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“Questions and Answers, Part XV” by Romans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f42ykMcndeo
Greetings, one and all. Thank you for coming, and for giving me the opportunity to share my Bible Study with you. As you may have guessed, we are continuing in the “Questions” aspect of our Series, “Questions and Answers,” as we review and examine the most profound and significant questions found in the Book of Psalms, which have the greatest potential in reaching a deeper understanding of God, and our relationship with Him. Tonight, we are going to begin with Psalm 18:28-34 where David first declares some attributes of the Lord, and then asks his question, follow by more praise and celebration of his God:
We read beginning in verse 28: “For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. 29 For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. 30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. 31 For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? 32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. 33 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.”
Matthew Henry writes, “In these verses, I. David looks back, with thankfulness, upon the great things which God had done for him. He had not only wrought deliverance for him, but had given him victory and success, and made him triumph over those who thought to triumph over him. When we set ourselves to praise God for one mercy we must be led by that to observe the many more with which we have been compassed about, and followed, all our days. Many things had contributed to David's advancement, and he owns the hand of God in them all, to teach us to do likewise, in reviewing the several steps by which we have risen to our prosperity.
1. God had given him all his skill and understanding in military affairs, which he was not bred up to nor designed for, his genius leading him more to music, and poetry, and a contemplative life: He teaches my hands to war. 2. God had given him bodily strength to go through the business and fatigue of war: God girded him with strength, to such a degree that he could break even a bow of steel. What service God designs men for he will be sure to fit them for. 3. God had likewise given him great swiftness, not to flee from the enemies but to fly upon them.”
John Gill writes, “For who is God save the Lord?.... Or Jehovah: there is but one God, and Jehovah is he; there is none besides him, nor any like him: there are many that are called gods, nominal deities, who are not by nature gods; fictitious ones, the idols of the Gentiles, made of gold, silver, brass, wood, and stone; but there is but one true God: there are gods, in an improper sense, as civil magistrates; but there is none really and truly so but the Lord; which is to be understood, not of Jehovah the Father, to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit; for the Son is Jehovah, and the Spirit is Jehovah; both are so called, as well as the Father, and all three one God; or who is a rock save our God? to have recourse to for shelter and protection; or to trust to, and build upon, for eternal life and salvation.”
The Preacher's Homiletical adds, “In these verses we have the Psalmist exulting as “more than a conqueror.” Observe: I. The fulness of his victory (Psa_18:29). 1. He has vanquished a host of enemies. A “troop.” 2. He has utterly vanquished them. “Through a troop.” Divided them, broken them up, scattered them. 3. He has done it easily. “I have run through a troop.” I “leaped over a wall.” He did not secretly undermine it, or painfully batter it, or just succeed in scaling it, he leaped over it. All enemies, all obstructions, have been triumphantly vanquished.
II. The source of his victory: “By thee.” “In thee, and in my God, i.e., in intimate union with Him and possession of Him, a much stronger sense than that of mere assistance (by thee), which, however, is included.”—Alexander. 1. The Psalmist trusted in God. He identified himself with God. He entertained a lofty sense of God’s truth, and faithfulness, and power. 2. The Psalmist trusted in God alone. God is a rock, a ground of confidence that cannot be shaken, and God alone is such a rock. And 3. God gave him the victory. God does all. “Perfect, i.e., absolutely smooth, free from stumblings and errors, leading straight forward to a divine goal.”—Delitzsch.
Strength in both its beginning and continuance is of God. He “girds” with strength at the outset and maketh the whole “way perfect.” God establishes his feet. Enables him to stand where it seemed impossible to find footing; to scale heights which seemed utterly impracticable. God gave him wisdom and prowess to defeat his foes. “It is not the bow of brass which has been David’s protection, but Jehovah’s shield covered him; Jehovah’s right hand held him up; Jehovah’s wonderful condescension made him great; Jehovah made room for him to stand, and subdue those that rose up against him.”—Perowne.
Lessons: 1. We shall gain the victory of life by allying ourselves with God. All life is a warfare to us, as it was to David; and we shall achieve the victory only in Divine strength. In the natural world we see how feeble men are whilst they use only their own strength, their own eyes, hands, feet. It is when they learn how to avail themselves of God’s power that they accomplish marvels. The human hand is feeble, but it uses God’s power, and the dynamite rends asunder the rocks, the steam drives the mighty ship or thundering wheels of mills, the electric spark tells our wishes on the other side of the world.
We are slow, feeble, local, considered in ourselves; but when science has taught us to avail ourselves of God’s power, we dare winds and seas and mountains. So in the moral world. We are feeble indeed in ourselves, we cannot do the things that we would; but when we listen to revelation, and by thought, and faith, and prayer, lay hold of God’s strength, we can do all things. 2. If we ally ourselves with God’s strength, the victory of life shall be most complete and brilliant. We shall more than prevail. The “high places” of Christian experience shall be reached; the “high places” of the world, the most difficult undertakings of Christian zeal, shall be proudly compassed; the “high places” of Christian hope shall be climbed, and we shall shout the song of victory on those tablelands, of which God Himself is sun and moon.”
In this passage, David asks “Who is a Rock save our God?” (Psalm 18:31). In the opening verses of this Psalm, David, who may have written these verses before becoming King of Israel, clearly declared that God was his Rock. In verse 2 he wrotes, “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. And in verse 46 he writes, “The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.”
In Psalm 28:1, David writes, Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock...” In Psalm 62, David once again makes clear that God is his Rock and Salvation: He writes in verse 2: He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.” In verse 6 “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.” And in verse 7: “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.” In Psalm 95, the personal pronoun is changed from “my Rock,” to “the Rock of our Salvation .”
When Jesus made the statement to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “...thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” there are many people who believe and teach that Jesus was declaring Peter to be the Rock Foundation of the Church. This is impossible for several reasons:
First, notice the conversation between Jesus and Peter verses later in Matthew 16:21: “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
Is it possible that, with all of the references in the Psalms that we reviewed in mind, in which God is repeatedly called “my Rock,” and “our Rock of Salvation,” and knowing that Jesus was God in the flesh, that Jesus would reassign the term Rock to be applied to the unstable and unpredictable Peter, the same person whom He would openly rebuke mere minutes later? In addition, the Apostle Paul clearly identifies Jesus as being typified by the Rock in the Old Testament (in 1 Corinthians 10:4), and then he writes, with zero ambiguity, in 1 Corinthians 3:11 “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Peter was not the Rock on which Jesus' Church would be built.
As we move forward in the Psalms, there is, perhaps, no more profound a question in the Psalms being asked than the question we find in Psalm 22:1: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Matthew Henry writes, “This may be applied to David, or any other child of God, in the want of the tokens of his favour, pressed with the burden of his displeasure, roaring under it, as one overwhelmed with grief and terror, crying earnestly for relief, and, in this case, apprehending himself forsaken of God, unhelped, unheard, yet calling him, again and again, “My God,” and continuing to cry day and night to him and earnestly desiring his gracious returns. Note, (1.) Spiritual desertions are the saints' sorest afflictions; when their evidences are clouded, divine consolations suspended, their communion with God interrupted, and the terrors of God set in array against them, how sad are their spirits, and how sapless all their comforts! (2.) Even their complaint of these burdens is a good sign of spiritual life and spiritual senses exercised. To cry out, “My God, why am I sick? Why am I poor?” would give cause to suspect discontent and worldliness. But, Why has thou forsaken me? is the language of a heart binding up its happiness in God's favour. (3.) When we are lamenting God's withdrawings, yet still we must call him our God, and continue to call upon him as ours. When we want the faith of assurance we must live by a faith of adherence. “However it be, yet God is good, and he is mine; though he slay me, yet I trust in him; though he do not answer me immediately, I will continue praying and waiting; though he be silent, I will not be silent.”
2. But is must be applied to Christ: for, in the first words of this complaint, he poured out his soul before God when he was upon the cross (in Matthew 27:46); probably he proceeded to the following words, and, some think, repeated the whole psalm, if not aloud (because they cavilled at the first words), yet to himself. Note, (1.) Christ, in his sufferings, cried earnestly to his Father for his favour and presence with him. He cried in the day-time, upon the cross, and in the night-season, when he was in agony in the garden. He offered up strong crying and tears to him that was able to save him, and with some fear too.
(2.) Yet God forsook him, was far from helping him, and did not hear him, and it was this that he complained of more than all his sufferings. God delivered him into the hands of his enemies; it was by his determinate counsel that he was crucified and slain, and he did not give in sensible comforts. But, Christ having made himself sin for us, in conformity thereunto the Father laid him under the present impressions of his wrath and displeasure against sin. It pleased the Lord to bruise him and put him to grief, (as we read in Isaiah 53:10). But even then he kept fast hold of his relation to his Father as his God, by whom he was now employed, whom he was now serving, and with whom he should shortly be glorified.”
The Sermon Bible adds, “The cry of the race is the cry of Jesus, and the cry of Jesus is the cry of the race. It is the cry of the best men. Only in the best of the best does the soul sufficiently recover itself to become at all aware of its situation. A few tender men in each generation, men of pure desire and loftiest aspiration, attain to the Divine distress. In the Lord Jesus the Divine-human distress reached its height, and in Him we see that the distress is a condition of the Divine-human victory.
III. If in extremity the cry of Christ was as if unheeded, shall we despair when left to suffer on and pray on without deliverance for an answer? What did Christ say? "Into Thy hands I commend My spirit." There is the example for us. I give myself up to Him that begat me. What then? The last breath of the material form. What then? Resurrection in a higher form: humanity through its wildest, blackest night, fresh from the hands of God, in the new morning of immortal hope.
IV. As soon as any member of our race perceives that the world-form of his nature is his humiliation, and the soul within him begins to suffer, because God is so far from his consciousness—these are the best evidences that we can have that his soul is advancing in regeneration and being rapidly prepared for uniting with God. God’s nearness makes him feel that the world-form of his nature is too dark, too painful, a house for him to inherit. He is on the eve therefore of exchanging houses, his earthly house for the new house which is from heaven. J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 92.”
As we move forward, we come next to the question asked by David, this time in Psalm 27:1: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
John Gill writes, “Psalms 27:1: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?... Christ the eternal Word, in whom "was life, and that life was the light of men", (as we read in John 1:4); and the psalmist is not to be understood of the light of nature and reason, with which the Logos, or Word, enlightens every man that comes into the world; nor merely in a temporal sense, of giving him the light of prosperity, and delivering him from the darkness of adversity; but of the light of grace communicated to him by him who is the sun of righteousness, and the light of the world; and by whom such who are darkness itself, while in an unregenerate state, are made light, and see light;
all the light which is given to men at first conversion is from Christ; and all the after communications and increase of it are from him; as well as all that spiritual joy, peace, and comfort they partake of, which light sometimes signifies, (as seen in Psalm 97:11); and which the psalmist now had an experience of; enjoying the light of God's countenance, and having discoveries of his love, which made him fearless of danger and enemies: and such who are made light in the Lord have no reason to be afraid of the prince of darkness; nor of the rulers of the darkness of this world; nor of all the darkness, distress, and persecutions they are the authors of;
nor of the blackness of darkness reserved for ungodly men; for their light is an everlasting one, and they are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light: and the more light they have, the less fear; and what made the psalmist still more fearless was, that Christ was his "salvation"; by the light which the Lord was to him, he saw his need of salvation, he knew that his own righteousness would not save him; he was made acquainted with the design and appointment of the Lord, that Christ should be salvation to the ends of the earth; he had knowledge of the covenant of grace, and faith in it, which was all his salvation.
Salvation was revealed to the Old Testament saints, in the promises, sacrifices, types, and figures of that dispensation; and they looked through them to him for it, and were saved by him, as New Testament believers are; and they had faith of interest in Christ, and knew him to be their Saviour and Redeemer, as did Job, and here the psalmist David: and such who know Christ to be their salvation need not be afraid of any person or thing; not of sin, for though they fear, and should fear to commit it, they need not fear the damning power of it, for they are saved from it; nor of Satan, out of whose hands they are ransomed; nor of the world, which is overcome by Christ; nor of the last enemy, death, which is abolished by him; nor of hell, and wrath to come, for he has delivered them from it;
the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? meaning not of his natural life, though he was the God of his life, who had given it to him, and had preserved it, and upheld his soul in it; but of his spiritual life: Christ is the author of spiritual life, he implants the principle of it in the hearts of his people, yea, he himself is that life; he lives in them, and is the support of their life; he is the tree of life, and the bread of life, by which it is maintained; and he is the security of it, it is bound up in the bundle of life with him, it is hid with Christ in God; and because he lives they live also; and he gives unto them eternal life, so that they have no reason to be afraid that they shall come short of heaven and happiness; nor need they fear them that kill the body and can do no more; nor any enemy whatever, who cannot reach their spiritual life, nor hurt that, nor hinder them of the enjoyment of eternal life.”
Another profound question is asked in Psalm 42 that highlights the full range of emotions presented in this Book. It is not all thanksgiving and celebration. There is also anguish and desperation in the hearts and minds of the various psalmists as they wait for God to intervene on their behalf, but a it is a God Who not only is not intervening according to their timetable, He seems to not be listening. We read the question in verse 11: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
Matthew Henry writes, “In his troubles. His soul was dejected, and he goes to God and tells him so: O my God! my soul is cast down within me. It is a great support to us, when upon any account we are distressed, that we have liberty of access to God, and liberty of speech before him, and may open to him the causes of our dejection. David had communed with his own heart about its own bitterness, and had not as yet found relief; and therefore he turns to God, and opens before him the trouble. Note, When we cannot get relief for our burdened spirits by pleading with ourselves, we should try what we can do by praying to God and leaving our case with him. We cannot still these winds and waves; but we know who can. 2. In his devotions. His soul was elevated, and, finding the disease very painful, he had recourse to that as a sovereign remedy. “My soul is plunged; therefore, to prevent its sinking, I will remember thee, meditate upon thee, and call upon thee, and try what that will do to keep up my spirit.” Note, The way to forget the sense of our miseries is to remember the God of our mercies. It was an uncommon case when the psalmist remembered God and was troubled. He had often remembered God and was comforted, and therefore had recourse to that expedient now. He was now driven to the utmost borders of the land of Canaan, to shelter himself there from the rage of his persecutors - sometimes to the country about Jordan, and, when discovered there, to the land of the Hermonites, or to a hill called Mizar, or the little hill; but,
(1.) Wherever he went he took his religion along with him. In all these places, he remembered God, and lifted up his heart to him, and kept his secret communion with him. This is the comfort of the banished, the wanderers, the travellers, of those that are strangers in a strange land, that wherever they are there is a way open heavenward. (2.) Wherever he was he retained his affection for the courts of God's house; from the land of Jordan, or from the top of the hills, he used to look a long look, a longing look, towards the place of the sanctuary, and wish himself there. Distance and time could not make him forget that which his heart was so much upon and which lay so near it.
II. He complains of the tokens of God's displeasure against him, but comforts himself with the hopes of the return of his favour in due time. 1. He saw his troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him (Psa_42:7): “Deep calls unto deep, one affliction comes upon the neck of another, as if it were called to hasten after it; and thy water-spouts give the signal and sound the alarm of war.” It may be meant of the terror and disquietude of his mind under the apprehensions of God's anger. One frightful thought summoned another, and made way for it, as is usual in melancholy people. He was overpowered and overwhelmed with a deluge of grief, like that of the old world, when the windows of heaven were opened and the fountains of the great deep were broken up.
He expected his deliverance to come from God's favour: Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness. Things are bad, but they shall not always be so. - Though affairs are now in an evil plight, they may not always be so. After the storm there will come a calm, and the prospect of this supported him when deep called unto deep. Observe (1.) What he promised himself from God: The Lord will command his lovingkindness. He eyes the favour of God as the fountain of all the good he looked for. That is life; that is better than life; and with that God will gather those from whom he has, in a little wrath, hid his face. God's conferring his favour is called his commanding it. This intimates the freeness of it; we cannot pretend to merit it, but it is bestowed in a way of sovereignty, he gives like a king. It intimates also the efficacy of it; he speaks his lovingkindness, and makes us to hear it; speaks, and it is done.
He commands deliverance (in Psalm 44:4), commands the blessing (in Psalm 133:3), as one having authority. By commanding his lovingkindness, he commands down the waves and the billows, and they shall obey him. This he will do in the daytime, for God's lovingkindness will make day in the soul at any time. Though weeping has endured for a night, a long night, yet joy will come in the morning. (2.) What he promised for himself to God. If God command his lovingkindness for him, he will meet it, and bid it welcome, with his best affections and devotions. [1.] He will rejoice in God: In the night his song shall be with me. The mercies we receive in the day we ought to return thanks for at night; when others are sleeping we should be praising God. In silence and solitude, when we are retired from the hurries of the world, we must be pleasing ourselves with the thoughts of God's goodness.
Or, in the night of affliction: “Before the day dawns, in which God commands his
lovingkindness, I will sing songs of praise in the prospect of it.” Even in tribulation the saints can rejoice in hope of the glory of God, sing in hope, and praise in hope. It is God's prerogative to give songs in the night. [2.] He will seek to God in a constant dependence upon him: My prayer shall be to the God of my life. Our believing expectation of mercy must not supersede, but quicken, our prayers for it. God is the God of our life, in whom we live and move, the author and giver of all our comforts; and therefore to whom should we apply by prayer, but to him? And from him what good may not we expect? It would put life into our prayers in them to eye God as the God of our life; for then it is for our lives, and the lives of our souls, that we stand up to make request. 2. His comfort is that God is his rock (in Psalm 42:9) - a rock to build upon, a rock to take shelter in. The rock of ages, in whom is everlasting strength, would be his rock, his strength in the inner man, both for doing and suffering. To him he had access with confidence. To God his rock he might say what he had to say, and be sure of a gracious audience. he therefore repeats what he had before said, and concludes with it: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? His griefs and fears were clamorous and troublesome; they were not silenced though they were again and again answered. But here, at length, his faith came off a conqueror and forced the enemies to quit the field. And he gains this victory, (1.) By repeating what he had before said, chiding himself, as before, for his dejections and disquietudes, and encouraging himself to trust in the name of the Lord and to stay himself upon his God.
Note, It may be of great use to us to think our good thoughts over again, and, if we do not gain our point with them at first, perhaps we may the second time. We have need to press the same thing over and over again upon our hearts, and all little enough. (2.) By adding one word to it; there he hoped to praise God for the salvation that was in his countenance; here, “I will praise him,” says he, “as the salvation of my countenance from the present cloud that is upon it; if God smile upon me, that will make me look pleasant, look up, look forward, look round, with pleasure.” He adds, and my God, “related to me, in covenant with me; all that he is, all that he has, is mine, according to the true intent and meaning of the promise.” This thought enabled him to triumph over all his griefs and fears.”
As we push ahead, we read a question that, perhaps comes to our minds as we are living in the first quarter of the 21st Century. It is a question that is as valid, today, as when the psalmist Asaph wrote it over 2,000 years ago: We read the question in Psalm 74:10: “O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?”
F.B. Meyer writes, “THE SANCTUARY OF GOD PROFANED: This psalm probably dates from the time when the Chaldeans destroyed the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. The main emphasis of verse 1 lies in the argument which arose from Israel’s close relationship with God. Were they not His congregation! Was not the Temple His own chosen sanctuary? Did not these facts constitute the reason why He should come with swift footsteps to undo the evils that their foes were inflicting? The invaders were His (Thine) adversaries. The Temple was the dwelling-place of His (Thy) name. The whole psalm is dominated by this note. It says very little of the sufferings which the enemy has inflicted, but constantly recurs to the insult and reproach, done to God.
When we live only for Jesus Christ, so that our case and His have become one, we can use language like this. But this position is not acquired lightly, nor without much watchfulness and prayer. We by nature watch out for our own dignity and welfare much more quickly than for the interests of God’s kingdom and glory. When, however, we are absolutely identified with the kingdom and glory of Jesus, our argument for deliverance is omnipotent.”
Referring to the Israelites wandering for 40 years in the Wilderness, we read in Psalm 78:18-19: “And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?”
Albert Barnes writes, “Psalms 78:18: And they tempted God in their heart – (as we read in Exodus 16:2). The heart was the source of the evil. They were not satisfied with what he gave them. They asked for that which would be more agreeable to them, and they did it with a complaining and a murmuring spirit. It is not wrong in itself to ask of God that which will be better than what we now possess, for that is the object of all our prayers; but this may be done from a wrong motive - for mere self-gratification, as was the case here; or it may be with a complaining and dissatisfied spirit, such as was evinced on this occasion. In such a case we cannot expect the prayer to be answered “except as a punishment.”
By asking meat for their lust - Food. The word “meat” here does not necessarily denote animal food, as it does with us. They asked another kind of food than manna; and they did it, not because this was “necessary” to sustain life, but in order to gratify their appetites. The original word here, however, is not “lusts,” but “souls;” that is, “they asked food for themselves.”
Yea, they spake against God - That is, in the manner which is immediately specified - by calling in question his power, or his ability to provide for them in the wilderness. They said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? - In the desert. The word rendered “furnish” is in the margin “order.” It means to arrange; to set in order; and here to arrange and provide for, as at a feast. The precise words used by the complaining Hebrews are not quoted here, but the substance of what they said is retained. The idea is, that what they spake was “equivalent” to saying that God could not prepare a table for them; that is, provide for them, in the desert.”
Our next set of questions are asked to those who proudly defy and mock God. Today, such mockers are out there in force, and they got us surrounded. We read in Psalm 94:8-10: “Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? 9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? 10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?”
Matthew Henry writes regarding the entire Psalm, “In these verses we have, I. A solemn appeal to God against the cruel oppressors of his people. This speaks terror enough to them, that they have the prayers of God's people against them, who cry day and night to him to avenge them of their adversaries; and shall he not avenge them speedily? Observe here, 1. The titles they give to God for the encouraging of their faith in this appeal: O God! to whom vengeance belongeth; and thou Judge of the earth. We may with boldness appeal to him; for, (1.) He is judge, supreme judge, judge alone, from whom every man's judgment proceeds. He that gives law gives sentence upon every man according to his works, by the rule of that law. He has prepared his throne for judgment.
He has indeed appointed magistrates to be avengers under him, but he is the avenger in chief, to whom even magistrates themselves are accountable; his throne is the last refuge (the dernier ressort, as the law speaks) of oppressed innocency. He is universal judge, not of this city or country only, but judge of the earth, of the whole earth: none are exempt from his jurisdiction; nor can it be alleged against an appeal to him in any court that it is coram non judice - before a person not judicially qualified. (2.) He is just. As he has authority to avenge wrong, so it is his nature, and property, and honour. This also is implied in the title here given to him and repeated with such an emphasis, O God! to whom vengeance belongs, who wilt not suffer might always to prevail against right.
This is a good reason why we must not avenge ourselves, because God has said, Vengeance is mine; and it is daring presumption to usurp his prerogative and step into his throne, (as we read in Romans 12:19). Let this alarm those who do wrong, whether with a closed hand, so as not to be discovered, or with a high hand, so as not to be controlled. There is a God to whom vengeance belongs, who will certainly call them to an account; and let it encourage those who suffer wrong to bear it with silence, committing themselves to him who judges righteously. 2. What it is they ask of God. (1.) That he would glorify himself, and get honour to his own name.
Wicked persecutors thought God had withdrawn and had forsaken the earth. “Lord,” say they, “show thyself; make them know that thou art and that thou art ready to show thyself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are upright with thee.” The enemies thought God was conquered because his people were. “Lord,” say they, “lift up thyself, be thou exalted in thy own strength. Lift up thyself, to be seen, to be feared; and suffer not thy name to be trampled upon and run down.” (2.) That he would mortify the oppressors: Render a reward to the proud... for the injuries they have done to thy people. These prayers are prophecies, which speak terror to all the sons of violence. The righteous God will deal with them according to their merits.
1. The character of the enemies they complain against. They are wicked; they are workers of iniquity; they are bad, very bad, themselves, and therefore they hate and persecute those whose goodness shames and condemns them. Those are wicked indeed, and workers of the worst iniquity, lost to all honour and virtue, who are cruel to the innocent and hate the righteous. 2. Their haughty barbarous carriage which they complain of. (1.) They are insolent, and take a pleasure in magnifying themselves. They talk high and talk big; they triumph; they speak loud things; they boast themselves, as if their tongues were their own and their hands too, and they were accountable to none for what they say or do, and as if the day were their own, and they doubted not but to carry the cause against God and religion. Those that speak highly of themselves, that triumph and boast, are apt to speak hardly of others; but there will come a day of reckoning for all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against God, his truths, and ways, and people.
A modest pleading with God concerning the continuance of the persecution: “Lord, how long shall they do thus?” And again, How long? When shall this wickedness of the wicked come to an end? A charge of atheism exhibited against the persecutors, and an expostulation with them upon that charge. 1. Their atheistical thoughts are here discovered (Psa_94:7): Yet they say, The Lord shall not see. Though the cry of their wickedness is very great and loud, though they rebel against the light of nature and the dictates of their own consciences, yet they have the confidence to say, “The Lord shall not see; he will not only wink at small faults, but shut his eyes at great ones too.” 2. They are here convicted of folly and absurdity. He that says either that Jehovah the living God shall not see or that the God of Jacob shall not regard the injuries done to his people, Nabal is his name and folly is with him; and yet here he is fairly reasoned with, for his conviction and conversion, to prevent his confusion: “Understand, you brutish among the people, and let reason guide you.”
Note, The atheistical, though they set up for wits, and philosophers, and politicians, yet are really the brutish among the people; if they would but understand, they would believe.
(3.) From the works of grace: He that teaches man knowledge, shall he not know? He not only, as the God of nature, has given the light of reason, but, as the God of grace, has given the light of revelation, has shown man what is true wisdom and understanding; and he that does this, shall he not know? The flowing of the streams is a certain sign of the fulness of the fountain. If all knowledge is from God, no doubt all knowledge is in God. From this general doctrine of God's omniscience, the psalmist not only confutes the atheists, who said, “The Lord shall not see (Psa_94:7), he will not take cognizance of what we do;” but awakens us all to consider that God will take cognizance even of what we think (Psa_94:11): The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
[1.] He knows those thoughts in particular, concerning God's conniving at the wickedness of the wicked, and knows them to be vain, and laughs at the folly of those who by such fond conceits buoy themselves up in sin. [2.] He knows all the thoughts of the children of men, and knows them to be, for the most part, vain, that the imaginations of the thoughts of men's hearts are evil, only evil, and that continually. Even in good thoughts there is a fickleness and inconstancy which may well be called vanity. It concerns us to keep a strict guard upon our thoughts, because God takes particular notice of them. Thoughts are words to God, and vain thoughts are provocations.”
As we round the bend of our review of questions asked in the Book of Psalms, we come to two questions asked in Psalm 106:2: “Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?”
Albert Barnes writes, “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? - Who can speak the great things of God? Who can find language which will suitably express what he has done, or which will “come up” in sublimity to his acts? In other words, human language must fall immeasurably short of adequately expressing the praises of Yahweh, or conveying the fullness of what he has done. Who has not felt this when he has endeavored to praise God in a proper manner?.
Who can shew forth all his praise - Hebrew, “Cause to be heard.” That is, Language cannot be found which would cause “it to be heard” in a suitable manner.”
There is a cross-reference to Psalm 40:5: “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”
Next we come to Psalm 116:12: “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?”
John Gill writes, “Psalms 116:12: What shall I render unto the Lord?.... He considers the Lord only as the author and giver of his mercies, and has nothing to say of his own merits, nor of other persons, who might be instruments of good to him; but is for giving all the glory to God: not as though he could render anything proportional or equivalent to what he had received, but as having a grateful sense of mercies, and willing, to express it; though at a loss, in a great measure, in what manner to do it, and therefore puts this question to himself and others:
for all his benefits towards me; or, "all his benefits are upon me" (m). This being a clause of itself; and shows what moved him to put the question he did; a sense of divine favours was impressed upon him, a load of benefits lay on him, and he wanted to ease himself in expressions of gratitude. These benefits were the blessings of nature and providence; his being, and the preservation of it, food, raiment, &c. and the blessings of grace; spiritual blessings, all things pertaining to life and godliness, sanctification, adoption, pardon, justification, and eternal life.
These may well be called "benefits", since they spring entirely from the free grace of God; and they were many, more than could be counted and reckoned up, and set in order before the Lord; and yet he was desirous that none of them might be forgotten, but that praise might be rendered to the Lord for them all. So Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Michaelis.”
Our next question is found in Psalm 119:9: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”
Matthew Henry writes, “Here is, 1. A weighty question asked. By what means may the next generation be made better than this? Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? Cleansing implies that it is polluted. Besides the original corruption we all brought into the world with us (from which we are not cleansed unto this day), there are many particular sins which young people are subject to, by which they defile their way, youthful lusts; these render their way offensive to God and disgraceful to themselves. Young men are concerned to cleanse their way - to get their hearts renewed and their lives reformed, to make clean, and keep clean, from the corruption that is in the world through lust, that they may have both a good conscience and a good name.
Few young people do themselves enquire by what means they may recover and preserve their purity; and therefore David asks the question for them. 2. A satisfactory answer given to this question. Young men may effectually cleanse their way by taking heed thereto according to the word of God; and it is the honour of the word of God that it has such power and is of such use both to particular persons and to communities, whose happiness lies much in the virtue of their youth. (1.) Young men must make the word of God their rule, must acquaint themselves with it and resolve to conform themselves to it; that will do more towards the cleansing of young men than the laws of princes or the morals of philosophers.
(2.) They must carefully apply that rule and make use of it; they must take heed to their way, must examine it by the word of God, as a touchstone and standard, must rectify what is amiss in it by that regulator and steer by that chart and compass. God's word will not do without our watchfulness, and a constant regard both to it and to our way, that we may compare them together. The ruin of young men is either living at large (or by no rule at all) or choosing to themselves false rules: let them ponder the path of their feet, and walk by scripture-rules; so their way shall be clean, and they shall have the comfort and credit of it here and for ever.”
And finally, we arrive at our last Psalm for the evening and Series: Psalm 139:7-10: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
The Sermon Bible tells us, “I. God is in all modes of personal existence. These are all covered by the contrast between heaven and hell, than which no words would suggest a completer contrast to every thoughtful Hebrew. II. God’s presence is in the yet untrodden ways of human history. There came sometimes to the untravelled Israelites a perception that the world was very large. The ninth verse of this Psalm gives us an image of the Psalmist, standing by the sea-shore, watching as the rising sun broadens the horizon, and brings into view an islet here and there, which, by catching the sight, serves but to lengthen still more the indefinite expanse beyond.
The fancy is suggested, half of longing, half of dread, What would it be to fly until he reached the point where now the furthest ray is resting, to gaze upon a sea still shoreless or to land in an unknown region and find himself a solitary there? But he is not daunted by the vision; one Presence would still be with him. Vast as the world is, it is contained within the vaster God. In a similar mood of not wholly barren dreaming we sometimes look out over the boundless possibilities of human life. Amid all possibilities one thing is sure: go where we may, go the world how it may, we shall find the ever-present God.
III. God’s presence is in the perplexities of our experience. The untrodden ways of life are not the only, nor even the principal, obscurities in life; there are incidents in man’s experience which seem only the more perplexing the more we know of them. There is the mystery of pain, and that strange fluctuation of spiritual emotion which pain often brings; there are the complications of human relations, in which the saintliest seem often the victims of the basest or the sacrifices for the sins of others; there are the conflicts of noble affections, of the purpose of patience with the impulse of indignation, of our love of men in its pleadings against the fear of God. It is by perceiving the fruitful issues of perplexity in our experience that we gain the confidence that God is in the discipline, its Author and Controller. He who believes in God enters into rest; a large faith means a repose which cannot be shaken. A. Mackennal, Sermons from a Sick-room, p. 85.”
This concludes this evening Discussion, “Questions and Answers, Part 15”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on January 23rd, 2019.