_Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised._ A SONG OF DELIVERANCE The psalm has manifestly some historical basis. What is it? The psalm gives these points--a formidable muster before Jerusalem of hostile people under confederate kings with the purpose of laying siege to the city--some mysterio... [ Continue Reading ]
_Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion._ SPIRITUAL NATIONALITY I. A rehearsal of Jewish history. This is necessary in order to understand the inner meaning of this psalm. Israel’s history begins with Abraham. His life nomadic, wandering, a wilderness life. And so with I... [ Continue Reading ]
_God is known in her palaces for a refuge._ THE SECRET OF NATIONAL GREATNESS It is not the nation makes the people, but the people make the nation. On the rulers depends the nation’s prosperity. When God is honoured in the palace He will be worshipped in the cottage. When Atheists make laws, sedit... [ Continue Reading ]
_As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God._ “AS WE HAVE HEARD, SO HAVE WE SEEN” This is seldom true. In many places we see what we have not heard, and what we have heard we do not see. But when you come into “the city of the Lord of hosts,” the rep... [ Continue Reading ]
_We have thought of Thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of Thy temple._ THOUGHT--ITS HIGHEST THEME AND MATERIAL AID Three points stand out distinctly in the text, all of which are closely connected. I. The mental art is thought. “We have thought.” It is you that think, not your body. But all... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy right hand is full of righteousness._ RIGHTEOUSNESS In the classic pictures of the gods, some held in the right hand an olive branch, some a sceptre, Neptune a trident, Apollo arrows, Mercury a wand, Minerva a scroll, Venus a golden apple. It is a proof of superiority in this picture from the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof._ THE LOVE OF ZION So they revered the city on the hill. Their affections clustered round about its sacred courts. They loved the very tracks which led to it. “Blessed is the man in whose heart are the highways to Zion.” The beaten r... [ Continue Reading ]
_This God is our God for ever and ever._ OUR GOD He is so. Nothing else is so as He is. Our time, wealth, children, bodies, souls are not, strictly speaking, our own. But God is. And we may know and claim this. David was ever making such claim. Oh Lord, he says, my strength, my rock, my fortress,... [ Continue Reading ]