse. How much more then would a consciousness of Gods presence awe us, if we felt it as we ought [Note: Psa 4:4.]! The falls and apostasies of those who profess religion always originate from, or are preceded by, a secret departure of the heart from God.
It will also console us in trouble. David, both on this and many other occasions, found prayer the best means of composing his spirit when it was harassed by temptations or persecutions [Note: ver. 3, 13, 17. See also Psa 69:17-18; Psa 116:3-5.]. And did any one ever apply this remedy in vain? When we have complained to man only, we have felt the pressure of our burthens still, and groaned under them as much as ever: but when we have carried our complaints to God, we have almost invariably had our murmurs silenced, our agitations tranquillized, our spirits comforted. God has fulfilled to us his promise, Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will hear thee, and thou shalt glorify me [Note: Psa 50:15.].
It will moreover strengthen us for duty. We should not so often faint in the way of duty, if we waited more constantly upon our God. He would renew our strength as the eagles [Note: Isa 40:31.]: he would give us more grace [Note: Jam 4:6.], even grace sufficient for us. However weak we are in ourselves, we should be able to do all things through the strength which he would impart unto us [Note: Php 4:13.]. By drawing nigh to God, our humility is increased, our faith invigorated, our hope quickened, our love inflamed, and the whole work of grace advanced in our souls.
Lastly, it will prepare us for glory. Nothing transforms us into the Divine image so much as communion with God. When Moses continued with God for a season upon the holy mount, his face contracted a radiance which was visible to all who beheld him. And, though no bright effulgence will now adorn the countenances of those who live nigh to God, yet a glory will shine around their paths, a lustre which will compel others to take notice of them, that they have been with Jesus [Note: Act 4:13.]. By beholding his glory they will be changed into the same image [Note: 2Co 3:18.], and be progressively fitted to see him as he is [Note: 1Jn 3:2.].]
Address
1.
Those who never draw near to God at all
[How many are there of this description! You rather say to him in your hearts, Depart from us [Note: Job 21:14.]: and, in so doing, you pass sentence upon yourselves: you even inflict on yourselves, by anticipation, the punishment prepared for you [Note: Mat 25:41.]. God assures you, that all who are far from him shall perish [Note: ver. 27.]. O that you might tremble at the denunciations of his wrath, and not bring upon yourselves the bitter experience of it in the eternal world!]
2.
Those who draw nigh to him, but only in a formal manner
[Your state is as dangerous and deplorable as if you lived ever so far from God: for it is to no purpose to draw nigh to him with your lips, while your hearts are far from him [Note: Mat 15:8-9.]. Bodily exercise profiteth nothing [Note: 1Ti 4:8.]: you must have the power of godliness as well as the form [Note: 2Ti 3:5.]. God is a Spirit: and, if you do not worship him in spirit and in truth [Note: Joh 4:24.], your service is a mockery, and your hope a delusion. Be in earnest therefore in your walk with God: for as your formal duties, whether in the Church or closet, bring with them neither pleasure nor profit, so will they ultimately deceive you to your ruin. On the contrary, if you really draw nigh to God, and stir up yourselves to lay hold of him, he will draw nigh to you, and load you with his richest benefits [Note: Jam 4:8.].]
3.
Those who find their happiness in communion with God
[This is the character of all the saints: they are a people nigh unto God [Note: Psa 148:14.]: truly their fellowship is with God, and with his Son Jesus Christ [Note: 1Jn 1:3.]. It is true, that there is no merit in this; and it arises only from the grace of God, which effectually worketh in them: nevertheless God admires and applauds their conduct: viewing them with a kind of rapture and surprise, he says, Who is this that hath engaged his heart to approach unto me [Note: Jer 30:21.]? Happy, happy are the people who can say, Lord, it is I, Lord, it is I. Continue then and increase your diligence in walking with God. Then you shall not only say now, It is good for me to draw nigh to God; but you shall one day add with ten-fold emphasis, It is good for me to have drawn nigh to God: yes; if now you can look back upon your seasons of communion with God as the best and happiest hours of your life, much more shall you, when your intercourse with him shall be more immediate, and you are dwelling in the very bosom of your God.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
MY soul! gather from this blessed Psalm all the instructions the Holy Ghost intended the church should derive from it, and look up and pray that it may be made blessed in the Lord’s hand to teach thee how to draw proper improvements from the Lord’s providences which are going on continually in the world, and with which the Lord is pleased to exercise his faithful also. May Jesus bless it to this end!
In the first place, my soul! do, as Asaph did, put it down as a truth, which no outward circumstances can for a moment give occasion to call, in question, Truly God is good to Israel, whatever afflictions Israel is exercised with; and the Lord cannot but love his redeemed which he hath purchased with his blood, whatever calamities they labour under, while the wicked and the ungodly seem to prosper.
In the next place, learn to look at all exercises of God’s people, in the seeming prosperity of the wicked, and their triumphs over the righteous, as so many means in the Lord’s hand for bringing about the greatest good. By these shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged. The Lord is invariably pursuing one plan of mercy, love, and grace, to his people: That the trial of your faith (saith the apostle) being much more precious than gold which perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ! Blessed process, when sanctified by grace! It weans from the world, from creature-comforts, creature-confidences, all self-exalting thoughts; and brings the soul humble, low, and submissive before God. Above all, it endears Jesus, proves the importance of his salvation, and makes him increasingly precious day by day.
Lastly, learn to see love at the bottom of all, in the blessed conformity the people of God are hereby brought into, to the person and pattern of Jesus. Whom he did foreknow (saith an apostle) he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son – that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And what prophet, what apostle, what martyr of Jesus ever lived in the prosperity which Asaph describes in this Psalm? Rather let it be asked, what prophet, what apostle, what martyr, who was most eminent in God’s service, but was most eminent also in suffering? Nay, what was the Prince of prophets, but a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief? Blessed then be the Lord for those marks of sonship and adoption, by which the faithful are eminently known! Oh! for grace to take joyfully reproaches, afflictions, necessities, for Christ’s sake; that when most weak in ourselves, we may be most strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Precious Jesus! be thou my portion, and bring me into a holy conformity to thee, in all things, that thou mayest be my joy, my happiness, and my all, both now and forever. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 73:28 But [it is] good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
Ver. 28. But it is good for me to draw nigh to God ] To hang ever upon thee (in this general defection of others) by the faith of the gospel, Heb 7:19 , by putting my trust in thee, that I may declare all thy works, and relate my experiments. A circle is the most perfect figure, because it beginneth and endeth; the last point meeteth in the first, from whence it came. We shall never come to perfection or satisfaction till we draw nigh to God, till God make the circle meet, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psalms
NEARNESS TO GOD THE KEY TO LIFE’S PUZZLE
Psa 73:28
The old perplexity as to how it comes, if God is good and wise and strong, that bad men should prosper and good men should suffer, has been making the Psalmist’s faith reel. He does not answer the question exactly as the New Testament would have done, but he does find a solution sufficient for himself in two thoughts, the transiency of that outward prosperity, and the eternal sufficiency of God. ‘It was too painful for me until I went into the Sanctuary, then understood I their end’; and on the other hand: ‘Thou art the Strength of my life, and my Portion for ever.’ So he climbs at last to the calm height where he learns that, whatever be a man’s outward prosperity, if he is separated from God he ceases to be. As the context says: ‘They that are far from Thee shall perish.’ ‘Thou hast destroyed’-already, before they die-’all them that go a-whoring from Thee.’ And on the other hand, whatever be the outward condition, God is enough. ‘It is good for me,’ rich or poor harassed or at rest, afflicted or prosperous, in health or sickness, solitary or compassed about with loving friends, ‘it is good for me to draw near to God’; and nothing else is good. Thus the river that has had to fight its way through rocks, and has been chafed in the conflict, and has twisted its path through many a deep, dark, sunless gorge, comes out at last into the open, and flows with a broad sunlit breast, peaceable and full, into the great ocean-’It is good for me to draw near to God.’
But that is not all. The Psalmist goes on to tell how we are to draw near to God: ‘I have put my trust in Him.’ And that is not all, for he further goes on to tell how, drawing near to God through faith, all these puzzles and mysteries about men’s condition cease to perplex, and a beam of light falls upon the whole of them. ‘I have put my trust in God, that I may declare all Thy works.’ There are no knots in the thread now.
I. So here we have, first the truth of experience that nearness to God is the one good.
I suppose I need scarcely go on pointing out other aspects of this supreme-or more truly, this solitary-good. For instance, nothing is really good to me unless I have it within me, so as that it can never be wrenched away from me. The blessings that we cannot incorporate with the very substance of our being are only partial blessings after all; and all these things round us that do minister to our necessities, tastes, affections, and sometimes to our weaknesses, these good things fail just in this, that they stand outside us, and there is no real union between us and them. So, changes come, and we have to unclasp hands, and the footsteps that used to be planted by the side of ours cease, and our track across the sands is lonely; and losses come, and death comes, and all the glory and the good that were only externally possessed by us we leave behind us. As this psalm says: ‘I considered their end . . . how they are brought into desolation, as in a moment!’ What is the good of a good that is not incorporated into any being? What is the good of a good about which I cannot say, with a smile of confidence, ‘I know that where-ever I may go, and whatever may befall me, that can never pass from me’? There is but one good of that sort. ‘I am persuaded that . . . neither life nor death . . . nor any other creature, shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ ‘It is good for me,’ amidst the morasses and quicksands and bogs of life’s uncertain and shifting ill and good, to set my feet upon the rock, and to say: ‘Here I stand, and my footing will never give way.’ Do you, brother! possess a changeless, imperishable, inwrought good like that? You may if you like.
But remember, too, that in regard to this Christian good, it is not only the possession of it, but the aspiration after it, that is blessed. The Psalmist does not only say, ‘It is good for me to be near to God,’ but he says, ‘It is good for me to draw near.’ There is one kind of life in which the seeking is all but as blessed as the finding. There is one kind of life in which to desire is all but as full of peace, and power, and joy as to possess. Therefore, another psalm, which begins by celebrating the blessedness of the men that dwell in God’s house, and are ‘still praising Thee,’ goes on to speak of the blessedness, not less blessed, of the men ‘in whose heart are the ways.’ They who have reached the Temple are at rest, and blessed in their repose. They who are journeying towards it are in action, and blessed in their activity. ‘It is good to draw near’; and the seeking after God is as far above the possession of all other good as heaven is above earth.
But then, notice further, how our Psalmist comes down to very plain, practical teaching. He seems to feel that he must explain what he means by drawing near to God. And here is his explanation. ‘I have put my trust in the Lord.’
II. The way to nearness to God is twofold.
Dear brethren! this Psalmist shows us how hard it is for us to keep up that continual attitude of faith, how many difficulties there are in daily life, in the way of our continually being true to our deepest convictions, and seeking after Him amidst all the distracting whirl and perplexities of our daily lives. But he shows us, too, how possible it is, even for men constituted as we are, moment by moment, day by day, task by task, to keep vivid the consciousness of our dependence upon Him, and the blessed consciousness of our being beside Him, and how, if we do, strength will come to us for everything. The secret of a joyous walk lies in this, ‘I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.’ We draw near to God when we clutch Christ in faith. Our faith manifests itself, not merely by a lazy reliance upon what He once did, long ago, on the Cross for us; but by daily, effortful revivifying of our consciousness of His presence, of our consciousness of our dependence upon Him, and by the continual reference of thoughts, desires, plans, and actions to Himself.
Keep God beside you so, and then there will follow what this Psalmist reached at last, a peaceful insight into what else are full of perplexity and difficulty, the ways of God in the world.
To myself, to my dear ones, to the nation, to the Church, to the world, there come many perplexing riddles as to God’s dealings, that cannot be solved except by getting close to Him. Just as a little child nestling on its mother’s bosom, with its mother’s arm around it, looks out with peaceful eye and a bright smile, upon everything beyond the safe nest, so they who are near to God can bear to look at difficulties and perplexities, and the mysteries of their own sorrows and of the world’s miseries, and say, ‘All things work together for good’; ‘I have put my trust in the Lord, that I may declare all Thy works.’ Stand in the sun, and all the planets move around it manifestly in order. Take your place anywhere else, and there is confusion. Get beside God, and look out on the world, and you will see it as He saw it when, ‘Behold! it was very good.’
Now, dear friends! my text in its first part may become the description of our death. One man holds on to the world as it is slipping away from him. I remember a story about a coast-guardsman that was flung over the cliffs once, and when they picked up his dead body, all under the nails was full of chalk that he had scraped off the cliffs in his desperate attempts to clutch at something to hold by. That is like one kind of death. But another kind may be: ‘It is good for me to draw near to God.’ And when we reach His side, and see all the past from the centre, and in the light of the Eternal Present, to which it has led, we shall be able to declare all His works, and to give thanks ‘for all the way by which the Lord our God hath led us’ and the world ‘these many years in the wilderness.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
it is good for me. The Hebrew accent (pasek) emphasizes the Pronoun “me”. Others may go “far from Thee” (Psa 73:27), but “as for me, I will draw near to Thee” (Compare Psa 73:23). The “good” is seen in the twofold result: (1) I find a refuge in Him; (2) I tell forth His praises.
put my trust = flee for refuge. Hebrew. hasah. App-69.
the Lord GOD = Adonai Jehovah. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
trust
(See Scofield “Psa 2:12”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
But: Psa 65:4, Psa 84:10, Psa 116:7, Lam 3:25, Lam 3:26, Luk 15:17-20, Heb 10:19-22, Jam 4:8, 1Pe 3:18
that I may: Psa 66:16, Psa 71:17, Psa 71:24, Psa 107:22, Psa 118:17, The LXX, Vulgate, Arabic, and Ethiopic, add “in the gates of the daughter of Zion;” which makes a better conclusion; but it is not acknowledged by any manuscript yet collated.
Reciprocal: Gen 18:23 – drew Gen 27:21 – Come Deu 4:7 – who hath 1Sa 14:36 – Then said the priest Psa 52:9 – for it is Psa 55:16 – General Psa 92:1 – good Isa 12:4 – declare Mic 6:8 – what is Luk 9:33 – it is Heb 7:19 – we Heb 10:22 – draw Heb 11:6 – he that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 73:28. But it is good for me to draw near to God But whatsoever they do, I am abundantly satisfied that it is, as my duty, so my interest and happiness, to cleave unto thee by faith, love, and obedience, and diligent attendance upon all thy ordinances. I have put my trust in the Lord God I depend on him alone, for all my comfort and felicity; That I may declare all thy works From which dependance, I know, I shall have this benefit, that I shall have many and great occasions to declare Gods acts of mercy and kindness to me.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
73:28 But [it is] good for me {q} to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
(q) Though all the world shrinks from God, yet he promises to trust in him and to magnify his works.