home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Bible Heaven
/
Bible Heaven.iso
/
spurgeon
/
ps3.3
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-03-15
|
7KB
|
133 lines
EXPOSITION.
Here David avows his confidence in God. "_Thou, O Lord,
art a shield for me_." The word in the original signifies more
than a shield; it means a buckler round about, a protection which
shall surround a man entirely, a shield above, beneath, around,
without and within. Oh! what a shield is God for his people! He
wards off the fiery darts of Satan from beneath, and the storms
of trials from above, while, at the same instant, he speaks peace
to the tempest within the breast. Thou art "_my glory_." David
knew that though he was driven from his capital in contempt and
scorn, he should yet return in triumph, and by faith he looks
upon God as honouring and glorifying him. O for grace to see our
future glory amid present shame! Indeed, there is a present glory
in our afflictions, if we could but discern it; for it is no mean
thing to have fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. David was
honoured when he made the ascent of Olivet, weeping, with his
head covered; for he was in all this made like unto his Lord. May
we learn, in this respect, to glory in tribulations also! "_And
the lifter up of mine head_"--thou shalt yet exalt me. Though I
hang my head in sorrow, I shall very soon lift it up in joy and
thanks-giving. What a divine trio of mercies is contained in this
verse!--defence for the defenceless, glory for the desipised, and
joy for the comfortless. Verily we may well say, "There is none
like the God of Jeshurun."
"I cried unto the Lord with my voice." Why doth he say,
"with my voice?" Surely, silent prayers are heard. Yes, but good
men often find that, even in secret, they pray better aloud than
they do when they utter no vocal sound. Perhaps, moreover, David
would think thus:--"My cruel enemies clamour against me; _they_
lift up their voices, and, behold, _I_ lift up mine, and my cry
outsoars them all. They clamour, but the cry of my voice in great
distress pierces the very skies, and is louder and stronger than
all their tumult; for there is one in the sanctuary who hearkens
to me from the seventh heaven, and he hath '_heard me out of his
holy hill_.'" Answers to prayers are sweet cordials for the soul.
We need not fear a frowning world while we rejoice in a
prayer-hearing God.
Here stands another _Selah_. Rest awhile, O tried
believer, and change the strain to a softer air.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Verse 3.--"Lifter up of my head." God will have the body
partake with the soul--as in matters of grief, so in matters of
joy; the lanthorn shines in the light of the candle
within.^--Richard Sibbs, 1639.
There is a lifting up of the head by elevation to office,
as with Pharaoh's butler; this we trace to the divine
appointment. There is a lifting up in honour after shame, in
health after sickness, in gladness after sorrow, in restoration
after a fall, in victory after a temporary defeat; in all these
respects the Lord is the lifter up of our head.--C. H. S.
Verse 4.--When prayer leads the van, in due time
deliverance brings up the rear.--^Thomas Watson.
Verse 4.--"_He heard me_." I have often heard persons say
in prayer, "Thou art a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering
God," but the expression contains a superfluity, since for God to
hear is, according to Scripture, the same thing as to
answer.--^C. H. S.
[As a curious instance of Luther's dogmatical
interpretations, we give very considerable extracts from his
rendering of this Psalm without in any degree endorsing them.
C.H.S.]
Verse 3.--"_For thou, O Lord, art my helper, my glory,
and the lifter up of my head_." David here contrasts three things
with three; helper, with many troubling; glory, with many rising
up; and the lifter up of the head, with the blaspheming and
insulting. Therefore, the person here represented is indeed alone
in the estimation of man, and even according to his own feelings
also; but in the sight of God, and in a spiritual view, he is by
no means alone; but protected with the greatest abundance of
help; as Christ saith (#Joh 16:32|), "Behold, the hour cometh
when ye shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the
Father is with me." ... The words contained in this verse are not
the words of nature, but of grace; not of free-will, but of the
spirit of strong faith; which, even though seeing God, as in the
darkness of the storm of death and hell, a deserting God,
acknowledges him a sustaining God; when seeing him as a
persecuting God, acknowledges him a helping God; when seeing him
as a condemner, acknowledges him a Saviour. Thus this faith does
not judge of things according as they seem to be, or are felt,
like a horse or mule which have no understanding; but it
understands things which are not seen, for "hope that is seen is
not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" #Ro
8:24|.--^Martin Luther.
Verse 4.--"_I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he
heard me out of his holy hill_." In the Hebrew, the verb is in
the future, and is, as Hieronymus translates it, "I will cry,"
and, "he shall hear;" and this pleases me better than the perfect
tense; for they are the words of one triumphing in, and praising
and glorifying God, and giving thanks unto him who sustained,
preserved, and lifted him up, according as he had hoped in the
preceding verse. For it is usual with those that triumph and
rejoice, to speak of those things which they have done and
suffered, and to sing a song of praise unto their helper and
deliverer; as in #Ps 66:16|, "Come, then, all ye that fear God,
and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried unto
him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue." And also
#Ps 81:1|, "sing aloud unto God our strength." And so again, #Ex
15:1|, "Let us sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed
gloriously." And so here, being filled with an overflowing sense
of gratitude and joy, he sings of his being dead, of his having
slept and rose up again, of his enemies being smitten, and of the
teeth of the ungodly being broken. This it is which causes the
change; for he who hitherto had been addressing God in the second
person, changes on a sudden his address to others concerning God,
in the third person, saying, "and he heard me," not "and thou
heardest me;" and also, "I cried unto the Lord," not "I cried
unto thee," for he wants to make all know what benefits God has
heaped upon him; which is peculiar to a grateful mind.--^Martin
Luther.
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
Verse 3.--The threefold blessing which God affords to his
suffering ones--Defence, Honour, Joy. Show how all these may be
enjoyed by faith, even in our worst estate.
Verse 4.--(1) In dangers we should pray. (2) God will
graciously hear. (3) We should record his answers of grace. (4)
We may strengthen ourselves for the future by remembering the
deliverances of the past.