_Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry,.. .that goeth not out of feigned lips._ CONSCIOUS SINCERITY The Psalmist is quite sure that he himself is sincere. The verses which follow seem to be a kind of anticipation of the Pharisee’s self-satisfied prayer; but they are nothing of the kind. The re... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast visited me in the night._ GOD’S VISITATIONS IN THE NIGHT God has two daily messengers of His love for men, bringing to them His gifts of love--Day and Night. Let us think of His visitations to us by night, when we are still and when He would have us reflect. The Psalm is evidently an ev... [ Continue Reading ]
_Concerning the works of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer._ YOUNG MEN WARNED AGAINST UNSOUND PRINCIPLES Many are the nets that are spread for the souls of men, especially of young men. By means of evil associations and unsound or unscriptural principles.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not._ SLIPPERY PLACES The blessing of sanctified affliction is that we are made to see our weakness. David here seems as a little child, ready to fall, stretching out its hand and crying to its Father, “Hold up my goings,” etc. I. The believ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Keep me as the apple of the eye._ THE PLEA FOR DIVINE PROTECTION The world is no friend to righteousness; its spirit cannot endure the restraints that holiness imposes upon its workings. Hence the world’s hostility to all those who live truly godly lives. To understand the full force of keeping o... [ Continue Reading ]
_They are enclosed in their own fat._ A FIGURE FOR SELF-COMPLACENCY To be enclosed in one’s own fat means, to be wrapped up in pride and self-complacency, the effect upon weak and ignoble minds of worldly prosperity. It is said that the purely fatty part of the human body, having no nerves of sensa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which have their portion in this life._ THE UNCERTAINTY OF WORLDLY PROSPERITY Like many other passages (such as Job 21:7; Psalms 73:12), these verses clearly show how little “the old Fathers looked,” or indeed could have looked, “only for transitory promises.” While they held, and rightly held, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will behold Thy face in righteousness._ THE VISION OF THE FACE I. The vision of the face of God. 1. The object of this vision: “Thy face.” (1) A sensible glory: such a glory was seen by Moses at Sinai, afterwards in the tabernacle, and at the transfiguration. (2) An intellectual glory: glory... [ Continue Reading ]