mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 55.xml

<div2 id="Ps.lvi" n="lvi" next="Ps.lvii" prev="Ps.lv" progress="40.46%" title="Chapter LV">
<h2 id="Ps.lvi-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.lvi-p0.2">PSALM LV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.lvi-p1">It is the conjecture of many expositors that David
penned this psalm upon occasion of Absalom's rebellion, and that
the particular enemy he here speaks of, that dealt treacherously
with him, was Ahithophel; and some will therefore make David's
troubles here typical of Christ's sufferings, and Ahithophel's
treachery a figure of Judas's, because they both hanged themselves.
But there is nothing in it particularly applied to Christ in the
New Testament. David was in great distress when he penned this
psalm. I. He prays that God would manifest his favour to him, and
pleads his own sorrow and fear, <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.56.1-Ps.56.8" parsed="|Ps|56|1|56|8" passage="Ps 56:1-8">ver.
1-8</scripRef>. II. He prays that God would manifest his
displeasure against his enemies, and pleads their great wickedness
and treachery, <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.56.9-Ps.56.15 Bible:Ps.56.20 Bible:Ps.56.21" parsed="|Ps|56|9|56|15;|Ps|56|20|0|0;|Ps|56|21|0|0" passage="Ps 56:9-15,20,21">ver. 9-15 and
again ver. 20, 21</scripRef>. III. He assures himself that God
would, in due time, appear for him against his enemies, comforts
himself with the hopes of it, and encourages others to trust in
God, <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.56.16-Ps.56.19 Bible:Ps.56.22 Bible:Ps.56.23" parsed="|Ps|56|16|56|19;|Ps|56|22|0|0;|Ps|56|23|0|0" passage="Ps 56:16-19,22,23">ver. 16-19 and again
ver. 22, 23</scripRef>. In singing this psalm we may, if there be
occasion, apply it to our own troubles; if not, we may sympathize
with those to whose case it comes nearer, foreseeing that there
will be, at last, indignation and wrath to the persecutors,
salvation and joy to the persecuted.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.lvi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55" parsed="|Ps|55|0|0|0" passage="Ps 55" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.lvi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.1-Ps.55.8" parsed="|Ps|55|1|55|8" passage="Ps 55:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.55.1-Ps.55.8">
<h4 id="Ps.lvi-p1.6">Supplications of David in
Distress.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.lvi-p1.7">
<p id="Ps.lvi-p2">To the chief musician on Neginoth, Maschil. <i>A psalm</i> of
David.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lvi-p3">1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not
thyself from my supplication.   2 Attend unto me, and hear me:
I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;   3 Because of the
voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for
they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.   4 My
heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen
upon me.   5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and
horror hath overwhelmed me.   6 And I said, Oh that I had
wings like a dove! <i>for then</i> would I fly away, and be at
rest.   7 Lo, <i>then</i> would I wander far off, <i>and</i>
remain in the wilderness. Selah.   8 I would hasten my escape
from the windy storm <i>and</i> tempest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p4">In these verses we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p5">I. David praying. Prayer is a salve for
every sore and a relief to the spirit under every burden: <i>Give
ear to my prayer, O God!</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.1-Ps.55.2" parsed="|Ps|55|1|55|2" passage="Ps 55:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>. He does not set down the
petitions he offered up to God in his distress, but begs that God
would hear the prayers which, at every period, his heart lifted up
to God, and grant an answer of peace to them: <i>Attend to me, hear
me.</i> Saul would not hear his petitions; his other enemies
regarded not his pleas; but, "Lord, be thou pleased to hearken to
me. <i>Hide not thyself from my supplication,</i> either as one
unconcerned and not regarding it, nor seeming to take any notice of
it, or as one displeased, angry at me, and therefore at my prayer."
If we, in our prayers, sincerely lay open ourselves, our case, our
hearts, to God, we have reason to hope that he will not hide
himself, his favours, his comforts, from us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p6">II. David weeping; for in this he was a
type of Christ that he was a man of sorrows and often in tears
(<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.2" parsed="|Ps|55|2|0|0" passage="Ps 55:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): "<i>I mourn
in my complaint</i>" (or in my <i>meditation,</i> my <i>melancholy
musings</i>), "and I make a noise; I cannot forbear such sighs and
groans, and other expressions of grief, as discover it to those
about me." Great griefs are sometimes noisy and clamorous, and thus
are, in some measure, lessened, while those increase that are
stifled, and have no vent given them. But what was the matter?
<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.3" parsed="|Ps|55|3|0|0" passage="Ps 55:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. It is
<i>because of the voice of the enemy,</i> the menaces and insults
of Absalom's party, that swelled, and hectored, and stirred up the
people to cry out against David, and shout him out of his palace
and capital city, as afterwards the chief priests stirred up the
mob to cry out against the Son of David, <i>Away with him—Crucify
him.</i> Yet it was not the voice of the enemy only that fetched
tears from David's eyes, but their oppression, and the hardship he
was thereby reduced to: <i>They cast iniquity upon me.</i> They
could not justly charge David with any mal-administration in his
government, could not prove any act of oppression or injustice upon
him, but they loaded him with calumnies. Though they found no
iniquity in him relating to his trust as a king, yet they cast all
manner of iniquity upon him, and represented him to the people as a
tyrant fit to be expelled. Innocency itself is no security against
violent and lying tongues. They hated him themselves, nay, in wrath
they hated him; there was in their enmity both the heat and
violence of anger, or sudden passion, and the implacableness of
hatred and rooted malice; and therefore they studied to make him
odious, that others also might hate him. This made him mourn, and
the more because he could remember the time when he was the darling
of the people, and answered to his name, <i>David</i>—<i>a beloved
one.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p7">III. David trembling, and in great
consternation. We may well suppose him to be so upon the breaking
out of Absalom's conspiracy and the general defection of the
people, even those that he had little reason to suspect. 1. See
what fear seized him. David was a man of great boldness, and in
some very eminent instances had signalized his courage, and yet,
when the danger was surprising and imminent, his heart failed him.
Let not the stout man therefore glory in his courage any more than
the strong man in his strength. Now David's <i>heart is sorely
pained within him; the terrors of death have fallen upon him,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.4" parsed="|Ps|55|4|0|0" passage="Ps 55:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. Fearfulness of
mind and trembling of body came upon him, and horror covered and
overwhelmed him, <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.5" parsed="|Ps|55|5|0|0" passage="Ps 55:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. When without are fightings no marvel that within are
fears; and, if it was upon the occasion of Absalom's rebellion, we
may suppose that the remembrance of his sin in the matter of Uriah,
which God was now reckoning with him for, added as much more to the
fright. Sometimes David's faith made him, in a manner, fearless,
and he could boldly say, when surrounded with enemies, <i>I will
not be afraid what man can do unto me.</i> But at other times his
fears prevail and tyrannise; for the best men are not always alike
strong in faith. 2. See how desirous he was, in this fright, to
retire into a desert, any where to be far enough from hearing the
voice of the enemy and seeing their oppressions. He said (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.6" parsed="|Ps|55|6|0|0" passage="Ps 55:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), said it to God in
prayer, said it to himself in meditation, said it to his friends in
complaint, <i>O that I had wings like a dove!</i> Much as he had
been sometimes in love with Jerusalem, now that it had become a
rebellious city he longed to get clear of it, and, like the
prophet, wished he had <i>in the wilderness a lodging place of
way-faring men, that he might leave his people and go from them;
for they were an assembly of treacherous men,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.9.2" parsed="|Jer|9|2|0|0" passage="Jer 9:2">Jer. ix. 2</scripRef>. This agrees very well with
David's resolution upon the breaking out of that plot, <i>Arise,
let us flee, and make speed to depart,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.15.14" parsed="|2Sam|15|14|0|0" passage="2Sa 15:14">2 Sam. xv. 14</scripRef>. Observe, (1.) How he would
make his escape. He was so surrounded with enemies that he saw not
how he could escape but upon the wing, and therefore he wishes,
<i>O that I had wings!</i> not like a hawk that flies swiftly; he
wishes for wings, not to fly upon the prey, but to fly from the
birds of prey, for such his enemies were. The wings of a dove were
most agreeable to him who was of a dove-like spirit, and therefore
the wings of an eagle would not become him. The dove flies low, and
takes shelter as soon as she can, and thus would David fly. (2.)
What he would make his escape from—<i>from the wind, storm, and
tempest,</i> the tumult and ferment that the city was now in, and
the danger to which he was exposed. Herein he was like a dove, that
cannot endure noise. (3.) What he aimed at in making this escape,
not victory but rest: "<i>I would fly away and be at rest,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.6" parsed="|Ps|55|6|0|0" passage="Ps 55:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. I would fly any
where, if it were to a barren frightful wilderness, ever so far
off, so I might be quiet," <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.7" parsed="|Ps|55|7|0|0" passage="Ps 55:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. Note, Peace and quietness in silence and solitude are
what the wisest and best of men have most earnestly coveted, and
the more when they have been vexed and wearied with the noise and
clamour of those about them. Gracious souls wish to retire from the
hurry and bustle of this world, that they may sweetly enjoy God and
themselves; and, if there be any true peace on this side heaven, it
is they that enjoy it in those retirements. This makes death
desirable to a child of God, that it is a final escape from all the
storms and tempests of this world to perfect and everlasting
rest.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.lvi-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.9-Ps.55.15" parsed="|Ps|55|9|55|15" passage="Ps 55:9-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.55.9-Ps.55.15">
<h4 id="Ps.lvi-p7.9">Prophetic Imprecations.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lvi-p8">9 Destroy, O Lord, <i>and</i> divide their
tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.   10
Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief
also and sorrow <i>are</i> in the midst of it.   11 Wickedness
<i>is</i> in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from
her streets.   12 For <i>it was</i> not an enemy <i>that</i>
reproached me; then I could have borne <i>it:</i> neither <i>was
it</i> he that hated me <i>that</i> did magnify <i>himself</i>
against me; then I would have hid myself from him:   13 But
<i>it was</i> thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine
acquaintance.   14 We took sweet counsel together, <i>and</i>
walked unto the house of God in company.   15 Let death seize
upon them, <i>and</i> let them go down quick into hell: for
wickedness <i>is</i> in their dwellings, <i>and</i> among them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p9">David here complains of his enemies, whose
wicked plots had brought him, though not to his faith's end, yet to
his wits' end, and prays against them by the spirit of prophecy.
Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p10">I. The character he gives of the enemies he
feared. They were of the worst sort of men, and his description of
them agrees very well with Absalom and his accomplices. 1. He
complains of the city of Jerusalem, which strangely fell in with
Absalom and fell off from David, so that he had none there but his
own guards and servants that he could repose any confidence in:
<i>How has that faithful city become a harlot!</i> David did not
take the representation of it from others; but with his own eyes,
and with a sad heart, did himself see nothing but <i>violence and
strife in the city</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.9" parsed="|Ps|55|9|0|0" passage="Ps 55:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>); for, when they grew disaffected and disloyal to
David, they grew mischievous one to another. If he walked the
rounds upon the walls of the city, he saw that violence and strife
went about it day and night, and mounted its guards, <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.10" parsed="|Ps|55|10|0|0" passage="Ps 55:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. All the arts and
methods which the rebels used for the fortifying of the city were
made up on violence and strife, and there were no remains of
honesty or love among them. If he looked into the heart of the
city, mischief and injury, mutual wrong and vexation, were in the
midst of it: <i>Wickedness,</i> all manner of wickedness, <i>is in
the midst thereof. Jusque datum sceleri—Wickedness was
legalized.</i> Deceit and guile, and all manner of treacherous
dealing, <i>departed not from her streets,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.11" parsed="|Ps|55|11|0|0" passage="Ps 55:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. It may be meant of their base
and barbarous usage of David's friends and such as they knew were
firm and faithful to him; they did them all the mischief they
could, by fraud or force. Is this the character of Jerusalem, the
royal city, and, which is more, the holy city, and in David's time
too, so soon after the thrones of judgment and the testimony of
Israel were both placed there? <i>Is this the city that men call
the perfection of beauty?</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.15" parsed="|Lam|2|15|0|0" passage="La 2:15">Lam. ii.
15</scripRef>. Is Jerusalem, the head-quarters of God's priests, so
ill taught? Can Jerusalem be ungrateful to David himself, its own
illustrious founder, and be made too hot for him, so that he cannot
reside in it? Let us not be surprised at the corruptions and
disorders of this church on earth, but long to see the New
Jerusalem, where there is no violence nor strife, no mischief nor
guilt, and into which no unclean thing shall enter, nor any thing
that disquiets. 2. He complains of one of the ringleaders of the
conspiracy, that had been very industrious to foment jealousies, to
misrepresent him and his government, and to incense the city
against him. It was one that reproached him, as if he either abused
his power or neglected the use of it, for that was Absalom's
malicious suggestion: <i>There is no man deputed of the king to
hear thee,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.15.3" parsed="|2Sam|15|3|0|0" passage="2Sa 15:3">2 Sam. xv.
3</scripRef>. That and similar accusations were industriously
spread among the people; and who was most active in it? "Not a
sworn enemy, not Shimei, nor any of the nonjurors; then I could
have borne it, for I should not have expected better from them"
(and we find how patiently he did bear Shimei's curses); "not one
that professed to hate me, then I would have stood upon my guard
against him, would have hidden myself and counsels from him, so
that it would not have been in his power to betray me. <i>But it
was thou, a man, my equal,</i>" <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.13" parsed="|Ps|55|13|0|0" passage="Ps 55:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. The Chaldee-paraphrase names
Ahithophel as the person here meant, and nothing in that plot seems
to have discouraged David so much as to hear that Ahithophel was
<i>among the conspirators with Absalom</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.15.31" parsed="|2Sam|15|31|0|0" passage="2Sa 15:31">2 Sam. xv. 31</scripRef>), for he was <i>the king's
counsellor,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.27.33" parsed="|1Chr|27|33|0|0" passage="1Ch 27:33">1 Chron. xxvii.
33</scripRef>. "<i>It was thou, a man, my equal,</i> one whom I
esteemed as myself, a friend as my own soul, whom I had laid in my
bosom and made equal with myself, to whom I had communicated all my
secrets and who knew my mind as well as I myself did,—my guide,
with whom I advised and by whom I was directed in all my affairs,
whom I made president of the council and prime-minister of
state,—my intimate acquaintance and familiar friend; this is the
man that now abuses me. I have been kind to him, but I find him
thus basely ungrateful. I have put a trust in him, but I find him
thus basely treacherous; nay, and he could not have done me the
one-half of the mischief he does if I had not shown him so much
respect." All this must needs be very grievous to an ingenuous
mind, and yet this was not all; this traitor had seemed a saint,
else he had never been David's bosom-friend (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p10.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.14" parsed="|Ps|55|14|0|0" passage="Ps 55:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): "<i>We took counsel
together,</i> spent many an hour together, with a great deal of
pleasure, in religious discourse," or, as Dr. Hammond reads it,
"<i>We joined ourselves together to the assembly;</i> I gave him
the right hand of fellowship in holy ordinances, and then <i>we
walked to the house of God in company,</i> to attend the public
service." Note, (1.) There always has been, and always will be, a
mixture of good and bad, sound and unsound, in the visible church,
between whom, perhaps for a long time, we can discern no
difference; but the searcher of hearts does. David, who went to the
house of God in his sincerity, had Ahithophel in company with him,
who went in his hypocrisy. The Pharisee and the publican went
together to the temple to pray; but, sooner or later, those that
are perfect and those that are not will be made manifest. (2.)
Carnal policy may carry men on very far and very long in a
profession of religion while it is in fashion, and will serve a
turn. In the court of pious David none was more devout than
Ahithophel, and yet his heart was not right in the sight of God.
(3.) We must not wonder if we be sadly deceived in some that have
made great pretensions to those two sacred things, religion and
friendship; David himself, though a very wise man, was thus imposed
upon, which may make similar disappointments the more tolerable to
us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p11">II. His prayers against them, which we are
both to stand in awe of and to comfort ourselves in, as prophecies,
but not to copy into our prayers against any particular enemies of
our own. He prays, 1. That God would disperse them, as he did the
Babel-builders (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.9" parsed="|Ps|55|9|0|0" passage="Ps 55:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): "<i>Destroy, O Lord! and divide their tongues;</i>
that is, blast their counsels, by making them to disagree among
themselves, and clash with one another. Send an evil spirit among
them, that they may not understand one another, but be envious and
jealous one of another." This prayer was answered in the turning of
Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness, by setting up the counsel of
Hushai against it. God often destroys the church's enemies by
dividing them; nor is there a surer way to the destruction of any
people than their division. A kingdom, an interest, divided against
itself, cannot long stand. 2. That God would destroy them, as he
did Dathan and Abiram, and their associates, who were confederate
against Moses, whose throat being an open sepulchre, the earth
therefore opened and swallowed them up. This was then a new thing
which God executed, <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.16.30" parsed="|Num|16|30|0|0" passage="Nu 16:30">Num. xvi.
30</scripRef>. But David prays that it might now be repeated, or
something equivalent (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.15" parsed="|Ps|55|15|0|0" passage="Ps 55:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>): "<i>Let death seize upon them</i> by divine
warrant, and <i>let them go down quickly into hell;</i> let them be
dead, and buried, and so utterly destroyed, in a moment; for
wickedness is wherever they are; it is in the midst of them." The
souls of impenitent sinners go down quick, or alive, into hell, for
they have a perfect sense of their miseries, and shall
<i>therefore</i> live still, that they may be still miserable. This
prayer is a prophecy of the utter, the final, the everlasting ruin
of all those who, whether secretly or openly, oppose and rebel
against the Lord's Messiah.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.lvi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.16-Ps.55.23" parsed="|Ps|55|16|55|23" passage="Ps 55:16-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.55.16-Ps.55.23">
<h4 id="Ps.lvi-p11.5">Confidence in God.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lvi-p12">16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.lvi-p12.1">Lord</span> shall save me.   17
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and
he shall hear my voice.   18 He hath delivered my soul in
peace from the battle <i>that was</i> against me: for there were
many with me.   19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he
that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore
they fear not God.   20 He hath put forth his hands against
such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.  
21 <i>The words</i> of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war
<i>was</i> in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet
<i>were</i> they drawn swords.   22 Cast thy burden upon the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.lvi-p12.2">Lord</span>, and he shall sustain thee: he
shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.   23 But thou, O
God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and
deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust
in thee.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p13">In these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p14">I. David perseveres in his resolution to
call upon God, being well assured that he should not seek him in
vain (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.16" parsed="|Ps|55|16|0|0" passage="Ps 55:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): "<i>As
for me,</i> let them take what course they please to secure
themselves, let violence and strife be their guards, prayer shall
be mine; this I have found comfort in, and therefore this will I
abide by: <i>I will call upon God,</i> and commit myself to him,
and <i>the Lord shall save me;</i>" for whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord, in a right manner, shall be saved, <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.10.13" parsed="|Rom|10|13|0|0" passage="Ro 10:13">Rom. x. 13</scripRef>. He resolves to be both
fervent and frequent in this duty. 1. He will pray fervently: "<i>I
will pray and cry aloud. I will meditate</i>" (so the former word
signifies); "I will speak with my own heart, and the prayer shall
come thence." Then we pray aright when we pray with all that is
within us, think first and then pray over our thoughts; for the
true nature of prayer is lifting up the heart to God. Having
meditated, he will cry, he will cry aloud; the fervour of his
spirit in prayer shall be expressed and yet more excited by the
intenseness and earnestness of his voice. 2. He will pray
frequently, every day, and three times a day—<i>evening, and
morning, and at noon.</i> It is probable that this had been his
constant practice, and he resolves to continue it now that he is in
his distress. Then we may come the more boldly to the throne of
grace in trouble when we do not then first begin to seek
acquaintance with God, but it is what we have constantly practised,
and the trouble finds the wheels of prayer going. Those that think
three meals a day little enough for the body ought much more to
think three solemn prayers a day little enough for the soul, and to
count it a pleasure, not a task. As it is fit that in the morning
we should begin the day with God, and in the evening close it with
him, so it is fit that in the midst of the day we should retire
awhile to converse with him. It was Daniel's practice to pray three
times a day (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.10" parsed="|Dan|6|10|0|0" passage="Da 6:10">Dan. vi. 10</scripRef>),
and noon was one of Peter's hours of prayer, <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.10.9" parsed="|Acts|10|9|0|0" passage="Ac 10:9">Acts x. 9</scripRef>. Let not us be weary of praying
often, for God is not weary of hearing. "He shall hear my voice,
and not blame me for coming too often, but the oftener the better,
the more welcome."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p15">II. He assures himself that God would in
due time give an answer of peace to his prayers.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p16">1. That he himself should be delivered and
his fears prevented; those fears with which he was much disordered
(<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.4-Ps.55.5" parsed="|Ps|55|4|55|5" passage="Ps 55:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>) by the
exercise of faith were now silenced, and he begins to rejoice in
hope (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.18" parsed="|Ps|55|18|0|0" passage="Ps 55:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>God
has delivered my soul in peace,</i> that is, he will deliver it;
David is as sure of the deliverance as if it were already wrought.
His enemies were at war with him, and the battle was against him,
but God delivered him in peace, that is, brought him off with as
much comfort as if he had never been in danger. If he did not
deliver him in victory, yet he delivered him in peace, inward
peace. He delivered his soul in peace; by patience and holy joy in
God he kept possession of that. Those are safe and easy whose
hearts and minds are kept by that peace of God which <i>passes all
understanding,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Phil.4.7" parsed="|Phil|4|7|0|0" passage="Php 4:7">Phil. iv.
7</scripRef>. David, in his fright, thought all were against him;
but now he sees there were many with him, more than he imagined;
his interest proved better than he expected, and this he gives to
God the glory of: for it is he that raises us up friends when we
need them, and makes them faithful to us. There were many with him;
for though his subjects deserted him, and went over to Absalom, yet
God was with him and the good angels. With an eye of faith he now
sees himself surrounded, as Elisha was, with chariots of fire and
horses of fire, and therefore triumphs thus, <i>There are many with
me,</i> more <i>with me than against me,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.6.16-2Kgs.6.17" parsed="|2Kgs|6|16|6|17" passage="2Ki 6:16,17">2 Kings vi. 16, 17</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p17">2. That his enemies should be reckoned
with, and brought down. They had frightened him with their menaces
(<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.3" parsed="|Ps|55|3|0|0" passage="Ps 55:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), but here he
says enough to frighten them and make them tremble with more
reason, and no remedy; for they could not ease themselves of their
fears as David could, by faith in God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p18">(1.) David here gives their character as
the reason why he expected God would bring them down. [1.] They are
impious and profane, and stand in no awe of God, of his authority
or wrath (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.19" parsed="|Ps|55|19|0|0" passage="Ps 55:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>):
"<i>Because they have no changes</i> (no afflictions, no
interruption to the constant course of their prosperity, no crosses
to empty them from vessel to vessel) <i>therefore they fear not
God;</i> they live in a constant neglect and contempt of God and
religion, which is the cause of all their other wickedness, and by
which they are certainly marked for destruction." [2.] They are
treacherous and false, and will not be held by the most sacred and
solemn engagements (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.20" parsed="|Ps|55|20|0|0" passage="Ps 55:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>): "<i>He has put forth his hand against such as are
at peace with him,</i> that never provoked him, nor gave him any
cause to quarrel with them; nay, to whom he had given all possible
encouragement to expect kindness from him. He has put forth his
hand against those whom he had given his hand to, and has broken
his covenant both with God and man, has perfidiously violated his
engagement to both," than which nothing makes men riper for ruin.
[3.] They are base and hypocritical, pretending friendship while
they design mischief (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.21" parsed="|Ps|55|21|0|0" passage="Ps 55:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>): "<i>The words of his mouth</i>" (probably, he means
Ahithophel particularly) "<i>were smoother than butter and softer
than oil,</i> so courteous was he and obliging, so free in his
professions of respect and kindness and the proffers of his
service; yet, at the same time, <i>war was in his heart,</i> and
all this courtesy was but a stratagem of war, and those very words
had such a mischievous design in them that they were as <i>drawn
swords</i> designed to stab." They smile in a man's face, and cut
his throat at the same time, as Joab, that kissed and killed. Satan
is such an enemy; he flatters men into their ruin. <i>When he
speaks fair, believe him not.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p19">(2.) David here foretels their ruin. [1.]
God shall afflict them, and bring them into straits and frights,
and recompense tribulation to those that have troubled his people,
and this in answer to the prayers of his people: <i>God shall hear
and afflict them,</i> hear the cries of the oppressed and speak
terror to their oppressors, <i>even he that abides of old,</i> who
is God from everlasting, and world without end, and who sits Judge
from the beginning of time, and has always presided in the affairs
of the children of men. Mortal men, though ever so high and strong,
will easily be crushed by an eternal God and are a very unequal
match for him. This the saints have comforted themselves with in
reference to the threatening power of the church's enemies
(<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.12" parsed="|Hab|1|12|0|0" passage="Hab 1:12">Hab. i. 12</scripRef>): <i>Art thou
not from everlasting, O Lord?</i> [2.] God shall <i>bring them
down,</i> not only to the dust, but <i>to the pit of
destruction</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.23" parsed="|Ps|55|23|0|0" passage="Ps 55:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>), to the bottomless pit, which is called
<i>destruction,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.26.6" parsed="|Job|26|6|0|0" passage="Job 26:6">Job xxvi.
6</scripRef>. He afflicted them (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.19" parsed="|Ps|55|19|0|0" passage="Ps 55:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>) to see if that would humble and
reform them; but, they not being wrought upon by that, he shall at
last bring them to ruin. Those that are not reclaimed by the rod of
affliction will certainly be brought down into the pit of
destruction. They are <i>bloody and deceitful men</i> (that is, the
worst of men) and therefore <i>shall not live out half their
days,</i> not half so long as men ordinarily live, and as they
might have lived in a course of nature, and as they themselves
expected to live. They shall live as long as the Lord of life, the
righteous Judge, has appointed, with whom the number of our months
is; but he has determined to cut them off by an untimely death in
the midst of their days. They were bloody men, and cut others off,
and therefore God will justly cut them off: they were deceitful
men, and defrauded others of the one-half perhaps of what was their
due, and now God will cut them short, though not of that which was
their due, yet of that which they counted upon.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lvi-p20">III. He encourages himself and all good
people to commit themselves to God, with confidence in him. He
himself resolves to do so (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.23" parsed="|Ps|55|23|0|0" passage="Ps 55:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>): "<i>I will trust in thee,</i> in thy providence,
and power, and mercy, and not in my own prudence, strength, or
merit; when bloody and deceitful men are cut off in the midst of
their days I shall still live by faith in thee." And this he will
have others to do (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.22" parsed="|Ps|55|22|0|0" passage="Ps 55:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>): "<i>Cast thy burden upon the Lord,</i>" whoever
thou art that art burdened, and whatever the burden is. "<i>Cast
thy gift upon the Lord</i>" (so some read it); "whatever blessings
God has bestowed upon thee to enjoy commit them all to his custody,
and particularly commit the keeping of thy soul to him." Or,
"Whatever it is that thou desirest God should give thee, leave it
to him to give it to thee in his own way and time. <i>Cast thy care
upon the Lord,</i>" so the LXX., to which the apostle refers,
<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.5.7" parsed="|1Pet|5|7|0|0" passage="1Pe 5:7">1 Pet. v. 7</scripRef>. Care is a
burden; it makes the heart stoop (<scripRef id="Ps.lvi-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.12.25" parsed="|Prov|12|25|0|0" passage="Pr 12:25">Prov. xii. 25</scripRef>); we must cast it upon God by
faith and prayer, commit our way and works to him; let him do as
seemeth him good, and we will be satisfied. To cast our burden upon
God is to stay ourselves on his providence and promise, and to be
very easy in the assurance that all shall work for good. If we do
so, it is promised, 1. That he will sustain us, both support and
supply us, will himself carry us in the arms of his power, as the
nurse carries the sucking-child, will strengthen our spirits so by
his Spirit as that they shall sustain the infirmity. He has not
promised to free us immediately from that trouble which gives rise
to our cares and fears; but he will provide that we be not tempted
above what we are able, and that we shall be able according as we
are tempted. 2. That he will never suffer the righteous to be
moved, to be so shaken by any troubles as to quit either their duty
to God or their comfort in him. However, he will not suffer them to
be moved for ever (as some read it); though they fall, they shall
not be utterly cast down.</p>
</div></div2>