mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 34.xml

<div2 id="Ps.xxxv" n="xxxv" next="Ps.xxxvi" prev="Ps.xxxiv" progress="32.43%" title="Chapter XXXIV">
<h2 id="Ps.xxxv-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.xxxv-p0.2">PSALM XXXIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.xxxv-p1">This psalm was penned upon a particular occasion,
as appears by the title, and yet there is little in it peculiar to
that occasion, but that which is general, both by way of
thanksgiving to God an instruction to us. I. He praises God for the
experience which he and others had had of his goodness, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.1-Ps.34.6" parsed="|Ps|34|1|34|6" passage="Ps 34:1-6">ver. 1-6</scripRef>. II. He encourages all good
people to trust in God and to seek to him, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.7-Ps.34.10" parsed="|Ps|34|7|34|10" passage="Ps 34:7-10">ver. 7-10</scripRef>. III. He gives good counsel to us
all, as unto children, to take heed of sin, and to make conscience
of our duty both to God and man, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.11-Ps.34.14" parsed="|Ps|34|11|34|14" passage="Ps 34:11-14">ver. 11-14</scripRef>. IV. To enforce this good
counsel he shows God's favour to the righteous and his displeasure
against the wicked, in which he sets before us good and evil, the
blessing and the curse, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.15-Ps.34.22" parsed="|Ps|34|15|34|22" passage="Ps 34:15-22">ver.
15-22</scripRef>. So that, in singing this psalm, we are both to
give glory to God and to teach and admonish ourselves and one
another.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.xxxv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34" parsed="|Ps|34|0|0|0" passage="Ps 34" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.xxxv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.1-Ps.34.10" parsed="|Ps|34|1|34|10" passage="Ps 34:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.34.1-Ps.34.10">
<h4 id="Ps.xxxv-p1.7">Praise and Thanksgiving.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.xxxv-p1.8">
<p id="Ps.xxxv-p2">A psalm of David when he changed his behaviour<br/>
before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xxxv-p3">1 I will bless the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.1">Lord</span> at all times: his praise <i>shall</i>
continually <i>be</i> in my mouth.   2 My soul shall make her
boast in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.2">Lord</span>: the humble shall
hear <i>thereof,</i> and be glad.   3 O magnify the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.3">Lord</span> with me, and let us exalt his name
together.   4 I sought the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.4">Lord</span>, and he heard me, and delivered me from all
my fears.   5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and
their faces were not ashamed.   6 This poor man cried, and the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.5">Lord</span> heard <i>him,</i> and saved him
out of all his troubles.   7 The angel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.6">Lord</span> encampeth round about them that fear him,
and delivereth them.   8 O taste and see that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.7">Lord</span> <i>is</i> good: blessed <i>is</i> the man
<i>that</i> trusteth in him.   9 O fear the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.8">Lord</span>, ye his saints: for <i>there is</i> no want
to them that fear him.   10 The young lions do lack, and
suffer hunger: but they that seek the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p3.9">Lord</span> shall not want any good <i>thing.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p4">The title of this psalm tells us both who
penned it and upon what occasion it was penned. David, being forced
to flee from his country, which was made too hot for him by the
rage of Saul, sought shelter as near it as he could, in the land of
the Philistines. There it was soon discovered who he was, and he
was brought before the king, who, in the narrative, is called
<i>Achish</i> (his proper name), here <i>Abimelech</i> (his title);
and lest he should be treated as a spy, or one that came thither
upon design, he feigned himself to be a madman (such there have
been in every age, that even by idiots men might be taught to give
God thanks for the use of their reason), that Achish might dismiss
him as a contemptible man, rather than take cognizance of him as a
dangerous man. And it had the effect he desired; by this stratagem
he escaped the hand that otherwise would have handled him roughly.
Now, 1. We cannot justify David in this dissimulation. It ill
became an honest man to feign himself to be what he was not, and a
man of honour to feign himself to be a fool and a mad-man. If, in
sport, we mimic those who have not so good an understanding as we
think we have, we forget that God might have made their case ours.
2. Yet we cannot but wonder at the composure of his spirit, and how
far he was from any change of that, when he changed his behaviour.
Even when he was in that fright, or rather in that danger only, his
heart was so fixed, trusting in God, that even then he penned this
excellent psalm, which has as much in it of the marks of a calm
sedate spirit as any psalm in all the book; and there is something
curious too in the composition, for it is what is called an
alphabetical psalm, that is, a psalm in which every verse begins
with each letter in its order as it stands in the Hebrew alphabet.
Happy are those who can thus keep their temper, and keep their
graces in exercise, even when they are tempted to change their
behaviour. In this former part of the psalm,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p5">I. David engages and excites himself to
praise God. Though it was his fault that he changed his behaviour,
yet it was God's mercy that he escaped, and the mercy was so much
the greater in that God did not deal with him according to the
desert of his dissimulation, and we must in every thing give
thanks. He resolves, 1. That he will praise God constantly: <i>I
will bless the Lord at all times,</i> upon all occasions. He
resolves to keep up stated times for this duty, to lay hold of all
opportunities for it, and to renew his praises upon every fresh
occurrence that furnished him with matter. If we hope to spend our
eternity in praising God, it is fit that we should spend as much as
may be of our time in this work. 2. That he will praise him openly:
<i>His praise shall continually be in my mouth.</i> Thus he would
show how forward he was to own his obligations to the mercy of God
and how desirous to make others also sensible of theirs. 3. That he
will praise him heartily: "<i>My soul shall make her boast in the
Lord,</i> in my relation to him, my interest in him, and
expectations from him." It is not vainglory to glory in the
Lord.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p6">II. He calls upon others to join with him
herein. He expects they will (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.2" parsed="|Ps|34|2|0|0" passage="Ps 34:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>): "<i>The humble shall hear thereof,</i> both of my
deliverance and of my thankfulness, <i>and be glad</i> that a good
man has so much favour shown him and a good God so much honour done
him." Those have most comfort in God's mercies, both to others and
to themselves, that are humble, and have the least confidence in
their own merit and sufficiency. It pleased David to think that
God's favours to him would rejoice the heart of every Israelite.
Three things he would have us all to concur with him in:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p7">1. In great and high thoughts of God, which
we should express in magnifying him and exalting his name,
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.3" parsed="|Ps|34|3|0|0" passage="Ps 34:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. We cannot make
God greater or higher than he is; but if we adore him as infinitely
great, and higher than the highest, he is pleased to reckon this
magnifying and exalting him. This we must do together. God's
praises sound best in concert, for so we praise him as the angels
do in heaven. Those that share in God's favour, as all the saints
do, should concur in his praises; and we should be as desirous of
the assistance of our friends in returning thanks for mercies as in
praying for them. We have reason to join in thanksgiving to
God,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p8">(1.) For his readiness to hear prayer,
which all the saints have had the comfort of; for he never said to
any of them, <i>Seek you me in vain.</i> [1.] David, for his part,
will give it under his hand that he has found him a prayer-hearing
God (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.4" parsed="|Ps|34|4|0|0" passage="Ps 34:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>I
sought the Lord,</i> in my distress, entreated his favour, begged
his help, <i>and he heard me,</i> answered my request immediately,
<i>and delivered me from all my fears,</i> both from the death I
feared and from the disquietude and disturbance produced by fear of
it." The former he does by his providence working for us, the
latter by his grace working in us, to silence our fears and still
the tumult of the spirits; this latter is the greater mercy of the
two, because the thing we fear is our trouble only, but our
unbelieving distrustful fear of it is our sin; nay, it is often
more our torment too than the thing itself would be, which perhaps
would only touch the bone and the flesh, while the fear would prey
upon the spirits and put us out of the possession of our own soul.
David's prayers helped to silence his fears; having sought the
Lord, and left his case with him, he could wait the event with
great composure. "But David was a great and eminent man, we may not
expect to be favoured as he was; have any others ever experienced
the like benefit by prayer?" Yes, [2.] Many besides him have
<i>looked unto God</i> by faith and prayer, <i>and have been
lightened by it,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.5" parsed="|Ps|34|5|0|0" passage="Ps 34:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. It has wonderfully revived and comforted them;
witness Hannah, who, when she had prayed, <i>went her way, and did
eat, and her countenance was no more sad.</i> When we look to the
world we are darkened, we are perplexed, and at a loss; but, when
we look to God, from him we have the light both of direction and
joy, and our way is made both plain and pleasant. These here spoken
of, that looked unto God, had their expectations raised, and the
event did not frustrate them: <i>Their faces were not ashamed</i>
of their confidence. "But perhaps these also were persons of great
eminence, like David himself, and upon that account were highly
favoured, or their numbers made them considerable;" nay, [3.]
<i>This poor man cried,</i> a single person, mean and
inconsiderable, whom no man looked upon with any respect or looked
after with any concern; yet he was as welcome to the throne of
grace as David or any of his worthies: <i>The Lord heard him,</i>
took cognizance of his case and of his prayers, <i>and saved him
out of all his troubles,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.6" parsed="|Ps|34|6|0|0" passage="Ps 34:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. God will <i>regard the prayer of the destitute,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.102.17" parsed="|Ps|102|17|0|0" passage="Ps 102:17">Ps. cii. 17</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.57.15" parsed="|Isa|57|15|0|0" passage="Isa 57:15">Isa. lvii. 15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p9">(2.) For the ministration of the good
angels about us (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.7" parsed="|Ps|34|7|0|0" passage="Ps 34:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): <i>The angel of the Lord,</i> a guard of angels (so
some), but as unanimous in their service as if they were but one,
or a guardian angel, <i>encamps round about those that fear
God,</i> as the life-guard about the prince, <i>and delivers
them.</i> God makes use of the attendance of the good spirits for
the protection of his people from the malice and power of evil
spirits; and the holy angels do us more good offices every day than
we are aware of. Though in dignity and in capacity of nature they
are very much superior to us,—though they retain their primitive
rectitude, which we have lost;—though they have constant
employment in the upper world, the employment of praising God, and
are entitled to a constant rest and bliss there,—yet in obedience
to their Maker, and in love to those that bear his image, they
condescend to minister to the saints, and stand up for them against
the powers of darkness; they not only visit them, but encamp round
about them, acting for their good as really, though not as
sensibly, as for Jacob's (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.32.1" parsed="|Gen|32|1|0|0" passage="Ge 32:1">Gen. xxxii.
1</scripRef>), and Elisha's, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.6.17" parsed="|2Kgs|6|17|0|0" passage="2Ki 6:17">2 Kings
vi. 17</scripRef>. All the glory be to the God of the angels.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p10">2. He would have us to join with him in
kind and good thoughts of God (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.8" parsed="|Ps|34|8|0|0" passage="Ps 34:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>O taste and see that the Lord
is good!</i> The goodness of God includes both the beauty and
amiableness of his being and the bounty and beneficence of his
providence and grace; and accordingly, (1.) We must taste that he
is a bountiful benefactor, relish the goodness of God in all his
gifts to us, and reckon that the savour and sweetness of them. Let
God's goodness be rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel. (2.)
We must see that he is a beautiful being, and delight in the
contemplation of his infinite perfections. By taste and sight we
both make discoveries and take complacency. Taste and see God's
goodness, that is, take notice of it and take the comfort of it,
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.3" parsed="|1Pet|2|3|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:3">1 Pet. ii. 3</scripRef>. He is good,
for he makes all those that trust in him truly blessed; let us
therefore be so convinced of his goodness as thereby to be
encouraged in the worst of times to trust in him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p11">3. He would have us join with him in a
resolution to seek God and serve him, and continue in his fear
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.9" parsed="|Ps|34|9|0|0" passage="Ps 34:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>O fear the
Lord! you his saints.</i> When we taste and see that he is good we
must not forget that he is great and greatly to be feared; nay,
even his goodness is the proper object of a filial reverence and
awe. <i>They shall fear the Lord and his goodness,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.3.5" parsed="|Hos|3|5|0|0" passage="Ho 3:5">Hos. iii. 5</scripRef>. <i>Fear the Lord;</i> that
is, worship him, and make conscience of your duty to him in every
thing, not fear him and shun him, but fear him and seek him
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.10" parsed="|Ps|34|10|0|0" passage="Ps 34:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>) as a people
seek unto their God; address yourselves to him and portion
yourselves in him. To encourage us to fear God and seek him, it is
here promised that those that do so, even in this wanting world,
<i>shall want no good thing</i> (Heb. <i>They shall not want all
good things</i>); they shall so have all good things that they
shall have no reason to complain of the want of any. As to the
things of the other world, they shall have grace sufficient for the
support of the spiritual life (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.12.9 Bible:Ps.84.11" parsed="|2Cor|12|9|0|0;|Ps|84|11|0|0" passage="2Co 12:9,Ps 84:11">2 Cor. xii. 9; Ps. lxxxiv. 11</scripRef>); and,
as to this life, they shall have what is necessary to the support
of it from the hand of God: as a Father, he will feed them with
food convenient. What further comforts they desire they shall have,
as far as Infinite Wisdom sees good, and what they want in one
thing shall be made up in another. What God denies them he will
give them grace to be content without and then they do not want it,
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.3.26" parsed="|Deut|3|26|0|0" passage="De 3:26">Deut. iii. 26</scripRef>. Paul had all
and abounded, because he was content, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Phil.4.11 Bible:Phil.4.18" parsed="|Phil|4|11|0|0;|Phil|4|18|0|0" passage="Php 4:11,18">Phil. iv. 11, 18</scripRef>. Those that live by faith
in God's all-sufficiency want nothing; for in him they have enough.
<i>The young lions.</i> often <i>lack and suffer hunger</i>—those
that live upon common providence, as the lions do, shall want that
satisfaction which those have that live by faith in the promise;
those that trust to themselves, and think their own hands
sufficient for them, shall want (for <i>bread is not always to the
wise</i>)—but verily those shall be fed that trust in God and
desire to be at his finding. Those that are ravenous, and prey upon
all about them, shall want; but <i>the meek shall inherit the
earth.</i> Those shall not want who with quietness work and mind
their own business; plain-hearted Jacob has pottage enough, when
Esau, the cunning hunter, is ready to perish for hunger.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.xxxv-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.11-Ps.34.22" parsed="|Ps|34|11|34|22" passage="Ps 34:11-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.34.11-Ps.34.22">
<h4 id="Ps.xxxv-p11.8">An Exhortation to Fear God; The Privileges
of the Righteous.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xxxv-p12">11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will
teach you the fear of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p12.1">Lord</span>.
  12 What man <i>is he that</i> desireth life, <i>and</i>
loveth <i>many</i> days, that he may see good?   13 Keep thy
tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.   14
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.   15
The eyes of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p12.2">Lord</span> <i>are</i> upon
the righteous, and his ears <i>are open</i> unto their cry.  
16 The face of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p12.3">Lord</span> <i>is</i>
against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from
the earth.   17 <i>The righteous</i> cry, and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p12.4">Lord</span> heareth, and delivereth them out of all
their troubles.   18 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p12.5">Lord</span>
<i>is</i> nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth
such as be of a contrite spirit.   19 Many <i>are</i> the
afflictions of the righteous: but the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p12.6">Lord</span> delivereth him out of them all.   20
He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.   21 Evil
shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be
desolate.   22 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxv-p12.7">Lord</span>
redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in
him shall be desolate.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p13">David, in this latter part of the psalm,
undertakes to teach children. Though a man of war, and anointed to
be king, he did not think it below him; though now he had his head
so full of cares and his hands of business, yet he could find heart
and time to give good counsel to young people, from his own
experience. It does not appear that he had now any children of his
own, at least any that were grown up to a capacity of being taught;
but, by divine inspiration, he instructs the children of his
people. Those that were in years would not be taught by him, though
he had offered them his service (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.32.8" parsed="|Ps|32|8|0|0" passage="Ps 32:8">Ps.
xxxii. 8</scripRef>); but he had hopes that the tender branches
will be more easily bent and that children and young people will be
more tractable, and therefore he calls together a congregation of
them (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.11" parsed="|Ps|34|11|0|0" passage="Ps 34:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>):
"<i>Come, you children,</i> that are now in your learning age, and
are now to lay up a stock of knowledge which you must live upon all
your days, you children that are foolish and ignorant, and need to
be taught." Perhaps he intends especially those children whose
parents neglected to instruct and catechise them; and it is as
great a piece of charity to put those children to school whose
parents are not in a capacity to teach them as to feed those
children whose parents have not bread for them. Observe, 1. What he
expects from them: "<i>Hearken unto me,</i> leave your play, lay by
your toys, and hear what I have to say to you; not only give me the
hearing, but observe and obey me." 2. What he undertakes to teach
them—<i>the fear of the Lord,</i> inclusive of all the duties of
religion. David was a famous musician, a statesman, a soldier; but
he does not say to the children, "I will teach you to play on the
harp, or to handle the sword or spear, or to draw the bow, or I
will teach you the maxims of state policy;" but I will teach you
<i>the fear of the Lord,</i> which is better than all arts and
sciences, better than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices. That is
it which we should be solicitous both to learn ourselves and to
teach our children.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p14">I. He supposes that we all aim to be happy
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.12" parsed="|Ps|34|12|0|0" passage="Ps 34:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>What man
is he that desireth life?</i> that is, as it follows, not only to
see many days, but to see good comfortable days. <i>Non est vivere,
sed valere, vita—It is not being, but well being, that constitutes
life.</i> It is asked, "Who wishes to live a long and pleasant
life?" and it is easily answered, <i>Who does not?</i> Surely this
must look further than time and this present world; for man's life
on earth at best consists but of few days and those full of
trouble. What man is he that would be eternally happy, that would
see many days, as many as the days of heaven, that would see good
in that world where all bliss is in perfection, without the least
alloy? Who would see the good before him now, by faith and hope,
and enjoy it shortly? Who would? Alas! very few have that in their
thoughts. Most ask, <i>Who will show us any good?</i> But few ask,
<i>What shall we do to inherit eternal life?</i> This question
implies that there are some such.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p15">II. He prescribes the true and only way to
happiness both in this world and that to come, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.13-Ps.34.14" parsed="|Ps|34|13|34|14" passage="Ps 34:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>. Would we pass
comfortably through this world, and out of the world, our constant
care must be to keep a good conscience; and, in order to that, 1.
We must learn to bridle our tongues, and be careful what we say,
that we never speak amiss, to God's dishonour or our neighbours
prejudice: <i>Keep thy tongue from evil speaking, lying, and
slandering.</i> So great a way does this go in religion that, <i>if
any offend not in word, the same is a perfect man;</i> and so
little a way does religion go without this that of him who
<i>bridles not his tongue</i> it is declared, <i>His religion is
vain.</i> 2. We must be upright and sincere in every thing we say,
and not double-tongued. Our words must be the indications of our
minds; our lips must be kept from speaking guile either to God or
man. 3. We must leave all our sins, and resolve we will have no
more to do with them. We must <i>depart from evil,</i> from evil
works and evil workers; from the sins others commit and which we
have formerly allowed ourselves in. 4. It is not enough not to do
hurt in the world, but we must study to be useful, and live to some
purpose. We must not only depart from evil, but we must <i>do
good,</i> good for ourselves, especially for our own souls,
employing them well, furnishing them with a good treasure, and
fitting them for another world; and, as we have ability and
opportunity, we must do good to others also. 5. Since nothing is
more contrary to that love which never fails (which is the summary
both of law and gospel, both of grace and glory) than strife and
contention, which bring confusion and every evil work, we must
<i>seek peace and pursue it;</i> we must show a peaceable
disposition, study the things that make for peace, do nothing to
break the peace and to make mischief. If peace seem to flee from
us, we must pursue it; <i>follow peace with all men,</i> spare no
pains, no expense, to preserve and recover peace; be willing to
deny ourselves a great deal, both in honour and interest, for
peace' sake. These excellent directions in a way to life and good
are transcribed into the New Testament and made part of our gospel
duty, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.3.10" parsed="|1Pet|3|10|0|0" passage="1Pe 3:10">1 Pet. iii. 10, 11</scripRef>.
And, perhaps David, in warning us that we speak no guile, reflects
upon his own sin in changing his behaviour. Those that truly repent
of what they have done amiss will warn others to take heed of doing
likewise.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p16">III. He enforces these directions by
setting before us the happiness of the godly in the love and favour
of God and the miserable state of the wicked under his displeasure.
Here are life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse,
plainly stated before us, that we may choose life and live. See
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.10-Isa.3.11" parsed="|Isa|3|10|3|11" passage="Isa 3:10,11">Isa. iii. 10, 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p17">1. <i>Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill
with them,</i> however they may bless themselves in their own way.
(1.) God is against them, and then they cannot but be miserable.
Sad is the case of that man who by his sin has made his Maker his
enemy, his destroyer. <i>The face of the Lord is against those that
do evil,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.16" parsed="|Ps|34|16|0|0" passage="Ps 34:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>.
Sometimes God is said to <i>turn his face from them</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.17" parsed="|Jer|18|17|0|0" passage="Jer 18:17">Jer. xviii. 17</scripRef>), because they have
forsaken him; here he is said to <i>set his face against them,</i>
because they have fought against him; and most certainly God is
able to out-face the most proud and daring sinners and can frown
them into hell. (2.) Ruin is before them; this will follow of
course if God be against them, for he is able both to kill and to
cast into hell. [1.] The land of the living shall be no place for
them nor theirs. When God sets his face against them he will not
only cut them off, but <i>cut off the remembrance of them;</i> when
they are alive he will bury them in obscurity, when they are dead
he will bury them in oblivion. He will root out their posterity, by
whom they would be remembered. He will pour disgrace upon their
achievements, which they gloried in and for which they thought they
should be remembered. It is certain that there is no lasting honour
but that which comes from God. [2.] There shall be a sting in their
death: <i>Evil shall slay the wicked,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.21" parsed="|Ps|34|21|0|0" passage="Ps 34:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. Their death shall be miserable;
and so it will certainly be, though they die on a bed of down or on
the bed of honour. Death, to them, has a curse in it, and is the
king of terrors; to them it is evil, only evil. It is very well
observed by Dr. Hammond that the <i>evil</i> here, which slays the
wicked, is the same word, in the singular number, that is used
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.19" parsed="|Ps|34|19|0|0" passage="Ps 34:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>) for the
afflictions of the righteous, to intimate that godly people have
many troubles, and yet they do them no hurt, but are made to work
for good to them, for God will deliver them out of them all;
whereas wicked people have fewer troubles, fewer evils befal them,
perhaps but one, and yet that one may prove their utter ruin. One
trouble with a curse in it kills and slays, and does execution; but
many, with a blessing in them, are harmless, nay, gainful. [3.]
Desolation will be their everlasting portion. Those that are wicked
themselves often hate the righteous, name and thing, have an
implacable enmity to them and their righteousness; but they
<i>shall be desolate,</i> shall be condemned as guilty, and laid
waste for ever, shall be for ever forsaken and abandoned of God and
all good angels and men; and those that are so are desolate
indeed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p18">2. Yet <i>say to the righteous, It shall be
well with them.</i> All good people are under God's special favour
and protection. We are here assured of this under a great variety
of instances and expressions.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p19">(1.) God takes special notice of good
people, and takes notice who have their eyes ever to him and who
make conscience of their duty to him: <i>The eyes of the Lord are
upon the righteous</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.15" parsed="|Ps|34|15|0|0" passage="Ps 34:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>), to direct and guide them, to protect and keep them.
Parents that are very fond of a child will not let it be out of
their sight; none of God's children are ever from under his eye,
but on them he looks with a singular complacency, as well as with a
watchful and tender concern.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p20">(2.) They are sure of an answer of peace to
their prayers. All God's people are a praying people, and they cry
in prayer, which denotes great importunity; but is it to any
purpose? Yes, [1.] God takes notice of what we say (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.17" parsed="|Ps|34|17|0|0" passage="Ps 34:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): They <i>cry, and the
Lord hears them,</i> and hears them so as to make it appear he has
a regard to them. <i>His ears are open to their prayers,</i> to
receive them all, and to receive them readily and with delight.
Though he has been a God hearing prayer ever since men began to
call upon the name of the Lord, yet his ear is not heavy. There is
no rhetoric, nothing charming, in a cry, yet God's ears are open to
it, as the tender mother's to the cry of her sucking child, which
another would take no notice of: <i>The righteous cry, and the Lord
heareth,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.17" parsed="|Ps|34|17|0|0" passage="Ps 34:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>.
This intimates that it is the constant practice of good people,
when they are in distress, to cry unto God, and it is their
constant comfort that God hears them. [2.] He not only takes notice
of what we say, but is ready for us to our relief (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.18" parsed="|Ps|34|18|0|0" passage="Ps 34:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>He is nigh to those
that are of a broken heart, and saves them.</i> Note, <i>First,</i>
It is the character of the righteous, whose prayers God will hear,
that they are of a broken heart and a contrite spirit (that is,
humbled for sin and emptied of self); they are low in their own
eyes, and have no confidence in their own merit and sufficiency,
but in God only. <i>Secondly,</i> Those who are so have God nigh
unto them, to comfort and support them, that the spirit may not be
broken more than is meet, lest it should fail before him. See
<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.57.15" parsed="|Isa|57|15|0|0" passage="Isa 57:15">Isa. lvii. 15</scripRef>. Though God
is high, and dwells on high, yet he is near to those who, being of
a contrite spirit, know how to value his favour, and will save them
from sinking under their burdens; he is near them to good
purpose.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p21">(3.) They are taken under the special
protection of the divine government (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.20" parsed="|Ps|34|20|0|0" passage="Ps 34:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>He keepeth all his
bones;</i> not only his soul, but his body; not only his body in
general, but every bone in it: <i>Not one of them is broken.</i> He
that has a broken heart shall not have a broken bone; for David
himself had found that, when he had a contrite heart, the <i>broken
bones</i> were <i>made to rejoice,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.8 Bible:Ps.51.17" parsed="|Ps|51|8|0|0;|Ps|51|17|0|0" passage="Ps 51:8,17">Ps. li. 8, 17</scripRef>. One would not expect to meet
with any thing of Christ here, and yet this scripture is said to be
fulfilled in him (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:John.19.36" parsed="|John|19|36|0|0" passage="Joh 19:36">John xix.
36</scripRef>) when the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves
that were crucified with him, but did not break his, they being
under the protection of this promise as well as of the type, even
the paschal-lamb (<i>a bone of him shall not be broken</i>); the
promises, being made good to Christ, through him are sure to all
the seed. It does not follow but that a good man may have a broken
bone; but, by the watchful providence of God concerning him, such a
calamity is often wonderfully prevented, and the preservation of
his bones is the effect of this promise; and, if he have a broken
bone, sooner or later it shall be made whole, at furthest at the
resurrection, when that which is sown in weakness shall be raised
in power.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p22">(4.) They are, and shall be, delivered out
of their troubles. [1.] It is supposed that they have their share
of crosses in this world, perhaps a greater share than others. In
the world they must have tribulation, that they may be conformed
both to the will of God and to the example of Christ (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.19" parsed="|Ps|34|19|0|0" passage="Ps 34:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>); <i>Many are the
afflictions of the righteous,</i> witness David and his
afflictions, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.132.1" parsed="|Ps|132|1|0|0" passage="Ps 132:1">Ps. cxxxii. 1</scripRef>.
There are those that hate them (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.21" parsed="|Ps|34|21|0|0" passage="Ps 34:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>) and they are continually aiming
to do them a mischief; their God loves them, and therefore corrects
them; so that, between the mercy of heaven and the malice of hell,
the afflictions of the righteous must needs be many. [2.] God has
engaged for their deliverance and salvation: <i>He delivers them
out of all their troubles</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.17 Bible:Ps.34.19" parsed="|Ps|34|17|0|0;|Ps|34|19|0|0" passage="Ps 34:17,19"><i>v.</i> 17, 19</scripRef>); he saves them
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.18" parsed="|Ps|34|18|0|0" passage="Ps 34:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), so that,
though they may fall into trouble, it shall not be their ruin. This
promise of their deliverance is explained, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.22" parsed="|Ps|34|22|0|0" passage="Ps 34:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. Whatever troubles befal them,
<i>First,</i> They shall not hurt their better part. <i>The Lord
redeemeth the soul of his servants</i> from the power of the grave
(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p22.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.15" parsed="|Ps|49|15|0|0" passage="Ps 49:15">Ps. xlix. 15</scripRef>) and from the
sting of every affliction. He keeps them from sinning in their
troubles, which is the only thing that would do them a mischief,
and keeps them from despair, and from being put out of the
possession of their own souls. <i>Secondly,</i> They shall not
hinder their everlasting bliss. <i>None of those that trust in him
shall be desolate;</i> that is, they shall not be comfortless, for
they shall not be cut off from their communion with God. No man is
desolate but he whom God has forsaken, nor is any man undone till
he is in hell. Those that are God's faithful servants, that make it
their care to please him and their business to honour him, and in
doing so trust him to protect and reward them, and, with good
thoughts of him, refer themselves to him, have reason to be easy
whatever befals them, for they are safe and shall be happy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxv-p23">In singing <scripRef id="Ps.xxxv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.11-Ps.34.22" parsed="|Ps|34|11|34|22" passage="Ps 34:11-22">these verses</scripRef> let us be confirmed in the
choice we have made of the ways of God; let us be quickened in his
service, and greatly encouraged by the assurances he has given of
the particular care he takes of all those that faithfully adhere to
him.</p>
</div></div2>