PSALM 144 COMME�TARYWritten and edited by Glenn Pease

PREFACE

My goal has been to collect the comments of those who add to our understanding of the Psalms.These comments are available to everyone, but I have brought them together in one place to savethe Bible student time in research. There is a great deal more, but this gives a good foundation tobuild on. If I quote anyone who does not wish to be quoted in this study they can let me know andI will remove their wisdom. My e-mail is glenn_p86@yahoo.com

This is the first commentary I have ever put together in which I quote Pope John Paul II. He dida study on this Psalm, and it is well worth the reading.

I�TRODUCTIO�

1. Spurgeon's overview, “Albeit that this Psalm is in some measure very similar to Psalms 18:1-50, yet it is a new song, and in its latter portion it is strikingly so. Let the reader accept it as a newpsalm, and not as a mere variation of an old one, or as two compositions roughly joined together.It is true that it would be a complete composition if the passage from Psalms 144:12-15 weredropped; but there are other parts, of David's poems which might be equally self contained ifcertain verses were omitted; and the same might be said of many uninspired sonnets. It does not,therefore, follow that the latter part was added by another hand, nor even that the latter part wasa fragment by the same author, appended to the first song merely with the view of preserving it.It seems to us to be highly probable that the Psalmist, remembering that he had trodden some ofthe same ground before, felt his mind moved to fresh thought, and that the Holy Spirit used thismood for his own high purposes. Assuredly the addendum is worthy of the greatest Hebrew poet,and it is so admirable in language, and so full of beautiful imagery, that persons of taste who wereby no means overloaded with reverence have quoted it times without number, thus confessing itssingular poetical excellence. To us the whole psalm appears to be perfect as it stands, and toexhibit such unity throughout that it would be a literary Vandalism, as well as a spiritual crime,to rend away one part from the other. Title. Its title is "Of David", and its language is of David, if ever language can belong to any man.As surely as we could say of any poem, this is of Tennyson, or of Longfellow, we may say, This isof David. �othing but the disease which closes the eye to manifest fact and opens it to fancy,could have led learned critics to ascribe this song to anybody but David. Alexander well says,"The Davidic origin of this psalm is as marked as that of any in the Psalter."

It is to God the devout warrior sings when he extols him as his strength and stay (Ps 144:1-2).Man he holds in small account, and wonders at the Lord's regard for him (Ps 144:3-4); but heturns in his hour of conflict to the Lord, who is declared to be "a man of war", whose triumphantinterposition he implores (Psalms 144:5-8). He again extols and entreats in Psalms 144:9-11 and

then closes with a delightful picture of the Lord's work for his chosen people, who arecongratulated upon having such a God to be their God.”

2. Treasury of David, “Whole Psalm. The psalm, in its mingled tones of prayer and praise, is a fitconnecting link between the supplicatory psalms which go before, and the strains of thanksgivingwhich follow it. --Speaker's Commentary.

Whole Psalm. After six psalms of sorrowful prayer in distress, we have now a psalm of praise andthanksgiving for God's gracious answer to supplications; and also a psalm of intercession. Thepresent psalm bears a strong resemblance to David's last song in 2Sa 22:51 and to Psalms 18:1-50. Here we have a vision of Christ rejoicing; -- after his passion -- risen in glory, and havingascended in triumph, and pleading for us at the right hand of God. --Christopher Wordsworth.

Whole Psalm. This psalm is ruled by the numbers ten and seven. Ten verses complete the firstpart of the psalm, which falls into two divisions. The first portion contains, in Ps 144:1-2, tenattributes of God, -- three and seven, the seven divided into four and three. In like manner itcontains ten requests to God in Psalms 144:5-7, divided precisely as the attributes. To thissignificance of the number ten for the first part, allusion is pointedly made in Psalms 144:9.Seven blessings are prayed for in the second part, four in Psalms 144:12-13, (valiant sons,beautiful daughters, full storehouses, numerous flocks), and three in Ps 144:14 (labouring oxen,no breach and diminution, no cry). The whole contains, apart from the closing epiphonem, which,as usual, stands outside the formal arrangement, seven strophes, each of two verses.

An objection has been brought against the Davidic authorship from the "traces of reading" itcontains. But one would require to consider more exactly, what sort of reading is here to bethought of. It is only the psalms of David which form the ground work of this new psalm. Butthat it is one of David's peculiarities to derive from his earlier productions a foundation for newones, is evident from a variety of facts, which, if any doubt must still be entertained on thesubject, would obtain a firm ground to stand upon in this psalm, which can only have beencomposed by David. The way and manner of the use made of such materials is to be kept in view.This is always of a spirited and feeling nature, and no trace anywhere exists of a dead borrowing.That we cannot think here of such a borrowing; that the appropriation of the earlier languagedid not proceed from spiritual impotence, but rested upon deeper grounds, is manifest from theconsideration of the second part, where the dependence entirely ceases, and where even theopponents of the Davidic authorship have not been able to overlook the strong poetical spirit ofthe time of David. They betake themselves to the miserable shift of affirming, that the Psalmistborrowed this part of the psalm from a much older poem now lost. --E.W. Hengstenberg.

3. F. B. Meyer, “Dr. Alexander says, "the Davidic origin of this Psalm is as marked as that of anyin the Psalter." It is partly compiled of passages taken from other Psalms, Psalm 8:4, 18:13-15.But the last verses (Psalm 144:9-15) are a valuable addition. This Psalm forms a point oftransition between the Prayer Psalms and the Songs of Praise. The cloud of adversity is breaking;the beams of the sun are already struggling through.”

4. “This psalm, a condensation of Psalm 18 and II Samuel 22, is David’s prayer for a prosperousnation, and you will find very similar or identical language in some verses by comparing the twopsalms. We do not know if this was when installed as king after Saul or when installed again afterAbsalom, but in both cases there was a division in the nation concerning him that required God’sinterposition. Since the nation of Israel was the church of the Old Testament, we can adapt some

here to our church. Every man, pastor, or church will prosper to the degree they emulate Davidand the Son of David. There is value to begin at the end of this psalm and work backward, forverses 12-15 are the goal! The true happiness of any people begins with their relationship toJehovah of the Bible (144:15). There is happiness by God’s blessings on families, finances,employment, and security (144:12-15). In the �ew Testament, true happiness depends on anypeople’s relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit lift our hearts and mindsfrom worldly thinking to love and pursue this thought.” Let God Be True

Of David.

1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

1. Gill, “Blessed be the Lord my strength,.... The author and giver of his natural strength of body,and of the fortitude of his mind, and of all the spiritual strength he had, to exercise grace, to bearup under afflictions and trials, to perform duty, and withstand enemies. It may be applied toChrist, the antitype of David, the man of God's right hand, he has made strong for himself. Itmay be rendered, "my rock" (c); to whom the psalmist fled for shelter, when in distress andoverwhelmed; and on whom he built his faith, and hope of eternal salvation, as well as dependedon him for all supplies of grace and strength, and for help and succour in all times of need. TheSeptuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, render it, "my God": and so the word"rock" is used for God, Deu_32:30;

which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight; he took him from being a shepherd, andmade him a soldier; and from being the leader of a flock of sheep, to be a general of armies; andall his military skill in marshalling of troops, in leading them on to battle, and bringing them offas well as all his courage and success, were from the Lord: he whose hands and fingers had beenused to the shepherd's crook, and to the handling of the harp and lyre, were taught how to handlethe sword, the bow, the shield, and spear. God is a man of war himself; and he teaches the art ofwar, as he does husbandry and other things; see Exo_15:3; and so the Lord furnishes his people,who are here in a militant state, with spiritual armour, to fight against their spiritual enemies; heteaches them how to put it on, and directs them how to make use of every piece of it; as well asgives them boldness to face their enemies, and victory over them.

2. Henry, “ What he was to him: Blessed be the Lord my rock (Psa_144:1), my goodness, my

fortress, Psa_144:2. He has in the covenant engaged himself to be so, and encouraged us,accordingly, to depend upon him; all the saints, who by faith have made him theirs, have foundhim not only to answer but to out do their expectations. David speaks of it here as the matter of

his trust, and that which made him easy, as the matter of his triumph, and that which made himglad, and in which he gloried. See how he multiplies words to express the satisfaction he had inGod and his interest in him. (1.) “He is my strength, on whom I stay, and from whom I havepower both for my work and for my warfare, my rock to build on, to take shelter in.” Even whenwe are weak we may be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.”

3. Spurgeon, “Blessed be the LORD my strength. He cannot delay the utterance of his gratitude,he bursts at once into a loud note of praise. His best word is given to his best friend -- "Blessed beJehovah." When the heart is in a right state it must praise God, it cannot be restrained; itsutterances leap forth as waters forcing their way from a living spring. With all his strength Davidblesses the God of his strength. We ought not to receive so great a boon as strength to resist evil,to defend truth, and to conquer error, without knowing who gave it to us, and rendering to himthe glory of it. �ot only does Jehovah give strength to his saints, but he is their strength. Thestrength is made theirs because God is theirs. God is full of power, and he becomes the power ofthose who trust him. In him our great strength lieth, and to him be blessings more than we areable to utter. It may be read, "My Rock"; but this hardly so well consorts with the followingwords: Which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. The word rock is the Hebrew way ofexpressing strength: the grand old language is full of such suggestive symbols. The Psalmist in thesecond part of the verse sets forth the Lord as teacher in the arts of war. If we have strength weare not much the better unless we have skill also. Untrained force is often an injury to the manwho possesses it, and it even becomes a danger to those who are round about him; and thereforethe Psalmist blesses the Lord as much for teaching as for strength. Let us also bless Jehovah if hehas in anything made us efficient. The tuition mentioned was very practical, it was not so much ofthe brain as of the hands and fingers; for these were the members most needful for conflict. Menwith little scholastic education should be grateful for deftness and skill in their handicrafts. To afighting man the education of the hands is of far more value than mere book learning could everbe; he who has to use a sling or a bow needs suitable training, quite as much as a scientific manor a classical professor. Men are too apt to fancy that an artisan's efficiency is to be ascribed tohimself; but this is a popular fallacy. A clergyman may be supposed to be taught of God, butpeople do not allow this to be true of weavers or workers in brass; yet these callings are speciallymentioned in the Bible as having been taught to holy women and earnest men when thetabernacle was set up at the first. All wisdom and skill are from the Lord, and for them hedeserves to be gratefully extolled. This teaching extends to the smallest members of our frame;the Lord teaches fingers as well as hands; indeed, it sometimes happens that if the finger is notwell trained the whole hand is incapable.

David was called to be a man of war, and he was eminently successful in his battles; he does nottrace this to his good generalship or valour, but to his being taught and strengthened for the warand the fight. If the Lord deigns to have a hand in such unspiritual work as fighting, surely hewill help us to proclaim the gospel and win souls; and then we will bless his name with evengreater intensity of heart. We will be pupils, and he shall be our Master, and if we everaccomplish anything we will give our Instructor hearty blessing.

This verse is full of personality; it is mercy shown to David himself which is the subject ofgrateful song. It has also a presence about it; for Jehovah is now his strength, and is still teachinghim; we ought to make a point of presenting praise while yet the blessing is on the wing. Theverse is also preeminently practical, and full of the actual life of every day; for David's days werespent in camps and conflicts. Some of us who are grievously tormented with rheumatism mightcry, "Blessed be the Lord, my Comforter, who teacheth my knees to bear in patience, and my feet

to endure in resignation"; others who are on the look out to help young converts might say,"Blessed be God who teaches my eyes to see wounded souls, and my lips to cheer them"; butDavid has his own peculiar help from God, and praises him accordingly. This tends to make theharmony of heaven perfect when all the singers take their parts; if, we all followed the samescore, the music would not be so full and rich.

4. Treasury of David, “Verse 1. The LORD my strength, etc. Agamemnon says to Achilles -- If thou hast strength, 'twas heaven that strength bestowed;For know, vain man! thy valour is from God. --Homer.

Verse 1. My strength (Heb. "my rock"). The climax should be noted; the rock, or cliff, comes firstas the place of refuge, then the fortress or fastness, as a place carefully fortified, then the personaldeliverer, without whose intervention escape would have been impossible. --Speaker'sCommentary.

Verse 1. The LORD ... teacheth: and not as man teacheth. Thus he taught Gideon to fight with theinnumerable host of Midian by sending to their homes twenty-two thousand, and retaining butten thousand of his soldiers: and then again by reducing that remnant to the little band of threehundred who lapped when brought down to the water. Thus he taught Samson by abstainingfrom strong drink, and by suffering no razor to pass over his head. Thus he taught the threekings in the wilderness to war against their enemies, not by any strength of their armies, but bymaking ditches in the desert. Thus he taught David himself by waiting for the sound of the goingin the tops of the mulberry trees. And so he taught the arms of the True David to fight whenstretched on the cross: nailed, to human sight, to the tree of suffering, but, in reality, winning forthemselves the crown of glory: helpless in the eyes of scribes and Pharisees; in those ofarchangels, laying hold of the two pillars, sin and death, whereon the house of Satan rested, andheaving them up from, their foundation. --Ayguan, in �eale and Littledale.

Verse 1. The LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war. There were three qualities of avaliant soldier found in Christ, the Captain of our salvation, in his war against Satan, which hisfollowers are bound to emulate: boldness in attack, skill in defence, steadiness in conflict, allwhich he teaches by his example (Matthew 4:1,4,7,10-11). He was bold in attack, for he began thecombat by going up into the wilderness to defy the enemy. So we, too, should be alwaysbeforehand with Satan, ought to fast, even if not tempted to gluttony, and be humble, though notassailed by pride, and so forth. He was skilful in defence, parrying every attack with Holy Writ;where we, too, in the examples of the saints, may find lessons for the combat. He was steadfast inconflict, for he persevered to the end, till the devil left him, and angels came and ministered untohim; and we, too, should not be content with repelling the first attack, but persevere in ourresistance until evil thoughts are put to flight, and heavenly resolutions take their place. --�ealeand Littledale.

Verse 1. Teacheth my hands. Used to the hook and harp, and not to the sword and spear; but Godhath apted and abled them to feats of arms and warlike exploits. It is God that giveth skill andsuccess, saith Solomon (Proverbs 8:1-36); wisdom and ability, saith Daniel (Da 2:1-49). And as inthe spiritual warfare, so here; our weapons are "mighty through God" (2 Corinthians 10:4 ), whopromises that no weapon formed against his people shall prosper (Isa 54:17). --John Trapp.

Verse 1. To war, ... to fight. I want to speak of a great defect among us, which often prevents therealization of going "from strength to strength"; viz., the not using, not trading with, the strengthgiven. We should not think of going to God for money only to keep it in the bank. But are we not

doing this with regard to strength? We are constantly asking for strength for service; but if weare not putting this out in hearty effort, it is of no use to us. �othing comes of hoarded strength.

"Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my finger to fight."David, you see, was looking for strength for a purpose. Some people seem to expect strength, butnever attempt to put forth their hands to war, and their fingers to fight -- there is so littleventuring upon God, so little use of grace given, partly from fear of man, partly from indolenceand worldly mindedness. It is not for us to be merely luxuriating in the power which Godsupplies. Action strengthens, and before we have a right to ask for an increase, we must use thatalready given. --Catherine Pennefather, in "Service", 1881.

Verse 1. Is not the spiritual victory of every believer achieved by God? Truly it is he who teaches his

hands to war and his fingers to fight; and when the final triumph shall be sung in heaven, thevictor's song will be, "�ot unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name give glory, for thymercy and for thy truth's sake." --John Morison.

Verse 1. My hands for fight, my fingers for war. Fight and war are both verbs and nouns inEnglish, but the Hebrew words are nouns with the article prefixed. -- Joseph Addison Alexander.

2 He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer,my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples[a] under me.

1. Barnes, “My goodness - Margin, “my mercy.” That is, He shows me mercy or favor. All thefavors that I receive come from him. And my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer - See thenotes at Psa_18:2, where the same words occur. My shield - The same word which in Psa_18:2 isrendered “buckler.” See the notes at that passage. And he in whom I trust - The same idea as inPsa_18:2. The tense of the verb only is varied. Who subdueth my people under me - See the notesat Psa_18:47. The language is slightly different, but the idea is the same. It is to be remarked thatDavid “here” refers to his people - “who subdueth my people,” meaning that those over whomGod had placed him had been made submissive by the divine power.

1B. F. B. Meyer, “�otice that repeated My. David had learned that nothing can take the place ofpersonal dealings with God. Surely he had realized the fulfillment of his own thoughts aboutdwelling in the House of the Lord all the days of his life, and beholding his beauty. There is agreat fear lest many of God’s most earnest and devoted children may be losing sight of Jesus inthese active days. We allow our work for Christ, our doctrines about Him, and our rules forbecoming like Him, to intercept our view of Him. Too seldom do we get so near Him as to be ableto talk to Him face to face; or pile word on word in our ineffectual effort to tell Him what wethink of Him. One who loved much sang:—

Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord, Forgive me if I say

For very love, thy dearest name, A thousand times a day.

After all, it is not thoughts about Christ, but Christ Himself that we all need. To know Him in allthe various aspects of his character, as Loving kindness, Fortress, Shield, and Conqueror! Jesuscan be the supply of your every need; and as the days pass, you will probably find yourself putinto situations which will force you to discover in Him some new aspect, some freshcharacteristics, something that would never have appeared to view, till the awful exigency hadarisen. Then put out your hand and say My.

Always distinguish between the words attain and obtain. We can never earn his gracious help,either by prayer, or service; but we may claim, appropriate, and take. Learn to put your hand onall spiritual blessings in Christ, and say, Mine.”

2. Clarke, “Who subdueth my people - Who has once more reduced the nation to a state of loyalobedience. This may refer to the peace after the rebellion of Absalom.

2B. All soldiers who survive can appreciate this Psalm. David survived many a battle by the graceof God. So many heroes of history have survived in battles that should have taken them out of thepicture, but they survived to go on to lead their people. Study the battles of George Washington,and you will see how God providentially spared his life, when his uniform was filled with holesthat should have led to his death. God has a plan for his life, and so even with horse shot out fromunder him, he pressed on to victory. David's son Absolom was ready to take the life of his father,but David had a friend in Absolom's court, and he urged caution. This delayed the son so thatDavid could be prepared to survive. God used men to deliver David from what seemed to becertain death. David here gives God all the credit for his survival.

2C. Pope John Paul II, “The Lord is portrayed in martial images, in accordance with the ancientuse of symbols: indeed, he is seen as a military instructor (cf. Ps 144[143]: 1), an impregnablefortress, a protective shield, a victor (cf. v. 2). It is desired in this way to exalt the personality ofGod, who battles against the evil in history: he is neither a dark or fateful power, nor animperturbable sovereign indifferent to human vicissitudes. The citations and tone of thiscelebration of the divine echo the hymn of David preserved in Psalm 18[17] and in chapter 22 ofthe Second Book of Samuel.”

3. Gill, “My goodness,.... �ot only good, but goodness itself; the donor of all the blessings ofgoodness to him; the author of all goodness in him; the provider of all goodness for him, laid upto be used hereafter. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it my mercy, properlyenough; that is, the God of "my mercy", as in Psa_59:10; who is all mercy, full of mercy, rich andplenteous in it; which is abundant, and from everlasting to everlasting. Or, "my grace" (d); theGod of all grace, the giver of every grace, and who is able to make all grace to abound; and fromwhom every blessing of grace, and every particular grace, as faith, hope, and love, and all thesupplies of grace, as well as every good and perfect gift, come: Christ is prevented with all theblessings of goodness; in him all fulness of grace dwells, and with him God keeps his mercy forevermore;

and my fortress; garrison or strong hold: what fortresses or fortifications are to cities, whethernatural or artificial, that is God to his people; all his perfections are on their side; andparticularly they are kept by his power, as in a garrison, through faith unto salvation, 1Pe_1:5; my high tower: the name of the Lord, which is himself, is a strong tower, where his righteous onesthat flee to him are safe; and is an "high" one, where they are out of the reach of all theirenemies, Pro_18:10; and my deliverer; that delivered him from his temporal enemies; and fromhis spiritual ones, from sin, Satan, and the world; from all afflictions and temptations, fromwrath and ruin, death and hell;

my shield; that protected him from all evil and danger; whose favour encompassed him as ashield; whose salvation was a shield to him; and more particularly the person, blood,righteousness, and sacrifice of his Son, called the shield of faith, Eph_6:16; and he in whom Itrust; not in men, no, not in princes; but in the Lord only; in his Word, as the Targum; for thingstemporal and spiritual; for the blessings of grace here, and glory hereafter; of these several titles,see more on Psa_18:2; who subdueth my people under me; the people of Israel, all the tribes;whose hearts the Lord inclined to make him king over them all, 2Sa_5:1. Or, "the people" (f); sothe Targum, Syriac, and Arabic versions; the Heathen people, the Philistines, Ammonites,Edomites, Moabites, and Syrians; see 2Sa_8:1. The former reading seems best, and is followed bythe Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and other versions: and this may be typical of the subduing ofChrist's people under him; who are made willing, in the day of his power, to receive and own himas their King; profess subjection to his Gospel, and submit to his ordinances.

4. Henry, “My fortress, and my high tower, in whom I think myself as safe as ever any princethought himself in a castle or strong-hold.” David had formerly sheltered himself in strong-holdsat En-gedi (1Sa_23:29), which perhaps were natural fastnesses. He had lately made himselfmaster of the strong-hold of Zion, which was fortified by art, and he dwelt in the fort (2Sa_5:7,2Sa_5:9), but he depends not on these. “Lord,” says he, “thou art my fortress and my high tower.”The divine attributes and promises are fortifications to a believer, far exceeding those either ofnature or art. (4.) My deliverer, and, as it is in the original, very emphatically, my deliverer to me,

“not only a deliverer I have interest in, but who is always nigh unto me and makes all mydeliverances turn to my real benefit.” (5.) “My shield, to guard me against all the malignant dartsthat my enemies let fly at me, not only my fortress at home, but my shield abroad in the field ofbattle.” Wherever a believer goes he carries his protection along with him. Fear not, Abram, I am

thy shield.

What he had done for him. He was bred a shepherd, and seems not to have been designed by hisparents, or himself for any thing more. But, (1.) God had made him a soldier. His hands had beenused to the crook and his fingers to the harp, but God taught his hands to war and his fingers to

fight, because he designed him for Israel's champion; and what God calls men to he either findsthem or makes them fit for. Let the men of war give God the glory of all their military skill; thesame that teaches the meanest husbandman his art teaches the greatest general his. It is a pitythat any whose fingers God has taught to fight should fight against him or his kingdom amongmen. Those have special reason to acknowledge God with thankfulness who prove to be qualifiedfor services which they themselves never thought of. (2.) God had made him a sovereign prince,had taught him to wield the sceptre as well as the sword, to rule as well as fight, the harder andnobler art of the two: He subdueth my people under me. The providence of God is to beacknowledged in making people subject to their prince, and so preserving the order and benefit

of societies. There was a special hand of God inclining the people of Israel to be subject to David,pursuant to the promise God had made him; and it was typical of that great act of divine grace,the bringing of souls into subjection to the Lord Jesus and making them willing in the day of hispower.”

5. Spurgeon, “My goodness, and my fortress. The word for goodness signifies mercy. Whoever wemay be, and wherever we may be, we need mercy such as can only be found in the infinite God. Itis all of mercy that he is any of the other good things to us, so that this is a highly comprehensivetitle. O how truly has the Lord been mercy to many of us in a thousand ways! He is goodnessitself, and he has been unbounded goodness to us. We have no goodness of our own, but the Lordhas become goodness to us. So is he himself also our fortress and safe abode: in him we dwell asbehind impregnable ramparts and immovable bastions. We cannot be driven out, or starved out;for our fortress is prepared for a siege; it is stored with abundance of food, and a well of livingwater is within it. Kings usually think much of their fenced cities, but King David relies upon hisGod, who is more to him than fortresses could have been. My high tower, and my deliverer. As from a lofty watchtower the believer, trusting in the Lord,looks down upon his enemies. They cannot reach him in his elevated position; he is out of bowshot; he is beyond their scaling ladders; he dwells on high. �or is this all; for Jehovah is ourDeliverer as well as our Defender. These different figures set forth the varied benefits which cometo us from our Lord. He is every good thing which we can need for this world or the next. He notonly places us out of harm's way full often, but when we must be exposed, he comes to our rescue,he raises the siege, routs the foe, and sets us in joyous liberty.

My shield, and he in whom I trust. When the warrior rushes on his adversary, he bears his targetupon his arm, and thrusts death aside; thus doth the believer oppose the Lord to the blows of theenemy, and finds himself secure from harm. For this and a thousand other reasons our trust restsin our God for everything; he never fails us, and we feel boundless confidence in him.

Who subdueth my people under me. He keeps my natural subjects subject, and my conqueredsubjects peaceful under my sway. Men who rule others should thank God if they succeed in thetask. Such strange creatures are human beings, that if a number of them are kept in peacefulassociation under the leadership of any one of the Lord's servants, he is bound to bless God everyday for the wonderful fact. The victories of peace are as much worthy of joyful gratitude as thevictories of war. Leaders in the Christian church cannot maintain their position except as theLord preserves to them the mighty influence which ensures obedience and evokes enthusiasticloyalty. For every particle of influence for good which we may possess let us magnify the name ofthe Lord.

Thus has David blessed Jehovah for blessing him. How many times he has appropriated the Lordby that little word My! Each time he grasps the Lord, he adores and blesses him; for the oneword Blessed runs through all the passage like a golden thread. He began by acknowledging thathis strength for fighting foreign enemies was of the Lord, and he concluded by ascribing hisdomestic peace to the same source. All round as a king he saw himself to be surrounded by theKing of kings, to whom he bowed in lowly homage, doing suit and service on bent knee, withgrateful heart admitting that he owed everything to the Rock of his salvation.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 2. My goodness, etc. This way of using the word in a passive sense, asin the Hebrew, sounds harshly; just as elsewhere (Psalms 18:50) he calls himself "God's king",not in the sense of his having dominion over God, but being made and appointed king by him.Having experienced God's kindness in so many ways, he calls him "his goodness", meaning that

whatever good he possessed flowed from him. The accumulation of terms, one upon another,which follows, may appear unnecessary, yet it tends greatly to strengthen faith. We know howunstable men's minds are, and especially how soon faith wavers, when they are assailed by sometrial of more than usual severity. --John Calvin. Verse 2. My fortress. David calls God by names connected with the chief deliverances of his life.The psalms abound in local references and descriptive expressions, e.g. Psalms 18:2 (and in thisplace). The word translated "fortress" is metzuriah or masada. From 1 Samuel 23:29 , I have nodoubt that he is speaking of Masada, an isolated peak 1,500 feet high, on which was a stronghold.--James Wareing Bardsley, in "Glimpses through the Veil", 1883.

Verse 2. My high tower. Such towers were erected on mountains, on rocks, or on the walls of acity, and were regarded as safe places mainly because they were inaccessible. So the old castles inEurope, -- as that at Heidelberg, and generally those along the Rhine, -- were built on lofty places,and in such positions as not to be easily accessible. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 2. My shield. The Hebrew word signifies, not the huge shield which was carried by anarmourbearer, but the handy target with which heroes entered into hand to hand conflicts. Awarrior took it with him when he used his bow or his sword. It was often made of metal, but stillwas portable, and useful, and was made to serve as an ornament, being brightened or anointedwith oil. David had made abundant use of the Lord, his God, from day to day, in battles manyand murderous. --C.H.S.

Verse 2. Who subdueth my people under me. David, accordingly, having ascribed the victories hehad gained over foreign enemies to God, thanks him at the same time for the settled state of thekingdom. Raised indeed as he was from an obscure station, and exposed to hatred fromcalumnious charges, it was scarcely to have been believed that he would ever obtain a peaceablereign. The people had suddenly, and beyond expectation, submitted to him; and so surprising achange was eminently God's work. --John Calvin.

7. Let God Be True, “David continued by praising the LORD for all the ways in which He hadprovided for him. The LORD Jehovah was the source of David’s goodness and good events (Ps21:1-7; 23:6), and we should praise the same LORD for every good gift we have received (James1:17). The LORD Jehovah was David’s fortress, high tower, deliverer, and shield – providing allprotection and safety against his many enemies and difficult military campaigns (Psalm 4:8). David chose to trust in the Lord rather than himself or his military arms (Ps 127:1-2; 37:3). As achurch, pastor, or father, there is but one place to put your trust – in the LORD Himself; andby doing this you can secure perfect peace for yourself and those with you (Is 26:3-4). The LORDJehovah worked the political miracle of uniting Israel under David – twice! Every church,pastor, father, master, ruler, and husband must trust for this same blessing. If you are havingdifficulty with enemies or rebellion in your life, then pray for this blessing.”

3 LORD, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them?

1. David is amazed that God cares so much about him, and mankind in general. There are higherranks of beings that man, and so why does God bother with this lowly creature. It must be amatter of ceaseless wonder to the angels that God cares so much about this creature he has placeon this lowly planet. To them it seems that God favors the underdog.

1B. Henry, “He admires God's condescension to man and to himself in particular (Psa_144:3,Psa_144:4): “Lord, what is man, what a poor little thing is he, that thou takest knowledge of him,

that thou makest account of him, that he falls so much under thy cognizance and care, and thatthou hast such a tender regard to any of that mean and worthless race as thou hast had to me!”Considering the many disgraces which the human nature lies under, we have reason to admirethe honours God has put upon mankind in general (the saints especially, some in a particularmanner, as David) and upon the Messiah (to whom those words are applied, Heb_2:6), who washighly exalted because he humbled himself to be found in fashion as a man, and has authority to

execute judgment because he is the Son of man. A question to this purport David asked (Psa_8:4),and he illustrated the wonder by the consideration of the great dignity God has placed man in(Psa_8:5), Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour. Here he illustrates it by theconsideration of the meanness and mortality of man, notwithstanding the dignity put upon him.”

2. Barnes, “Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? - The sentiment here is thesame as in Psa_8:4, though the language is not precisely the same. See the notes at that passage.The word rendered “that thou takest knowledge of him,” means here to take notice of; to regard.The idea is, It is amazing that a being so insignificant as man should be an object of interest toGod, or that One so great should pay any attention to him and to his affairs. In Psa_8:4, thelanguage is “that thou art mindful of him,” that is, that thou dost remember him - that thou dostnot altogether pass him over. In Psa_8:1-9 the remark is made in view of the heavens as being soexalted in comparison with man, and the wonder is, that in view of worlds so vast occupying thedivine attention, and needing the divine care, “man,” so insignificant, does not pass out of hisview altogether. Here the remark seems to be made in illustration of the idea that there is nostrength in man; that he has no power to accomplish anything of himself; that he is entirelydependent on God. Or the son of man - Man - any of the race. That thou makest account of him!“that thou visitest him.” The word here means “that thou shouldest “think” of him,” that heshould ever come into thy thought at all.

3. Gill, “ Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him?.... Man, that is at most and bestbut a creature, made of the dust of the earth, is but dust and ashes; yea, a sinful creature, thatdrinks up iniquity like water: and yet the Lord not only knows him, as he is the omniscient God,but takes notice of him in a way of providence, and in a way of grace. His chosen people are noother nor better than others, of the same original, and of the same character; and yet he ownsand acknowledges them as his peculiar people, and makes himself known unto them: and so it isrendered by the Septuagint version, "that thou shouldest be known unto him?" or, "appear tohim?" as the Arabic; reveal thyself to him, not only by the light of nature and works of creation,but in Christ, and by the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;

or the son of man, that thou makest account of him? as the Lord does, especially of some of thesons of men; whom he reckons as his portion and inheritance, his jewels and peculiar treasure,and who are as dear to him as the apple of his eye; whom he "magnifies", as in Job_7:17; makesthem kings and priests; raises them from the dunghill, and sets them among princes, to inherit

the throne of glory; on whom he sets his heart, and loves them with an everlasting love: or, "thatthou shouldest think of him?" (g) thoughts of peace, and not of evil; so as to provide a Savior formen, and send down the Spirit of his Son into their hearts to quicken them; so as to bless themwith all spiritual blessings, and at last to glorify them. David no doubt had a special respect tohimself; and wondered at the goodness of God to him, in taking him from a family of little or noaccount, from a mean employ, from a shepherd's cottage, and raising him to the throne of Israel;and especially in making him a partaker of grace, and an heir of glory; see Psa_8:4; which isapplied to Christ, Heb_2:6.”

4. Warren Wiersbe, “Why should Almighty God pay attention to us? Who are we that we shouldreceive His mercy? David asks these questions in verse 3. "Lord, what is man, that You takeknowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?"What are we that God should pay any attention to us? Are we smart? I don't think so. Are westrong? Some animals are much stronger than we are. Are we righteous? �o, we have sinnedagainst God. Are we faithful? Too often we disobey Him. From the human point of view, there isno reason why God should pay any attention to us. "Man is like a breath; his days are like apassing shadow" (v. 4). Compared to eternity, our lives are just a puff of smoke. They appear,and then they are gone.

Why should God pay any attention to us? Because God, in all of His mercy and grace, loves us.The word David uses for God in this psalm means Jehovah God, the God of the graciouscovenant. He has made promises to us, and we can trust Him. David describes Him as "mylovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the One in whomI take refuge" (v. 2).

This is a mystery too deep for us to explain, but it's not too deep for us to experience. We may notunderstand why God should pay any attention to us, but we know that His Son came to be aservant for us. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for us, and now He lives in heaven, interceding forus.”

5. Spurgeon, “LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? What a contrast betweenJehovah and man! The Psalmist turns from the glorious all sufficiency of God to theinsignificance and nothingness of man. He sees Jehovah to be everything, and then cries, "Lord,what is man!" What is man in the presence of the Infinite God? What can he be compared to? Heis too little to be described at all; only God, who knows the most minute object, can tell what manis. Certainly he is not fit to be the rock of our confidence: he is at once too feeble and too fickle tobe relied upon. The Psalmist's wonder is that God should stoop to know him, and indeed it ismore remarkable than if the greatest archangel should make a study of emmets, or become thefriend of mites. God knows his people with a tender intimacy, a constant, careful observation: heforeknew them in love, he knows them by care, he will know them in acceptance at last. Why andwherefore is this? What has man done? What has he been? What is he now that God shouldknow him, and make himself known to him as his goodness, fortress, and high tower? This is anunanswerable question. Infinite condescension can alone account for the Lord stooping to be thefriend of man. That he should make man the subject of election, the object of redemption, thechild of eternal love, the darling of infallible providence, the next of kin to Deity, is indeed amatter requiring more than the two notes of exclamation found in this verse. Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! The son of man is a weaker being still, -- sothe original word implies. He is not so much man as God made him, but man as his mother bore

him; and how can the Lord think of him, and write down such a cipher in his accounts? TheLord thinks much of man, and in connection with redeeming love makes a great figure of him:this can be believed, but it cannot be explained. Adoring wonder makes us each one cry out, Whydost thou take knowledge of me? We know by experience how little man is to be reckoned upon,and we know by observation how greatly he can vaunt himself, it is therefore meet for us to behumble and to distrust ourselves; but all this should make us the more grateful to the Lord, whoknows man better than we do, and yet communes with him, and even dwells in him. Every traceof the misanthrope should be hateful to the believer; for if God makes account of man it is not forus to despise our own kind.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 3. LORD, what is man, etc. �ow what is man when grace revealsThe virtues of a Saviour's blood?Again a life divine he feels,Despises earth, and walks with God. And what in yonder realms above,Is ransomed man ordained to be?With honour, holiness, and love,�o seraph more adorned than he.

�earest the throne, and first in song.Man shall his hallelujahs raise,While wondering angels round him strong,And swell the chorus of his praise. --John �ewton, in Olney Hymns.

Verse 3. LORD, what is man? Take him in his four elements, of earth, air, fire, and water. In theearth, he is as fleeting dust; in the air, he is as a disappearing vapour; in the water, he is as abreaking bubble; and in the fire, he is as consuming smoke. --William Seeker, in "The �onsuchProfessor."

Verse 3-4. LORD, what is man, etc. There is no book so well worthy reading as this living one.Even now David spake as a king of men, of people subdued under him: now he speaks as ahumble vassal to God: LORD, what is man that thou takest knowledge of him? In one breath isboth sovereignty and subjugation: an absolute sovereignty over his people: My people aresubdued under me; an humble subjection to the God of kings; "LORD, what is man?" Yea, in thevery same word wherein, is the profession of that sovereignty, there is an acknowledgment ofsubjection: "Thou hast subdued my people." In that he had a people, he was a king: that theymight be his people, a subjection was requisite; and that subjugation was God's, and not his own:"Thou hast subdued." Lo, David had not subdued his people, if God had not subdued them forhim. He was a great king, but they were a stiff people: the God that made them swayed them to adue subjection. The great conquerors of worlds could not conquer hearts, if he, that mouldedhearts, did not temper them. "By me kings reign", saith the Eternal Wisdom; and he that hadcourage enough to encounter a bear, a lion, Goliath, yet can say, "Thou hast subdued my people."

Contrarily, in the lowliest subjection of himself, there is an acknowledgment of greatness. Thoughhe abused himself with, "What is man?" yet, withal he adds, "Thou takest knowledge of him,thou makest account of him": and this knowledge, this account of God, doth more exalt man thanhis own vanity can depress him. My text, then, ye see, is David's rapture, expressed in anecstatical question of sudden wonder; a wonder at God, and at man: man's vileness; "What is

man?" God's mercy and favour, in his knowledge, in his estimation of man. Lo, there are but twolessons that we need to take out here, in the world, God and man; man, in the notion of hiswretchedness; God, in the notion of his bounty.

Let us, if you please, take a short view of both; and, in the one, see cause of our humiliation; ofour joy and thankfulness in the other: and if, in the former, there be a sad Lent of mortification;there is, in the latter, a cheerful Easter of our raising and exaltation.

Many a one besides David wonders at himself: one wonders at his own honour; and, though hewill not say so, yet thinks, "What a great man am I! Is not this great Babel, which I have built?"This is �ebuchadnezzar's wonder. Another wonders at his person, and finds, either a good face,or a fair eye, or an exquisite hand, or a well shaped leg, or some gay fleece, to admire in himself:this was Absalom's wonder. Another wonders at his wit and learning: "How came I by all this?Turba haec! This vulgar, that knows not the law, is accursed": this was the Pharisee's wonder.Another wonders at his wealth; "Soul, take thine ease"; as the epicure in the gospel. David'swonder is as much above, as against all these: he wonders at his vileness: like as the ChosenVessel would boast of nothing but his infirmities: "LORD, what is man?"

How well this hangs together! �o sooner had he said, "Thou hast subdued my people under me",than he adds, "LORD, what is man?" Some vain heart would have been lifted up with a conceitof his own eminence; "Who am I? I am not as other men. I have people under me; and people ofmy own, and people subdued to me"; this is to be more than a man. I know who hath said, "I saidye are gods." --Joseph Hall.

Verse 3. Dr. Hammond refers this psalm to the slaying of Goliath, and thus understands theappellation "son of man", -- "David was but a young stripling, the youngest and mostinconsiderable of all the sons of Jesse, who also was himself an ordinary man."

Verse 3. Thou takest knowledge of him. It is a great word. Alas! what knowledge do we take of thegnats that play in the sun; or the ants, or worms, that are crawling in our grounds? Yet thedisproportion betwixt us and them is but finite; infinite betwixt God and us. Thou, the Great Godof Heaven, to take knowledge of such a thing as man. If a mighty prince shall vouchsafe to spyand single out a plain homely swain in a throng, as the Great Sultan did lately a tankard bearer;and take special notice of him, and call him but to a kiss of his hand and nearness to his person;he boasts of it as a great favour: for thee, then, O God, who abasest thyself to behold the things inheaven itself, to cast thine eye upon so poor a worm as man, it must needs be a wonderful mercy.--Exigua pauperibus magna; as �azianzen to his Amphilochius. -- Joseph Hall.

4 They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.

1. Man is such a small part of the whole scheme of things that it does not seem that he should be a

matter of great concern to almighty God, the creator of all the universe, which may include amultitude of beings far superior to man. He is but a breath that soon vanishes, and like a shadowthat is quickly gone with a slight movement. If you are looking for permanence, do not bother toput your focus on man.

1B. Barnes, “Man is like to vanity - See the notes at Psa_39:5-6; Psa_62:9. The idea here is, thatman can be compared only with that which is utterly vain - which is emptiness - which is nothing.His days are as a shadow that passeth away - See the notes at Psa_102:11 : “My days are like ashadow that declineth.” The idea is essentially the same. It is, that as a shadow has no substance,and that as it moves along constantly as the sun declines, until it vanishes altogether, so man hasnothing substantial or permanent, and so he is constantly moving off and will soon whollydisappear.

1C. Pope John Paul II, “Compared with the mightiness of God, the Jewish king recognizes thathe is as frail and weak as all human creatures. To express his feeling, the royal person in hisprayer makes use of two sentences, found in Psalms 8: 4 and 39[38]: 5 and, interweaving them,produces a powerful new effect: “O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of manthat you think of him? Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow” (vv. 3-4). Herethe firm conviction emerges that like a puff of wind we have no substance, if the Creator does notkeep us alive, the One in whose “hand”, as Job says, “is the life of every living thing and thebreath of all mankind” (12: 10). Only with divine support can we overcome the dangers anddifficulties which beset our daily life. Only by counting on help from Heaven will we have thedetermination to set out, like the ancient king of Israel, on the way towards freedom from everyform of oppression.”

2. Clarke, “Man is like to vanity - אדם להבל דמה Adam lahebel damah, literally, Adam is like toAbel, exposed to the same miseries, accidents, and murderers; for in millions of cases the handsof brothers are lifted up to shed the blood of brothers. What are wars but fratricide in the greathuman family?

His days are as a shadow - The life of Abel was promissory of much blessedness; but it affordedmerely the shadow of happiness. He was pure and holy, beloved of his parents, and beloved ofGod; but, becoming the object of his brother’s envy, his life became a sacrifice to his piety.

3. Gill, “Man is like to vanity,.... Is vanity itself, in every age, state, and condition; yea, in his bestestate, Psa_39:5; or, "to the breath" (h) of the mouth, as Kimchi; which is gone as soon as seenalmost: or, to a vapour (i); to which the life of man is compared, Jam_4:14;

his days are as a shadow that passeth away; as the former denotes the frailty and mortality ofman, this the shortness of his duration; his days fleeing away, and of no more continuance thanthe shadow cast by the sun, which presently declines and is gone.

4. Henry, “Man is like to vanity; so frail is he, so weak, so helpless, compassed about with so manyinfirmities, and his continuance here so very short and uncertain, that he is as like as may be tovanity itself. �ay, he is vanity, he is so at his best estate. His days have little substance in them,considering how many of the thoughts and cares of an immortal soul are employed about a poordying body; they are as a shadow, dark and flitting, transitory and finishing with the sun, and,when that sets, resolving itself into all shadow. They are as a shadow that passeth away, and there

is no loss of it. David puts himself into the number of those that are thus mean and despicable.”

5. Spurgeon, “Man is like to vanity. Adam is like to Abel. He is like that which is nothing at all. He is actually vain,and he resembles that unsubstantial empty thing which is nothing but a blown up nothing, -- a puff, a bubble. Yet heis not vanity, but only like it. He is not so substantial as that unreal thing; he is only the likeness of it. Lord, what is aman? It is wonderful that God should think of such a pretentious insignificance. His days are as a shadow that passeth away. He is so short lived that he scarcely attains to years, but exists by theday, like the ephemera, whose birth and death are both seen by the self same sun. His life is only like to a shadow,which is in itself a vague resemblance, an absence of something rather than in itself an existence. Observe thathuman life is not only as a shade, but as a shade which is about to depart. It is a mere mirage, the image of a thingwhich is not, a phantasm which melts back into nothing. How is it that the Eternal should make so much of mortalman, who begins to die as soon as he begins to live?

The connection of the two verses before us with the rest of the psalm is not far to seek: David trusts in God and findshim everything; he looks to man and sees him to be nothing; and then he wonders how it is that the great Lord cancondescend to take notice of such a piece of folly and deceit as man.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 4. Man is like to vanity As he that goeth to a fair, with a purse full of money, isdevising and debating with himself how to lay it out -- possibly thinking that such and such commodities will be mostprofitable, and bring him in the greatest gain -- when on a sudden a cut purse comes and eases him both of his moneyand care how to dispose of it. Surely you might have taken notice how some of thy neighbours or countrymen, whenthey have been busy in their contrivances, and big with many plots and projects how to raise their estate and namesand families, were arrested by death in a moment, returned to their earth, and in that day all their gay, their greatthoughts perished, and came to nothing. The heathen historian could not but observe how Alexander the Great,when he had to carry on his great designs, summoned a parliament before him of the whole world, he was himselfsummoned by death to appear in the other world. The Dutch, therefore, very wittily to express the world's vanity,picture at Amsterdam a man with a full blown bladder on his shoulders, and another standing by pricking thebladder with a pin, with this motto, quam subito, How soon is all blown down! --George Swinnock. Verse 4. Man is like to vanity. When Cain was born, there was much ado about his birth; "I have gotten a man childfrom God", saith his mother: she looked upon him as a great possession, and therefore called his name Cain, whichsignifies "a possession." But the second man that was born unto the world bare the title of the world, "vanity"; hisname was Abel, that is, "vanity." A premonition was given in the name of the second man what would or should bethe condition of all men. In Psalms 144:4 there is an allusion unto those two names. We translate it, "Man is like tovanity"; the Hebrew is, "Adam is as Abel"; Adam, you know, was the name of the first man, the name of Abel'sfather; but as Adam was the proper name of the first, so it is an appellative, or common to all men: now Adam, thatis, man of all men, are Abel, vain, and walking in a vain show. --Joseph Caryl.

Verse 4. Man is like to vanity, etc. The occasion of the introduction of these sentiments here is not quite clear. It maybe the humility of the warrior who ascribes all success to God instead of to human prowess, or it may be a reflectionuttered over the corpses of comrades, or, perhaps a blending of the two. --A.S. Aglen.

Verse 4. Man is like to vanity, etc. With what idle dreams, what foolish plans, what vain pursuits, are men for themost part occupied! They undertake dangerous expeditions and difficult enterprises in foreign countries, and theyacquire fame; but what is it? -- Vanity! They pursue deep and abstruse speculations, and give themselves to that"much study which is a weariness to the flesh", and they attain to literary renown, and survive in their writings; butwhat is it? -- Vanity! They rise up early, and sit up late, and eat the bread of anxiety and care, and thus they amasswealth; but what is it? -- Vanity! They frame and execute plans and schemes of ambition -- they are loaded withhonours and adorned with titles -- they afford employment for the herald, and form a subject for the historian; butwhat is it? -- Vanity! In fact, all occupations and pursuits are worthy of no other epithet, if they are not preceded by,and connected with, a deep and paramount regard to the salvation of the soul, the honour of God, and the interestsof eternity ... Oh, then, what phantoms, what airy nothings are those things that wholly absorb the powers andoccupy the days of the great mass of mankind around us! Their most substantial good perishes in the using, and theirmost enduring realities are but "the fashion of this world that passeth away." --Thomas Raffles, 1788-1863.

Verse 4. A shadow that passeth away. The shadows of the mountains are constantly shifting their position during theday, and ultimately disappear altogether on the approach of night: so is it with man who is every day advancing tothe moment of his final departure from this world. --Bellarmine.

5 Part your heavens, LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke.

1. David wants God to enter into history, and he wants him to do so with a great demonstration ofhis might. He wants him to make the mountains begin to erupt like volcanoes, and send theirclouds of smoke into the sky. David had a different desire from what God chose to do, for hecame down as a quiet baby laid in a manger, and one that grew up in obscurity. God does nottake orders even from his best friends.

1B. Barnes, “Bow thy heavens, O Lord ... - Come to my aid “as if” the heavens were bent down;come down with all thy majesty and glory. See the notes at Psa_18:9 : “He bowed down theheavens also, and came down.” What it is there declared that the Lord “had” done, he is hereimplored to do again.

Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke - See the notes at Psa_104:32 : “He toucheth thehills, and they smoke.” It is there affirmed as a characteristic of God that he “does” this; here thepsalmist prays that, as this belonged to God, or was in his power, he “would” do it in his behalf.The prayer is, that God would come to his relief “as if” in smoke and tempest - in the fury of thestorm.

2. Gill, “Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down,.... The heavens, which the Lord has made,and where he dwells; and which are under his influence, and he can cause to incline or bow at hispleasure: and which literally may be said to bow, particularly the airy heavens, when these arefilled with clouds heavy with rain, and hang low, ready to fall upon the earth, and being rent, letdown showers on it: and mystically may design storms of wrath gathering over the heads ofungodly men, and revealed from heaven against them. Or rather, as connected with the phrase,"and come down", denotes some appearance or manifestation of God; either for the help andassistance of his people; or in a way of vengeance against their enemies; or both: and whichdescent must be understood in consistence with the omnipresence of God; and supposes hishabitation to be on high, and is expressive of regard to the persons and affairs of men on earth;and is by some considered as a prayer for the incarnation of Christ, which is sometimes signifiedby coming down from heaven; not by change of place, nor by bringing an human nature, soul orbody, down with him from heaven; but by the assumption of our nature; and which was greatlywished, prayed, and longed for, by the Old Testament saints The Targum is,

"O Lord, bow the heavens, and manifest thyself;''

see Psa_18:9;

touch the mountains, and they shall smoke; as Mount Sinai did when the Lord descended on it,Exo_19:18; see Psa_104:32; These, according to Kimchi, signify mighty kings, strong asmountains: so kingdoms are sometimes called; as the Babylonian empire is called a mountain, a

destroying and burnt mountain, Zec_4:7. Such kings and kingdoms rose up like mountainsagainst Christ, when here incarnate; and against his Gospel, and the ministry of it by hisapostles; as the kingdom and nation of the Jews, and the whole Pagan empire: but these, by atouch of his almighty power, have vanished into smoke, Psa_2:1, Rev_8:8.

3. Henry, “David prays that God would appear, that he would do something extraordinary, forthe conviction of those who preferred their dunghill-deities before the God of Israel (Psa_144:5):“Bow thy heavens, O Lord! and make it evident that they are indeed thine, and that thou art theLord of them, Isa_66:1. Let thy providence threaten my enemies, and look black upon them, asthe clouds do on the earth when they are thick, and hang very low, big with a storm. Fight againstthose that fight against us, so that it may visibly appear that thou art for us. Touch the mountains,

our strong and stately enemies, and let them smoke. Show thyself by the ministry of thy angels, asthou didst upon Mount Sinai.” 2. That he would appear against his enemies, that he would fightfrom heaven against them, as sometimes he had done, by lightnings, which are his arrows (hisfiery darts, against which the hardest steel is no armour of proof, so penetrating is the force oflightning), that he himself would shoot these arrows, who, we are sure, never misses his mark, buthits where he aims.”

4. Spurgeon, “Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down. The heavens are the Lord's own, andhe who exalted them can bow them. His servant is struggling against bitter foes, and he finds nohelp in men, therefore he entreats Jehovah to come down to his rescue. It is, indeed, a comingdown for Jehovah to interfere in the conflicts of his tried people. Earth cries to heaven to stoop;nay, the cry is to the Lord of heaven to bow the heaven, and appear among the sons of earth. TheLord has often done this, and never more fully than when in Bethlehem the Word was made fleshand dwelt among us: now doth he know the way, and he never refuses to come down to defend hisbeloved ones. David would have the real presence of God to counterbalance the mockingappearance of boastful man: eternal verity could alone relieve him of human vanity. Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. It was so when the Lord appeared on Sinai; thestrongest pillars of earth cannot bear the weight of the finger of God. He is a consuming fire, andhis touch kindles the peaks of the Alps, and makes them smoke. If Jehovah would appear,nothing could stand before him; if the mighty mountains smoke at his touch, then all mortalpower which is opposed to the Lord must end in smoke. How long suffering he is to hisadversaries, whom he could so readily consume. A touch would do it; God's finger of flame wouldset the hills on fire, and consume opposition of every kind.

5. Treasury of David, “Verse 5. Bow thy heavens. This expression is derived from the appearanceof the clouds during a tempest: they hang low, so as to obscure the hills and mountains, and seemto mingle earth and heaven together. Such an appearance is figuratively used to depict thecoming of God, to execute vengeance upon the enemies of his people. See Psalms 18:10, and otherinstances. --William Walford. Verse 5. Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down, etc. This was never so remarkably fulfilledas in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, when heaven and earth were, as it were, brought together.Heaven itself was, as it were, made to bow that it might be united to the earth. God did, as itwere, come down and bring heaven with him. He not only came down to the earth, but hebrought heaven down with him to men and for men. It was a most strange and wonderful thing.But this will be more remarkably fulfilled still by Christ's second coming, when he will indeedbring all heaven down with him -- viz., all the inhabitants of heaven. Heaven shall be left emptyof its inhabitants to come down to the earth; and then the mountains shall smoke, and shall

indeed flow down at his presence, as in Isaiah 64:1. --Jonathan Edwards.

Verse 5. Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. The meaning is, when God doth but lay hishand upon great men, upon the mightiest of the world, he makes them smoke or fume, whichsome understand of their anger; they are presently in a passion, if God do but touch them. Or wemay understand it of their consumption. A smoking mountain will soon be a burnt mountain. Inour language, to make a man smoke is a proverbial expression for destroying or subduing.--Joseph Caryl.

Verse 5-6.

Bow thy heavens, Jehovah,Come down in thy might;Let the rays of thy gloryThe mountaintops light. With the bolts of thy thunderDiscomfit my foe,With the flash of thine arrowsTheir force overthrow. --William Digby Seymour.

6. Pope John Paul II, “We Christians should repeat it as we keep our gaze fixed on Christ, whofrees us from every evil and sustains us in the battle against the hidden powers of wickedness.Indeed, “we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against thepowers, against the rulers of this dark world, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in theheavenly places” (cf. Eph 6: 12). Let us therefore conclude with a thought suggested to us by StJohn Cassian, a monk who lived in Gaul in the fourth to fifth century. In his work The

Incarnation of the Lord, inspired by verse 5 of our Psalm, “Bow your heavens, O Lord, and comedown!”, he sees in these words the expectation of Christ’s coming into the world. He continues:“The Psalmist implored… the Lord to manifest himself in the flesh, to appear visibly in theworld, to be visibly taken up in glory (cf. I Tm 3: 16) and lastly, to enable the saints to see, withtheir own eyes, all that they had spiritually foreseen”

6 Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them.

1. Barnes, “Cast forth lightnings, and scatter them - See the notes at Psa_18:14 : “He sent out hisarrows, and scattered them.” The allusion there is to lightning. The psalmist prays that; Godwould do now again what he had then done. The Hebrew here is, “Lighten lightning;” that is,Send forth lightning. The word is used as a verb nowhere else.Shoot out thine arrows ... - So inPsa_18:14 : “He shot out lightnings.” The words are the same here as in that psalm, only thatthey are arranged differently. See the notes at that place.

1B. Pope John Paul II, “Divine intervention is pictured in the traditional cosmic and historical

images in order to illustrate the divine supremacy over the universe and human events. Here,then, are the mountains smoking in sudden volcanic eruptions (cf. 144[143]: 5). Here are theflashes of lightning that seem like arrows released by the Lord, ready to destroy evil (cf. v. 6).Here, lastly, are the “many waters” which in biblical language symbolize chaos, evil and the void,in a word, the negative elements within history (cf. v. 7). These cosmic images are juxtaposed withothers of a historical kind: like the “enemies” (cf. v. 6), the “aliens” (cf. v. 7), the liars andperjurers, that is, idolaters (cf. v. 8).This is a very concrete and Oriental way of portrayingwickedness, perversion, oppression and injustice: terrible realities from which the Lord frees usas we make our way in the world.”

2. Gill, “Cast forth lightning, and scatter them,.... The mountains, the kings and kingdoms of theearth; the enemies of David, and of Christ, and of his people; particularly the Jews, who havebeen scattered all over the earth by the judgments of God upon them; cast forth like lightning,which is swift, piercing, penetrating, and destructive;

shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them; or, "trouble them" (k); as the Targum, Septuagint, andArabic versions, nearer to the Hebrew: these also design the sore judgments of God, the arrowsof famine, pestilence, and sword; which fly swiftly, pierce deeply, cut sharply, and, like fierydarts, give great pain and trouble. So Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret them of the decreeswhich come down from heaven, as Aben Ezra does Psa_144:5, by "lightning" Aramaunderstands the flame of fire which comes out with thunder; and by "arrows" the thunderbolt,which he calls a stone hardened in the air like iron.

3. Henry, “That he would appear against his enemies, that he would fight from heaven againstthem, as sometimes he had done, by lightnings, which are his arrows (his fiery darts, againstwhich the hardest steel is no armour of proof, so penetrating is the force of lightning), that hehimself would shoot these arrows, who, we are sure, never misses his mark, but hits where heaims.”

4. Spurgeon, “Cast forth lightning, and scatter them. The Eternal can hurl his lightningswheresoever he pleases, and effect his purpose instantaneously. The artillery of heaven soon putsthe enemy to flight: a single bolt sets the armies running hither and thither in utter rout. Shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. Jehovah never misses the mark; his arrows are fatal tohis foes when he goes forth to war. It was no common faith which led the poet king to expect theLord to use his thunderbolts on behalf of a single member of that race which he had just nowdescribed as "like to vanity." A believer in God may without presumption expect the AlmightyLord to use on his behalf all the stores of his wisdom and power: even the terrible forces oftempest shall be marshalled to the fight, for the defence of the Lord's chosen. When we have oncemastered the greater difficulty of the Lord's taking any interest in us, it is but a small thing thatwe should expect him to exert his great power on our behalf. This is far from being the only timein which this believing warrior had thus prayed: Psalms 18:1-50 is specially like the present; thegood man was not abashed at his former boldness, but here repeats himself without fear.”

7 Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue mefrom the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners

1. Barnes, “Send thine hand from above - Margin, as in Hebrew, “hands.” See the notes atPsa_18:16 : “He sent from above.” Rid me, and deliver me out of great waters - Thus Psa_18:16 :“He took me, he drew me out of many waters.” As God had done it once, there was ground forthe prayer that he would do it yet again. From the hand of strange children - Strangers:strangers to thee; strangers to thy people, foreigners. See Psa_54:3 : “For strangers are risen upagainst me.” The language would properly imply that at the time referred to in the psalm he wasengaged in a warfare with foreign enemies. Who they were, we have no means now ofascertaining.

2. Gill, “Send thine hand from above,.... From the high heavens, as the Targum; that is, exert anddisplay thy power in my deliverance, and in the destruction of my enemies; as follows: rid me,and deliver me out of great waters; out of great afflictions, which, for quantity and quality, arelike many waters, overflowing and overwhelming; see Isa_43:2; or out of the hands of enemies,many, mighty, and strong, whom he compares to waters; as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melechobserve: and so the Targum, "deliver me from the multitudes or armies, that are like to manywaters;'' see Rev_17:1. It may be applied to the sorrows and sufferings of Christ, the antitype ofDavid, with which he was overwhelmed; to the billows of divine wrath which went over him; tothe floods of ungodly men that encompassed him; and to the whole posse of devils, Satan, and hisprincipalities and powers, that attacked him; see Psa_18:4;

from the hand of strange children; which explains what is meant by "great waters": wicked menchiefly; either Gentiles, the children of a people of a strange nation, and of a strange language,and of strange sentiments of religion, and that worship a strange god: such as the Edomites,Moabites, Philistines, &c. who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to thecovenants of promise: or else the Israelites, who were degenerated from their ancestors, such ofDavid's subjects that rebelled against him; so the Ziphims are called strangers that rose upagainst him, Psa_54:3; and such were the enemies of Christ, both the Romans, who wereHeathens and aliens; and the people of the Jews, his own countrymen, who were a generation ofvipers; see Act_4:27; such as Juvenal calls (l) "filii morum", who inherited the vices of theirfathers.

3. Henry, “He begs for their destruction, in order to his own deliverance and the repose of hispeople: “Send thy hand, thy power, from above, for that way we look for help; rid me and deliver

me out of these great waters that are ready to overflow me.” God's time to help his people is whenthey are sinking and all other helps fail.”

4. Spurgeon, “Send thine hand from above. Let thy long and strong arm be stretched out tillthine hand seizes my foes, and delivers me from them.

Rid me, and deliver me out of great waters. Make a Moses of me, -- one drawn out of the waters.My foes pour in upon me like torrents, they threaten to overwhelm me; save me from their forceand fury; take them from me, and me from them.

From the hand of strange children. From foreigners of every race; men strange to me and thee,who therefore must work evil to me, and rebellion against thyself. Those against whom hepleaded were out of covenant with God; they were Philistines and Edomites; or else they weremen of his own nation of black heart and traitorous spirit, who were real strangers, though theybore the name of Israel. Oh to be rid of those infidel, blaspheming beings who pollute society withtheir false teachings and hard speeches! Oh to be delivered from slanderous tongues, deceptivelips, and false hearts! �o wonder these words are repeated, for they are the frequent cry of manya tried child of God; -- "Rid me, and deliver me." The devil's children are strange to us: we cannever agree with them, and they will never understand us: they are aliens to us, and we aredespised by them. O Lord, deliver us from the evil one, and from all who are of his race.

5. Treasury of David, “Verse 7. Send thine hand from above. Hebrew, hands, both hands, all thywhole power, for I need it. --John Trapp.

Verse 7. Rid me, and deliver me. Away, you who theorize about suffering, and can do no morethan descant upon it, away! for in the time of weeping we cannot endure your reasonings. If youhave no means of delivering us, if you have nothing but sententious phrases to offer, put yourhands on your mouths; enwrap yourselves in silence! It is enough to suffer; but to suffer andlisten to you is more than we can bear. If Job's mouth was nigh unto blasphemy, the blame isyours, ye miserable comforters, who talked instead of weeping. If I must suffer, then I pray forsuffering without fine talk! --E. De Pressense.

Verse 7. Rid me, and deliver me ... from the hand of strange children. We must remember that asthe Grecians (conceiting themselves the best bred people in the world) called all other nations"barbarians"; so the people of Israel, the stock of Abraham (being God's peculiar covenantpeople), called all other nations "aliens" or "strangers"; and because they were hated andmaligned by all other nations, therefore they called all professed strangers enemies; so the wordis used (Isaiah 1:7), "Your land strangers shall devour"; that is, enemies shall invade and prevailover you. "Deliver me out of the hand of strange children", or out of the hand of strangers; thatis, out of the hand of mine enemies. The Latin word alienus is often put for hostis, and the Romanorator (Cicero) telleth us that "he who is now called a stranger was called an enemy by ourancestors." The reason was because strangers proved unkind to, yea, turned enemies againstthose that entertained them. -- Joseph Caryl.

Verse 7. Strange children. He calls them strangers, not in respect of generic origin, but characterand disposition. --John Calvin.

Verse 7. The strange children, now the enemies of David, shall be either won to willing subjection,or else shall be crushed under the triumphant Messiah (Psalms 2:1-12). The Spirit by Davidspake things the deep significance of which reached further than even he understood (1 Peter 1:11-12). --Andrew Robert Fausset.

6. Let God Be True

A. David now called upon the Lord for direct intervention in a matter compared to great waters, asinternal dissension is much more threatening and difficult to bear than overt enemies.

1. David described the treachery of these close friends as a terrible calamity (Ps 55:12-15). 2. Confidence in an unfaithful man in a time of trouble is a dysfunctional pain (Pr 25:19). 3. It is a shame Philistine mercenaries were more loyal than his own son (II Sam 15:17-22). 4. Achish, the Philistine king of Gath, treated David far better than did King Saul of Israel.

B. These strange children could be either strange nations around Israel or strangers within Israel. 1. There is no doubt that the nations around Israel were aliens, foreigners, and strangers. 2. But there is also strange, as in strange woman, meaning an alien or foreigner to your bed. 3. A strange woman is obviously not a stranger: she is an outsider to a man’s sexual rights. 4. The strange children here are those Israelites who were aliens to Israel’s true interests. 5. They were strange, not to his bed or marriage, but to his godly and noble goals for Israel. 6. They were strange, because their hearts were not with him as true friends under God. 7. David described the Jews of Ziph, who betrayed him twice, as strangers (Psalm 54:3). 8. David would not have entered alliances based on words or handshakes with pagans. 9. The emphasis in the next verse is on their deceitfulness and treacherous hypocrisy, not their

genealogical descent or geographical location. 10. The issue here is not whether a person is a child of God or not but his inward intentions. 11. David’s psalms have many references to enemies of his close associates within Israel. 12. David was careful about having only loyal God-fearers around him (Ps 101:3-8; 119:63).

C. The churches of the Lord Jesus Christ have often had to deal with false brethren among them. 1. Consider that in the small band of twelve apostles there was a religious devil – Judas. 2. Consider the troubles Paul had with false brethren (II Cor 11:26; Gal 2:4; Phil 1:15-17). 3. The Lord Christ promised to send heresies to identify those He approves (I Cor 11:19). 4. These brethren are eventually seen by departing from the faith (I John 2:19; Jude 1:19).

D. God must do the work by sending His hand from above to perfectly purge His churches. 1. The inspired householder told the Lord of the vineyard to cut the tree down (Luk 13:6-9). 2. Until then, the householder digs and dungs all the trees and prays for the Lord to work. 3. The churches of God are careful to avoid tearing up wheat with the tares (Matt 13:24-30).

8 whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

1. Barnes, “Those mouth speaketh vanity - Vain things; things not real and true; falsehood; lies.See the notes at Psa_24:4. The idea is, that what they said had no foundation in truth - no reality.Truth is solid and reliable; falsehood is unreliable and vain. And their right hand is a right handof falsehood - The meaning here seems to be that even under the solemnities of an oath, whenthey lifted up their hands to swear, when they solemnly appealed to God, there was no reliance tobe placed on what they affirmed or promised. Oaths were taken by lifting up the right hand astoward God. See Gen_14:22; Exo_6:8 (Margin, and Hebrew); Deu_32:40.

2. Clarke, “Whose mouth speaketh vanity,.... Vain words, lies, flatteries, and deceit, Psa_12:2;when they speak loftily of themselves, and contemptuously of others; when they deliver outthreatenings against some, and make fair promises to others; it is all vanity, and comes tonothing; and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood; their strength and power to perform

what they boast of, threaten, or promise, is fallacious, is mere weakness, and cannot effectanything; or their treaties, contracts, and covenants, they enter into and sign with their righthand, are not kept by them; they act the treacherous and deceitful part. The Latin interpreter ofthe Arabic version renders it, "their oath is an oath of iniquity"; and Ben Balaam in Aben Ezra,and R. Adnim in Ben Melech, say the word so signifies in the Arabic language; and Schultens (m)has observed the same: but the word in that language signifies the right hand as well as an oath,and need not be restrained to that; it is better to take it in the large sense, as Cocceius (n) does;whether they lifted up the hand to pray, or to swear; or gave it to covenant with, to makecontracts and agreements; or stretched it out to work with; it was a right hand of falsehood.”

3. Spurgeon, “Whose mouth speaketh vanity. �o wonder that men who are vanity speak vanity."When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own. "They cannot be depended upon, let thempromise as fairly as they may: their solemn declarations are light as the foam of the sea, in nowise to be depended upon. Good men desire to be rid of such characters: of all men deceivers andliars are among the most disgusting to true hearts. And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. So far their hands and their tongues agree, forthey are vanity and falsehood. These men act as falsely as they speak, and prove themselves to beall of a piece. Their falsehood is right handed, they lie with dexterity, they deceive with all theirmight. It is a dreadful thing when a man's expertness lies more in lies than in truth; when he canneither speak nor act without proving himself to be false. God save us from lying mouths, andhands of falsehood.

4. Treasury of david, “Verse 8. Whose mouth speaketh vanity, etc. Two things go naturally togetherin the verse - - the lying tongue and deceitful hand. The meaning is that upon the matter in handnothing was to be looked for from any of their promises, since it was only to deceive that theyflattered with their mouth and gave the hand. --John Calvin.

Verse 8. Their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. The pledge of the right hand, which used tobe a witness of good faith, was violated by treachery and wickedness. -- Cicero. Philip. xi. c. 2.

5. Let God Be True

A. Here are men close to David, whose speech he sought to trust, but their words were vanity. B. Jesus warned of those who would draw near with their lips but their hearts were far away. C. Consider David’s description of buttery words but war in their hearts (Psalm 55:19-23). D. Some such men creep into churches with swelling words of vanity (II Pet 2:18; Jude 1:16). E. Paul warned the Ephesian elders with tears about the coming threat (Acts 20:28-31). F. Men have clasped hands for deals in all nations (Proverbs 6:1; 17:18; 22:26; Job 17:3). G. Even in the �ew Testament we read about the right hand of fellowship (Galatians 2:9). H. We extend the right hand of fellowship when we covenant together as church members. I. Open rebuke by a friend is far superior to the kisses of an enemy (Ps 141:3; Proverbs 27:5-6). J. Such hypocritical and treacherous men have been the bane of God’s people in all ages.

9 I will sing a new song to you, my God;

on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

1. Barnes, “I will sing a new song unto thee, O God - There will be occasion in such a deliverance,or manifestation of mercy, for a new expression of praise. On the phrase, “a new song,” see thenotes at Psa_33:3.

Upon a psaltery, and an instrument of ten strings - The word “and” should not have beeninserted here. The idea is, “Upon a lyre or harp (�ebel) of ten strings, will I sing praise.” See thenotes at Isa_5:12; and notes at Psa_33:2.

2. Clarke, “I will sing a new song - A song of peculiar excellence. I will pour forth all mygratitude, and all my skill, on its composition.”

3. Gill, “ I will sing a new song unto thee, O God,.... The author of his being, the Father ofmercies, temporal and spiritual, and therefore to him praise is always due; a new song of praise isto be sung for new mercies; and as these are new every morning, and are renewed day by day,new songs should be sung continually: or this is a song suited to �ew Testament times, in whichall things are become new; there is a new covenant of grace; and a new and living way to thethrone of grace; a newly slain sacrifice; redemption newly wrought out, and therefore the newsong of redeeming grace must be sung. Arama suggests that this refers to the days of the Messiah;

upon a psaltery, and an instrument of ten strings, will I sing praises unto thee; such instrumentsof music were used in the Old Testament dispensation, and were typical of the hearts of God'speople; which are the harps they now strike upon, and where they make melody to the Lord; seePsa_33:2.”

4. Henry, “The method is the same in this latter part of the psalm as in the former; David firstgives glory to God and then begs mercy from him.He praises God for the experiences he had hadof his goodness to him and the encouragements he had to expect further mercy from him,Psa_144:9, Psa_144:10. In the midst of his complaints concerning the power and treachery of hisenemies, here is a holy exultation in his God: I will sing a new song to thee, O God! a song ofpraise for new mercies, for those compassions that are new every morning. Fresh favors call forfresh returns of thanks; nay, we must praise God for the mercies we hope for by his promise aswell as those we have received by his providence, 2Ch_20:20, 2Ch_20:21. He will join music withhis songs of praise, to express and excite his holy joy in God; he will praise God upon a psaltery of

ten strings, in the best manner, thinking all little enough to set forth the praises of God.

5. Spurgeon, “I will sing a new song unto thee, O God. Weary of the false, I will adore the true.Fired with fresh enthusiasm, my gratitude shall make a new channel for itself. I will sing asothers have done; but it shall be a new song, such as no others have sung. That song shall be alland altogether for my God: I will extol none but the Lord, from whom my deliverance has come. Upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. His hand shouldaid his tongue, not as in the case of the wicked, cooperating in deceit; but his hand should unitewith his mouth in truthful praise. David intended to tune his best instruments as well as to use hisbest vocal music: the best is all too poor for so great a God, and therefore we must not fall shortof our utmost. He meant to use many instruments of music, that by all means he might express

his great joy in God. The Old Testament dispensation abounded in types, and figures, andoutward ritual, and therefore music dropped naturally into its place in the "worldly sanctuary";but, after all, it can do no more than represent praise, and assist our expression of it; the realpraise is in the heart, the true music is that of the soul. When music drowns the voice, and artisticskill takes a higher place than hearty singing, it is time that instruments were banished frompublic worship; but when they are subordinate to the song, as here, it is not for us to prohibitthem, or condemn those who use them, though we ourselves greatly prefer to do without them,since it seems to us that the utmost simplicity of praise is far more congruous with the spirit ofthe gospel than pomp of organs. The private worshipper, singing his solo unto the Lord, has oftenfound it helpful to accompany himself on some familiar instrument, and of this David in thepresent psalm is an instance, for he says, "I will sing praise unto thee", -- that is, not so much inthe company of others as by himself alone. He saith not "we", but "I."

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 9. Psaltery -- an instrument of ten strings. �ebelazor. We are led tothe conclusion that the nebel was the veritable harp of the Hebrews. It could not have been large,because it is so frequently mentioned in the Bible as being carried in processions ... The Englishtranslators render nebel (apparently without any special reason) by no less than four words;

1. psaltery, 2. psalm, 3. lute, 4. viol. The first of these is by far the most common in the Authorized Version, and is no

doubt the most correct translation if the word be understood in its true sense as a portableharp. �ebels were made of fir wood, and afterwards of almug, or algum, which was,perhaps, the red sandalwood of India ... With nebel is often associated the word azor,which is traced to a root signifying ten, and which has therefore been rendered in theSeptuagint by by en dekacordw or as yalthrion dekacordon, (psalterium decemchordarum) or in dechachordo psalterio in the Vulgate. In the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabicversions also are found words implying the existence of ten strings in the nebelazor. Theword azor may therefore be considered as qualifying or describing the special kind ofnebel to be used, much in the same way as we now speak of a trichord pianoforte. It is inour English version always rendered by the words "ten stringed." --John Stainer, in "TheMusic of the Bible", 1882.

7. Phillips, “David now strikes a new note in the book of Psalms which, from here on to the end ofthe book, wells louder and louder until we reach the tremendous crescendo of the closing Psalm.From now on David lives above his troubles.”

8. Bruce Howell, “Mark Twain had a bad habit of spicing his conversation with profanity.Twain’s wife, a delicate, refined woman, often became very upset by his rough language. Shetried, in many ways, to cure him of the habit--always unsuccessfully, of course. On one occasion she tried a shock technique. When Twain arrived at home from a trip, he wasgreeted at the door with a string of profanity from his wife. From the lips of that delicate, refinedwoman, he heard everything he had ever said, and more. Twain stood quietly, listening, until she had finished. Then he said, "My dear, you have thewords, but not the music."

This is what often happens to us in our worship and prayer experience. We have the words butnot the music--not enough soul, not enough enthusiasm flowing into it. Consequently, not enoughjoy -- contagious joy, flowing out of it! Genuine praise to God issues from a heart that is in tunewith His–a melody of sorts that rises to His throne and brings Him the glory that He alonedeserves. Someone has found that the word praise or rejoice in its various forms appears no lessthan 600 times in the Bible. Why should we praise the Lord? Let me offer several reasons, someapparent, some not.(1) Because He is worthy of it. After all, it is He who created us and the world we enjoy. He alsoprovided for our inner re-creation. And if that is not enough, He lives within us–hearing andanswering our prayers, forgiving us when we fail, encouraging us when we are weak. And then, to top it all off, He is preparing a place for us to enjoy His presence throughout alleternity.(2) Because God desires us to praise Him–continually and in everything-- as a witness andencouragement to other fellow travelers.(3) Because praise is powerful in its effect. �ehemiah was right when he said, “The joy of theLord is your strength.”(4) Because our outlook on life is changed. Phil 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whateveris noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- ifanything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.”(5) Because praise helps our faith to grow. Our focus from self and our problems is shifted to Godand His power. The Bible declares that “God inhabits the praises of His people.” So, then, there isa sense in which we can determine the degree to which God is present in our gatherings as wefocus on praise. A praising church is an attractive church. The atmosphere is charged. Others arebe drawn to the positive, uplifting surroundings.”

10 to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword.

1. Henry, “He tells us what this new song shall be (Psa_144:10): It is he that giveth salvation unto

kings. This intimates, 1. That great kings cannot save themselves without him. Kings have theirlife-guards, and have armies at command, and all the means of safety that can be devised; but,after all, it is God that gives them their salvation, and secures them by those means, which hecould do, if there were occasion, without them, Psa_33:16. Kings are the protectors of theirpeople, but it is God that is their protector. How much service do they owe him then with theirpower who gives them all their salvations!”

That good kings, who are his ministers for the good of their subjects, shall be protected and savedby him. He has engaged to give salvation to those kings that are his subjects and rule for him;witness the great things he had done for David his servant, whom he had many a time delivered

from the hurtful sword, to which Saul's malice, and his own zeal for the service of his country, hadoften exposed him. This may refer to Christ the Son of David, and then it is a new song indeed, a�ew Testament song. God delivered him from the hurtful sword, upheld him as his servant, and

brought him off a conqueror over all the powers of darkness, Isa_42:1; Isa_49:8. To him he gavesalvation, not for himself only, but for us, raising him up to be a horn of salvation.”

2. Barnes, “It is he that giveth salvation unto kings - Margin, “Victory.” The Hebrew word means“salvation,” but it is used here in the sense of deliverance or rescue. Even “kings,” with all theirarmies, have no hope but in God. They seem to be the most powerful of men, but they are, like allother people, wholly dependent on him for deliverance from danger. David thus recognizes hisown entire dependence. Though a king in the divine purpose and in fact, yet he had no power butas derived from God; he had no hope of deliverance but in him. It is implied further that Godmight as readily be supposed to be willing to interpose in behalf of kings as of other people whentheir cause was right, and when they looked to him for aid. See the notes at Psa_33:16 : “there isno king saved by the multitude of an host.” Compare Psa_44:5-6.

Who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword - Who has done it; who can do itagain; on whom alone David is dependent as all other men are. David speaks of himself by nameelsewhere. See Psa_18:50; 2Sa_7:26. He refers to himself also under the name of “the king,”Psa_61:6; Psa_63:11. Caesar, in his writings, often speaks of himself in the same way.

3. Clarke, “He that giveth salvation unto kings - Monarchy, in the principle, is from God: it isthat form of government which, in the course of the Divine providence, has principally prevailed;and that which, on the whole, has been most beneficial to mankind. God, therefore, has it underhis peculiar protection. It is by him that kings reign; and by his special providence they areprotected.

4. Gill, “It is he that giveth salvation to kings,.... Which is the reason of singing the new song tothe Lord, or this is the matter of it. The Lord is the Preserver of men and beasts, the Saviour ofall men, and especially of them that believe; who are in a spiritual sense kings and priests untoGod; and in a temporal sense he saves high and low, rich and poor: but there is a particularprovidence respecting kings; who, as they are the powers ordained of God, and are hisvicegerents on earth, and represent him, so they are preserved by him; were they not, therewould soon be an end to all public order and government: they cannot save themselves; nor arethey saved by their bodyguards about them; nor is any king saved by the multitude of his host,but by the Lord, Psa_33:16. Or, "he that giveth victory to kings"; over their enemies; which isnot obtained by the strength and force of their armies, and by their military skill valour; but bythe right hand and arm of the Lord: and therefore, whenever this is the case, a new song shouldbe sung to him; see Psa_98:1. David no doubt has regard to himself, and to the many salvationsGod had wrought for him, and the victories he had given him; as also to the King Messiah, whomGod heard and helped, as man and Mediator, in the day of salvation, and gave it to him, and inwhich he rejoiced, Isa_49:8;

who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword; David literally, the servant of the Lordby creation, redemption, and grace, as well as by his office, as king of Israel; him the Lorddelivered from the sword of Goliath, as the Targum; from the sword of Saul, as Jarchi andKimchi; and from the sword of strange children, as Arama; of all his enemies he had been or wasengaged with in war: and David mystically, Christ the son of David, God's righteous servant, hechose, called, upheld; and in whom he was glorified, by doing his work diligently, faithfully, andcompletely; him he delivered from the sword of justice, when he had satisfied it; and from wickedmen, like a sword; and from all his enemies, and death itself, when he raised him from the dead,and gave him glory; see Psa_22:20. Aben Ezra thinks there is a defect of the copulative "and":

and that it should be read, "from the sword and evil"; every evil person or thing; and observes,that some take it for an adjective, and understand it of an evil camp or company.”

5. Spurgeon, “It is he that giveth salvation unto kings. Those whom the Lord sets up he will keepup. Kings, from their conspicuous position, are exposed to special danger, and when their livesand their thrones are preserved to them they should give the Lord the glory of it. In his manybattles David would have perished had not almighty care preserved him. He had by his valourwrought salvation for Israel, but he lays his laurels at the feet of his Lord and Preserver. If anymen need salvation kings do, and if they get it the fact is so astonishing that it deserves a verse toitself in the psalm of praise. Who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. He traces his escape from death to thedelivering hand of God. �ote, he speaks in the present tense -- delivereth, for this was an actwhich covered his whole life. He puts his name to the confession of his indebtedness: it is Davidwho owns without demur to mercy given to himself. He styles himself the Lord's servant,accepting this as the highest title he had attained or desired.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 10. It is he that giveth salvation unto kings. Ferdinand, king ofAragon, sending his son against the Florentines, thus bespake him: Believe me, son, victories arenot gotten by art or subtlety, but given of God. --John Trapp.

Verse 10. It is he that giveth salvation unto kings. What a doctrine this for the kings and great menof the earth to remember! Could they be brought to feel and acknowledge it, they would not trustto the sagacity of their own councils, nor to the strength of their own arm; but would everremember that the Most High is the ruler among the nations, and that he putteth down one andraiseth up another according to the dictates of his own all perfect will. Such remembrances asthis would stain the pride of all human glory, and would lead men to feel that the Lord alone is tobe exalted. --John Morison.

11 deliver me;rescue me from the hands of foreignerswhose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands aredeceitful.

1. Henry, “He prays for the continuance of God's favor. That he might be delivered from thepublic enemies, Psa_144:11. Here he repeats his prayer and plea, Psa_144:7, Psa_144:8. Hispersecutors were still of the same character, false and perfidious, and who would certainly over-reach an honest man and be too hard for him: “Therefore, Lord, do thou deliver me from them,for they are a strange sort of people.” That he might see the public peace and prosperity: “Lord,let us have victory, that we may have quietness, which we shall never have while our enemieshave it in their power to do us mischief.” David, as a king, here expresses the earnest desire hehad of the welfare of his people, wherein he was a type of Christ, who provides effectually for thegood of his chosen.”

2. Barnes, “Rid me, and deliver me ... - See the notes at Psa_144:7-8. The language is here

repeated. The prayer had been interrupted by the thought that the answer to it would lay thefoundation for praise, and by an acknowledgment of entire dependence on God. The psalmistnow, after repeating the prayer, suggests what would result from the answer to it, and dwells onthe happy consequences which must follow; the bright scenes in his own reign, in the prosperityof the people, in the happiness of the nation, in domestic comforts, and in the abundance whichthe land would produce when these dangers should pass away, when people now engaged in theconflict of arms might return to the peaceful pursuits of life, when families would be safe in theirdwellings, and when the earth cultivated in time of peace would again produce abundance,Psa_144:12-14.

3. Gill, “Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children,.... This is repeated fromPsa_144:7; and is done to show the vehemency and importunity of the request, and the dangerDavid was in, and his sense of it.”

4. Spurgeon, “Because of what the Lord had done, David returns to his pleading. He begsdeliverance from him who is ever delivering him. Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children. This is in measure the refrain of thesong, and the burden of the prayer. He desired to be delivered from his open and foreignadversaries, who had broken compacts, and treated treaties as vain things.

Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. He would notstrike hands with those who carried a lie in their right hand: he would be quit of such at once, ifpossible. Those who are surrounded by such serpents know not how to deal with them, and theonly available method seems to be prayer to God for a riddance and deliverance. David in Psalms144:7, according to the original, had sought the help of both the Lord's hands, and well he might,for his deceitful enemies, with remarkable unanimity, were with one mouth and one hand seekinghis destruction.

Riddance from the wicked and the gracious presence of the Lord are sought with a special eye tothe peace and prosperity which will follow thereupon. The sparing of David's life would mean thepeace and happiness of a whole nation. We can scarcely judge how much of happiness may hangupon the Lord's favour to one man.

5. Treasury of David, “Verse 11. This psalm is the language of a prince who wished his people's

prosperity: that their "garners might be full of all manner of stores"; that their "sheep might bring

forth thousands and ten thousands in their streets"; that their "oxen" might be fat for slaughter, or"strong for labour"; that there might be neither robbery nor beggary in their streets: nooppressive magistrates, nor complaining people: and as if all these blessings were to be derivedfrom the character of the people, and the character of the people from the education they hadreceived, our text is a prayer for the youth of Judea. --Robert Robinson (1735-1790), in "The�ature and �ecessity of Early Piety."

6. Let God Be True

A. Here comes the prayer again from 7-8, which the Spirit by repetition emphasizes as valuable. B. David describes internal enemies in many psalms (Ps 27:11-12; 31:11; 35:19; 42:10; 69:4; 71:9-

13; 127:5; 143:12; etc., etc.). Remember just two … Saul and Absalom! God forbid! C. Hypocrisy is one of the great evils of any family, church, or nation; and it must be despised. D. Observe that this prayer request does not end a sentence, for verses 12-14 describe the effect. E. A family, church, or nation are corrupted and undermined by lying hypocrites (Prov 25:4-5).

F. David described the great blessing of brethren dwelling together in unity (Psalm 133:1-3). G. See verses 7-8 for a fuller explanation of the meaning of this doubled prayer request.

12 Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants,and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

1. Henry, “The particular instances of that public prosperity which David desired for his people.[1.] A hopeful progeny (Psa_144:12): “That our sons and our daughters may be in all respects suchas we could wish.” He means not those only of his own family, but those of his subjects, that arethe seed of the next generation. It adds much to the comfort and happiness of parents in thisworld to see their children promising and likely to do well. First, It is pleasant to see our sons as

plants grown up in their youth, as olive-plants (Psa_128:1-6 :), the planting of the Lord (Isa_61:3), -to see them as plants, not as weeds, not as thorns, - to see them as plants growing great, notwithered and blasted, - to see them of a healthful constitution, a quick capacity, a towardlydisposition, and especially of a pious inclination, likely to bring forth fruit unto God in their day,- to see them in their youth, their growing time, increasing in every thing that is good, growingwiser and better, till they grow strong in spirit. Secondly, It is no less desirable to see our

daughters as corner-stones, or corner-pillars, polished after the similitude of a palace, or temple.By daughters families are united and connected, to their mutual strength, as the parts of abuilding are by the corner-stones; and when they are graceful and beautiful both in body andmind they are then polished after the similitude of a nice and curious structure. When we see ourdaughters well-established and stayed with wisdom and discretion, as corner-stones are fastenedin the building, - when we see them by faith united to Christ, as the chief corner-stone, adornedwith the graces of God's Spirit, which are the polishing of that which is naturally rough, andbecome women professing godliness, - when we see them purified and consecrated to God as livingtemples, we think ourselves happy in them.”

1B. F. B. Meyer, “Our sons as plants; our daughters as corner stones rain times of war thechildren are often the first to suffer from privation and hardship. So the king asks fordeliverance, that the sons may grow up as vigorous plants and that the daughters may be as theexquisitely polished corner-stones which connect the walls of a palace or even as pillars. �othingis more important than the nurture of a beautiful family life. For this the deliverances of God onthe behalf of its head are all-important. Let the daughters who read these words seek thepolishing which comes of God's cuttings. The Prayer-book and other versions substitute the wordtemple for palace.”

1C. Strong, healthy and beautiful children are key factors in an ideal kingdom. This is the dreamof every man who wants God's best. In the �ew Testament Paul praises the single life, but in theOld Testament nobody dreamed of such a life. All men wanted to be married and have children.It is hard to find any singles in the Old Testament.

2. Barnes, “That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth - That our sons - not calledforth to the hardships of the tent and the field, the perils and the exposures of war - may grow upunder the culture of home, of the family, in quiet scenes, as plants carefully cultivated andflourishing. Compare Psa_128:3. The Hebrew here is, “grown large in their youth;” not “grownup,” which has a paradoxical appearance. The meaning is, that they may be stout, strong,vigorous, well-formed, even in early life; that they may not be stunted in their growth, but be offull and manly proportions.

That our daughters may be as cornerstones - The word used here - זויות zâvı̂yôth - occurs onlyin the plural form, and means properly “corners” - from a verb meaning to hide away, to conceal.The word is used respecting the corners of an altar, Zec_9:15; and seems here to refer to thecorner columns of a palace or temple: perhaps, as Gesenius (Lexicon) supposes, in allusion to thecolumns representing female figures so common in Egyptian architecture.

Polished - Margin, “cut.” The idea is not that of “polishing” or “smoothing,” but of cutting orsculpturing. It is the stone carefully cut as an ornament.

After the similitude of a palace - A more literal translation would be, “The likeness or model ofa temple;” or, for the building of a temple. That is, that they may be such as may be properlycompared with the ornamental columns of a temple or palace. The comparison is a very beautifulone, having the idea of grace, symmetry, fair proportions: that on which the skill of the sculptoris most abundantly lavished.

3. Clarke, “That our sons may be as plants - God had promised to his people, being faithful,Three descriptions of Blessings, Deu_28:4.

1. The fruit of the body - sons and daughters.

2. The fruits of the ground - grass and corn in sufficient plenty.

3. Fruit of the cattle-”the increase of kine, and flocks of sheep.”

These are the blessings to wnich the psalmist refers here, as those in which he might at presentexult and triumph: blessings actually enjoyed by his people at large; proofs of his mild andpaternal government, and of the especial blessing of the Almighty. The people who there in such astate, and revolted, had no excuse: they were doubly guilty, as ungrateful both to God and man.

4. Gill, “That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth,.... The Septuagint, VulgateLatin, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read, "whose sons are as plants", &c. as if this andwhat follows were a description of the families, estates, substance, and outward happiness ofwicked men, the enemies of David, the strange children he desired to be delivered from,agreeably to Job_21:7; and if the word "saying", or "who say", be supplied, as by some (o), andconnected with "that our sons are", &c. they may express the vain boastings of these men, andexplain what is meant by the vanity their mouth spake; as well as furnish out another reason forthe repetition of the above requests, namely, for the sake of introducing those vain boasts towhich the happiness of good men is opposed, who have an interest in God as their God,Psa_144:15; but we with other versions take them to be a petition of the psalmist; that as hewould deliver him personally out of the hands of his enemies, so he would bless his subjects withall prosperity and happiness in their families and estates; like a good prince concerned for thereal welfare of his people, and wishes that their sons might be as plants, young, tender, wellnursed, and taken care of, that were healthful, thriving, flourishing, and promising much fruit; so

they might he of healthful constitutions, well educated in all useful knowledge, natural andreligious, and grow both in wisdom and stature, and appear to be of promising parts forusefulness in the church and state; and especially that they might be the plants of the Lord,pleasant ones to him, and profitable to others; be planted in Christ, and in his house, and grow ingrace and in the knowledge of him, and grow up to him their bead in all things. The Targum is, "that our sons may be as plants of the dactyles (or palm trees, Psa_92:12), nourished up in thedoctrine of the law from their youth;'' see Psa_128:3;

that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace; or "temple";tall, beautiful, and in good proportion; children have their name in Hebrew from a word whichsignifies to "build" (p), because by them families are built up, Rth_4:11; and by marriage diversfamilies are connected together, so that they are as corner stones to them; thus Plautus (q) speaksof children as a building, and parents as the fabricators of them; laying the foundation of them,raising them up and polishing them, and sparing no cost to make them useful to thecommonwealth: or "as corner pillars" (r), which support the house and continue in it; so theyguide the house, take care of the affairs of it, and be keepers at home, 1Ti_5:14; and like such asare in temples or in kings' palaces, finely graved and beautifully polished, be adorned with graceand good works, particularly with modesty, meekness, and humility, 1Th_2:9; and grow up intoan holy temple in the Lord, being parts of the spiritual building, and being laid on thefoundation, of which Jesus Christ is the corner stone. The Targum is, "our daughters splendidand fit for the priests that minister in the midst of the temple.'' The Syriac version, "theirdaughters as spouses adorned like temples.''

5. Spurgeon, “God's blessing works wonders for a people. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth. Our sons are of first importance to thestate, since men take a leading part in its affairs; and that the young men are the older men willbe. He desires that they may be like strong, well rooted, young trees, which promise great things.If they do not grow in their youth, when will they grow? If in their opening manhood they aredwarfed, they will never get over it. O the joys which we may have through our sons! And, on theother hand, what misery they may cause us! Plants may grow crooked, or in some other waydisappoint the planter, and so may our sons. But when we see them developed in holiness, whatjoy we have of them!

That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace. We desire ablessing for our whole family, daughters as well as sons. For the girls to be left out of the circle ofblessing would be unhappy indeed. Daughters unite families as corner stones join walls together,and at the same time they adorn them as polished stones garnish the structure into which theyare builded. Home becomes a palace when the daughters are maids of honour, and the sons arenobles in spirit; then the father is a king, and the mother a queen, and royal residences are morethan outdone. A city built up of such dwellings is a city of palaces, and a state composed of suchcities is a republic of princes.

6. Dr. Ray Pritchard, “We should pray that “our sons in their youth will be like well-nurturedplants.” The �ew English Bible says that “our sons will be like plants that quickly grow to fullsize.” Eugene Peterson offers this paraphrase: “Make our sons in their prime like sturdy oaktrees.” It is a picture of young men in their growing-up years becoming strong and powerful, likea forest of mighty oak trees. This is what we should pray for our sons. That at an early age theymight be firmly rooted in the good soil of God’s Word. That their roots might be so strong and so

deep in the Word that they can stand strong in every storm. The familiar words of Psalm 1 cometo mind at this point: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor standsin the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, andon his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields itsfruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3ESV).

The second image in this verse applies to the daughters in the family and is equally compelling.We ought to pray that “our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace” (Psalm144:12b). The �ew American Bible stresses the image of beauty: “Our daughters, like carvedcolumns, shapely as those of the temple.” The �ew English Bible adds a crucial part of thepicture: “Our daughters will be like corner pillars, carved like those in a palace.” If you read theolder translations, they used words like “cornerstone.” The King James Version even says, “thatour daughters may be as corner stones.” When you pull the various strands together, the result looks something like this: In Bible times,beautiful palaces contained a number of large columns that were both decorative and weightbearing. The most expensive columns were cut from marble, highly polished, and carefully put inplace. The most important of those columns were placed at the intersection of two or more walls.They united various parts of the building, connecting one wing with another. Those cornercolumns were crucial because they held everything together. The master craftsmen would takeextra time, choosing the best materials, working overtime to produce stone cut to exactingmeasurements, and polished to high degree of brilliance. The corner columns were placed withexquisite care because the integrity of the entire building depended on them. If they were cutwrong or placed wrong, the entire building would be unsound. But when properly placed, theybecame the foundation and connecting-point for everything else. Do not be deceived by theemphasis on beauty and grace. These columns are not mere ornaments added to please the eye.They are corner pillars that hold the palace together.

This, then, is the image of godly daughters. They are like those highly polished, carefully chosen,perfectly placed corner columns that hold together the palace where the king dwells. There isboth form and function here. Godly daughters are both beautiful and strong. They hold thefamily together and serve as the connecting point for everything else. They are at the center offamily life. Everything flows to them and through them.

�ote the difference between the tree and the column. The oak tree stands outside the home, whilethe column upholds the home with strength and beauty. The corner pillar is the strength of thehome itself. When the column is weak, the house itself is weak. When the corner pillar is strong,the house can stand against the storms that rise against it.

Daughters like this do not happen by accident. There is no clumsy workmanship here. Only amaster craftsman can produce beautiful corner columns fit for a king’s palace. Do you dream ofthis for your daughters? You can have it but it will be the work of a lifetime.”

7. Treasury of David, “Verse 12. The reminiscences or imitations of Psalms 18:1-50, suddenly ceasehere, and are followed by a series of original, peculiar, and for the most part or no doubt antiqueexpressions. Oil the supposition that the title is correct in making David the author, this is naturalenough. On any other supposition it is unaccountable, unless by the gratuitous assumption, thatthis is a fragment of an older composition, a mode of reasoning by which anything may be eitherproved or disproved. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 12. That our sons may be as plants, etc. They who have ever been employed in the

cultivation of plants of any kind, are continually tempted to wish that the human objects of theircare and culture would grow up as rapidly, as straight, as flourishing, would as uniformly fulfiltheir specific idea and purpose, as abundantly reward the labour bestowed on them ... If our sonsare indeed to grow up as young plants, like our English oaks, which according to the analogies of�ature, furnish no inappropriate type of our national character, they must not be stunted ordwarfed or pollarded, for the sake of being kept under the shade of a stranger. They should growup straight toward heaven, as God had ordained them to grow ... There is something so palpableand striking in this type, that twenty-five years ago, in speaking of the gentlemanly character, Iwas led to say, "If a gentleman is to grow up he must grow like a tree: there must be nothingbetween him and heaven." --Julius Charles Hare, in a Sermon entitled "Education the �ecessityof Mankind", 1851.

Verse 12. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, etc. Thus David prays for therising generation. Metaphors seem generally unsuitable to prayer, but they do not wear thisaspect in the prayers recorded in the Scriptures. The language of the text is tropical, but themetaphors are suitable and seasonable. Roots of vegetables are necessarily invisible. Tenderplants are insignificant. A plant grown up, having height in its stem, width in its branches,abundance in its foliage, and fulness in its bloom, is conspicuous. David prays that the sons ofthat generation might be in their youth "as plants grown up", that is, that their piety might notonly live, but that their godliness might be fully expressed. The stones of a foundation areconcealed. The stones in the mid wall of a building are also necessarily hid. The stones on thesurface of a wall are visible, but they are not distinguished. The cornerstone of buildings in thatday was prominent and eminent. Placed at the angle of the structure, where two walls met, on thetop of the walls, and being richly ornamented and polished, it attracted attention. David praysthat the daughters of that day might make an open and lovely profession of religion -- that bothsons and daughters might not only have piety but show it. - -Samuel Martin, in "Cares of Youth."

Verse 12. "Plants grown up" "Corner stones polished." These processes of growth and polish canbe carried on in one place only, the church of Christ. --�eale and Littledale.

Verse 12. That our daughters may be as corner stones, etc. "The polished corners of the temple",rather "the sculptured angles, the ornament, of a palace." Great care and much ornament werebestowed by the ancients upon the angles of their splendid palaces. It is remarkable that theGreeks made use of pilasters, called Caryatides (carved after the figure of a woman dressed inlong robes), to support the entablatures of their buildings. --Daniel Cresswell.

Verse 12. That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace ortemple. By daughters families are united and connected to their mutual strength, as the parts of abuilding are by the cornerstones; and when they are graceful and beautiful both in body andmind, they are then polished after the similitude of a nice and curious structure. When we see ourdaughters well established, and stayed with wisdom and discretion, as cornerstones are fastenedin the building; when we see them by faith united to Christ, as the chief cornerstone, adornedwith the graces of God's Spirit, which are the polishing of that which is naturally rough, and"become women professing godliness"; when we see them purified and consecrated to God asliving temples, we think ourselves happy in them. --Matthew Henry.

Verse 12. That our daughters may be as corner stones, etc. One might perhaps at the first glancehave expected that the daughters of a household would be as the graceful ornament of theclustering foliage or the fruit bearing tree, and the sons as the cornerstones upholding the weightand burden of the building, and yet it is the reverse here. And I think one may read the love andtenderness of the Lord in this apparently casual but intended expression, and that he meant thenations of the earth to know and understand how much of their happiness, their strength, and

their security was dependent on the female children of a family. It has not been so considered inmany a nation that knew not God: in polished Greece in times of old, and in some heathennations even to this day, the female children of a family have been cruelly destroyed, as adding tothe burdens and diminishing the resources of a household; and alas! too, even in Christiancountries, if not destroyed, they are with equal pitiless and remorseless cruelty cut off from all thesolace and ties and endearments of life, and immured in that living mockery of a grave, thecloister, that they may not prove incumbrances and hindrances to others! How contrary all thisto the loving purpose of our loving God! whose Holy Spirit has written for our learning that sonsand daughters are alike intended to be the ornament and grace, the happiness and blessing ofevery household. --Barton Bouchier.

Verse 12. After the similitude of a palace. Most interpreters give the last word the vague sense of"a palace." There is something, however, far more striking in the translation temple, found in thePrayer Book and the ancient versions. The omission of the article is a poetic license of perpetualoccurrence. The temple was the great architectural model and standard of comparison, andparticularly remarkable for the great size and skilful elaboration of its foundation stones, some ofwhich, there is reason to believe, have remained undisturbed since the time of Solomon. --JosephAddison Alexander.

Verse 12-15. In the former part of the psalm he speaks of such things as concern his own happiness:

"Blessed be the Lord my strength" (Psalms 144:1); "Send thine hand from above; and deliver me

out of great waters" (Psalms 144:7); "Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children"(Psalms 144:11). And he might as easily have continued the same strain in the clauses following:"That my sons may grow up as plants, my daughters may be as the polished corners of thetemple, my sheep fruitful, my oxen strong, my garners full and plenteous"; and accordingly hemight have concluded it also -- "Happy shall I be, if I be in such a case." This, I say, he mighthave done; nay, this he would have done, if his desires had reflected only upon himself. But beingof a diffusive heart, and knowing what belonged to the neighbourhoods of piety, as loath to enjoythis happiness alone, he alters his style, and (being in the height of well wishes to himself) heturns the singular into a plural -- our sheep, our oxen, our garners, our sons and daughters, thathe might compendiate all in this, -- Happy are the people. Here is a true testimony both of areligious and generous mind, who knew in his most retired thoughts to look out of himself, and tobe mindful of the public welfare in his most private meditations. S. Ambrose observes it as a clearcharacter of a noble spirit, to do what tends to the public good, though to his own disadvantage.--Richard Holdsworth (1590-1649), in "The Valley of Vision."

Verse 12-15. These words contain a striking picture of a prosperous and happy nation. We arepresented with a view of the masculine youth of the nation by the oaks of the forest, become greatin the early period of the vigour and excellency of the soil. They are represented in thedistinguishing character of their sex, standing abroad the strength of the nation, whence itsresources for action must be derived. On the other hand, the young females of a nation areexhibited under an equally just and proper representation of their position and distinguishingcharacter. They are not exhibited by a metaphor derived from the hardier tenants of the forest,but they are shown to us by a representation taken from the perpetual accompaniments of thedwelling; they are the supports and the ornaments of domestic life. Plenty of every kind isrepresented to us in possession and in reasonable expectation. �o breaking in, no invasion by afurious foe, oppresses the inhabitants of this happy country with terror; neither is there anygoing out. The barbarous practice employed by Sennacherib, and other ancient conquerors, oftransporting the inhabitants of a vanquished country to some distant, unfriendly, and hated land,-- the practice at this moment employed, to the scandal of the name and the sorrow of Europe --

they dread not: they fear no "going out." Under circumstances of such a nature causes of distressor complaint exist not; or, if they do, they are capable of being so modified, and alleviated, andremedied, that there is no complaining in the streets. "Happy, then, is that people, that is in sucha case." --John Pye Smith, 1775-1851.

8. Let God Be True A. Here is a poetic description of happy and prospering families identified by their children. B. The simile for sons describes them as plants grown up, or mature and strong, in their youth.

1. The success of a family, church, or nation depends heavily on mature, strong young men. 2. The difference between wise and foolish sons is either a great blessing or calamity (10:1). 3. The investment in a male child or a young man may well pay huge dividends tomorrow. 4. The effort of Hannah with Samuel, and Lois and Eunice with Timothy, paid handsomely.

C. The simile for daughters describes them as polished cornerstones – strong and beautiful. 1. A godly woman with her heart right before God and priorities straight is very valuable. 2. A cornerstone is a support for the whole building, and godly woman make a people great. 3. A woman who fears the Lord and is graciousness is truly beautiful (Pr 11:16,22; 31:30). 4. Women of character, from Sarah to Jael to Anna, are a foundation of godly families.

D. Together these blessings of sons and daughters form new family units that are outstanding. E. We cannot expect such glorious blessings without doing our part (Pr 22:6,15; 23:26; 29:15). F. When a people leave the Lord, He takes away their men and lets their women go (Is 3:1-24).

13 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision.Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields;

1. Henry, “Great plenty. �umerous families increase the care, perhaps more than the comfort,where there is not sufficient for their maintenance; and therefore he prays for a growing estatewith a growing family. First, That their store-houses might be well-replenished with the fruits andproducts of the earth: That our garners may be full, like those of the good householder, whobrings out of them things new and old (those things that are best new he has in that state, thosethat are best when they are kept he has in that state), - that we may have in them all manner of

stores, for ourselves and our friends, - that, living plentifully, we may live not luxuriously, for thenwe abuse our plenty, but cheerfully and usefully, - that, having abundance, we may be thankful toGod, generous to our friends, and charitable to the poor; otherwise, what profit is it to have ourgarners full? Jam_5:3. Secondly, That their flocks might greatly increase: That our sheep may

bring forth thousands, and ten thousands, in our folds. Much of the wealth of their countryconsisted in their flocks (Pro_27:26), and this is the case with ours too, else wool would not be, asit is, a staple commodity. The increase of our cattle is a blessing in which God is to beacknowledged.”

2. Barnes, “That our garners may be full - That our fields may yield abundance, so that our

granaries may be always filled.Affording all manner of store - Margin, “From kind to kind.” Hebrew, “From sort to sort;”

that is, every sort or kind of produce or grain; all, in variety, that is needful for the supply of manand beast.

That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets - A great part of thewealth of Palestine always consisted in flocks of sheep; and, from the earliest periods, not a few ofthe inhabitants were shepherds. This language, therefore, is used to denote national prosperity.

In our streets - The Hebrew word used here means properly whatever is outside; what is out ofdoors or abroad, as opposed to what is within, as the inside of a house; and then, what is outsideof a town, as opposed to what is within. It may, therefore, mean a street Jer_37:21; Job_18:17;Isa_5:25; and then the country, the fields, pastures, etc.: Job_5:10; Pro_8:26. Here it refers to thepastures; the fields; the commons.

3. Clarke, “That our garners, etc. - Our garners are full. These are not prayers put up by Davidfor such blessings: but assertions, that such blessings were actually in possession. All theseexpressions should be understood in the present tense.

Ten thousands in our streets - בחצתינו bechutsotheynu should be translated in our pens orsheep-walks; for sheep bringing forth in the streets of cities or towns is absurd.

4. Gill, “That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store,.... Or "our corners" (s), thecorners of their houses, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; the nooks that were in them might be full ofprovisions for the supply of the family; or that their barns and granaries might be full of all kindof corn, as wheat, rye, barley, &c. which might be sufficient from year to year, as the Targum;plenty of all food is intended, in opposition to a scarcity, dearth, and famine, Pro_3:9; that sothere might be enough for increasing families. Spiritually it may design that large provision ofgrace in the churches of Christ, and the fulness of the blessings of the Gospel the ministers of itcome forth with, bringing out of their treasure things new and old, in the ministration of theword and administration of ordinances;

that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets; or millions; in whichlay the riches of men formerly, and indeed in our nation now, where wool is the staple commodityof it; and these are creatures that breed and increase much; when they stand well, a few soonbecome a thousand, and these thousands produce ten thousands or millions, more. The Hebrewword צאן, "sheep", seems to be derived from the Arabic word "tzana", which signifies to be"fruitful", whether in men or beasts: "tzana": "foecunda fuit, et multos liberos hubuit mulier-----idem significat, et multa habuit pecora", Golius, col. 1428; and though for the most part theybring but one at a time, yet Aristotle (t) says, sometimes two, three, and four; and in India,Aelianus (u) says, they bring four, and never less than three. It is a beautiful sight to see themdriven in such numbers through the streets of cities to markets, or to pasture. Or rather this maydesign the country towns and villages, where large flocks of them are kept. The people of Godresemble these in their meekness, harmlessness, innocence, and other things; and who not onlyincrease in grace and gifts, and spiritual knowledge, and in all goodness, which is desirable, butalso in numbers, as they did in the first times of the Gospel, and will in the last, when they shallbe increased as a flock; the fulness of the Gentiles, the other sheep, shall be brought in, and thenation of the Jews called at once.”

5. Spurgeon, “That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store. A household mustexercise thrift and forethought: it must have its granary as well as its nursery. Husbands should

husband their resources; and should not only furnish their tables but fill their garners. Wherethere are happy households, there must needs be plentiful provision for them, for famine bringsmisery even where love abounds. It is well when there is plenty, and that plenty consists of "allmanner of store." We have occasionally heard murmurs concerning the abundance of grain, andthe cheapness of the poor man's loaf. A novel calamity! We dare not pray against it. David wouldhave prayed for it, and blessed the Lord when he saw his heart's desire. When all the fruits of theearth are plentiful, the fruits of our lips should be joyful worship and thanksgiving. Plenteousand varied may cur products be, that every form of want may be readily supplied. That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets, or rather in the openplaces, the fields, and sheep walks where lambs should be born. A teeming increase is heredescribed. Adam tilled the ground to fill the garner, but Abel kept sheep, and watched the lambs.Each occupation needs the divine blessing. The second man who was born into this world was ashepherd, and that trade has ever held an important part in the economy of nations. Food andclothing come from the flock, and both are of first consideration.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 13. That our sheep may bring forth thousands, etc. The surprisingfecundity of the sheep has been celebrated by writers of every class. It has not escaped the noticeof the royal Psalmist, who, in a beautiful ascription of praise to the living and the true God,entreats that the sheep of his chosen people might "bring forth thousands and ten thousands inour streets." In another song of Zion, he represents, by a very elegant metaphor, the numerousflocks covering like a garment the face of the field: -- "The pastures are clothed with flocks; thevalleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing": Psalms 65:13. Thebold figure is fully warranted by the prodigious numbers of sheep which whitened the extensivepastures of Syria and Canaan. In that part of Arabia which borders on Judea, the patriarch Jobpossessed at first seven thousand, and after the return of his prosperity, fourteen thousand sheep;and Mesha, the king of Moab, paid the king of Israel "a yearly tribute of a hundred thousandlambs, and an equal number of rams with the wool": 2 Kings 3:4 . In the war which the tribe ofReuben waged with the Hagarites, the former drove away "two hundred and fifty thousandsheep": 1 Chronicles 5:21 . At the dedication of the temple, Solomon offered in sacrifice "anhundred and twenty thousand sheep." At the feast of the passover, Josiah, the king of Judah,"gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that werepresent, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king'ssubstance": 2 Chronicles 35:7 . The ewe brings forth her young commonly once a year, and inmore ungenial climes, seldom more than one lamb at a time. But twin lambs are as frequent inthe oriental regions, as they are rare in other places; which accounts in a satisfactory manner forthe prodigious numbers which the Syrian shepherd led to the mountains. This uncommonfruitfulness seems to be intimated by Solomon in his address to the spouse: -- "Thy teeth are likea flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one beartwins, and none is barren among them": So 4:2. --George Paxton (1762-1837), in "Illustrations ofScripture."

Verse 13-14. Streets, though not incorrect, is an inadequate translation of the Hebrew word,which means external spaces, streets as opposed to the inside of houses, fields or country asopposed to a whole town. Here it includes not only roads but fields. -- Joseph Addison Alexander.

14 our oxen will draw heavy loads.[b]There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.

1. Henry, “That their beasts designed for service might be fit for it: That our oxen may be strong

to labour in the plough, that they may be fat and fleshy (so some), in good working case. We werenone of us made to be idle, and therefore we should pray for bodily health, not that we may beeasy and take our pleasures, but that we may be strong to labour, that we may do the work of ourplace and day, else we are worse than the beasts; for when they are strong it is for labour. [3.] Anuninterrupted peace. First, That there be no war, no breaking in of invaders, no going out ofdeserters. “Let not our enemies break in upon us; let us not have occasion to march out againstthem.” War brings with it abundance of mischiefs, whether it be offensive or defensive. Secondly,

That there be no oppression nor faction - no complaining in our streets, that the people may haveno cause to complain either of their government or of one another, nor may be so peevish as tocomplain without cause. It is desirable thus to dwell in quiet habitations.”

2. Barnes, “That our oxen may be strong to labour - Margin, “able to bear burdens;” or, “ladenwith flesh.” The Hebrew is simply loaded or laden: that is, with a burden; or, with flesh; or, asGesenius renders it, with young. The latter idea would best suit the connection - that of cattleproducing abundantly or multiplying.

That there be no breaking in, nor going out - �o breaking in of other cattle into enclosedgrounds, and no escape of those which are shut up for pasture. That property may be safeeverywhere. The image is that of security, peace, order, prosperity.

That there be no complaining in our streets - literally, “outcry; clamor.” That the land may beat peace; that order and law may be observed; that the rights of all may be respected; that amongneighbors there may be no strifes and contentions.

3. Clarke, “Our oxen may be strong to labor - We have not only an abundance of cattle; but theyare of the most strong and vigorous breed.

�o breaking in - So well ordered is the police of the kingdom, that there are no depredations,no robbers, house-breakers, or marauding parties, in the land; no sudden incursions ofneighboring tribes or banditti breaking into fields or houses, carrying away property, and takingwith them the people to sell them into captivity: there is no such breaking in, and no such goingout, in the nation. My enemies are either become friends, and are united with me in politicalinterests; or are, through fear, obliged to stand aloof.

4. Gill, “That our oxen may be strong to labour,.... To draw carriages, to plough with, and to treadout the corn: or "may be burdened" (w); fit to carry burdens; or burdened with flesh, be plumpand fat, and in good condition to work; or burdened with young, as some (x) understand it, and

then it must be meant of cows, as the word is used, Deu_7:13; and so here an increase of kine iswished for, as of sheep before. Ministers of the word are compared to oxen for their patience insuffering, and their laboriousness in working, 1Co_9:9, 1Ti_5:17; and happy is it for the churchesof Christ when their ministers are laborious ones; are strong to labour, and do labour, in theword and doctrine; stand fast in the faith, and quit themselves like men, and are strong; that

there be no breaking in: of the enemy into the land to invade it, into cities and houses to plunderand spoil them; nor going out: of the city to meet the enemy and fight with him, peace and notwar is desirable; or no going out of one's nation into captivity into a foreign country, as Kimchi;or no breaking in to folds and herds, and leading out and driving away cattle, to the loss of theowners thereof. Some (y) understand both these of abortion, of any violent rupture of the womb,and an immature birth; that there be no complaining in our streets; on account of famine,pestilence, the sword, violence, and oppression; or no crying (z), no mournful cry or howling andshrieking on account of the enemy being at hand, and just ready to enter in, or being there,killing, plundering, and spoiling.”

5. Spurgeon, “That our oxen may be strong to labour; so that the ploughing and cartage of thefarm may be duly performed, and the husbandman's work may be accomplished without undulytaxing the cattle, or working them cruelly. That there be no breaking in, nor going out; no irruption of marauders, and no forcedemigration; no burglaries and no evictions.

That there be no complaining in our streets; no secret dissatisfaction, no public riot; no faintingof poverty, no clamour for rights denied, nor concerning wrongs unredressed. The state of thingshere pictured is very delightful: all is peaceful and prosperous; the throne is occupied efficiently,and even the beasts in their stalls are the better for it. This has been the condition of our owncountry, and if it should now be changed, who can wonder? For our ingratitude well deserves tobe deprived of blessings which it has despised.

These verses may with a little accommodation be applied to a prosperous church, where theconverts are growing and beautiful, the gospel stores abundant, and the spiritual increase mostcheering. There ministers and workers are in full vigour, and the people are happy and united.The Lord make it so in all our churches evermore.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 14. That our oxen may be strong to labour. (Margin: "able to bearburdens", or, loaded with flesh.) As in the verse before he had ascribed the fruitfulness of theherds and flocks to God's goodness, so now the fattening of their oxen, to show that there isnothing relating to us here which he overlooks. -- John Calvin.

Verse 14. That our oxen may be strong to labour. Oxen were not only used for ploughing,thrashing, and drawing, but also for bearing burdens; compare 1 Chronicles 12:40 , whichpassage is peculiarly fitted to throw light on the verse before us. Laden oxen presuppose a richabundance of produce. --E.W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 14. That there be no complaining in our streets, etc. Rather, "and no cry of sorrow" (comp.Isaiah 24:11 Jeremiah 14:2 46:12) "in our open places", i.e., the places where the peoplecommonly assembled near the gate of the city (comp. 2 Chronicles 32:6 �ehemiah 8:1). The wordrendered "complaining" does not occur elsewhere in the psalter. -- Speaker's Commentary.

Verse 14. Ao complaining. �o outcries but "Harvest homes." --John Trapp.

7. Let God Be True

A. Oxen laboring are the means of production – strong labor is blessed productivity (Prov 14:4). B. The blessed God either blesses or blows against the labor of men and beasts (Haggai 1:5-11). C. �o breaking in is safety from thieves breaking in to steal or enemies breaking into the city. D. �o going out is safety from being forced to flee a city for danger or taken away captive. E. �o complaining in our streets is domestic tranquility from all internal conflicts or wants. F. �ote how the wise prophet Agur had prayed for convenient food to avoid such (Pr 30:7-9).

15 Blessed is the people of whom this is true; blessed is the people whose God is the LORD.

1. Henry, “Happy are the people that are in such a case (but it is seldom so, and never long so),yea, happy are the people whose God is the Lord. The relation of a people to God as theirs is herespoken of either, [1.] As that which is the fountain whence all those blessings flow. Happy are theIsraelites if they faithfully adhere to the Lord as their God, for they may expect to be in such a

case. �ational piety commonly brings national prosperity; for nations as such, in their nationalcapacity, are capable of rewards and punishments only in this life. Or, [2.] As that which isabundantly preferable to all these enjoyments. The psalmist began to say, as most do, Happy are

the people that are in such a case; those are blessed that prosper in the world. But he immediatelycorrects himself: Yea, rather, happy are the people whose God is the Lord, who have his favour, andlove, and grace, according to the tenour of the covenant, though they have not abundance of thisworld's goods. As all this, and much more, cannot make us happy, unless the Lord be our God,so, if he be, the want of this, the loss of this, nay, the reverse of this, cannot make us miserable.”

2. Barnes, “Happy is that people that is in such a case - In such a condition; or, where these thingsprevail. Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord - Whose God is Yahweh; who worshipand serve Him as their God. The worship of Yahweh - the religion of Yahweh - is “adapted” tomake a people happy; peaceful; quiet; blessed. Prosperity and peace, such as are referred to inthe previous verses, are, and must be, the result of pure religion. Peace, order, abundance, attendit everywhere, and the best security for a nation’s prosperity is the worship of God; that which ismost certain to make a nation happy and blessed, is to acknowledge God and to keep his laws.

3. Clarke, “Happy is that people - “O how happy are the people!” Such were his people; and theyhad not only all this secular happiness, but they had Jehovah for their God; and in him had aceaseless fountain of strength, protection, earthly blessings, and eternal mercies! A people in sucha case to rebel, must have the curse of God and man.

4. Gill, “Happy is that people that is in such a case,.... Whose families are in good order andbehave well; who enjoy plenty of all good things; whose flocks and herds increase, and who live inpeace and prosperity; these are temporal blessings highly valuable, and for which those who havethem should be thankful, as being happy in comparison of others that are destitute of them,

Deu_28:3; and especially who besides these are blessed with spiritual blessings, signified by them,and of which these were typical;

yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord; whose God the Lord is, not only by creation,and as he is a common benefactor and preserver, but as their God in covenant, their covenantGod and Father in Christ; whom he has loved, chosen, redeemed, adopted, justified, pardoned,regenerated, and sanctified; all which appears to them in effectual calling, is manifested by theapplication of covenant grace to them, and is witnessed to their spirits by the spirit of God, andwhich their faith claims an interest in: and these are happy, thrice happy persons; for all thatGod has are theirs; all his perfections are on their side and for their good; he is their portion,shield, reward, and their all in all; his covenant, its blessings and promises, are all theirs; theyhave enough, having all things, and can want no good thing; nor need they fear any enemy; theLord takes care of them, sets a guard about them, resents all injuries done them, prevents thedesigns of their enemies, makes all things work together for their good, provides all thingsnecessary for them for time and eternity, and will be their God and guide even unto death;covenant interest always continues, and therefore such must be ever happy.”

5. Warren Wiersbe, “"Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!" (v. 15). That's the wayDavid concludes Psalm 144. In the first half of this psalm, he cries out to God for help. In the lasthalf, he sings praises to the Lord because of the help He gave him."I will sing a new song to You, O God; on a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You, the Onewho gives salvation to kings, who delivers David His servant from the deadly sword" (vv. 9,10).This shows David's personal joy in the Lord. We can picture him laying down his sword, pickingup his harp and composing a new song to praise and glorify God. We ought to have personal joyin our hearts also. We have many reasons for praising God, but too often we remember only thesorrows of life and forget the blessings.

Then there is national joy--"the One who gives salvation to kings" (v. 10). David was the king,and when God delivered him, it was for the good of the nation. How we need nationalrighteousness and national repentance to have national joy! Finally, there is family joy. Davidtalks in verse 12 about his sons being like plants and his daughters like cornerstones that arepolished for a palace. What a joy it is in the home to praise the Lord and see family membersgrowing in Him. God's people ought to be joyful--expressing personal, national and family joy.Our joy is founded on what God does and who He is. Rejoice in the Lord today for all of Hisgoodness, grace and mercy toward you in Christ Jesus.”

6. Spurgeon, “Happy is that people that is in such a case. Such things are not to be overlooked.Temporal blessings are not trifles, for the miss of them would be a dire calamity. It is a greathappiness to belong to a people so highly favored. Yea, happy is that people, whose God is theLORD. This comes in as an explanation of their prosperity. Under the Old Testament Israel hadpresent earthly rewards for obedience: when Jehovah was their God they were a nation enrichedand flourishing. This sentence is also a sort of correction of all that had gone before; as if the poetwould say -- all these temporal gifts are a part of happiness, but still the heart and soul ofhappiness lies in the people being right with God, and having a full possession of him. Those whoworship the happy God become a happy people. Then if we have not temporal mercies literallywe have something better: if we have not the silver of earth we have the gold of heaven, which isbetter still. In this psalm David ascribes his own power over the people, and the prosperity which

attended his reign, to the Lord himself. Happy was the nation which he ruled; happy in its king,in its families, in its prosperity, and in the possession of peace; but yet more in enjoying truereligion and worshipping Jehovah, the only living and true God.

7. Treasury of David, “Verse 15. Happy is that people, etc. We have in the text happiness with anecho, or ingemination; "happy" and "happy." From this ingemination arise the parts of the text;the same which are the parts both of the greater world and the less. As the heaven and earth inthe one, and the body and soul in the other; so are the passages of this Scripture in the two veinsof happiness. We may range them as Isaac does the two parts of his blessing (Genesis 27:28); thevein of civil happiness, in "the fatness of the earth"; and the vein of Divine happiness, in "thefatness of heaven." Or (if you will have it out of the gospel), here's Martha's portion in the "manythings" of the body; and Mary's better part in the unum necessarium of the soul. To give it yetmore concisely, here's the path of prosperity in outward comforts, "Happy is that people that isin such a case"; and the path of piety in comforts spiritual: Yea, happy is that people, whose Godis the LORD.

In the handling of the first, without any further subdivision, I will only show what it is thePsalmist treats of; and that shall be by way of gradation, in these three particulars. It is DeFelicitate; De Felicitate Populi; De Hac Felicitate Populi: of happiness; of the people's happiness;of the people's happiness, as in such a case.

Happiness is the general, and the first: a noble argument, and worthy of an inspired pen,especially the Psalmist's. Of all other there can be none better to speak of popular happiness thansuch a king; nor of celestial, than such a prophet. Yet I mean not to discourse of it in the fulllatitude, but only as it hath a peculiar posture in this psalm, very various and different from theorder of other psalms. In this psalm it is reserved to the end, as the close of the foregoingmeditations. In other psalms it is set in the front, or first place of all; as in Psalms 32:1- 11, inPsalms 112:1-10, in Psalms 119:1-176, and in the Psalms 128:1-6. Again, in this the Psalmist endswith our happiness and begins with God's. "Blessed be the LORD my strength." In Ps 41:1-13,contrary, he makes his exordium from man's; "Blessed is he that considereth the poor"; hisconclusion with God's; "Blessed be the Lend God of Israel." I therefore observe these variations,because they are helpful to the understanding both of the essence and splendour of truehappiness. To the knowledge of the essence they help, because they demonstrate how our ownhappiness is enfolded in the glory of God, and subordinate unto it. As we cannot begin withbeatus unless we end with benedictus: so we must begin with benedictus that we may end withbeatus. The reason is this, -- because the glory of God is as well the consummation as theintroduction to a Christian's happiness. Therefore as in the other psalm he begins below and endsupwards; so in this, having begun from above with that which is principal, "Blessed be theLORD"; he fixes his second thoughts upon the subordinate, "Blessed, or happy, are the people."He could not proceed in a better order: he first looks up to God's kingdom, then reflects upon hisown, as not meaning to take blessedness before he had given it. -- Richard Holdsworth.

Verse 15. Happy is that people, that is in such a case, etc. The first part of this text hath relation totemporal blessings, "Blessed is the people that be so": the second to spiritual, "Yea, blessed is thepeople while God is the LORD." "His left hand is under my head", saith the spouse (Song ofSolomon 2:6); that sustains me from falling into murmuring, or diffidence of his providence,because out of his left hand he hath given me a competency of his temporal blessings; "But hisright hand doth embrace me", saith the spouse there; his spiritual blessings fill me, possess me sothat no rebellious fire breaks out within me, no outward temptation breaks in upon me. So alsoSolomon says again, "In her left hand is riches and glory" (temporal blessings) "and in her right

hand length of days" (Proverbs 3:16), all that accomplishes and fulfils the eternal joys of thesaints of heaven. The person to whom Solomon attributes this right and left hand is Wisdom; anda wise man may reach out his right and left hand, to receive the blessings of both sorts. And theperson whom Solomon represents by Wisdom there, is Christ himself. So that not only a worldlywise man, but a Christian wise man may reach out both hands, to both kinds of blessings, rightand left, spiritual and temporal.

�ow, for this first blessedness, as no philosophers could ever tell us amongst the Gentiles whattrue blessedness was, so no grammarian amongst the Jews, amongst the Hebrews, could ever tellus what the right signification of this word is, in which David expresses blessedness here; whetherasherei, which is the word, be a plural noun, and signify beatitudines, blessednesses in the plural,and intimate thus much, that blessedness consists not in any one thing, but in a harmony andconsent of many; or whether this asherei be an adverb, and signify beate, and so be anacclamation, O how happily, how blessedly are such men provided for that are so; they cannottell. Whatsoever it be, it is the very first word with which David begins his Book of Psalms;beatus vir; as the last word of that book is, laudate Dominum; to show that all that passesbetween God and man, from first to last, is blessings from God to man, and praises from man toGod; and that the first degree of blessedness is to find the print of the hand of God even in histemporal blessednesses, and to praise and glorify him for them in the right use of them. A manthat hath no land to hold by it, nor title to recover by it, is never the better for finding, or buying,or having a fair piece of evidence, a fair instrument, fairly written, duly sealed, authenticallytestified; a man that hath not the grace of God, and spiritual blessings too, is never the nearerhappiness, for all his abundances of temporal blessedness. Evidences are evidences to them whohave title. Temporal blessings are evidences to them who have a testimony of God's spiritualblessings in the temporal. Otherwise, as in his hands who hath no title, it is a suspicious thing tofind evidences, and he will be thought to have embezzled and purloined them, he will be thoughtto have forged and counterfeited them, and he will be called to an account for them, how he cameby them, and what he meant to do with them: so to them who have temporal blessings withoutspiritual, they are but useless blessings, they are but counterfeit blessings, they shall not purchasea minute's peace here, nor a minute's refreshing to the soul hereafter; and there must be a heavyaccount made for them, both how they were got, and how they were employed. -- John Donne.

Verse 15. Happy is that people, etc. It is only a narrow and one sided religion that can see anythingout of place in this beatitude of plenty and peace. If we could rejoice with the psalms fully andwithout misgiving, in the temporal blessings bestowed by heaven, we should the more readily andsincerely enter into the depths of their spiritual experience. And the secret of this lies in the fullcomprehension and contemplation of the beautiful and pleasant as the gift of God. --A.S. Aglen.

Verse 15. Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. "Yea, happy." This is the best wine,kept to the last, though all men be not of this opinion. You shall hardly bring a worldly man tothink so. The world is willing enough to misconstrue the order of the words, and to give thepriority to civil happiness, as if it were first in dignity, because 'tis first named: they like better tohear of the cui sic than the cui Dominus. To prevent this folly, the Psalmist interposes a caution inthis corrective particle, "yea, happy." It hath the force of a revocation, whereby he seems toretract what went before, not simply and absolutely, but in a certain degree, lest worldly menshould wrest it to a misinterpretation. It is not an absolute revocation, but a comparative; it dothnot simply deny that there is some part of popular happiness in these outward things, but itprefers the spirituals before them: "Yea", that is, Yea more, or, Yea rather; like that of Christ inthe Gospel, when one in the company blessed the womb that bare him, he presently replies, "Yea,rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it": Luke 11:28. In like manner, the

prophet David, having first premised the inferior part and outside of a happy condition; fearinglest any should of purpose mistake his meaning, and, hearing the first proposition, should eitherthere set up their rest, and not at all take up the second; or if they take it in, do it preposterously,and give it the precedence before the second, according to the world's order, Virtus post nummos.In this respect he puts in the clause of revocation, whereby he shows that these outward things,though named first, yet they are not to be reputed first. The particle "Yea" removes them to thesecond place; it tacitly transposes the order; and the path of piety, which was locally after, itplaces virtually before. 'Tis as if he had said, Did I call them happy who are in such a case? �ay,miserable are they if they be only in such a case: the temporal part cannot make them so withoutthe spiritual. Admit the windows of the visible heaven were opened, and all outward blessingspoured down upon us; admit we did perfectly enjoy whatsoever the vastness of the earth containsin it; tell me, What will it profit to gain all and lose God? If the earth be bestowed upon us, andnot heaven; or the material heaven be opened, and not the beatifical; or the whole world madeours, and God not ours; we do not arrive at happiness. All that is in the first proposition isnothing unless this be added, "Yea, happy are the people which have the Lord for their God." --Richard Holdsworth.

Verse 15.

Thrice happy nations, where with look benignThine aspect bends; beneath thy smile divineThe fields are with increasing harvests crown'd,The flocks grow fast, and plenty reigns around,�or sire, nor infant son, black death shall crave,Till ripe with age they drop into the grave;�or fell suspicion, nor relentless care,�or peace destroying discord enter there,But friends and brothers, wives and sisters, joinThe feast in concord and in love divine. --Callimachus.

Verse 15. David having prayed for many temporal blessings in the behalf of the people from Psalms

144:12-15, at last concludes, Blessed are the people that are in such a case; but presently hechecks and corrects himself, and eats, as it were, his own words, but rather, happy is that peoplewhose God is the Lord. The Syriac rendereth it question wise, "Is not the people (happy) that isin such a case?" The answer is, "�o", except they have God to boot: Psalms 146:5. �othing canmake that man truly miserable that hath God for his portion, and nothing can make that mantruly happy that wants God for his portion. God is the author of all true happiness; he is thedonor of all true happiness; he is the maintainer of all true happiness, and he is the centre of alltrue happiness; and, therefore, he that hath him for his God, and for his portion, is the onlyhappy man in the world. --Thomas Brooks.

Verse 15. Whose God is JEHOVAH. A word or name well known to us English, by our translatorsnow often retaining that name in the mention of God in our English Bible, and therefore we shalldo well to retain it. Lord was a lower word, in common acceptation, than God. But JEHOVAH isa higher name than either, and more peculiar, incommunicable, and comprehensive. Exodus 6:3:"I appeared" (saith the Lord) "unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name GodAlmighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them."

To have God to be our Jehovah is the insurance of happiness to us. For of many, observe butthese two things in the name Jehovah: First, God's absolute independency -- that he is of himselfomnipotent, Exodus 3:14: "And God said, I AM THAT I AM." Secondly, God's faithfulness, that

he cannot but be as good as his word, Exodus 6:2-4, 6: "And I have also established my covenantwith them; wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am JEHOVAH (so in the Hebrew), and Iwill bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians." So that this name is our security ofGod's performance. Examine we therefore our bonds, and bills, that is, his promises to us;behold, they are all the promises of Jehovah; they must stand good, for they bear his name; theymust reflect his name, and promote both our good and God's grand design. --�athanael Homes,1678.

With this prayer of Jehovah's anointed One end the prayers of the Book of Psalms. Theremaining six psalms consist exclusively of praise and high Hallelujahs. --Lord Congleton, in"The Psalms: a new Version, with �otes", 1875.

8. Let God Be True A. When we seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first, He takes care of all else (Matt 6:33).

1. The case he has just described is blessing of families, economy, labor, and safety (12-14). 2. He concluded with blessings of safety from thieves and trouble with no complaining (14). 3. There is no doubt such family, financial, and political blessings cause human happiness. 4. The only way for a child of God to have such legitimately is to put God first (Ps 62:10).

B. But greater than such a prosperous case of national life is the happiness of knowing Jehovah. 1. David did not contradict things he wrote elsewhere about priorities (Ps 4:7; 43:4; 63:1-6). 2. Each church, pastor, family, and man must set this goal as the chief desire of his heart. 3. If you think to save your life by cheating here, you will lose on all ends (Matthew 10:39).

C. Consider David’s summary of the blessings or lack thereof in another place (Ps 107:33-43).

9. Spurgeon had an entire sermon on this text, and I am including it here along with all of hisother writings. “Sometimes God’s people are unhappy when they ought to be happy. Godobserves this. Therefore he tells them when they possess the materials of happiness, and givesthem a description of the peace and prosperity of those who are truly happy men. Recollectingthus the choice mercies which surround them, and not attaching so much importance to the littletrials of the day, they may become of God’s mind, and feel themselves to be as happy as hedeclares they are. The pure in spirit are said by our Savior to be blessed. They often thinkthemselves to be cursed, and feel as if there wore no blessing for them. But blessed they are, forJesus knows whom he hath blessed. And God’s people are sometimes in their own consciencesunhappy, but a happy people they are, and to be congratulated on their conditionnotwithstanding. They have reasons for happiness; they have satisfactory grounds for happiness;they have springs of happiness; they have future prospects of happiness. If you are God’s people,you cannot err in exorcising faith about this thing. You are numbered with those who are thehappiest people under heaven.

The text speaks not only of the persons, but also of the condition of God’s people—a conditionwhich I believe is to a great extent parallel to our own as a Christian church. It seems to me thatwe have, according to the gospel standard of interpretation, all the privileges, all theblessednesses, which, in the verse preceding the text, David ascribes to this happy people. I shallask you, therefore, to look at these things, that each particular may be an incentive to gratitude.He declares here:—

I. The Elements Of Happiness.

First, David accounts those to be a happy people who are in a healthy and vigorous condition.The sons have “as plants grown up in their youth, and the daughters as corner-stones, polishedafter the similitude of a palace.” It is a great blessing to a church to have in her midst fruitful,earnest young men, aye! and I will say that, whatever their age may be, it is no small measure of achurch’s strength to have her sons about her, who, having grown up and become mature inknowledge, mental force, and spiritual vigor, bear fruit unto the glory of God.

There has been a tendency in the Christian church to decry instrumentality. But God always hasworked by instruments. So far as we know, he always will. When Christ ascended up on high andled captivity captive, the gifts which he received for men were men, apostles, prophets, teachers,evangelists, and the like. It is no small riches to a church to have in her midst men, teachersqualified to teach, and seeking to save as well: to become evangelists, in this way and in any otherway, thus aiming to promote the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Ah! unhappy is that church where her sons are all slumbering, where they are all stereotyped intheir beliefs, and in their several states never make any advance, feeling no throbs of sacredambition, never caring to come to spiritual attainments, resting satisfied with the lowest possibleeminence of grace, without any desire to advance to a high degree of love to God. Blessed is thatchurch where her sons seek to grow up and to bear fruit unto God! And not less blessed to havein her midst sisters who are like those pillars we sometimes see in public buildings—beautifullyfluted, carved, polished, the very adornment of the structure, placed at the corner, corner-stonesthat help to cement the entire structure and bind it together. It seems to be to be one of thepeculiar gifts of the Christian sisterhood to be the means of holding the entire fabric of theChristian church in sacred love; and though in our belief they ought not to do this by publicspeech, yet by quiet conversation, active sympathy, and the patient endurance and holy tenacityof affection, they may help to keep the church well bolted together, well barred and banded, wellcemented, so that the stones of the church shall not be detached the one from the other. Happy isthe church that abounds in Christian matrons and younger women willing to be serviceable forChrist!

Do I remind you that this is our happy case, you may, perhaps, think little of it, and lightlyesteem the cause for gratitude. But were you in some churches where there are not men norwomen enough to take the Sabbath school—and such churches I have visited—where there arenone, positively none to assist the pastor, where the whole work must be confined to a one-manministry because the rest of the members do not seem to be alive in the sacred service—if youwere members of such churches, you would deplore their lamentable poverty both day and night.Has God made it otherwise with us, let us bless his name, and, while thanking him, acknowledgethat we are happy to be in such a case.

�ext to that the Psalmist describes plenty as a peculiar pleasure. “That our garners may be full,affording all manner of store.” Bountiful provision of the gospel! The ministry is to have allthings desirable for Christians, if they are to be made happy. Unhappy they who can seldom hear

a sermon, or who, hearing it, might well have spared their ears the trouble of listening to thewords. Thrice happy they who hear the pure truth of Jesus Christ, even though it be spoken in arough manner, and in a style that has no enchantments for the soft lovers of rhetoric andelocution. If ever you are laid up a while upon a bed of sickness, you may heave a deep sigh forthe privilege you scarcely know how fully to appreciate till you lose it, that you can go up to thehouse of God. I heard but the other day from one who has been unable to worship with us formonths such words as these, “Oh! Zions, Zions, the loved of my heart, when shall the day returnthat I shall again rejoice with the multitude that keep holy day, and lift up my song with them,and bow my head in the midst of the great congregation?” By your regrets which you will feelwhen you are thus laid aside, value the privilege while you possess it—the privilege of having anopen Bible expounded, and of being able to join with the whole company of the faithful in theworship of the most high God. If at any time the Word has been marrow and fatness to you, thenthink yourselves happy, yea, rejoice to-night, and give to God the gratitude of your souls.

Further, the Psalmist represents multitude as being a cause of thankfulness. “That our sheep maybring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets.” Sheep are always a favorite type of theservants of the Lord Jesus. I cannot, nor indeed need I, enter into the illustration, you yourselvesunderstand it so well; but the peculiar blessing is when these sheep are multiplied by thousandsand by ten thousands. Alas! for the church when she is satisfied with an increase of one or twoduring a year. Ah! miserable church that shall be content if the pool of baptism is never stirredby those that profess their faith in Jesus! if at the sacramental table there should be no freshvisitors at the feast of love. Ah! miserable state of religion in which the churches shall think thisto be their fit and proper condition, and shall say they are comfortable while the world isperishing and none careth for souls. Oh! what a joy it is when every member of a church becomesfruitful in leading others to Christ. I know this is much the experience of my dear brothers andsisters in church fellowship here. The greater number, I believe, are striving to be missionariesfor Christ. I wish I could honestly hope that all were so doing. It is to the shame of those who arenot doing so that they can sit side by side with earnest Christians and not be more earnestthemselves. Yet I thank God and take courage, as I remember many of you who, by tears andprayers, and afterwards by earnest labors, some of them of the most self-sacrificing kind, havegone forth to bring others to Jesus, so that from a handful of men we have multiplied and shallmultiply yet as the dispensation of God’s grace shall be continued to us.

�ow, brethren, these may not seem to some selfish spirits any great things to rejoice in. But loversof Christ, who have some of Christ’s likeness in their hearts, will account it a matter for which toclap their hands and indulge in holy mirth when souls are converted. Is it not better to see asinner saved than to see your purse full or your lands extending? Should it not give you greaterjoy that Christ is glorified, than that anything, however desirable, should transpire for your owncarnal gratification? Let him reign if I perish. Let the crown sit well upon his head, if I betrodden like mire in the streets. Let him be King of kings and Lord of lords, even if his poorservant die forgotten and unknown.

The next blessing mentioned in the Psalm is the happiness of God’s people is their strength:“That our oxen may be strong to labor.” I think here, by oxen, there is mystically and spirituallyintended all the workers of the church, but especially ministers of Christ. Paul expressly callsthese the oxen—”Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.” It is a

blessed circumstance when those that essay to plough any part of God’s field are qualified for thework. Whenever I see a man driving a horse with a lead that is too much for it, I thank God it isnot my task to have such work as that. A company of people attempting a work for which theyare not qualified either by gifts or grace is an unhappy spectacle. If God makes men strong tolabor so that their labor is their delight, and the service of God is a very recreation to them, itought to be, and it must be, a cause of thanksgiving. Perhaps some of you have been refreshed oflate. I know my Sunday School teachers can bear me witness. You have had such visitation fromGod that teaching in the Sunday School has become a greater joy to you than it ever was. Thereare, I know, others of you whose service to Christ is by no means misery. You go forth to thebattle, not with dolorous sounds, but with music in your hearts, with a happy beaming of youreye, with the precision of saints, and with the attendant symbols of victory. Be thankful for this,for it is no small blessing when the laborers are strong for their work.

Then comes the blessing of peace: “That there be no breaking in, nor going out.” �o secessionfomented by discord; no heresies invading the midst of the happy family and rending asunderhearts that should be as one. If it should ever be your wretched lot to be a member of a churchthat has been distracted by schism and discord, you will confess that, perhaps of all things inChristian experience, there is nothing that humbles the soul more, nothing that wounds the heartmore, and that does more mischief to the inner life, than personal jealousies and the partydivisions they occasion. It is a blessing unspeakable when God keeps so many hearts in holyunion. We so easily divide, our tastes naturally are so different, there are such varieties ofcircumstance and of temperament among us—some rich, some poor, some lively and cheerful,some gloomy and desponding—it is not likely that a company of men will all agree together yearby year without some jarrings; and where peace rules, and there are no breakings forth of thewaters of strife, everyone ought devoutly to bow his head in a gratitude which he cannot express,and say, “Lord, with thee there is no breaking in nor going out.”

The last mercy which David mentions is that of satisfaction “that there be no complaining in ourstreets.” And can we not appropriate this when, instead of hearing the voice of murmuring on theright hand and on the left—murmuring against the preacher, murmuring against the officers,murmuring against one another; each one is encouraging his fellow to do the work of the Lord,and all are unanimous together in this sole regret, that we can’t love more, can’t work more,can’t glorify God more? Oh! this makes a happy church. It is evidence of a people near to God.Theirs is a happy case.

�ow, brothers and sisters, these things may have in them little interest for strangers, but they willhave, I trust, some force, though I put them thus hurriedly to you, for those who have been withus from the beginning, and whose history has proven how God has multiplied his blessings.Unworthy of the least of all his mercies we were, and the church was brought low by afflictionand sorrow, till it seemed as though our name would be blotted out from his Israel, and Ichabodwas written on our walls; but God turned his hand in mercy upon us. That is fifteen years ago,and by the space of these revolving years he has never ceased to bless. We have had no startlingphenomena of revival, we have had no excitements such as have passed over different parts of theChristian world; but steadily, as though all had been regulated by an ever-progressing geometry,we have gone on to increase and to multiply, and have been led on from service to service in thename and strength of the Lord God. �ot one particle of this is ascribable to human agency, only

so far as God may have pleased to use it. The whole of it belongeth unto God. We then at least,whatever others may say, ought to keep in the same frame of mind in which we were last Mondayevening when we gathered round that communion table, instant in prayer, constant in fellowship,continuing to be happy in blessing, and praising, and magnifying the Lord.

II. The Source Of Happiness.

The latter part of the text carries up to higher ground. Happiness, a practical outflow from thefavor which God shows, is traced to its source, the God of all grace; and accounted for by thecovenant relations into which he has entered. “Yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord.”�ow, beloved, our God is the Lord, our God is Jehovah. Let me refresh your memories with thistruth in two or three of its aspects, that you may remember and act in the spirit suggested bythem. Our God is the Lord.He has revealed himself to us in that character. We knew him not. We said, “Who is the Lord thatwe should obey his voice?” When we heard of him in the preaching of his truth, it only reachedour outward ear, we felt no power in our spirits till it pleased God to reveal himself to us. It wasyears ago with some of us, it was only a few months with others of you. Oh! I charge you, go backto that blessed day, when those blind eyes were opened, and when that dead heart began to feelthe divine light. Oh! then it was you said, “He is my God.” You did not come to him and ask himto be your God, but he who gave himself to you in the eternal covenant before the world was, inthe, fullness of time, gave himself to you by his effectual grace, making you willing to accept himand to kiss his silver scepter. Yes, you have been changed from an enemy into a friend. Your backis no longer toward your God.

“But now subdued by sovereign grace,

Your spirit longs for his embrace.”

�ow, bless him for that with all your heart be-night.

Moreover, he is your God because you have been brought to acknowledge him as such. Most ofyou have been baptized into the name, the one glorious name of the Father, and of the Son, and ofthe Holy Ghost, and by that act you declared to all men that you would be dead to all the worldbesides, and alive only to Christ. You came forward years ago moved by earnest zeal, and yousaid, “Let others do as they will, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” This workof grace led you from believing with the heart to confess with the mouth. I trust that many a timesince then, you have stood in the gap for God when his name has been dishonored by the ungodly,that you have avowed it in your family and business that you are the Lord’s servant. Whilstothers have disregarded his law and his truth oppressed, my soul followeth hard after him untoshame and derision, and I will follow where my Savior leads. �ow, you are happy to be able to dothis.

Happy is the people who acknowledge God to be the Lord. Be happy tonight, then, and show

your happiness by praising the name of the Lord in your heart. The Lord has been your Godsince then, inasmuch as you have believed in him. In the day of trouble your soul has found peaceby confiding in his goodness.

When you have felt the weight of sin, you have got rid of that weight by coming to the pardoningGod. Oh! the mere professors do not know what it is to take God as he really is. They take him tobe, what shall I say? to be anything but their Almighty Sovereign. They take the Lord to be theirlackey, to help them in some grievous hour when they can’t help themselves—to be their make-weight, on an emergency just to supply a few of their deficiencies. They pick and choose hiscommands. They will be fruitful enough in duties that bring them honor, but they are barrenenough in any duties that are sacred, that only belong to God and their own soul. As to outwardceremonies, they can indulge abundantly, but to spiritual religion they are utter strangers. Theyhave never taken God to be altogether their God. Why, that means something more than Master,more than Father, more than King. Oh! dost thou know what it means? Is he all in all to thee?That is what Godhead is, all in all. Dost thou take him to be all in all to thee, henceforth and forever? Happy are the people that can say that in very truth. It may cause them loss, it may oftenmake their course run contrary to flesh and blood; but if they own God to be their Lord, so as togive him entire obedience as his grace enables them, they are pronounced happy by the highestauthority, and happy they shall be, come what may.

We have taken God to be our God, not merely to trust in him, but, to go further, to enjoy him.Have you not had sweet enjoyment with your God, beloved, when he has brought you to feel thatall things around you might be shadows, but that God was true? Have you never so realized Godin your little chamber that you did forget there was a world of sin and sorrow, and care, and onlydid remember him? Have you never felt as you have come down from that mount of fellowship,that when the atheist, said there was no God, you could laugh him to scorn, for your spirit hadseen him face to face, and your soul had come into contact with the soul of the infinite God, andyou had as truly communed with him as ever man communed with his fellow, or ever heart hadfellowship with heart. Yes, oh! seek this yet again. Yea, let it be your element to live in theenjoyment of communion with God, for those are the happy people who, to the highest degree byinward fellowship, take God to be their God.

And then, over and above that, having enjoyed something of the Lord, we have taken the Lord tobe our God that we may serve him, It has been our delight, when we have had opportunities, totry and spread abroad the theme of his great and glorious name. You have chosen to give him ofhis substance; I trust you have not held back any of the talent which your Master has entrustedto you. In proportion as any man or woman here answers to the description we have beenreviewing, in that proportion shall they be truly happy. If thou hast but partly trusted and partlycommuned, and partly served, thy happiness may well be shallow. But if thou hast trusted withthy whole heart, leaning thine own entire weight upon the Lord, and if thou hast loved with allthe power of thy passion, and communed day by day in closest fellowship with him, if thou hastserved him with thy whole heart, and soul, and strength, then happy art thou. God declares theesuch, and in the highest degree thou certainly shalt be such, world without end.

The believer who thus has taken God to be his God is happy, because he has a portion with which

he never can grow discontented. Men outgrow their books. Students come to look on the volumesthey once valued as being worn-out things. Men outgrow their friends; those that were theirsuperiors once they can outstrip. Men outgrow their substance and their wealth. The comfortthey once had in these things they find no longer. The most pleasant pleasures of the world arethe first to expire as men advance; especially as they grow old that which once contented thembecomes vanity of vanities in their account. But no man outgrows his God. �o soul ever runs atsuch a rate that he passes beyond the powers that God has given him. �o, beloved; but the moreour capacities are enlarged and our desires expanded, the more perfectly satisfied are we with theLord our God. He that hath this portion has one that can never be taken away from him. Theworld did not give it, and the world cannot steal it. The devil has tried fun often to take awayfrom us our God, but he shall never do that. Time may rob us of our health, the world may rob usof our wealth, sickness may deprive us of a thousand comforts, but there is nothing that canseparate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our inheritance cannot bealienated; it is where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal!

Hence the Lord’s people are a happy people, because they have a portion they can die with; theyhave a pleasure that can make their dying pillow soft, and riches they can take with themthrough the last rim rivers-can pass its floods without losing a single farthing of their heritage—nay, can pass the flood and land upon the other shore to enter more fully into the bliss which Godhas prepared for them that love him.

I wish we were all such happy people; I wish we were all of us happy to the fullest degree. If youare not, you may be: if you are not, if you trust in Christ, you shall be; if you come empty-handedand simple, and take Christ to be your Savior. He never did reject one yet, and never shall. Hewill accept you to-night, and put you in the same happy case as others of his people. I knew thereare some here that are hard to comfort, but the Master, I trust, will do it yet, for he looseth theprisoners and delights to find out the hard cases and to deal with them. If there is a dungeon doorthat no key can open, he delights to come with the mighty hammer of his Word and dash the doorin pieces and give the spirit liberty. May he do that to-night, and we will sing together then of hispardoning power. Amen!