mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 63.xml

<div2 id="Ps.lxiv" n="lxiv" next="Ps.lxv" prev="Ps.lxiii" progress="42.83%" title="Chapter LXIII">
<h2 id="Ps.lxiv-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.lxiv-p0.2">PSALM LXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.lxiv-p1">This psalm has in it as much of warmth and lively
devotion as any of David's psalms in so little a compass. As the
sweetest of Paul's epistles were those that bore date out of a
prison, so some of the sweetest of David's psalms were those that
were penned, as this was, in a wilderness. That which grieved him
most in his banishment was the want of public ordinances; these he
here longs to be restored to the enjoyment of; and the present want
did but whet his appetite. Yet it is not the ordinances, but the
God of the ordinances, that his heart is upon. And here we have, I.
His desire towards God, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.1-Ps.63.2" parsed="|Ps|63|1|63|2" passage="Ps 63:1,2">ver. 1,
2</scripRef>. II. His esteem of God, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.3-Ps.63.4" parsed="|Ps|63|3|63|4" passage="Ps 63:3,4">ver. 3, 4</scripRef>. III. His satisfaction in God,
<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.5" parsed="|Ps|63|5|0|0" passage="Ps 63:5">ver. 5</scripRef>. IV. His secret
communion with God, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.6" parsed="|Ps|63|6|0|0" passage="Ps 63:6">ver. 6</scripRef>.
V. His joyful dependence upon God, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.7-Ps.63.8" parsed="|Ps|63|7|63|8" passage="Ps 63:7-8">ver. 7, 8</scripRef>. IV. His holy triumph in God over
his enemies and in the assurance of his own safety, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.9-Ps.63.11" parsed="|Ps|63|9|63|11" passage="Ps 63:9-11">ver. 9-11</scripRef>. A devout and pious soul
has little need of direction how to sing this psalm, so naturally
does it speak its own genuine language; and an unsanctified soul,
that is unacquainted and unaffected with divine things, is scarcely
capable of singing it with understanding.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.lxiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63" parsed="|Ps|63|0|0|0" passage="Ps 63" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.lxiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.1-Ps.63.2" parsed="|Ps|63|1|63|2" passage="Ps 63:1-2" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.63.1-Ps.63.2">
<h4 id="Ps.lxiv-p1.9">Devout Affections.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.lxiv-p1.10">
<p id="Ps.lxiv-p2">A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lxiv-p3">1 O God, thou <i>art</i> my God; early will I
seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in
a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;   2 To see thy
power and thy glory, so <i>as</i> I have seen thee in the
sanctuary.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p4">The title tells us when the psalm was
penned, when David was <i>in the wilderness of Judah;</i> that is,
<i>in the forest of Hareth</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.22.5" parsed="|1Sam|22|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 22:5">1 Sam.
xxii. 5</scripRef>) or in <i>the wilderness of Ziph,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.23.15" parsed="|1Sam|23|15|0|0" passage="1Sa 23:15">1 Sam. xxiii. 15</scripRef>. 1. Even in Canaan,
though a fruitful land and the people numerous, yet there were
wildernesses, places less fruitful and less inhabited than other
places. It will be so in the world, in the church, but not in
heaven; there it is all city, all paradise, and no desert ground;
<i>the wilderness</i> there <i>shall blossom as the rose.</i> 2.
The best and dearest of God's saints and servants may sometimes
have their lot cast in a wilderness, which speaks them lonely and
solitary, desolate and afflicted, wanting, wandering, and
unsettled, and quite at a loss what to do with themselves. 3. All
the straits and difficulties of a wilderness must not put us out of
tune for sacred songs; but even then it is our duty and interest to
keep up a cheerful communion with God. There are psalms proper for
a wilderness, and we have reason to thank God that it is the
wilderness of Judah we are in, not the wilderness of Sin.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p5">David, in these verses, <i>stirs up himself
to take hold on God,</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p6">I. By a lively active faith: <i>O God! thou
art my God.</i> Note, In all our addresses to God we must eye him
as God, and our God, and this will be our comfort in a
wilderness-state. We must acknowledge that God is, that we speak to
one that really exists and is present with us, when we say, <i>O
God!</i> which is a serious word; pity it should ever be used as a
by-word. And we must own his authority over us and propriety in us,
and our relation to him: "<i>Thou art my God,</i> mine by creation
and therefore my rightful owner and ruler, mine by covenant and my
own consent." We must speak it with the greatest pleasure to
ourselves, and thankfulness to God, as those that are resolved to
abide by it: <i>O God! thou art my God.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p7">II. By pious and devout affections,
pursuant to the choice he had made of God and the covenant he had
made with him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p8">1. He resolves to seek God, and his favour
and grace: <i>Thou art my God,</i> and therefore <i>I will seek
thee;</i> for <i>should not a people seek unto their God?</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.19" parsed="|Isa|8|19|0|0" passage="Isa 8:19">Isa. viii. 19</scripRef>. We must seek
him; we must covet his favour as our chief good and consult his
glory as our highest end; we must seek acquaintance with him by his
word and seek mercy from him by prayer. We must seek him, (1.)
Early, with the utmost care, as those that are afraid of missing
him; we must begin our days with him, begin every day with him:
<i>Early will I seek thee.</i> (2.) Earnestly: "<i>My soul
thirsteth for thee</i> and <i>my flesh longeth for thee</i> (that
is, my whole man is affected with this pursuit) here <i>in a dry
and thirsty land.</i>" Observe, [1.] His complaint in the want of
God's favourable presence. He was in a dry and thirsty land; so he
reckoned it, not so much because it was a wilderness as because it
was at a distance from the ark, from the word and sacraments. This
world is a <i>weary land</i> (so the word is); it is so to the
worldly that have their portion in it—it will yield them no true
satisfaction; it is so to the godly that have their passage through
it—it is a valley of Baca; they can promise themselves little from
it. [2.] His importunity for that presence of God: <i>My soul
thirsteth, longeth, for thee.</i> His want quickened his desires,
which were very intense; he thirsted as the hunted hart for the
water-brooks; he would take up with nothing short of it. His
desires were almost impatient; he longed, he languished, till he
should be restored to the liberty of God's ordinances. Note,
Gracious souls look down upon the world with a holy disdain and
look up to God with a holy desire.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p9">2. He longs to enjoy God. What is it that
he does so passionately wish for? What is his petition and what is
his request? It is this (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.2" parsed="|Ps|63|2|0|0" passage="Ps 63:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), <i>To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen
thee in the sanctuary.</i> That is, (1.) "To see it here in this
wilderness as I have seen it in the tabernacle, to see it in secret
as I have seen it in the solemn assembly." Note, When we are
deprived of the benefit of public ordinances we should desire and
endeavour to keep up the same communion with God in our retirements
that we have had in the great congregation. A closet may be turned
into a little sanctuary. Ezekiel had the visions of the Almighty in
Babylon, and John in the isle of Patmos. When we are alone we may
have the Father with us, and that is enough. (2.) "To see it again
in the sanctuary as I have formerly seen it there." He longs to be
brought out of the wilderness, not that he might see his friends
again and be restored to the pleasures and gaieties of the court,
but that he might have access to the sanctuary, not to see the
priests there, and the ceremony of the worship, but <i>to see thy
power and glory</i> (that is, thy glorious power, or thy powerful
glory, which is put for all God's attributes and perfections),
"that I may increase in my acquaintance with them and have the
agreeable impressions of them made upon my heart"—so to <i>behold
the glory of the Lord</i> as to <i>be changed into the same
image,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.3.18" parsed="|2Cor|3|18|0|0" passage="2Co 3:18">2 Cor. iii. 18</scripRef>.
"That I may see thy power and glory," he does not say, as I have
seen them, but "as I have seen <i>thee.</i>" We cannot see the
essence of God, but we see him in seeing by faith his attributes
and perfections. These sights David here pleases himself with the
remembrance of. Those were precious minutes which he spent in
communion with God; he loved to think them over again; these he
lamented the loss of, and longed to be restored to. Note, That
which has been the delight and is the desire of gracious souls, in
their attendance on solemn ordinances, is to see God and his power
and glory in them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.lxiv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.3-Ps.63.6" parsed="|Ps|63|3|63|6" passage="Ps 63:3-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.63.3-Ps.63.6">
<h4 id="Ps.lxiv-p9.4">Joyful Praises.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lxiv-p10">3 Because thy lovingkindness <i>is</i> better
than life, my lips shall praise thee.   4 Thus will I bless
thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.   5 My
soul shall be satisfied as <i>with</i> marrow and fatness; and my
mouth shall praise <i>thee</i> with joyful lips:   6 When I
remember thee upon my bed, <i>and</i> meditate on thee in the
<i>night</i> watches.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p11">How soon are David's complaints and prayers
turned into praises and thanksgivings! After <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.1-Ps.63.2" parsed="|Ps|63|1|63|2" passage="Ps 63:1,2">two verses</scripRef> that express his desire in
seeking God, here are some that express his joy and satisfaction in
having found him. Faithful prayers may quickly be turned into
joyful praises, if it be not our own fault. <i>Let the hearts of
those rejoice that seek the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.3" parsed="|Ps|105|3|0|0" passage="Ps 105:3">Ps. cv. 3</scripRef>), and let them praise him for
working those desires in them, and giving them assurance that he
will satisfy them. David was now in a wilderness, and yet had his
heart much enlarged in blessing God. Even in affliction we need not
want matter for praise, if we have but a heart to it. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p12">I. What David will praise God for
(<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.3" parsed="|Ps|63|3|0|0" passage="Ps 63:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Because
thy lovingkindness is better than life,</i> than <i>lives,</i> life
and all the comforts of life, life in its best estate, long life
and prosperity. God's lovingkindness is in itself, and in the
account of all the saints, better than life. It is our spiritual
life, and that is better than temporal life, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.5" parsed="|Ps|30|5|0|0" passage="Ps 30:5">Ps. xxx. 5</scripRef>. It is better, a thousand times, to
die in God's favour than to live under his wrath. David in the
wilderness finds, by comfortable experience, that God's
lovingkindness is better than life; and <i>therefore</i> (says he)
<i>my lips shall praise thee.</i> Note, Those that have their
hearts refreshed with the tokens of God's favour ought to have them
enlarged in his praises. A great deal of reason we have to bless
God that we have better provisions and better possessions than the
wealth of this world can afford us, and that in the service of God,
and in communion with him, we have better employments and better
enjoyments than we can have in the business and converse of this
world.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p13">II. How he will praise God, and how long,
<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.4" parsed="|Ps|63|4|0|0" passage="Ps 63:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. He resolves to
live a life of thankfulness to God and dependence on him. Observe,
1. His manner of blessing God: "<i>Thus will I bless thee,</i> thus
as I have now begun; the present devout affections shall not pass
away, like the morning cloud, but shine more and more, like the
morning sun." Or, "I will bless thee with the same earnestness and
fervency with which I have prayed to thee." 2. His continuance and
perseverance therein: <i>I will bless thee while I live.</i> Note,
Praising God must be the work of our whole lives; we must always
retain a grateful sense of his former favours and repeat our
thanksgivings for them. We must every day give thanks to him for
the benefits with which we are daily loaded. We must in every thing
give thanks, and not be put out of frame for this duty by any of
the afflictions of this present time. Whatever days we live to see,
how dark and cloudy soever, though the days come of which we say,
<i>We have no pleasure in them,</i> yet still every day must be a
thanksgiving-day, even to our dying-day. In this work we must spend
our time because in this work we hope to spend a blessed eternity.
3. His constant regard to God upon all occasions, which should
accompany his praises of him: <i>I will lift up my hands in thy
name.</i> We must have an eye to God's name (to all that by which
he has made himself known) in all our prayers and praises, which we
are taught to begin with,—<i>Hallowed be thy name,</i> and to
conclude with,—<i>Thine is the glory.</i> This we must have an eye
to in our work and warfare; we must lift up our hands to our duty
and against our special enemies in God's name, that is, in the
strength of his Spirit and grace, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.71.16 Bible:Zech.10.12" parsed="|Ps|71|16|0|0;|Zech|10|12|0|0" passage="Ps 71:16,Zec 10:12">Ps. lxxi. 16; Zech. x. 12</scripRef>. We must
make all our vows in God's name; to him we must engage ourselves
and in a dependence upon his grace. And when we lift up the hands
that hang down, in comfort and joy, it must be in God's name; from
him our comforts must be fetched, and to him they must be devoted.
<i>In thee do we boast all the day long.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p14">III. With what pleasure and delight he
would praise God, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.5" parsed="|Ps|63|5|0|0" passage="Ps 63:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. 1. With inward complacency: <i>My soul shall be
satisfied as with marrow and fatness,</i> not only as with bread,
which is nourishing, but as with marrow, which is pleasant and
delicious, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.6" parsed="|Isa|25|6|0|0" passage="Isa 25:6">Isa. xxv. 6</scripRef>.
David hopes he shall return again to the enjoyment of God's
ordinances, and then he shall thus be satisfied, and the more for
his having been for a time under restraint. Or, if not, yet in
God's loving kindness, and in conversing with him in solitude, he
shall be thus satisfied. Note, There is that in a gracious God, and
in communion with him, which gives abundant satisfaction to a
gracious soul, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.36.8 Bible:Ps.65.4" parsed="|Ps|36|8|0|0;|Ps|65|4|0|0" passage="Ps 36:8,65:4">Ps. xxxvi. 8; lxv.
4</scripRef>. And there is that in a gracious soul which takes
abundant satisfaction in God and communion with him. The saints
have a contentment with God; they desire no more than his favour to
make them happy: and they have a transcendent complacency in God,
in comparison with which all the delights of sense are sapless and
without relish, as puddle-water in comparison with the wine of this
consolation. 2. With outward expressions of this satisfaction; he
will praise God <i>with joyful lips.</i> He will praise him, (1.)
Openly. His mouth and lips shall praise God. When with the heart
man believes and is thankful, with the mouth confession must be
made of both, to the glory of God; not that the performances of the
mouth are accepted without the heart (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.15.8" parsed="|Matt|15|8|0|0" passage="Mt 15:8">Matt. xv. 8</scripRef>), but out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth must speak (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.45.1" parsed="|Ps|45|1|0|0" passage="Ps 45:1">Ps. xlv.
1</scripRef>), both for the exciting of our own devout affections
and for the edification of others. (2.) Cheerfully. We must praise
God with joyful lips; we must address ourselves to that and other
duties of religion with great cheerfulness, and speak forth the
praises of God from a principle of holy joy. Praising lips must be
joyful lips.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p15">IV. How he would entertain himself with
thoughts of God when he was most retired (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.6" parsed="|Ps|63|6|0|0" passage="Ps 63:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): I will praise thee <i>when I
remember thee upon my bed.</i> We must praise God upon every
remembrance of him. Now that David was shut out from public
ordinances he abounded the more in secret communion with God, and
so did something towards making up his loss. Observe here, 1. How
David employed himself in thinking of God. God was in all his
thoughts, which is the reverse of the wicked man's character,
<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.10.4" parsed="|Ps|10|4|0|0" passage="Ps 10:4">Ps. x. 4</scripRef>. The thoughts of
God were ready to him: "<i>I remember thee;</i> that is, when I go
to think, I find thee at my right hand, present to my mind." This
subject should first offer itself, as that which we cannot forget
or overlook. And they were fixed in him: "<i>I meditate on
thee.</i>" Thoughts of God must not be transient thoughts, passing
through the mind, but abiding thoughts, dwelling in the mind. 2.
When David employed himself thus—<i>upon his bed</i> and in the
night-watches. David was now wandering and unsettled, but, wherever
he came, he brought his religion along with him. Upon my
<i>beds</i> (so some); being hunted by Saul, he seldom lay two
nights together in the same bed; but wherever he lay, if, as Jacob,
upon the cold ground and with a stone for his pillow, good thoughts
of God lay down with him. David was so full of business all day,
shifting for his own safety, that he had scarcely leisure to apply
himself solemnly to religious exercises, and therefore, rather than
want time for them, he denied himself his necessary sleep. He was
now in continual peril of his life, so that we may suppose care and
fear many a time held his eyes waking and gave him wearisome
nights; but then he entertained and comforted himself with thoughts
of God. Sometimes we find David in tears upon his bed (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.6.6" parsed="|Ps|6|6|0|0" passage="Ps 6:6">Ps. vi. 6</scripRef>), but thus he wiped away his
tears. When sleep departs from our eyes (through pain, or sickness
of body, or any disturbance in the mind) our souls, by remembering
God, may be at ease, and repose themselves. Perhaps an hour's pious
meditation will do us more good than an hour's sleep would have
done. See <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.7 Bible:Ps.17.3 Bible:Ps.4.4 Bible:Ps.119.62" parsed="|Ps|16|7|0|0;|Ps|17|3|0|0;|Ps|4|4|0|0;|Ps|119|62|0|0" passage="Ps 16:7,17:3,Ps 4:4,119:62">Ps. xvi.
7; xvii. 3; iv. 4; cxix. 62</scripRef>. There were night-watches
kept in the tabernacle for praising God (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.134.1" parsed="|Ps|134|1|0|0" passage="Ps 134:1">Ps. cxxxiv. 1</scripRef>), in which, probably, David,
when he had liberty, joined with the Levites; and now that he could
not keep place with them he kept time with them, and wished himself
among them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.lxiv-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.7-Ps.63.11" parsed="|Ps|63|7|63|11" passage="Ps 63:7-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.63.7-Ps.63.11">
<h4 id="Ps.lxiv-p15.7">Confidence in God; David Triumphing in
Hope.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lxiv-p16">7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in
the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.   8 My soul followeth
hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.   9 But those
<i>that</i> seek my soul, to destroy <i>it,</i> shall go into the
lower parts of the earth.   10 They shall fall by the sword:
they shall be a portion for foxes.   11 But the king shall
rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the
mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p17">David, having expressed his desires towards
God and his praises of him, here expresses his confidence in him
and his joyful expectations from him (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.7" parsed="|Ps|63|7|0|0" passage="Ps 63:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>In the shadow of thy wings I
will rejoice,</i> alluding either to the wings of the cherubim
stretched out over the ark of the covenant, between which God is
said to dwell ("I will rejoice in thy oracles, and in covenant and
communion with thee"), or to the wings of a fowl, under which the
helpless young ones have shelter, as the eagle's young ones
(<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.19.4 Bible:Deut.32.11" parsed="|Exod|19|4|0|0;|Deut|32|11|0|0" passage="Ex 19:4,De 32:11">Exod. xix. 4, Deut. xxxii.
11</scripRef>), which speaks the divine power, and the young ones
of the common hen (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.37" parsed="|Matt|23|37|0|0" passage="Mt 23:37">Matt. xxiii.
37</scripRef>), which speaks more of divine tenderness. It is a
phrase often used in the psalms (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.8 Bible:Ps.36.7 Bible:Ps.57.1 Bible:Ps.61.4 Bible:Ps.91.4" parsed="|Ps|17|8|0|0;|Ps|36|7|0|0;|Ps|57|1|0|0;|Ps|61|4|0|0;|Ps|91|4|0|0" passage="Ps 17:8,36:7,57:1,61:4,91:4">Ps. xvii. 8; xxxvi. 7; lvii. 1; lxi.
4; xci. 4</scripRef>), and no where else in this sense, except
<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.2.12" parsed="|Ruth|2|12|0|0" passage="Ru 2:12">Ruth ii. 12</scripRef>, where Ruth,
when she became a proselyte, is said to <i>trust under the wings of
the God of Israel.</i> It is our duty to <i>rejoice in the shadow
of God's wings,</i> which denotes our recourse to him by faith and
prayer, as naturally as the chickens, when they are cold or
frightened, run by instinct under the wings of the hen. It
intimates also our reliance upon him as able and ready to help us
and our refreshment and satisfaction in his care and protection.
Having committed ourselves to God, we must be easy and pleased, and
quiet from the fear of evil. Now let us see further,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p18">I. What were the supports and
encouragements of David's confidence in God. Two things were as
props to that hope which the word of God was the only foundation
of:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p19">1. His former experiences of God's power in
relieving him: "<i>Because thou hast been my help</i> when other
helps and helpers failed me, therefore I will still rejoice in thy
salvation, will trust in thee for the future, and will do it with
delight and holy joy. Thou hast been not only my helper, but my
help;" for we could never have helped ourselves, nor could any
creature have been helpful to us, but by him. Here we may set up
our Ebenezer, saying, <i>Hitherto the Lord has helped us,</i> and
must therefore resolve that we will never desert him, never
distrust him, nor ever droop in our walking with him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p20">2. The present sense he had of God's grace
carrying him on in these pursuits (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.8" parsed="|Ps|63|8|0|0" passage="Ps 63:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>My soul follows hard after
thee,</i> which speaks a very earnest desire and a serious vigorous
endeavour to keep up communion with God; if we cannot always have
God in our embraces, yet we must always have him in our eye,
reaching forth towards him as our prize, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.3.14" parsed="|Phil|3|14|0|0" passage="Php 3:14">Phil. iii. 14</scripRef>. To press hard after God is to
follow him closely, as those that are afraid of losing the sight of
him, and to follow him swiftly, as those that long to be with him.
This David did, and he owns, to the glory of God, <i>Thy right hand
upholds me.</i> God upheld him, (1.) Under his afflictions, that he
might not sink under them. <i>Underneath are the everlasting
arms.</i> (2.) In his devotions. God upheld him in his holy desires
and pursuits, that he might not grow weary in well-doing. Those
that follow hard after God would soon fail and faint if God's right
hand did not uphold them. It is he that strengthens us in the
pursuit of him, quickens our good affections, and comforts us while
we have not yet attained what we are in the pursuit of. It is by
the power of God (that is his right hand) that we are kept from
falling. Now this was a great encouragement to the psalmist to hope
that he would, in due time, give him that which he so earnestly
desired, because he had by his grace wrought in him those desires
and kept them up.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p21">II. What it was that David triumphed in the
hopes of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p22">1. That his enemies should be ruined,
<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.9-Ps.63.10" parsed="|Ps|63|9|63|10" passage="Ps 63:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>. There
were those that <i>sought his soul to destroy it,</i> not only his
life (which they struck at, both to prevent his coming to the crown
and because they envied and hated him for his wisdom, piety, and
usefulness), but his soul, which they sought to destroy by
banishing him from God's ordinances, which are the nourishment and
support of the soul (so doing what they could to starve it), and by
sending him to serve other gods, so doing what they could to poison
it, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.26.19" parsed="|1Sam|26|19|0|0" passage="1Sa 26:19">1 Sam. xxvi. 19</scripRef>. But
he foresees and foretels, (1.) That they shall <i>go into the lower
parts of the earth,</i> to the grave, to hell; their enmity to
David would be their death and their damnation, their ruin, their
eternal ruin. (2.) That they shall fall by the sword, by the sword
of God's wrath and his justice, by the sword of man, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.19.28-Job.19.29" parsed="|Job|19|28|19|29" passage="Job 19:28,29">Job xix. 28, 29</scripRef>. They shall die a
violent death, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.13.10" parsed="|Rev|13|10|0|0" passage="Re 13:10">Rev. xiii.
10</scripRef>. This was fulfilled in Saul, who fell by the sword,
his own sword; David foretold this, yet he would not execute it
when it was in the power of his hand, once and again; for precepts,
not prophecies, are our rule. (3.) That <i>they shall be a portion
for foxes;</i> either their dead bodies shall be a prey to ravenous
beasts (Saul lay a good while unburied) or their houses and estates
shall be a habitation for wild beasts, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.34.14" parsed="|Isa|34|14|0|0" passage="Isa 34:14">Isa. xxxiv. 14</scripRef>. Such as this will be the
doom of Christ's enemies, that oppose his kingdom and interest in
the world; <i>Bring them forth and slay them before me,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Luke.19.27" parsed="|Luke|19|27|0|0" passage="Lu 19:27">Luke xix. 27</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxiv-p23">2. That he himself should gain his point at
last (<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.11" parsed="|Ps|63|11|0|0" passage="Ps 63:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), that
he should be advanced to the throne to which he had been anointed:
<i>The king shall rejoice in God.</i> (1.) He calls himself <i>the
king,</i> because he knew himself to be so in the divine purpose
and designation; thus Paul, while yet in the conflict, writes
himself <i>more than a conqueror,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.37" parsed="|Rom|8|37|0|0" passage="Ro 8:37">Rom. viii. 37</scripRef>. Believers are made kings,
though they are not to have the dominion till the morning of the
resurrection. (2.) He doubts not but that though he was now sowing
in tears he should reap in joy. <i>The king shall rejoice.</i> (3.)
He resolves to make God the Alpha and Omega of all his joys. He
shall <i>rejoice in God.</i> Now this is applicable to the glories
and joys of the exalted Redeemer. Messiah the Prince shall rejoice
in God; he has already entered into the joy set before him, and his
glory will be completed at his second coming. Two things would be
the good effect of David's advancement:—[1.] It would be the
consolation of his friends. <i>Every one that swears to him</i>
(that is, to David), that comes into his interest and takes an oath
of allegiance to him, <i>shall glory</i> in his success; or
<i>every one that swears by him</i> (that is, by the blessed name
of God, and not by any idol, <scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.6.13" parsed="|Deut|6|13|0|0" passage="De 6:13">Deut. vi.
13</scripRef>), and then it means all good people, that make a
sincere and open profession of God's name; they shall glory in God;
they shall glory in David's advancement. <i>Those that fear thee
will be glad when they see me.</i> Those that heartily espouse the
cause of Christ shall glory in its victory at last. <i>If we suffer
with him, we shall reign with him.</i> [2.] It would be the
confutation of his enemies: <i>The mouth of those that speak
lies,</i> of Saul, and Doeg, and others that misrepresented David
and insulted over him, as if his cause was desperate, <i>shall
be</i> quite <i>stopped;</i> they shall not have one word more to
say against him, but will be for ever silenced and shamed. Apply
this to Christ's enemies, to those that speak lies to him, as all
hypocrites do, that tell him they love him while their hearts are
not with him; their mouth shall be stopped with that word, <i>I
know you not whence you are;</i> they shall be for ever speechless,
<scripRef id="Ps.lxiv-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.22.12" parsed="|Matt|22|12|0|0" passage="Mt 22:12">Matt. xxii. 12</scripRef>. The mouths
of those also that speak lies against him, that <i>pervert the
right ways of the Lord</i> and speak ill of his holy religion, will
be stopped in that day when the Lord shall come to reckon for all
the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Christ's second coming will be the everlasting triumph of all his
faithful friends and followers, who may therefore now triumph in
the believing hopes of it.</p>
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