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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms III].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM III.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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As the foregoing psalm, in the type of David in preferment, showed us
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the royal dignity of the Redeemer, so this, by the example of David in
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distress, shows us the peace and holy security of the redeemed, how
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safe they really are, and think themselves to be, under the divine
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protection. David, being now driven out from his palace, from the royal
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city, from the holy city, by his rebellious son Absalom,
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I. Complains to God of his enemies,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. Confides in God, and encourages himself in him as his God,
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notwithstanding,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:3">ver. 3</A>.
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III. Recollects the satisfaction he had in the gracious answers God
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gave to his prayers, and his experience of his goodness to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>.
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IV. Triumphs over his fears
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:6">ver. 6</A>)
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and over his enemies, whom he prays against,,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:7">ver. 7</A>.
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V. Gives God the glory and takes to himself the comfort of the divine
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blessing and salvation which are sure to all the people of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:8">ver. 8</A>.
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Those speak best of the truths of God who speak experimentally; so
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David here speaks of the power and goodness of God, and of the safety
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and tranquility of the godly.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps3_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps3_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps3_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Distress and Confidence.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>A psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, how are they increased that trouble me! many <I>are</I> they
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that rise up against me.
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2 Many <I>there be</I> which say of my soul, <I>There is</I> no help for
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him in God. Selah.
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3 But thou, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>art</I> a shield for me; my glory, and the
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lifter up of mine head.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The title of this psalm and many others is as a key hung ready at the
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door, to open it, and let us into the entertainments of it; when we
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know upon what occasion a psalm was penned we know the better how to
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expound it. This was composed, or at least the substance of it was
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meditated and digested in David's thought, and offered up to God, when
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he fled from Absalom his son, who formed a conspiracy against him, to
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take away, not his crown only, but his life; we have the story,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+15:1-16:14">2 Sam. xv.</A>,
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&c.
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1. David was now in great grief; when, in his flight, he went up the
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Mount of Olives, he wept greatly, with his head covered, and marching
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bare-foot; yet <I>then</I> he composed this comfortable psalm. He wept
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and prayed, wept and sung, wept and believed; this was sowing in tears.
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Is any afflicted? Let him pray; nay, let him sing psalms, let him sing
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this psalm. Is any afflicted with undutiful disobedient children? David
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was; and yet that did not hinder his joy in God, nor put him out of
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tune for holy songs.
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2. He was now in great danger; the plot against him was laid deep, the
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party that sought his ruin was very formidable, and his own son at the
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head of them, so that his affairs seemed to be at the last extremity;
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yet <I>then</I> he kept hold of his interest in God and improved that.
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Perils and frights should drive us to God, not drive us from him.
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3. He had now a great deal of provocation given him by those from whom
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he had reason to expect better things, from his son, whom he had been
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indulgent of, from his subjects, whom he had been so great a blessing
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to; this he could not but resent, and it was enough to break in upon
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any man's temper; yet he was so far from any indecent expressions of
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passion and indignation that he had calmness enough for those acts of
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devotion which require the greatest fixedness and freedom of thought.
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The sedateness of his mind was evinced by the Spirit's coming upon him;
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for the Spirit chooses to move upon the still waters. Let no
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unkindness, no, not of a child or a friend, ever be laid so much to
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heart as to disfit us for communion with God.
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4. He was now suffering for his sin in the matter of Uriah; this was
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the evil which, for that sin, God threatened to <I>raise up against him
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out of his own house</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+12:11">2 Sam. xii. 11</A>),
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which, no doubt, he observed, and took occasion thence to renew his
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repentance for it. Yet he did not <I>therefore</I> cast away his
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confidence in the divine power and goodness, nor despair of succour.
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Even our sorrow for sin must not hinder either our joy in God or our
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hope in God.
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5. He seemed cowardly in fleeing from Absalom, and quitting his royal
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city, before he had had one struggle for it; and yet, by this psalm, it
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appears he was full of true courage arising from his faith in God. True
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Christian fortitude consists more in a gracious security and serenity
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of mind, in patiently bearing and patiently waiting, than in daring
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enterprises with sword in hand.</P>
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<P>
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In these
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:1-3">three verses</A>
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he applies to God. Whither else should we go but to him when any thing
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grieves us or frightens us? David was now at a distance from his own
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closet, and from the courts of God's house, where he used to pray; and
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yet he could find away open heaven-ward. Wherever we are we may have
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access to God, and may draw nigh to him whithersoever we are driven.
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David, in his flight, attends his God,</P>
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<P>
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I. With a representation of his distress,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
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He looks round, and as it were takes a view of his enemies' camp, or
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receives information of their designs against him, which he brings to
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God, not to his own council-board. Two things he complains of,
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concerning his enemies:--
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1. That they were very many: <I>Lord, how are they increased!</I>
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beyond what they were at first, and beyond whatever he thought they
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would have been. Absalom's faction, like a snow-ball, strangely
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gathered in its motion. He speaks of it as one amazed, and well he
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might, that a people he had so many ways obliged should almost
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generally revolt from him, rebel against him, and choose for their head
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such a foolish and giddy young man as Absalom was. How slippery and
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deceitful are the many! And how little fidelity and constancy are to be
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found among men! David had had the hearts of his subjects as much as
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ever any king had, and yet now, of a sudden, he had lost them. As
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people must not trust too much to princes
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+146:3">Ps. cxlvi. 3</A>),
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so princes must not build too much upon their interest in the people.
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Christ, the Son of David, had many enemies. When a great multitude
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came to seize him, when the crowd cried, <I>Crucify him, Crucify
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him,</I> how were those then increased that troubled him! Even good
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people must not think it strange if the stream be against them and the
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powers that threaten them grow more and more formidable.
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2. That they were very malicious. They rose up against him; they aimed
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to trouble him; but that was not all: they said of his soul, <I>There
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is no help for him in God.</I> That is,
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(1.) They put a spiteful and invidious construction upon his troubles,
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as Job's friends did upon him, concluding that, because his servants
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and subjects forsook him thus and did not help him, God had deserted
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him and abandoned his cause, and he was therefore to be looked
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<I>on,</I> or rather to be looked <I>off,</I> as a hypocrite and a
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wicked man.
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(2.) They blasphemously reflected upon God as unable to relieve him:
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"His danger is so great that God himself cannot help him." It is
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strange that so great unbelief should be found in any, especially in
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many, in Israel, as to think any party of men too strong for
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Omnipotence to deal with.
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(3.) They endeavoured to shake his confidence in God and drive him to
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despair of relief from him: "They have said it <I>to</I> my soul;" so
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it may be read; compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+11:1,42:10">Ps. xi. 1; xlii. 10</A>.
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This grieved him worst of all, that they had so bad an opinion of him
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as to think it possible to take him off from that foundation. The mere
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temptation was a buffeting to him, <I>a thorn in his flesh,</I> nay, a
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<I>sword in his bones.</I> Note, A child of God startles at the very
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thought of despairing of help in God; you cannot vex him with any thing
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so much as if you offer to persuade him that <I>there is no help for
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him in God.</I> David comes to God, and tells him what his enemies said
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of him, as Hezekiah spread Rabshakeh's blasphemous letter before the
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Lord. "They say, <I>There is no help for me in thee;</I> but, Lord, if
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it be so, I am undone. They say to my soul, <I>There is no
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salvation</I>" (for so the word is) "<I>for him in God;</I> but, Lord,
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do thou say unto my soul, <I>I am thy salvation</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+35:3">Ps. xxxv. 3</A>)
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and that shall satisfy me, and in due time silence them." To this
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complaint he adds <I>Selah,</I> which occurs about seventy times in the
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book of Psalms. Some refer it to the music with which, in David's
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time, the psalms were sung; others to the sense, and that it is a note
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commanding a solemn pause. <I>Selah--Mark that,</I> or, "<I>Stop
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there,</I> and consider a little." As here, they say, <I>There is no
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help for him in God, Selah.</I> "Take time for such a thought as this.
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<I>Get thee behind me, Satan. The Lord rebuke thee!</I> Away with such
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a vile suggestion!"</P>
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<P>
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II. With a profession of his dependence upon God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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An active believer, the more he is beaten off from God, either by the
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rebukes of Providence or the reproaches of enemies, the faster hold he
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will take of him and the closer will he cleave to him; so David here,
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when his enemies said, <I>There is no help for him in God,</I> cries
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out with so much the more assurance, "<I>But thou, O Lord! art a shield
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for me;</I> let them say what they will, I am sure thou wilt never
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desert me, and I am resolved I will never distrust thee." See what God
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is to his people, what he will be, what they have found him, what David
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found in him.
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1. Safety: "<I>Thou art a shield for me,</I> a shield <I>about</I> me"
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(so some), "to secure me on all sides, since my enemies surrounded me."
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Not only <I>my shield</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+15:1">Gen. xv. 1</A>),
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which denotes an interest in the divine protection, but a shield
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<I>for</I> me, which denotes the present benefit and advantage of that
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protection.
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2. Honour: <I>Thou art my glory.</I> Those whom God owns for his are
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not safe and easy, but really look great, and have true honour put upon
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them, far above that which the great ones of the earth are proud of.
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David was now in disgrace; the crown had fallen from his head; but he
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will not think the worse of himself while he has God for his glory,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+60:19">Isa. lx. 19</A>.
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"<I>Thou art my glory;</I> thy glory I reckon mine" (so some); "this is
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what I aim at, and am ambitious of, whatever my lot is, and whatever
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becomes of my honour--that I may be to my God for a name and a praise."
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3. Joy and deliverance: "<I>Thou art the lifter up of my head;</I> thou
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wilt lift up my head <I>out of</I> my troubles, and restore me to my
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dignity again, in due time; or, at least, thou wilt lift up my head
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<I>under</I> my troubles, so that I shall not droop nor be discouraged,
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nor shall my spirits fail." If, in the worst of times, God's people can
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lift up their heads with joy, knowing that all shall work for good to
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them, they will own it is God that is the lifter up of their head, that
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gives them both cause to rejoice and hearts to rejoice.</P>
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<P>
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In singing this, and praying it over, we should possess ourselves with
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an apprehension of the danger we are in from the multitude and malice
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of our spiritual enemies, who seek the ruin of our souls by driving us
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from our God, and we should concern ourselves in the distresses and
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dangers of the church of God, which is every where spoken again, every
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where fought against; but, in reference to both, we should encourage
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ourselves in our God, who owns and protects and will in due time crown
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his own interest both in the world and in the hearts of his people.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps3_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps3_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps3_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps3_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps3_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Confidence in God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 I cried unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> with my voice, and he heard me out of
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his holy hill. Selah.
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5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> sustained
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me.
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6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have
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set <I>themselves</I> against me round about.
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7 Arise, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all
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mine enemies <I>upon</I> the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of
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the ungodly.
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8 Salvation <I>belongeth</I> unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: thy blessing <I>is</I> upon
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thy people. Selah.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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David, having stirred up himself by the irritations of his enemies to
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take hold on God as his God, and so gained comfort in looking upward
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when, if he looked round about him, nothing appeared but what was
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discouraging, here looks back with pleasing reflections upon the
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benefit he had derived from trusting in God and looks forward with
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pleasing expectations of a very bright and happy issue to which the
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dark dispensation he was now under would shortly be brought.</P>
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<P>
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I. See with what comfort he looks back upon the communion he had had
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with God, and the communications of his favour to him, either in some
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former trouble he had been in, and through God's goodness got through,
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or in this hitherto. David had been exercised with many difficulties,
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often oppressed and brought very low; but still he had found God
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all-sufficient. He now remembered with pleasure,</P>
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<P>
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1. That his troubles had always brought him to his knees, and that, in
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all his difficulties and dangers, he had been enabled to acknowledge
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God and to lift up his heart to him, and his voice too (this will be
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comfortable reflection when we are in trouble): <I>I cried unto God
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with my voice.</I> Care and grief do us good and no hurt when they set
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us a praying, and engage us, not only to speak to God, but to cry to
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him, as those that are in earnest. And though God understands the
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language of the heart, when the <I>voice is not heard</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:13">1 Sam. i. 13</A>),
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and values not the hypocritical prayers of those who <I>cause their
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voice to be heard on high</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:4">Isa. lviii. 4</A>),
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<I>vox et præterea nihil</I>--<I>mere sound,</I> yet, when the
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earnestness of the voice comes from the fervency of the heart, it shall
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be taken notice of, in the account, that we cried unto God with our
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<I>voice.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. That he had always found God ready to answer his prayers: <I>He heard me out of his holy hill,</I> from heaven, the high and holy place, from the ark on Mount Sion, whence he used to give answers to those that sought to him. David had ordered Zadok
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to <I>carry back the ark into the city</I> when he was flying from
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Absalom
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+15:25">2 Sam. xv. 25</A>),
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knowing that God was not tied, no, not to the ark of his presence, and
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that, notwithstanding the distance of place, he could by faith receive
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answers of peace from the holy hill. No such things can fix a gulf
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|
between the communications of God's grace towards us and the operations
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|
of his grace in us, between his favour and our faith. The ark of the
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covenant was in Mount Zion, and all the answers to our prayers come
|
|
from the promises of that covenant. Christ was <I>set King upon the
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|
holy hill of Zion</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:6">Ps. ii. 6</A>),
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and it is through him, whom the Father hears always, that our prayers
|
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are heard.</P>
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<P>
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3. That he had always been very safe and very easy under the divine
|
|
protection
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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|
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"<I>I laid myself down and slept,</I> composed and quiet; <I>and
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|
awaked</I> refreshed, <I>for the Lord sustained me.</I>"
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|
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(1.) This is applicable to the common mercies of every night, which we
|
|
ought to give thanks for alone, and with our families, every morning.
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|
Many have not where to lay their head (but wander in deserts), or, if
|
|
they have, dare not lie down for fear of the enemy; but we have laid
|
|
ourselves down in peace. Many lie down and cannot sleep, but are full
|
|
of tossings to and fro till the dawning of the day, through pain of
|
|
body, or anguish of mind, or the continual alarms of fear in the night;
|
|
but we lie down and sleep in safety, though incapable of doing any
|
|
thing then for our own preservation. Many lie down and sleep, and never
|
|
awake again, they sleep the sleep of death, as the first-born of the
|
|
Egyptians; but we lie down and sleep, and awake again to the light and
|
|
comfort of another day; and whence is it, but because the Lord has
|
|
sustained us with sleep as with food? We have been safe under his
|
|
protection and easy in the arms of his good providence.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It seems here to be meant of the wonderful quietness and calmness
|
|
of David's spirit, in the midst of his dangers. Having by prayer
|
|
committed himself and his cause to God, and being sure of his
|
|
protection, his heart was fixed, and he was easy. The undutifulness of
|
|
his son, the disloyalty of his subjects, the treachery of many of his
|
|
friends, the hazard of his person, the fatigues of his march, and the
|
|
uncertainty of the event, never deprived him of an hour's sleep, nor
|
|
gave any disturbance to his repose; for the Lord, by his grace and the
|
|
consolations of his Spirit, powerfully sustained him and made him easy.
|
|
It is a great mercy when we are in trouble to have our minds stayed
|
|
upon God, so as never either to eat or sleep with trembling and
|
|
astonishment.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Some of the ancients apply it to the resurrection of Christ. In
|
|
his sufferings he offered up strong cries, and was heard; and
|
|
therefore, though he laid down and slept the sleep of death, yet he
|
|
awaked the third day, for the Lord sustained him, that he should not
|
|
see corruption.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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|
4. That God had often broken the power and restrained the malice of his
|
|
enemies, had <I>smitten them upon the cheek-bone</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
had silenced them and spoiled their speaking, blemished them and put
|
|
them to shame, smitten them on the cheek reproachfully, had disabled
|
|
them to do the mischief they intended; for he had broken their teeth.
|
|
Saul and the Philistines, who were sometimes ready to swallow him up,
|
|
could not effect what they designed. The teeth that are gnashed or
|
|
sharpened against God's people shall be broken. When, at any time, the
|
|
power of the church's enemies seems threatening, it is good to remember
|
|
how often God has broken it; and we are sure that his arm is not
|
|
shortened. He can stop their mouths and tie their hands.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. See with what confidence he looks forward to the dangers he had yet
|
|
in prospect. Having put himself under God's protection and often found
|
|
the benefit of it,
|
|
|
|
1. His <I>fears were all stilled and silenced,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
With what a holy bravery does he bid defiance to the impotent menaces
|
|
and attempts of his enemies! "<I>I will not be afraid of ten thousands
|
|
of people,</I> that either in a foreign invasion or an intestine
|
|
rebellion <I>set themselves,</I> or encamp, <I>against me round
|
|
about.</I>" No man seemed less safe (his enemies are numerous, <I>ten
|
|
thousands;</I> they are spiteful and resolute, "They have set
|
|
themselves against me; nay, they have prevailed far, and seem to have
|
|
gained their point; for they are against me round about on every side,
|
|
thousands against one"), and yet no man was more secure: "I will not be
|
|
afraid, for all this; they cannot hurt me, and therefore they shall not
|
|
frighten me; whatever prudent methods I take for my own preservation, I
|
|
will not disquiet myself, distrust my God, nor doubt of a good issue at
|
|
last." When David, in his flight from Absalom, bade Zadok carry back
|
|
the ark, he spoke doubtfully of the issue of his present troubles, and
|
|
concluded, like a humble penitent, <I>Here I am; let him do to me what
|
|
seemeth to him good,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+15:26">2 Sam. xv. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
But now, like a strong believer, he speaks confidently, and has no fear
|
|
concerning the event. Note, A cheerful resignation to God is the way to
|
|
obtain a cheerful satisfaction and confidence in God.
|
|
|
|
2. His prayers were quickened and encouraged,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
He believed God was his Saviour, and yet prays; nay, he
|
|
<I>therefore</I> prays, <I>Arise, O Lord! save me, O my God!</I>
|
|
Promises of salvation do not supersede, but engage, our petitions for
|
|
it. He will for this be enquired of.
|
|
|
|
3. His faith became triumphant. He began the psalm with complaints of
|
|
the strength and malice of his enemies, but concludes it with
|
|
exultation in the power and grace of his God, and now sees more with
|
|
him than against him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+3:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Two great truths he here builds his confidence upon and fetches comfort
|
|
from.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That <I>salvation belongeth unto the Lord;</I> he has power to
|
|
save, be the danger ever so great; it is his prerogative to save, when
|
|
all other helps and succours fail; it is his pleasure, it is his
|
|
property, it is his promise to those that are his, whose salvation is
|
|
not of themselves, but of the Lord. Therefore all that have the Lord
|
|
for their God, according to the tenour of the new covenant, are sure of
|
|
salvation; for he that is their God is the God of salvation.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That his blessing is upon his people; he not only has power to
|
|
save them, but he has assured them of his kind and gracious intentions
|
|
towards them. He has, in his word, pronounced a blessing upon his
|
|
people; and we are bound to believe that that blessing does accordingly
|
|
rest upon them, though there be not the visible effects of it. Hence we
|
|
may conclude that God's people, though they may lie under the
|
|
reproaches and censures of men, are surely blessed of him, who blesses
|
|
indeed, and therefore can command a blessing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In singing this, and praying it over, we must own the satisfaction we
|
|
have had in depending upon God and committing ourselves to him, and
|
|
encourage ourselves, and one another to continue still hoping and
|
|
quietly waiting for the salvation of the Lord.</P>
|
|
|
|
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