Psalm 3 Bible Commentary - Charles H. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David (2024)

Exposition - Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher

TITLE. "A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom hisSon." You will remember the sad story of David's flight from his ownpalace, when in the dead of the night, he forded the brook Kedron, and went witha few faithful followers to hide himself for awhile from the fury of hisrebellious son. Remember that David in this was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.He, too, fled; he, too, passed over the brook Kedron when his own people were inrebellion against him, and with a feeble band of followers he went to the gardenof Gethsemane. He, too, drank of the brook by the way, and therefore doth helift up the head. By very many expositors this is entitled THE MORNING HYMN.May we ever wake with holy confidence in our hearts, and a song upon ourlips!

DIVISION. This Psalm may be divided into four parts of two verses each.Indeed, many of the Psalms cannot be well understood unless we attentivelyregard the parts into which they should be divided. They are not continuousdescriptions of one scene, but a set of pictures of many kindred subjects. As inour modern sermons, we divide our discourse into different heads, so is it inthese Psalms. There is always unity, but it is the unity of a bundle of arrows,and not of a single solitary shaft. Let us now look at the Psalm before us. Inthe first two verses you have David making a complaint to God concerning hisenemies; he then declares his confidence in the Lord (3, 4), sings of his safetyin sleep (5, 6), and strengthens himself for future conflict (7, 8).

EXPOSITION

Verse 1. The poor broken-heartedfather complains of the multitude of his enemies: and if you turn to 2 Samuel15:12, you will find it written that "the conspiracy was strong; for thepeople increased continually with Absalom," while the troops of Davidconstantly diminished! "Lord how are they increased that troubleme!" Here is a note of exclamation to express the wonder of woe whichamazed and perplexed the fugitive father. Alas! I see no limit to my misery, formy troubles are enlarged! There was enough at first to sink me very low; but lo!my enemies multiply. When Absalom, my darling, is in rebellion against me, it isenough to break my heart; but lo! Ahithophel hath forsaken me, my faithfulcounsellors have turned their backs on me; lo! my generals and soldiers havedeserted my standard. "How are they increased that trouble me!"Troubles always come in flocks. Sorrow hath a numerous family."Manyare they that rise up against me." Their hosts are far superior tomine! Their numbers are too great for my reckoning! Letus here recall to our memory the innumerable host which beset our DivineRedeemer. The legions of our sins, the armies of fiends, the crowd of bodilypains, the host of spiritual sorrows, and all the allies of death and hell, setthemselves in battle against the Son of Man. O how precious to know and believethat he has routed their hosts, and trodden them down in his anger! They whowould have troubled us he has removed into captivity, and those who would haverisen up against us he has laid low. The dragon lost his sting when he dashed itinto the soul of Jesus.

Verse 2. David complains before his loving God of the worst weapon of hisenemies' attacks, and the bitterest drop of his distresses. "Oh!"saith David, "many there be that say of my soul, There is no help forhim in God." Some of his distrustful friends said this sorrowfully, buthis enemies exultingly boasted of it, and longed to see their words proved byhis total destruction. This was the unkindest cut of all, when they declaredthat his God had forsaken him. Yet David knew in his own conscience that he hadgiven them some ground for this exclamation, for he had committed sin againstGod in the very light of day. Then they flung his crime with Bathsheba into hisface, and they said, "Go up, thou bloody man; God hath forsaken thee andleft thee." Shimei cursed him, and swore at him to his very face, for hewas bold because of his backers, since multitudes of the men of Belial thoughtof David in like fashion. Doubtless, David felt this infernal suggestion to bestaggering to his faith. If all the trials which come from heaven, all thetemptations which ascend from hell, and all the crosses which arise from earth,could be mixed and pressed together, they would not make a trial so terrible asthat which is contained in this verse. It is the most bitter of all afflictionsto be led to fear that there is no help for us in God. And yet remember our mostblessed Saviour had to endure this in the deepest degree when he cried, "MyGod, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He knew full well what is was towalk in darkness and to see no light. This was the curse of the curse. This wasthe wormwood mingled with the gall. To be deserted of his Father was worse thanto be the despised of men. Surely we should love him who suffered this bitterestof temptations and trials for our sake. It will be a delightful and instructiveexercise for the loving heart to mark the Lord in his agonies as here pourtrayed,for there is here, and in very many other Psalms, far more of David's Lord thanof David himself."Selah."This is a musical pause; the precise meaning of which is not known. Some thinkit simply a rest, a pause in the music; others say it means, "Lift up thestrain--sing more loudly--pitch the tune upon a higher key--there is noblermatter to come, therefore retune your harps." Harp-strings soon get out oforder and need to be screwed up again to their proper tightness, and certainlyour heart-strings are evermore getting out of tune, Let "Selah" teachus to pray

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Title.With regard to the authority of the TITLES, it becomes us to speak withdiffidence, considering the very opposite opinions which have been offered uponthis subject by scholars of equal excellence. In the present day, it is too muchthe custom to slight or omit them altogether, as though added, nobody knows whenor by whom, and as, in many instances, inconsistent with the subject-matter ofthe Psalm itself: while Augustine, Theodoret, and various other early writers ofthe Christian church, regard them as a part of the inspired text; and the Jewsstill continue to make them a part of their chant, and their rabbins to commentupon them.Itis certainly unknown who invented or placed them where they are; but it isunquestionable that they have been so placed from time immemorial; they occur inthe Septuagint, which contains also in a few instances titles to Psalms that arewithout any in the Hebrew; and they have been copied after the Septuagint byJerome. So far as the present writer has been able to penetrate the obscuritythat occasionally hangs over them, they are a direct and most valuable key tothe general history or subject of the Psalms to which they are prefixed; and,excepting where they have been evidently misunderstood or misinterpreted, he hasnever met with a single instance in which the drift of the title and itsrespective Psalm do not exactly coincide. Many of them were, doubtless, composedby Ezra at the time of editing his own collection, at which period some criticssuppose the whole to have been written; but the rest appear rather to be coeval,or nearly so, with the respective Psalms themselves, and to have been writtenabout the period of their production. John Mason Good, M.D., F.R.S.,1854.

Seetitle. Here we have the first use of the word Psalm. In Hebrew, Mizmor,which hath the signification of pruning, or cutting off superfluous twigs, andis applied to songs made of short sentences, where many superfluous words areput away. Henry Ainsworth. Uponthis note an old writer remarks, "Let us learn from this, that in times ofsore trouble men will not fetch a compass and use fine words in prayer, but willoffer a prayer which is pruned of all luxuriance of wordy speeches."

Whole Psalm. Thus you may plainly see how God hath wrought in hischurch in old time, and therefore should not discourage yourselves for anysudden change; but with David, acknowledge your sins to God, declare unto himhow many there be that vex you and rise up against you, naming you Huguenots,Lutherans, Heretics, Puritans, and the children of Belial, as they named David.Let the wicked idolaters brag that they will prevail against you and overcomeyou, and that God hath given you over, and will be no more your God. Let themput their trust in Absalom, with his large golden locks; and in the wisdom ofAhithophel, the wise counsellor; yet say you, with David, "Thou, O Lord,art my defender, and the lifter up of my head." Persuade yourselves,with David, that the Lord is your defender, who hath compassed you round about,and is, as it were, a "shield" that doth cover you on everyside. It is he only that may and will compass you about with glory and honour.It is he that will thrust down those proud hypocrites from their seat, and exaltthe lowly and meek. It is he which will "smite" your"enemies on the cheek bone," and burst all their teeth insunder. He will hang up Absalom by his own long hairs; and Ahithophel throughdesperation shall hang himself. The bands shall be broken, and you delivered;for this belongeth unto the Lord, to save his from their enemies, and to blesshis people, that they may safely proceed in their pilgrimage to heaven withoutfear. Thomas Tymme's "Silver Watch Bell", 1634.

Verse 1. Absalom's faction, like a snowball, strangely gathered in itsmotion. David speaks of it as one amazed; and well he might, that a people hehad so many ways obliged, should almost generally revolt from him, and rebelagainst him, and choose for their head such a silly, giddy young fellow asAbsalom was. How slippery and deceitful are the many! And how little fidelityand constancy is to be found among men! David had had the hearts of his subjectsas much as ever any king had, and yet now of a sudden he had lost them! Aspeople must not trust too much to princes (Psalm 146:3), so princes must notbuild too much upon their interest in the people. Christ the Son of David hadmany enemies, when a great multitude came to seize him, when the crowd cried,"Crucify him, crucify him," how were they then increased that troubledhim! Even good people must not think it strange if the stream be against them,and the powers that threaten them grow more and more formidable. MatthewHenry.

Verse 2. When the believer questions the power of God, or his interestin it, his joy gusheth out as blood out of a broken vein. This verse is a sorestab indeed. William Gurnall.

Verse 2. A child of God startles at the very thought of despairing ofhelp in God; you cannot vex him with anything so much as if you offer topersuade him, "There is no help for him in God." David comes toGod, and tells him what his enemies said of him, as Hezekiah spread Rabshakeh'sblasphemous letter before the Lord; they say, "There is no help for mein thee;" but, Lord, if it be so, I am undone. They say to my soul, "Thereis no salvation" (for so the word is) "for him in God;"but, Lord, do thou say unto my soul, "I am thy salvation"(Psalm 35:3), and that shall satisfy me, and in due time silence them. MatthewHenry.

Verses 2, 4, 8. "Selah." (Heb.) Much has been writtenon this word, and still its meaning does not appear to be wholly determined. Itis rendered in the Targum or Chaldee paraphrase, (Hebrew), lealmin, for ever,or to eternity. In the Latin Vulgate, it is omitted, as if it were nopart of the text. In the Septuagint it is rendered Diaqalma, supposed to referto some variation or modulation of the voice in singing. Schleusner, Lex.The word occurs seventy-three times in the Psalms, and three times in the bookof Habakkuk (3:3, 9, 13). It is never translated in our version, but in allthese places the original word Selah is retained. It occurs only inpoetry, and is supposed to have had some reference to the singing orcantillation of the poetry, and to be probably a musical term. In general, also,it indicates a pause in the sense, as well as in the musical performance.Gesenius (Lex.) supposes that the most probable meaning of this musical term ornote is silence or pause, and that its use was, in chanting thewords of the Psalm, to direct the singer to be silent, to pause a little,while the instruments played an interlude or harmony. Perhaps this is all thatcan now be known of the meaning of the word, and this is enough to satisfy everyreasonable enquiry. It is probable, if this was the use of the term, that itwould commonly correspond with the sense of the passage, and be inserted wherethe sense made a pause suitable; and this will doubtless be found usually to bethe fact. But anyone acquainted at all with the character of musical notation,will perceive at once that we are not to suppose that this would be invariablyor necessarily the fact, for the musical pauses by no means always correspondwith pauses in the sense. This word, therefore, can furnish very littleassistance in determining the meaning of the passages where it is found. Ewaldsupposes, differing from this view, that it rather indicates that in the placeswhere it occurs the voice is to be raised, and that it is synonymous with up,higher, loud, or distinct, from (Hebrew) sal, (Hebrew) salal,to ascend. Those who are disposed to enquire further respecting its meaning,and the uses of musical pauses in general, may be referred to Ugolin, "Thesau.Antiq. Sacr.," tom. xxii. Albert Barnes, 1868.

Verses 2, 4, 8. Selah, (Heb.) is found seventy-three times in thePsalms, generally at the end of a sentence or paragraph; but in Psalm 55:19 and57:3, it stands in the middle of the verse. While most authors have agreed inconsidering this word as somehow relating to the music, their conjecturesabout its precise meaning have varied greatly. But at present these two opinionschiefly obtain. Some, including Herder, De Wette, Ewald (Poet. Böcher, i.179), and Delitzsch, derive it from (Heb.), or (Heb.), to raise, andunderstand an elevation of the voice or music; others, after Gesenius, inThesaurus, derive it from (Heb.), to be still or silent,and understand a pause in the singing. So Rosenmüller, Hengstenberg, andTholuck. Probably selah was used to direct the singer to be silent, or topause a little, while the instruments played an interlude (so Sept., diuqalma orsymphony. In Psalm 9:16, it occurs in the expression higgaion selah,which Gesenius, with much probability, renders instrumental music, pause;i.e., let the instruments strike up a symphony, and let the singer pause. ByTholuck and Hengstenberg, however, the two words are rendered meditation,pause; i.e., let the singer meditate while the music stops. BenjaminDavies, Ph.D.,L.L.D., article Psalms, in Kitto's Cyclopaedia of BiblicalLiterature.

Verse 3. "Lifter up of my head." God will have thebody partake with the soul--as in matters of grief, so in matters of joy; thelanthorn shines in the light of the candle within. Richard Sibbs, 1639.
Thereis a lifting up of the head by elevating to office, as with Pharaoh's butler;this we trace to the divine appointment. There is a lifting up in honour aftershame, in health after sickness, in gladness after sorrow, in restoration aftera fall, in victory after a temporary defeat; in all these respects the Lord isthe lifter up of our head. C. H. S.

Verse 4. When prayer leads the van, in due time deliverance brings upthe rear. Thomas Watson.

Verse 4. "He heard me." I have often heard personssay in prayer, "Thou art a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God,"but the expression contains a superfluity, since for God to hear is, accordingto Scripture, the same thing as to answer. C. H. S.

Verse 5. "I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lordsustained me." The title of the Psalm tells us when David had thissweet night's rest; not when he lay on his bed of down in his stately palace atJerusalem, but when he fled for his life from his unnatural son Absalom, andpossibly was forced to lie in the open field under the canopy of heaven. Trulyit must be a soft pillow indeed that could make him forget his danger, who thenhad such a disloyal army at his back hunting of him; yea, so transcendent is theinfluence of this peace, that it can make the creature lie down as cheerfully tosleep in the grave, as on the softest bed. You will say that child is willingthat calls to be put to bed; some of the saints have desired God to lay them atrest in their beds of dust, and that not in a pet and discontent with theirpresent trouble, as Job did, but from a sweet sense of this peace in theirbosoms. "Now let thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thysalvation," was the swan-like song of old Simeon. He speaks like a merchantthat had got all his goods on ship-board, and now desires the master of the shipto hoist sail, and be gone homewards. Indeed, what should a Christian, that isbut a foreigner here, desire to stay any longer for in the world, but to get hisfull lading in for heaven? And when hath he that, if not when he is assured ofhis peace with God? This peace of the gospel, and sense of the love of God inthe soul, doth so admirably conduce to the enabling of a person in alldifficulties, and temptations, and troubles, that ordinarily, before he callshis saints to any hard service, or hot work, he gives them a draught of thiscordial wine next their hearts, to cheer them up and embolden them in theconflict. William Gurnall.

Verse 5. Gurnall, who wrote when there were houses on old LondonBridge, has quaintly said, "Do you not think that they sleep as soundly whodwell on London Bridge as they who live at Whitehall or Cheapside? for they knowthat the waves which rush under them cannot hurt them. Even so may the saintsrest quietly over the floods of trouble or death, and fear no ill."

Verse 5. Xerxes, the Persian, when he destroyed all the temples inGreece, caused the temple of Diana to be preserved for its beautiful structure:that soul which hath the beauty of holiness shining in it, shall be preservedfor the glory of the structure; God will not suffer his own temple to bedestroyed. Would you be secured in evil times? Get grace and fortify thisgarrison; a good conscience is a Christian's fort-royal. David's enemies layround about him; yet, saith he, "I laid me down and slept". Agood conscience can sleep in the mouth of a cannon; grace is a Christian's coatof mail, which fears not the arrow or bullet. True grace may be shot at, but cannever be shot through; grace puts the soul into Christ, and there it is safe, asthe bee in the hive, as the dove in the ark. "There is no condemnation tothem which are in Christ Jesus," Romans 8:1. Thomas Watson.

Verse 5. "The Lord sustained me." It would not beunprofitable to consider the sustaining power manifested in us while we lieasleep. In the flowing of the blood, heaving of the lung, etc., in the body, andthe continuance of mental faculties while the image of death is upon us. C.H. S.

Verse 6. "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people,that have set themselves against me round about." The psalmist willtrust, despite appearances. He will not be afraid though ten thousands ofpeople have set themselves against him round about. Let us here limit ourthoughts to this one idea, "despite appearances." What could lookworse to human sight than this array of ten thousands of people? Ruin seemed tostare him in the face; wherever he looked an enemy was to be seen. What was oneagainst ten thousand? It often happens that God's people come into circ*mstanceslike this; they say, "All these things are against me;" they seemscarce able to count their troubles; they cannot see a loophole through which toescape; things look very black indeed; it is great faith and trust which saysunder these circ*mstances, "I will not be afraid."

Thesewere the circ*mstances under which Luther was placed, as he journeyed towardWorms. His friend Spalatin heard it said, by the enemies of the Reformation,that the safe conduct of a heretic ought not to be respected, and became alarmedfor the reformer. "At the moment when the latter was approaching the city,a messenger appeared before him with this advice from the chaplain, 'Do notenter Worms!' And this from his best friend, the elector's confidant, fromSpalatin himself! . . . . . But Luther, undismayed, turned his eyes upon themessenger, and replied, 'Go, and tell your master, that even should there be asmany devils in Worms as tiles upon the housetops, still I would enter it.' Themessenger returned to Worms, with this astounding answer: 'I was thenundaunted,' said Luther, a few days before his death, 'I feared nothing.'"

Atsuch seasons as these, the reasonable men of the world, those who walk by sightand not by faith, will think it reasonable enough that the Christian should beafraid; they themselves would be very low if they were in such a predicament.Weak believers are now ready to make excuses for us, and we are only too readyto make them for ourselves; instead of rising above the weakness of the flesh,we take refuge under it, and use it as an excuse. But let us think prayerfullyfor a little while, and we shall see that it should not be thus with us. Totrust only when appearances are favourable, is to sail only with the wind andtide, to believe only when we can see. Oh! let us follow the example of thepsalmist, and seek that unreservedness of faith which will enable us to trustGod, come what will, and to say as he said, "I will not be afraid of tenthousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about." PhilipBennet Power's 'I wills' of the Psalms, 1862.

Verse 6. "I will not be afraid," etc. It makes nomatter what our enemies be, though for number, legions; for power,principalities; for subtlety, serpents; for cruelty, dragons; for vantage ofplace, a prince of the air; for maliciousness, spiritual wickedness; stronger ishe that is in us, than they who are against us; nothing is able to separate usfrom the love of God. In Christ Jesus our Lord, we shall be more thanconquerors. William Cowper, 1612.

Verse 7. "Arise, O Lord," Jehovah! This is a commonscriptural mode of calling upon God to manifest his presence and his power,either in wrath or favour. By a natural anthropomorphism, it describes theintervals of such manifestations as periods of inaction or of slumber, out ofwhich he is besought to rouse himself. "Save me," even me, ofwhom they say there is no help for him in God. "Save me, O my God,"mine by covenant and mutual engagement, to whom I therefore have a right to lookfor deliverance and protection. This confidence is warranted, moreover, byexperience. "For thou hast," in former exigencies, "smittenall mine enemies," without exception "(on the) cheek"or jaw, an act at once violent and insulting. J. A. Alexander, D.D.

Verse 7. "Upon the cheek bone."--The language seemsto be taken from a comparison of his enemies with wild beasts. The cheek bonedenotes the bone in which the teeth are placed, and to break that is to disarmthe animal. Albert Barnes, in loc.

Verse 7. When God takes vengeance upon the ungodly, he will smite insuch a manner as to make them feel his almightiness in every stroke. All hispower shall be exercised in punishing and none in pitying. O that everyobstinate sinner would think of this, and consider his unmeasurable boldness inthinking himself able to grapple with Omnipotence! Stephen Charnock.

Verse 8. "Salvation belongeth unto the Lord:"parallel passage in Jonah 2:9, "Salvation is of the Lord." Themariners might have written upon their ship, instead of Castor and Pollux, orthe like device, Salvation is the Lord's; the Ninevites might havewritten upon their gates, Salvation is the Lord's; and whole mankind,whose cause is pitted and pleaded by God against the hardness of Jonah's heart,in the last, might have written on the palms of their hands, Salvation is theLord's. It is the argument of both the Testaments, the staff andsupportation of heaven and earth. They would both sink, and all their joints besevered, if the salvation of the Lord's were not. The birds in the air sing noother notes, the beasts in the field give no other voice, than Salus Jehovæ,Salvation is the Lord's. The walls and fortresses to our country's gates, to ourcities and towns, bars to our houses, a surer cover to our heads than a helmetof steel, a better receipt to our bodies than the confection of apothecaries, abetter receipt to our souls than the pardons of Rome, is Salus Jehovæ,the salvation of the Lord. The salvation of the Lord blesseth, preserveth,upholdeth all that we have; our basket and our store, the oil in our cruses, ourpresses, the sheep in our folds, our stalls, the children in the womb, at ourtables, the corn in our fields, our stores, our garners; it is not the virtue ofthe stars, nor nature of all things themselves, that giveth being andcontinuance to any of these blessings. And, "What shall I more say?"as the apostle asked (Hebrews 9) when he had spoken much, and there was muchmore behind, but time failed him. Rather, what should I not say? for the worldis my theatre at this time, and I neither think nor can feign to myself anythingthat hath not dependence upon this acclamation, Salvation is the Lord's.Plutarch writeth, that the Amphictions in Greece, a famous council assembled oftwelve sundry people, wrote upon the temple of Apollo Pythius, instead of theIliads of Homer, or songs of Pindarus (large and tiring discourses), shortsentences and memoratives, as, Know thyself, Use moderation, Beware ofsuretyship, and the like; and doubtless though every creature in the world,whereof we have use, be a treatise and narration unto us of the goodness of God,and we might weary our flesh, and spend our days in writing books of thatinexplicable subject, yet this short apothegm of Jonah comprehendeth all therest, and standeth at the end of the song, as the altars and stones that thepatriarch set up at the parting of the ways, to give knowledge to theafter-world by what means he was delivered. I would it were daily preached inour temples, sung in our streets, written upon our door-posts, painted upon ourwalls, or rather cut with an adamant claw upon the tables of our hearts, that wemight never forget salvation to be the Lord's. We have need of such remembrancesto keep us in practise of revolving the mercies of God. For nothing decayethsooner than love; nihil facilius quam amar putrescit. And of all thepowers of the soul, memory is most delicate, tender and brittle, and firstwaxeth old, memoria delicata, tenera, fragilis, in quam primum senectusincurrit; and of all the apprehensions of memory, first benefit, primumsenescit beneficium. John King's Commentary on Jonah, 1594.

Verse 8. "Thy blessing is upon thy people." Thesaints are not only blessed when they are comprehensors, but while they areviators. They are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to fleshand blood: what, reproached and maligned, yet blessed! A man that looks upon thechildren of God with a carnal eye, and sees how they are afflicted, and like theship in the gospel, which was covered with waves (Matthew 8:24), would thinkthey were far from blessedness. Paul brings a catalogue of his sufferings (2Corinthians 11:24-26), "Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned,thrice I suffered shipwreck," etc. And those Christians of the firstmagnitude, of whom the world was not worthy, "Had trials of cruel mockingsand scourgings, they were sawn asunder, they were slain with the sword."Hebrews 11:36, 37. What! and were all these during the time of their sufferingsblessed? A carnal man would think, if this be to be blessed, God deliver himfrom it. But, however sense would give their vote, our Saviour Christpronounceth the godly man blessed; though a mourner, though a martyr, yetblessed. Job on the dunghill was blessed Job. The saints are blessed when theyare cursed. Shimei did curse David (2 Samuel 16:5), "He came forth andcursed him;" yet when he was cursed David he was blessed David. The saintsthough they are bruised, yet they are blessed. Not only they shall be blessed,but they are so. Psalm 119:1. "Blessed are the undefiled." Psalm 3:8. "Thyblessing is upon thy people." Thomas Watson.

As a curious instance of Luther's dogmatical interpretations we give very considerable extracts from his rendering of this Psalm without in any degree endorsing them. C. H. S.

Whole Psalm. That the meaning of this Psalm is not historical, ismanifest from many particulars, which militate against its being so understood.And first of all, there is this which the blessed Augustine has remarked; thatthe words, "I laid me down to sleep and took my rest," seem to be thewords of Christ rising from the dead. And then that there is at the end theblessing of God pronounced upon the people, which manifestly belongs to thewhole church. Hence, the blessed Augustine interprets the Psalm in a threefoldway; first, concerning Christ the head; secondly, concerning the whole ofChrist, that is, Christ and his church, the head and the body; and thirdly,figuratively, concerning any private Christian. Let each have his owninterpretation. I, in the meantime, will interpret it concerning Christ; beingmoved so to do by the same argument that moved Augustine--that the fifth versedoes not seem appropriately to apply to any other but Christ. First, because,"lying down" and "sleeping," signify in this placealtogether a natural death, not a natural sleep. Which may be collected fromthis--because it then follows, "and rose again." Whereas if David hadspoken concerning the sleep of the body, he would have said, "andawoke;" though this does not make so forcibly for the interpretation ofwhich we are speaking, if the Hebrew word would be closely examined. But again,what new thing would he advance by declaring that he laid him down and slept?Why did he not say also that he walked, ate, drank, laboured, or was innecessity, or mention particularly some other work of the body? And moreover, itseems an absurdity under so great a tribulation, to boast of nothing else butthe sleep of the body; for that tribulation would rather force him to aprivation from sleep, and to be in peril and distress; especially since thosetwo expressions, "I laid me down," and "I slept," signifythe quiet repose of one lying down in his place, which is not the state of onewho falls asleep from exhausture through sorrow. But this consideration makesthe more forcibly for us--that he therefore glories in his rising up againbecause it was the Lord that sustained him, who raised him up while sleeping,and did not leave him in sleep. How can such a glorying agree, and what new kindof religion can make it agree, with any particular sleep of the body? (for inthat case, would it not apply to the daily sleep also?) and especially, whenthis sustaining of God indicates at the same time an utterly forsaken state inthe person sleeping, which is not the case in corporal sleep; for there theperson sleeping may be protected even by men being his guards; but thissustaining being altogether of God, implies, not a sleep, but a heavy conflict.And lastly, the word HEKIZOTHI itself favours such an interpretation; which,being here put absolutely and transitively, signifies, "I caused to ariseor awake." As if he had said, "I caused myself to awake, I rousedmyself." Which certainly more aptly agrees with the resurrection of Christthan with the sleep of the body; both because those who are asleep areaccustomed to be roused and awaked, and because it is no wonderful matter, nor amatter worthy of so important a declaration, for anyone to awake of himself,seeing that it is what takes place every day. But this matter being introducedby the Spirit as a something new and singular, is certainly different from allthat which attends common sleeping and waking.

Verse 2. "There is no help for him in his God." Inthe Hebrew the expression is simply, "in God," without the pronoun "his",which seems to me to give clearness and force to the expression. As if he hadsaid, They say of me that I am not only deserted and oppressed by all creatures,but that even God, who is present with all things, and preserves all things, andprotects all things, forsakes me as the only thing out of the whole universethat he does not preserve. Which kind of temptation Job seems also to havetasted where he says, "Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee?"Job 7:20. For there is no temptation, no, not of the whole world together, norof all hell combined in one, equal unto that wherein God stands contrary to man,which temptation Jeremiah prays against (Jeremiah 17:17), "Be not a terrorunto me; thou art my hope in the days of evil;" and concerning which alsothe sixth Psalm following saith, "O Lord, rebuke me not in thineanger;" and we find the same petitions throughout the psaltery. Thistemptation is wholly unsupportable, and is truly hell itself; as it is said inthe same sixth Psalm, "for in death there is no remembrance of thee,"etc. In a word, if you have never experienced it, you can never form any idea ofit whatever.

Verse 3. "For thou, O Lord, art my helper, my glory, and thelifter up of my head." David here contrasts three things with three;helper, with many troublings; glory, with many rising up; and the lifter up ofthe head, with the blaspheming and insulting. Therefore, the person hererepresented is indeed alone in the estimation of man, and even according to hisown feelings also; but in the sight of God, and in a spiritual view, he is by nomeans alone; but protected with the greatest abundance of help; as Christ saith(John 16:32), "Behold, the hour cometh when ye shall leave me alone; andyet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.". . . . The wordscontained in this verse are not the words of nature, but of grace; not offree-will, but of the spirit of strong faith; which, even though seeing God, asin the darkness of the storm of death and hell, a deserting God, acknowledgeshim a sustaining God; when seeing him as a condemner, acknowledges him a Saviour.Thus this faith does not judge of things according as they seem to be, or arefelt, like a horse or mule which have no understanding; but it understandsthings which are not seen, for "hope that is seen is not hope: for what aman seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" Romans 8:24.

Verse 4. "I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard meout of his holy hill." In the Hebrew, the verb is in the future, andis, as Hieronymus translates it, "I will cry," and "he shallhear;" and this pleases me better than the perfect tense; for they are thewords of one triumphing in, and praising and glorifying God, and giving thanksunto him who sustained, preserved, and lifted him up, according as he had hopedin the preceeding verse. For it is usual with those that triumph and rejoice, tospeak of those things which they have done and suffered, and to sing a song ofpraise unto their helper and deliverer; as in Psalm 66:16, "Come, then, allye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried untohim with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue." And also Psalm81:1, "Sing aloud unto God our strength." And so again, Exodus 15:1,"Let us sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously." And sohere, being filled with an overflowing sense of gratitude and joy, he sings ofhis being dead, of his having slept and rose up again, of his enemies beingsmitten, and of the teeth of the ungodly being broken. This it is which causesthe change; for he who hitherto had been addressing God in the second person,changes on a sudden his address to others concerning God, in the third person,saying, "and he heard me", not "and thou heardestme;" and also, "I cried unto the Lord", not, "I criedunto thee," for he wants to make all know what benefits God has heaped uponhim; which is peculiar to a grateful mind.

Verse 5. "I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lordsustained me." Christ, by the words of this verse, signifies his deathand burial. . . . For it is not to be supposed that he would have spoken soimportantly concerning mere natural rest and sleep; especially since that whichpreceeds, and that which follows, compel us to understand him as speaking of adeep conflict and a glorious victory over his enemies. By all which things hestirs us up and animates us to faith in God, and commends unto us the power andgrace of God; that he is able to raise us up from the dead; an example of whichhe sets before us, and proclaims it unto us as wrought in himself. . . . . . .And this is shown also farther in his using gentle words, and such as tendwonderfully to lessen the terror of death. "I laid me down (saithhe), and slept." He does not say, I died, and was buried; for deathand the tomb had lost both their name and their power. And now death is notdeath, but a sleep; and the tomb not a tomb, but a bed and resting place; whichwas the reason why the words of this prophecy were put somewhat obscurely anddoubtfully, that it might by that means render death most lovely in our eyes (orrather most contemptible), as being that state from which, as from the sweetrest of sleep, an undoubted arising and awaking are promised. For who is notmost sure of an awaking and arising, who lies down to rest in a sweet sleep(where death does not prevent)? This person, however, does not say that he died,but that he laid him down to sleep, and that therefore he awaked. And moreover,as sleep is useful and necessary for a better renewal of the powers of the body(as Ambrosius says in his hymn), and as sleep relieves the weary limbs, so isdeath also equally useful, and ordained for the arriving at a better life. Andthis is what David says in the following Psalm, "I will lay me down inpeace, and take my rest, for thou, O Lord, in a singular manner hast formed mein hope." Therefore, in considering death, we are not so much to considerdeath itself, as that most certain life and resurrection which are sure to thosewho are in Christ; that those words (John 8:51) might be fulfilled, "If aman keep my sayings, he shall never see death." But how is it that he shallnever see it? Shall he not feel it? Shall he not die? No! he shall only seesleep, for, having the eyes of his faith fixed upon the resurrection, he soglides through death, that he does not even see death; for death, as I havesaid, is to him no death at all. And hence, there is that also of John 11:25,"He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

Verse 7. "For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon thecheekbone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly." Hieronymus usesthis metaphor of "cheek bones", and "teeth",to represent cutting words, detractions, calumnies, and other injuries of thesame kind, by which the innocent are oppressed: according to that of Proverbs30:14, "There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and theirjaw-teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy fromamong men." It was by these that Christ was devoured, when, before Pilate,he was condemned to the cross by the voices and accusations of his enemies. Andhence it is that the apostle saith (Galatians 5:15), "But if ye bite anddevour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another."

Verse 8. "Salvation is of the Lord, and thy blessing is uponthy people." A most beautiful conclusion this, and, as it were, the sumof all the feelings spoken of. The sense is, it is the Lord alone that saves andblesses: and even though the whole mass of all evils should be gathered togetherin one against a man, still, it is the Lord who saves: salvation and blessingare in his hands. What then shall I fear? What shall I not promise myself? WhenI know that no one can be destroyed, no one reviled, without the permission ofGod, even though all should rise up to curse and to destroy; and that no one ofthem can be blessed and saved without the permission of God, how much soeverthey may bless and strive to save themselves. And as Gregory Nazianzen says,"Where God gives, envy can avail nothing; and where God does not give,labour can avail nothing." And in the same way also Paul saith (Romans8:31), "If God be for us, who can be against us?" And so, on thecontrary, if God be against them, who can be for them? And why? Because "salvationis of the Lord," and not of them, nor of us, for "vain is the helpof man." Martin Luther.

HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER

Verse 1.The saint telling his griefs to his God.

1.His right to do so.

2. The proper manner of telling them.

3.The fair results of such holy communications with the Lord.Whenmay we expect increased troubles? Why are they sent? What is our wisdom inreference to them?

Verse 2. The lie against the saint and the libel upon his God.

Verse 3. The threefold blessing which God affords to his sufferingones--Defence, Honour, Joy. Show how all these may be enjoyed by faith, even inour worst estate.

Verse 4.

1.In dangers we should pray.

2.God will graciously hear.

3.We should record his answers of grace.

4.We may strengthen ourselves for the future by remembering the deliverances ofthe past.

Verse 5.

1.Describe sweet sleeping.

2.Describe happy waking.

3.Show how both are to be enjoyed, "for the Lord sustained me."

Verse 6. Faith surrounded by enemies and yet triumphant.

Verse 7.

1.Describe the Lord's past dealing with his enemies; "thou hast."

2.Show that the Lord should be our constant resort, "O Lord," "O myGod."

3.Enlarge upon the fact that the Lord is to be stirred up: "Arise."

4.Urge believers to use the Lord's past victories as an argument with which toprevail with him.

Verse 7. (last clause). Our enemies vanquished foes, toothlesslions.

Verse 8. (first clause). Salvation of God from first to last.(See the exposition.)

Verse 8. (last clause). They were blessed in Christ, throughChrist, and shall be blessed with Christ. The blessing rests upon theirpersons, comforts, trials, labours, families, etc. It flows from grace, isenjoyed by faith, and is insured by oath, etc. James Smith's Portions,1802-1862.