mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 121.xml

<div2 id="Ps.cxxii" n="cxxii" next="Ps.cxxiii" prev="Ps.cxxi" progress="66.25%" title="Chapter CXXI">
<h2 id="Ps.cxxii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.cxxii-p0.2">PSALM CXXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.cxxii-p1">Some call this the soldier's psalm, and think it
was penned in the camp, when David was hazarding his life in the
high places of the field, and thus trusted God to cover his head in
the day of battle. Others call it the traveller's psalm (for there
is nothing in it of military dangers) and think David penned it
when he was going abroad, and designed it <i>pro vehiculo—for the
carriage,</i> for a good man's convoy and companion in a journey or
voyage. But we need not thus appropriate it; wherever we are, at
home or abroad, we are exposed to danger more than we are aware of;
and this psalm directs and encourages us to repose ourselves and
our confidence in God, and by faith to put ourselves under his
protection and commit ourselves to his care, which we must do, with
an entire resignation and satisfaction, in singing this psalm. I.
David here assures himself of help from God, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.1-Ps.121.2" parsed="|Ps|121|1|121|2" passage="Ps 121:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. II. He assures others of it,
<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.3-Ps.121.8" parsed="|Ps|121|3|121|8" passage="Ps 121:3-8">ver. 3-8</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121" parsed="|Ps|121|0|0|0" passage="Ps 121" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.1-Ps.121.8" parsed="|Ps|121|1|121|8" passage="Ps 121:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.121.1-Ps.121.8">
<h4 id="Ps.cxxii-p1.5">Confidence in God.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.cxxii-p1.6">
<p id="Ps.cxxii-p2">A song of degrees.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxxii-p3">1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from
whence cometh my help.   2 My help <i>cometh</i> from the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxxii-p3.1">Lord</span>, which made heaven and earth.
  3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth
thee will not slumber.   4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep.   5 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxxii-p3.2">Lord</span> <i>is</i> thy keeper: the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxxii-p3.3">Lord</span> <i>is</i> thy shade upon thy right hand.
  6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by
night.   7 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxxii-p3.4">Lord</span> shall
preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.   8
The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxxii-p3.5">Lord</span> shall preserve thy going
out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for
evermore.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxxii-p4">This psalm teaches us,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxxii-p5">I. To stay ourselves upon God as a God of
power and a God all-sufficient for us. David did so and found the
benefit of it. 1. We must not rely upon creatures, upon men and
means, instruments and second causes, nor make flesh our arm:
"<i>Shall I lift up my eyes to the hills?</i>"—so some read it.
"Does my help come thence? Shall I depend upon the powers of the
earth, upon the strength of the hills, upon princes and great men,
who, like hills, fill the earth, and hold up their heads towards
heaven? No; <i>in vain is salvation hoped for from hills and
mountains,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.23" parsed="|Jer|3|23|0|0" passage="Jer 3:23">Jer. iii.
23</scripRef>. I never expect help to come from them; my confidence
is in God only." <i>We must lift up our eyes above the hills</i>
(so some read it); we must look beyond instruments to God, who
makes them that to us which they are. 2. We must see all our help
laid up in God, in his power and goodness, his providence and
grace; and from him we must expect it to come: "<i>My help comes
from the Lord;</i> the help I desire is what he sends, and from him
I expect it in his own way and time. If he do not help, no creature
can help; if he do, no creature can hinder, can hurt." 3. We must
fetch in help from God, by faith in his promises, and a due regard
to all his institutions: "<i>I will lift up my eyes to the
hills</i>" (probably he meant the hills on which the temple was
built, Mount Moriah, and the holy hill of Zion, where the ark of
the covenant, the oracle, and the altars were); "I will have an eye
to the special presence of God in his church, and with his people
(his presence by promise) and not only to his common presence."
When he was at a distance he would look towards the sanctuary
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.28.2 Bible:Ps.42.6" parsed="|Ps|28|2|0|0;|Ps|42|6|0|0" passage="Ps 28:2,42:6">Ps. xxviii. 2; xlii.
6</scripRef>); thence <i>comes</i> our <i>help,</i> from the word
and prayer, from the secret of his tabernacle. <i>My help cometh
from the Lord</i> (so the word is, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.2" parsed="|Ps|121|2|0|0" passage="Ps 121:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), <i>from before the Lord,</i> or
<i>from the sight and presence of the Lord.</i> "This (says Dr.
Hammond) may refer to Christ incarnate, with whose humanity the
Deity being inseparably united, God is always present with him,
and, through him, with us, for whom, sitting at God's right hand,
he constantly maketh intercession." Christ is called the <i>angel
of his presence,</i> that saved his people, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.9" parsed="|Isa|63|9|0|0" passage="Isa 63:9">Isa. lxiii. 9</scripRef>. 4. We must encourage our
confidence in God with this that he <i>made heaven and earth,</i>
and he who did that can do any thing. He made the world out of
nothing, himself alone, by a word's speaking, in a little time, and
<i>all very good,</i> very excellent and beautiful; and therefore,
how great soever our straits and difficulties are, he has power
sufficient for our succour and relief. He that made heaven and
earth is sovereign Lord of all the hosts of both, and can make use
of them as he pleases for the help of his people, and restrain them
when he pleases from hurting his people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxxii-p6">II. To comfort ourselves in God when our
difficulties and dangers are greatest. It is here promised that if
we put our trust in God, and keep in the way of our duty, we shall
be safe under his protection, so that no real evil, no mere evil,
shall happen to us, nor any affliction but what God sees good for
us and will do us good by. 1. God himself has undertaken to be our
protector: <i>The Lord is thy keeper,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.5" parsed="|Ps|121|5|0|0" passage="Ps 121:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Whatever charge he gives his
angels to keep his people, he has not thereby discharged himself,
so that, whether every particular saint has an angel for his
guardian or no, we are sure he has God himself for his guardian. It
is infinite wisdom that contrives, and infinite power that works,
the safety of those that have put themselves under God's
protection. Those must needs be well kept that have <i>the Lord</i>
for their <i>keeper.</i> If, by affliction, they be made his
prisoners, yet still he is their keeper. 2. The same that is the
protector of the church in general is engaged for the preservation
of every particular believer, the same wisdom, the same power, the
same promises. <i>He that keepeth Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.4" parsed="|Ps|121|4|0|0" passage="Ps 121:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>) <i>is thy keeper,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.5" parsed="|Ps|121|5|0|0" passage="Ps 121:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. The shepherd of the
flock is the shepherd of every sheep, and will take care that not
one, even of the little ones, shall perish. 3. He is a wakeful
watchful keeper: "<i>He that keepeth Israel,</i> that keepeth thee,
O Israelite! <i>shall neither slumber nor sleep;</i> he never did,
nor ever will, for he is never weary; he not only does not sleep,
but he does not so much as slumber; he has not the least
inclination to sleep." 4. He not only protects those whom he is the
keeper of, but he refreshes them: He <i>is their shade.</i> The
comparison has a great deal of gracious condescension in it; the
eternal Being who is infinite substance is what he is in order that
he may speak sensible comfort to his people, promises to be their
<i>umbra</i>—their <i>shadow,</i> to keep as close to them as the
shadow does to the body, and to shelter them from the scorching
heat, as <i>the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.2" parsed="|Isa|32|2|0|0" passage="Isa 32:2">Isa. xxxii. 2</scripRef>. Under this
shadow they may sit with delight and assurance, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.3" parsed="|Song|2|3|0|0" passage="So 2:3">Cant. ii. 3</scripRef>. 5. He is always near to his people
for their protection and refreshment, and never at a distance; he
<i>is</i> their <i>keeper</i> and <i>shade on their right hand;</i>
so that he is never far to seek. The right hand is the working
hand; let them but turn themselves dexterously to their duty, and
they shall find God ready to them, to assist them and give them
success, <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.8" parsed="|Ps|16|8|0|0" passage="Ps 16:8">Ps. xvi. 8</scripRef>. 6. He
is not only at their right hand, but he will also <i>keep the feet
of his saints,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.9" parsed="|1Sam|2|9|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:9">1 Sam. ii.
9</scripRef>. He will have an eye upon them in their motions: <i>He
will not suffer thy foot to be moved.</i> God will provide that his
people shall not be tempted above what they are able, shall not
fall into sin, though they may be very near it (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.2 Bible:Ps.73.23" parsed="|Ps|73|2|0|0;|Ps|73|23|0|0" passage="Ps 73:2,23">Ps. lxxiii. 2, 23</scripRef>), shall not fall into
trouble, though there be many endeavouring to undermine them by
fraud or over throw them by force. He will keep them from being
frightened, as we are when we slip or stumble and are ready to
fall. 7. He will protect them from all the malignant influences of
the heavenly bodies (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.6" parsed="|Ps|121|6|0|0" passage="Ps 121:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>The sun shall not smite thee</i> with his heat
<i>by day nor the moon</i> with her cold and moisture <i>by
night.</i> The sun and moon are great blessings to mankind, and yet
(such a sad change has sin made in the creation) even the sun and
moon, though worshipped by a great part of mankind, are often
instruments of hurt and distemper to human bodies; God by them
often smites us; but his favour shall interpose so that they shall
not damage his people. He will keep them <i>night and day</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.3" parsed="|Isa|27|3|0|0" passage="Isa 27:3">Isa. xxvii. 3</scripRef>), as he kept
Israel in the wilderness by <i>a pillar of cloud by day,</i> which
screened them from the heat of the sun, <i>and of fire by
night,</i> which probably diffused a genial warmth over the whole
camp, that they might not be prejudiced by the cold and damp of the
night, their father Jacob having complained (<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Gen.31.40" parsed="|Gen|31|40|0|0" passage="Ge 31:40">Gen. xxxi. 40</scripRef>) that <i>by day the drought
consumed him and the frost by night.</i> It may be understood
figuratively: "Thou shalt not be hurt either by the open assaults
of thy enemies, which are as visible as the scorching beams of the
sun, or by their secret treacherous attempts, which are like the
insensible insinuations of the cold by night." 8. His protection
will make them safe in every respect: "<i>The Lord shall preserve
thee from all evil,</i> the evil of sin and the evil of trouble. He
shall prevent the evil thou fearest, and shall sanctify, remove, or
lighten, the evil thou feelest. He will keep thee from doing evil
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.12" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.13.7" parsed="|2Cor|13|7|0|0" passage="2Co 13:7">2 Cor. xiii. 7</scripRef>), and so
far from suffering evil that whatever affliction happens to thee
there shall be no evil in it. Even that which kills shall not
hurt." 9. It is the spiritual life, especially, that God will take
under his protection: <i>He shall preserve thy soul.</i> All souls
are his; and the soul is the man, and therefore he will with a
peculiar care preserve them, that they be not defiled by sin and
disturbed by affliction. He will keep them by keeping us in the
possession of them; and he will preserve them from perishing
eternally. 10. He will keep us in all our ways: "<i>He shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in.</i> Thou shalt be under
his protection in all thy journeys and voyages, outward-bound or
homeward-bound, as he kept Israel in the wilderness, in their
removes and rests. He will prosper thee in all thy affairs at home
and abroad, in the beginning and in the conclusion of them. He will
keep thee in life and death, thy going out and going on while thou
livest and thy coming in when thou diest, going out to thy labour
in the morning of thy days and coming home to thy rest when the
evening of old age calls thee in," <scripRef id="Ps.cxxii-p6.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.23" parsed="|Ps|104|23|0|0" passage="Ps 104:23">Ps. civ. 23</scripRef>. 11. He will continue his care
over us <i>from this time forth and even for evermore.</i> It is a
protection for life, never out of date. "He will be thy guide
<i>even unto death,</i> and will then hide thee in the grave, hide
thee in heaven. He will <i>preserve thee in his heavenly
kingdom.</i>" God will protect his church and his saints always,
<i>even to the end of the world.</i> The Spirit, who is their
preserver and comforter, shall abide with them for ever.</p>
</div></div2>