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 Eeti* jfreOerick La Eue Ifting 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 In which is given a 
 Biographical Sketch of the author, by his brother, and a 
 number of interesting Monographs, written by him- 
 self, and all fully substantiating the claim 
 that he was singularly well equipped 
 to write a commentary on the 
 Psalter. 
 
 Printed (not published) by 
 M., W. & C. PENNYPACKER, 
 
 ASBURY PARK, N. J. 
 
Jforetoorb* 
 
 We would be thankful and happy if our readers could 
 assure us that we were successful in the effort to blend into 
 the unity of a mosaic painting, the Biographical Sketch of 
 Rev. Frederick La Rue King, the many interesting mono- 
 graphs by Mr. King, and the commentary on Selected 
 Psalms, with a true logical connection between all these 
 parts constituting one book. This was a difficult thing to 
 accomplish, but God's grace was equal to the task we trust. 
 Those interested in my brother's work, may regret that he 
 did not give to the Christian public a complete analysis of 
 the Psalter. Such are not aware that for forty or more 
 years he labored on the Psalms, but, that owing to chronic 
 illness, his labor of love was intermittent. Therefore it was, 
 that in several places we were forced to supplement his 
 work with additions of our own, and for this we offer the 
 apology of necessity. 
 
 Our friends will notice, that from the title page, this 
 book is only printed, and not published, by the Pennypacker 
 Bros., of Asbury Park, N. J. This affords us an oppor- 
 tunity to say several things. 
 
 ( 1 ) We have had printed only the small edition of 
 six hundred copies. Of these as many as 450 or 500 copies 
 are already disposed of, leaving only one hundred and fifty 
 copies for sale to those who may wish to purchase them. 
 
 If the demand for extra copies should warrant it, an- 
 other edition will be printed. 
 
 (2) If any responsible party should desire permission 
 to publish this entire book or any portion of it, even if no 
 more than a single monograph, he is invited to correspond 
 
^electeD psalms anD ^onograp&s 
 
 with the collator and editor of this volume, whose address 
 will be the Rev. Albert B. King, care M., W. & C. 
 Pennypacker, Asbury Park, N. J., U. S. A. 
 
 MONOGRAPHS. 
 
 Which prove that the late Rev. Frederick La Rue King was-' 
 endowed with exceptionally great ability for the difficult 
 work of expounding the Davidic Psalms. 
 
 The work is difficult, simply because it is difficult to 
 find a man who can fully sympathize with David's 
 utterances. 
 
 Because of this, many commentators who lived in the 
 past, and have said many true and good words about the 
 Psalms, have, as a rule, failed to penetrate to the core of 
 things. One of the last generation of expositors, speaks for 
 many of his brethren as truly as for himself, when at the end 
 of his comment on the Psalter, he exclaims, in substance, as 
 he throws aside his pen, "There, I have made a finish, and 
 what have I done more than my predecessors, in adding 
 to the shelves of libraries, another commentary of doubtful 
 value?" 
 
 Turning from these, we venture to attempt to exhibit 
 to our readers the proof that the Rev. Frederick La Rue 
 King was endowed with exceptionally great ability for the 
 work of expounding the Davidic Psalms. 
 
 PROOF FROM HIS MONOGRAPHS. 
 
 I. David was, from early childhood to the close of 
 life, pre-eminent in a trustful, enthusiastic worship of God, 
 and delight in His presence. 
 
 This was eminently true of Mr. King, as shown in the 
 
 (A) Biographical Sketch of Rev. Frederick LaRue 
 King, by his brother; and also in the 
 
 (B) Sermon on Election. 
 
Eetn jFreDerick JLa Eue &itijj 
 
 II. David had a poetical and musical nature. So 
 had Mr. King. The proof of this is seen in 
 
 (A) The Sistine Madonna. 
 
 (B) Lying Awake All Night. 
 
 (C) Sonnet. 
 
 (D) Dies Irae. 
 
 (E) Paraphrase of Psalm XIX. 
 
 III. Intuitional elements of David's intellectual activ- 
 ity are equally conspicuous in Mr. King's writings. 
 
 (A) Letter. Imprecatory Psalms. How to justify 
 them. 
 
 (B) Letter. Trusting where we cannot see. 
 
 (C) Christian Science. 
 
 (D) Sub-Conscious Christianity. 
 
 (E) Infant Baptism. 
 
 (F) What mean ye by this service, rendered in 
 coming to the Lord's Supper? 
 
 Comments on Selected Psalms 1 9, 22, 36, 5 1 , 
 101, 116, 120, 119. 
 
 ALBERT B. KING. 
 
piograpfjical ^feetti) 
 
 . . of . . 
 
 iftrtn jFreDerick La Iftue &ing 
 
 Frederick La Rue King was born in Morristown, New 
 Jersey, January 2nd, 1 823. A brief outline of his life would 
 inform us that Mr. King's ancestors for many generations, 
 and on both his father's and mother's side, were consecrated 
 children of God, and as to nationality were English Puritans, 
 French Huguenots, and Dutch Calvinists, — that this mingled 
 blood of the martyrs, whilst transmitting moral qualities and 
 forces, was supplemented and controlled by the renewing, 
 converting and sanctifying grace of God's Spirit, causing his 
 body, in the tender years of childhood to become a temple of 
 God," so that he could say, "I have always loved God," — 
 that for seventy-six years, beginning with the child of seven, 
 he suffered a "thousand deaths" from asthma, complicated 
 in later years with bronchitis, heart trouble and other organic 
 diseases, which justifies us in speaking of his life as being lived 
 in a furnace, — of varying heat, it is true, but whose fires were 
 never quite extinguished, — that, notwithstanding the fact of 
 being so heavily handicapped in the race of life, Mr. King 
 was enabled to graduate with credit from Princeton Univer- 
 sity in 1 844, and while pursuing his theological studies, 
 taught Latin, History and Rhetoric in that University, so 
 that to this day surviving students of the classes he taught 
 speak of him in terms of honor and grateful love. But work 
 as a teacher, as truly as work as a student, was chiefly pre- 
 paratory to that of Pastor and Preacher, for which his heart 
 yearned. 
 
 In 1855 he began his Gospel Ministry, and labored 
 with success at Hudson City, Wyoming Valley and Stony 
 Point, a ministry which was continued and highly prized by 
 
2 Selected Psalms anD ^onograpjjs 
 
 his adult church membership, and especially by the children, 
 until asthma blocked the wheels of his activity. Notwith- 
 standing the brevity of these pastorates, these same children, 
 now adults, assure me of the great profit he was to their 
 souls, and that even now his influence is by no means a spent 
 force. 
 
 The complication of pulmonary diseases, heart trouble, 
 and other "thorns in the flesh" drove him from place to place 
 for relief, but the relief was never more than temporary. 
 Eventually all these physical enemies took on chronic forms, 
 which were so persistent, that no longer could he enter a 
 pulpit. 
 
 Then came a new departure in the unceasing search for 
 health and new ways of serving God. Thus it came about 
 that he and his true-hearted and self-sacrificing sister went to 
 Europe; and there they lived for twenty ?years, until his good 
 angel in the flesh was "Caught up to Heaven" to receive her 
 reward, and her saddened brother returned to the United 
 States. But before his return, and for many years our be- 
 loved brother joyfully discovered and used in Europe oppor- 
 tunities for Christian service. In churches located in the vari- 
 ous countries of Europe by American and British Protestants 
 he acted as Elder and Trustee. Also his influence as an 
 Evangelical Christian made itself felt among the guests in 
 those hotels which sheltered him. But of all agencies he em- 
 ployed to witness to the preciousness of Christ as our Jesus, 
 letter writing was the most efficient. Lack of space must ex- 
 clude all but a few inadequate samples, of the many letters 
 he wrote. 
 Dear 
 
 I am glad you are reading "The Secret of a Happy 
 Life," by Mrs. Smith. You ask what I think of the chapter 
 on the Divine Union. I must own that it leaves much to be 
 desired in the way of exposition, but I think she holds the 
 right view. She says, page 222, "No one can be in Christ 
 who is not Christ-like." That looks as if she thought that to be 
 
Eeto* jFreDerick JLa Iftue &in& 3 
 
 "in Christ" and to be "Christ-like" were one and the same. 
 On page 221 she says that "even the weakest and most failing 
 believer in Christ" may have the Divine Union, — or in other 
 words, the vital relation may have been established by regen- 
 eration while not, as yet, vital possession has been secured by 
 sancification. She sums up the matter well on page 223. 
 "Oneness with Christ means being made partakers of His 
 nature," "as well as of his life, for nature and life are of 
 course one." That means that nature is bound to result in a 
 living that is in accordance with itself. Wonderful truth! It 
 cost me years of study and brooding to make myself master 
 of it, and now that I am master of it, I find that that does 
 not make me one with Christ. No, I must feel after Him 
 and find Him. I must take Him as he is offered. I must act 
 out the life of Christ in order to ge'„ the life of Christ in me. 
 Paradox, but yet how true. 
 
 Dear 
 
 This morning I was very much struck with the words 
 (Eph. 2: 3rd and 4th) "But God, who is rich in mercy, for 
 his great love with which he loved us, even when we were 
 dead in sins, "hath quickened us, etc." The fact of 
 God's loving us when we were dead in sins, im- 
 pressed me as it had not done before. We are bound 
 to be saved, we can not help ourselves, the King wills it, 
 and who can gainsay Him? Who can get from 
 under the blue sky? God's love is like that mighty dome 
 which we cannot get away from. Trench expresses this idea 
 somewhere very beautifully. What a thought! Imprisoned 
 in God's love, adamantine bolts and bars around us; we 
 cannot break one, nor can any one break in to pluck us out. 
 Who shall measure His words, when He speaks of such 
 things? — Captives of love — a hopeless captivity — we are 
 never to be ransomed. We must make up our minds to an 
 eternity of joy. 
 
 Not by toil and hard climbing do we attain to the 
 eternal home. The City which has the foundations descends 
 
4 ©elected p*alms and ^onogtapbs 
 
 to us out of Heaven. And if any one should ask me when 
 I am a dweller in that place, — 'Why are you here?' I ca» 
 say, because I am my Father's son. I have inherited it. I 
 am fully authorized to say that (John 1 :1 2.) 
 
 The Highest looked down, and behold, we were "the 
 captives of the Mighty and the prey of the Terrible." "If 
 I will, who can resist?" said the King, and at the word our 
 shackles fell away. We did not deliver ourselves. The 
 blessed One said, "I came down from heaven to do the will 
 of my Father in heaven." We had no toil. Do the trees 
 toil when the soft spring air breathes upon them and their 
 leaves start forth? 
 
 "And I grew restless as I heard, 
 Restless and buoyant as a bird 
 Down vast aerial currents sailing — 
 Yielding and bowing I knew not whither, 
 But feeling resistance unavailing." 
 
 It was easy for me, but for Him, the Blessed One, it 
 was hard, hard, hard, — "By Thine agony and Bloody 
 Sweat, by Thy Cross and Passion." 
 
 When will the time come that I so long for, when we, 
 who perforce stand so much aloof from His sorrow, will at 
 last understand it. Oh! will we not shout "Unto Him who 
 loved us and washed us from our sins in His blood! We 
 will then have the tongue of angels, and be able to speak of 
 these things. 
 
 The following was found in a corner of my brother's 
 trunk after his decease. It now sees the light for the first 
 time. It is a specimen of his graceful multum-in-parvo style. 
 The title we furnished ourselves. 
 
 CHRISTIAN LIVING, DYING; 
 
 CHRISTIAN DYING, LIVING. 
 
 Lord, I desire to die, in order that I may live; I desire 
 to live in order that I may die. Thou commandest me to live, 
 and to bring forth the works of life, and I cannot unless Thou 
 
ftefc* jFce&etick La Eue i&ing 5 
 
 quickenest me. Thou commandest me to die, and I cannot 
 shake off this body of sin and corruption. Slay the old man 
 within me this day. Take away this my life, which is death, 
 and bring me that death which is life. I cast myself upon 
 Thee. I am willing to be what Thou wilt. Work this 
 great change within me, and within those who are near and 
 dear to me, and Thine shaD be the glory. 
 
 In tracing the biography of any good man the most im- 
 portant question asked is this — "What was the outcome of 
 all the training and grace received, as respects character and 
 deed?" 
 
 We once called our brother's attention to the fact of his 
 well-nigh universal popularity. Whilst he could not deny it, 
 he expressed his astonishment that any one could find in him 
 anything to admire and love. And as he said this, his face 
 expressed child-like wonder, innocence, and absence of all 
 self-conscious egotism. I told him, with a smile, that proba- 
 bly I had discovered the secret of his popularity. Shall I 
 not make you, my reader, to share in my knowledge? He 
 was popular (as I told him) because he gave with sympa- 
 thetic generosity that very thing most needed by the recipient. 
 His sympr ihy was so sincere, so deep, so painfully intense at 
 times, that frequently we withheld from his ears the recital of 
 our own little losses, sorrows and soul testings, that we might 
 not add sorrow to his sorrow. 
 
 But many drank large draughts at the ever-flowing 
 spring of his compassionate love, — not realizing that often 
 his distress for them exceeded their distress for themselves. 
 
 To sympathy for distress, he added that which is pecu- 
 liarly acceptable to the wretched, confidence in the truthful- 
 ness of their narratives. His capacity to trust people some- 
 times amazed those better acquainted with the dark side of 
 human nature. He has been heard to say, "The man who 
 wants me most is the man to whom I give myself the 
 quickest." 
 
 Was he not often deceived by the selfish and ungrateful? 
 
6 Selected psalms ano c^onograplrs 
 
 Not often, — yet sometimes he may have been imposed upon. 
 But more frequently his pride-debasing humility sank him 
 below the level of men whom he knew to be unworthy in 
 character yet needing releif; and so, because he received 
 freely of the things he did not deserve, he freely gave in turn 
 to his undeserving brethren. 
 
 To love others as he loved himself, he regarded as only 
 second to the great duty and privilege of loving the Supreme 
 Father with "all his soul, with all his mind, with all his 
 heart, and with all his strength." But I heard him once say, 
 reproaching himself, "How difficult it is to love some people." 
 And yet he seemed to love all with either approval or pity. 
 
 To the gifts of loving sympathy and truthfulness, he was 
 known to friends as possessing a well-balanced endowment of 
 all the intellectual and moral faculties. 
 
 He was many sided. He was not largely developed as 
 a mathematician, and yet a problem which could not be 
 solved by other teachers yielded its secret to his patient in- 
 vestigation. 
 
 His were the characteristics of a great scholar. His mind 
 was gifted with continuity of thought and power to absoio 
 himself in the subject pursued, excluding the irrelevant. 
 When only a boy it was often necessary to shake him by the 
 shoulder to awaken him from the scenes depicted in the book 
 he was reading. 
 
 His memory was so retentive that without committing 
 to memory he could repeat the long poems of Sir Walter 
 Scott and Milton's Paradise Lost from simply reading them 
 over. He could repeat long articles and hymns from reading 
 them but once. His great memory stored his mind with 
 abundance of knowledge when but a boy. Yet he was not 
 a sponge or an echo ; but better a living tree, self-rooted, and 
 fruit-bearing. 
 
 One afternoon, returning from school, the town Post- 
 master stood at his door, and said, "Frederick, read for me 
 the address upon this letter." And when Frederick de- 
 
Eeth jFreOerick JLa Eue Mm 1 
 
 clared his inability to do so, surprise was expressed, and he 
 was told, "Why, they all told me you knew everything." 
 
 The studious boy was father to the greater adult scholar. 
 His friends did not stop to analyze the elements of the loving 
 admiration with which they regarded him, but his learning 
 and thought had weight with them. So did his morals and 
 religion. His brother says, that from boyhood up he never 
 heard him say a vile, wicked word. 
 
 Doubtless he was kept from flagrant sin through dwell- 
 ing in the holy presence of his Creator-Father, with whom 
 he communed all the day long. This would explain the fact 
 that one of his friends remarked that his was the "Whitest 
 soul she was ever acquainted with." This may also explain 
 his wonderful personal influence upon all who approached 
 him. His frail body was a temple of the Holy spirit, so that 
 in a limited sense there went out from this living sanctuary, 
 as from our blessed Lord, healing virtue to those who came 
 in touch with him. 
 
 At the beginning of his ministry there lived within the 
 bounds of his congregation a woman who was a Spiritist, 
 beset by demons seeking to lead her into perdition. When 
 sick Mr. King visited her, and the woman was heard to say 
 that his visits neutralized the evil influence of the Spirits. 
 Such an influence emanated from him all through his life — 
 and, when in October, 1905, he was slowly passing from 
 earth to heaven, a gentleman passing through an oppressively 
 bitter experience declared that he was unmistakably strength- 
 ened by the dying minister's sympathetic spirit. 
 
 But what towered above all other characteristics and 
 experiences of his life was a loving, trustful submission to 
 God's righteous Fatherly will, — Whether He willed sickness 
 or health, ease or pain, weakness or strength, restrictions or 
 abundance, joy or sorrow. The sin of sins in his eyes, was 
 rebellion against the Father's merciful and wise will. An 
 extract from a letter written to me after his death illustrates 
 this abiding love and trust in God. 
 
S ^electee psalms anD a^onogtapfjs 
 
 "One little incident is so characteristic of the nearness of 
 Mr. King's life to the Christ life that I cannot refrain from 
 mentioning it He had been suffering more than usual, had 
 slept but little for many nights. I went n to say 'Good morn- 
 ing,' and found him Sniggling for breath. Without realiz- 
 ing that I was speaking my thought aloud, I said, — 'Oh, it is 
 too hard, too cruel.' A look of p'in greater than that caused 
 by the physical suffering passed over the dear face, and as 
 soon as the difficult breathing would permit, came these 
 words, — 'Never say or think that again, dear; it hurts me 
 more than all the pain. I am better now, and it is all right; 
 our Father knows what each of His children needs.' 
 
 He had many friends who regarded him as a great 
 saint, and their hearts would say to us, "Mark this Perfect 
 man," and a Roman Catholic of great learning and social 
 eminence in the Old Church, was heard to call him "a 
 saint." 
 
 Nevertheless, we regard it as the crowning excellence 
 of his character, that he was profoundly humble and free from 
 the injurious vice of proud or vain-glorious egotistical self- 
 consciousness. To intelligent friends, especially to those 
 confessing to the infirmaries of ordinary mortals, this was the 
 charm of all that was charming in the character of the man 
 we are portraying. 
 
 He compared himself not with other men, deprived by 
 circumstances of his talents; but measured himself, as we ail 
 should, by the stature of the One perfect man, — and cried, 
 as we should confess, — "Unclean, unclean. God be merci- 
 ful to me the sinner." 
 
 The following quotation from a letter to an old friend 
 shows how his eager spirit was imprisoned to the very end. 
 
 "Dear 
 
 Until the end bear fruit in old age, be lowly. Pray 
 constantly the prayer of the Publican. And neglect not 
 comunion with God day by day. Praise Him, thank Him, 
 
Eeth jfreOerick iia Bue &tng 9 
 
 and live with Him. As for me, I am full of thanksgiving, 
 and yet have the great trial of seeing to my hand plenty of 
 work that I am prepared to do, and would delight to do, and 
 which I cannot touch with one of ny fingers. I dare not 
 even conduct the weekly meeting for prayer. I have thought 
 something of going to Meadville and consulting Dr. Dewey. 
 I would adopt any regimen that promised to remove this 
 that destroys my life. However, I "despise not the chastise- 
 ment of the Lord," and will not faint though I am "rebuked 
 of Him." It has not separated me from His love, and shall 
 not." 
 
 But through all his trials his soul was fed with the 
 manna of heaven. 
 
 The sacred Scriptures were his constant delight. The 
 active and passive obedience of Christ as his substitute was 
 precious in his eyes, but while he appreciated the glorious 
 deeds of Christ in connection with his first coming, that did 
 not obscure for him the glory of the second coming of Jesus 
 the Messiah to reign with his saints. In accordance with 
 Peter's exhortation he was "looikng for and hastening the 
 coming of the day of God," and according to the promise 
 looking for a "new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness." 
 
 Writing to us of his decease, a mutual friend pays this 
 tribute to his memory: 
 
 "Yesterday, the day following the tidings, was 'All 
 Saints Day,' and he was much in my thoughts, as you can- 
 not doubt. I shall always love to dwell upon his virtues; 
 his uncommon gifts, and culture, his lofty character, his high- 
 toned piety, his courtesy and gentleness, the unfailing cheer- 
 fulness with which he bore his sufferings, and the charm 
 which attached all to him." 
 
 The mortal remains of this dear brother and friend were 
 conveyed to the family burial plot in Morristown, New 
 Jersey. 
 
10 Selected psalms anD ^onograpfjs 
 
 Upon the enduring granite are inscribed these words: 
 
 Rev. Frederick La Rue King. 
 
 Jan. 2, 1823— Oct. 18, 1905. 
 
 "Fallen asleep in Christ." 
 
 "I am the resurrection and the life." 
 
 "I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." 
 
 In closing this Biographical Sketch, we call attention to 
 the fact, that owing to chronic illness his life may be character- 
 ized as being "in deaths often," yet it was not until he reached 
 the ripe age of eighty-three that his soul was gently released 
 from the tabernacle of clay, the fetters of disease struck off; 
 and he who had been so often compelled to serve by standing 
 and waiting, was ushered into the unhindered and untiring 
 activities of the Heavenly life in the presence of his Lord. 
 
 The permission was asked, and granted, by the Rev. 
 A. F. Schauffler, D.D., President of the New York City 
 Mission and Tract Society, to print his private letter to me 
 upon the reception of the sketch of my brother's life, and 
 which was dated April 24th, 1909, and is as follows: 
 
 "I received your little biography of your Godly brother. 
 The picture of him is most life-like, indeed, far more so than 
 most half tones are. The story of his life touched my heait 
 and reminded me of my intercourse with him in St. Moritz 
 years ago. You certainly have not overstated the Christlike- 
 ness of his character. He was one of the Godliest men that it 
 has been my privilege to meet, and I shall, of course, be glad 
 that I saw him and had the privilege of spiritual converse 
 with so sweet a character." 
 
EUto, jFreOerick La I&ue &ing 1 1 
 
 #ob'S (Electing Hobe. 
 
 "For he saith to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I 
 will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will 
 have compassion.'" — Rom. ix; 15. 
 
 Here is a statement of what is called the doctrine of 
 election — a doctrine perhaps more misused than any other re- 
 vealed in the Word of God. Misused in a variety of ways, 
 but especially in one that is a most strange perversion of its 
 real nature and intent. It was given in order that we might 
 be filled with peace and joy and a sense of freedom and lib- 
 erty; but as it is used, its practical effect is to fetter our very 
 souls. It was given that we might once for all see the gates 
 of Heaven set wide open and the whole multitude of man- 
 kind at liberty to enter. It is so misused that we are too apt to 
 conceive those gates as shut and locked with a stern keeper 
 who, though myriads apply for admission, opens the gate 
 only for one here and there. 
 
 This is wrong, and I wish to show that the sovereignty 
 of God in salvation does not contract its scope but enlarges it 
 far beyond our highest conceptions and desires. And until 
 you feel that this is the case, you have not really understood 
 the doctrine of election. 
 
 To merely believe that it is true is not enough, you must 
 be glad that it is true, you must be able to use it for your peace 
 and comfort and joy, or else you are totally ignorant of it. 
 You must not tolerate it merely as you would tolerate a dis- 
 agreeable guest whom you cannot send away; you must 
 warmly welcome and dearly love it. Suppose one of the 
 Esquimaux savages that Dr. Kane saw in the North, who live 
 on flesh wholly, were presented with a loaf of bread. He 
 would know its shape, its color, its smell, its size, its hard- 
 ness, its weight; but what, after all, would he know about 
 
12 Selected psalms ana opcmograpijs 
 
 the loaf till he knew that it was good to eat? So believe me, 
 brethren, we do not know anything about a doctrine until 
 we know what that doctrine will do for us. 
 
 What reason would there be for God's revealing to us 
 a particular class of truths if those truths were not to be of 
 practical spiritual benefit to us? When we see a mother 
 carrying food to her infant, we know that of all the kinds of 
 food that she has, she selects that which it can enjoy and 
 thrive by. And so when God reveals to us divine things in His 
 Word, we may be sure that from all the infinite depths of 
 knowledge. He has selected those truths by which we can 
 profit; and if we do not enjoy and thrive by them, it is either 
 because our hearts are not right, or else the doctrines are not 
 understood. 
 
 "I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and 
 I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion." 
 To the soul that is truly filial and confiding, this doctrine is 
 really the Gospel itself, a wide and grand annunciation of 
 God's mercy to a fallen world; than which no wider or 
 grander could be made. Many methods might be taken to 
 show this. I wish now to present an historical method. I 
 wish to show what this doctrine did for the Church at the 
 three great epochs when it was prominently announced. 
 Three great men, one the greatest Apostle, one the greatest 
 Church Father, one the greatest Protestant theologian, an- 
 nounced this as a most blessed and precious truth. 
 
 My inquiry now is: Why was this truth good news to 
 Paul, and to those for whom he labored? to Augustine and 
 the Church of the fourth century? and to John Calvin and 
 the Church of the sixteenth century? 
 
 The inquiry will then come with some force, Why should 
 it not be precious and blessed to us of the present time? 
 
 First then, Paul not only here, but elsewhere throughout 
 this episde, tells us that God of His own free and sovereign 
 will chooses whom he will save. This is no mere abstract 
 philosophical-theological speculation; it is a practical truth 
 
Rett* jfteOctick 1U Rue Eing 13 
 
 and one which sent a thrill of joy through the hearts of those 
 to whom he preached. 
 
 At the beginning of this epistle you will find that it is 
 addressed "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God." Cir- 
 cumcised or uncircumcised, it made no difference, for all were 
 now called. The old economy might be likened to a tree. 
 For ages had it been putting forth its leaves, for ages had it 
 been blossoming, and now Paul was plucking the ripe fruit 
 from the branches and giving it to the uncircumcision. He 
 was inviting the Gentile, without becoming any the less a 
 Gentile to enter into all the rich results, the priceless blessings 
 of the old dispensation. Oh! how the hard-hearted Jews 
 gnashed their teeth at thd sight! It is almost impossible for 
 us to conceive the horror and rage that filled them when they 
 saw one of their nation taking the lead in promulgating such 
 traitorous views. At Jerusalem, merely upon Paul's saying 
 that Christ, when he saw Him the second time in the Temple, 
 commissioned him to go and preach to the Gentiles, the mul- 
 titude of Jews were transposed with frenzy, threw dust 
 into the air and cried, "Away with such a fellow from the 
 earth, for it is not fit that he should live." 
 
 The truth is that the Jews thought that all the blessings 
 of the covenant with God were as exclusively theirs as any of 
 you regard any piece of property as exclusively yours. They 
 held that the Gentiles could share in these blessings only by 
 becoming one of themselves, by being circumcised and keep- 
 ing the whole ceremonial law. 
 
 As to themselves, they felt perfectly confident. They 
 were Abraham's children, God's covenant was made with 
 Abraham and his seed, and therefore they wete perfectly safe. 
 And in all this the sacred Sciiptures seemed to bear them 
 out. Paul, in the third chapter of Galatians, says, "Now to 
 Abraham and his seed were the promises made." That 
 would go to show that if one were a child of Abraham he 
 would certainly inherit the promises. And see the latter part 
 of the verse, "He saith not seeds as of many (that is of many 
 
14 Selected P0alm$ and af)onogtapi)$ 
 
 races or families), but as of one, and to thy seed." This 
 would seem to exclude the Gentiles, for it distinctly asserted 
 that only the race of Abraham could inherit the promises. 
 Now then, in this state were the Jews confidently expecting 
 their own salvation because of their natural descent, and 
 proudly excluding the Gentiles because of their natural de- 
 scent. They felt assured that God had bound himself by a 
 promise He could not break, to save them all and to deny 
 salvation to the Gentiles. They thought that God existed but 
 for them, that His infinite mercies were to be exhibited only 
 towards them, and the illimitable resources of His power, 
 goodness and love were to be exerted only in their behalf. 
 
 It was to thwart and crush such a sentiment as this that 
 Paul announces the great doctrine of the text that God's will 
 is not bound at all, that He is not obliged to save every Jew 
 or to deny salvation to any Gentile; that no Jew should feel 
 secure, that no Gentile should despair. That no matter what 
 He had promised to Abraham, He was still free to save 
 whom He pleased. "I will have mercy upon whom I will 
 have mercy." 
 
 Suppose in a certain village there were a number of 
 orphans, and a good man had promised to take care of them 
 all; and had built a house with pleasant grounds and every 
 comfort, where; he lived with them. Now, suppose that 
 through the pailings of the fence a little ragged boy from an- 
 other village should wistfully peep and beg of the children 
 who were playing within that he might be admitted, too; 
 and they should say to him, "Away with you! This is for 
 us. The owner has bound himself to keep it for us alone." 
 This would illustrate the position of the Jew and the Gentile. 
 The Jew thought that he possessed all, that the Gentile had 
 nothing. Now, suppose the owner of the house had over- 
 heard what was said and should turn to those who had 
 repulsed the poor little stranger with these words: "I am not 
 bound to keep this place exclusively for you. I can admit 
 whom I please. I will even place this little ragged boy 
 
Eetn jfreDetick La Eue lining 15 
 
 amongst you and let him enjoy all that you enjoy." There 
 we have an illustration of the doctrine of election. Another 
 illustration is the parable of the laborers. Those who came 
 at the eleventh hour received as much as those who had 
 borne the burden and heat of the day. And when the rest 
 murmured, the employer of all said, "Is it not lawful for me 
 to do what I will with mine own? I said that, I would give 
 a penny for the work of a day, but that does not prevent me 
 from giving a penny for the work of an hour or for no work 
 at all." There again is the doctrine of election, which is 
 this, that the loving will of God knows no restrictions, and is 
 in no respect hampered in its exercise. This was the doctrine 
 that like a mighty battering ram assailed the high walls that 
 the Jew had erected around the city of God. It smote 
 them till they rocked to their foundations, till they fell flat and 
 laid the city open on all sides, and then from beside "That 
 fount that flowed fast by the oracle of God," arose the cry 
 of invitation to all the nations of the earth, "Ho, every one 
 that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." "And the Spirit and 
 the Bride say come. And let him that heareth say come. 
 And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let 
 him take of the water of life freely." 
 
 Is there not reason enough why Paul should love this 
 doctrine and make it prominent in his teachings ? 
 
 Three hundred years had rolled away since Paul 
 preached and wrote. The Church had been occupied with 
 many things. She had selected and separated from all other 
 writings the inspired books of the New Testament. She had 
 settled the doctrines with regard to the person of the Saviour, 
 and now she began to study herself. The nature of the 
 remedy which God had provided had hitherto occupied her, 
 now she began to examine the disease. The Church of God 
 at that time was like some of us who, after hearing a great 
 many instructions, and getting a great deal of fancied knowl- 
 edge, suddenly have our attention arrested and our gaze 
 turned upon ourselves, and the evil of our hearts. 
 
16 Selected psalms and 3£onogtap£* 
 
 The fourth century was an age when men were con- 
 vinced of sin, perhaps more than at any time in the history of 
 the human race. 
 
 At this time men everywhere are exerting their facul- 
 ties to the utmost to make transit horn place to place speedy 
 — to have the means of sending intelligence in an instant all 
 over the world, to make machines of great power able to pro- 
 duce the most complicated manufactures. Men are striving 
 for power, everywhere. Now imagine a time when the civ- 
 ilized world with an eagerness and an enthusiasm not unlike 
 that which we see nowadays in materials things was striving, 
 not after power, but to get rid of sin. The busy brain was at 
 work inventing then as now, but not inventing contrivances 
 to develop power but contrivances to wipe away sin from 
 the heart of man. Time would fail were I only to indicate 
 even in the briefest way the schemes and institutions, some of 
 them vaster than anything that we have at the present day, 
 which occupied the attention and made busy the lives of men, 
 and which had for their sole object the purification of men 
 from sin. 
 
 Added to this was a general feeling of desertion 
 by God. The Goths and Vandals were then com- 
 mencing their attacks upon the Roman Empire, 
 and when Rome itself was taken Christian people 
 began to despair. God seemed to be pursuing them 
 for their sins to their utter destruction; the world seemed 
 coming to an end. Now almost always when such an intense 
 feeling pervades the people of a time, this feeling finds its 
 representative in one man who goes through all the conflict 
 that the age is going through, only in an intenser form and 
 who sometimes is permitted to discover and administer a 
 remedy to the disease of the time. 
 
 So was it now. Augustine of Carthage had been a 
 great sinner, and if there was ever a man who had sounded 
 the depths of sin in his heart, he was that man. And no 
 one that ever lived strove more earnestly to purify himself 
 from every taint of sin. 
 
Iftetn jFreDetick La Eue ifting 17 
 
 The most plausible system of the age, the Manichean 
 system, he tried faithfully for years. Vain effort. It was all 
 of no avail. 
 
 He saw clearly that there was nothing in him that 
 could be pleasing to God, and years of struggle had taught 
 him that sin was something too mighty to be battled with; 
 that human nature was forever held fast in its serpent coils; 
 that it reached deep into and tainted the inmost nature of man. 
 Unholy, guilty, helpless, in the power of sin; he was in the 
 presence of Him who pronounced death against the sinner. 
 What was it that drew Augustine out of this horrible pit 
 and miry clay and made him a deliverer to thousands on 
 thousands of his day ; and the stay and support of the Church 
 through the night of ages, till the dawn of the Reformation? 
 It was the doctrine of the text, "I will have mercy upon whom 
 I will have mercy." It was a mercy founded on the arbi- 
 trary will of God that was just suited to Augustine's case. 
 No other mercy could be conceived of when once the 
 soul had conceived of sin. Augustine felt that he 
 needed a mercy that looked for nothing in the sinner; and he 
 found it. And it was through him that the Western Church, 
 before any other church, came to a consciousness of the 
 utterly ruined estate of man by sin, and to the knowledge of 
 the sovereignty of God in salvation. Woe be to us if God 
 is not sovereign in salvation, for He has declared, "The soul 
 that sinneth, it shall die;" and woe be to us if Satan's true 
 accusations can bind God to the punishment of the guilty 
 wretch. But it is not so. Just as the doctrine of election in 
 the time of Paul established the freedom of God to save even 
 a Gentile, so in the time of Augustine the doctrine of election 
 established the freedom of God to save even a sinner. And 
 through the long night of time that followed it was the writ- 
 ings of Augustine that showed to a darkened church that right- 
 eousness and peace had kissed each other, and that God could 
 be just and yet the Justifier of him who had broken his holy law. 
 
18 ^electeD psaim0 anD sponograp&s 
 
 And needful was it that God should have such a witness, 
 for as twelve hundred years rolled away, a spiritual tyranny 
 settled down upon the Church more terrible than before or 
 since has afflicted men. A hierarchy, from the Pope upon 
 his throne down through cardinals, archbishops, bishops, even 
 to the parish priest, held the spiritual destinies of men in its 
 iron grasp. 
 
 It opened, and no man could shut; it shut, and no man 
 could open. Its decisions were decisions for eternity. The 
 court of heaven registered its every act, and from it there was 
 no appeal. Having granted it the privileges that what it 
 bound on earth should be bound in Heaven, and what it 
 loosed on earth should be loosed in Heaven, God had put 
 into its hand the eternal destinies of men. The wretch upon 
 whom its cold malignity was directed had nothing to hope 
 for in this world or the next. Whoever questioned its pur- 
 ity, doubted its dogmas, or defied its power, had not only 
 supple kings for his executioners, but all the dread powers of 
 the upper spaces, when the culprit should escape thither. 
 
 Why was it that the reformers of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury; why did a Luther and a Calvin again take up and pro- 
 claim anew the doctrine of Paul and Augustine? It was 
 because it dashed the scepter out of the hand of the Pope, 
 and the crozier out of the grasp of the bishop, and declared 
 once more the spiritual liberties of mankind. "Priest, pre- 
 late, pope," the emancipated serf could exclaim, "You can- 
 not tie up God by any engagement so that he shall not have 
 perfect freedom in salvation." 
 
 "Notwithstanding all the powers He has granted to 
 His church, after all, salvation is as He wills, not as you will. 
 Excommunicate if you please; I can appeal and He will 
 hear and issue the appeal. God says, though Rome curses, 
 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.' The doc- 
 trine of election is the very charter of our liberties. If God 
 is sovereign, then man is free. 
 
Beth jFreOericfe La Eue l&ing 19 
 
 *Modern history establishes the truthfulness of this 
 claim. Sections or denominations of the universal Christian 
 Church, in the form of their church government, lean more 
 or less towards the Republican, as their Creeds, or Confes- 
 sions of Faith, affirm or deny God's sovereignty. 
 
 And, as we might expect, in those countries where are 
 found Christians living under a Church government yielding 
 liberty of conscience, and in numbers sufficient to influence the 
 government of the State, as in free America, there do we find 
 state and federal governments more or less Republican, as 
 their population absorb or reject the universal sovereignty of 
 our Creator-Father. 
 
 Yes; beyond a question, the doctrine of election is the 
 very charter of our liberties. If God is sovereign, then man 
 is free. 
 
 Election is a free salvation, not the bondage imposed 
 by a tyrant; and as such is the foundation and cornerstone 
 of our trust, peace, hope, liberty and joy. 
 
 The Bible declares that the grace of election which 
 saves the helpless sinner is proved to have reached him with 
 its friendly arm of Almighty power, since he through faith 
 draws down upon himself the "sprinkling of the blood of 
 Jesus Christ" unto justification, and the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit by whom he is sanctified unto obedience. 
 
 Listen to the Apostle Peter (Petros — Stone) whose 
 evangelical words are a (petra) rock on which we can rest 
 our wearied souls. I Peter, 1:2: "Elect according to the 
 foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of 
 the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 A building may be so heavy as to crush its foundation. 
 God's electing love towards hell-deserving sinners is a foun- 
 dation rock (petra). 
 
 Let us test this foundation by placing upon it the heav- 
 iest, because the saddest, truth of all the Holy Scriptures. 
 What is this but the pretention (passing by), or reprobation 
 (rejection) of stubborn, God-defying sinners? 
 
 *From this point to the end of the sermon, the writing is done by 
 Mr. King's brother. A. B. K. 
 
20 Selected psalms and ^onograpfjs 
 
 Fact 1 . Let us weigh this in the scales of God's jus- 
 tice and mercy. At one end of the scales is the cup in 
 which is placed reprobation. At the other end we place with 
 confession of sin and self-abhorence the fact that we all de- 
 serve the endless fire and undying worm of hell. Many of 
 God's elect realize it in this world, and all others of the race 
 will realize it in the world of spirits. 
 
 The sense of guilt with most of God's saints is weighty 
 enough to counterbalance the awful depression created by 
 pretention, or the passing by of those who resist God's 
 Spirit too long. Some saints have even been willing to be 
 damned if thus God may be more perfectly justified and 
 glorified. 
 
 But there are tens of thousands living in Christendom 
 who are true saints, but not so heroic as these, and therefore 
 require other weighty facts cast into the opposite scale. 
 
 Fact 2. God takes no delight in the eternal death of 
 any sinner. Ezekiel 18: 31, 32: "Why will ye. die, O 
 house of Israel ? For I have no pleasure in the death of him 
 that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, 
 and live ye." 
 
 Fact 3. God's will and Christ's sacrificial pity are the 
 two arms of love thrown around the reprobate, but he breaks 
 away from the shielding pressure, and madly prefers to per- 
 ish than give up his idol sins. 
 
 II Peter, 3:9: "The Lord***is not willing (wishing) 
 that any should perish, but that all should come to repen- 
 tance." 
 
 I Tim., 2:4: "Who (God our Saviour) will have all 
 men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the 
 truth." 
 
 I Tim., 4:10: "Who is the Saviour of all men, speci- 
 ally of those Who believe." 
 
 John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He 
 gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 
 Heb. 2:9: "That He by the grace of God should 
 taste death for every man." 
 
Eeto. ^Frederick La I&ue fting 21 
 
 It is easy to believe that as Jesus wept over Jerusalem, 
 so He must weep over all of the race eternally lost, for did 
 He not suffer unto death that there might be accumulated 
 merit to cancel the guilt of all men? He suffered and died for 
 the lost. 
 
 It is Jesus who says to the majority of the race, "Ye will 
 not come unto me that ye might have life." 
 
 Why does not the Omnipotent Saviour force rebellious 
 sinners to receive repentance unto life? Because this would 
 destroy their free agency and moral accountability. "He 
 that believeth not shall be damned." 
 
 Fact 4. It is in harmony with man's freedom of will 
 that God elects him to eternal life, for the Bible plainly 
 asserts that those, and only those who believe gospel truth 
 and are being sanctified by the Spirit are elected or chosen. 
 II. Thess. 2:13 "God hath from the beginning chosen 
 (elected) you to salvation through sanctification of the 
 Spirit and belief of the truth." 
 
 So, if you are trusting in Jesus, who is the truth, and 
 yielding your life to the control of the Holy Spirit, you are 
 beyond a doubt one of the elect. Is that hard and repulsive? 
 Does it not strengthen and exhilarate your soul ? 
 
 Fact 5. But do not both our Lord Jesus and the 
 Apostle Paul plainly assert the fact that certain members 
 of our race are reprobated? Yes, — but of whom is it asserted, 
 — for this makes all the difference practically between its 
 truth and falsehood. If told to the earnest, penitent seeker 
 of salvation through faith in Christ, as if by possibility he 
 could be patsed by and reprobated by the decree of his 
 Heavenly Father, that would be a monstrous, cruel false- 
 hood. 
 
 Therefore, listen as if all the strength and acuteness 
 of your soul resolved itself into a gigantic ear, into which 
 I was pouring these words. 
 
 Paul, in Romans 8:33, speaking to persecuted Chris- 
 tian believers, comforts them by the words, "Who shall lay 
 
22 ©elected psalms and ^onograpfjs 
 
 anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God (the 
 righteous Judge) who justifieth" you. 
 
 But the same Paul, in the next chapter, when speaking 
 to rebellious opposers of God's sovereignty, intimates that 
 they are in character similar to stubborn, hard-hearted 
 Pharaoh; and so in compassion to them who are guilty of 
 proud, stubborn wilfulness, He seeks to humble them, that 
 they may seek mercy at their Creator's hands. 
 
 Roman 9: 20-22. "Nay, but O man, who art thou 
 that replieth (disputeth) against God? Shall the thing 
 formed say to Him that formed it, why has thou made me 
 thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same 
 lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dis- 
 honor?" 
 
 "What if God, willing (purposing) to show His wrath, 
 and to make His power known, endured with much long 
 suffering the vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction?" 
 
 Thus Paul seeks to awaken these Pharaoh-like rebels 
 to a sense of guilt and danger, in a merciful effort to save 
 them from God's wrath. A surgeon once told me he saved 
 a man who was on the border land of death from Creeping 
 Paralysis. He used a desperate remedy for a desperate case. 
 Into the flesh, fast becoming insensible, he plunged long, large 
 pins, and continued this heroic treatment until finally reaction 
 set in, and the patient was saved, as by a miracle. 
 
 There are but few instances where New Testament 
 teachers are obliged to resort to such heroic treatment in efforts 
 to save proud, sneering rebels, fast slipping down into the 
 abyss of Gehenna. The life of our Lord furnishes two 
 instances. 
 
 Jesus came to Nazareth, His early home, and in the 
 Synagogue preached the sweetest of gospel sermons from 
 Isaiah 61 :l, "And all bare Him witness, and wondered at 
 the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth." 
 Then yielding to a temptation of the Devil, they began to 
 sneer and belittle him. 
 
KetK jfreDetick La Iftue ding 23 
 
 What can Jesus do for them now? Their (possible) 
 Saviour, still seeking their salvation, plunged into their souls 
 the thorny truth of "The day of vengeance of our God." 
 (See Isaiah 61 :2.) Yes, Jesus plunges a thorn into the 
 proud flesh of His fellow townsmen, in declaring pretention; 
 for it is indicated by Jehovah's action in sending Elijah to only 
 one widow for the supply of her needs, and passing by many 
 other widows, just as needy probably. Then Jesus plunged 
 another thorn of pretention into the flesh of His audience, — 
 in calling attention to the fact that, although, there were 
 many lepers in Israel, Elisha was sent to only Naaman, the 
 Syrian, with healing power, and the others were not selected 
 for the blessing. This inflamed His audience to a murderous 
 rage, and they made the attempt to kill Him. 
 
 Both the sweet of the gospel and the bitter of God's decree 
 failed to do good to these sinners against light. 
 
 Once more, in John 6:37, Jesus gave a message to the 
 quarrelsome, unbelieving Jews, which implied reprobation 
 in the words, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to 
 me," and in the last clause of the same verse He gives this 
 cheering encouragement to honest, yet timid seekers of Him- 
 self, — "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
 out." 
 
 What could give greater assurance that all those who 
 come to Jesus in faith are, each and all, God's elect? 
 
 And what can I, and what can you, who "fear God" 
 and tremble at His word," desire, ask for, or possess more 
 precious than this, the assurance of Jesus Himseslf, that we 
 who have fled for refuge to His outstretched arms ARE 
 God's elect, who can "never come into condemnation," but 
 "are passed from death unto life?" 
 
 But in the narrative of this same chapter, John 6:64, 
 we find Jesus discovered who "believed not and who should 
 betray Him." And so as a last effort of well-nigh hopeless 
 mercy we see Him thrust the thorn of reprobation again 
 into their wicked and angry souls, saying (verse 65) "There- 
 
24 ©elected Psalms and *©onogtap&* 
 
 fore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except 
 it were (be) given unto him of my Father." Oh, the sad 
 words of the next verse (66), " From that time many of 
 His disciples went back and walked no more with Him." 
 
 The compassionate physician of souls was, in appearance, 
 defeated in His severe, yet loving efforts to restore healthy 
 normal action to these wicked souls paralyzed by self-will, 
 unbelief, love of sin, and hatred of that righteousness, personi- 
 fied and exhibited in the words and works of Jesus. 
 
 We have now ascertained that sadly heavy pretention or 
 reprobation is made light as an angel's wing by the five other 
 weighty truths which we have furnished as a counter-balance. 
 
 Our souls are stirred with joy when we read our Sav- 
 iour's words recorded in John 5 :24, "Verily, verily, I say 
 unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him 
 that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into 
 condemnation: but is passed from death unto life." 
 
 And this joy should be made boundless and endless by 
 accepting the fact that those thus "passing from death unto 
 life" are beyond a doubt of the number of God's elect. 
 
 And all this love, all this grace, and all this free, 
 full salvation is true, notwithstanding all the past, all the 
 present and all the future of our imperfect lives on earth. 
 
 Election saves us from the iron grasp of our three 
 destructive enemies. Our fleshly nature defiantly says to 
 God, — "I hate you. I love my sins, and reject Thy Son, 
 who saves His people from their sins. I do not wish to be 
 saved from my sins." This is a mighty will, but the 
 Almighty will of our sovereign Father says, "I will have 
 mercy," and the Flesh is throttled, if not killed; yea, we have 
 a new self. 
 
 The World defiantly says, "I am the friend of mighty 
 Satan, and am saturated with the deceitful wickedness of the 
 Devil and Hell, and I attack the weak sinner, and press him 
 close on every side, and he cannot escape from me." This is a 
 mightier will, but the Almighty will of our sovereign Father 
 
Rett* JFreOericfe La Rue King 25 
 
 says, — "I will have mercy," and the World is paralyzed, 
 and relaxes its hold. 
 
 The Devil, "that Old Serpent," is coiled about the 
 sinner in his increasing indulgence of sinful habits. The Ser- 
 pent hisses, "I am the actual sovereign of this world. The 
 great God has given it to me. As the buzzard and vulture 
 have a legal right to the offal and vile wastes of the earth, 
 so have I a legal right to you, a part of the moral refuse of 
 the world. You are mine, and cannot escape." Satan's 
 will is still more powerful, but the Almighty will of our 
 Sovereign Father utters the decrees of election, — "I will have 
 mercy upon whom I will have mercy," and the Old Serpent 
 uncoils himself, and retreats to the bottomless pit. Hallelujah! 
 
 God's Almighty grace in election conquers the enemies of 
 His people. The Lord God, Omnipotent in His love, reign- 
 eth, and the fiat of that love reaches with controlling force 
 both the terrified ears of our deadly enemies and our delighted 
 ears; and we drink in with increasing thirst those words of 
 Salvation, — "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, 
 and I will have compassion on whom I will have compas- 
 sion." 
 
26 Selected psalms and £$onograpt)s 
 
 W$t g>tstme Jffla&otma. 
 
 This picture appears to have been painted, not to be 
 set up as an idol in a church, or to be an article of virtu 
 in the galleries of the rich, but to be used merely as a banner 
 in church processions. Intended thus to be borne along 
 amid a throng of bowing worshippers as part of a pomp, and 
 not to be contemplated; the monks who ordered it wished in 
 all probability simply a splendid Madonna, and were indif- 
 ferent to the details. This may be the reason why Raphael, 
 for once free from the dictation of patrons, or the petty 
 details of mere material beauty, was enabled to pour forth 
 freely his powers, and set forth the situation of Mary as 
 mother of the Lord, in dramatic completeness. 
 
 Raphael's Madonnas are generally abstract, for the 
 most part representing simply motherhood. The Sistine 
 Madonna is the true Mother of the Lord, painted as at some 
 moment of her transcendent experience. This is indicated 
 by the curtain flung back, as if, on the instant revealing not 
 only Mary to us, but to Mary something that has been 
 before her. We may well imagine that it represents the high- 
 est and grandest moment of Mary's spiritual experience. 
 What was this moment? There is in the portico of the old 
 Portinari Hospital at Florence, — Santa Maria Nuova, — a 
 fresco representing the Conception, in which Mary, bathed 
 in the light of an approaching glory, and surrounded with 
 angelic creatures full of frolic joy, is shown as averted and 
 bending — perfectly passive in the presence of what was 
 coming upon her. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it 
 unto me according to thy word." And doubtless this was 
 her frame of mind at the beginning of her strange and myste- 
 rious office. For there was much to endure. But there came 
 a time when, if only for an instant, simple endurance gave 
 
Ifteto. jFreDeuck La IRtte ifting 27 
 
 place to something spontaneous, and the acceptance of her 
 position as Mother of the Lord partook of the nature of an 
 act. This seems to have been the case at her visit to Eliza- 
 beth, when, beginning to realize who it was to whom she 
 was to give birth; she burst forth into joyous song, exulting 
 that God through her child-bearing was about to deliver her 
 people. If, however, we should choose the point of time, 
 most likely to be associated with such an exalted spiritual 
 experience, we would take the instant, when, at the Presenta- 
 tion in the Temple, she received again her child from the 
 arms of Simeon. Then, (if only for an instant), we might 
 well believe the narrow appropriating love of the mother 
 would vanish in the presence of the grand prospect before 
 her little one, and she would feel like the Mother of the 
 Race, — a new Eve, — through him she bore in her arms as 
 she presented him before God in His Temple. One is 
 inclined to think that this very occasion was in the mind of 
 Raphael, for, at the corner of the picture, at the right of 
 the spectator, is a little glimpse of a building, which can be 
 hardly any other than the temple. Certainly such a spiritual 
 experience is depicted. It might well be entitled, — The 
 Presentation at the Temple, as seen from its spiritual side. 
 It is as if to Mary a sudden revelation had been made of the 
 awful significance of her situation, transforming her passivity 
 into an act, so that she who before had thought that some- 
 thing wondrous had happened to her, began to do a won- 
 drous deed. Notice the position of the Madonna is not 
 one of calm repose, she is not standing quietly on a cloud as 
 if to receive worship. She is stepping rapidly forward. And 
 this not with stateliness and majesty. There is no "incedit 
 regina" about her manner. So desirous is Raphael of mak- 
 ing this clear, that he has given a certain briskness and hurry 
 to her movement, — her left foot is lifted and the corner of 
 her robe brushed aside by the air, her scarf is also puffed out 
 and blown backward. There is nothing here of the self- 
 consciousness of a fine lady, so often seen in Raphael's Ma- 
 
28 ©electeD P0alms: anO aionojjtap&a; 
 
 donnas. She is forgetful of self; she is on service. She is 
 the simple, handsome maiden, once ready to endure God's 
 will, now with her active powers raised to their highest, 
 absorbed in her great work, — that of bringing the son to 
 whom she has given birth into the very presence of the 
 Eternal Glory — to the right hand of God. Behind her is 
 the spiritual effulgence of which her act is but a manifestation. 
 Above and around in the background are multitudes of 
 cherubic faces with no sign of homage, but present to signify 
 that that which had been brought to pass was the outcome of 
 all the life and energy of the Unseen World, and bending as 
 those who, (we are told), desire to look into this thing. For 
 one of the most remarkable things about this picture js the 
 total absence of Mariolatry. There is nothing pictured 
 or suggested that tends to mar his honor whose name is above 
 every name. At first sight this does not seem to be the case. 
 But if more closely examined, the figures of St. Sixtus and 
 Santa Barbara are seen not to be in attitudes of worship. 
 The centre of interest to them, as well as to Mary, is some- 
 thing unpainted towards which Mary is rapidly moving. 
 This is plainly indicated by the attitude of Santa Barbara, 
 which, though full of respect, is so far from worship that she 
 turns her face away, casting down her eyes at the same time, 
 as if in the presence of something greater than Mary. The 
 expression upon the face of Sixtus is simply one of ominous, 
 wondering scrutiny, utterly averse from adoration; while at 
 the same time he is motioning Mary forward. And she is 
 indeed stepping, — one might say, hurrying forward, — 
 towards what seems plainly shown by the upturned faces of 
 the cherubs at the bottom of the picture, who are leaning 
 upon what appears to be a threshold, down to which the 
 Saint and Pope has abased his tiara, and who are gazing 
 forward and upward with such rapt and glowing counten- 
 ances that we almost see in them as in a mirror the glory of 
 Him who sitteth on the throne of the Heavens, at whose 
 portal they are. This is made still more clear by the expres- 
 
i&eto* jFreDerick La Eue Mm 29 
 
 sion and attitude of the child, who seems to be startled at the 
 scene towards which he is being borne, and filled with dread 
 at what lies before him. The eyes are large, liquid and 
 lustrous, yet with a certain wildness in them. It may possibly 
 be that Raphael here, as elsewhere, has attempted to repre- 
 sent the Divine in the Christ-Child by giving the expression 
 an elfish, puckish character. But it harmonizes wonderfully 
 well with his attitude, which is that of one shrinking back a 
 little. He clings to the arm of his mother with such force 
 that the muscles rise on the upper part of his arm. Whatever 
 there may be in the elfish conventionality that sometimes 
 marks Raphael's style, there is, nevertheless, dread in those 
 eyes. And why should there not be? He who walked this 
 earth, God as well as man, was man as well as God, and 
 felt dread more than once at the prospect of the trials await- 
 ing him, long before that transcendent hour of awe and 
 anguish in the Garden. Why should not He, whom to 
 conceive at all we must conceive as one who, as far as what 
 we call knowledge goes, knew nothing, but whose insight 
 and intuition were infinite? Why should not He be con- 
 ceived as startled, seeing before him that glory ineffable, 
 which he is to enter and become part of, with perhaps a 
 consciousness of all that lay between, — the great battle and 
 the great victory. He is looking at it with human eyes, 
 meeting it with a human heart, and the Divinity there only 
 enables the human to feel all the more deeply. 
 
 The graver and the pencil have hitherto toiled in vain 
 to reproduce the expression of Mary's face which Raphael 
 has made our possession forever. Only lately has the photo- 
 graph succeeded in giving a distant likeness of what the 
 copyist make, either a stony emptiness or a dreamy vacancy 
 of revery, eulogized by some as a divine calm, etc. I see 
 nothing divine about it. To me it is the most human of 
 human things. The expression of Mary's face, which seems 
 to baffle copyists, is a perfect expression of her Magnificat at 
 the house of Elizabeth. There is nothing strange or unearth- 
 ly about it. It it possible to catch just such an expression of 
 
30 ^electeD psalms ana sponogtap&g 
 
 an ordinary, person in ordinary circumstances. I imagine such 
 an one who from a very lowly condition, which she has 
 accepted without a thought of repining, is suddenly lifted 
 up to the loftiest dignity, and keeping still her lowliness of 
 heart, — making no more claim for anything as of right hers 
 than when she was without a thought beyond her lowly lot. 
 Now, imagine that this lofty position is one of loftiest ser- 
 vice, — a service for all times and all peoples, which the latest 
 ages will appreciate more fully than the present, — a service 
 so closely connected with her person that she will never be 
 forgotten, a toilless, delightful service; for the straight gate of 
 anxiety and dread having been passed, she finds herself veiled 
 from all shame by honorable marriage, and the submission of 
 a handmaid changed into a mother's kindling joy. All this 
 cannot, of course, be read in her countenance, but was most 
 certainly in her heart, and is necessary to be remembered in 
 judging of her expression. 
 
 Her position and office is very high, — it is no less than 
 what it is represented by Raphael, — she is bringing the son 
 to whom she has given birth to the right hand of God. And 
 yet she appears manifestly thinking herself nothing. Hers is 
 human nature, but human nature at its acme, at once lofty 
 and lowly, supremely active and utterly dependent. It is 
 pictured faith. The gentle being whom Raphael depicts is 
 doing that which she feels she is not worthy to do, 
 which it is not possible for her to do, the height indeed of 
 whose significance she but dimly comprehends. Yet forward 
 she steps out upon the void, her trusting feet laying the 
 ponderous beams that support her over the abyss as she 
 approaches the Eternal throne. Unabashed, unbold, or with 
 the boldness that says, "when I am weak, then am I strong," 
 she advances bearing the ground of her confidence in her 
 arms. That which she supports, supports her, that which 
 she brings, brings her. She is at peace, in repose, on the 
 peak of things. 
 
 Lofty, Lowly, Mighty one, I bow no knee to thee, for 
 such as thou art is ever one that is born of the Spirit. 
 
Keto, iFre&erick Ha Eue &tng 31 
 
 Uptttg &toafce all JttgJjt 
 
 i 
 
 Thou has cooled my chamber well, 
 
 And about my tired eye 
 Wove thy wonder-working spell; 
 
 Made the world invisible, 
 Stooping softly from on high. 
 
 2 
 Thou wouldst soothe the listening ear; 
 
 Thou wouldst lull to slumbers light, — 
 With the wind's soft whisper near, 
 With the sounds of waters clear, 
 Lovely, gentle, tender Night. 
 
 3 
 Vain ! Thou canst not give relief 
 
 To my tired and aching head; 
 To my thoughts that will not cease. 
 
 Even thou canst not say peace, 
 Nurse-like hovering round my bed. 
 
 4 
 Grand is every morning sun, 
 
 Life and light, I know they bless; 
 Yet I would when day is done, 
 
 And the weary goal is won. 
 Taste the sweets of nothingness. 
 
 5 
 
 Blissful draught! Ah, now I know 
 Sweet t'will be to close life's stage. 
 
 Who would be amidst this throe, 
 Midst this trampling to and fro, — 
 
 Broad awake from age to age. 
 
32 Selected psalms attD Qionograpbs 
 
 6 
 
 When the long dark night is near, 
 
 To the end life's day has worn, — 
 Lying down without a fear; 
 
 On my couch with happy cheer, 
 I shall slumber 'till the mom. 
 
Ret). JfreOerich JLa Rue King 33 
 
 bonnet 
 
 Under the shadow of great thoughts I lie. 
 
 Vast arms lift up around a shield of green, 
 
 Blunted are noontide's golden arrows keen, 
 The waste glares far and wide against the sky. 
 But here around me not a thing may die. 
 
 Here is cool grass, and shyest flowers are seen. 
 
 Yet life's fair fortress hath not always been. 
 This mighty trunk and these huge beams on high 
 Were tender shoots once struggling hard for life 
 
 Ages on ages. Hark! me thinks the breeze 
 That surges through with long past sounds is rife, 
 
 Tocsins and tramplings, anthems, litanies. 
 The forum's murmur, shock of deadly strife, 
 
 All the long travail that hath wrought our peace. 
 
34 Selected psalms anD S^ottosrapbi 
 
 One of his early efforts in literature was the foflowmj 
 translation of Thoma5 Celano's hymn from the latin : 
 
 Bits 3rae. 
 
 Day of wrath that awful day 
 Shall the world in ashes lay, 
 So all ancient prophets say. 
 
 II 
 
 WTiat a trembling will there be, 
 \%~hen the Judge on earth they *ee 
 Making strictest scrutiny. 
 
 ill 
 
 Trumpet sending dreadful sound 
 Through the regions underground 
 Summons all the throne around. 
 
 IV 
 
 Death and Nature stand in dread. 
 "v\Tien arise the millions dead 
 At the Judge's bar to plead. 
 
 In the record shall be sought 
 Every deed and word and thought, 
 .And a world to Judgement brought. 
 
 ^"hen the Judge sits shall be see* 
 All the hidden deeds of men, 
 Naught shall go unpunished thea. 
 
Eeto* ,fre&erick La Uue fting 35 
 
 VII 
 
 What shall wretched I then say? 
 Whom secure to aid my plea, 
 When the Just scarce saved be? 
 
 VIII 
 
 Judge of Judgment just the fount, 
 O, remit the great amount, 
 Ere the day of strict account. 
 
 IX 
 
 Think Lord 'twas for me astray 
 Thou didst tread life's weary way, 
 Let me not be lost that dav. 
 
 Sitting tired Thou still hast sought, 
 On the Cross my pardon bought, 
 Shall such labor be for naught? 
 
 XI 
 
 Thou who Mary hast forgiven, 
 To the robber openest Heaven, 
 Hope to even me hast given. 
 
 XII 
 
 Though I pray unworthily 
 Set, I pray Thee graciously. 
 Me from fires eternal free. 
 
 XIII 
 
 With the sheep a place I pray, 
 Keep me from the goats away, 
 At Thine own right hand to stay. 
 
36 Selected Psalms anO QionograpJjs; 
 
 XIV 
 
 I accept the sinners place 
 
 Guilty shame o'erspreads my face, 
 
 Give Lord to the suppliant grace. 
 
 XV 
 
 When the curs'd their shame confessing 
 Eager flames are sore distressing, 
 Call to me then with a blessing. 
 
 XVI 
 
 Oh! that day of sad surprise 
 When from ashes shall arise 
 Guilty man to Judgment come! 
 Keep me from the dreadful doom. 
 
 Mr. King, in view of the reckless indifference of the 
 impenitent and ignorant, adds substantially these words, "In 
 our days too little notice is taken of the solemn warnings of 
 the wrath to come," given to the sinner in the Bible, and in 
 the "Dies Irae." 
 
Eeto* jFreDerick JLa Kue i&fng 37 
 
 $arapf)rage of $*alm 19. 
 
 i 
 
 In all the splendours of the skies 
 
 His glory is displayed. 
 Who lifted up the firmament, 
 
 Who suns and stars hath made. 
 
 2 
 Day unto each succeeding day 
 
 And night to night the same. 
 In never ending praise repeat 
 
 The wonders of His name. 
 
 3 
 No speech is heard nor any voice, 
 
 But they to every eye 
 In mighty visions spread above 
 Unfold their prophecy. 
 
 4 
 Earth's farthest bound and every clime. 
 
 They for their mission claim, 
 In every land the rolling heavens 
 
 Good news from God proclaim. 
 
 5 
 In them at dawn are set the fair 
 
 Blue Curtains of the sun, 
 A bridegroom bright, an athlete strong. 
 
 Who joys his course to run. 
 
 6 
 
 From farthest East to farthest West 
 
 He decks the earth with flowers, 
 He plants the trees. He wafts the clouds. 
 
 And waters all with showers. 
 
IReto* jFteDerick &a Rue fting 30 
 
 13 
 
 Thy judgments true and righteous are, 
 
 Naught hidden from Thine eye, 
 The nations scourged. Thy saints chastised, 
 
 Can make Thee no reply. 
 
 14 
 
 More precious they than finest gold. 
 
 And more than honey sweet; 
 For they deliver and enrich, 
 
 And make for glory meet. 
 
 15 
 
 Thy servant also warning takes — 
 
 He trembles and is still, 
 And blessed they who give them heed 
 
 And in them seek Thy will. 
 
 16 
 
 Who knows his errors? Cleanse Thou me 
 
 From secret faults within, 
 And hold me back by Thy right arm 
 
 From all presumptuous sin. 
 
 17 
 
 Then from guilt's burden I'll be free. 
 Restrained and cleansed with blood, 
 
 And looking on Thy handiwork 
 Again Thou'lt say, " 'tis good." 
 
 My words and thoughts shall in Thy sight 
 
 Be fairer than the skies, 
 And Thy Creation New begin 
 
 In ruined me to rise. 
 
40 ^electets psalms anD ^onograpjjs 
 
 & letter. 
 
 IMPRECATORY PSALMS— HOW TO 
 JUSTIFY THEM 
 
 Part of the difficulty that assails the Bible reader, (in 
 the imprecatory Psalms), it seems to me, would be removed 
 if we would realize that the Psalms are poetry, and not 
 prose. The power of poetry is in the details that make a 
 picture for the mind. Now a simple curse might not seem 
 so bad, while a detailed curse would appear horrible; and 
 yet there might not be any moral difference between. Take 
 what is perhaps the most striking instance in the Psalms: the 
 verse about dashing infants against the stones, in Psalm 1 37. 
 It has been held up as something diabolical, when it is nothing 
 of the sort. When Alexandria was bombarded, the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury issued a prayer to be used for the 
 success of the British arms. No one that I know of made 
 the least objection. Now you know what a bombardment 
 is. It is sending shells into the works of the enemy. These 
 shells are great pointed cylinders of iron three feet high or 
 more. They are loaded with powder, so when they burst 
 they rend everything around them to pieces. Now consider 
 what that prayer for the success of the British arms really 
 was. It desired that these shells might be sent where not 
 only walls but their defenders would be torn in pieces. 
 Everybody knows this, and yet nobody objected. But if 
 the Archbishop had gone into detail, had asked that the 
 shells might reach masses of men, that their limbs and their 
 blood might be flung through the air, what an outburst of 
 horror there would have been! And yet, is it goodness and 
 kindness that revolts from such a prayer? No, it is only good 
 taste and fine sensibility. Now we would make no objection 
 if the Psalmist had said: "Daughter of Babylon, blessed be 
 
Eeto. ^Frederick La l&ue Eing 41 
 
 he who shall destroy thee." But because the Psalmist lived at 
 a time when every one's taste was coarse and their sensibili- 
 ties blunt, and in order to make a vivid picture gave a detail 
 which was almost invariable in the taking of cities, we are 
 horrified — not wisely, I think. 
 
 I got light some years ago upon this subject. There 
 was a "Ring" that dominated New York, and corruption and 
 plunder and iniquity were on the throne. Then I learned that 
 cursing might be consistent with love, and understood some 
 of the curses of the imprecatory psalms. Indeed, LOVE is 
 the most terrible thing in the world, as will yet be seen. Be 
 sure of one thing: we wrestle not with flesh and blood, nor 
 are the curses of the Psalms directed against flesh and blood, 
 but against "principalities and powers and the realm of the 
 darkness of this world." 
 
42 Selected psalms anD QDonograp&s 
 
 8 letter. 
 
 TRUSTING WHERE WE CANNOT SEE 
 
 "Dear 
 
 "It is a real pleasure to attempt to clear up that matter 
 which you called to my attention in your last letter. As I 
 understand it, this seems to be your difficulty. You are 
 anxious about something, — say the health of your brother. 
 You pray that his health may improve. There is an improve- 
 ment. You say to yourself, God has answered my prayer, 
 He will restore my brother to health again. You pour out 
 the treasures of your gratitude to your Heavenly Father. You 
 thank Him for what He has done, and for what you can 
 expect Him to do. Hope fills your heart, and praise; the 
 future looks bright. And now there is a change ; your brother 
 falls back into his old state. The improvement was not a 
 permanent improvement. It was not what you thought it. 
 It was not what you thanked God for. You are not only 
 disappointed, but the flow of grateful feeling is checked, it has 
 no object upon which to expend itself. You are like a person 
 who sees what appears to be a beautiful garden before him. 
 He steps forward eagerly to find it is only a picture painted 
 on a wall. 
 
 You are tempted to say, "How can I know but I have 
 often thanked God for what had as little reality as this? 
 Perhaps you will ask yourself, "How can I ever thank God 
 heartily, after this, since I am just as likely to be mistaken as 
 I am now?" 
 
 It would be very unfortunate for such a feeling to be- 
 come the settled tendency of the soul, for thanksgiving and 
 praise are not only delightful to man and pleasing to God, but 
 also one of the best ways by which we can serve God : since 
 we thus bear witness to His existence and providence and 
 
44 Selected psalms ana anemographs 
 
 hand." God's mercy and love never sleep. He is always 
 about some good for us. Well may we cry with the Psalm- 
 ist, "How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me. O God! 
 How great is the sum of them! If I should count them they 
 are more in number than the sand." Ps. 139: 17, 18. 
 
 And these thoughts, precious as they are, as being the 
 expression of a Father's watchful love, are more precious be- 
 cause they are an organized whole, parts of a far-reaching 
 plan to secure His glory and (which is the same thing) our 
 highest good. Not in this world or with human wisdom 
 can we understand that plan. For as the Psalmist says, — 
 "How great are Thy works, O Lord, and Thy thoughts are 
 very deep," Ps. 92:5. And yet, those who do not know, 
 who are anxious, worried or in doubt, are considered blame- 
 worthy and contemptible by the Psalmist, for he goes on to 
 say, — "A brutish man knoweth not, neither does a fool 
 understand this," v. 6th, — that is, understand that what 
 is so trying in appearance is really for the best, and should 
 awaken very different feelings. And for this he is visited 
 with contemptuous reprobation. Not because he failed to 
 discover that this apparent evil was a real good, since it must 
 have been beyond the ken of man, — but because, knowing 
 that all things and events were in the hands of God, and 
 knowing His covenant relation to His people, and His many 
 promises, he would not trust Him, but showed that he doubt- 
 ed His faithfulness, by the disturbance of his peace when 
 trouble came. He was blameworthy — because he lacked 
 faith — faith, and not insight is the source of the Christian's 
 joy and praise. 
 
 And now we get near the solution of this whole matter. 
 We are called upon to thank and praise God, not some 
 times, when we have received some notable proof of His 
 goodness, but "at all times," — "I will bless the Lord at all 
 times. His praise shall be continually in my mouth." 
 Ps. 34:1. It is not merely in good times. Not merely when 
 corn and wine increase, but when there is neither corn nor 
 
Heu* jFreOertck La I&ue &ing; 45 
 
 wine, and famine threatens, then when God's people have 
 only Him they find that He is better than all. This was the 
 experience of Habakkuk, when he said, — "For though the 
 fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the 
 labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no 
 meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall 
 be no herd in the stalls; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will 
 joy in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." 
 (Hab. 3:1 7, 18.) It is of course very delightful when the 
 earth is full of the evidences of God's goodness, when grain 
 covers the fields and fruit the boughs. But these good things 
 have their evil in them, they tend to turn our thoughts from 
 the Giver to the gift; and that is a great loss, for God is 
 greater and better than all He gives. 
 
 "Better is the root 
 
 Than the shoot, 
 
 Better is the tree 
 
 Than its fruit, 
 
 Better is the hand 
 
 Than all the hand can hold, 
 
 Better far is faith than blessings manifold." 
 
 And sometimes it is necessary to take away the gift 
 that we may have the Giver. It was because the face of 
 Nature was blasted that Habakkuk turned more intensely to 
 God, and found that it was true, that "Man shall not live 
 by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of 
 the mouth of God." 
 
 I was once in a boat on the glassy surface of a lake. 
 The water was such a perfect mirror that I had but to look 
 down, to see the sky and all that was there. Just so at 
 favored times even our lives, usually so chequered, seem to 
 show forth only God's kindness and love. We know well 
 how soon and sadly this scene may shift. Quickly as a 
 breeze may steal over the surface of a lake, turning its glassy 
 surface into ripples and obliterating the beautiful visions of 
 
46 Selected Psalms anD Q^onogtapfjs 
 
 the sky, so quickly can a change come into the happiest life, 
 and fill it with darkness and sorrow. But there is a remedy. 
 When the surface of the water fails to give us the image of 
 the sky, we have only to look up to see the sky itself: and 
 no matter how hopeless and terrible the circumstances in 
 which the Christian is placed, he can have perfect peace by 
 looking away to, and trusting implicitly in, the Almighty One 
 who is at the same time all wise and all loving. Well is that 
 peace called in Phil. 4:6, an incomprehensible peace. It is 
 measureless and fathomless as God is. " 
 
Ret). jFreOericlt JLa Rue Kine 47 
 
 Christian detente anb tte 
 ^fallacies;. 
 
 What a careful Study of Mrs. Eddy's Cult Leads One 
 to Accept and Reject 
 
 The whole world is, I believe, ready and eager to hear 
 and tell some "new thing." And yet complete redemption 
 was granted 1 ,800 years ago. We need no "new thing," 
 but only that the old should be fully developed. I cannot 
 lay claim to much knowledge of Christian Science. I attend- 
 ed one of their services and read some of their tracts, some- 
 thing of Mrs. Eddy's book, and more in a later book of hers, 
 which proposed to make things more clear. Alas! I left off 
 more ignorant than I was before. 
 
 I have talked with some of the adherents, but without 
 much satisfaction. Indeed I found them sometimes more 
 ignorant of their own tenets than I was myself. For instance, 
 I was talking with a young man, a sort of connection of mine, 
 who claimed to have been perfectly cured of asthma by 
 "Christian Science." I know enough about asthma to know 
 what that meant. I have been cured many times in that way 
 myself. I saw, too, in a moment, by the account he gave of 
 his diet, feeling now that he could eat anything at any time 
 and in any quantity, that the asthma would soon be back 
 and worse than before. I tried to remonstrate with him, but 
 no! he had been delivered from the asthma utterly and for- 
 ever, and could indulge himself as he pleased. I then asked 
 him to what he attributed his cure. He said "to faith in 
 God." "Then," I said, "you have not been cured by 
 Christian Science, for that does not admit any faith in God. 
 They place dependence upon God, but it is the same kind of 
 
48 Selected psalms and e@onogtap|)s 
 
 dependence that we place upon the attraction of gravita- 
 tion. I am perfectly certain about that natural law and so 
 the Christian Scientists are logically certain as to the action of 
 God. They hold that the existence of disease is logically 
 absurd if there is on the throne of the Universe a God of 
 infinite power and goodness. Disease is therefore simply an 
 illusion. You impose upon yourself when you think that 
 you have asthma. It cannot be because God reigns. All you 
 have to do is to cease imposing upon yourself, to cast away 
 your delusion, to say to yourself this is God's world and not 
 the Devil's, and you will at once be well. There is no need 
 of faith, the only thing is to recognize the fact. The fact is 
 health, disease is the lie, and we have to give it the lie to be 
 delivered from it. We premise that God is on the throne of the 
 Universe, and that He is a God of infinite power and good- 
 ness, therefore there can be no such evil thing as disease. 
 I grant the plausibility of the conclusion, but, unfortunately 
 the facts are against it. If I take hot porridge into my mouth, 
 I will be burned even if God is on the throne, and yet to be 
 burned is an evii." 
 
 This I said to my young friend, upon whom I fear I 
 did not make much impression. He left me, determined, I 
 think, to eat hot beefsteaks and Welsh rarebit at 10 o'clock 
 at night, assured that no harm could come of it because this 
 is God's world and not the Devil's. This will give you an 
 idea of what my view on the matter is, but I will say some- 
 thing further. 
 
 Let us look for a moment at the logic upon which all 
 this Christian Science depends. I must own it is plausible. 
 If God is a God of infinite goodness as well as power, there 
 can be neither disease or sin. Certainly the conclusion seems 
 at first sight to f jllow inevitably from the premises. But there 
 is a flaw. Let us take the matter of sin, and let us put aside 
 the consideration that if there is no sin that our Saviour's mis- 
 sion to the earth was unnecessary, His teachings untrue and 
 His passion bootless; that the denial of sin is the denial of a 
 
Reti. ^Frederick La IRue i&ing 49 
 
 Christianity, which is nothing but a mode of deliverance from 
 sin and its consequences. No, let us look simply at the un- 
 doubted facts of the case. What is more manifest to our 
 consciousness than that we ourselves have done wrong, and 
 what is more obtrusive upon our notice than the wrong doing 
 of others? There is the fact, and all the logic of the world 
 cannot argue it away, and there is a good reason why sin 
 should be in this world. God is infinitely good and mighty, 
 and there could be no more perfect manifestation of His good- 
 ness and almighty power than the creation of a free human 
 being. Only a free being can be good or happy. But to be 
 free implies the power to sin. This being — man, whom God 
 has made, is not an automatom; if he were, God could not 
 accuse or threaten him as He does everywhere in the Scrip- 
 tures, nor could we accuse and threaten our fellow men as we 
 do in the ordinary affairs of life. All the nobility of his posi- 
 tion and the grandeur of his character would at once be 
 destroyed, if he could not be thus accused and threat- 
 ened. 
 
 Of course the ultimate persistence of sin is incompatible 
 with the rule of an infinitely good and powerful God, and so 
 the Scriptures reveal that, in the end, sin and the sinner will 
 be utterly destroyed. God does not justify His ways to all 
 men at every point of time. In the long course of His deal- 
 ings with humanity there are many things that give occasion 
 to undutiful questioning and complaining. It is only at the 
 end of all things that His justification will be written in light 
 on the skies. And meanwhile those that are wise and love 
 Him can see and gladly own that the possibility of a man's 
 goodness and happiness is bound up with his possibility to 
 sin. So that we may boldly say that, practically, without 
 sin there would be no holiness or happiness, since there would 
 be no freedom. The conclusion then that we would draw 
 from the isfinitude of God's power and goodness would be 
 just the opposite of that drawn by the Christian Scientists. 
 We should conclude that in making man He would not make 
 
50 Selected psalms anD a^onograpijB 
 
 him an automaton without power to be holy or happy, but 
 with all the possibilities of sinning that are in freedom. 
 
 Now let us look at the assertion of Christian Science 
 that there is no disease. As to that we might argue, and 
 could not be gainsaid, that if a man can oppose himself to 
 God's moral order and become part of the moral chaos, he 
 can oppose himself to God's physical order and become part 
 of the physical chaos, of which disease is a representative in 
 this life; but we can afford to waive this evidence since, logic 
 or no logic, disease is a fact. Certainly, if we accept the evi- 
 dence of our senses, we must believe in the existence of 
 disease. We feel acute pains, we lose our strength, we have 
 various forms of distress in various parts of the body, the 
 functions of the body are badly performed, or not at all, we 
 become blind, deaf, the sense of feeling leaves us, we be- 
 come unable to move our limbs. Now, this is said to be al! 
 delusion. We are persuaded that it is so, and we are affect- 
 ed. We may be persuaded that it is not so, and then we are 
 delivered. But infants suffer also, and how can they be 
 deluded, how can they have prepossessions? Animals also 
 suffer; we often notice this in our domestic animals. How 
 can this be due to any prepossessions or delusions. Here, for 
 instance, is a poor little canary bird in the house with me, it 
 can suffer from asthma like a human being. We see with 
 what difficulty it breathes, we can notice its dolorus, afflicted 
 discouraged condition. I fill its cage with the smoke that 
 relieves me, and the effect is as manifest as upon myself. The 
 harsh sound of its breathing ceases, and it is evidently more 
 at ease; an air of alertness comes over it, it begins to preen 
 its feathers, then to chirp, and feebly attempt a song. 
 Whence comes this? The idea of delusion or illusion is 
 preposterous. 
 
 Then again if we examine the bodies of those who have 
 succumbed under their sufferings we see organs overgrown 
 or wasted, distorted or displaced, ossified, or tissues changed 
 in various ways. One glance at the interior of a deceased 
 
ftetn JfteDetick £a Eue ding 51 
 
 patient, as revealed by the scalpel, shows to one who knows 
 how a healthy organization looks, that the seat of disease is 
 not in the notions of the mind, but in the state of the body. 
 And what is to be said of death or immediate corruption? 
 Is that an illusion or delusion? And now remember that, 
 of all our knowledge, that conveyed to us by the senses is the 
 surest, and that there is nothing to contradict this knowledge 
 but a very uncertain logical deduction. 
 
 But why should the Christian Scientists limit the exer- 
 cise of their logic to disease and sin ? There are other forms 
 of evil besides disease and sin, and just as illogical if we 
 believe in an almighty and all good deity. How about the 
 rattlesnake and its venom? If it bites you, can you throw 
 off the effect, and call it nothing? There also are poisonous 
 plants; shall we dare their effects? The lightning strikes, and 
 there are its dreaded effects; also the ravages of insects (as 
 locusts) that cause famines. Is not malaria a real thing? 
 Shall we defy it in the name of logic and settle in the marshes, 
 or mount to the heights and breathe pure air? 
 
 The practical conclusion of common sense is this: there 
 is an order of nature, and if we go counter to that order it 
 crushes us. They who live in accordance with nature are, as 
 a rule, free from disease. Many of the painful disorders that 
 we are subject to are manifestly for the purpose of guiding 
 us and keeping us in the true way of accordance with the 
 laws of nature. There may be beneficence in disease. Pain 
 has been called a faithful sentinel of the body, and if we heed 
 that sentinel we shall usually go on our way unharmed. We 
 may safely say that all ill that happens to us, leaving out the 
 direct influence of the evil spiritual world arises from our 
 going counter to nature, or else arises from the wilderness of 
 nature not yet subdued to order, which of themselves are 
 counter to our well being and doubtless are used by evil be- 
 ings to harm us. 
 
 If we should use the logic of Christian Scientists, we 
 should say that any world created by an infinitely perfect, 
 
52 ^electeo psalms and a^onogtapfxs 
 
 powerful and beneficient being would be absolutely perfect. 
 But this is not the case. In flat contradiction to Scientist logic 
 the earth was created at first very imperfect, and it took ages, 
 perhaps millions of years, to shape it to be a proper residence 
 for man. And so the fauna and flora of the earth were at 
 first but crudimentary, and were gradually brought to what 
 they now are. In this world that He has created and finished 
 God works yet in this gradual way. Fruits are meant for our 
 use ; yet they are not at first made in such a form that we can 
 use them. An apple is at first a minute organism without 
 any flavor, it takes months for it to be perfected and suitable 
 for us. How would it do for a father to say to his children 
 in the early spring, "God has given us the apple. It is a 
 pleasant, wholesome fruit, eat therefore freely, this is God's 
 world, not the Devil's." The little boys would readily obey 
 with results. When the doctor was called to their wailing, he 
 would not ask, "What is this delusion that fills your mind?" 
 but, "What have you been eating?" When a person has 
 taken carbolic acid, there is need of a stomach pump, not 
 logic. 
 
 But why should the Christian Scientists limit them- 
 selves at all? All forms of evil are equally consistent with 
 the existence of an all wise, all powerful and all loving God. 
 Evil municipal government or the "Unspeakable Turk" 
 must be as much a delusion as disease, and as amenable to 
 "treatment." What a way to settle the coal strikes and labor 
 troubles generally! 
 
 One is tempted to abandon the attempt to deal with 
 Christian Science, it appears so nonsensical and irrational, but 
 tl ere are considerations that give one pause. It is a power. 
 And the very fact that it is a power, that such multitudes 
 are swept away by it, and that it has such a wide acceptance, 
 claims a sober investigation at our hands. All great move- 
 ments are respectable, and when they tend to disturb the 
 quietude of Conservatism, Conservatism should not ask itself, 
 "How can I crush it," but first of all, "Does this exist 
 
Retn jFre&etick JLa Rue fcing 53 
 
 through any fault of mine?" Oh, if the church of the 
 Ninth Century, when Mohammedanism arose, had only 
 looked at home and recognized in its dreaded enemy mainly 
 an anti-Christian revolt against the idolatry of Christians, the 
 rapacity of Christian ministers of Justice, the aristocratic or- 
 ganizaton of Christian society and the tyranny of the Chris- 
 tian tax gatherer! Oh, if the church could only have reformed 
 itself ! But no ! It could only shriek and call on God to help 
 it conserve by the sword, without the aid of His presence. 
 This doomed Christian society. They could ! ut fight and fall 
 and waste away until the Lord himself instituted a thorough 
 going reform by the irruption of the Northern Barbarians 
 and the introduction of new blood. 
 
 Now one of the most striking phenomena exhibited by 
 society at the present time is the multiplication of its diseases 
 and their remedies; the development of the medical faculty, 
 and then the utter failure to heal. There is the prevention, 
 indeed, that is a growing success, but of healing there is hard- 
 ly anything. I was told by a very learned and skilful 
 physician that in spite of the vast accessions of knowledge 
 doctors could not cure any better than they could fifty years 
 ago. Nay, is not all this therapeutics a great disease of itself? 
 Has it not induced a morbid self-consciousness, a noticing of 
 symptoms, and a running to remedies for immediate relief, 
 which is only causing the evil to wax towards a catastrophe? 
 Remedies can no more make health than you can make a 
 fruitful tree by tying fruit to its branches. Health is from 
 within, it is the outcome of the whole man, and so in old 
 English "well" is "whole." Only when there is truth in our 
 inward part can our outward part be a manifestation of the 
 Creator's wisdom, and harmony be introduced into the 
 human frame. 
 
 We now seek "unto physicians" and "not unto the 
 Lord." We go to the physicians to enable us to live apart 
 from the Lord in the indulgence of our desires and appetites. 
 If the Lord was made dominant in our lives many of the 
 
54 Selected psalms and 6@onogtapt)* 
 
 causes of disease would be eliminated at once. Our bv«c 
 would be simpler, purer, full of delightful occupation, love 
 would spring up, and happiness would become the very at- 
 mosphere that mankind breathes. Tell me not that society 
 would be re-constituted before this could be. Of course it 
 would. The health of the individual depends on the health 
 of society. The true sanitarium is that city which John saw 
 coming down out of Heaven from God, having the Glory of 
 God. There we will not imagine that the exercise of faith 
 implies the disuse of means, for the use of means will be- 
 come the exercise of faith. Now all this sounds vague, and 
 it is impossible for me to work out the details of this view, 
 but is it not evident at once that the diseases of individuals 
 are largely the outcome of the disease of society, and that 
 only when the whole man is healed, can he be said to be 
 really whole, and the whole man cannot be healed till society 
 is made whole. 
 
 What is the use of the skilful physician, by his treat- 
 ment relieving the over-worn nerves of a man of business, if 
 he must return to his exacting employment, immediately to be- 
 gin destroying himself again in order to maintain or advance 
 the social position of his wife and children, who are like- 
 wise destroying themselves in their social struggles which 
 yield them not one atom of joy? If society were only rightly 
 constituted, and that may not be except through a whole life 
 in every individual, then there would be no strife, no fretting, 
 no anxiety, no waste, no excess, no want. The absence of 
 these and such as these would well-night abolish disease. 
 
 The lowering of the death rate in New York by the 
 simple cleaning of the streets is a distant foretaste of this; 
 what will be the result when every faculty of man is in con- 
 stant, perfect and happy exercise! This is the true way. 
 There lacks not a false way, a short cut to health, a very 
 short cut. Mankind is restless in the throes of its morbid 
 introversions and speculations upon disease. It sees the 
 failure of physicians, the vanity of remedies, and craves de- 
 
Keto* ^Frederick La I&ue filing 55 
 
 liverance from all this coil of burden and misery. Mrs. 
 Eddy has boldly pointed out the way. She is a path finder 
 indeed! She found that the more minute the remedy was, 
 the more happy the result on the patient, so she tried nothing, 
 and found that still more effective. It was not hard after that 
 to conclude that nothing at all cured, because nothing at 
 all was the matter ; and that there might not lack philosophical 
 confirmation of this it was put in the form of a sylogism. 
 
 An all good, all powerful God would not permit the 
 existence of disease or sin. 
 
 "God is all good and almighty. 
 Wherefore disease and sin are non-existent." 
 
 It is easy to see how attractive this would be to the 
 multitude who find it possible to believe. They could drop 
 the burden of taking care of themselves, drop the burden of 
 keeping up face to face rapport with God, drop the burden 
 of the anxiety and doubt, that has hitherto accompanied 
 their effort to depend on his free will, and sink down in utter 
 dependence upon a God whose action is as certain as the 
 attraction of gravitation — changeless, uniform, omnipresent. 
 Not the living, loving God whom it was their privilege all 
 along to trust. No, this system is but one manifestation of 
 the wide revolt against Him that is going on at the present 
 day. Much of the proof that Christian Scientists claim as 
 perfectly convincing often shows only that nature has great 
 creative powers. 
 
 I have a woman now in my mind who was a confirmed 
 valetudinarian. Always occupied with herself, always notic- 
 ing her symptoms, always taking remedies, she was always 
 out of sorts and complaining. She adopted Mrs. Eddy's 
 views, threw physic to the dogs, and put on health as one 
 would put on a coat. Of course, the result was perfectly 
 natural, and any wise physician could have foretold it. She 
 has besides for occupation the interest of a new movement and 
 the study of what she can call a "science." That is all that 
 I can see in Christian Science, pure and genuine, but as I 
 
56 Selected psalms and sponopapljs 
 
 sat in their congregation and listened to their readings from 
 Mrs. Eddy's book, their strange transmogrification of Scrip- 
 tine, their queer hymns and strange addresses to "Our Father 
 and Mother God" I could not help thinking, that in spite of 
 their theories, many of them were really seeking the God of 
 Healing when the Church had left Him for physicians, and I 
 could not but hope that very jealousy would rouse the Church 
 to seek to her God for healing and health as she never has 
 before. 
 
 True, the Church does pray for healing and earnestly, 
 too. A true child of God has no choice. He ought to, 
 he must pray whenever he is anxious or fears or strongly 
 desires. It is not a mere matter of impulse and inclination. It 
 is thus he serves God. It is thus that he honors Him and 
 proclaims His governance of the world. But he prays (for 
 so he is taught) as a child to a father; and he claims that 
 ministry not only of His Father's infinite love and power, but 
 of His infinite wisdom as well. He feels that he is little 
 and ignorant, and knows not what is best for himself, nor 
 whether it fits in well with God's great and loving plan for 
 the world; and so he does not insist on his view of the mat- 
 ter, but delights, not only to bring his desires to God, assured 
 of His keenest sympathy, but delights also to surrender those 
 desires to the Almighty Disposer assured of His infinite wis- 
 dom and beneficient plan. The desire of desires is with him 
 that God's will may be done. And, therefore, after the ex- 
 ample of our Lord in His agony, he says, "Not my will but 
 Thine be done." He knows that insistence upon his own will, 
 tends to separate him from the Lord, and he knows that what 
 he desires may be no real good but a real evil. 
 
 The first born of a lady I knew was, in his infancy, 
 brought very near death. The unchasened spirit of the 
 mother could not endure the possibility of his loss. She de- 
 termined that he should not die, went to her room, resolved 
 to insist with the Lord upon the life of her child till she felt 
 sure that her petition was granted. Well, the child's life was 
 
i&etn jFteDetick JLa I&ue Eing 57 
 
 spared, and he grew up to be her curse — wicked, undutiful 
 and cruel. He made her life one constant agony by his be- 
 havior and she regarded it all as a punishment for her 
 unhallowed prayer. A prayer, take notice, of unbounded 
 confidence, but without an atom of faith. 
 
 And now this unhallowed prayer is made by the Chris- 
 tian Scientists the very principle of God's action. He cannot 
 He must not, if He be good and Almighty, allow anything 
 to come upon us that is unpleasant or painful. Christians 
 cannot accept this for it amounts to our taking upon our- 
 selves (as far as wishes go) the government of the Universe; 
 and that would be as ridiculous and more disastrous than to 
 allow a child to dictate to its elders how he should deal with 
 it. No ! Christians do not believe in a God who is practically 
 a principle at the base of the universe, whose action can be 
 certainly predicted, but in a God, who is free and wise and 
 loving, who is the Governor of the Universe, and who does 
 everything "after the counsel of His will." To them His 
 ways may be at times obscure, clouds and darkness may 
 surround Him, but in the center of the darkness, they know 
 are enthroned Justice and Judgment and Love as well as 
 Almighty Power. When Christians pray, then they delight 
 to surrender their desires to Him, since He knows best. 
 Beautiful is it when a faithful soul, desiring greatly, urges 
 greatly its desire upon God, but loving Him better than its 
 desires chooses its Heavenly Father's will rather than its own, 
 not merely resigning itself to that will, but accepting it as the 
 sum and substance of its desires, so that though there be 
 momentary loss and pain, in the end there will be perfect 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Well, if Christian Science were true I cannot but own 
 that there would be a certain apparent gain, but the loss 
 would be terrible. There is something better than health, the 
 society of One who seeks us, especially when we are in 
 trouble or sorrow or pain. We cannot turn our face towards 
 Him without His turning His face towards us. One mo- 
 
58 GelecteD psalms attD a^onogtapfr* 
 
 ment's assurance of His love outweighs all trials whatsover 
 they may be. But if the doctrine of Christian Science is true, 
 all this is impossible. We cannot love the attraction of gravi- 
 tation, nor can the attraction of gravitation love us, thoroughly 
 as it is to be depended upon. Nor can we love a God whose 
 acts are the inevitable outcome of Himself without any re- 
 gard to us or for us, nor can He love us. The greatest of 
 all possessions, the Great Companion, is gone. And in order 
 to have Him go we have been obliged to deny the sight of our 
 eyes, the hearing of our ears, the very common sense that 
 lifts us above the brutes. 
 
 There is a better way to take when we look into the 
 face of terrible sorrow and pain, the way taken by Him who 
 suffered physically more than any of us could suffer, and 
 whose mental sufferings were incalculable and even incon- 
 ceivable by us. It is the way for us all. "If it be possible let 
 this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will but Thine be 
 done." "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." 
 That was the way that led him to the right hand of the 
 throne of God, and it is the way we must tread if we would 
 share His throne. This is a warfare that we are engaged in, 
 and we must fight to the death, the reward is sure. We 
 should not seek trials, but if they come we may with the 
 Apostle James count it all joy. They that are tried most 
 are apt to have most wide intercourse with their Lord. 
 
 "And what would you say," asked one of a poor beg- 
 gar, "if the Lord should send you to Hell? Would you still 
 say that all was for the best?" 
 
 "Yes," said the beggar, "for, by the arms of my faith 
 and the arms of His love, I am united with Him so that we 
 can never be separated. If he sent me to Hell, to Hell he 
 would go with me, and there I would rather be than in Heav- 
 en without Him." 
 
Rett. JFreOetick JLa Kite ffitfng 30 
 
 £§>pencer'g Cfjeorp of 
 Religion. 
 
 Religion is one thing, and an account of its inception 
 and growth another. An account of the inception and 
 growth of consciousness cannot account for consciousness any 
 more than a description of the monkey accounts for the 
 monkey. So a natural history of religion does not account 
 for religion. Mr. Spencer does not seem to take in this. 
 Philosophy is something quite different from religion. 
 Philosophy develops abstract ideas of God. Religion side 
 by side with it develops concrete and often superstitious 
 ideas of God. 
 
 Spencer finds facts, but he does not find the order of the 
 facts; that he invents. A quite different aspect is given to the 
 facts of religion if we assume an order of degradation or im- 
 provement. Then also when he finds his order, it may not 
 be the universal order. E.g., side by side in the mind of the 
 same person at the same time may decay an old religion and 
 arise a new one. Brahmanism did not arise after the decay 
 of the Vedic religion. It arose in the minds of those in 
 whom the Vedic religion was decaying. It was formed 
 through that decay. We can trace this in our own experi- 
 ence, for our religion never remains the same even for a day. 
 If we grow not into the knowldge of the true God, we are 
 ever turning Him into a false God. As the sense of depend- 
 ence on a living Christ fades away, dependence upon a 
 church, a succession, increases. As spiritual worship dies, 
 the Mass arises. Even the covering used to hide a dirty fur 
 coat becomes a surplice and a fetich. If there is a universal 
 •rder, is it one of degradation. 
 
 Spencer must account for the degradation of religion. 
 Philosophy may have an influence on religion, but that is not 
 
60 ^eiecteD psalmg ano e$onogtapf)g 
 
 the development of religion. Spencer, too, does not take ac- 
 count of mythology, which imports into religion as facts ideas 
 that have not been rationally developed. 
 
Ecu. jFreoericit Ha Rue King 61 
 
 Subconscious! 
 
 Cljrtsttamtp. 
 
 1 . The Lord's Supper is symbolical of that vital union 
 between Christ and the believer which is the essential condi- 
 tion and direct source of salvation. 
 
 2. This union is not moral or intellectual or social at 
 all. It is not rapport with the Lord, though issuing in rap- 
 port. It is entirely independent of and beneath the con- 
 sciousness, though issuing in consciousness. 
 
 3. This union is so independent of consciousness, or the 
 use of the truth, that it may take place at birth, or in infancy 
 at the moment of baptism, or at any moment without bap- 
 tism; in an adult, at a moment when he is occupied with the 
 truth, or when he is thinking of something else ; at the moment 
 of his trusting in Christ or before any conscious act of trust 
 
 4. It is formed by an act of God, and is therefore 
 His deed and irresistible; and yet it interferes not with free- 
 dom, any more than the traits we derive from our parents 
 interfere with our freedom. God in this change works out 
 from not on us. 
 
 5. It is a new birth by the Holy Spirit whereby we 
 become brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 6. But though it is wrought by the Holy Spirit it is 
 not a mere change of our spirit, any more that what was 
 wrought in the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit was a mere 
 change in her spirit. That resulted in bringing into the 
 world a human being of a new type and the new birth in the 
 case of any man results in bringing into the world one more 
 human being of that new type. 
 
 7. This is effected by implanting in us the whole 
 glorified life of the God-Man, uniting us to Him in such 
 a way that when we are perfectly redeemed we shall owe all 
 
62 Selected Psalms anD 6©onograpi)$ 
 
 we call ourselves to Him; just as we now owe all that we 
 call ourselves in the Natural State to our parents. The 
 life of the child and of father or brother and brother is how- 
 ever numerically two, the life of the believer and Christ is 
 numerically one. Just as is the life of my right and left hand. 
 Also, it must be noted that Christ does not dwell personally 
 in us as the Holy Spirit does, although our life is one and the 
 same with Him. 
 
 8. This union with Chnst results, when the glorified 
 state is reached, in our becoming exactly like Christ; as truly 
 divine as He is, only in dependence upon Him, with our 
 whole being pulsing in harmony with the Holy Spirit the 
 divine soul of our souls, with every human grace of the 
 Lord reproduced in us in perfection and completeness of 
 power, yet all these graces our own in spontaneity; standing 
 in the same relation to the Father as He does, occupying the 
 same position towards the universe beneath that He does, 
 reigning on His throne and raying forth His glory not through 
 reflection but through possession — all these powers and en- 
 dowments inherently our own and not the result of contin- 
 uous conscious rapport with the Lord, yet nevertheless in utter 
 dependence on and abiding in Him. But in this life we only 
 partially attain. Grand as is the result of the new birth it is 
 called a "seal" and an "earnest" merely. And yet as a 
 beginning it has a rounded completeness. Thus it is that the 
 work of grace is spoken of often as if it were perfect. Be- 
 lievers, because they are believers, are said to have died, to 
 have been made alive, to have risen, to be incapable of sin, 
 to be not guilty. The infant possesses, potentially and in 
 germ, all that the grown man possesses and so the babe in 
 Christ possesses potentially and in germ all that Christ 
 is, since he is one with Chirst — and the believer by living 
 more and more from the redeemed core of his being, may 
 make his own the impulses and tendencies of Christ's being 
 and, according to his faith, may with greater and greater 
 truth say "for me to live is Christ." 
 
Eeti. jFredetick Ha Rue I&ing 63 
 
 9. But that the vital relation established at the mom- 
 ent of regeneration may become vital possession there are 
 required acts of creative power. For the gift of grace in re- 
 generation is not a germ that needs only the fostering Word 
 to increase and develop it; it must also be added to by 
 the same power that first wrought it. This truth is set forth 
 in the endlessly repeated Supper of the Lord. 
 
 1 0. Which not merely exhibits to the mind the Word 
 of Truth but affords us the best of all opportunities to re- 
 ceive that which it signifies, viz: the communion (or partak- 
 ing) of the theanthropic life of the Son of God. 
 
 1 1 . Which we may in the Lord's Supper not pray 
 for but claim and seize as our own by virtue of a grant now 
 1 800 years old. 
 
64 ©electeO psalms ano e^onograpljs 
 
 infant Papttsim. 
 
 Christianity was intended to arouse and secure two 
 principles in the Christian, — dependence and independence. 
 The gospel proclaims that salvation is a gracious gift which 
 no working, striving or running on our part will ever enable 
 us to attain; while at the same time not only urging us to 
 activity, but assuring us that, unless we work and strive and 
 run, we will surely fail. In the preaching of the Word these 
 two principles are united and co-ordinate. 
 
 In the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, though the gift 
 of grace is made more prominent and manifest, we are, never- 
 theless, called upon to act, to take and eat, to put forth 
 the hand of faith. And he has not been fully taught, who 
 does not know that at this ordinance, as everywhere in our 
 Christian course, we are like the man with the withered hand : 
 we receive the gift of grace through the doing of an act that 
 without that gift of grace we could never do. In the baptism 
 of adults although the gift of grace is still prominent and 
 manifest, something is required of the applicant. He must have 
 sufficient knowledge, and he must make an open confession 
 of Christ. Even in the case of infant baptism, where a little 
 creature is brought to the rite who has no choice in the 
 matter, who can not do anything at all, who can not hear the 
 gospel message, who can neither repent nor believe, even 
 here there is something more than a shadow of free will and 
 activity in the recipient of the rite carefully preserved either 
 by the requirement of believing parents who engage to see 
 that he does all that the gospel message requires him to do, 
 or of sponsors who, in his name, promise to repent and be- 
 lieve. Nothing can be more clear than the recognition of the 
 fact that baptism, unless there is faith and obedience, is an 
 empty and meaningless thing. St. Paul, in demanding good 
 works of Christians, does not say that the gift of grace should 
 
iftein jFte&erick La Eue i&ing 65 
 
 be followed by the works of faith, he rather insists upon the 
 absurdity of any other supposition. Baptism is no magical 
 rite, and the God who gives the grace either before baptism, 
 or at baptism, or after baptism, may allow the seed of grace 
 to lie dormant till a far off time which He foresees, when it 
 will waken at the gospel message, or may delay to implant it 
 till such a time. Who can say to Him, "what doest Thou, 
 or why doest Thou not?" We come now to the warrant 
 for Infant Baptism. 
 
 It must be owned that the command to baptize only 
 implies the previous preaching of the gospel as well as pre- 
 vious faith and repentance. What right, then, have we to 
 baptize those who can not hear, believe or repent? The 
 sufficient argument is that there is no command against it. 
 The onus probandi lies upon those who deny it. The cir- 
 cumstances of the case create an overwhelming presumption 
 in its favor. The Christian Church was not created as the 
 world was, out of nothing by the simple will of God. As 
 Eve was formed from the body of Adam, so was it formed 
 out of the church of the old covenant. 
 
 For a long time it was regarded merely as a society 
 within the Jewish Church. It required manifest and mighty 
 signs to convince the people of God that it was more than 
 this, and finally there was needed the heroic remedy of the 
 destruction of the Holy City itself and the sweeping away 
 of the old economy. Our Lord said very little about this 
 matter, evidently choosing to leave the transformation of 
 the Jewish Church into the Christian in the hands of His 
 apostles acting in their inspired freedom. But there is a 
 passage which may well be regarded as a pivotal point in the 
 history of redemption. In Luke 18:15 we are told that 
 babes were brought to our Lord that they might be touched 
 by Him, and that upon the disciples discouraging this, Jesus 
 called the little ones to Him and said, "forbid them not: for of 
 such is the kingdom of God." Now, then, it is not for one 
 moment to be supposed that the disciples behaved inhumanly 
 
66 ©electeD psalms and 6$onograp&0 
 
 in their opposition. If these infants had been diseased we can 
 not doubt that they would gladly have themselves brought 
 them to the Saviour's arms. But regarding as they did 
 Christ's following as simply a society or sect within the Jewish 
 church, they could not imagine what babes had to do with it, 
 and hence their opposition to what they probably considered 
 as an useless, troubling of their teacher. Our Lord's signi- 
 ficant act and more significant words are as much as to say, 
 "those who are mine are something other than a sect or 
 party, they are a church because they are a race. And 
 though infants can not be members of a sect, they can be 
 members of a race as well as adults. Nicodemus seemed 
 to have the same low idea of the Christian movement when 
 he hailed Christ as "a teacher sent from God," for our Lord 
 at once announced to him that to the kingdom of God which 
 He proclaimed no amount of instruction would admit, that a 
 man must be born — must be newborn, to become a member 
 of the new race. It was no new thing that a church should 
 also be a race. The Jewish church was such and even infants 
 simply because of their natural birth received the sign of 
 church membership. And then consider the part played by 
 race throughout the history of redemption. It is little more 
 than a string of genealogies, and all this is dwelt upon as being 
 of the highest moment to an event that outrages our modern 
 sense of propriety. The unfortunate man who was incapaci- 
 tated from continuing the race could not be counted a mem- 
 ber of the church. It would have required a specific state- 
 ment on the part of our Lord to dispossess His followers of 
 the pre-possession that the church was a race. But we see 
 it was confirmed, only care was taken to show that it was a 
 new race that was begun on earth. This our Lord clearly 
 sets forth when he says to Nicodemus, "except a man be 
 born of water and the Spirit he can not enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven," clearly showing that it is a spiritual change 
 superinduced on our natural life by the volition of the Spirit 
 upon application; no one can fail to see the allusion to the 
 ordinance of baptism. 
 
Eeth jFreOeuck !La Eue i&fng 67 
 
 So then we see that the church is a new race formed 
 out of the natural by the operation of the Spirit upon the 
 asking of the church. If this be so, then, infants or adults, 
 all enter the kingdom of God the selfsame way; "which 
 were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of 
 the will of man, but of God." And why then should not 
 an infant be brought to baptism? Why should the church 
 not ask for its new birth in the new race? Even if there were 
 no foregoing and well nigh irresistible presumption in its 
 favor, the very love with which the beloved of God yearn 
 over their infants and long for their salvation justifies their 
 bringing them to baptism. What more warrant do they need 
 than the love that God has planted in their hearts and his 
 word, "open thy mouth and I will fill it." Our Saviour 
 said, "ask and ye shall receive," and what should they ask 
 for if not for this? Am I not right in saying that the suffi- 
 cient argument for the baptism of infants is that there is no 
 command against it? For infant baptism is nothing but the 
 prayer of faith in symbol that God would make the little 
 one whom we love a member of the new race which the 
 second Adam, the Lord from heaven, has begun in this 
 world. To Him we come. This is no compelling rite as 
 some would teach. We may use the rite most accurately, 
 but unless He will to give, it will be as vain and empty as 
 when Gehazi laid the rod upon the face of the child, "but 
 there was neither voice or hearing." But who that remem- 
 bers the fullness of the Saviour's promise, and remembers 
 His love for those who love Him, will not be impelled to 
 something more than hope that they who have been baptized 
 with water have also been baptized by the Holy Spirit; and 
 will not feel that though we may not assert that the 
 little one has become a new creature, we may assume it, and 
 in sign of our faith may give it a new name — the Christian 
 name? The difference between the words "assume" and 
 "assert" involves the whole difference between faith and 
 science. 
 
63 ^eiecteD psalms ano Qionograp&s 
 
 Assertion implies certainty; faith implies assurance. As 
 mental exercises these are entirely different from each other 
 and are occupied with entirely different objects. Science is 
 occupied with things, faith with persons. No man has a 
 right to assert unless he is absolutely certain, and we can be 
 absolutely certain of things alone. The moment we deal 
 with persons we come into the region of free will, and nobody 
 can be absolutely certain how a free being will act, though he 
 may be perfectly sure that he will act in a certain way; e.g., 
 no one can be certain that any one who loves him to-day 
 will love him to-morrow, while at the same time he may be 
 perfectly sure of it. No one can be certain that he will be 
 able the next moment to put his hand to his head, and yet life 
 would be impossible if he could not be sure of that and other 
 like things. Now, when I come to God for anything, I can 
 not be certain that that thing will be obtained, because He 
 may see fit to withhold it; and every true prayer implies this. 
 But it is my right and duty to go away feeling that my prayer 
 will be answered. I can not be certain of possessing the 
 thing, but I can be sure of possessing God. My prayer is not 
 simply a petition that God would give me a certain specified 
 thing, but it is as well the expression of a desire 
 that God's will may be done. The prayer of faith does not 
 insist. 
 
 Now infant baptism is a petition to God through symbol, 
 that He at the time that the infant is presented 
 to Him would regenerate it. The principle that our Lord 
 lays down with reference to petitions is this, that, when we 
 ask anything we should believe that we have it, and then we 
 will receive — not perhaps the exact thing asked for, but what 
 is essentially the same. We can not be certain of the eternal 
 salvation of any one person, that we must leave in the hands 
 of God, and in His hands alone there is comfort in leaving 
 it. It must be as He wills, and His infinite will is rooted 
 in infinite love. Now, when we consider how broad were 
 the boundaries of the ancient church, including infants, and 
 
Rem jFreDerick La Rue ming 69 
 
 when we remember that our Saviour has assured us that even 
 infants are not excluded from the kingdom of heaven — the 
 "Church of the First Born," when we remember how He has 
 always honored the family, and realize that the very tender- 
 ness with which father and mother hang over a little one, 
 is in very truth the tenderness of the Lord Himself, since it is 
 one of the manifestations of His Character in whose image we 
 are made, and when we consider what power an infant's 
 appeal to his parents has by reason of that implanted tender- 
 ness; and recall the fact that we are permitted to call God 
 Our Father, what bounds shall be set to the confident expec- 
 tations of parents when they ask something so near their hearts 
 as the salvation of their child? Shall they not believe that 
 the power that child has with them is the measure of the 
 power they have with God? And though they can not 
 assert that at this or that moment God has wrought the 
 mighty work of the new creation upon their child, may 
 they not assume — take for granted, that He to whose arms 
 they bring their little one will receive it and never let it go? 
 Are they not warranted henceforth to treat their child as 
 already one of the family of God? 
 
70 SrlecrcD Psalms anD e^onograpbs 
 
 Horfcte Supper. 
 
 (The following monograph may not emphasize suf- 
 ficiently, according to the judgment of some readers, the 
 pictorial analogical, and teaching power of the Lord's Sup- 
 per. Yet it is hoped that the majority will agree in saying 
 that my brother has called attention to the most important 
 meaning of the Sacrament, a meaning often overlooked by 
 teachers of Christian doctrine. — A. B. K.) 
 
 What Mean Ye by this Service, rendered in coming to 
 the Lord's Table? 
 
 1st. What is this service? Our Lord in instituting it 
 said, "Take, eat;" "Drink ye all of it." St. Paul in 1st 
 Cor. 1 1 :20 describes it as eating the Lord's Supper, and 
 again in verse 26, "as often as ye eat this bread and drink 
 this cup." In Acts it is described as a breaking of bread. 
 That, of course, can mean only an eating of bread. It may 
 then be described as eating and drinking in obedience to the 
 Lord's command. The Lord's Supper begins and ends with 
 the act of eating and drinking. It is evident then that the 
 contemplation of the bread and wine as placed on the table, 
 or as broken or poured out, or meditations on these, or upon 
 what is signified by these, is not what the Lord has com- 
 manded, but to eat and drink. 
 
 2nd. The next question is, who perform this service? 
 The answer follows directly from what has been said above. 
 The act of eating and drinking is the act of the congregation; 
 they perform the whole of the rite; the part of the minister is 
 no essential portion of the rite. The arranging of the bread 
 and wine, the breaking and pouring forth, are no more part 
 of the Lord's Supper than the buying and bringing of the 
 bread and wine. These acts merely prepare the way for 
 the act of eating and drinking, which is the true supper of 
 the Lord. Even the blessing is no essential part of the rite, 
 but was used by our Saviour because it was the invariable 
 
Eeth jFreOerick La i&ue ifting 71 
 
 accompaniment of every Jewish meal, only to mark more 
 clearly that it was simply a meal; and is used by us after 
 His example. 
 
 3rd. If then, brethern, this service you are engaged in, 
 is simply and solely an act of eating and drinking performed 
 by you, the question is in order, what is the significance of it? 
 What mean ye by this service? You mean of course to obey 
 a command of the Lord, but surely something more than 
 that. Our Lord enjoined not only the act but the intention 
 with which we should perform it. He said "Do this in 
 remembrance of me." This must be taken in connection 
 with His words, "Take, eat, this is my body," and of the 
 cup, "drink ye, this is my blood." It is clear that the re- 
 membrance is specialized. It is the remembrance of His 
 death, and we also see that it is a remembrance that His 
 death was the means of furnishing for the supply of our 
 necessities something that is symbolized by sustenance for our 
 bodies. 
 
 In Luke the body (i. e., as broken) is said to be "given 
 for you" and the blood to be "poured out for you." We are 
 obliged to connect this with what our Lord says, John 6 :5 1 : 
 "I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If 
 any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever ; yea, and the 
 bread which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." 
 The remembrance is further specialized by this. It is a call- 
 ing to mind that His flesh eaten is not only life, but gives 
 eternal life. Giving and eating of his flesh is the fulfillment 
 of the purpose for which he came into the world, and so we 
 see in Matt. 26:28, this eating and drinking is connected 
 directly with the remission of sins. Also in Luke 22 :20, the 
 blood is called "the blood of the new testament." What 
 this new covenant is, is plain from Heb. 10:16, it is the 
 knitting of the law into the very texture of the soul. This 
 eating and drinking is the gaining a new principle of life for 
 the believer (John 6:51). As Paul says (Gal.2:20) "I 
 have been crucified with Christ, and yet I live, yet not I, but 
 Christ liveth in me." And St. Paul says, (1st Cor. 1 1 :26) 
 the eating and drinking proclaims the death of the Lord. 
 
72 Selected psalms ana £©onograpf)s 
 
 Certainly not the mere fact of His death, but also the effect. 
 It proclaims the gospel, that the Lord's death is the life of 
 the church. 
 
 This must be so if we call to mind what was shown 
 clearly at first, that this rite is not a symbolic exhibition, but 
 a symbolic partaking. The symbol is the partaking of bread 
 and wine; the thing signified is the partaking of Christ's flesh 
 and blood, and we are guarded, in John 6, against a too 
 literal interpretation of the words flesh and blood, by being 
 assured that Christ's body in its entiety will be removed away 
 to heaven, so that we cannot partake of it and by being 
 assured that it would not profit us at all if we could partake 
 of it. "The flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak 
 unto you they are spirit and they are life." And note that we 
 are assured also by these latter words that all that is signified 
 by the flesh and blood and life of the Son of God may 
 be had apart from the rite itself, as well as in the use of 
 it. 
 
 4th. Now, then we have the Lord's Supper described 
 as an eating and drinking, to call to mind that we have 
 through His death Christ made to us sustenance that is life- 
 giving, and that will enable one to live forever, to give us 
 which is the very purpose of His incaranation, through which 
 we have remission of sins and have the law made part of the 
 very constitution of our being, which is called the partaking 
 of His flesh and blood. 
 
 Can we take a view of the rite that shall gather all 
 these statements up and unite them in one? We can first 
 consider what we are told as to the effect of the death of 
 Christ on Christ Himself. In Heb. 3:10 we are told that 
 He was made perfect through sufferings (also 5:9). This 
 perfection is called by our Lord Himself, His being glorified 
 (John 13:31) in other words the removal of every trace of 
 his humiliation. For this reason He speaks of His death as 
 a baptism, before it took place, and afterwards He says "All 
 power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." The rep- 
 resentations of Scripture are something to this effect. The 
 eternal Son resigned His position, emptied Himself, became 
 a man, grew in knowledge and in power, till, through death, 
 
i&eto* jFreOerick &a Eue ding 73 
 
 every trace of humiliation being removed, He resumed His 
 position in heaven at God's right hand, man still, but with 
 the divine glory perfectly manifested (John 17:24). He 
 then became the second Adam of a new race ( 1 Cor. 1 5 :45 ) 
 a life giving spirit. When did He assume the relation of a 
 life-giving Spirit to His church? Apparently upon His ex- 
 altation and reception into glory. His description of His 
 death as the dying of the seed in order that it might multiply 
 itself shows this, the fact that the Holy Spirit could not be 
 given until after His glorification shows this, and the giving 
 of the Holy Spirit was the founding of the Christian church. 
 Now to this the rite corresponds. As the death of the 
 sacrificial victim enabled it to furnish its flesh for food to the 
 worshippers as well as its fat for an offering to God for sin, so 
 Christ, through death, was able to make Himself a life- 
 giving sustenance to the church. How this was, it is not 
 necessary to inquire, the fact is distinctly asserted by Scrip- 
 ture. But Christ's blood, we are told in the institution of 
 the Lord's Supper, was shed for the remission of sins. How 
 can this eating and drinking symbolize the efficiency of 
 Christ's death for the remission of sins? Why would it not 
 be sufficient to simply exhibit the bread broken and the wine 
 poured out to assure us that Christ died for us and to be the 
 seal to us of its offer to us? Why should we eat and drink 
 In other words: why should the partaking of Him as life- 
 giving sustenance be symbolically set forth, if the work of 
 Christ in remitting our sins were done apart from ourselves? 
 But that is not the case; if it were, we would find it difficult 
 to answer the questions of unbelievers. "How does the death 
 of Christ show that God is dealing in strict justice while 
 exercising the prerogative of mercy in remitting our sins?" 
 But the Scripture states that we are united to Christ in such 
 a way that His dying is our dying, and His living our living, 
 just as the death of a plant involves the death of every branch 
 that lives in it. (Rom. 6:5 and Gal. 2:20) Paul says, "I 
 have been crucified with Christ." The eating and the drink- 
 ing is the sign that we partake of that death. We eat and 
 drink in order to make the act of faith by which we partake 
 in that death. 
 
74 Selected psalms anD ^onogtapijs 
 
 Now the only way for us to partake in Christ's death 
 is to be united to Him in life. When Christ died on the 
 cross all the members of His body died with Him, and when 
 He rose all the members of His body rose with Him. If we 
 become members of Christ, then we die in Him and rise in 
 Him as is shown, (Rom. 6:5.) Now in the supper of the 
 Lord that life-union is symbolized. He gives us His flesh 
 and blood. That the bread and wine are mere symbols, 
 and that there is nothing put into them and conveyed by them 
 to the believers is shown clearly by the Lord in the 6th of 
 John where He teaches us that believing is eating. Why, 
 then, is such a strange, and even horrible, symbol used as 
 that of eating and drinking His flesh and blood? It is be- 
 cause nothing else would assure the church that it is not 
 sufficient for us to love, obey, adore and to follow Christ; 
 there must be a union with Him as real as that between the 
 branches of a vine and the vine, or the members of a body 
 with the body. The symbol of eating and drinking has been 
 wrested into the "mass" and the statement that to believe is 
 to eat has been wrested into making the sacrament of the 
 Supper a mere symbolic preaching of the Word. But what 
 is the word set forth? It is this. "By trust in Christ you 
 may receive into yourselves the very life of Christ, and be 
 actually united to Him. The essence of the act of appropria- 
 tion is faith, not the use of the rite, though the rite is com- 
 manded. For the Lord knew how a physical act helps a 
 mental exercise, and also that form of the rite, even its mon- 
 strous character, tended to assure the church that there was 
 more to be received from Christ than spiritual culture. The 
 essence of the act by which the woman with the issue of 
 blood got healing was not touching the hem of our Saviour's 
 garment, but the faith in Him. She found not healing in the 
 hem, but the Saviour wrought on her because she touched 
 the hem in faith. And so those who stretch forth their 
 hands to the table of the Lord find not what they seek in 
 the bread and wine or in the representations of the truth 
 made by the bread and wine to their mind and heart, but in 
 the virtue that goes out of the Lord because of their eating 
 and drinking, not a virtue upon their mind and heart any 
 more than the bread and wine acts upon the mind and heart, 
 
Refcn jFreDerick La iftue ding 75 
 
 but increased vitality upon that which lies below both mind 
 and heart, the life. That virtue is His very life, that life 
 which built up His flesh and blood, and which will build up 
 His flesh and blood within us, making us His true blood 
 kindred. It is thus that He becomes a life-giving spirit, the 
 second Adam of those who believe in Him. We share the 
 same life with Him, not as two brothers share the life of the 
 same parents. His life and our life are one and the same, as 
 the life of my right and left hands is one and the same. Hav- 
 ing this life it is no wonder that it is said that we shall live 
 forever. In Him, we can no more be holden of death than 
 He could. 
 
 Now the life that we partake of is the glorified life of 
 the Son of God, a life that has passed through the gates of 
 death, and over which death has no power, which has 
 paid all dues of martality and has come forth as con- 
 queror. Thus, partaking of Christ's life becomes partaking 
 of His death. Thus it is that the Apostle says, that we are 
 now at once dead and risen. 
 
 In receiving Christ into ourselves then, we of our own 
 accord cast away as worthless all that the penalty due to sin 
 could deprive us of. At the table of the Lord we perform 
 a true sacrifical act upon ourselves by receiving into our- 
 selves the life that slays the old Adamic life which was due 
 to death. Such a sacrifice that slain and yet out of Christ, 
 we must suffer the pains of eternal death; such a sacrifice that 
 being slain and remaining in Christ, we but lose our old 
 Adamic root of life and gain a new divine root, pay the pen- 
 alty due to the violated law and yet live, while at the same 
 time our substitute, Christ pays it. Thus it is that Christ's 
 blood shed for the remission of sins brings to us remission 
 of sins by our drinking in faith the wine of which it is a 
 symbol. And thus it is that the cup that was drunk is the 
 symbol of the new covenant (Heb. 8:10) and a means 
 through faith in the appropriation of which we may have 
 God's laws put into our minds and written on our hearts. 
 We not only partake of Christ's immortality but are made 
 like, by being made one with, Him. Just as the smallest 
 branch of a vine possesses all the characteristics of the 
 
76 Selected psalms ana aponograp&si 
 
 vine by being one with it. In this way only can our justifica- 
 tion be justified, and in this way only can we set out hope- 
 fully to do what we are commanded to do. Vain would it be 
 for the vine branch cut off and lying below to look up and 
 try to bear fruit as do the branches above, but set back in the 
 vine how easy would it be to follow the vine. And vain 
 would it be for a man by believing in Christ and striving to do 
 like Christ ever to succeed in being like Him. He must first 
 be joined to Christ, and then all is easy. 
 
 From the words "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the 
 flesh profiteth nothing"; the words that I have spoken unto 
 you are spirit and life (John 6:63) it is often inferred that 
 the whole meaning of the reception of Christ's body and 
 blood is the meditation upon the truth, and the effect of that 
 is limited to the mind and heart. That is a very singular 
 view. Suppose a man has ignorantly taken poison, and I 
 take him an antidote, and say to him. "You are dying, 
 but here is an antidote, take it and you will live. Heed these 
 words which I say, for they will give you life." Now those 
 words would naturally enlighten the mind of the man and 
 fill his heart with gladness and grateful feeling, but, if that 
 were all, he would die, for in order to live he must, besides 
 knowing of the remedy, take the antidote. 
 
 Now the words that our Lord spoke were words of 
 command and called upon them to do something. There 
 must not only be a thought, there must be also an act. A 
 hungry beggar, if offered food, must not merely meditate on 
 the kindness of the friend who offers it, he must eat it or he 
 will starve. So must we in the act of eating, receive Christ into 
 ourselves through faith. It is not denied, it is affirmed that 
 this act of faith may be made away from the table, but take 
 notice, the act at the table is commanded, and woe to those 
 who deliberately neglect it. And the act away from the 
 table is not a meditation, an emotion, a trusting of Him for 
 forgiveness, a love or adoration. It is a spiritual act of a most 
 real union with his flesh and blood harder to make than at 
 the table. But there are those who say that in the Holy 
 Supper Christ is in symbol set before us visibly in order that 
 we may then and there rely upon His perfect sacrifice for us on 
 
Eein ifteDetick La IRtie iking 77 
 
 the cross by which our sins have been cancelled forever. But 
 what is the meaning then of eating and drinking; what have 
 they to do with our accepting Christ's sacrifice for us? It 
 may be said to express and manifest our union to Christ in 
 faith and love but why should He choose so extraordinary a 
 way to express what He had often told them plainly, that they 
 should love Him and trust Him? Why should He use so mon- 
 strous a form as "my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is 
 drink indeed," and again "He that eateth me shall live by 
 me?" It could only have been because it could not well 
 have been expressed in any other way. It must have been 
 because He wished to tell us that the act of faith effected a 
 union with His living, glorified person, in an analogous way as 
 the act of eating bread and drinking wine unites those articles 
 of food to the natural body. It behooves us, then, to come, 
 and take, and eat and drink, not only that we may receive the 
 forgiveness of our sins through the sacrifice set visibly in 
 symbol forth to the eyes, but to receive His very life into our- 
 selves — the necessary condition of that forgiveness. 
 
78 ^electeD psalms mto ^onograptJS 
 
 $salm 19. 
 
 There is a remarkable resemblance and contrast be- 
 tween this Psalm and the one preceding. Both are, in effect, 
 prophecies of the Great "restitution of all things;" but the 
 XIX Psalm foretells it through the order of the Heavens, 
 the XVIII through a sudden and violent interruption of that 
 order. Two aspects of Redemption correspond to these; the 
 one, the renovation of all things by moral, spiritual and 
 creative influences; the other, the removal of obstacles to that 
 renovation, involving awful destruction and stern rule. The 
 former is set forth by the XIX, the latter by the XVIII 
 Psalms. 
 
 TITLE 
 
 The Glory of God in the Heavens 
 prophecies God's Glory on the Earth. 
 This psalm may be thrown into two main divisions, 
 each of which has a subordinate subdivision. The first 
 main division, verses 1 -6, may be entitled, "The Glory of 
 God shown by the Heavens," the second, verses 7-14, "The 
 Law, that is to bring about the exhibition of the Glory of 
 God on the Earth." The first may be called "Realized 
 Obedience," the second "Commanded Obedience"; again 
 the first, "Redemption exhibited," the second, 'Redemp- 
 tion prospective;" again, the first, "Redemption promised," 
 the second, "Redemption begun." Connected with the first 
 division is the subdivision consisting of verse 4, last clause, 
 and verses 5 and 6, and forming a link betweeen the two 
 divisions; the sun being not only a part of the order and 
 beauty of the Heavens, but like the Law promotive of order 
 and beauty below. Connected with the second division is the 
 subdivision verses 12-14, which belongs to the second, inas- 
 
Eeto* JFre&eticR La Hue i&ing 79 
 
 much as it continues the exhibition of the Law by its effects 
 in an individual, and to the first, inasmuch as it is a realiza- 
 tion prospective and in germ of the order and perfection 
 prophesied by the Glory of the Heavens. 
 
 Verse 1. "The heavens are telling the glory of God, 
 and the work of His hands (is) the firmament declaring." 
 
 Between "Heavens" and 'Firmament' there is much 
 the same difference as between "sky" and 'skies.' They 
 are both used interchangeably, yet the singular is more as- 
 sociated with the blue dome of the day-time, the plural with 
 the starry spaces. Of the two branches of the parallelism 
 therefore, the former refers rather to the night time and the 
 other to the day. This suits the next verse. But yet the 
 plural rules throughout the psalm, and every one will feel the 
 propriety of the plural as applied to what is above us, if they 
 will only meditate upon the manifold aspects it presents. The 
 blue sky curtains us all around by day, but we have the sun 
 and clouds and their changes. Then when — 
 
 the powers of the night, 
 That range above the region of the wind, 
 Deepening the courts of twilight, break them up, 
 Through all the silent spaces of the worlds, 
 
 we have the multitudinous stars and the constant motion and 
 change of the whole. These Heavens, the work of God, 
 exhibit His character. Their grandeur is transcendent, their 
 order and beauty is perfect; therefore it is an exhibition, as 
 far as it goes, without a flaw. To be sure, the Heavens are 
 unclean in God's sight, and we know that righteousness does 
 not dwell in them; but, as far as we can see, indeed as far 
 as science has fathomed, everything is self-sustaining and 
 self-adjusting and perfect in every respect. No dark and 
 terrible problems are set us by the starry skies. Since God 
 made them, they show forth his power and wisdom and 
 (since even the stars have their ministry for us) his benefi- 
 cence. To fully appreciate how bold this statement is we 
 
80 ^electeD psalms anO sponograpijs; 
 
 must remember that the celestial bodies were worshipped by 
 the nations around. 
 
 Verse 2. "Day to day shall pour out speech, and 
 night to night shall utter knowledge." 
 
 There is some little doubt about the grammatical con- 
 struction of this verse. It may mean "one day speaks to 
 another day and one night to another night;" or "day added 
 to day," "day after day and night after night utters speech 
 to the inhabitants of the earth." Perhaps both senses may be 
 taken. Not only does day after day and night after night 
 take up and continue the witness to the glory of God, but 
 each day's and night's witness adds something peculiarly its 
 own to the witness of another; as if one day knew something 
 that another did not know and told it to its successor. This 
 verse then shows us that the witness to God's glory is full and 
 continuous. 
 
 Verse 3. "There is no speech, and there are no words; 
 not at all is their voice heard." 
 
 This can hardly be said in order to correct a misappre- 
 hension that might be formed as to the meaning of "uttereth 
 speech." No one surely needs be told that the heavens do 
 not talk. The meaning lies deeper than this. It means to 
 intimate that the heavens do not bear witness to God's glory 
 by any direct suggestion of notion, or notions, or doctrine. 
 "Speech" and "language," like "word," is equivalent to 
 "doctrine" — "view." The rolling Heavens suggest certain 
 views of God to the pure mind; but it is by means of ideas, 
 not notions. They appeal to the intuitions of truth, beauty 
 and goodness that are in all. Far above all diversions of 
 language and systems of belief lies a region in which all man- 
 kind are one. In that region of universal language the Heavens 
 can speak to any one and show to him the glory of God. 
 
 Verse 4. "In all the earth has gone out their lives 
 and in the end of the world (are) their words." 
 
 As one might describe a man's farm as the land he 
 measures, so the prophets of the skies are said to extend their 
 
I&eth jfreDerick ita Eue Mm SI 
 
 measuring line over the whole earth, because it is to all the 
 earth that they prophesy. Their preaching is not merely of 
 that kind that it can appeal to any one, but it does actually 
 reach all the families of man. What is it that the Heavens 
 reveal to man? The Apostle Paul (Rom. 10:18) seems 
 to intimate that they preach the Gospel to them. Hengsten- 
 berg thinks that the Apostle merely considers this verse as a 
 prophecy of the universality of the proclamation of the Gospel 
 which obtained in his day. His remark is fine: "The uni- 
 versality of God's manifestation of Himself in nature is a 
 prophecy in fact of the universal proclamation of the Gospel. 
 If the former is not accidental, if it is grounded in the Divine 
 nature, so must the latter spring from the same Divine 
 nature." Alexander says: "The same thing might have 
 taught the Jews that their exclusive privileges were granted 
 only for a time and as a means to a more glorious end." But 
 this is only a part of the sense. It seems very evident that 
 the Apostle refers to a past prophetic proclamation of the 
 Gospel to the Jews in the 15 th verse, and therefore in the 
 1 8th to a past prophetic proclamation of the Gospel to the 
 Gentiles. The rolling Heavens certainly proclaimed the 
 eternal power and Godhead of the Creator to all men (Rom. 
 1 :20), and also that he is a God of order, beauty and 
 wisdom, that he is God of all and ministers to all, and that 
 therefore he ought to be trusted and hoped in by all the 
 world. It was plainly enough shown to all the world that 
 God's will was good toward them for them to have under- 
 stood it if their hearts had not been turned away from him. 
 The Heavens declare by the order and beauty to which he 
 has brought them that he would bring about order and 
 beauty upon earth. If this be the Gospel, and such the 
 Apostle would seem to call it, then, though vague, yet, if 
 met by a trust as vague and some dim reliance upon Him 
 who apppealed to man by the revelation of his beauty, power 
 and wisdom, then (we are warranted in saying) the Gospel 
 would be accepted and the acceptor received by that God 
 who, like his son, quencheth not "the smoking flax." 
 
82 ^electeQ psalms anD e@onogcap&0 
 
 It is an interesting fact that the Heavens have come to 
 be regarded in the course of time by the nations round about 
 the Jews as the peculiar theatre of God's exhibition of Him- 
 self and the peculiar seat of His power. Jehovah is called 
 in the state papers of the Persians kings, "The Great God of 
 Heaven." 
 
 The last clause of this verse begins the transition to the 
 second main division of the psalm. The sun — the most 
 magnificent exhibitor of the glory of God from the Heavens 
 is also an actor upon earth and promotes the exhibition of 
 His glory there. 
 
 "In them" — that is, in the Heavens — "hath He set a 
 tabernacle for the sun." 1 his tabernacle is the blue sky, 
 which bears a certain resemblance to a tent (Is. 4:22). In 
 that tent the sun always appears and it is his fit dwelling, for 
 it enhances his beauty and diffuses his light; it is pitched 
 for him at the dawn, and is at night like a tent taken down. 
 
 Verse 5. "And he (is) as a bridegroom coming out 
 of his chamber; he rejoices as a mighty man to run a race." 
 
 The bridegroom should be at the acme of existence, 
 full of vigor, life and beauty; the athlete ("strong man") is 
 in the highest physical condition, full of eagerness to exert his 
 force. These two comparisons set forth the wonder of the 
 unwearied day, from year to year and from age to age the 
 same, beginning each morning anew with the same vigor and 
 freshness (amid so much that grows old and wears out) 
 with which it shone upon the first man. 
 
 Verse 6. "From the end of the Heavens (is) his 
 outgoing and his circuit even to the ends of them, and there 
 is none (or nothing) hidden from his heat." 
 
 The sun shines upon the whole earth and everywhere 
 produces the most astonishing effects. Almost all that makes 
 this earth a fit dwelling for man is by means of the sun. 
 Through him as essential condition is the vegetable world 
 produced and distributed, the food and warmth necessary to 
 the existence of animals furnished and their place assigned. 
 
I&efc* jfreDenck £a Eue fcina 83 
 
 Also through him is the earth watered from Heaven and the 
 rivers formed. All the power that is used by man is either 
 directly or indirectly through the sun. Water-power, wind- 
 power, tide-power, steam (heat) power and vital-power are 
 due to him. All that in this present earth by its beauty and 
 usefulness promises and prophesies a better and more glorious 
 world is by means of the sun. Thus the sun may be said to 
 effect in the sphere of nature the beginning of God's re- 
 demptive work. 
 
 Verse 7. "The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring 
 the soul; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the 
 simple." 
 
 We now come to the praises of the Law. The connec- 
 tion with the preceding verses is plain. The Heavens exhibit 
 God's glory, the Law is the means of making earth an exhibi- 
 tion of God's glory. The earth is a contrast to the celestial 
 regions. The creation is unredeemed and man, the most 
 wonderful of all God's works, fallen and in sin ; but the Law, 
 preparatory to the Gospel, is the means by which, not only 
 in man's heart and life, God's glory will in the end be 
 shown, but also the very Heavens and earth be transformed 
 into the mirror of the Divine attributes in the time of the 
 great adoption and restitution. 
 
 "The Law of the Lord" — the law as a whole, with 
 especial reference to the ceremonial portion of it, in which 
 were revealed the mercy and grace of God. This law was 
 perfectly suited to the wants of the soul. The word "con- 
 vert" in our version is better "restore," and many a Jew in 
 the old time of the law has approached the altar weighed 
 down with guilt and despondency, and then, the burden all 
 removed, with a rejoicing heart has borne witness to the 
 power of the law to restore the soul. Blessed were they above 
 other peoples who could say, "purge me with hyssop, and I 
 shall be clean." 
 
 "The testimony of the Lord" is the law as bearing 
 witness to the holiness of God's character and against sin. 
 
84 ^electeD psalms and 0£onograp&0 
 
 The Moral Law — the ten commandments — is especially re- 
 ferred to under this title. The ark was called "the ark of 
 the testimony" because it contained the tables of the law, and 
 the tabernacle was called "The Tabernacle of the Testi- 
 mony" because it contained the "Ark of the testimony." 
 This testimony is sure. The propriety of this epithet will 
 be seen when we consider that the tempter exerts his 
 craft especially for the purpose of making us unstable in 
 our moral judgments and blurring the distinction between 
 good and evil. We are also prone to be led away by the 
 natural heart and the influence of others to call evil good 
 and good evil. Now amid the moral judgments, varying 
 with times and temptations, the influence of public opinion, 
 amid the waverings of our own judgment through self-decep- 
 tion, in that where there is the least surety, the Law is sure. 
 It is no weather-cock like conscience, obeying the least flaw 
 of wind, but fixed as the eternal adamant and often contra- 
 dicting our fancied spiritual judgments. 
 
 "Making wise the simple." The "simple" are God's 
 children, who are sincere and earnest, but who need enlight- 
 ment because of the stress of temptation or the bewilderment 
 of false reasons. Notice is to be taken that it is not said 
 that the "testimony of the Lord" will give to the simple ones 
 minutely specific precepts which they may follow blindly, but 
 it is to make them "wise." They are to enter into and 
 appropriate the substance of the command. The specific 
 precept is the means of introducing the simple and earnest 
 obeyer to a broad principle that lies at the bottom of it. Thus 
 in no narrow and slavish spirit, but as one who of himself 
 re-enacts the command, he is enabled to resist the temptation 
 of the Evil One. Only thus does the believer use the Law 
 "lawfully" and arrive at the true dignity of obedience. It 
 may be remarked in addition that the "testimony of the 
 Lord" includes not only the ten commandments, but what- 
 ever of direct moral precept lies scattered through the Word, 
 
Hen* jfteoerick £a Hue ifting S5 
 
 as also the "Law of the Lord" whatever of hope, promise 
 and grace is found in the whole extent of revelation. 
 
 Verse 8. "The statutes are right, rejoicing the heart; 
 the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes." 
 
 "Statutes" is explained by Alexander and Hengsten- 
 berg to indicate the Law as that which appoints work to be 
 done; "commandments" as rather that which directs actions. 
 Statute is the Law of God as an imperative command con- 
 sidered as independent of any reasons given, as e.g., the 
 command of Sabbath keeping on the 7th rather than on the 
 1 Oth day. The charge to care for the stranger, to care for 
 the poor, and indeed the whole round of duties to one's 
 country expressly given or by implication in the Bible, would 
 come under the head of "statute." Wherever our course of 
 life or work is marked out by God's providence as inter- 
 preted by the principles of his law, there we have a statute. 
 Hard and terrible are the works sometimes enjoined by God. 
 The "statutes of the Lord" marked out to the Israelites in 
 the extermination of the Canaanites. That was a statute 
 which Abraham received when he was told to offer up Isaac. 
 The heart does not always rejoice at the moment, but does 
 sometimes afterwards, long afterwards. Still there is that 
 which tends to lighten even dark and hard duties; they are 
 right. While as a general fact the Lord's employ is a happy 
 employ, the duties which he enjoins are such as of them- 
 selves naturally tend to promote joy in the heart. This is to 
 be contrasted with the work of the world, which is laborious, 
 joyless, and then cannnot cheer us by a sense of its being 
 right. 
 
 Under the head of "commandments" come whatever 
 directly or indirectly tends to guide one's course of action. 
 There are points to which man comes in the course of his life 
 where he is perplexed with the question, "What is best?" 
 The question is puzzling because the real point does not come 
 out clearly. We are swayed secretly by motives that we 
 would not approve of if we were aware of them. Here lies 
 
86 ^electeo psalms and ^cmogtap&s; 
 
 the power of Satan to deceive and engage a Christian in a 
 course which will result in his temporal and eternal injury. 
 Now just here, when he is doubting what to do, something 
 in God's word, either directly unveiling the sinful or selfish 
 motives that lie hid in his heart and inclining him to one 
 course, or else directing something that he would not be able 
 to do if he did take that course, suddenly indicates to him 
 the path that God would have him take. Well is the com- 
 mandment of the Lord called "pure" with reference to this, 
 its office as guide. It is simple and single, and comes to a 
 man who is confused by complexities of thought and feeling 
 and afflicted with the saddest of sorrows — doubt, with a 
 purifying and unifying power that directs him what to do, 
 where to go, and enlightens his eyes. This last expression 
 refers not so much to knowledge as to feeling, to the good 
 cheer and careless ease of a mind relieved from the harrow 
 ing torture of doubt by feeling the guiding hand of God. 
 
 Verse 9. "The fear of Jehovah is clear, standing for- 
 ever; the judgments are truth, they are righteous altogether." 
 
 "The fear of the Lord" is understood by most com- 
 mentators as a title of the Law — the moral effect wrought 
 by the Law put by metonymy for the Law itself. It may be 
 so, but the trope would be a strained one, and there is no 
 need of keeping up the exact form of the other verses. Lyric 
 poetry should have great freedom. I should prefer therefore 
 to interpret it in its plain, literal sense. And this sense has this 
 advantage: it introduces a new office of the Law and Work 
 of God. It not only shows the way of salvation and reveals 
 what is morally right and wrong (verse 7), but prescribes 
 one's duties and directs one's path (verse 8), and is the 
 means of revealing one to us whose character is for us a 
 higher and better law than any that can be written. A child 
 who is well acquainted with its mother need not have given 
 it by the mother a great number of specific directions to enable 
 it to do what the mother would have it do. It will at once 
 know what would please or displease its mother. So the 
 
Eetn jFreOetick La iEue Mm 87 
 
 man who knows God — and we have that within us naturally 
 that helps us to know Him — who is filled besides with awe 
 and reverence and lives as in His presence, will have a lav/ 
 which furnishes not only the precept but the impulse to obed- 
 ience. When a man lifts his eyes in love and reverence to a 
 God whose character he understands, the pharisaism that 
 would interpret the written law so as to make its commands 
 as narrow as possible and obedience as little as possible, 
 vanishes, and another spirit takes its place. He feels that 
 he cannot be too pure and holy. He feels that all that God 
 himself is, that he commands him to be. "Fear" as used 
 with reference to God is not timidity, but is compounded 
 of dread and love, and is tolerably well expressed by the 
 word "reverence." It abides forever; that is, a Christian 
 never comes to the time when he can trust to his own impulse 
 and spiritual light. He is always to look up to God as a child 
 to a father and King, in love, and yet with a sense of His 
 authority and dread power. This is necessary to ensure his 
 being kept clean, and it will be effectual. Perfect love will 
 indeed cast out all fear from the soul. There may indeed be 
 no consciousness that it fears, but until that which is perfect 
 is come and our fellowship with God is made complete, there 
 will be a need of that grim element of experience latent per- 
 haps for most of the time, but still ready to reappear and as- 
 sert itself when there is occasion — sacred fear. 
 
 Now, then, what is more calculated to nil one with the 
 fear of the Lord than "the judgments of the Lord," His judi- 
 cial inflictions. They fill with dread, not only becasue they 
 are terrible, but also because they are just. Also in God's 
 judgments is manifested His love to His people; as, for in- 
 stance, in those on Pharaoh and the Midianites. So that 
 they fill His people with that union of dread and love which 
 is true "fear" and God's best praise. 
 
 These judgments are "true," i.e., according to the facts 
 of the case. God knows all the facts and interprets them 
 fairly, so that every mouth is stopped when he smites. These 
 
88 ^>electe& psalms anD ^onogtapljs 
 
 judgments are of two sorts. They are either for the chastise- 
 ment of His people, or for the destruction of His enemies and 
 theirs. God's people may, from what has happened to 
 themselves or other Christians, or from what has befallen 
 the ungodly, draw many a precept and monition. These 
 precepts may be called "judgments," and indeed any pre- 
 cept of the law may be called a judgment in view of the 
 awful sanctions with which it is enforced. 
 
 Verse 1 0. "(Judgments) more to be desired than gold 
 and much fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the drop- 
 ping of the combs." 
 
 These judgments are to us precious and pleasant be- 
 cause they reveal to us God's will, than to know which noth- 
 ing is more profitable to one who looks at his own interest, 
 nor more pleasant to one who loves his Heavenly Father. 
 Besides, they train the Christian for Glory, and, though 
 "grievous" at first, yet "afterwards" they are so different. 
 It is also true that through His Judgments God has endowed 
 His people. The nations of Canaan were destroyed that 
 Israel might enter into their possessions, and Israel was cast 
 off that (Rom. X: 28-30) the Christian Church might in- 
 herit the promise to Abraham. Thus at one blow God some- 
 times delivers and enriches His people. 
 
 Verse 1 1 . "Morever, thy servant is enlightened by 
 them; in keeping them there is much reward." 
 
 But there is something of dread and terror in these 
 judgments over and above what is pleasant. If the godly 
 man trembles at every word of God, how much more at His 
 judgments. When they come upon others it is to him as if a 
 trumpet blew to let him know that peril to himself was near. 
 With no superciliousness does he "behold and see the reward 
 of the wicked." He feels that there is that in him yet, not- 
 withstanding all that grace has done for him, which may lead 
 him into grievous sins involving grievous punishment. And 
 so a blessed profit comes to him from translating every judg- 
 ment on others into a precept addressed to ourselves. See 
 
i&eto* jfrcDerick £a Hue $tfng 89 
 
 the words of the Doctor in Macbeth: "God forgive us all," 
 which exhibits him in penitential sympathy with the distress 
 of Lady Macbeth. 
 
 Verse 12. "Errors who shall understand? Clear 
 thou me from hidden ones." 
 
 It is significant that the word in the preceding verse 
 translated "warned" means primarily "enlightened." In 
 Ez. 33-3, the duty of the watchmen is to "enlighten with 
 his trumpet." To be "warned" we must not merely be 
 impressed, we must be informed of that which we are ignor- 
 ant of. Sin works so secretly in us that we are not aware of 
 the true character of our actions. We forget to judge our- 
 selves, or else we are partial judges. "The heart is deceitful 
 above all things and desperately wicked," and so a rude 
 shock is sometimes needed to let us know where we are and 
 whither we are going. But God's judgments effect this, and 
 then when our "secret faults" — faults hidden even from our- 
 selves — are made known to us, vain would be God's warn- 
 ings and instructions and precepts if there were not a remedy 
 found in expiation. And indeed, with all our use of the law 
 and the judgments of God, we will never be able to fathom 
 the depths of our sins. "If our hearts condemn us," we may 
 be sure that He who is greater than our hearts sees much 
 more in us that is faulty than we do ourselves. And to Him 
 we must apply to cleanse us — that is, to acquit us judicially 
 (for such is the meaning of the word). To Him must we 
 go, confessing the sins that we are aware of, and bearing in 
 ourselves those sins that are hidden even from ourselves, and 
 say, "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean." 
 
 Verse 1 3. "Also from presumptuous (ones) with- 
 hold thy servant; then shall I be perfect and clear from much 
 transgression." 
 
 Two classes of sins were recognized in the Mosaic Law 
 — sins of inadvertence, and deliberate, wilful sins, here called 
 "presumptuous." The first could be pardoned, the second 
 never, and so we see here, only for sins which we were not 
 
90 Selected psalms and ^onogtapfjs 
 
 aware were sins, could pardon be implored. As to the other 
 sins, the only petition is, "hold me back from them," as if 
 that was the only hope. The dominion of presumptuous sins 
 over one refers to the strong and seated impulses implied by 
 them and developed by them; also that tyrannic consciousness 
 of guilt that destroys peace and paralyzes all effort. "The 
 great transgression" — exactly "great or much transgression." 
 Yet perhaps the definite article expresses what was in the 
 mind of the Spirit, a reference to that great sin under clear 
 light, which even under the Dispensation of Grace cannot, as 
 we are told, be forgiven. 
 
 Verse 1 4. "Then shall be for acceptance — or ac- 
 ceptable — the sayings of my mouth, and the thoughts of 
 my heart before Thee, Jehovah, my rock and my redeemer." 
 
 "Let the words" — better, says Alexander, "Then 
 shall the words." Most emphatically better when we con- 
 sider the context. And yet how humiliating the sense is. 
 It is then only as forgiven and restrained that we can be 
 acceptable to God. Surely there is not much room here for 
 pride or self complacency. We must say with Madame 
 Guyon, "the all of God in the nothing of the creature." Only 
 what God makes can He accept. 
 
 And here we are brought to a remarkable connection 
 with the first verse. The Heavens declare the glory of God, 
 and so do the words and thoughts of the renewed soul. God 
 at the first pronounced good the works of creation, of which 
 the Heavens is the splendid representative, and now here is 
 said to accept the words and thoughts of a heart cleansed 
 and restrained, which manifests the germ (Rom. X: 8-10) 
 of that New Creation, which, beginning by transforming man 
 morally and at last giving him a glorified body, ends by trans- 
 forming this earth and changing the Heavens themselves into 
 an infinitely grander witness to the Creator's glory than they 
 now are; making "a New Heavens and a New Earth, in 
 which dwelleth righteousness." 
 
Eetn jFteDerick La Hue ding 91 
 
 De Quincey, writing on the knocking on the gate in 
 Macbeth, speaks of the great Shakespeare in the following 
 terms : — 
 
 "O! mighty poet! Thy works are not as those of other 
 men, simply and merely great works of art; but they are also 
 like the phenomena of Nature, like the sun and the sea, the 
 stars and the flowers, like frost and snow, rain and dew, 
 hailstorms and thunder, which are to be studied with entire 
 submission of our faculties and in the perfect faith that in 
 them there can be no too little or too much, nothing useless 
 or inert, but that the further we press in our discoveries the 
 more we shall see proof of design and self-supporting arrange- 
 ment where the careless eye had seen nothing but accident." 
 
 Now if so much can be said of the writings of the great 
 Shakespeare, what shall be said of Psalm XIX and its in- 
 spired author? 
 
92 ^electeo psalms anD ^onogtapjjs 
 
 (The following cannot pretend to be more than a gen- 
 eral survey of the intent and meaning of the Psalm. The 
 scholar may miss the usual comment on every clause of every 
 verse, still it is something to analyze the character of David's 
 emotion, as throwing light on the greater and more profound 
 experience of "David's Greater Son," of which Psalm 22 
 is the prophecy. — A. B. K.) 
 
 This magnificent Psalm begins with an outcry to God 
 from a soul in the extremity of distress and danger, extending 
 from verse 1 to the second clause of verse 2 1 . 
 
 Then follows a resolution to praise, and call to praise, 
 because God has heard and answered the cry to Him, 
 which we read in the verses reaching from the second clause 
 of verse 21 to the end of verse 25. Then follows a state- 
 ment of the prospect opened to believers by the deliverance, 
 extending to all the world and to all time. 
 
 This is a true lyric utterance ; but lyric utterance though 
 impulsive, is not purely naive. There is something self-con- 
 scious about it. A moment's thought about it will show 
 us that David was not possessed by the emotions expressed 
 in the first portion of this psalm at the time he composed it. 
 
 It is evident that when he commenced to write, he was 
 filled with deep gratitude, unbounded hope, and exattic 
 praise. The passage from verse first to the first clause of 
 verse 21 records a past experience, and thus has a journal- 
 istic character, often to be met with in the Psalter. 
 
 A prose arrangement would commence with the sec- 
 ond clause of verse 2 1 . The fact of deliverance was a call 
 to praise, because when the sufferer cried unto Him "My 
 God, my God why hast Thou forsaken me," and so on down 
 to the second clause of verse 21 , — "He heard." Then fol- 
 lows the rest of the psalm. By this arrangement the psalm 
 would lose nothing of its significance, but much of its energy 
 
Eeu* jFreDetick Ha Hue ifting 93 
 
 and poetic beauty. There is no reason for doubting that this 
 psalm was written by David, as its title imports, but it would 
 be vain to attempt to ascertain what circumstances in David's 
 experience gave rise to it. If we did it would not help us in 
 the interpretation of the psalm. The circumstances that sug- 
 gest a piece of poetry are like the bits of glass in a kaleido- 
 scope to the beautiful figure that results. The poet re- 
 combines, makes great, exalts and transfigures, so that in the 
 composition we find often no more than a trace of that which 
 suggested the poetry. For example, little help is given to- 
 wards understanding the song of the "Three Fishers" to 
 know that Kingsley composed it in the deep depression and 
 pain that fitted him, upon the Bishop of London forbidding 
 him to preach in his diocese. Much more is this the case, 
 when not only poetic feeling, but the inspiration of the Holy 
 Spirit causes some painful trial of David to bring before his 
 exalted imagination an other sufferer, an other scene, a great- 
 er conflict and a greater victory. 
 
 It needs no close examination of this psalm to see that 
 David could not have been speaking of himself, when he 
 superscribed this psalm "To the Chief of Musicians." In 
 the first clause we have fully set forth the pain and peril that 
 afflict the sufferer, together with the struggle of faith to keep 
 fast hold of God, and to realize His presence, faithfulness and 
 tender, enduring sympathy with all our needs. 
 
 In verse 1 , there is not merely apprehension but actual 
 loss. God has forsaken him but not utterly. The sufferer's 
 state is not one of blank despair. He can yet prefer the 
 mighty claim, "My God, my God." He can also ask, 
 "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" He has a good conscience. 
 Many of us who suffer from God's absence have no reason 
 for wondering. We know well that it is for good cause, and 
 our own fault. All desertions are of this character. God 
 stood aloof from Job, but it was not for Job's fault, and to 
 many servants of God since the time of Job, their trials have 
 not only been painful, but incomprehensible. 
 
94 Selected psalms and apnogcapfja 
 
 What astonishes us in the case of Our Lord, is that He 
 should wonder at what had come upon Him when He had 
 looked forward to it so long with dread and shrinking. It 
 adds to our impression of the exceeding awiulness of Christ's 
 death, depth within depth, — that when He drew near to do 
 that He came to earth to do, and of which He knew enough 
 to be dismayed at the prospect, as He entered on the agony 
 of Gethsemine, we are told "that He began to be greatly 
 amazed." Then the renewed astonishment of the cross, 
 "Why hast Thou forsaken me." 
 
Eeth jFreDerick Ha Iftue ifttng 95 
 
 $£alm 36. 
 
 To be a true creator God must defend and provide for 
 all who put their trust in Him. 
 
 Verse I. "Thus saith depravity to the wicked (one) 
 in the midst of my heart, there is no fear of God before his 
 eyes." In the preceding psalm the wicked one was so power- 
 ful and threatening to the psalmist that he can but call 
 upon God to crush him. In this psalm the sinner is contem- 
 plated with a kind of horror of surprise at his perilous audac- 
 ity in sinning. The psalmist wishes to say that he notices with 
 astonishment that continued impunity in transgression en- 
 courages the wicked man to feel that he is in no danger at 
 all from God. The whole verse might be paraphrased thus: 
 "See what transgression says to the sinner — there is no fear 
 of God before his eyes." Or thus: "There is no fear of God 
 before the eyes of the wicked one; this is what transgression 
 says to him." As we would say of a demagogue, "he does 
 not fear being brought to justice — that is what his political 
 influence says to him." 
 
 Verse 2. "For it has flattered him in his own eyes in 
 order that his iniquity may be made manifest and hated" — 
 literally, "to the finding of his iniquity and to the hating." 
 The words translated "the finding" and "the hating" are 
 prepositions and the use of "to" before an infinitive to indicate 
 a purpose is to be seen in the Song of Solomon 5 :5 , Gen. 
 1:1 4, Ex. 20:8, etc. The meaning is this — his self flattery 
 causes him to act out his evil nature without restraint, and so 
 to make it manifest and hateful in the eyes of God and man. 
 
 Verses 3 and 4. "The words of his mouth are false- 
 hood and fraud, he has ceased to act wisely, to do well. He 
 will meditate falsehood upon his bed, he will take his stand 
 upon a way not good, evil he will not abjure." Each of 
 these clauses sets forth a specification of the depth of depravity 
 
96 ^electeD psalms anD ^onograp&g 
 
 into which the man has fallen. His speech is treacherous, 
 he has given up trying to compound for evil acts by good 
 ones, he deliberately plans treachery and as deliberately sets 
 about executing it, he makes not the slightest pretense of hat- 
 ing evil, he approves openly of evil. This last may be re- 
 garded as the climax of corruption, public approval of evil 
 (see Rom. 1 :32), and suggests the idea that by the word 
 wicked is meant a wicked community with a wicked public 
 opinion. 
 
 Verses 5 and 6. The psalmist now turns away to 
 contemplate the all-embracing and good providence of God; 
 not for the purpose of contrast (as Alexander), but to ex- 
 hibit the amazing folly, as he had before shown the amazing 
 corruption, of the sinner. "O Jehovah, thy loving-kindness is 
 in the heavens, and thy faithfulness unto the clouds." The 
 second clause is significant. The children of Israel in rain- 
 less Egypt were specially promised a land watered by the rain 
 of heaven." Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains; 
 thy judgments are a great deep. Oh Jehovah, Thou wilt 
 save man and beast." The images are all connected together 
 — 1st, the heavens; 2nd, their clouds; 3rd, the hills reaching 
 the clouds, and enclosing and bounding and defending like 
 the wall of a house, and 4th, the sea beneath, make, as it 
 were, a complete envelopment of man and beast in which 
 they always are. So is God above and beneath, and so the 
 danger to the wicked must be imminent, notwithstanding 
 he flatters himself. The parallelism seems to be used to 
 draw special attention to the clouds as sources of water, the 
 most valuable natural thing, and the supply of which is 
 universally recognized as dependent upon God. The provi- 
 dential care of God seems to be shown in the details of the 
 ministering of water to man. Clouds, the mountains that 
 form and gather them, together with their slopes that move 
 forward the water to man, the deep that receives all the 
 streams and gives all back again, the shower, the river (v. 8), 
 the fountain, and last of all the sun (v. 9), the motive power 
 
i&eth jFteDerick JLa Iftue Ifting 97 
 
 of the whole, that turns the great water-wheel of Nature. 
 The whole frame of Nature is considered as a combination 
 for the purpose of ministering water to man, as, indeed, it is. 
 And forceful is the conclusion that if God has made all nature 
 an alembic for furnishing water to man and beast, He will 
 surely take care of them in every other respect. The ex- 
 pression "great deep" will not correspond to anything but 
 the mighty ocean, and makes the ocean one of God's min- 
 istering servants. The figure is intended to comprehend the 
 whole realm of Nature, and there is a great beauty in liken- 
 ing God's judgments to the great deep, for God's judgments 
 are logically the last result of His "loving-kindness," "His 
 faithfulness," and His justice; and all events tend to God's 
 judgments (or final settlements) as the rivers to the deep. 
 And, if we might carry the figure farther, God's endings 
 are always beginnings — His judgments are constructive, as 
 from the deep returns the water in vapor. For to the poetic 
 as well as the scientific mind the deep is but 
 
 " — an outlet of the sky 
 Where waiting till the west wind blows 
 The freighted clouds at anchor lie." 
 
 The water has been falling, ever falling, even as we are dying, 
 ever dying, and now it finds its place of oblivion and death 
 to be a place of glorious transformation and new life. Miss 
 Newton, when writing to a lady whose brother was buried in 
 the sea, says: "I can only think of him as buried in the 
 infinite ocean of God's love." 
 
 "Thou wilt save man and beast." Here again, as in 
 Ps. 33:6, the psalmist consoles himself from God's relation 
 to him as creator. (Ecclesiastes 1 :7.). The very perspective of 
 the cloud region would teach them this truth. (IKings 1 8:44) 
 — "out of the sea." It would, however, be plain that the sea 
 was the source of the rain clouds ever borne from it inland. 
 This vast incomprehensible deep of the ocean thus is inter- 
 preted by the showers. So are God's judgments. How 
 
98 Selected P0alm$ ano ®onogtapf)$ 
 
 splendidly "man and beast" fits the great figure. It is a 
 picture of the universe under the aspect presented in Pales- 
 tine, for the sky and clouds are over all and the hills, counting 
 the slopes, with lake or sea under all ; and the whole ministers 
 to man and beast. So, like the Syrophoenician woman, 
 David thinks that even if he has only the portion of a beast, 
 he will experience God's truth and mercy. 
 
 Verse 7. "How precious thy loving-kindness, O God, 
 therefore the sons of men may take refuge in the shadow of 
 thy wings." Alexander translates above "mercy" instead of 
 "loving-kindness;" but though it would yield a rich meaning, 
 it has in it a distinct implication of ill-desert which does not 
 seem necessarily a part of the Hebrew word. Besides, 
 "loving-kindness" makes the parallelism more complete. The 
 affection of God for His people is made something instinctive 
 — a necessary part of His nature, like the animal affection 
 (or (JToyjjfi) of the hen that gathers her chickens under her 
 wings (see Matt. 23:37). And this is involved in the very 
 name that all believers may call themselves. They are God's 
 children, and have more than His promise to rely on, even 
 His natural yearnings, expressed in the quaint language of 
 the old time by the words "bowels of mercies." But if 
 believers would endue themselves with the lofty views of 
 this psalm, they must not merely rely upon God the Father 
 in His person as abstracted from Nature, but upon Nature as 
 God's ministering hand, and in all that is pleasing to the mind 
 or refreshing to the body must recognize His presence and 
 tenderness. I remember to have had a sense of this in nature, 
 when once returning to my room tired and after absence, I 
 lay down upon my bed in the afternoon of a summer's day 
 with the light flung from the sparkling bay and the flashing 
 corn leaves filling the room, and the green branches of 
 cherry trees tapping against the window in the gentle breeze; 
 it seemed as I was lying down in a father's arms. Such a feel- 
 ing ought to be constant, for on this earth beauty and plea- 
 sure are the rule, deformity and pain the exception, and in the 
 
Eefcu jfteDcrick La iftue ffitfng 99 
 
 shadow of God's wings we may always trust even when they 
 are the wings of the wildest wind. 
 
 Verse 8. "They shall be drenched with the abundance 
 of thy house; thou wilt give them to drink of the stream of 
 thy pleasures," literally "the stream of thy Eden." The 
 word translated "drenched" means literally "to drink large- 
 ly;" it is used in the secondary sense "to be satisfied," as in 
 our version, but generally means "to be bathed, flooded, or 
 drenched," e.g., by tears. In Isaiah 55:10 and Psalm 
 65 : 1 0, it is used of rain, and one cannot resist the impression 
 the figure sketched in vv. 5 and 6 in the mention of the 
 clouds and the sea is carried out here in the shower, the 
 stream and the fountain; and that the dwelling place of man 
 and beast is God's house; shut in as it is by sky, clouds, 
 hills and watery plain — a temple lifted up by God's glory, 
 the sun. The drenching by rain does not minister directly 
 to man's comfort as do the stream and the fountain; but, 
 nevertheless, the indirect ministry is so associated in the Bible 
 that it is very proper to be used as a simile, or even as a 
 metaphor, "Thou shalt rain upon the abundance of thy 
 house." 
 
 Verse 9. "For with Thee is the fountain of life" — 
 the ever-flowing fountain; "in Thy light shall we see light." 
 This verse not only continues the figure, but justifies it, and 
 reveals its spiritual meaning. "Thou, O God, art to us as 
 the streams and the sun to man and beast." That the sun 
 is here alluded to is manifest. In the light of the sun, the 
 psalmist says, we see the light that comes from every object 
 in Nature, from the light that gleams from the snowy top of 
 Hermon to the light that streams from the beautiful flowers. 
 When we use the light of the sun we should say to ourselves, 
 "the light," and treat the light by which we see as something 
 divine, thus making the very act of seeing as well as drink- 
 ing a laying hold of God. He who uses Nature thus will, 
 in the end, go farther than the recognition of God as a 
 bountiful and beneficent Creator; he will see in Nature more 
 
100 Selected psalms anD ^onograpps 
 
 than the sun can show him, and the world of thought will 
 be through the divine companionship a new world indeed. 
 There is about this psalm an utter repose; God is very near, 
 near as Nature. Nature is God's dwellng, God's hand, 
 God's robe; not only the psalmist, but Nature, seems to live 
 and move and have its being in God. And though the wick- 
 ed enemy is as threatening and dangerous as he is described 
 in the preceding psalm, the psalmist rests content and without 
 anxiety. 
 
 Verse 1 0. Yet though David enlarges his confidence 
 by a consideration of God's relation to him as Creator, still he 
 does not rest in or presmue on his right as a creature, but 
 prays as a son. And in this he shows his profound piety. 
 Jealous will God be of everything that renders unnecessary 
 direct face to face intercourse as the very way in which we 
 depend upon God. We should be careful not to depend 
 upon God by means of anything in Nature unless we consider 
 that both itself and our enjoyment of it are at God's will, and 
 may vanish at His pleasure, and are preserved to us only by 
 His wisdom and love. Many rest for their security in church 
 relation, doctrine, experience, evidence, use of sacraments — 
 anything but dependence on God's will. Yet all these yield 
 no growth in spiritual life unless immediate and unceasing 
 connection with God is maintained through His blessed Spirit 
 by which otherwise dead forms are preserved full of spiritual 
 vitality and fruitage. At the same time the parallelism be- 
 tween loving-kindness and righteousness must be noted. They 
 who trust in God have a covenant claim upon His justice. 
 
 Verse 1 1 . "Suffer not the foot of pride to come upon 
 me, and let not the hand of the wicked ones expel me." There 
 stands the wicked menacing an approach and assault. His 
 pride is founded upon his impunity (v. 2). The psalmist 
 asks that his "foot" may be kept off, that is, that he may not 
 be suffered to come to him. The figure of Nature as God's 
 house is carried out in the word "expel" or "drive out;" it 
 renders absurd the attempt to drive out, while that very 
 
Eefch jfredetick La iaue Ifttng lot 
 
 poetic absurdity is an argument with God. Faith is a cry 
 to God and implies some uncertainty, yet it ought to be re- 
 pose and confidence. The folly of the wicked one (vv. 1-4) 
 is apparent to the righteous fearer of God. Yet the folly of 
 the righteous one is of the same sort as that of the wicked if 
 he yields to the temptation to think that God careth not for 
 him in love as much as He careth for the wicked in hate, 
 though He bear long with him. 
 
 Verse 1 2. The repose of the psalm is hardly disturbed 
 by the petition that the proud may not thrust him out of 
 God's house, for quick as an echo comes the assurance that 
 they have failed. "There are the doers of iniquity fallen, they 
 are struck down and cannot rise." "There" where they 
 were starting to come, while in security of spirit they "medi- 
 tated falsehood," they are struck down. There is something 
 in this that suggests the earthquake so common in Palestine. 
 If God's house is loving-kindness above to the righteous, it is 
 terror and destruction beneath to the wicked. 
 
102 Selected Psalms anD e@onostapbs 
 
 $galm 51. 
 
 Title. — To the Chief Musician, A Psalm by David, When 
 
 Nathan the Prophet came unto him as he had come 
 
 unto Bathsheba. 
 
 The dedication to the Chief Musician, making it the 
 property and utterance of the whole church, permits us to give 
 the largest significance to utterances of individual penitence 
 and faith. The repetition "came unto," "had come unto," 
 considered by some to be careless composition, is, according 
 to Alexander, significant, suggesting "analogy, proportion 
 and retaliation." This play upon words, not uncommon 
 in the Psalms, is an argument for the authority of the title 
 and authorship of David. 
 
 This psalm is a remarkable instance of the lyrical ebb 
 and flow. Three times it seems to be brought to a complete 
 and peaceful close, and three times (at verses 1 , 9 and 1 4) 
 does it begin again with agonizing petition, "blot out my 
 transgression," "hide Thy face from my sins," "deliver me 
 from blood guiltiness." These seem at first essentially the 
 same, but the connection makes it evident that the first asks 
 deliverance from corruption, the second from the wrath of 
 God, and the third from guilt; and the psalm may be in con- 
 sequence divided into three parts, which can be summed up 
 thus: 
 
 Verses 1 -8. Graciously remove the corruption which 
 is not merely within me, but which is my nature, and let me 
 find comfort. 
 
 Verses 9-13. Be not angry with me, make me 
 stable and active in all goodness, and fill me with joy. 
 
 Verses 14-17. Make me not guilty and let me glorify 
 Thee by praise. 
 
 The last two verses conclude the whole psalm and 
 make plain its national and even universal significance. 
 
Eetn jFreDeuck La Kue &ing 103 
 
 Verse 1 . "Be gracious to me, oh God, according to 
 Thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of Thy com- 
 passions, blot out my transgressions." Conant has "great- 
 ness" instead of multitude;" Alexander "abundance," ap- 
 parently attempting to unite the two meanings. But the word 
 more properly and usually means multitude, and so translated 
 yields a good sense. We have here the psalmist not only 
 appealing to God's loving kindness, but comforting himself 
 with the thought of the great number and variety of instances 
 of its exercise in the past. God's pecple, though they may 
 know that God is merciful, need to be impressed with the 
 fact, and there is no better way than to consider the multi- 
 tudes upon whom He has had mercy, and the innumerable 
 sins of every kind and every degree of enormity that He has 
 pardoned. And here it may be stated that throughout this 
 whole psalm there is no petition for the remission of any 
 earthly penalties. The prophet Nathan at the time that he 
 came to him told him that the Lord had remitted all penalty 
 except the death of the child of his sin. It is the spiritual 
 penalty that now crushes him, the degradation, the alienation 
 from God and the guilt. "Blot out my transgressions," take 
 away my transgressions. This might mean forgiveness, justi- 
 fication or cleansing. That it means the last is plain from 
 the next verse. 
 
 Verse 2. "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and 
 cleanse me from my sin." Remove from me, he asks, the 
 corruption in which transgressions take their rise. It might 
 be thought that a soul convicted of sin would first think 
 of and deprecate the wrath of God. But the fact is, the 
 soul cannot have to the utmost a sense of the wrath of God 
 without first being filled with that utter self-loathing that stops 
 the mouth of all excuses and makes the man acknowledge 
 that God's wrath is just. We might well suppose that the 
 thought of his deep corruption would rush with overwhelming 
 force upon the mind of David the moment his eyes were 
 opened to his sin. A man so honored by God, not only as 
 
104 Selected psalms ano ©onogtapfjg 
 
 a deliverer of his people but as their instructor and exemplar, a 
 man so morally superior to those around him, and whose 
 blameless conduct hitherto would naturally tend to fill him 
 with self-complacency and self-confidence — for a man like 
 that to have such foul crimes as adultery and murder brought 
 home to him and to be made to feel that they were the out- 
 come of a corruption of nature that rendered him powerless to 
 do right in the future, might well compel him in horror at the 
 revelation of his character and terror at his helplessness, to cry 
 out, "wash me," "cleanse me." 
 
 Verse 3. "For I know my transgressions and my sin is 
 always before me." Alexander thinks that his conviction of sin 
 is urged as constituting a claim to pardon, because it is an 
 indication of God's merciful intention, but this is hardly poet- 
 ical. Such complex inferences could hardly find their way 
 into an outburst of lyrical agony. "For" simply introduces 
 the reason why he makes the supplication of the preceding 
 verse. It is perfectly instinctive and lyrical. How natural 
 would it be for a man to cry, "Help, for my house is on fire," 
 or "Help, for I am sinking." This view is strengthened 
 when we consider that the word translated "know" has often 
 the force of knowing by the senses, experiencing, realizing. 
 He does not simply recognize his transgressions ; he feels what 
 they are, and this very agonizing knowledge is not of the past 
 but of the present. Their character is his character. "I 
 know;" that is the same as saying, "I am tortured." "Wash 
 me thoroughly," etc., for I am tortured by the knowledge of 
 my sin, its spiritual effects. The "for" marks rather why he 
 asks than why he should be heard; and, yet it is possible, 
 since no feeling is simple and single, that there may be here 
 a plea in palliation. "Whatever I am now, I at least do not 
 insult thee by self-complacency." It certainly does constitute 
 a palliation and a condition for forgiveness on the part of 
 God. It is a strange proof of the deceitfulness of the human 
 heart that David could have been deceived for one moment 
 with reference to the character of his deed. Possibly he was 
 
Hen* jFceDericfc La Rue ding 105 
 
 aware that he had done wrong, but excused and palliated his 
 act, and now saw his sin in its full enormity. He may have 
 gone so far as to justify himself; perhaps on the ground that 
 Uriah was a Hittite, one of a race the Israelites were com- 
 manded to destroy. At any rate, whatever refuge of lies he 
 had sought shelter in, it was swept away. The words of the 
 verse literally are, "For my transgressions 1 will know, and my 
 sin will be before me always." This future has something 
 touching in it. It seems to draw a line of demarcation be- 
 tween the past, the honored past, and the future. As if he 
 had said, "From this time I cannot be what I was. A de- 
 grading remembrance will cling to me. The feeling that I 
 have is as permanent as my life." Is there not significance 
 also in the emphatic use of the pronoun "I," when the form 
 of the verb clearly indicates the person? I know, of myself. 
 Very often our knowledge of our sins is not our own. We 
 know it because we are told in God's Word that it is wrong. 
 Or our acknowledgment is merely a submission to public 
 opinion or a dread of consequences here or hereafter. "My 
 transgressions I know." I know that they are transgressions, 
 I know their enormity, I feel their full significance as bringing 
 to view the corruption in which they have their origin. It is 
 only when the individual sin is as a window through which we 
 see the depth of corruption within, that there is true penitence. 
 
 The plural "transgressions" may be significant. The 
 penitence may be doubted that is fascinated and completely 
 occupied with a single wrong act. When conviction of one 
 sin brings many other sins to light, then indeed the convic- 
 tion is deep for a man begins to deal with more than an 
 isolated error, even with the source of error. May not also 
 the singular "sin" in the parallelism also be significant? The 
 knowledge of our sins is not complete till our sins exhibit to us 
 our sin, our sinfulness of heart. 
 
 Verse 4. "To thee, thee only, have I sinned, and 
 done the evil in thy eyes, to the intent that thou mayest be 
 just in thy speaking and be clear in thy judging." 
 
106 §>electeD psalms ann ^onograpfjg 
 
 "The particle at the beginning denotes general relation," 
 as to "respecting." "It does not therefore ex- 
 plicitly substitute God for man as the injured party." (Alex- 
 ander.) That it should be left thus vague is plain from 
 the parallelism, "done this evil in thy sight," which, what- 
 ever else it means, must refer to the view God takes of evil 
 acts. There seems to be a double meaning in both branches 
 of the parallelism. "To thee, thee only, I have sinned." 
 1 st, I have done against Thee alone and Thou alone didst and 
 dost appreciate it. 2nd, It was not concealed from Thee and 
 it was besides done in Thy very presence. It seems to be 
 plainly intimated here that David's crime was in a certain 
 sense concealed. Indeed it could not have been concealed 
 had it been regarded at court as a revolting crime. It was 
 not divulged, it was not bruited, because there was a large 
 tolerance of it. Uriah once out of the way, probably no 
 great attempt was made to keep it hid. This fact, therefore, 
 involves the people in David's guilt and becomes proper in a 
 ritual psalm. Uriah's murder, the people of the capital, at 
 least, would have been willing to condone. Indeed, people 
 generally would not have been much displeased with an act 
 that was so like the ways of heroic and despotic kings about 
 them and whom they would be pleased to have David 
 imitate. Strict living on David's part would be a witness to 
 God's claims that would be a weight of bondage upon those 
 of Israel, to whom there must have been much temptation in 
 the licentious religion and manners of the nations about them. 
 People then were not very different from what they are now- 
 adays. It may also be said that these sins of David would be 
 looked upon with complacency by nobles because it in some 
 measure took the bridle off their necks. A despotic king 
 makes despotic nobles; license on his part involves license 
 on theirs. But it is perfectly manifest from the form "to 
 Thee" that more is meant than that God alone appreciated 
 the sin. The very reason why He alone appreciates it is be- 
 cause it is committed alone against Himself. David's act 
 
Beih jfre&erick JLa Hue Utfng 107 
 
 could be called by many bad names; it was a selfish, treach- 
 erous, cruel crime. It injured a valiant friend and loyal 
 servant in the most dreadful way, and he tried to hide all 
 by his murder. The deed was one of many sided evil. But 
 there was one aspect of it under which it affected one alone. 
 It was against the holy will of God. David could not prac- 
 tice against God as he could against Uriah the Hittite. One 
 thing alone he was competent to do; he could do what God 
 did not want to be done, what his holy nature revolted 
 from ; in other words, he could sin. He had sinned. Every- 
 thing evil in his deed summed itself up into a focus in that. 
 "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned." The expression 
 of the preceding verse, "For my transgressions I know," 
 finds its full significance here. This is what he knew about 
 his transgressions, not merely that they were transgressions 
 against God. There is more here than the feeling that he 
 had broken God's law. He had struck at more than that, at 
 God himself. Conviction of sin not only finds its bitterest pang 
 but attains its true reality only when it arrives at this con- 
 sciousness. It is only when the law assumes its true char- 
 acter as the expression, not only of the volition of God, but 
 of His whole mind and heart. An enactment of the King of 
 the Universe is one thing, but His will is quite another, for 
 it is Himself. This is the view of transgression that swallows 
 up every other and makes it so outrageous and incomprehens- 
 ible in the case of one who bears God's image. This was 
 the agonizing consciousness referred to in the preceding verse 
 — "I know at last that my sin is against Thee alone." The 
 clause does not mean, my act against Thee alone, but "my 
 sin." David's act was against his fellow; no act can be 
 conceived more so. No doubt David was troubled and re- 
 morseful when he thought of the injury to Uriah. But these 
 merely personal feelings could have no place in a psalm ded- 
 icated to the "Chief Musician" and written to be used in the 
 public worship of God. Only what would express the ex- 
 perience of all should be introduced into such a psalm. Our 
 
108 Selected p$alms an D©onogtap|)$ 
 
 evil actions are very different in outside appearance, but they 
 are alike in this, they are directed against all purity and holi- 
 nes summed up in the person of God. And so this ex- 
 perience of David's could be made that of every worshipper. 
 The terrible character of his wrong-doing revealed to David 
 its inner character of opposition to God, and thus helps 
 every one to discern the same in his own acts. "I have done," 
 he says, "something that Thou alone canst appreciate, which 
 is aimed at Thee alone." We may imagine him to utter 
 the next words with a certain terrible surprise. "To the in- 
 tent;" there was a purpose to be answered by it then. "My 
 intent was to have pleasure; woefully has it failed; but I was 
 serving the purpose of God even in giving way to my guilty 
 passion." One of the most awful revelations at the last will 
 be for sinners to find, not merely that they have failed, but 
 that they have ministered to the success of that against which 
 they were striving. These words, "to the intent" may mere- 
 ly indicate that it served the purpose mentioned in the last 
 clause. It may mean the direct design of God and that full 
 force we ought to give it. Perhaps we should go so far as to 
 make David say that he sinned in order that God should 
 not lie. We have then a two-fold meaning. The result and 
 purpose was that God was just in judging, and the result and 
 purpose was that God was shown to be just in judging. The 
 last only will need to be pressed. How did the fact that he 
 sinned against God alone show this? Of course David can- 
 not be speaking of this single judgment of God on his crime. 
 This is forbidden by the poetic and ritual character of the 
 psalm; and indeed it is somewhat ridiculous to say, "I com- 
 mitted this sin in order that thou might accuse me of it." The 
 fact that David's sin was committed against God alone 
 would prevent a clearing of sin in man's sight until the last 
 great judgment. 
 
 The last clause has two branches, speaking and judg- 
 ing, accusations and punishments, all God's accusations 
 against man, all his punitive acts. His accusations and pun- 
 
Eefcn JFreDericfe La Eue ifting 100 
 
 ishments so universal that they assert and imply the utter 
 depravity of man. David in his own case infers it, and since 
 this was to be used in public worship every child of God 
 ought to infer it from the character of the sin which he con- 
 fesses. That this inference is that he is utterly sinful is shown 
 by the next verse. How could this be inferred simply from 
 the fact that the sin was against God alone? It cannot be 
 a logical inference, but a spiritual. Consider what the judg- 
 ment of God in David's case was. It was simply that his 
 sin was as bad as the one of the man in Nathan's parable. 
 It was no objective statement on the part of God then that 
 revealed to David his sinfulness. Nathan's visit was the 
 mere occasion of the revelation. Conviction of sin such as 
 David had depends upon a sight of God such as He is. The 
 act of David was so heinous, when his advantages of en- 
 dowment, instruction and responsibility as a prophet and 
 representative of the Divine Ruler of Israel, that great em- 
 phasis may be placed upon the "I" of the sentence. The 
 very royal and theocratic position of David and even his 
 being sincerely inclined to serve God makes the sin more 
 heinous. This is the force of "in Thy sight." "Against 
 Thee have I" — such a one as David — "sinned." With 
 everything present that ought to prevent sin, that it is which 
 is a damning proof against human nature itself. The pecu- 
 liar enormity of my sin only brands the whole race and justi- 
 fies all that God has ever said against it and all that He has 
 ever brought upon it of punishment. If a David can sin 
 in this way, nobody can ever hold up his head. There is 
 something more of force in this "to the intent" which is rath- 
 er hard to express and yet which seems implied. This sin 
 then served a purpose. It was not simply a wild, willful, 
 irrational thing. There was a certain propriety about it. All 
 natural things must manifest their nature. There is a pro- 
 priety in the nettle and the thistle, for they are the outcome 
 of the life of the plants from which they spring. It is proper 
 that the rattlesnake should secrete poison; it is proper for the 
 
110 Selected p$almg an D@onograpi)0 
 
 natural man to sin. The language of toleration is sometimes 
 the most terrible of accusations. "To which also they were 
 ordained." And as we tolerate the rolling of the swine in 
 the sty, so we tolerate the evil words and evil acts of some 
 men. They must show what rules and reigns in them. And 
 when we go further and speak of these men as serving a pur- 
 pose by their wickedness, we give a still stronger expression 
 of the feeling that they live and move and have their being in 
 sin. There is something about this way in which the psalmist 
 speaks of his sin that makes it very strongly expressive of his 
 utter helplessness in sin. The form of justifying himself effects 
 a stronger — the very strongest — expression of this deep 
 ground of his sin. I do serve a certain purpose in the econ- 
 omy of the Universe, and as each created thing must express 
 the principle that its Creator endowed it with, so must I 
 manifest my sin; it serves a useful purpose. It manifests my 
 nature and thus does its proper office. It reveals human na- 
 ture in me and involves my nation through their indifference 
 to my sin, in that sin itself. 
 
 Verse 5. "Lo, in iniquity was I born, and in sin did 
 my mother conceive me." 
 
 That the interpretation of the previous verse was 
 correct is rendered probable by the fact that it makes a per- 
 fect connection with this. God's accusation is just. Human 
 nature is utterly vile. But speaking out lyrically from his own 
 consciousness, he makes the matter universal, by referring 
 it to his very generation. Deeper and deeper goes the woe- 
 ful song, and as at the attainment of a new and higher knowl- 
 edge, as if it had come with something of a surprise to the 
 mind, he cries, "Lo! in iniquity was I born." The stain is 
 not merely very dark and very deep, but worse than all it 
 comes from within. You cannot remove that from any being, 
 that is constantly reproduced from the very principle of its ex- 
 istence. It is a dreadful thing when a man fully recog- 
 nizes the fact that he is helpless in the power of his nature 
 not only mighty in its impulses, but unto whose manifestation 
 
I&etn jFreDetick La i&ue i&ing m 
 
 the gaze cannot extend, and therefore upon which his will 
 cannot operate. This is all the verse states. There is here no 
 scientific statement of the doctrine of original sin. The ex- 
 perience is one however which goes to prove it. In this 
 true and terrible moment he feels that sin is not something 
 contracted, but is a perversion of his nature underlying the 
 will. It seems impossible for David to express the corruption 
 of his nature, as if fearful of being misunderstood to mean 
 less than he did. It is remarkable that he should confess 
 his nature to be so corrupt as logically to seem delivered from 
 responsibility, and yet the next verse shows that he has not 
 lost the least of his sense of responsibility. 
 
 Verse 6. "Lo! truth Thou hast desired in the hidden 
 part; Thou wilt make me to know wisdom." Lo! again; 
 wonder of wonders! Notwithstanding the difficulties under 
 which I labour, I am not excused; my feelings, my acts, nay 
 the very root of my life must be holy. In this verse the word 
 "truth" and "wisdom" are used where we would expect 
 purity and holiness. Why is this, if not to suggest that the 
 evil of his nature is a perversion; that as a sinner he is untrue 
 to the deeper meaning of his being, as well as not really ad- 
 justed to the truth of things. To desire truth in the inward 
 parts is not to desire such tendencies in the man as shall 
 prompt to truth-telling. Truth as used in the psalms corrres- 
 ponds with reality, and indeed some such meaning as this is 
 required to correspond with "wisdom" in the parallelism. 
 We can imagine David to say this with something of a gleam 
 of hope. The cosmogonies of the East use strong terms like 
 those of the fifth verse in speaking of the birth nature of 
 human beings. But they are words of despair; this birth 
 nature constitutes an insurmountable barrier. As the animal 
 must remain what he is, as the eagle can never crawl nor the 
 serpent fly, so the birth nature of a man cannot be transcend- 
 ed. That nature is according to the truth of things. "Bram" 
 exacts nothing higher than their nature prompts to from all 
 that come from him. But God exacts and therefore there is 
 
112 ^electeD psalms an D^onograpJjs; 
 
 hope. Sin is not one pole and righteousness another. It does 
 not fit into the system of things; it is a lie. In the inward 
 parts there is a strife, for sin wars on the soul and that sinful 
 soul wars against the universal whole. Truth can not mean 
 "integrity" or "sincerity," for whether we translate in the 
 latter part vaguely "inward" or secret "parts," or specifically 
 "reins," the reference in either case must be to that which is 
 below the consciousness. A still stronger argument is that it 
 would destroy all connection with the previous verse, which 
 must mean that what is beneath and before consciousness is 
 sinful, and the sixth verse, to correspond to it, must mean 
 that God demands truth in just that. The idea, then, of the 
 first clause, is that God demands that the root of life shall 
 be adjusted to the truth of things. This appalling demand 
 has in it a gleam of hope. How terrible would it be if we 
 had a God who was tolerant of evil. But this demand on 
 the part of God is not for the sake of the actions that would 
 result from the cleansing of the root of life; He wishes it for 
 its own sake. He wishes to be adjusted to our inner selves in 
 His own person. He desires, not results apart from Himself, 
 but communion, and for that every impulse and unconscious 
 manifestation must be pure and adjusted to Him. This 
 shows the impossibility of serving God by effort on our part. 
 Even if the consciousness was as far reaching and deep as 
 our natures and the will potent to restrain evil acts and to 
 force to good acts everywhere and at all times, God could 
 not commune with that thing so tied up. The will and con- 
 sciousness would in that case merely succeed in making a 
 machine out of a man. And besides, what motive would 
 such a creature have in so acting? It would be a worse hell 
 than any that could be threatened. 
 
 Hope begins to shine in the latter clause. Out of the 
 eater has come forth meat. The depths of the loss suggest 
 the everlasting gain. The sway of sin is an irresistible nature 
 before the conception of which the very foundations of 
 morality seem about to vanish; but before pantheistic ease 
 
Heth jFteOetick &a Eue Mm H3 
 
 can obtain, comes in the presence of an exacting God, the 
 moral assumes its predominance in the universe, and the moral 
 implies the possible, and here is hope. More than a prayer, 
 the clause assumes that it shall be as God wills, and gladly 
 and hopefully turns to the Great Father and cleanser, "Thou 
 wilt." 
 
 "Wisdom" must be left vague. It does not mean di- 
 vine illumination (Alexander) ; it does not mean conscious 
 wisdom of any sort. This is shown by the paradoxical form 
 of the statement. He is to be made to know wisdom in that 
 part which is hidden; in other words, to know that which is 
 concealed from him. The wisdom therefore which he is to 
 be made to know is instinctive in all mental latency and in- 
 tuition. Moving intelligently to the attainment of the aims of 
 the soul, as the stars that "rive the dark by private rays," 
 or as the plants which, reaching forth in the impulse of their 
 life, gather their leaves and flowers out of the empty air, as 
 the sculptor with his chisel, the painter with his brush, or the 
 musician with his flying touch, "from no vain or shallow 
 thought," but from the deepest movings of that in their mind 
 that their thought cannot fathom, body forth forms of eternal 
 beauty. 
 
 Verse 7. "Thou wilt purge me with hyssop and I shall 
 be clean; Thou wilt wash me and I shall be whiter than 
 snow." 
 
 There is here not so much a petition as a confident put- 
 ting upon God of the great work. The very strictness and 
 greatness of the exaction in the preceding verse hints at a 
 remedy. But in the symbolic rites of the Mosaic cult there 
 is a clearer and more direct indication. The shame and im- 
 purity associated with the idea of death and leprosy would 
 seem to imply that God exacted immortality and perfect 
 health in the man, as well as perfect purity. The implication 
 of blame with reference to death and disease is an implication 
 of deliverance from these, that one may deliver himself. 
 Perfect purity implies perfect health and immortality. How 
 
1X4 ^electeD psalms ano ^onograpfjs 
 
 proper to use forms under which Grace asserts its farthest 
 reaching powers (since death is the last enemy) to express 
 the power of Grace over sin under its aspect of an irresistable 
 nature. This verse is an illustration of the pebble-like form of 
 the verses in the psalms. Though this is not a characteristic 
 of the psalms alone, but of all lyric poetry. The song pro- 
 ceeds by leaps, as a true spire ought to rise in the air. Verse 
 is not logically connected with verse, at least not with any 
 directness. There is a continual and startling change just here 
 in the psalm. Verse 4 is all on the moral plane, when sud- 
 denly in verse 5 the corrupt nature is described in terms that 
 seem to destroy all responsibility; then instantly a change is 
 made in verse 6 to (not purity) but the truth and wisdom 
 that God exacts of that nature, and then in this verse, instead 
 of appealing to those symbolic rites in which Grace under 
 the old covenant gave the clearest comfort to the sinner, to the 
 holocaust, to the sprinkling of the blood of the Paschal Lamb, 
 to the goat of the Day of Atonement chosen by lot to bear 
 away the sins of the people, instead of referring to some 
 symbolic rite which had directly to do with sin, he calls up 
 one which had to do only with that which was but a symbol 
 because it was a result of sin, death and disease. There 
 seems to be a glance here at the wideness and far-reaching 
 character of the remedy needed for the redmption of man, a 
 remedy that respects the body of man as well as his moral 
 relation to God and reaches even to the nature of things, a 
 cosmic redemption. Birth iniquity (verse 4), of which truth 
 and wisdom is exacted, is met by a symbolic promise of de- 
 liverance from the uncleanness of disease and death. If we 
 consider it, it has great poetic force. A glance at a symbol 
 that goes to the very root of body life and at the same time 
 asserts its connection with sin is one calculated to reassure the 
 sinner, even when he views himself as but a bubble on the 
 mighty tide of his corrupt nature. From the fact that the 
 word translated "purge" is a derivation of that meaning "to 
 sin," Alexander infers that it denotes specifically purification 
 
Eetn jFreDerick fta Iftue Ifting U5 
 
 from the stain of sin. But it may be that the meanings "to 
 sin" and "to purge" come from a root meaning "to take 
 away from;" and, at any rate, the word is used for mere 
 ritual purifications, as e. g., the cleansing of a house. The 
 meaning here, therefore, is, thou wilt work upon me all that 
 spiritual work denoted by the sprinkling. "Moll" notices 
 how here the Mosaic standpoint is broken through. The 
 hyssop is put into God's hands not the hands of the priest. 
 The "foolishness" of symbolical cleansing points away to 
 Him who alone can give efficacy to the rite. 
 
 "And I shall be clean;" not clean of course from cere- 
 monial defilement, but clean in all impulse, down to the very 
 germ of life. The mode of the cleansing, the very incongruity 
 between aspersion with hyssop and a cleansing of the life of 
 the soul, shows this cleansing to be the act of God and 
 exhibits the profound view of God's power and His vital re- 
 lation to His people that David was enabled to exercise. We 
 apppeared to have left the plane of morality and freedom 
 in the description of sin irrresistible ; here we seem to leave 
 the plane of morality and freedom in the description of the 
 irresistible remedy. The deeper view of sin always results in 
 this. He who of all the fathers, knew most about sin, spake 
 most about irresistible grace. And here, David in this psalm, 
 which more than any other part of Scripture, exhibits the 
 power of sin, sets forth the power of God to deliver from it. 
 In the agony of an almost unparalleled experience, he looks 
 for release, not to any effort of his own, not to a long and 
 persistent building up of the character in strength and purity, 
 and growing thus gaining freedom, but from a work of God 
 on him, presented, as far as poetry can present anything, as 
 instantaneous. "Sprinkle and then at once I shall be clean." 
 Not a moment intervenes between the falling of the blood and 
 the cleansing. In the illustration of the Mosaic cult, the priest 
 sprinkled and then the man washed himself. Here God does 
 both, and the description "whiter than snow" seems to add 
 a trait of positive goodness. At least it is so in the regenera- 
 
116 Selected psalms an D a^onograpfjs 
 
 tion; the sinnner is not only made clean but bright. The 
 working of grace and the co-working of the man, discrim- 
 inated in the rite by the sprinkling and the washing, are united 
 under our Lord in that power that worketh mightily in us 
 both to will and to do of His good pleasure. 
 
 Verse 8. "Thou wilt make me to hear joy and glad- 
 ness; the bones shall rejoice which Thou hast broken." 
 
 This "joy and gladness" Alexander understands as the 
 joyful announcement of pardon by God, and this interpreta- 
 tion suits the parallelism, if that refers to God's wrath and 
 His judicial condemnation of sin. But this can hardly be. 
 David had already heard from Nathan, the prophet, the 
 words, "The Lord hath put away thy sin;, thou shalt not 
 die." Besides what a lowering of tone after the preceding 
 verses which manifest such agony on account of inborn and 
 dominating corruption, to have David waiting in fear and 
 trembling the reversal of his condemnation on account of a 
 sinful act. It would be also entirely out of character with 
 the preceding context to make "the bones which Thou hast 
 broken" refer to God's chastising judgment in the death of 
 the child of sin, and the verse to express the expectation of 
 having his heart cheered and delivered from the stress of his 
 sorrow. This would be a lame and impotent conclusion to 
 those awful descriptions of his corruption, a small result from 
 that remedy which affects not only soul and body of the sin- 
 ner, but whose application made the hills to tremble and 
 touches universal nature at its core. 
 
 It would be more congruous to understand it as the 
 joy and gladness of a soul rejoicing to be assured of de- 
 liverance from its corruption of nature. But in that case, this 
 verse would make little advance upon the previous one. It 
 would merely say that it would be joyful to know that one 
 was purged from corruption, and again one feels the falling 
 off that there would be. 
 
 Can we not begin with the result of the preceding verse 
 and go on to a higher result, an effect of the thorough 
 
Ifteth jFteDerick &a Eue i&ing 117 
 
 cleansing work upon body and spirit. And here on this 
 supposition the words are not just what we would expect. It 
 is not, Thou wilt through the renovation of my nature fill 
 me with joy and gladness springing up from within; but 
 "Thou wilt make me to hear joy and gladness." The joy 
 and gladness is outside, only the ear cannot hear it until it is 
 unstopped by *he healing of the nature. Chords that are in 
 unison will both vibrate if only one is struck, but no matter 
 how strong the sound from the neighboring chord, the string 
 will be silent until it is tuned up to the same note, and then 
 it will give forth the responsive sound. So the soul may be 
 in gloom because it is out of unison with the basic note to 
 which God's cosmos is attuned, but when once the nature is 
 purged the deaf ear is unstopped, it catches something of that 
 music in which the beams of the universe are laid, and re- 
 ceives into itself something of that Joy which is its life. 
 
 This psalm does not set forth the experience of a 
 trembling culprit, who longs to escape a woe that really over- 
 hangs him, and from the doom of God. It is a forgiven 
 sinner who, struggling with his corruptions, feels how joyous 
 he will be when once at harmony with himself and God and 
 Nature again. He is told of God's love and forgiveness, 
 and he believes it, and yet, the remembrance of past acts, the 
 dreadful regrets, the ever new solicitation, the dread of falling 
 again, the utter insecurity of the future, the jar on his whole 
 nature, prevent him from taking comfort. He has not com- 
 pletely and lovingly turned to the Lord, and distrust and evil 
 inclination are yet present. He does not yet realize the love 
 of God that is poured out towards him, but does not reach 
 him. 
 
 One of the means of renewal that God uses, is outward 
 pressure. The bones of the unrenewed man were old through 
 his roaring "his moisture is turned to the drought of sum- 
 mer." After David's first conviction and his relief from fear 
 of punishment, a deeper conviction had to be wrought, in 
 the end a thorough union with the Lord. This was partly 
 
118 ^electeQ psalms an DQ£onograpl)0 
 
 the work of the sorrow brought upon him, and all that knowl- 
 edge of self and the Lord, to which the soul comes only 
 through pains like birth throes. 
 
 The profound knowledge of sin that David evinces, 
 his deep loathing, and his great longing for deliverance, is 
 the other side of terrible suffering. God presses sore upon 
 the soul, manifesting His moral distance, and showing by the 
 pain He inflicts that unison with Him is necessary to any com- 
 fort. The very inlet of light alone upon the soul would pro- 
 duce agony. God also exhibits His chastening wrath. Words 
 cannot be used which will more strongly express this unrest, 
 than the words used here. His bones are broken. Certainly 
 a man with his bones broken as on a wheel is one of the most 
 pitiable of objects that can be conceived. The rejoicing of 
 the bones may well figure forth the restoration of comfort 
 and simple ease. We can hardly go farther than that in the 
 interpretation of the figure. And this portion of the psalm, 
 though it ends cheerfully, does not rise higher than ease, — 
 comfort. The voices of joy and gladness that he hears avail 
 to fill him with comfort through and through. 
 
 This joy and gladness that he hears is then, — first; that 
 sphere of music of the universe that has before been poured 
 upon deaf ears, — his soul lifted up to that, it is enabled to 
 perceive what was there before — to realize the infinite love of 
 God, and His purposes of good to all His creatures, and that 
 even in this fallen world; and the various ways in which He 
 has already wrought, the mass of material for joy that exists 
 even in this fallen world; and the various ways in which He 
 assures us of further and higher joy. In this latter division 
 might be placed what Peroune makes the whole meaning of 
 this joy and gladness that he is to hear — the rejoicing at the 
 public festivals. (We might even include Moll's very odd 
 interpretation, which is equivalent to 'make me to hear my 
 own voice in songs of gladness on account of forgiven sin.') 
 But this joy and gladness may have a more positive meaning. 
 God lifts His chastening hand away from the pardoned sinner. 
 
Beti* jfreDerick La Eue ifting 119 
 
 speaks encouragingly to him, manifests Himself to him, com- 
 munes with him in love, opens his ears by his Holy Spirit, 
 and by providential mercies makes his path smooth and de- 
 lightful. In the case of David, his hearing of joy and glad- 
 ness culminated, and his bones broken by God's chastening 
 hand, rejoiced indeed when Solomon was born and God 
 called him his Beloved, and promised that he should sit upon 
 the throne. 
 
 Verse 9. "Hide Thy face from my sins and all my 
 iniquities blot out." Up to this point the theme has been 
 root-vileness and the possibility of cleansing, now the lyric 
 bird takes anoiher flight (w. 9-13), and the psalmist is oc- 
 cupied not so much with his attitude towards God as God's 
 attitude towards him. 
 
 Both disease and remedy appear in this part of the 
 psalm. But nothing can be added to the previous description 
 of the sin, for it embraces the whole nature, and lies at its 
 very core, while the remedy indicated embraces still more, 
 reaching even to the redemption of the fallen creation of 
 God. Both remedy and disease rise to the moral plane, and 
 the theme is on the side of the disease, God's displeasure with 
 the psalmist, — and on the side of the remedy, the possibility 
 of establishing stable feelings of love, and service, and peace 
 before God. 
 
 The first petition does not indicate any fear of conse- 
 quences to himself! there is nothing of this anywhere in the 
 psalm. For his nation and church he feared, as appears by 
 the last two verses, but not for himself. He does not say, 
 "Look away from me," as in Ps. 39th, 1 3th. It is the 
 dread of remaining corrupt and under the displeasure of God 
 that swallows up all else. 
 
 There is progress in this psalm, the first division carries 
 over into the second something of the peace in which it ends. 
 It is with a trust that cleansing has begun, but with re- 
 membrance of his past transgressions and a consciousness of 
 the remaining evil of his soul, that he asks God to turn his 
 
120 ©electen psalms; tmD ^onopapfjs: 
 
 face away from his sins, to neglect and ignore them, — think 
 of him and feel towards him as if they were not. He does 
 not ask, "Hide Thy face from me," but "from my sins." He 
 wants God to look at him, but not at his sins. He who can 
 make such a bold petition as this has already separated him- 
 self from his sins. And here we may recognize what has 
 been gained through the positions acquired in the first part. 
 For though there, self and sin, in the 5 th verse, seem to be in- 
 separably united, and yet we see in verse 7 the possibility of 
 that separation. And in this verse we see that one who is 
 thoroughly penetrated with a sense of his sinfulness, may, 
 while beseeching (v. 7), "Cast me not away from Thy 
 presence," yet say, "Hide Thy face from my sins." And 
 here again comes in the precious consideration that this 
 psalm is dedicated "to the Chief Musician." It is to be used 
 by the people of God in their worship, assigned to that office 
 by the Holy Spirit, acting through the inspired David. 
 
 What they are told to ask, they could expect to receive. 
 Many, doubtless, in the old time, blessed God that such a 
 prayer had been given them by inspired authority, being able 
 to use it for themselves only because David had used it for 
 himself; and the very heinousness of the sin from which he 
 asked God to turn His face, made it all the more useful, for 
 who then could feel debarred from the use of this prayer? 
 The people of God in all time may then take heart, even if 
 their past acts seeem to them enormous, and their present 
 state very corrupt and degraded. God can be asked to over- 
 look it all, and therefore they may be assured that He will. 
 Let us be clear: There is not a petition in this verse for de- 
 liverance from punishment. There a soul delivered from 
 punishment asks for full restoration to communion and favor 
 of a dreadful Judge. He asks God to restore the lost joy 
 of His salvation. He is willing that God should notice his 
 sins, yet he stands before Him as many a one has stood be- 
 fore an injured friend, — pardoned, received, and yet think- 
 ing — Oh that the dreadful knowledge of what I have been. 
 
i&efcn JreDericfe La Hue filing 121 
 
 of what I have done and said were not his. Oh that we 
 might begin again with clear accounts. An earthly friend 
 may seem, to forget as truly as forgive, but yet we cannot 
 help interpreting looks, and tones and words in the light of 
 our own degrading consciousness of ill — desert. But all 
 sinners may be assured from this prayer that the Great God 
 of Heaven and Earth forgives and forgets utterly. And this 
 is the measure of our treatment of those among us, who 
 wrong us and afterwards turn to us. It is amazing that such 
 a prayer could be uttered by one who had not the light that 
 we have — how it could be used as to its import in public 
 worship by those who had not David's prophetic — impulse 
 and intuition, it is hard enough for us to believe that such 
 a thing can be, who have been assured by the cleansing 
 presence of the Holy Spirit who unites us to the Lord. Faith, 
 to be sure, does not always need a full explanation of the 
 grounds on which it rests; nevertheless such an explanation is 
 a precious thing, and a main object of our Lord's mission 
 to earth was to give it to us. (See Roms. 3:25-26). Some 
 account the mind instinctively demands the grounds upon 
 which its faith rests, even if it goes but a little way towards 
 solving the great mystery. And here, in this psalm, we seem 
 to have what may be styled a movement towards a solution 
 — a germinal solution — which has but to be expanded to be 
 all the solution granted even to us. In the first verse we have 
 the petition of the last very nearly "Blot out all my iniqui- 
 ties." The blotting out can be referred in the first verse 
 to the overwhelming force of God's compassion. "In Thy 
 tender mercy look upon my sins, and blot them out," that is 
 let them rot have their proper effect in awakening Thy 
 wrath. Let them rather awaken Thy compassion." The 
 blotting out of the transgressions depends upon His keeping 
 them in His mind or His heart. In verse 9 the blotting 
 out depends upon God's turning His face from the sin, and 
 not regarding it at all. This is assured in the prayer "Blot 
 out." God will be gracious, merciful and tender towards 
 
t22 Selected psalms ano ®onograpf)0 
 
 the sinner, as if he was no sinner, washing and blotting out. 
 In verse 20 find an equivoque for a rational ground of faith. 
 God will blot out iniquity by hiding His face from it, but 
 will create in the sinner (verse 10) a pure heart. 
 
 Verse 10. "A pure heart create for me, Oh God, and 
 a fixed spirit renew within me." This verse is a justification 
 of the petitions in the preceding verse. God, King and 
 Judge, can allow His feelings of compassion to carry away 
 (verse 1.), and thus not regard (blot out) the transgres- 
 sions of the sinner who turns to Him, because the very action 
 of that compassion tends to cleanse the soul of all sin — it is 
 in order to the purging with hyssop, and making thoroughly 
 clean. Here in this verse God, the friend and master, can 
 ignore wrong doing and faults of character which He removes. 
 And this renewal of the character must take place. 
 
 The hiding of God's face from the sins of His servant 
 implies the taking him into the fellowship of intercourse again, 
 and this would be a shame if there were no real change in the 
 heart of His erring servant. To stand in the presence of God 
 (verse 11.) implies God's confidence in him, and a reality of 
 intercourse, not a pretense of one. No more toleration would 
 answer the purpose. We must feel that we bring something 
 to God. The merest infant still has an independent emotional 
 life of its own, and can bring something to the wisest and the 
 strongest parent. So the loving willing heart of a human be- 
 ing can bring something to the Great God of Heaven and 
 Earth. 
 
 If a new heart could only be created! And this is 
 what is asked. The word is the one used to express the 
 mightiest work of God's creative power (Gen. 1 :1.), and 
 yet how amazing the faith that could ask such a thing. We 
 can understand somewhat how this thing can be, for we 
 know that the Lord can dwell within us through the Holy 
 Spirit, and we can be irresistably impelled in all freedom 
 and spontaneity. But how David could desire this, and yet 
 believe he would not become a mere machine, is inconceiv- 
 
Eetn jFre&erick La due i&ing 123 
 
 able. He could not of himself ask this. It is a petition that 
 witnesses its own inspiration. It is to be noted that the peti- 
 tions of this verse ask for something other than has been asked 
 for before. A pure heart and a fixed spirit is something dif- 
 ferent from a cleansing of the very root of life. The former 
 is an effect of the latter on the plane of the consciousness. 
 The feelings are to be made pure. This could, of course, be 
 effected, at least temporarily, without any of the vital work 
 set forth in the first division. 
 
 One feeling can be made to cast out another. By 
 providential arrangements emotional evil can be kept down, 
 and the best emotions aroused. Great love for his wife will 
 make a man pure in heart, so far as exercises go. A vast deal 
 of our purity, and indeed of all for which we value ourselves, 
 is of this kind. We are pure because God keeps us pure, 
 and not because we are naturally pure. But the psalmist 
 asks not to be kept, he wishes to have created for him a 
 pure heart. It is strange how strong the expression is. In 
 the former division the figures of washing and the symbol of 
 sprinkling were used to set forth a far more radical remedy. 
 The reason why the word create is used is not easy to see, 
 except to assert God's sovereignty in the free emotional sphere 
 which might more really be conceded in the vital sphere. 
 
 It might be thought superfluous to say, create in me 
 pure emotions, when he had already asked that the inner 
 part should be cleansed, that his life should be made true 
 and wise. 
 
 Perhaps it would be the case if the body were all 
 right and the earth were right, and the world of human 
 beings around which would prevent the normal action of 
 that which is within. 
 
 God's Spirit dwells within many a man whom pre- 
 judice and ignorance leads so far astray that there is love 
 when there should be hate. Witness holy men who have 
 been persecutors. There seems therefore a need that God 
 should act upon as well as in us. All Christians should see 
 
124 Selected psalms ano ^onograpjjs 
 
 this. They cannot depend upon their regeneration, and rest 
 upon their oars, as a plant can, merely uttering forth the life 
 that is within. (And indeed even in the case of the plant 
 the solicitations of the sun are needed to draw it forth.) 
 Christians are in great danger when they do this. They may 
 have been sprinkled with hyssop and made clean. It may be 
 said to them, "Ye know all things." "Ye cannot sin." (1st 
 John). Yet they have but the germ, and must ask God to 
 build that germ up into a perfect and glorious character. 
 This seems to be the meaning of asking God to exert creative 
 power in the region of the free and moral. 
 
 The regenerated soul may well tremble for its com- 
 munion with God, the fellowship that it craves, if God could 
 not disregard its sins and view it only in the Beloved; and 
 well it might tremble in looking to the future, if it did not 
 believe that He who was within working mightily was with- 
 out working mightily, revealing through His truth, guiding 
 and stimulating by His providences and acting directly on the 
 soul. Thus the heart is made pure, that is, not merely is 
 delivered from the licentious feelings that led him into the 
 present troubles, but has given to it all that simplicity and 
 elevation of feeling that adjusts the soul to what in this 
 world of falsehood, deformity and change, is true and beauti- 
 ful and eternal. This work of God is one never ending, still 
 beginning, and is well set forth under the word, renew, which 
 signifies not only the asking for the restoration of that which 
 was lost, but may imply, — keep renewing; keep adjusting. 
 For not by a fiat of creative power is the heart kept in purity, 
 but by a constant act of reparation and correction. 
 
 Every word in this verse is precious, and should be 
 weighed not so much to gather instruction as to enable the 
 servant of God to utter them well. The man who has not 
 known the force of lust on contemplation, who has not fallen 
 into gross sin is likely to feel able to make his spirit fixed by his 
 own strong resolve. But many know that one of the most 
 fearful results of sin is the sense of instability that it leaves 
 
I&eto* jFceOerick La iftue ding 125 
 
 behind in the penitent one. Apostacy seems so likely, the 
 force of resolve so important. 
 
 Is one in such a case to act the virile, self-reliant part, — 
 is he obliged to feel that he must, in the light of consciousness, 
 rebuild his character, make his heart pure and his spirit 
 fixed? No. This psalm is addressed to the Chief Musi- 
 cian, it is for the people of God to utter. We can not only 
 say, "Work Thou in me," but "lay Thy hand upon me." 
 To be weak is to be strong. 
 
 Even after the new will, — we are so free in the devel- 
 opment of the gracious gift, and so terribly abuse our free- 
 dom that it is a comfort indeed that we are permitted to con- 
 nect ourselves wholly to Him, to develop that which He has 
 given to keep back evil feelings and induce good ones ; and by 
 constant acts of support, make the wavering spirit firm as a rock. 
 
 "Create." "Make life a part of my nature, and not 
 merely wash me." 
 
 Verse 1 1 . "Cast me not away from Thy presence and 
 take not Thy Holy Spirit from me." This verse is remark- 
 able as being the only one in which mention is made of any 
 punishment that David dreads on account of his sin. It is 
 remarkable also as being one of the three places in the Old 
 Testament where the expression "Holy Spirit" occurs, the 
 other two being in the 63rd chapter of Isaiah. 
 
 It is very clear from this petition that David regards 
 himself as being still in the presence of the Lord and in pos- 
 session of the Holy Spirit. In the preceding verse he asks 
 for something that he has not; here he prays that that may 
 not be taken away which he has. What then, is this pos- 
 session of the Holy Spirit which he still may claim for him- 
 self, notwithstanding his sin and sinfulness? Alexander and 
 others understood it in the New Testament sense, as those 
 active moral influences that make for holiness. So that in 
 verse 1 he prays that a pure heart may be created in him, 
 and here he prays that the necessary means to this may not 
 be taken away. 
 
126 ^electeD psalms anO ^onogtap|)0 
 
 Now, not to mention that this close distinction and dis- 
 crimination seem unsuited to a passionate lyric like this, the 
 word "create" (in verse 10.) would exclude this. The pure 
 heart is asked for directly at the hands of God, unmediated 
 by any attribute or person of the Godhead, and this is the 
 way throughout the whole psalm, the washing from iniquity, 
 verse 2, and the purging with hyssop, verse 7, is asked for of 
 God without any reference to any mode or means of doing 
 this. It will not do to import our clearer and more elaborate 
 theological modes of thought and expression into the Old 
 Testament, and especially the poetry of the Old Testament, 
 and that, too, Lyric poetry. 
 
 Besides, a more weighty consideration is this. If in 
 this place the Holy Spirit is referred to as the author of 
 moral changes, it is the only place in the Old Testament. 
 
 There is one class of passages that show the Spirit's 
 work in Nature, e. g., Gen. 1.2.; Job 26: 13, and 33: 
 4 ; Psalm 1 04 :30. Another class of passages refer to mirac- 
 ulous effects wrought by the spirit as on Samson, (Judges 1 4: 
 6, 15, 19), strengthening the muscles; upon Bezaleal, Ex. 
 31 : 2-5, making him a skillful artificer; upon Saul throwing 
 him into an ecstacy, (1st Sam. 9: 23-24), on David re- 
 vealing to him the designs of the temple, ( 1 st Chronicles 28 : 
 12-19); upon prophets generally, enabling them to declare 
 the will of God, and future events, — a notable example of 
 which is Balaam's prophecy, (Numbers 24: 2), — and con- 
 trolling their imagination, as in the case of visions of Ezekiel. 
 
 Prophetic powers did not imply always good moral 
 chaiacter: and in all probability Balaam felt perfectly secure 
 of his position as prophet, notwithstanding his sinfulness. 
 But David feels however the incongruity between his pro- 
 phetic position and his exceeding sinfulness. Retaining his 
 sin and his corruplon he feels he cannot retain his position of 
 honour and usefulness, and that the answer to this petition, 
 though not involved in the answers to the previous ones, is 
 yet only made possible by them. 
 
IReto* jFceDetick La Iftue ifting 127 
 
 How fully this verse shadows forth the dispensation of 
 the Spirit, whose great head was a Prophet in whom the 
 spiritual endowment implied all holiness, and who gave the 
 Spirit to His followers to be the power of a new moral 
 life. 
 
 Presuming not upon his restoration to holiness, feeling 
 that God, even then, might rightfully degrade him, he 
 makes it a subject of supplication that he might be still allowed 
 the spiritual leadership of his people. And well does such a 
 petition befit this psalm, in which he does not pray to be de- 
 livered from many a punishment that he might well dread, 
 but for restoration to purity and God's favor, for it is no 
 selfish dread that fills his mind, but love for God's service and 
 love of his fellow men. The real animus of this petition is 
 shown in the 1 3th verse. "Then will I teach transgressors 
 thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." This 
 verse may well be made the utterance of the repentant Chris- 
 tian, who over and above any other punishment that he may 
 have reason to apprehend; may well dread that, though for- 
 given, purged of sin, and taken into God's favor, he may 
 lose forever influence, position, and opportunities for doing 
 good that are now his priceless possession. 
 
 God's threat to his sinning servants, "I will remove thy 
 candlestick out of his place," is not always unfulfilled. Let, 
 however, one wIig has sinned even like David, repenting like 
 David, like David take heart to pray and hope, since these 
 words are put into his mouth, that he will not be cast aside 
 like a broken and worthless tool; but, though bearing always 
 an agonizing consciousness that belies the respect paid him 
 by others, he can do something still for the cause he loves 
 more than ever before. 
 
 Verse 1 2. "Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, 
 and (with) a willing spirit uphold me." 
 
 The variety of the petitions of this psalm and its slow 
 gradations and fine discrimination is something very won- 
 derful. 
 
128 ^electeu P0alm$ anD Sjionogtapfjg 
 
 "Joy" has been spoken of before (verse 8th), but it is 
 joy and gladness as heard. It is one thing for the heart to be 
 attuned to gladness — to be responsive to the joy around, and 
 quite another to be full of joy welling up from within. This 
 is what the psalmist asks for here. "The joy of thy salvation" 
 cannot mean the joy of being saved from punishment and sin, 
 for it is a joy that he has had before, and that he asks to be 
 restored. Neither is it probable that David had before gone 
 through with any experience like this, of agonizing penitence 
 and the deliverance into favor. "Salvation" does not refer to 
 anything peculiar to David, but to the common state of wel- 
 fare in which every true Israelite lived. "Salvation" properly 
 means deliverance, rescue. The history of the chosen people 
 was a history of rescues, and the consciousness of this caused 
 them to call that deliverance, which we would call only well- 
 being. Both the past and present situation of Israel induced 
 in the pious Jew the feeling that any prosperity that they en- 
 joyed was due solely to the protecting arm of God. And 
 this feeling was supplemented by a large anticipation that 
 made even a state of comparative ease and prosperity, mis- 
 erable compared with that which they claimed and expected. 
 
 We may well suppose that David, who in his own 
 person could count so many deliverances, and who stood at 
 the threshold of a new national and religious movement, of 
 which he was the light and the impulse, — must have had this 
 feeling in the intensest degree. "The Joy of thy salvation" 
 would then mean in the first instance the peace and comforts 
 and cheerfulness of a true Israelite in the full enjoyment 
 of the prosperity to which the Lord's deliverance had brought 
 the nation, and above all, acme of all deliverance, God's 
 favor towards himself, and cordial confidence on his part 
 towards God. 
 
 He may before this have been hardly conscious of the 
 blessedness of this state of innocence and prosperity, but 
 now, looking back to it out of the midst of his guilt and sor- 
 row, it well may appear to him a time of joy. 
 
I&etn jFreDetick Jta I&ue ifting 129 
 
 But, second, — there was a joy over and above this that 
 David had in his time of innocence — the joy of happy, 
 hopeful work for the future. David knew that his work 
 was not merely for the present — "Thou hast spoken also of 
 thy servant's house for a great while to come," — with a 
 career of magnificent conquest behind him, honored by his 
 people as deliverer and prophet, — he was laying the founda- 
 tions of a Kingdom which he was assured would be forever. 
 It was the splendor of this far future glorifying every act of 
 the present that made his work so joyous. This "Joy of 
 thy salvation" it was that he so bitterly regretted and so 
 eagerly craved to have restored. And this view immediately 
 connects this verse with the preceding. There he asks that 
 he may not, while forgiven the sin and retaining his office 
 as King, lose the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that enabled 
 him to be a spiritual leader to his nation. 
 
 Here he prays that, — over and above the return of lost 
 peace and favor of God, and the innocent joys of the past, — 
 may come back the old creative activity, and joyful energy 
 in God's service. The last clause of the verse is like the 
 first. He prays, — and it is a wonderful prayer, different 
 from anything taught by the heart of man. One would 
 think that a penitent man like David after falling so dread- 
 fully would be full of resolutions of future strictness, close 
 watchfulness, and how natural for such an one to limit his 
 appeal to God, to merely asking Him to aid by His Spirit 
 in making him more strict. How natural that he should be 
 disgusted with freedom because, living too carelessly he had 
 fallen into sin. Yet David prays to be upheld through that 
 very freedom, his spontaneous impulses. The very con- 
 ception of such a restoration is amazing. This willing spirit 
 upheld in its obedience more mightily by its impulses than it 
 ever could be by the most rigid adherence to Law is akin to 
 the "Joy of Thy salvation" of the preceding verse. It is a 
 spirit drawn forth by God's precepts being addressed to all 
 its ablest and mightiest instincts. His work being the carry- 
 
130 Selected psalm0 anD aponogcapijg 
 
 ing out of patriotic feelings, love to his fellows, poetic im- 
 pulses, and the farthest search of the constructive imagination. 
 All penitent ones, in like circumstances, should exercise 
 David's great faith. In the depth of their penitence they 
 should hope and ask for, not half but whole restoration, — 
 to pray for joy again, and because they know that this joy is 
 strength, and that in full, free activity is safety. To wrap 
 our holiness in a napkin may cause its loss. Man must seek 
 besides his own improvement that of others. They who are 
 restored from backsliding, and would keep themselves from 
 falling again, had better forget all about themselves, and 
 their spiritual ailments, in the love and active service of 
 God, and their fellow men. 
 
 Indeed we may reasonably consider that David in 
 asking God to keep him in his place of service, and uphold 
 him in the energies and joy of that service, was not merely 
 seeking a delight that he craved, but asking for that which 
 in his heart he felt to be necessary to his being sustained 
 in the right way. We may well imagine that he looked 
 with horror upon the prospect of the loss of his exalted 
 work, and its compelling attractions, as a loss of the very 
 bulwark and defence of holiness. 
 
 Verse 1 3. "Then will I teach transgressors Thy 
 ways, and sinners unto Thee shall return." In verse 11th 
 we have the petition "Thrust me not from my high service." 
 In verse 1 2th, "Restore to me the joy and zeal of service." 
 And here we have the grandest and most joyful act of 
 service we can render to God. Following verses 1 1 th and 
 1 2th, it should not suggest an attempt by good works to 
 increase self respect or evidences. But David must regard 
 it as the brightest result of his own reconversion, that he 
 should be the agent of the reconversion of others wandering 
 from God. It is not a resolve but a joyous anticipation; 
 not in the least seeking to make a return to God, a delight 
 in saving men, and thus serving God, he might take some 
 cheer in the fact that increased knowledge of sin 
 
iftetu jFre&erick La Iftue ifting 131 
 
 and God, would make him more useful; for the teacher has 
 been to school. He can now teach the ways of God, — 
 the blessed ways in which He would have His servants walk, 
 and His ways of dealing with the repentant sinner. And 
 these are one. God would have us walk in His footprints. 
 God makes a way for us to walk by walking first, as a 
 father leads his child through difficulties. We walk in His 
 ways by voluntarily meeting Him in His ways — in the recep- 
 tion of His good providence and His great grace, with grati- 
 tude and love, and acting these feelings; and since we are 
 made in His image, the life that ensues from union and com- 
 munion with Him will be patterned upon His. 
 
 To experience properly God's dealings (ways) really 
 implies all that is meant by walking in His ways. Even the 
 Ten Commandments are just as much a witness of God's 
 holiness — the ways in which He walks — as a rule for us. 
 
 The confidence with which He looks forward to great 
 results may or may not be justified, His humble and affection- 
 ate monitions to those about Him may not have been ef- 
 fectual ; but one thing is certain, — that to those who have had 
 much forgiven them, is often granted great power to lead 
 others back to the way of life. "Out of the eater comes 
 forth meat." The temptation and the fall of some men is 
 like a descent into a deep and dark mine, from which they 
 emerge bringing with them the gold they have found there. 
 Precious things are brought from distinct climes, and so they 
 who have been shut up face to face with God in the throes 
 of contrition and the rapture of pardon, come forth bearing 
 to their fellows more precious gifts than if they had visited 
 the far off gardens of the Hesperides and brought back its 
 apples of gold. 
 
 Verse 14. "Free me from blood (oh) God, God of 
 my salvation, (and) my tongue shall celebrate Thy righteous- 
 ness." 
 
 The lyrical ebb takes place here. He has asked to be 
 delivered from his corruption and that God would be re- 
 
132 ^>electeD psalms anD Qionograp&s; 
 
 conciled with him, but now the sense of his guilt rushes upon 
 him with overwhelming force and bows him for the moment 
 to the earth. It is a great difficulty. The psalmist can, any 
 one can, conceive himself as pure instead of being impure, 
 and God as looking upon him with pity and love, instead of 
 with loathing and indignation. 
 
 These are hard things, but they are conceivable. But 
 committed crime can never be uncommitted, and how then 
 can one who has committed a crime be acquitted by per- 
 fect and omniscient justice? Yet this amazingly bold request 
 he makes. Undoubtedly guilty of murder, he asks to be 
 cleared, and then, to add to the paradox, engages to cele- 
 brate the justice of the Judge who declares him not guilty. 
 But does the verse mean this? Does "Free from blood" 
 mean, "Make me not guilty?" May it not refer, as many 
 think, to the threatening of the prophet, — "Now therefore 
 the sword shall never depart from thy house," (Second Sam- 
 uel, 12: 10) and fulfilled in the case of his immediate family, 
 in the two notable instances of Amnon and Absalom. 
 
 The last clause would mean, "I will celebrate Thy faith- 
 fulness to Thy promises to me and mine, since for their sake 
 Thou hast kept away this evil that I have incurred." 
 
 To justify this interpretation of the first petition in this 
 verse, some commentators adduce the fact that the word 
 "free" is used generally — with reference to delieverance from 
 danger, and find in it an allusion to Gen. 4 : 1 0, as if he had 
 said, "Deliver me from this blood that cries out against me." 
 If this is so, then the word "blood" would only mean the 
 blood of Uriah, and the prayer a general depreciation of the 
 punishment of murder, and especially that denounced by the 
 prophet Nathan, but with no direct allusion to it. But if the 
 petition, "free from blood," does not mean more than this, 
 it would be very much lower in tone than the rest of the 
 psalm; for to bring in amidst these expressions of agonizing 
 penitence a prayer merely for delieverance from punishment 
 would be a strange dissonance. 
 
I&eto* jFteDerick £a Eue ifting 133 
 
 No interpretation should be admitted that did not give 
 the experience, set forth here, the profoundest character; for 
 this psalm goes everywhere to the root of the matter. 
 
 Now, there are three things that every penitent soul de- 
 sires, and these three granted, his case is perfectly met. 
 
 First: — That God should regard and remember his sins 
 no more. The preceding part of the psalm has been occupied 
 with these two needs, but there is necessary, in order to per- 
 fect his deliverance, — 
 
 Third: — That he should be freed from all its desert. 
 No matter how clean present impulses may be, no matter 
 how many assurances I may have that my ill deeds will never 
 be brought up against me, the mere feeling that I am eter- 
 nally a convict will be of itself, punishment. To think I am 
 living on sufferance, that my impunity is out of harmony with 
 the eternal laws of the universe of things, will sometimes cloud 
 the sky of faith, and make peace itself a struggle. In such 
 a psalm of universal penitence we would suppose that this 
 need would find expression, and if anywhere, here is the place 
 for this "free me from blood" means "free me from guilt." 
 Something certainly was asked for here that required a 
 mighty effort of faith, and this is shown by the repeated call 
 on God, and its intense form — "God of my salvation. "In- 
 deed a literal translation of "blood" is "bloods" meaning 
 idiomatically murder. So this would stand "free me from 
 murder," of which we would only say that it may possibly 
 contain an allusion, through equivoque to Nathan. Because 
 the psalm belonged to the ritual for universal use, Nathan's 
 threat of a special punishment has no place in the petition. 
 The individualization of the crime, and especially because 
 it is a capital crime, would all the better make it a universal 
 psalm, for if a murderer could ask freedom from guilt, any- 
 one could. David seems to say, I do not know how Thou 
 wilt save, I only know Thou canst in Thy boundless power, 
 and hast in the past and hope Thou wilt again, because nec- 
 essary for my salvation. Amazing request! God's power 
 
134 ^electea p$aim$ ana ®onogtapf)0 
 
 can make us pure, free from punishment, but can it remove 
 guilt? The feeling of guilt, no doubt had been removed 
 under the old Law. "The law of the Lord is perfect, restor- 
 ing the soul," and the soul's restoration, no doubt from the 
 very first was felt to need justification, over and above cleans- 
 ing and pardon. The distinction may not have been always 
 clean cut before the mind, but more or less clearly, it was 
 present, in the case of a true penitent. Indeed, it is the part 
 of true penitence that is most prominent in even a shallow and 
 fleshly sorrow for sin, and the easiest to be removed in such 
 a case. A man who had little or no sense of his corruption, 
 and who cared very little for the loss of God's favor, might 
 feel very intensely his, and be ready to make great efforts to 
 expiate it, and throughout Christendom and heathendom 
 there are a thousand contrivances of man, which are effective 
 as a temporary opiate for the feeling of guilt. The ignorant 
 formalist, who confesses his sins in the most perfunctory way, 
 will often go away feeling no longer guilty. The formula that 
 occurs so often in the book of Leviticus, "and shall be for- 
 given," doubtless, often ministered to the want of the truly 
 penitent soul, where that want was not distinctly brought out 
 before the consciousness. The fact that the great Jehovah 
 forgave, would also make a man feel guiltless in ordinary 
 cases. But let a man have a deep conviction of sin, and a 
 profound sense of the perfection of God's justice, and guilt 
 will not seem to be a thing lightly to be gotten rid of. He 
 is not blind like the simple and shallow minded. He sees 
 that the sinner must be justified or never forgiven. For God's 
 justice, not being satisfied, will punish, though it rends His 
 heart. Earthly rulers have been capable of this, shall not the 
 Judge of all be as heroic? 
 
 This feeling of guilt was very deep and general when 
 Christ came, and it was meant to satisfy it that (as we are 
 told, Rom. 3: 24-25) Christ suffered on the cross. David's 
 experience had brought him to just this feeling. Perhaps 
 he was the first who had the clear consciousness of the need 
 
EetJ. jFreDerick La I&ue ifting 135 
 
 of justification as distinct from cleansing and pardon; and it 
 is touching to see how he appeals to God for this thing, to 
 God directly, without any knowledge of the mode in which 
 this is to be done. 
 
 The worthlessness of sacrifices as a means he distinctly 
 sees, the Old Law fails to give a remedy, and yet such a rite 
 as that of the Day of Atonement might be in his mind at this 
 time to justify his petition. That rite seems specially desired 
 to meet this need of the soul. The sins of the people were 
 said to be put upon the head of the goat, and it was added, 
 "and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a 
 land not inhabited." This was certainly calculated to make 
 the people feel not merely that they were pardoned, but that 
 they were no more sinners, and corresponds directly with the 
 petition of this verse, which is equivalent to, "Take this mur- 
 der away from me." 
 
 David might well say, thinking of such a rite as the 
 leading away of the goat symbolically laden with the sins 
 of the people to a land where there were none to be made 
 guilty by them — yes, well might he say, "Remember Thy 
 word to Thy servant upon which Thou hast caused me to 
 hope." But he would be enabled to do this through 
 no doctrinal inference, but only by a mighty effort 
 of faith. 
 
 In the second clause of the verse we see a manifestation 
 of another feeling. Not only is it necessary for his salvation 
 to be made formally guiltless — he must be really so. The 
 Judge must do it rightfully. Neither in law or equity ought 
 there to be any claim upon this justification. He must be 
 made strictly not guilty, — or the Judge's own character is 
 stained. Truly, it is a mighty work to save us. Says Bax- 
 ter, "and much ado He hath to get us home." God must 
 always be just. The psalmist sees (verse 4) that his sin 
 shows God's righteousness in condemning, and now he only 
 asks that God's righteousness may be equally displayed in 
 his acquittal. 
 
136 Selected psalms ana ©onograp&s 
 
 It would be little joy in heaven for us to feel that 
 we were saved at the expense of the slightest injury to the 
 character of God. God Himself in the integrity of His per- 
 fections is the great possession of the redeemed, and it will in 
 reality add to their bliss to think that God's Justice is all 
 the more exhibited and glorified by their salvation. It is with 
 some anticipation of this feeling that David thinks, "How 
 delightful it will be to be saved, and yet to be able to revel 
 in the perfections of God, and present Him to this generation 
 as all just, and all merciful. Make this possible, O God, 
 make me guiltless, that I may rejoice in and praise Thy jus- 
 tice in my salvation." 
 
 To say, "My tongue shall celebrate," is stronger than 
 to say, "I will." It is as if he had said, "My tongue will be 
 taken possession of, and used by an uncontrollable impulse 
 to praise." 
 
 With the completion of my brother's comment on verse 
 1 4th, there also ends his work on Psalm LI. In reference 
 to that he quotes this sentence from the Talmud: 
 
 "It is not incumbent on thee to finish thy work, but 
 nevertheless thou must never cease from it." 
 
 What follows is an attempt on our part, to finish as we 
 may, the work he had no strength to accomplish. We will 
 begin at the fifteenth verse. 
 
 VERSE 15 
 "Lord, my lips Thou wilt open, and my mouth shall 
 declare Thy praise." Both Alexander and the Prayer Book 
 decline using the imperative rendering of the English Ver- 
 sion, and substitute the prophetic, trustful future of "wilt" 
 and "shall." "Shall declare Thy praise." A satisfactory clue 
 to the forceful meaning of these words, may be found in the 
 fact of David's constitutional capacity (augmented by the 
 presence and power of the Spirit) to praise the God of Israel, 
 whom he worshipped and in whom he delighted. Recall (II 
 Sam. 6: 14) the occasion when "David danced before the 
 
I&eto* jfreDerick La Eue %in$ 137 
 
 Lord with all his might," and also his many psalms of exalted 
 praise. Then add to these the language of Psalm XXXII : 
 1 . "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin 
 is covered," words quoted by the apostle to confirm his gos- 
 pel of imputations in Roman 4; and then tell us if we are 
 not warranted in saying that David's normal condition of 
 heart was an inextinguishable and triumphant praise, far be- 
 yond and above the average attained by other Old Testament 
 saints? If this be conceded, then we are permitted to say, that 
 underneath the wounds made by a sword-thrusting conscience, 
 underneath the self-horror and bitter sorrow, coming into 
 existence with the crushing words, "Thou art the man," 
 there abode as the food and pillar of his soul, enthusiastic 
 love for the Lord God, and joy in His presence; and this 
 was true even when Nathan's sword-tongue pierced his soul. 
 
 Therefore it was, oh David, rare man of God, that, 
 although thine abhorrent sins eclipsed the Father's face and 
 darkened thine own for a brief space, it was not a total 
 eclipse, for in the nearest approach to totality there were 
 straggling rays of covenanted mercy shooting forth from the 
 corona; and therefore thy face, oh, David, begins to shine 
 with restored trust, hope and praise. 
 
 Truly thou art of the tribe of Judah (Praise), and truly 
 the last five verses of thy penitential song are but the begin- 
 ning of a life-long Magnificat, perhaps not less exalted in its 
 strain than that of a later descendant of the same tribe of 
 Praise, who was none other than the Virgin Mother of 
 Jesus the Messiah, "made of the seed of David according to 
 the flesh." 
 
 Verse 1 6. "For Thou desirest not sacrifice, else 
 would I give (it), in burnt offering Thou delightest not." 
 
 David here refers to the butcher-like, formal, ritualistic 
 slaying of animals in the temple, and which was not mingled 
 with penitence and gratitude. 
 
 Verse 1 7. "The sacrifices of God (are) a broken 
 spirit; a heart broken and crushed, (oh) God, Thou wilt 
 not despise." 
 
138 Selected psalms anD 6ionogtapt)0 
 
 This is but an extension of the thought expressed in the 
 preceding verse. The slaughter and crushing out of the life 
 of the innocent animal is only pleasing to God when the 
 guilty man offering this substitutionary sacrifice, himself comes 
 with a broken heart and crushed soul, the vital substance giv- 
 ing spiritual significance to the otherwise hollow, dead forms 
 of the ritual. 
 
 Thus there is a perpetual thank-offering allied to a per- 
 petual joy and praise. 
 
 Verse 1 8. "Do good in thy favor to Zion; Thou wilt 
 build the walls of Jerusalem." 
 
 When individual Jews are built up in their most holy 
 faith, love and zealous works issuing from a repentance unto 
 life, then can and will be blessed the entire nation, and 
 internal spiritual prosperity will eventually bring in its train 
 an external and material prosperity. 
 
 The spiritual intelligence and assurance of faith, which 
 fearlessly asserts the restored welfare of Zion, once diminished 
 perchance for a while by the sins of the King; and the re- 
 building of the protective walls of the Holy City, once under- 
 mined by the transgressions of David, bear witness to the 
 recuperative joy animating the penitent, forgiven, trustful, and 
 (through the substitutionary righteousness of Jehovah — 
 Jesus) the guiltless, spotless, white Theocratic King in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Verse 19. "Then shalt Thou be pleased with sacrifices 
 of righteousness, burnt offering and holocaust; then shall they 
 offer on thine altar bullocks." 
 
 Alexander calls our attention to the fact that holocaust 
 translates one Hebrew word, meaning a sacrifice entirely 
 consumed. 
 
 "Then," ah! Then, after the fresh discovery of the 
 sinfulness of sin — of the depth, height, length and breadth of 
 our sinfulness — after a more radical self-loathing and con- 
 fession to God, after the trustful, thankful acceptance of 
 God's offered mercy, then let innocent victims be offered in 
 
IftetK jfteOericfe La Eue i&ing 139 
 
 my place, for no more will they be vain oblations; for the 
 more frequently offered, the clearer will I see that though my 
 sins be as scarlet, they become as white as snow, when con- 
 fessed over the head of that Lamb, the Great Judge accepts 
 as the sinner's substitute. 
 
 A. B. K. 
 
140 Selected psalms and eiionogtapi)0 
 
 $&ilm lot. 
 
 Title. — The King through His ruling glorifies the King of 
 Kings. 
 
 This psalm is an example of the purely lyric code. 
 The abruptness of its close is remarkable and would be 
 intolerable in a literary age. Not having in mind any 
 audience, the psalmist pours himself forth and adds nothing 
 to the utterance, of impulse to explain their character. One 
 must be transported into his feeling in order to enter into 
 what he says. Now what is the feeling? It is the Kingly 
 feeling — the Kingly feeling of David. Saul could never 
 have written such a psalm as this for though as a religionist 
 he was a servant of Jehovah, he was not Jehovah's servant 
 in his Kingly station. But David, lowliest when he was 
 mightiest, made himself a royal servant — an implement used 
 by his God. In giving out then that he himself is something, 
 he means to intimate that his Master is more. 
 
 Verse 1 . By David. A psalm. — "Mercy and judg- 
 ment will I sing; to Thee Jehovah, will I play (or make 
 music)." 
 
 This is a song, it is poetry and not prose. Utterances 
 full of feeling do not constitute poetry. Feeling must have 
 enkindled the imagination, and through the seen must appear 
 the unseen, in the individual the universal; and yet what 
 is there in this psalm more than the prosaic utterances of a 
 state paper. It must be more, for David warns us by sig- 
 nificantly telling us "this is poetry, not prose." Yet did 
 we have nothing more than this it would remain still nothing 
 but prose to us. The pattern upon the great tissue of Scrip- 
 ture is splendid and complicated and no one part of it can 
 be understood without taking in the whole. And when 
 we see dimly shadowed forth in the Prophets an ideal Jeru- 
 salem that corresponds to the real, called definitely by Paul 
 
Eeto. jFreDerick La I&ue Ifting 141 
 
 in Galatians, the Jerusalem that is above, and shown in the 
 Apocalypse as descending to earth, and when we see, that 
 according to scriptures (Rev. 3:7; Luke 1 : 32) the King- 
 dom of God has come when the Kingdom of David is 
 realized, then only does this dry document become a song. 
 Gem it may be, but it flashes only when the prophetic ray 
 falls upon it. As in the blade we see the full corn in the 
 ear, so in the little city and petty Kingdom over which he 
 rules, David saw that glorious, all-embracing Kingdom, into 
 which it would be transformed. Dim sight as through a 
 fog doubtless, still it made divine the commonplace details 
 of the kingly office and turned his words about them into 
 a song. 
 
 But "mercy and judgment" are said to be the subject 
 of the song, and when we look at the psalm there seems 
 nothing at all resembling mercy except in Verse 6, and that 
 hardly answers the character of mercy, but is rather the 
 reward of faithfulness. But the faithful would never have 
 been rewarded, they would have been crushed out were it 
 not for the judgments of the Lord that removed the wicked. 
 Plants in the garden grow by their inherent vigor, but they 
 would have no chance to grow if the weeds were not re- 
 moved. And so the judgments of the Lord upon his enemies 
 are mercies to his friends, and so in this song, judgment and 
 mercy are one. "To Thee O Lord will I play." The 
 grave and solemn terms, "mercy and judgment," so often 
 used to designate the greatest attributes of God, would be 
 enough to show that David was not going to talk merely 
 about himself. But he will have no mistake, and says, 
 "Thou knowest, O Jehovah, that I mean not to praise 
 myself. The axe boasts not itself, against him that heweth 
 therewith. The saw does not magnify itself against him 
 that shaketh it." (Isaiah 10: 15). 
 
 Verse 2. "I will act wisely in a perfect way. When 
 wilt Thou come to me? I will walk in the integrity of my 
 heart within my house." 
 
142 Selected P0almg anD ©onograpfjs 
 
 After this clear declaration of his temper, David does 
 not fear to be misunderstood, even if he does say, "I will do 
 this," and "I will do that," as if he referred only to himself 
 and as if the strength to do is his own. But the first two 
 clauses of the verse, manifest this independent dependence 
 of David. In the first he gathers himself up to carry out in 
 all shrewdness, a pure course of action; in the second he 
 cries out, "Leave me not to myself." David says, "When 
 wilt Thou come unto me," as if God was not present with 
 him. This is remarkable in a poem in which the psalmist 
 makes his own acts the effulgence of God's glory. It marks 
 the consciousness of David that, though he was God's theo- 
 cratic representative and justified in assuming that God acted 
 by him, still he might be left to his own unaided human 
 strength. There is no fanaticism about this piece. Trust in 
 the living God, is the very basis of it. And now in the 
 third clause the Royal Magistrate begins His wise and per- 
 fect course of action, where it ought to begin, at home. 
 Good laws and their energetic administration are excellent, 
 but if the monarch who stands up for God would be really 
 efficient, he must set a good example. His household should 
 be the type of which he would have his kingdom be. There 
 should prevail the same law of justice and right that he 
 imposes on the community. David did not always act up 
 to this high principle. He, on one notable occasion, pros- 
 tituted his high office to his sin, but in the main, he was a 
 pure man and a disinterested king. He had unruly and 
 wicked sons, but although he had a very affectionate heart, 
 it is evident that he did rule them strictly. But we are not 
 concerned so much with the fulfilment of this resolution as 
 with the resolve itself. It is a model for a ruler, and woe to 
 the kings that have ruled for themselves and not for their 
 people; woe to the official in the church or state who uses 
 his position to further himself or his family. Woe to the 
 minister who stands in God's place before his people, who 
 does not in the first place seek to rebuke and purify himself. 
 
Eetn jFreDericfe &a Eue Mm 143 
 
 Verses 3 and 4. "I will not set before my eye a word 
 of Belial ; the doing of apostasies I hate, it shall not cleave to 
 me. A crooked heart shall depart from me; evil I will not 
 know." 
 
 The four clauses of these verses are each susceptible 
 of a double explanation, e. g. First, I will not propose to 
 myself any wicked plan, or I will not tolerate an evil pur- 
 pose in others. Second, I hate to apostatise, I will not be 
 stained with it, or I hate to have others apostatise and will 
 not share in the guilt by overlooking it. Third, I will not 
 be perverse, or I will not put up with perversity. Fourth, 
 I will not sympathize with an evil thing or person, or I 
 will not show favor to an evil thing or person. The most 
 natural and immediate application is doubtless to himself 
 personally, but there is something about the words that sug- 
 gest an equivoque. Indeed, David could hardly have made 
 any resolutions with regard to his personal conduct that did 
 not involve official conduct as well. His rule was of such 
 a personal character that his moral state was reflected at once 
 upon the government and community. He was not only an 
 absolute monarch, but he was forming a nation, and this 
 made his life so potent for good or ill. Ordinary men may 
 seclude their evil or their good, especially their good. But 
 to David no seclusion was possible. If he was going to be 
 a holy man he must do his duty by his family and strive to 
 make that holy likewise, and to an oriental monarch it was 
 impossible to draw the line where his family ended and the 
 community began. So that of necessity these clauses must 
 bear not only a personal, but official meaning, just as of 
 necessity, every impulse of David towards God and right- 
 eousness implied the impressing of that impulse upon the 
 community. This is seen in the extraordinary instance of 
 the fifty-first psalm, where David turns his own repentance 
 into a form of repentance for the community. 
 
 Verse 5. "Slandering in secret his fellow; him I will 
 destroy ; 
 "Lofty of eyes and wide of heart; him I will not bear." 
 
144 Selected psalms anD ^onograpfja 
 
 The equivoque of the third and fourth verses serve as 
 a transition to this in which he speaks alone of his official 
 position. 
 
 In the declaration to punish slander and pride, David 
 selects the two things, that tend most to evil in an oriental 
 absolute monarchy. The king cannot look to everything 
 himself he must trust others. And, since all offices are 
 held from him, the rewards of successful slander are very 
 great and immediate. He who gains the ear of the mon- 
 arch has all rivals at his mercy. Suspicion, chronic suspicion 
 may be said to be the curse of such kingdom, and this it 
 is which enables the meanest and wickedest of men to rise 
 to the highest positions. Again, if slander tends to make 
 the working of an absolute monarchy evil, pride — that is an 
 attitude of pride towards the monarch — strikes at its very 
 existence. The very idea of such a government involves 
 absolute submission to the will of the king. No matter 
 how high spirited, how "wide of heart," a man may per- 
 sonally be; no matter how he may lord it over others, to- 
 wards his Lord he must be lowly. An abyss separates the 
 king from the highest of his nobles, for, great though they 
 may be, they are his creatures. Nothing is dreaded so much 
 or crushed so quickly as a spirit of independence. And it 
 may be said that slander and pride had given David especial 
 trouble. In his youth as annointed heir, apparently he was 
 persecuted by Saul because the jealously of the king had 
 been inflamed by slanderers, and it was the wild pride of 
 the king that prevented that naturally generous man from 
 submitting with a good grace to the preference of God 
 for David. And so in later years, when by the foundation 
 of a metropolitan city and ritual, he began a new develop- 
 ment in the life of the people of God, it was slander and 
 tribe pride that especially stood in his way. As slanderers 
 said before to Saul, "He will hasten to seize what has 
 been given him"; so now they said Judah is made dominant 
 over the other tribes, Jerusalem monopolizes all the religious 
 
1 Iftetn jFtederick La Eue ifting 145 
 
 honor. And now as respects worse movements in the 
 Church of God. These two evils are the very creators of 
 that immobility and violent opposition that so prevent happy 
 reforming changes. That which David promises to do will be 
 done in truth, when the Kingdom of God is come. No 
 slanderer will be there, no food of pride shall thither ascend. 
 
 Verse 6. "My eyes (are) on the faithful of the land 
 to dwell with me (one), 
 "Walking in a perfect way, He shall serve me." 
 
 We have shown that the whole lyric force of this psalm 
 depends upon David's assuming the position of God; in this 
 verse he seems to assume more than a royal state. The ex- 
 pressions in the first sentence, the watchful eye over the land 
 and the reward of faithfulness — dwelling with him — both 
 expression and attitude recall to readers of Scripture, God 
 in His relations to His chosen people. The coincidence be- 
 tween the first clause of the second verse and the second 
 sentence in this is remarkable. It seems to assume that the 
 relation between his servants, and subjects, and himself, is the 
 same with the relation between himself and his God. This 
 may be said to be true merely to the idealizing imagination, 
 but it is true in reality to Faith. David's position was hon- 
 orable and awful because he not only was God's representa- 
 tive, but an inspired ruler. God not only wrote "upon his 
 heart" the forms and measurements of the Temple, not only 
 did the Holy Spirit speak by him in the Psalms, but his 
 ruling was by the Holy Spirit as well. His architecture was 
 Divine Architecture, his poetry was Divine Poetry, his gov- 
 ernment was Divine Government. And it is in this point 
 of view that what might be otherwise considered an ostenta- 
 tious glorification of himself becomes an ascription to God, 
 since it declares what God will do by him. If the ordinance 
 of a heathen ruler could be the ordinance of God (Rom. 
 13: 142) with much more propriety might the chiefs of a 
 nation of priests be called, in their official capacity, "God's," 
 (John 10: 34 and 35. Proverbs 8: 2 and 6. Exodus 
 
146 ^electen psalms anD sponograp&s 
 
 22: 9), and surely in the inspired deliverer, governor, poet 
 and ritualist of Israel this assumption of a divine character 
 as ruler, so far from transgressing the lowliness proper to a 
 creature, is of itself an expression of the most profound hu- 
 mility. As when the Apostle Paul said, "I can do all 
 things," it was no self-assertion, but an acknowledgement of 
 his dependence. With the Psalmist it is even a song of 
 praise. We must not lose sight of the prophetic character 
 of such an utterance as this, it will be only when the perfect 
 governor, the King Emanuel shall reign, that what David 
 resolves to do shall be done. And it is the sight of this 
 time and the consciousness that he says more than meets 
 the ear, that not only makes this a song, but must have 
 glorified the every day acts of David's life and lighted them 
 up with more than an imagined ideal, an ideal which he 
 was sure of seeing realized. And thus every Christian man 
 is privileged to feel. In all that he does he feels that there 
 is a divine acting. What he does will remain forever. In 
 what he effects he sees as through lens a work more glorious. 
 In feeble results he can find traces and beginnings of a per- 
 fect society, a State where the worthy alone are called to 
 power. Wherever and whatever he is, the boundless realm 
 of hope is his assured possession. In this verse we see a 
 watchful governor calling the best to his service. Surely 
 nothing could better characterize a perfect rule. There is 
 the absence of evils, the oppression and speculation of happy 
 officials, the mismanagement of the stupid, there is economy, 
 efficiency, the intelligent execution of large and beneficient 
 plans, no "partial frustration" now, but perfect realization of 
 the idea of the Governor. And since the best serve, every 
 one finds his place; no cutting blocks with razors. The best 
 reward of service is from the service. The able man is 
 found work to task his ability. No need of the fretting en- 
 deavor to appear fit. It will only be encumbent upon men 
 to be fit. The precious talents that now are rendered us, 
 less by stupidity in power, the finest and rarest gifts, will be 
 
Eefcn jfreDerick £a I&ue ifting 147 
 
 called into the service of the community, too coarse now 
 to be served by them. Then there will be the stimulus of 
 sure and just promotion. Thrilling through society will go 
 the promise of the best of all rewards — position where every 
 gift shall tell on men for good. Ambition will not be the 
 perilous dice-play it is now; the bright eyed boy will have 
 something to look forward to, happy time, when woman can 
 at last come forward from privacy, and clothed in the robes 
 and with all the sweet honors of womanhood, take part ac- 
 cording to her gifts in the business of the outer world. But 
 we are looking far ahead. No doubt David's government 
 was in all these respects a great advance upon that which was 
 before him. A wondrous revelation it was of what govern- 
 ment and society might be, but to realize perfectly all this 
 it will need a greater governor than David and a wondrous 
 change of circmstances. After that great Governor, after 
 that wondrous time David reached forth in all his acts, and 
 institutions and in poetic vision sees it and sings it here. We 
 may do it in assured hope that his coming and the great res- 
 titution draws nigh. 
 
 Verse 7. "Not in the inside of my house shall dwell 
 practicing fraud, telling lies; not settled shall he be before 
 My eyes." 
 
 Here, one would think, the psalm properly comes to 
 an end. The judgments that he was to sing has culminated 
 in the great aim of judgment in the uplifting of the right and 
 the ordering of the kingdom. But just here, as we find again 
 and again in the psalms, the cadence is avoided, the psalm 
 ends in the storm and struggle, in which the singer finds him- 
 self at the time he sings. The lyrical unity here, as often is, 
 that of one predominant feeling; the resolve of the King to 
 crush out evil. Not yet has arrived the beautiful time hinted 
 at in the sixth verse, "He must be up to strike down the 
 monsters and even in his song he girds himself up and ad- 
 dresses himself to the work. The terrible power that a 
 wicked favorite wields rushes upon his mind and the resolve 
 
148 Selected p$alm$ ana S@onogtap!)0 
 
 follows that such a one shall not gain his ear. The confi- 
 dent strength of the assertion implies more than that David 
 is going forward in the strength of God, it also intimates that 
 only the Messianic significance will fill out the meaning of 
 these words, which can be true of no government but that 
 of Him who knows what is in man. Although in this verse 
 there is a repetition it is a variation. In the fifth verse slan- 
 derers were to be cut off; here the most dangerous of slander- 
 ers, one who has the monarch's ear is to be cast out, and in 
 the last clause the punishment is reduced to a mere negative, 
 while the position that slanderers often (e. g. Haman) hold 
 is made still stronger, as if a deeper impression of the injury 
 that the slanderer could work fills his mind. It is, as it were, 
 a reaction from the sixth verse. "The good shall serve me; 
 liars shall not, as they often do, dwell in my house; they 
 shall not be maintained and upheld permanently, by me." 
 There is an intimation here in this deliberate choice, that 
 monarchs are not always deceived in their favorite, but know- 
 ing what they are, keep them still, because they are con- 
 venient to them or minister to their pleasure. 
 
 Verse 8. "In the morning will I destroy all the wicked 
 of the land (so as) to cast off from the City of Jehovah, all 
 workers of iniquity." 
 
 The first expression is equivalent to "every morning 
 early, I will begin to destroy." It is the main business of the 
 king to put down evil men not for his own comfort and 
 safety, but to make the city called by God's name, God's 
 city indeed. This motive adds zeal and energy to his 
 action, but would prevent all wanton cruelty. He who 
 goes forward in God's strength, for His sake will go for- 
 ward in love for his fellowmen. The coincidences in lan- 
 guage are striking, act "in a perfect way" (verse two), walk 
 "in a perfect way" (verse three), fixed before my eyes, 
 (verse seven), faithful of the land (verse six), wicked of 
 the lamb (verse eight). These coincidences in expression 
 are remarkable in so short a psalm and are indicative of close 
 
Eetn jfreDerick La Eue ifting 149 
 
 analogies between the phrases in which they are found. He 
 views himself as standing in the same relations to the Lord, 
 as his servants to him. Thus his choice of one walking in 
 a perfect way (verse six), to be his servant, is entirely ana- 
 logous to his (devotion) choice of himself to God's perfect 
 service. His determination to call the faithful to dwell with 
 him (verse six), is entirely analogous to his petition that the 
 Lord will come to him and dwell with him. (verse two). 
 So also the exclusion of the liar from his house (verse seven) 
 is analogous to the exclusion of the liar from his heart (verse 
 two), and the denial of his deliberate favor to the liar (verse 
 seven) is analogous to the refusal to propose for himself or 
 to favor in others evil plans, for he who entertains evil men 
 will soon entertain their plans. The ending of this psalm 
 with a renewed resolve to destroy the wicked is strikingly 
 illustrative of the position of David. His duty consisted in 
 the crushing of evil, whether in the form of Philistines or 
 rebels; he was constructive as well, but this was his hardest 
 and most imperative duty, and the office of the magistrate 
 through all time is mainly to put down wickedness. "He 
 beareth not the sword in vain." If the magistrate would 
 ever be a terror to all evil doers, society would of itself take 
 on the most beneficient forms, the laissez faire policy, would 
 then be the best. Construction seems specially needed in the 
 presence of evil ; were evil away society would construct itself. 
 
 "There's not the smallest orb that thou beholdest 
 
 But in his motion like an angel sings, 
 * * * # 
 
 Such has money, is in immortal souls 
 
 But while this muddy vesture of decay, 
 
 Doth closely hem us in, we cannot bear it." 
 
 For the individual Christian, the main work is to put 
 down sin, that once away, the heart seeks its God, and 
 through seeking its God orders its life. And in his magis- 
 trate's position of citizen, the Christian ought to feel that it 
 is not enough if he himself does right; he must arm himself 
 
150 Selected Psalms ana ^onograpfjs: 
 
 to put down evil. It is at the present time and in this 
 country that we need to learn this. Good men are afraid to 
 fight evil in the shape of evil men or else they take as their 
 sole duty that of private good living. We need to catch 
 some of the spirit of David and resolve to destroy the wicked 
 of the land. There is too often a cowardly surrender or else 
 a selfish shrinking from trouble and thus it is that the work 
 mounts up upon the high places of the land. If we only 
 would take upon our lips the "I will," of David and move 
 on in the strength of God, our resolutions and plans would 
 be songs of praise to God and our lives the manifestation of 
 His glory. 
 
Eetn jFreOerick La iRue ifting 151 
 
 Jgalm 116. 
 
 A person of a princely and representative character (as 
 shown by vv. 14th and 15th) is suddenly roused from se- 
 curity by the faithlessness of those around him, which threat- 
 ens his life, fills him with sorrow and exposes him to the 
 peril of error. 
 
 Overwhelmed, he calls upon God, and is delivered. 
 His heart is filled by an experience of love strangely new; 
 he feels that he can re-enter the security of trust, and de- 
 clares that he will manifest his gratitude to the Lord by 
 continued faith, and by such a public acknowledgment of 
 His mercy as shall show, not only his thankfulness, but his 
 subservience to God in his princely station, and his devo- 
 tion to his worship and people. 
 
 Verse 1 . "I love, because Jehovah hears my voice, my 
 supplications." 
 
 The word "love" stands in the original without an 
 object, thus: — "I love, because the Lord," etc. Of course, 
 the Lord was the object, but attention is intended to be 
 called to the emotion specially. The strict grammatical form,, 
 "I have loved," rather indicates this, for from the rest of 
 the psalm it is manifest that the feeling is present at the 
 time. The manifestation of the feeling would require the 
 present and an object, while the past is logically proper in 
 describing a feeling, for while it is described, it cannot be 
 present to the mind. And well may attention be called to 
 this feeling of love towards a deity. Throughout the Old 
 Testament history till the time of David, we hear little else 
 about the love of God than the command to love him, till 
 we reach the times of David. Doubtless there was love, but 
 awe, reverence and dread were the predominating feelings 
 till the psalms of David struck another note, a note of love. 
 
 These affectionate songs, which the psalmist made for 
 public worship, must have come to the ears of the worship- 
 
152 Selected psalms ano sponogtap&s 
 
 pers like a new revelation of God. And even at the time 
 when this psalm was written, late though it was in all prob- 
 ability in the history of Israel, the feeling of love to God had 
 not the predominance even in the minds of faithful men over 
 the feeling of dread. And heathendom, with all its "fair 
 humanities," did not present one God that the human heart 
 could love, or in its literature one expression of love to its 
 Gods. 
 
 We are now for ages familiar with the idea of love to 
 God, but we must not forget that it is a sublime point that 
 the human affections have reached when they can grasp the 
 Deity. 
 
 Whoever the writer of this psalm was, though he 
 evidently had exercised faith in God, and had been a true 
 servant, — still he is surprised to find himself standing in a 
 nearer and dearer relation to the Almighty, being surprised 
 into love by the mercies he has received. "My heart has 
 been and is now thrilled with love," and why? Here note 
 the strict grammatical form, — "because the Lord will hear." 
 
 Not merely the experience of an isolated mercy fills 
 him with love, but because that mercy has revealed the fact 
 to him that he has a sure hold on God's sympathies. It is 
 the knowledge of the tenderness and mercy of the Lord that 
 calls forth his warm emotion. 
 
 Verse 2. "For He has inclined His ear to me, and in 
 my days I will call (upon Him)." 
 
 The inclining of God's ear denotes that the cry sent 
 up to Him was distant and faint, and indicates the lowliness, 
 and perhaps the sinfulness of the petitioner, and the weak- 
 ness of his faith. He said to himself, "Perhaps God will 
 hear," and cried; now he says, "God will always hear," 
 and as long as I live I will call upon Him." The last clause 
 marks not only his faith, but his love; for it is an expression 
 of adherence to God amidst a world of idolatry. Perhaps 
 this adherence is indicated by the fact that the verb "call," 
 like the verb "love" in the first verse, has no object. Atten- 
 
Ret), jFreOerick La Eue i&ing 153 
 
 tion is confined to the act of calling specially. Just as in 
 the first verse to the act of loving. As if he said, "therefore 
 I will perform the act of calling," etc. This explanation 
 elevates an expression of extreme self-consciousness into an 
 act of loyalty and worship and communion. One cannot 
 help putting the two expressions, "I love," and "therefore I 
 will call," together in another way, which is perhaps the 
 special way intended. The "call" may thus be more than 
 a conscious expression of love by a loyal application to the 
 official King of Israel, — one who has shown himself great 
 and good in the past; but may be an unconscious manifesta- 
 tion of love by confidence in him whom he knows loves him, 
 — a personal dealing with God. 
 
 Verse 3. "The bands of death inclosed me, and the 
 pangs of hell found me; distress and grief I find." 
 
 Whether the Hebrew word translated "Sorrows" be 
 "bands" (Alexander) or "snares" (Maurer), it describes 
 well the helpless position of one not only in danger of death, 
 but perfectly helpless, as a man bound hand and foot, as a 
 snared animal who can neither fight nor fly. So is a man 
 situated upon whom disease has laid an irresistible hand, 
 and who says, "All is over," or whom difficulties over- 
 whelm, whose life is destroyed and all heart for living, or 
 whose sins make him feel their mighty power. The "pains 
 of Hell" are not merely the sorrows that naturally fill the 
 heart of one whose many and close ties to life, death breaks, 
 nor the awe and dread that enter the mind from the con- 
 templation of the change of worlds; the words "got hold 
 upon" (Alexander) "found" indicate grim terrors approach- 
 ing from the world of spirits which, whether in health or 
 disease, manifest themselves in the vicinity of death. 
 
 The last clause sets forth the effect on the mind; the 
 same verb is used. They "found" me, "I find" (Alex- 
 ander), or perhaps better as the Prayer Book, "I shall find." 
 The awful expectation that is the most poignant part of the 
 
154 ©elected psalms ana ^onogtapljs 
 
 pains of Hell fill his soul. He is not only helpless, hopeless, 
 but all alive with terrible anticipations. 
 
 Verse 4. "And on the name of Jehovah I call: Oh! 
 now, Jehovah, deliver my soul." 
 
 Now comes the change. If we keep strictly to the 
 tense, which the Prayer Book does and the others do not, 
 the effect is very lyric and vivid. We are brought into the 
 very scene. "And on the name of Jehovah I will call." If 
 this were the case of a worldly man, he would despair, but 
 the extremity of earth begets power of faith. He resolves 
 to call, not upon the Lord, but upon the name of the Lord 
 — that is, upon the Lord as He has manifested Himself so 
 far to Israel or to himself. This is faith, though not the 
 highest sort of faith. 
 
 It takes courage to ask God to do again what He has 
 done once or what He has covenanted to do. The psalmist, 
 the powers of Earth being against him, remembers the days 
 of old, the wondrous deliverances of his people, his ways as 
 shown in the past, but goes not beyond that bound. Just 
 as we, in our prayers, so often confine our petitions to the 
 known ways of God hitherto, or the specific warrants of 
 Scripture. In the second verse the soul approaches God not 
 in view alone of the Divine actualities of the past, but the 
 Divine possibilities of the future. Then follows the petition 
 — short indeed. 
 
 Verse 5. "Gracious (is) Jehovah and righteous, and 
 our God shows pity." 
 
 Well for a soul in its extremity, if it could feel that 
 it deserved a better fate. But his faith had not only to 
 struggle with the terrors of earth and the grave, but with a 
 guilty feeling. Though he may not have deserved evil at 
 the hands of man, yet it often happens that in the twilight 
 of earth, sins remembered, start out, gleaming like stars from 
 the far forgotten distance. Humbly he calls, tenderly he 
 acknowledges the mercy. Gracious is the Lord, though He 
 allowed me to fall into trouble, for out of the eater came 
 
I&etn ^Frederick £a Eue i&ing 155 
 
 forth meat; righteous was He in His permitting it, for as re- 
 spects him, I deserved it; pitiful all the while, for he held it 
 back, and I was not tempted overmuch. And then again, 
 in my deliverance he was gracious, for I did not merit it; 
 righteous, for I did not deserve destruction at the hand of 
 man; and pitiful, because it showed that it was prompted by 
 the tender heart. 
 
 Verse 6. "A preserver of the simple (is) Jehovah; I 
 was brought low, and to me He brought salvation." 
 
 The simple is one not crafty, plots not, hardly plans, 
 acts, not thinking of consequences, and, as implied, acts from 
 pure motives. He was a guileless ruler. He merely tried 
 to do right. Ordinary rulers do not esteem this sufficient; 
 they must counter-plot, and so it is with private men. But 
 God takes care of those who for His sake take no care of 
 themselves, — and indeed if one is influenced by the highest 
 impulses, it almost necessitates a giving up of all policy. 
 
 May not the peculiar grammar of the last phrase of 
 the verse, "He saved to me," indicate that the salvation was 
 something added to the imperilled believer, and not wrought 
 out through his co-operation? He remains "simple," even 
 in the process of being saved, is led as a child by the hand 
 of the Lord. 
 
 Verse 7. "Return, oh my soul, unto thy rest, for 
 Jehovah hath bestowed upon thee (favor)." 
 
 The natural conclusion of one having passed through 
 such a peril would be, after this I will be watchful, careful, 
 shrewd; but he goes back to his old security. Before, it 
 was the security of inexperience, now it will be the security 
 of trust. 
 
 Many a ruler, gentle and trustful at first, has been made 
 a bloody tyrant by once experiencing the faithless character 
 of the mob. Many a private man, having undergone such 
 great peril, has, as it were, the sword ever after hanging over 
 his head. This princely man is not to have his peace poi- 
 soned by suspicion, his attention strained to detect and stop 
 
156 Selected psalms anD 9§onogtapJ)0 
 
 the beginnings of evils. Through the breaking up of his 
 earthly security, he has attained unto spiritual security that 
 cannot be disturbed. He is going to serve God and his 
 fellow men, and care nothing as to the resisting of evil. 
 Would that the church would enter into her rest, merely 
 living a full life and leaving the rest to God. 
 
 In the latter clause we have another verb without an 
 object; — "dealt bountifully with thee." Hengstenberg has 
 "gifted thee." Then again the attention is called to the 
 action and the actor. It is not so much what the Lord has 
 given, as that He has really given ; has really interposed, added 
 something to second causes, and revealed His hand in the 
 psalmist's life. That, without considering exactly what He 
 has done, is a stable foundation for peace. It is when God 
 appears distant, inactive, or unwilling to act that we have 
 reason to be disturbed. 
 
 Verse 8. "For Thou hast delivered my soul from 
 death, my eye from weeping, my feet from falling." 
 
 Here, however, is a statement of what God has done — 
 saved him from death, sorrow and error. It is a short des- 
 cription of the trouble. It was a deadly danger, it involved 
 the peril of that which he, as a princely man, loved most, 
 the honor of God and His cause in Israel, and was a situa- 
 tion in which he might easily make a mis-step. God has 
 guided him through it all, and, — 
 
 Verse 9. "I will walk before Jehovah in the land of 
 life (or of the living)." 
 
 His conclusion is that he will "walk," that is, act, "be- 
 fore Jehovah," — that is, in the presence of, and instinct with 
 His power and favor, reflect His authority and glory among 
 men. 
 
 Verse 10. "I believe, for (thus) I speak; I was great- 
 ly afflicted." 
 
 Here is another verb without an object — another ex- 
 pression of self-consciousness unusual in Lyric poetry. What 
 is its purpose in the psalm? The first clause is quoted in the 
 
Eetn jFre&erick La I&ue i&ing 157 
 
 4th Chapter of 2nd Cor., verse 1 3th, in such a way as 
 gives us the key to this extraordinary introversion. The 
 Apostle is showing that he and his brethren, while in them- 
 selves worthless, have granted to them precious gifts, just 
 as a common vessel of earthenware can hold a quantity of 
 gold. God's light shines from them as a jet of light through 
 a porcelain shade. They are nothing, and yet they must 
 magnify themselves because of that which they transmit to 
 the church. Also they are troubled, persecuted, dying, that 
 they may minister the life of Jesus to others, and the means 
 by which this takes place is their faith, which enables them 
 to receive and convey. 
 
 Now in this psalm we have a man who puts himself 
 forward as the representative of the people, calls attention 
 to the love that is in his heart, to his purpose and conscious- 
 ness of power to worship, — and strangest of all, in the 9th 
 verse expresses his confidence that he is to be the recipient 
 of God's power and favor. 
 
 Now these words, "Believe, for I speak" (thus), con- 
 stitute a pivotal declaration of humility. This confident 
 statement of mine, he says, is an exhibition, not of self-confi- 
 dence or a feeling of self-desert or confidence in earth, but 
 of trust in God. The psalmist assumes a position of splen- 
 dour at the end of the psalm, but yet is lowly throughout, 
 like the Apostle. This psalm exhibits what Madam Guyon 
 calls "the all of God in the nothing of the creature." Over- 
 whelmed with earthly trouble (v. 3) he is nothing; in agon- 
 izing application to God (v. 4) he is nothing; simple and 
 delivered (v. 6) he is nothing; resting on God (v. 7) noth- 
 ing; delivered (v. 8) nothing; confident (v. 9) nothing, 
 for he believes, he trusts, that is the reason why he speaks 
 so. It is simply belief, for when he looked to earth, he was 
 "greatly afflicted." 
 
 Verse. 11. "I said in my terror, all mankind (are) false." 
 
 He could draw no confidence from earth. How it 
 is possible Alexander can make these words a manifesta- 
 
158 Selected psalms anD aponograpfjis 
 
 tion of faith passes my comprehension. The last clause 
 evidently is a hint at the character of the trial he had under- 
 gone. It was something of the character of a treacherous 
 revolt against the authority of the psalmist. This is thrown 
 in as a confession of his weakness and to heighten the ascrip- 
 tion of his confidence to faith. 
 
 When he says, "I said," the feeling of dread is never- 
 theless present. The experience shadows him again for the 
 time. 
 
 Verse 12. "How shall I requite to Jehovah all His 
 bestowments upon me." 
 
 But his gratitude for his deliverance gives rise to a 
 desire to make some suitable return to the author of his salva- 
 tion. And out of this lovely and noble emotion comes some- 
 times one of the subtlest temptations. 
 
 A man may well suspect and guard against his grate- 
 ful feelings, if they lead to any act that shall seem to lessen 
 the obligation. Oftentimes the desire to make a grateful 
 return to God is secretly a desire to free oneself from the 
 burden of obligation to Him, and the feeling steals in together 
 with our works of service that we have of ourselves some* 
 thing that is of worth to God. But there is no such feeling 
 here; as soon as he seeks the means of a worthy return to 
 God he finds that the only way for him is to take the cup 
 of salvation that God offers to him, — 
 
 Verse 1 3. "The cup of salvation will I take up, and 
 on the name of Jehovah will call." 
 
 To accept the blessed lot — deliverance and rest and 
 power and honor — which has fallen to him, and then, just 
 as he called on the name of the Lord out of adversity and 
 sorrow, so to call upon the name of the Lord out of his 
 prosperity and joy, for further blessing. This is lowly in- 
 deed, when to return is but to receive; it is in harmony with 
 the lowliness of the whole psalm — "the all of God in the 
 nothing of the creature." And how true this is of all 
 our acts of grateful service to God. He who gives inspires 
 
I&eto, jFreOerick La I&ue ifting 159 
 
 our thanks, He whom we adore and praise inspires our adora- 
 tion and praise; and every one of all our acts of service is 
 but an appropriation of the divine strength that suffices to do 
 that service, and a new reason for gratitude. 
 
 Petition is often described as honoring God; the cry 
 "Hosannah to our Saviour," the petition to save, was the 
 greatest honor He ever received in His earthly life. 
 
 The true receiving implies a sense of dependence, a 
 child-like relation which we human beings know is most 
 grateful to us in those whom we love and do for, and so we 
 may well think it is to be grateful to Him in whom all human 
 affections attain their perfection, and the mere relation of 
 giving and receiving implies a communion that God permits 
 us to say is precious to Him. 
 
 The occupation to the full of our blessed lot implies the 
 energetic exercise of all our blessed lot — the translating of 
 all God's graces given into acts, for we never love fully till 
 we act out our love; and so with all other gifts; and so we 
 become by the full reception beneficient communicators of 
 God's grace. 
 
 Verse 1 4. "My vows to Jehovah will I pay — in the 
 presence of all His people." 
 
 But though we can express our gratitude only by re- 
 ceiving God's gifts and seeking more, still in the manner of 
 our reception and application we may further God's designs 
 and help to carry out His wishes. We can publicly acknow- 
 ledge God's goodness, and thus spread His fame, and make 
 Him thus a blessing to others. This reception shall be a re- 
 ception in the sight of all. The "vows" are the vows of 
 requital. This requital shall be made so that all shall know 
 to whom he owes everything. And so, through him, God's 
 way shall be know upon earth. 
 
 There is in the words, "in the presence," etc., plain 
 indication of the princely and representative character of the 
 psalmist. The recognition of God's mercy was to be splen- 
 did and stately, and yet to destroy any appearance of self- 
 
160 ©electeD psalms anU egonograp&g 
 
 importance. This that he was to do for a benefactor is 
 intended as a privilege. 
 
 Verse 15. "Precious in the eyes of Jehovah (is) the 
 death of His gracious ones (or saints)." 
 
 Here would seem to be an end; public thanksgiving 
 crowns the reception of God's favors, and requites as far 
 as creature can requite, the Creator's munificence; but the 
 cadence of this lofty-lowly strain is not yet reached. The 
 recollection of his past danger comes sobbing in again, but 
 so softened that it takes the form of a comforting assurance 
 derived from the experience. The recalling of the past peril 
 only heightens the sense of security. Now know I that it 
 is a great matter to God when one of his servants dies. When 
 the snares of death took him and he was in his agony. God 
 seemed far away. The world and all its powers seemed 
 near and mighty. Did God care? Now he knows that 
 God was all the time watching, guarding, and had salva- 
 tion ready to reveal it at the proper time. This is true for 
 all time. 
 
 Verse 1 6. "Ah, now Jehovah — for I (am) Thy 
 servant, the son of Thy handmaid; Thou hast loosed my 
 bonds." 
 
 But he cannot cling to this comfort without clinging 
 directly upon God and pleading that he may take this 
 comfort. 
 
 Ah, now, Lord, surely I may say this, for I am a 
 member of Thy family, a slave born in Thy house and 
 therefore having the strongest claim upon Thee. This very 
 deliverance proves that I may make this claim. 
 
 The Hebrew word translated "bonds" is the same one 
 used in describing the hold of the foreign kings upon the cap- 
 tive people of Israel ; it is a different word from that translated 
 "bonds," or snares, in the third verse. Thus, though the 
 reference is in the first instance to his recent trouble, the poet 
 may by a sudden turn intend to give the psalm a national 
 import. And certainly, although the details of the psalm 
 
Eetn jfreDetick JLa Hue I&ing 161 
 
 forbid the hypothesis of Hengstenberg that in it the church 
 is the speaker, still the experiences she had been through at 
 Babylon were such that it suited her case, for she was nigh 
 to destruction and wondrously delivered. Perhaps the enig- 
 matic juxtaposition of his claim to be a bond servant, and the 
 assertion that his bonds are loosed is meant to indicate that 
 something was intended more than met the ear. I am Thy 
 servant, he would say, but no longer the servant of men. 
 How David-like is this. In the midst of princes who were 
 ruling as earthly gods, he proclaims his subordination and 
 servantship to a higher ruler. 
 
 Verse 1 7. "To Thee will I sacrifice a sacrifice of 
 thanks, and on the name of Jehovah will I call." 
 
 His devotion to that higher ruler is shown in his giving 
 of thanks. It is to be in the use of the worship that he has 
 ordained, and by it he proclaims his adherence to that wor- 
 ship from which so many princes had fallen away. That 
 worship which now, in the feeble renewal of the nation after 
 the Captivity, was so little and despised amid the mighty and 
 splendid systems of idolatry around. He called on the 
 name of the Lord at first (verse 4th) because his faith was 
 weak and he could not go beyond God's previous manifesta- 
 tion of Himself, and now as his application to God is for the 
 purpose of requital and giving of thanks, respect must be 
 had to his recent manifestation of himself as a deliverer as 
 far as it is a public event. For it may be said also that to 
 call on the name of the Lord is more proper for public wor- 
 ship, i. e. upon God as He is known to all the congregation 
 rather than as He is known to one, or conceived by one 
 through the bodying forth of creative faith. Just as familiar 
 pet names of friends are improper in the presence of strangers, 
 so too great familiarity with God is improper in public. "The 
 secrets of Divine Love are to be kept," says Madam Guyon. 
 A minister in conducting the public worship of the congrega- 
 tion should not refer in his thanksgiving (e. g.) — to his own 
 private experiences of God's goodness, but to the public ex- 
 
162 Selected psalms anD aionograpj)$ 
 
 periences of the beneficence of God, well known to the 
 assembly, as a common experience of God's character and 
 works. 
 
 Verse 18. "My vows to Jehovah will I pay in the 
 presence (I entreat) of all His people." 
 
 This verse, though identical with the 1 4th, is uttered 
 with a somewhat different sentiment. There it is for the 
 purpose of thanksgiving and requital that he desires the public 
 performance of his vows; here it is the expression of a home- 
 like confidence that grows to its climax at the end of the 
 psalm. He is freed from his fears, he feels the everlasting 
 arms around him (verse 1 5th) ; he is a member, however 
 humble, of God's immediate family and can plead a righteous 
 claim on that account (God's deliverance but acknowledges 
 that claim) ; and now the gates of the home of homes — the 
 Sanctuary — unclose (verses 17 and 18), the precious privi- 
 leges of a worshipping believer are to be his, and yet it is all 
 in faith, not self-confidence, for as he crosses the threshold 
 he says, "I entreat," till at last the Lowly One. 
 
 "Rescued from death by force, though pale and faint," 
 finds himself — 
 
 Verse 1 9. "In the courts of the house of Jehovah, in 
 the midst of thee, Jerusalem. Hallelujah." 
 
 Standing royally in the "courts of the house of Je- 
 hovah," whose very walls are promises; and as the central 
 figure in the great metropolis of God, whose are the sure 
 covenants — his very privileges and blessings confirming and 
 perpetuating themselves, and surrounded by which, his loftiest 
 and at once lowliest utterance bursts forth, — "Praise ye the 
 Lord." 
 
Eetn jFreDeticfe La Eue mm 163 
 
 $galm 120. 
 
 The Psalmist delivered from trouble repeats his petition 
 to the Lord. 
 
 This psalm is a lyrical narration, in which the psalmist 
 repeats his past utterances with the facts that occasioned 
 them. This form is often used in the Psalter, and gives often 
 a highly dramatic effect to the composition. This is the first 
 of the songs of ascents and the title is part of the form. This 
 psalm may refer to the Church of God, but if so, then the 
 form under which the Church of God appears, is that of a 
 pilgrim approaching Jerusalem — the final goal and resting 
 place, of all his wanderings. He has come up out of great 
 tribulation and as he passes along, at the halting by night or 
 at the start in the morning, in the weariness of the way or 
 even in sight of the Holy City itself, the recollection of the 
 dreadful past is yet vivid in his soul, shadowing it, and yet 
 making deeper its sense of deliverance. The ground swell 
 of terror yet heaves. The cause of the weeping is gone and 
 yet, there is the sob yet that tells of the past agony. It is the 
 picture of a man who with great earthly loss, without the 
 right hand and without the right eye, enters the Kingdom of 
 Heaven. 
 
 Verse 1 . "A song of ascents. To Jehovah, in my 
 distress, I carled, and He answered me." 
 
 And now the pilgrim speaks. He tells us that he 
 has been in distress, has called on God, and has been an- 
 swered — here he is, his feet on the way near the Blessed 
 Place. Then he repeats his "call" through which we learn 
 the character of his distress. Examining the "call" we have 
 the past succession of feelings on the part of the psalmist. 
 
 First, Agonizing prayer for deliverance, (verse 2). 
 Second, Faith strengthened enough to denounce, with rage, 
 punishment upon his calumniators (verses 3 and 4). Third, 
 
164 Selected psalms ana ^onograp&s 
 
 then utter weariness, a weariness that is, as all our weariness 
 may be, a sagging down upon the Lord in faith (verses 5, 6 
 and 7). 
 
 Verse 2. "Oh, Jehovah, free my soul from lips of 
 falsehood, from tongue of fraud." 
 
 This psalm has doubtless an universal application. It 
 suits the individual Christian; it fits his great Master, and 
 the Churches of riie Old and the New Covenant; but the 
 occasion of its composition was, as commentators think, prob- 
 ably the trying position of the restored Jews under "the 
 spiteful misrepresentation, by which the Samaritans retarded 
 the rebuilding of the temple as recorded in the fourth chap- 
 ter of Ezra," Alexander says. Misrepresentation is exceed- 
 ingly powerful at the time of the beginning of movements or 
 the founding of institutions. Old established things are let 
 alone, but here was a change. The Jews had been captive 
 for more than two whole generations, during this period the 
 Holy City had been desolate and the Temple in ruins. The 
 Restoration, not yet an accomplished fact, was, as it were, 
 on trial before the world. Now was slander's opportunity, 
 and well did enemies know how to take advantage of it. In 
 this day we have the same history enacted again. The 
 Press, the great disseminator of Truth, is used as the dis- 
 seminator also of untruth. And again the enemies of the 
 Light say, "by our lips, we shall prevail." The most effect- 
 ive way in which good men and good measures are slan- 
 dered, is to take hold of real sins and exaggerate them and 
 evil tendencies that are inseparable from every good move- 
 ment and make out that they are its essence. Calumny, es- 
 pecially in this free land, retards progress more than any- 
 thing else. Here again it is seen as of old that old doctrines 
 and old institutions are let alone, and the cloud of calumny 
 gathers around the head of him who dares take a step in 
 advance. And yet it is only by constant steps in advance of 
 the old that the old is preserved; indeed it is by the trans- 
 formation of the old, that the old remains. 
 
Ifteto* jFreDerick La Eue ifting 165 
 
 Verse 3. "What will He give to thee, and what will 
 He add to thee, thou tongue of fraud." 
 
 Literally, what will He give to thee, and what will He 
 add to thee. Alexander thinks that there is here, a reference 
 to the form of imprecation, "God do so to me and so add." 
 If this is the case there seems to be an intimation that they 
 have made themselves amenable to something like the guilti- 
 ness of a broken oath. They have taken God's name in 
 vain, that is they have professed to do in God's name deeds 
 of malice and cruelty. In Isaiah 36: 7 and 10, and Jere- 
 miah 50:7 and 1 1 , we see the spirit of the enemies of 
 Israel. They hated her because they hated God and yet 
 they professed to be God's servants in executing punishment 
 upon her. The Lord says to them that when He was angry 
 with Israel, they tried to aggravate his anger and increase 
 the severity of the punishment. They say profanely by their 
 act as others say profanely in words, "By God I will do 
 it," and that strength of God which they profess to take hold 
 of to enable them to do his will upon the Jews, takes hold of 
 them for their destruction. The Lord does so to them and 
 more also. This rhetorical interrogative may then be inter- 
 preted thus, "O! what dreadful things may be imprecated 
 upon thee even." 
 
 Verse 4. "Arrows of a warrior sharpened, (together) 
 with coals of juniper." 
 
 The tongue "of fraud" partially personified in verse 2 
 is now addressed and this enables the writer to introduce 
 (verse 4) a metaphorical penalty in the form of what was 
 likely to be the punishment of calumniators in those times — 
 piercing the tongue with an arrow and burning it out by 
 the roots. That there is any direct reference to war in the 
 words "sharp arrows," is unlikely when we consider how 
 rude an interruption, that would be, to the figure, the tongue 
 being directly addressed, to conceive of mighty men ranged 
 in order of battle against it, would be ridiculous, as to form. 
 And it may here be said that sacred poetry conforms to 
 
166 Selected psalms anD Qionograpljs 
 
 the strict laws of taste far more, than most persons are aware. 
 The artistic excellence of the poetry of the Bible has yet to 
 be done justice to. When we come to the second branch 
 of the description, "coals," the inapplicability of the de- 
 scription to war is still more manifest. War against the 
 tongue with coals is inconceivable, and as to war in general, 
 it is doubtful whether fire was, as early as this, used as an 
 instrument of attack. It could hardly be called a happy 
 description of a flaming arrow either. An arrow bearing 
 coals being ineffective in reality is ineffective poetically con- 
 sidered. Where also would be the use of the sharpness. 
 Besides, as is plain from the context, these calumniating ene- 
 mies of Israel are described as nomandic tribes, who do not 
 dwell in cities, and for whom fiery arrows would have few 
 terrors. If we take the words as describing a punishment 
 dealt out to the tongue, it is so condign and congruous to 
 the offence that one can hardly resist the impression that such 
 a punishment was really in use, but it would be enough if it 
 was merely invented by the Psalmist. There is something 
 artless at once and powerful in the terms which convey this 
 description. The tongue is not merely to be pierced and 
 burned, but by a terribly destructive arrow and by the in- 
 tensest fire, coal of broom, the portable and strong fuel of 
 the Bedaweens. Of course, logically, all arrows and every 
 kind of fire would be the same to the culprit, but these ex- 
 pressions appeal to the imagination and surround the punish- 
 ment with terrors, that would be felt by simple minds and 
 even by minds that are not simple. For though we would 
 not feel as a child would, the terrors of the sword of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar over other swords, yet the sevenfold heat and 
 the vast size of Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace would have 
 terrors for us over other furnaces. There is a rhetoric of 
 danger and death and he who would not dread Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's furnace more because of its sevenfold heat and 
 size might shudder at falling into the sun. There is something 
 then in this artless form that appeals universally to the imag- 
 
Eetn jfreoerick La i&ue Htfng 167 
 
 ination of men. We may expect that the rhetoric of this 
 psalm will be imitated at the last day. A familiar death 
 has lost some of its terrors, but at the end of all things, the 
 power of God will be exerted, not only to bring down the 
 substance of punishment upon the sinner, but also to enhance 
 the terror and to display the wrath in the most impressive 
 way. 
 
 Verse 5. "Alas for me, that I sojourn (with) Me- 
 shech (and) dwell near the tents of Kedar." 
 
 Meshech — barbarous nations on the North, Kedar — 
 barbarous nations on the South, between which Israel was 
 placed. The mention of arrows and coals makes an easy 
 transition to the barbarians among whom the bow was the 
 great weapon and especially brings up the nomadic tribes of 
 the South, who used coals of broom. Edom was perhaps 
 the most violent enemy that Israel had. They had doubt- 
 less a great deal to do in bringing down the wrath of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar upon the Jews, playing the part of spies and 
 triumphing over them at the dire event (Ps. 137:7) (Oba- 
 diah 12: 13, 14). It is not necessary to suppose that any 
 special reference was made to the northern barbarians. Alex- 
 ander says, "As these races, dwelling far off, in the north 
 and south, were never in immediate or continued contact 
 with the Israelites. These races are probably named as 
 types and representatives of warlike barbarism. Just as the 
 names — Goths, Vandals, Huns, Turks, Tartars, Cossacks 
 have at different times been used preverbially in English to 
 describe those supposed to exhibit the same character, how- 
 ever unconnected or remote in genealogy and local habita- 
 tion." These names may, however, be more than abstrac- 
 tions. The northern tribes may have troubled the Jews as 
 well as the southern. Invassion, certainly, came for the most 
 part, from the north and we may well suppose that the As- 
 syrian hordes were preceded and assisted by the native tribes. 
 It is remarkable that in the prophecy of Ezekiel (38:2) 
 the northern tribes are set forth as, in the future, the great 
 
168 ^electeD psalms and ^onograpijg 
 
 persecutors of a restored Israel, just as the southern tribes are 
 in the history, as the past persecutors of God's people. So 
 that these two words, "Kedar" and "Meshech," may sha- 
 dow forth the whole past and future martyr history of the 
 people of God. 
 
 Verse 6. "My soul has dwelt too long for her with 
 (one) hating peace." 
 
 The words "for her" make a further and stronger ex- 
 pression of weariness begun in the word "also" in the 5th 
 verse. This is made still stronger by the word of self-con- 
 sciousness, "my soul." It indicates that hate, terror or any 
 other feeling that would naturally be aroused towards the 
 author of suffering, is, by suffering, extinguished, and the 
 mind occupied with that which suffers — "my soul," "for 
 her" as if he said, I can stand it no longer. There is in this, 
 utter giving up, an indication, that hope of release is present. 
 In ordinary trials the man justifies God and says, "There is 
 a needs be for this." He sees how it is to make him better 
 wiser or stronger. He also trusts farther than he sees. He 
 feels also strongly to wrestle and his consciousness of strength 
 is the basis of the feeling that he is getting or will in the 
 end get good from his trouble. But there are times when 
 all this is changed. The man feels no strength to resist, no 
 healthful recuperative power, he is concious that his trials are 
 not developing him, but preventing development, degrading 
 and not elevating him. A persuasion steals into his mind 
 that the time has come for a change; and it probably has 
 come. There is a temptation that is "overmuch" and God 
 will not suffer that man's extremity is God's opportunity. By 
 faith, he knows that he does not have his home with Meshech 
 but only does "sojourn" (verse 5) there. So he lets go in 
 order to fall on God. He sags down in utter weariness 
 upon the Almighty. 
 
 Verse 7. "I am peace and when I speak, they (go) 
 to war." 
 
I&eto* jFreDerick La ftue Htfng 169 
 
 "I am peace," not I am for peace. They make every 
 word an occasion for strife. These words evidently show 
 that the national occasion does not exhaust the significance 
 of the psalm. Indeed the psalm would little profit the 
 church of God if it might not be used for the cheer of 
 any Christian, who is in the midst of slanderous enemies. He 
 may learn to call on the Lord, to expect from God's Jus- 
 tice the terrible overthrow of his enemies, and if the trial 
 is too hard for him may draw comfort from the extremity 
 of the trouble, and be brought nearer to the Lord by his 
 very succumbing to his anguish and weakness. 
 
170 Selected lp0aims ana a§onograp&0 
 
 $saim 119. 
 
 AUTHORSHIP. 
 
 The author of this psalm is evidently a young man (w. 9, 
 99, 100), in the midst of peril from enemies (vv. 61, 84, 
 95,109,110, 121,134,150, 154, 157), and of prince- 
 ly dignity. This last is shown, first, by the character of his 
 enemies. He is exposed to the machinations of a number 
 of princes; they are called by that name in w. 23 and 161, 
 and appear under the character of "proud" men in w. 51, 
 69, 70, 78, 85, 122. The troubles which these enemies 
 bring upon him are not those that great men bring upon 
 their inferiors but such as equals inflict upon equals. The 
 princes "sit" and "talk" against him, 123; in 161 they 
 are said to "persecute" him; in both which expressions there 
 is some indication of power as against his enemies on the part 
 of the sufferer. So also the "proud" are said (v. 5 1 ) to 
 deride (w. 69 and 78), to traduce and (v. 85) lay traps 
 for him. These expressions are not suited to a little one of 
 earth in the hands of powerful oppressors but rather applic- 
 able to the case of one against whom his enemies have to 
 set their wits and exert their force as against a formidable foe. 
 The dignity of the sufferer's person is also implied in the 
 terms (v. 87) describing the evils wrought upon him by 
 his enemies. The expressions are such as would be proper 
 in the case of the attempted destruction of a nation and find 
 their justification only in the fact that the oppressed one is 
 in some sense the representative of a nation — the Holy 
 Nation. There is another consideration from which the 
 princely dignity of the psalmist appears — he is the subject 
 of a special promise (vv. 25, 41, 49, 50, 81, 82); and 
 this appears not only where a promise is undeniably and 
 specifically mentioned but in all those places where the 
 psalmist speaks of himself as looking to the Judgments 
 
Eetn jFreOerick La Hue mm 17X 
 
 of God for the realization of his desires. "Judgments" 
 is a mighty word, and implies something great in the char- 
 acter of the punishment and the deliverance; and when the 
 psalmist says "for in Thy Judgments I hope" (v. 43), it is 
 evidently the expectation of one who regards himself as 
 one of more than ordinary importance. These delivering 
 "mercies and salvation according to Thy word" (v. 41) 
 form the burden of a large part of the psalm and in v. 46. 
 
 Second, he engages that, if God will fulfil His promise, 
 he will not be ashamed to bear testimony to Him "before 
 kings." There are three ways in which he might bear tes- 
 timony before kings, as a martyr, as an ambassador, and as 
 a king before his fellow kings. In the case of either of the 
 first two the declaration could only reach the lame and im- 
 potent conclusion "if I ever should be a martyr or an am- 
 bassador I will then bear witness to The before kings"; this 
 is not to be thought of and there remains therefore this as the 
 declaration of the verse since the granting of his desires would 
 make him a king, he will then before his heathen fellow 
 kings, acknowledge the Lord, his Heavenly King. The im- 
 pression of his princely character is strenghtened further by: 
 third, verses 74 and 79 where "the fearers of Jehovah," 
 who may be understood to mean the theocratic party in 
 Israel, are represented as ready to rejoice at the fulfilment of 
 the promise to himself and are by him, (verse 79) expected 
 to return to his leadership from which they appear to have 
 fallen away through discouragement, perhaps induced by 
 God's trying dealings towards him. 
 
 Fourth, it is strikingly characteristic of an expectant 
 ruler — a crown prince — to take great interest in public af- 
 fairs, and as a general rule to be very observant of the faults 
 and follies of public administration. This critical attitude 
 often impels to great zeal for reform and right during the 
 time of expectancy if no longer. It has been often remarked 
 that the Prince of Wales in England is generally in the op- 
 position. Such a public spirit and sense of responsibility is 
 
172 Selected Psalms and ^onogtapfis 
 
 to be seen in the psalmist's zeal for the Law and his ex- 
 citement against law breakers (verses 53, 126, 136, 139, 
 158.) 
 
 This princely person is unsettled — a waiter and so 
 forever (verses 54 and 123), is despised and spoken against 
 (verses 22, 42, 51, 141), constantly tempted (verses, 
 29,36,37,110,115), is constantly apprehending dis- 
 grace (verse 39), is lonely and needs counsel (verses 19 
 and 24) and (verse 66), craves specifically wisdom. There 
 is one young prince in whom all these characteristic traits 
 agree. Solomon, son of King David, ascended the throne 
 in his early youth, but there was an earlier youth of which 
 we read nothing in the Scripture, but whose character we 
 can well divine from its supreme and final moment of trial in 
 the revolt of Adonijah. Those early years must have been 
 crowded with many anxieties and perils and temptations to 
 the young prince, wise beyond his years and born to an in- 
 heritance, which must have made him the object of jealous 
 hatred on the part of his brothers. At his birth he was by 
 God given the name of Iedidiah, or "beloved of God." He 
 was by a communication of God to David especially ap- 
 pointed his successor and given the charge of building the 
 temple. This, of course, would be known to all, and we 
 can easily imagine the feelings of the excluded brothers. We 
 can see from what is told in the history that they had no 
 intention of tamely submitting to the exclusion; and from 
 what we know of Absalom, Adonijah and Amnon it is plain 
 that there was no lack of ability or audacity on the part of 
 David's other sons. There would not be wanting pruden- 
 tial reasons, which indicated one older than Solomon as the 
 proper person for the succession in such troublous times. 
 The intrigues that are so rife in Oriental courts would be 
 intensified in this case by the very promise that secured the 
 throne of Solomon. It would be the case of Joseph and his 
 brethern over again, save that here was no vague and shad- 
 owy pre-eminence promised, but a glorious throne. We 
 
Eetn JFreDerick La Eue fting 173 
 
 see how on the occasion of Adonijah's attempt, that all the 
 King's sons made common cause against Solomon, and we 
 have every reason to think that, however jealous they may 
 have been among themselves, Solomon would be the common 
 enemy. There was, doubtless, direct peril of his life, greater 
 peril from false accusations, greater still from the temptations 
 that had for their object the seizure of the power that was 
 falling from the hands of the aged monarch. Solomon, early 
 matured and emphatically a man of affairs, must have been 
 at times miserably chafed and impatient, while watching 
 these plots and hard must it have been to keep his hands away 
 and persevere in waiting and trust. Whether Solomon wrote 
 this psalm or not, it seems to record just such experiences as 
 those of Solomon, and, if read as his, will be full of lyric 
 power. The style of the psalm is in marked contrast to those 
 of David, the tone is not warm and glowing; there is no 
 expression of love for God or his people, no enthusiasm, at 
 most quiet, contemplative gratitude. The psalmist's view 
 seems bounded by his own affairs, his own troubles and 
 joys. The style is aphoristic, and the constantly expressed 
 desire for the knowledge of God's precepts indicates a subtle 
 metaphysical and subjective habit of mind. It needs hardly 
 be said that all this is peculiarly suited to Solomon. It is to 
 be noted that though the psalm may record the experiences 
 of his youth, it need not have been written in his youth, or 
 at least may not have been finished then. Or it may have 
 been written by another, but as if by Solomon in his youth. 
 
174 Selected psalms ant> s@onograpf)0 
 
 $*alm 119. 
 
 ALEPH. 
 
 Verse I . "Happy the perfect of way, those walk- 
 ing in the law of Jehovah." 
 
 "The way" is the way of the "Law" — the most gen- 
 eral expression for the whole Mosaic Institutions. Perfection 
 in those in its fullest extent would include all moral per- 
 fection; but here the meaning is pre-eminently and especially 
 perfection in the observance of the Mosaic cult — all those 
 rites and ordinances which marked a true Jew. 
 
 Verse 2. "Happy the keepers of His testimonies 
 (who) with a whole heart seek Him." 
 
 The word "testimonies" refers especially to the Moral 
 Law — the ten commandments and all the law that grows 
 out of them. Here the blessing is narrowed. A person 
 may be a strict Jew, and may even keep the ten command- 
 ments in their narrow logically interpreted sense, but it is 
 quite another thing to be earnestly seeking God to know 
 what He commands or prohibits. Great fear is implied in 
 this. But yet after all something is still to be desired. Ba- 
 laam had great fear of God, and earnestly sought Him to 
 know His will; but for all that he had an evil will of his 
 own; and in order to make him obey it was necessary that 
 God should speak very plainly and exactly to him. Ba- 
 laam's conscience, or love to God or man, was not to be 
 appealed to, for there was in him little of the sort. So, like 
 Balaam, a man may be willing to do all that God commands 
 with the utmost exactitude when those commands are exactly 
 expressed — when chapter and verse can be found for it; 
 or when it can be logically inferred from any distinct com- 
 mand, while at the same time he loaths it. The Pharisees, 
 who logically developed the law to the minutest extent, tithing 
 
Eefch jFreDerick JLa IRue I&ing t75 
 
 mint, anise and cummin, neglected the weightier matters of 
 the law. The legal spirit is not necessarily a holy spirit, the 
 exactness with which it obeys is the measure of the exactness 
 with which it narrows the scope of the law. Therefore it 
 is to complete the picture of the Blessed One that the Psalm- 
 ist goes on to say. 
 
 Verse 3. "(Who) also do not practice wrong, (but) 
 in His ways walk." 
 
 "They also do no iniquity." They are not only per- 
 fect in the practice of the ordinances, not only do they do 
 what God has distinctly commanded in order to holiness, but 
 they interpret the law with the heart. They do not rest 
 in the skeleton of duty, which the law lays down, but fill 
 it out, not according to the law of logic, but the law of 
 obedient love. They are therefore no whited sepulchres — 
 they do no iniquity. They pattern themselves not merely 
 upon God's institutions, or precepts, but upon His "ways" — 
 they try to act as He does. This last is not merely some- 
 thing additional, but is the very means by which they avoid 
 doing evil. The law as God's example lifts itself above the 
 narrowness of precept and institution and adjusts itself to 
 all the life of a living man. 
 
 Verse 4. "Thou hast commanded Thy precepts to be 
 kept strictly." 
 
 This calls attention to the vast import and scope of 
 the precepts of God. They may be in form, narrow, but 
 they must be kept broadly, not according to the letter, but 
 largely according to that spirit that seeks for His precepts 
 and prizes His commands, and esteems itself richer and 
 freer, the richer and more searching it makes the meaning of 
 the law. 
 
 Verse 5. "Oh, that my ways were settled, to observe 
 Thy statutes." 
 
 The form of the description is not kept up, but the 
 thought progresses. The aspiration is for something more 
 than merely to look to cult, commandments or even the ways 
 
176 ^electeD P0alm$ anD ®ottograpi)0 
 
 of God, for the single purpose of moral improvement, as one 
 department of life work; it is that the whole business of our 
 lives should be this very thing. All our ways, like the many 
 branches of a river, should pour into this one channel. 
 
 Verse 6. "Then shall I not be shamed, in my looking 
 unto all Thy Commandments." 
 
 Here is an argument for this course and also its justifi- 
 cation. They will be kept from shame, who look to God's 
 statutes. And since God in His commandments implies that 
 what He commands is best for His people, we may know 
 that sooner or later prosperity is the result. Look at the 
 law as a model and standard of action, and you will not 
 have cause to blush for yourself. Look to the law as a re- 
 liance, a portion and inheritance, and you will see good, 
 you will not be ashamed of your hope. This justifies, the 
 aspiration of the preceding verse, and besides it may be said, 
 though all are dedicated to God's service, still the work of 
 the world and the use of means will not be neglected. The 
 true pursuit of holiness permits and involves all proper 
 activity. 
 
 Verse 7. "I will thank Thee with rectitude of heart, 
 in my learning the judgments of Thy righteousness." 
 
 We may, indeed, without this devotion to God's ser- 
 vice, have earthly prosperity and may thank the Lord. But 
 our thanks will be without rectitude, will be sinful thanks, 
 if we have not heeded in our previous course, and with a 
 good conscience attained our worldly success. This verse 
 ought not to be limited to the connection. True, thankful- 
 ness will be induced without added prosperity if we only 
 learn what are the judgments of God's righteousness with 
 regard to ourselves. Humility involves content. The 
 thanksgivings of the humble are the strongest manifestation 
 of holiness and justify and honor God more than any other 
 praise. It may be applied to deliverances, national or per- 
 sonal. The thanks of triumph and deliverance must not be 
 made with pride. Delivering judgments upon our enemies, 
 
Rett* jfteDetick La Eue &ins 177 
 
 while they should draw forth our thanksgiving, ought also 
 to make us tremble to the marrow of our bones, for they are 
 judgments because of sin, and we are sinners. So also 
 when we escape calamity. They, upon whom the tower in 
 Siloam did not fall, only if they repented, might congratulate 
 themselves. 
 
 Verse 8. "Thy statutes I will keep; oh, forsake me 
 not utterly." 
 
 We have in this verse two things blended which have 
 often been declared by the spiritually ignorant to be incom- 
 patible, fixed resolve and dependence upon God. There 
 can be no resolve, which is at the same time intelligent with- 
 out dependence upon God; and there can be no true depen- 
 dence upon God without fixed resolve. God works not 
 on us, but in us, to will and do, and therefore dependence 
 upon Him is the highest form of independence, it is depen- 
 dence upon a deeper greater self. 
 
 BETH. 
 
 Verse 9. "By what (means) can a youth cleanse his 
 path, so as to keep (it) according to Thy word?" 
 
 It is essential, in interpreting this stanza, to keep in 
 mind its purely lyric character. It would be worth very 
 little as a record of the results of self-introspective analysis — 
 a self complacent pleading of one's own meritorious moods. 
 Every verse must be taken as a self-forgetting outburst of 
 feeling. The verse we are considering is not to be taken 
 as a mere inquiry for the sake of information, but an excla- 
 mation drawn forth by an intense appreciation of the ex- 
 treme difficulty of a young man's making his life pure by the 
 use of the law. This exclamation is at the same time a 
 searching question in which the psalmist graeps after that 
 which may help him in the effort. "O how can I, a young 
 man, make my life square with the law of God? I look 
 everywhere for help, and am ready to lay hold of anything 
 that may serve." The mood is one that expresses, 
 
178 Selected pgalms anO aponograp&s; 
 
 First, a sense of the strict requirements of the Law. This 
 connects with the preceding stanza. 
 
 Second, a consciousness of the peculiar difficulty under 
 which a young man labors owing to the thoughtlessness of 
 youth, its strong passions and surrounding temptations. This 
 is a wise youth who utters this, for youth generally feels 
 strong to do right. 
 
 Third, a strong desire to make holy the life in accord- 
 ance with the law. 
 
 Fourth, an humble readiness for any help whatsoever, 
 while 
 
 Fifth, there is at the same time a resolute summoning 
 of one's powers. 
 
 Verse 10. "With my whole heart have I sought 
 Thee; let me not err from Thy commandments." 
 
 Here again, care must be taken not to lose the naive 
 lyric character of this utterance. If it be understood "I have 
 as a past act sought Thee, and therefore as a reward let 
 me not err from Thy commandments," it becomes completely 
 prosaic. But the past shades into the present, and implies 
 the future. "I have sought" marks strong resolve, settled 
 tendency and purpose. "With my whole heart" indicates 
 unfaltering, unflagging, unmixed desire. This whole desire 
 to seek a whole God, marks the highest spiritual state con- 
 ceivable. But where the desires are whole, the object of 
 those desires is conceived but partially. We may seek God, 
 but only on one side, or merely for a purpose. The seeking 
 God indicated in this verse, is for a purpose, a purpose fixed 
 by the latter clause. The psalmist wishes to know His com- 
 mands. The latter clause is but a manifestation of the seek- 
 ing — "let me not mistake Thy commandments, let me not 
 fail to keep them." The word "err" or "wander" indicates 
 the peculiar significance of the word "commandment" — the 
 law as guiding. 
 
 Verse 11. "In my heart have I hid Thy saying, that 
 I may not sin against Thee.' 
 
ifteto* jFreOerick La Iftue ifting 170 
 
 To hide in the heart the saying of God is to engage 
 the inclinations and affections for it. The ordinary phrase 
 "to get by heart," while meaning only to fix in the mem- 
 ory, reveals the fact that ordinarily we remember only that 
 which has impressed us through our affections. The young 
 man's safety is not simple restraint of his inclination, but in 
 the engaging of the whole force of his active powers and 
 impulses on the side of God. This is effected so far 
 as the young man is concerned, first, (taking "saying" in 
 the sense of command) by hearing God in obedient love and 
 by studying the command and finding out the righteousness 
 of it, how well calculated it is to benefit him and others, 
 and, second, (taking "saying" in the sense of promise) by 
 studying to learn the attractiveness of what God promises 
 and to find out its fullness; and where we cannot see attrac- 
 tiveness, where eye does not see and ear does not hear, then 
 exercising faith in love, by trusting God for the character 
 of what He has promised as well as for the performance. 
 The affections being once engaged, all the multitude of 
 actions follow easily enough, while old and base affections 
 are expelled by the new. Often, Christians would better 
 heed the law if they better heeded the promise. The will 
 is not omnipotent, and the Christian like a jaded beast will 
 not be roused by the spur, and is a prey to doubt and in- 
 action. But when the proper stimulus of prophecy and 
 promise is applied, then all is changed, easy are labor and 
 self denial. He runs and is not weary. He who only re- 
 sists sin, will find that there is a limit to his resistance, de- 
 fined by the limits of his natural powers, and that it is not 
 safe to neglect any means, that is appointed by God and 
 according to man's nature. The youthful Solomon, like 
 multitudes of expectant kings, was doubtless tempted to turn 
 aside to youthful sins, but the great expectation before him, 
 if his heart was filled with the glory of it and its opportuni- 
 ties for doing good to his fellows, would, and did, doubtless, 
 avail to keep him from sin. In this is the answer to the 
 
180 Selected psalmg anD anemographs 
 
 question of verse nine. Christians nowadays, cannot afford 
 to do without the great incentive to all right doing, found in 
 the promises of God, and to make this more effective they 
 should, by study of the prophetic Scripture, bring this prom- 
 ise near to them, putting human life into it, and grasping it 
 with human affections. We are not marching to a land of 
 shadows, peopled with ghosts; we are going to where alone, 
 is the real substance, and where humanity alone attains its 
 full perfection. But we should not only look to the promise 
 in the Word of God, but to its partial performance in the 
 world around us; this will bring it very near to us and make 
 our strivings more direct, only let us separate the real from 
 the ideal and not mistake the one for the other, turning the 
 partial realization into an idol and a false God. 
 
 Verse 12. "Blessed (be) Thou Jehovah! Teach me 
 Thy statutes!" 
 
 The word bless is primarily "pray for," and to bless 
 Jehovah is to pray for Him, and in the case of one who is 
 conscious that nothing can be added to the felicity or power 
 of God it amounts to a hearty loving assent to Jehovah's 
 governance. In order to keep a young man in the way of 
 the law it is not sufficient that he should receive the com- 
 mands of a king, he must, as far as in him lies, enthrone that 
 king, and as far as will goes, endow him with power. To 
 desire that Jehovah should reign implies a desire to know 
 His commands, and likewise a desire not to know His 
 commands implies a latent desire to dethrone Him. The 
 word "teach" means, bring my mind and heart into sym- 
 pathy with the command. They who first hide the com- 
 mands of God in their heart, through their mere fealty to 
 Him, may then ask God to make them understand the full 
 scope and bearing of the command. 
 
 Verse 1 3. "With my lips have I recounted all the 
 judgments of Thy mouth." 
 
 No mere past act is referred to nor is it so much a 
 description of a habitual state of mind, as an expression of 
 
i&etn jFteDerick La Hue ding 181 
 
 that state of mind. Neither is attention called, by the ex- 
 pression "have recounted," so much to the communicating 
 of God's judgments to others, as to the making of them his 
 own. It would be a little thing for him to tell God that, like 
 a parrot he repeated His judgments; it implies comprehen- 
 sion, acquiescence, sympathy with, and what might almost 
 be called authoritative reutterance. Notice the parallel ex- 
 pressions "lips" and "mouth"; "what Thou hast delivered 
 by Thy mouth I redeliver with my lips." "Judgments" in- 
 cludes, first, the commandments of God, considered as an 
 expression of what is just, and also in reference to the threat- 
 enings, expressed or implied, connected with them. Second, 
 God's past sentences of condemnation and severities upon 
 the guilty, and all the threatenings that have regard to the 
 future — His declarations as to what He is about to bring 
 upon the world and as to the condition of the finally impeni- 
 tent. Third, God's accusations of sin and statements of de- 
 sert, and all that in the Scriptures which, through the Holy 
 Spirit brings home to a man God's judgment about himself. 
 All these the servant of God accepts fully, at first, through 
 faith, even if the heart shrinks back, afterwards by entering 
 into the spirit of them, first, by appreciating their justice and 
 second, by realizing how necessary they are to the fulfilment 
 of the promises to the people of God. 
 
 It is prophesied that in the end of the world God's 
 people shall judge the whole earth, and in recounting the 
 judgments of His mouth, they are but anticipating as far as 
 they can, their final position. God's declarations are some- 
 times harsh and terrible; these should not be believed in as 
 something dark and mysterious and spoken of with bated 
 breath. We should aim to reutter them with full assent, and 
 maintain them in the face of all blasphemers. We ought to 
 share somewhat in the responsibility that God too often now 
 bears alone. This will not result in making a Christian cold 
 blooded and unsympathizing, but the very reverse. The 
 harsh and awful forms of doctrine learned by rote and re- 
 
182 Selected psalms anD ^onograpfe 
 
 peated by rote, would often wear a very different aspect if 
 we recognized the fact that no doctrine is true doctrine for 
 us unless it is our own, by being brought into thorough har- 
 mony with ourselves. Divine truth is the same always, but 
 takes special forms to harmonize it with the consciousness and 
 needs of the men of a time; but men and times change, and 
 these forms are preserved as something absolutely true, and 
 so doctrines grow as old fashioned and obsolete as garments. 
 The wondrous Word of God is ever new, like an ever-during 
 spring time in Nature, while the history of doctrine is strewed 
 with many a theological form, which becomes gracious and 
 even significant, only when we adjust it to the circumstances 
 in which it originated. It is only by ever forcing ourselves 
 to recount with our lips the judgments of God's mouth, that 
 they become the truth for the time, for only then, do they 
 take on the form, proper to our own age. There 
 should be no such thing as cast-iron-orthodoxy. Theology 
 should be plastic under the intelligence and the love of the 
 people of God, or it becomes something worse than the Gib- 
 eonites' mouldy crusts and withered water skins. This may 
 appear to make doctrine but a shifting sand; not so. The 
 rock of doctrine upon which Christ has built His church is a 
 living rock, a human soul, mobile and changeful, as that of 
 Peter, but, which, like Peter, first sees and then says, "There 
 is no safety in treating the statements of Scripture as philo- 
 sophical formula and deducing from them what we are 
 able. Scripture so modifies Scripture, that it becomes a 
 living thing with the heart, like the heart of a man, and it 
 is only as we are able from our mind and heart to reutter it, 
 that we possess it at all." Thus it is that the Christian in 
 recounting with his lips God's judgments, is not like the 
 underlying of a tyrant, who must obey the harsh letter of his 
 decision, but as a fellow judge of the King of Kings, and in 
 assuming the judicial position, assumes also the judicial care, 
 the judicial sympathy, the judicial mildness, and a certain 
 judicial authority, which will enable him to draw from his 
 
Eetn jfreDerick La Eue ifting 183 
 
 own heart some forceful ground of trust in the mighty scope 
 of grace and mercy. But a servant of God is called upon 
 to recount not only those judgments of God, which are harsh 
 and severe, but also those judicial decisions, which bring 
 deliverance and blessings to His people. They who survey 
 the field of history, have often to recount God's judgments, 
 not only with assent, but with thankfulness; and such re- 
 counting will be in the far future, the burden of the songs 
 of the Redeemed ones. Happy they, who in the happy 
 changes of their lives can see the hand of their God, giving 
 sentence for them. This verse, if indeed it was written by 
 the young Solomon, brings him before us as a preacher of 
 righteousness, as one who warned his peers of the wrath of 
 God upon evil doing. It could have hardly been otherwise, 
 when we consider Solomon's peculiar talents for governing. 
 Another Joseph, child of a loftier promise and higher hopes, 
 he doubtless, like the son of Jacob, reproved his brethren and 
 got their hate therefore, used perhaps God's threatenings to 
 induce them to acquiesce in his advancement. 
 
 Verse 1 4. "In the way of Thy testimonies I rejoice as 
 over all wealth." 
 
 "In the way of Thy testimonies" — in the doing of Thy 
 testimonies, as a means to an end, and in that through which 
 the "way of Thy testimonies" is ever leading. "Flowers 
 laugh before Thee in their beds, and fragrance in Thy foot- 
 ing treads." Wealth is provision for the future, present 
 power, respect of others, pleasures, means for the attaining 
 of cherished aims. The youth rejoices over wealth for what 
 it immediately brings, he realizes pleasures at once. Is not 
 rejoice a peculiarly suitable term for the spirit of a young 
 man? The old man does not rejoice over wealth for he 
 knows how little it can do for him personally. He clutches 
 it more eagerly and understands its power, but it is with a 
 grave, desolate intenseness. To a young man, money is a 
 key that opens the gates of all bliss. Gold to him is gilded 
 by the visions of what is possible by means of gold. And 
 
184 Selected psalms anD Q^onograpjjs 
 
 no young man that ever lived was likely to form a more 
 magnificent conception of what might be done with gold than 
 Solomon. What a happy and godly youth Solomon must 
 have been! What heavenly splendors must have fallen 
 upon his private path! What enthusiasm and eagerness and 
 hope in the following out of the holy precepts! Visions of 
 more than earthly grandeur must have floated before his 
 mind. Generally the feeling that they have to resist, who 
 would be obedient to the moral law is that it lessens their 
 power and opportunities in this world. Here, obedience fills 
 with a sense of power. The young man is rendered younger 
 by it, and if ever the old man grows young again, it is in 
 assuming that childlike state of perfect loving, hoping, obedi- 
 ence and recognizing it as the means to power and happi- 
 ness. Let every Christian man then act out the testimonies 
 of God, bear the same witness in his obedience to them that 
 He bore in enunciating them. 
 
 Verse 15. "In Thy precepts I will meditate and look 
 at Thy paths." 
 
 "Precepts," that is the work or employment that God 
 assigns to His servants to do. God's commands are a reve- 
 lation of His character. That which He tells us to do He 
 does Himself, since we are created in His image. There- 
 fore study of the way He marks out for us shows us His 
 ways, and in order to understand the scope of the command 
 we must study His modes of action. For the sake of the 
 ignorant and the feeble — in order to let light gradually upon 
 their eyes, He gives His commands in such narrow specific 
 forms, that if the servant of God brings little heart to the 
 obeying of them, it will be easy for him to interpret them 
 in such a way as, while affecting the closest legal strictness, to 
 nullify them as did the Scribes and Pharisees. The heart 
 that fears to find the law that would keep it away from 
 itself as much as possible, is hasty in dealing with it, and 
 satisfies itself easily, that what it sees at a glance in the com- 
 mand is all that is to be seen. It allows the law to thrust 
 
Iftetn jFreDeuck &a Eue l&ing 185 
 
 itself upon its notice, but does not search after it. This 
 young man gives himself wholly to the law, meditates in the 
 precepts. He has made them externally his own, and has 
 hid them in his heart; now he expands them from himself — 
 he makes them to germinate in his soul, he carries out their 
 idea and finds how broad it is, sees that it sets forth God's 
 character and falls to studying God's ways as a commentary 
 upon the command. He looks forward at God's paths as 
 those in which he is to tread and prepares himself to "walk 
 in His ways," (verse 3) as the true and only full obedience 
 to the precept. There is something in the word used for 
 path that suggests the idea of God as a way-farer, as being 
 occupied upon a path rather than as using it as a means to 
 an end. As if it was "the paths you use, the paths you 
 travel on." The idea of employment, customary occupa- 
 tion, is suggested perhaps. "I will meditate in the occupa- 
 tions you give me, and your occupations, and look to the 
 paths you go to and fro upon." 
 
 Verse 16. "In Thy statutes I will delight myself; I 
 will not forget Thy word." 
 
 The word of promise casts light upon the statute. If 
 "word" is understood as meaning simply law, then the last 
 clause is an anti-climax that produces a very bad effect. But 
 as "word" is the word of God's promise, then in his not 
 forgetting the promise, lies the key to his delight in God's 
 statutes. Where the statute or arbitrary order of God seems 
 to cut off all hope of happiness, then the promise assures him 
 that all will be right in the end. Faith in God's promise is 
 needed to enable him to delight in the statute. To the sight 
 it may appear not comely, to the taste bitter, in the use 
 painful, but the Word lightens up all. 
 
 GIMEL. 
 
 Verse 1 7. "Grant to Thy servant (that) I may live, 
 and I will keep Thy word." 
 
186 Selected psalms and e$onogtap&s 
 
 Throughout this stanza, except the 1 8th verse, there 
 is a plain implication, where there is not a direct statement, 
 that the writer is surrounded by enemies and peril. The 
 petition here, then, is not that God will not take away his 
 life, but that He will defend him. The latter clause may 
 be of the nature of a covenant, perfectly proper where God's 
 part is evidently understood to be gracious, as in the case of 
 Jacob's covenant. If then, God will be so gracious as to 
 lengthen out my day, I then will honor His promise by hold- 
 ing fast to it. Indeed, the two clauses are not to be under- 
 stood apart. The first is not a bare petition, but also a 
 claim for the fulfilment of a promise — "fulfil Thy promise 
 by granting me life, and then I will be able to trust in the 
 promise proved to be faithful." But the first clause is a true 
 petition and it is to be noted here that the fulfilment of God's 
 gracious promises are to be sued humbly for, by the servant 
 of God. For it is clear that when we appeal to God for 
 the fulfilment of His promises, we are almost always asking 
 for the realization of our own conception of the promise 
 itself, or of the time and manner of its fulfilment. It is per- 
 fectly right that our petitions should be colored by our own 
 special views and desires, and God may choose to fulfil His 
 promise in accordance with them, or He may choose another 
 way, for He is always free. Thus it is that the claim for 
 the fulfilment of a gracious promise imports the struggle of 
 faith, since it is not the promise absolute that we crave, but 
 the promise as shaped and modified by our desires. The 
 prayer of Daniel for the deliverance of the Jews, according 
 to God's promise at the time when he became convinced 
 that the limit of seventy years, assigned to the Captivity, by 
 the prophet Jeremiah, had arrived, is a model for all 
 claims on God based on His promises. God will not be 
 tied up even by His promises, and it behooves faith to be 
 lowly while persistent, or God will find a way to fulfil His 
 promises and at the same time disappoint over-confidence. 
 There is this besides in the clauses as they stand — "let me 
 
Iftetn jFreDetick JLa Eue Ifting t87 
 
 live, and then it will be possible for me to keep Thy word, 
 for 'the dead praise Thee not.' ' The keeping of God's 
 word implies not only keeping a confident heart in the prom- 
 ise, but also all witness of words and acts of confidence to 
 God's faithfulness. 
 
 Verse 1 8. "Uncover my eyes and I will look, — won- 
 ders out of Thy law." 
 
 "Law" here, as in verse I , signifies the whole cult, es- 
 pecially the ceremonial and symbolical part of it, — the "law" 
 that is perfect "restoring the soul." The wonders that one 
 would expect to shine forth from such a law are wonders 
 of grace and mercy, and these are just what would de- 
 light and astonish the psalmist, who in these verses, declares 
 himself to be in so much peril and distress. For when a 
 servant of God is in such a case, that which sharpens the 
 swords of his enemies and makes his strength as weakness 
 is the thought that God is against him or does not care. He 
 is full of fear then, not so much by reason of the dangers 
 around him, as because his eyes are covered, so that he 
 sees not God's gracious countenance. This is by reason of 
 first, ignorance; the grace in the law was somewhat hidden, 
 and spiritual insight was needed ; second, want of faith ; third, 
 dreadful sense of guilt; fourth, surrounding fears; fifth, by 
 relying on God's name rather than Himself, that is, expectingof 
 God and as King, asking Him for only what He has previous- 
 ly done, instead of relying upon His infinite power and love to 
 do anything, however new and strange. God enlightens him 
 a little, strengthens a little his faith, somewhat eases his bur- 
 den, gives him a little stouter heart, or lessens the stress of 
 his perils, and shows him His gracious self, so that the 
 man begins faintly to believe that even if his case is peculiar, 
 and though he cannot have a warrant in God's past dealings 
 and specific promises, still he may have what he needs. And 
 so, his eyes being uncovered, he begins to look. We cannot 
 expect the blessed revelations of God to thrust themselves 
 
188 ^electeU psalms anO ®onogtap!)0 
 
 upon our attention. We must look, and every look is re- 
 warded. The measure we mete to the word of God shall 
 be measured to us. If with really uncovered eyes we look 
 with utter faith, we shall be rewarded by the sight of "won- 
 ders," wonders of general grace, and also of God's special 
 good will not only in the long run but now. We will then 
 see that the observance of God's law is protection, policy, 
 deliverance, and in the very presence of our enemies, we are 
 full of amazement to find ourselves in a fortress. These 
 wonders are like the wonders shown to the servant of the 
 prophet, when he had his eyes opened and saw chariots and 
 horses of fire around him, and his master, and saw that the 
 source of his danger was in turn endangered. So shall pass 
 away, as a dream, the terrors of those who trust in the 
 Lord. 
 
 Verse 19. "A stranger (am) I in the earth; hide 
 not from me Thy commandments." 
 
 The latter clause, the stranger's special request, indi- 
 cates the special view taken of the stranger's need of "Com- 
 mandments" are God's precepts of guidance — all that is in- 
 cluded in the English phrase, "showing the way." The 
 "stranger may know what to do, but "how to do," that he 
 lacks. He knows where he wants to go, and has certain 
 ends to attain, but he cannot find the right way. He knows 
 not the ways of the people around him, and therefore he 
 knows not the way he ought to act. Such a stranger was 
 young Solomon; he must have hardly known whom to trust 
 or how to act. But he is not merely a stranger in the court 
 or the land. Then he could hope that a little change in 
 his circumstances would alter his situation completely. But 
 he is more than a stranger in the land; he is a stranger in 
 the earth. The little sphere of trouble in which he dwells, 
 shows to him that wider trouble that enwraps the whole 
 world. He feels that to make this earth anywhere or under 
 any circumstances a home for him, there must be a radical 
 change. He looks forward to a life passed amid a stranger's 
 
i&eto* ^Frederick La Iftue Ifting 189 
 
 hardships and precious becomes the guidance of God to 
 him. In the petition "hide not" is implied that God does 
 sometimes hide the guide posts in the strange land and 
 leave us to our own devices for a while. He is not bound 
 to make things easy for us. To let us alone for awhile to 
 grope our way out is often a part of the improving disci- 
 pline of His providence. Christians, as well as the ancient 
 people of God, are taught and strengthened in this way. Yet 
 it is a perilous position. It is sometimes a necessasy evil as 
 was the wandering in the wilderness, but still it is an evil. 
 Blessed they, who are guided ever, from whom God does not 
 hide His commandments. For this is often done as a punish- 
 ment. They, who neglect God's guidance will have to do 
 without it and thereby learn to prize it. Happy are they, 
 if it be restored to them before they have wandered far out 
 of the way. It is at best a time of perplexity and sorrow; 
 and a Christian may well pray to be delivered from it and 
 not to be led into it. Those who use God's guidance are 
 those from whom it will not be taken. To those who have, 
 more shall be given, and from those who have not, shall be 
 taken even what they have. They who feel and acknow- 
 ledge that they are strangers on the earth, are the very ones 
 who will be guided. To have the stranger spirit is to have 
 a claim on God, who in His law, made strangers an especial 
 object of compassion, and whose law is a reflex of Himself. 
 
 Verse 20. "My soul breaketh with longings for Thy 
 judgments at every time." 
 
 "Breaketh with longing" is a hyperbole like the familiar 
 one, "he was dying to do" so and so. To have my desire 
 is necessary to my life. Intense desire is indicated. This 
 desire indicates not merely that the psalmist is at the time, in 
 great peril and in need of God's delivering judgments; for the 
 statement is made as universal as in the preceding verse. The 
 psalmist is not only a stranger everywhere, but at all times in 
 great need of God's judgments. The little peril and loss of 
 God's children is the means through the Spirit of making 
 
190 Selected pgalms and ^onogtapfjg 
 
 them know their infinite loss — their lost estate, the lost estate 
 of the world, the thorough need there is of a deliverer. No 
 little change will deliver them from their care. When a fair 
 day comes, they still call out to a delivering God as in the 
 tempest, for His power alone makes the day fair and keeps 
 it so. They that know how to agonize in supplication in 
 the hour of prosperity are those who alone hang upon God 
 and have any right to be secure. The realized blessings of 
 God, if trusted in, become the peace of this world that is 
 easily broken; but we must not trust in God's blessings, but 
 in God Himself. This intense longing, this heart breaking 
 desire, for God's judgments in times of distress, implies con- 
 siderable faith. There is no despair where there is longing. 
 "At all times" would imply a readiness to receive God's 
 judgments with regard to our character, either in the way 
 of His providential dealings or having our eyes opened by 
 His holy Word. Such judgments are very mortifying, but 
 hard and humbling though they are, are very precious, and 
 happy that man that holds himself ready, ever ready for 
 them. These words imply a readiness to receive God's judg- 
 ments with reference to our own wishes and aims, no matter 
 how contradictory to them. The true servant of God never 
 desires to take the bit in his teeth, but is ready to have the 
 curb applied at any moment and be guided to the right or 
 left by God's judgments — commands, of which we can only 
 say, "God judges best." And all this, without any sullen- 
 ness; for more than ready and willing submission is implied 
 by this longing; hope, trust, love, fills the heart, even under 
 the greatest disappointment. And this, too, although God's 
 decisions often come suddenly and are therefore all the 
 harder to bear, and although these sudden chastisements, 
 checks and commands come not directly from God Himself, 
 but through medium of creatures and things. If indeed, the 
 young Solomon wrote this, he had early a deep experience of 
 the need we have of the presence of the living God. He 
 doubtless saw many pleasant and hopeful days bringing 
 
l&eto* jFreDerick JLa Eue Ifting 191 
 
 present deliverance and power and opening a prospect of 
 better things, but this did not deceive him; he knew nothing 
 but discouragement without God. 
 
 Verse 21. "Thou hast rebuked the proud, the 
 accused those wandering from Thy Commandment." 
 
 Rebuked, that is, with judgments. Because it was 
 done in times past, he has full confidence now. "For this 
 God is our God," Ps. 48. In the word "proud" we have a 
 glimpse of his enemies and the spirit that opposed Solomon's 
 rise to the throne. It was not merely the selfish desire for 
 advancement on the part of his brothers, but the proud desire 
 on their part and that of their adherents to have the kingship, 
 independent of God, to have God remanded to the position 
 of the object of religious worship by the nation, without in- 
 terfering in political matters. Because they are "proud," 
 they are accused. Their pride sets them apart for destruc- 
 tion. The word "wandering" indicates the directive char- 
 acter of what are termed, "commandments." A proud per- 
 son may submit to be told what to do, many a proud per- 
 son in feudal times readily called another his master, but it 
 is hard for a proud person to bend his mind to receive di- 
 rections. We see this in the fact that it is socially creditable 
 to do hard work, and that for hire, if only one in the details 
 of the work directs one's self. The proud party in Israel 
 hated that their king should be turned into a servant. Inde- 
 pendent authority is necessary to respect. That which makes 
 domestic service socially degrading was exemplified, to the 
 minds of the carnal in Israel, in the case of David, who was 
 the Lord's servant indeed. The kings of Assyria and Egypt 
 and other nations were ready enough to proclaim themselves 
 the servants of their gods, and, in the case of the Assyrian 
 king, even the servant of Jehovah to overthrow Jerusalem. 
 But as the prophet Isaiah says in the 1 Oth chapter, "Howbeit 
 he meaneth not so." It was, after all, an hypocrisy. Their 
 pride showed their independence. It was to low ideas of 
 God that this unwillingness to become subservient to Him, 
 
192 Selected psalms ano a^onogtapjjg 
 
 was due. Once believe that He is the Infinite One — infinite 
 in Wisdom, Love and Power, and to be His lacquey is 
 honor in the most honorable. That interfering specific di- 
 rection that the humble heart craves and often carnally craves 
 is especially distasteful to the proud worldling. He detests 
 God's interference not, be it noticed, in religious matters, but 
 in business matters. The worldling delights in ritual religion, 
 and also often in sentimental religion, if only God will leave 
 affairs alone. There are many evangelical Christians, who 
 will make God the author and finisher of Salvation, and su- 
 preme in Heaven, who would not like Him to meddle with 
 their private business, or their political transactions, or the 
 details of their ecclesiastical or benevolent enterprises. "Wan- 
 dering from Thy commandments," means not merely break- 
 ing them or offending against the spirit of them, but shrinking 
 from the very idea of being commanded, avoiding the hear- 
 ing of a command. The action of pride in avoiding God's 
 commandments is seen in the unwillingness of Christians to 
 be directed by providential circumstances, by others, even 
 those who are near them and whom they regard as their 
 inferiors. When God's Word comes to us through our fel- 
 low it is most harassing to human pride. They who were 
 willing to hear God's word from Heaven, were unwilling 
 to hear it from the tabernacle, and they who would re- 
 ceive it thence, would not receive it from His minister, and 
 they who now will listen to God's minister, will not hear it 
 from a fellow often little, ignorant, disliked, and even wicked, 
 and yet true humility is especially seen in this latter sub- 
 mission. 
 
 Verse 22. "Roll from off me reproach and contempt, 
 for Thy testimonies I have kept." 
 
 Alexander thinks that there is some allusion here to 
 the rolling off the "reproach of Egypt" which meant, what- 
 ever else it may have meant, the ending of a long term of 
 disgrace and a final taking of His chosen people into favor 
 by God. If we apply this to the case of the youthful Solo- 
 
Eeto* jfreDettck La Iftue ifting 193 
 
 mon, it has great force and beauty. His novitiate was doubt- 
 less a term of relative disgrace. An heir apparent, who fold- 
 ed his hands, and who at the same time was surrounded by 
 other pretenders, who were free by their want of principle 
 to make a show of energy, and who seemed, as far as earthly 
 things went, to have much the better prospect of attaining 
 the kingdom. "Make this all to end," he asks. "Would 
 that I mght be acknowledged as the heir to the throne, and 
 that my credit for energy might suffer no more diminution." 
 Doubtless his inaction would lead shrewd men to think that 
 he had not the kingly qualities. He certainly had not the 
 heroic qualities so necessary in the founding of the kingdom, 
 and there must have been a very strong temptation ever 
 instant to show the ability as a politician, which he as cer- 
 tainly had, and cause himself to be recognized as a man 
 of power. The position of an heir apparent is very often 
 a trying one; mean men are over him, and have power and 
 glory, while he is doomed to a forced inactivity. But in 
 this case the trial was in part avoidable, if only he could give 
 up principle, and he is able to plead the fact that his re- 
 proach and contempt were caused by his adherence to the 
 "testimonies" of God — His Moral law. This is the reason 
 he adduces why God should put an end to his period of 
 trial. One cannot but sympathize with Solomon, in that 
 splendid removal of his reproach, when suddenly the sum- 
 mons came for him to be crowned, his father yet remaining 
 alive. Those must have been happy years of power and 
 prosperity, when he had his father and his throne and could 
 at last show what was in him. Christians are often called 
 upon to suffer reproach and contempt in this way. In all 
 the spheres of man's activity they often succeed best in mak- 
 ing a figure, who are without principle. The very careful- 
 ness to do what is just right, tends often to make man appear 
 weak and wanting in energy. A magnificent fortune, a 
 mighty conquest, a great literary reputation, can sometimes 
 be had at the price of a little compliance with the fashion of 
 
194 Selected psalms anD e^onograpirs 
 
 this world — a little regardlessness of the will of God. Chris- 
 tians are yet of the weak in this world. Principle is not yet 
 power or glory. But that which is now weak and despised, 
 God has appointed to be the overthrowing of the world and 
 its successor in power. The Christian should be willing to 
 be little, if obedience to God's testimonies makes him little; 
 the time will come when his reproach will be removed. No 
 doubt, if worldly men could have been present at our Sa- 
 viour's temptation, they would have reproached and des- 
 pised the scrupulousness that refused present power. And 
 no doubt, He was reproached again and again, because He 
 would not use His power and proclaim Himself King. He 
 appeared ever shrinking from power and responsibility. And 
 yet He was heir apparent, of the world, and by using the 
 passions of the world He could apparently come to His own, 
 much sooner. But He must be clean, and thus He had to 
 endure much and wait long, before His day of triumph 
 came. He is even waiting yet, He is not yet fully vindicated. 
 He yet appears to the world, though good and loving, yet 
 lacking the qualities of a practical ruler, who can be mighty 
 in affairs and among men. But when the day of His return 
 comes, then the reproach and contempt will be rolled at last 
 away. Then, terrible as the dread that fell upon Joab and 
 Adonijah, when the young Solomon ascended the throne, 
 will be the awe that will fall upon the nations when He shall 
 come, whose right it is to rule and reign. Christians if you 
 follow closely your Master in these days, you must make 
 up your minds to lose much reputation. You cannot expect 
 to be treated better than your King. Wait then, rest under 
 your reproach during the night of reproach, and in the morn- 
 ing it will be rolled away. God will roll it away. We 
 must not be too careful to justify ourselves in the eyes of 
 the world, that leads to compromise and concession and 
 temptation, and to the Christian becoming worldly in the 
 end. See to it also, that the reproach of sloth is not justly 
 incurred. Despise not the day of small things. Let not dis- 
 
Retn jFreDerick JLa Eue fting 195 
 
 couragement palsy activity. Do what your hand findeth to 
 do, with all your might, and though you may not seem to 
 effect much, you will bear a witness to your absent King 
 as shall make the world of darkness tremble. And you may 
 besides, be doing mighty things that you know not of. In 
 the tales of the Northern Mythology, the god Thor, once 
 upon a time, finds himself in the home of his giant enemies, 
 and matches himself in rivalry with their might. But all 
 in vain; he cannot drain a goblet, he cannot lift a cat from 
 the floor, and three blows of his hammer, given in dead earn- 
 est, produce no effect at all. But afterwards, as the story 
 states, he finds that the goblet was ever filled up by the 
 sea, and his drinking caused a mighty ebb. The cat was 
 the great serpent, which as they fabled, bound in safety the 
 home of the Jotuns, while they jeered him, were expecting 
 every moment, their utter destruction, and three great valleys 
 were made by the blows of his hammer, that seemed to him 
 utterly inefficient. Deep is the concealment that hides now 
 from the Christian, the worth of what he does; but bright 
 will be the light that will reveal to the servant of God, not 
 merely that he is entering into power and honor, but that 
 he was not contemptible, even in the days of his contempt. 
 
 Verse 23. "Also princes sat and at me talked to- 
 gether, and Thy servant muses of Thy statutes." 
 
 He, also is not grammatically connected with the pre- 
 ceding sentence, but is connected in sense. He not only 
 suffers reproach and contempt, but is "also" the object of 
 an intrigue — a conspiracy of princes. Alexander translates 
 "talked at me." This would mean that they talked, so 
 that he could hear what they said against him. But the 
 Hebrew means only "talked about me," with a strong im- 
 plication that they talked against him. Still, it is but an 
 implication. The word "sat" implies deliberaton and signifi- 
 cant deliberation — conspiracy. They were princes, too, who 
 were in deliberation against him — persons who had power to 
 do him harm. The very fact of these princes engaging in 
 
196 Selected psalms ana 9§onogtapl)0 
 
 an intrigue, shows the dignity of him against whom they 
 conspire. It is a strong proof that we are right in ascribing 
 this psalm to Solomon. The young Solomon must often 
 have been aware of just such malicious consultations against 
 him, and perhaps could, even upon occasion see his enemies 
 as they sat and talked. Nothing could be conceived more 
 disturbing; naturally it would make the mind all alert with 
 the attempt to know what was said about him. We all 
 know how difficult it is to abstract the attention from ordi- 
 nary conversation going on about us, and fix it upon a matter 
 in hand. But here were enemies — powerful enemies — 
 against whom it would be desirable to counterplot, and 
 therefore to understand their designs, and yet he does not 
 think of them or their plots. He muses; the expression im- 
 plies retired contemplation. In the very presence of his 
 enemies (for this is the picture presented), 
 he is in his closet, alone with the decrees of God. The title 
 that he gives himself of "servant" is suited to the word 
 translated "statutes." A servant is one who obeys direc- 
 tions, whether he understands them or not — obeys the will 
 of another as expressed by a command; and the word trans- 
 lated "statutes" describes the law as the fixed and unalter- 
 able expression of the will of God without any reference to 
 its character. It might be translated by the word "decrees" 
 or "orders" — "Thy servant muses on Thy orders." God's 
 servant meditates upon His decrees, perhaps to find out why 
 it is so decreed, perhaps to ascertain exactly what is decreed 
 and how to go to work to obey, but most of all, he muses 
 in pleasant thought, gloating over the possession of the decree, 
 feeling safe as against all plotters, in obedience to it. In the 
 case of the young Solomon, able, shrewd and caculating by 
 nature, it shows a great height of faith that he should ne- 
 glect to fathom the plans of his enemies, should be indifferent 
 as to what those plans were exactly, and in their very pres- 
 ence and amid their false intrigues, should be drawn away 
 to musing upon God's orders to him. And wise it would be, 
 
Eeti, jfteoerick La Eue ifting 197 
 
 for all God's servants to follow his example. Many a child 
 of God from his eagerness to know designs against him, has 
 exhibited and increased his want of faith; has been kept in 
 a constant fever, spying out and divining the changing plans 
 of his enemies, when the final one was all that behooved him 
 to know; has had his thoughts turned away from God, been 
 tempted to fish in muddy waters, to deal with questionable 
 persons, and to sin. If you have, O, child of God, His de- 
 cree, then be happy and contented and safe in the knowing 
 of it and obeying of it. In your hours of helpless ignorance 
 of what your enemies devise, you will be in secret with God, 
 and have pleasant times of submissive love, content to run. 
 all risks for the sake of obeying, not because the command 
 seems wise or right, but because God wills. The decree 
 upon which the servant of God muses in the presence of 
 conspiring enemies is the order which comes to him to wait 
 and do nothing. This order is announced often, simply 
 through the circumstances which hedge us up and make 
 action difficult, without trenching on right. 
 
 Verse 24. "Also Thy testimonies (are) my delights, 
 the men of my counsel." 
 
 The same law, upon which the psalmist mused in its 
 aspect of irreversible decree, is now in its aspect of testimony 
 appealing to the intuitions of right in the servant of God, 
 spoken of as his delights. One is reminded of the Latin 
 word "deliciae," so often used to signify intimacy and de- 
 lightful intercourse. For the law is not merely an arbitrary ex- 
 pression of will on the part of God, but it is a better philoso- 
 phy. "It is nigh unto thee," says Moses; it justifies itself to 
 the man, and appeals to his higher nature. The two parts 
 of the correlation are adjusted thus. He delights in the 
 "Testimonies," and therefore they have influence and be- 
 come his counsellors. They are able to guide him into good 
 policy — they are themselves good policy, as against his plot- 
 ting enemies, and therefore he delights in them. In verse 23 
 we see the servant of Jehovah making no attempt to fathom 
 
198 ©electeD psalms ano Qponogtapljs 
 
 the purposes of his enemies; carried away rather with the 
 desire to fathom the fathomless import of the decrees of God. 
 In verse 24 we have the same servant, knowing the hostile 
 designs of his enemies, but finding it the height of policy 
 and better than any counter move, or the best counter move 
 of all, simply to obey the moral law. In the case of Solo- 
 mon, who showed in his after history, how able he was in 
 devising and executing that which would thwart the pur- 
 poses of his opposers, this must have required a strong effort 
 of faith. How well, if. every Christian could be quiet after 
 this manner — could say "hands off" to his restless energies. 
 His faith would be strengthened — it would not be weakened 
 by humble reliance. A great burden, too, would be re- 
 moved from his shoulders, did he feel that he could wisely 
 depend upon holy obedience. It was something to turn his 
 attention away from his plotting foes, but it was more to 
 put aside his friends and partizans, eager to advise, or if, 
 as may be, the implication that he was lonely and without a 
 friend, to feel as content and safe with the testimonies of his 
 God for his only counsellors, as if he had around him a synod 
 of Ahi thophels. And well is his confidence placed. They 
 who make God's testimonies their own, become in their own 
 persons, living witnesses, imaging God's moral character. 
 And if they are like Him in moral perfection, they will not 
 fail to be like Him in victorious might in the end. The ark 
 of the covenant, where God's testmonies were laid, was the 
 center of the power and glory of God in the camp of Israel, 
 and they who have the testimonies of their God laid up in 
 their hearts may be assured that they dwell in the secret place 
 of thunder. Thou who holily obeyest hast on thy side all 
 that, which is infinite and universal, on thy side thou hast 
 "powers that will work for thee. There's not a breathing of 
 the common wind, that can forget thee, thou hast great 
 allies," and never canst thou utterly be overthrown. 
 
Ifteto, jFreOetick Ha IRue ifting 199 
 
 DALETH. 
 
 Verse 25. "My soul cleaveth unto the dust; quicken 
 Thou me according to Thy word." 
 
 The soul or life cleaving to the dust would be literally 
 death, in which all that remains of life to the eye, is dust 
 among dust. And to this suits the word "quicken" in the 
 second clause. Literal death is not meant here, nor is it prob- 
 able that sickness near to death is indicated. Under the 
 forms of physical dying, is set forth here a loss of moral 
 energy from whatever cause arising. A certain political 
 economist describes a man's life as a struggle between vitality, 
 tending to keep him erect and gravity trying to pull him 
 down to the dust; in the end the forces of nature overcom- 
 ing the forces of life and bringing a man down to the grave. 
 One of the most terrible experiences of extreme sickness is 
 the consciousness of this mighty power of earth crushing one 
 down without help or hope. This verse may refer to such a 
 time of prostration in sickness, but these words are too strong 
 for mere sickness, to be sick and even near to death is com- 
 paratively a little thing, if the soul is erect and of good 
 cheer. The complaint of the psalmist, especially if we con- 
 sider the succeeding verse, evidently is that he has lost heart 
 through discouragement. At the same time, so closely allied 
 are mind and body, that bodily languor involves moral lan- 
 guor, and a deep experience of disappointment unnerves body 
 as well as mind, so that this poetical form brings into the scope 
 of the experience all those cases, where the sickness of the 
 body aids to bring down the mind to the dust. It is, then, 
 in the consciousness, perhaps, of a bodily unnerving from 
 moral languor that he says, "my soul, or life, cleaveth to 
 the dust." Terrible is loss of heart. In the ancient fables 
 it is iold that, when Prometheus made men, the demigods 
 wondered not so much at their wonderful construction, as 
 that he could induce them to live and act. He said that he 
 effected this by placing blind hopes in their hearts. The 
 hopes of the servant of God are not "blind," but founded 
 
200 ^electeD psalms anD ©onograpljs 
 
 upon immutable promises; yet, nevertheless, they may be 
 clouded to that extent, that not only is he overwhelmed in 
 misery, but his activity is paralyzed. This is the case of 
 the psalmist here, and he here desires a recovery of his 
 moral energy through the granting of some desired thing. 
 This is indicated by the expression, "according to thy word." 
 And the application to the case of ordinary Christians can 
 best be made by considering the case of the probable writer 
 of this psalm. The word of promise to Solomon was that 
 he should sit on the throne of Israel. At times it must have 
 seemed impossible that this promise should be fulfilled, and 
 then faith and energy would alike fail. Now, it is in such 
 a strait that he claims encouragement in fulfilment of the 
 promise. It is not to be supposed that he claims the throne 
 at once, but merely the removal of discouragements, the 
 granting of something that would give encouragement, that 
 would tend to further or at least smooth the way to his ad- 
 vancement — little success that would serve to make him feel 
 that God is watching over him and keeping the fulfilment of 
 the promise ever in veiw. The child of God has promised 
 to him a greater throne than the throne of Israel and the 
 way to it is long and so great are the discouragements that 
 sometimes his faith well nigh fails, and he cries out, "my 
 soul cleaveth to the dust." God does not insist that he 
 should overcome his discouragements by the bare exercise of 
 faith. He does not say, "If you will believe as you ought, 
 you will be again full of energy," but permits His child to 
 pray, "quicken me according to Thy word." Not that he 
 claims the great promise in its last fulfilment, not that he 
 claims to be at once transported into the promised land; but 
 demands support by the way, some little encouragement to 
 faith — "a cluster from Canaan." This will not enforce be- 
 lief in the unfaithful, for not all believed who saw the 
 Eshcol grapes; but will strengthen the faith that exists, weak 
 though it be. And it is to be noted that this special help is 
 asked as involved in the general promise, and may be claimed 
 
Eeli* jFreOerick £a Eue ifttng 201 
 
 on the basis of it, when the heart grows faint and "ready to 
 halt." And in nothing, does God show more ten- 
 derness and compassion, than in just this thing. The dis- 
 couragement that overwhelms us may be really contemptible. 
 We may really deserve a scourging for not rising above it. 
 Lack of common force of character and courage may be 
 at the bottom of our trouble; our fellows may make short 
 work of our nervous fancies, hardly tolerant of them, even 
 in the sick; but our Heavenly Father breaks not the bruised 
 reed nor quenches the smoking flax. There is no contempt 
 with Him, but He, according to His infinite knowledge, 
 ministers in the infinite variety of infinite love to every case. 
 They who are permitted to base, upon a great promise, pe- 
 titions for little things in the way towards its realization and 
 to ask for them now, ought to be as wide and as special in 
 the interpreting of God's commands, showing the same sensi- 
 tive delicacy towards God that He is ready to show towards 
 them. If what they ask for their encouragement were nec- 
 essarily involved in the promise, even then there would be 
 mercy and grace in God's granting it ; but just as likely as not 
 it is not involved in the promise, is perhaps an unnecessary 
 and even hindering thing, or if not that, now is not the 
 proper time for it. If He were dealing with creatures infinite- 
 ly wise, He would deal very differently with us; but He is 
 dealing with foolish and ignorant creatures, who like children, 
 are not contented that they are guarded in the path that 
 will lead to a pleasant place, but will have the danger hid 
 from their eyes, and will have a flowery path to tread. And 
 the Lord bends his infinite plans to minister to human folly 
 and makes even the distant howling of the wolves to cease 
 in the pasture, where His flock lie down. This petition, 
 then, is not based logically upon the promise, but rather upon 
 the heart of God as revealed by the promise. For He that 
 would have us happy, at the end of all must certainly desire 
 that we should be happy every step of our way, and if we 
 cry to Him will contrive to have it so. 
 
202 Selected paalms ana Q&onogcapks 
 
 Verse 26. "My ways have I recounted, and Thou 
 hast answered me; teach me Thy statutes." 
 
 The word translated, "ways" here has in the Hebrew, 
 most of the significations of our English word "way." It 
 is more than simply "path," it is not a path, which may or 
 may not be used, a path becomes a way only as it is used 
 as a means to the reaching of a certain point e. g. "this path 
 is the way to the spring." This spoken of a man "his way," 
 does not mean simply what he does as a means for the at- 
 tainment of certain objects he has in view — the methods he 
 adopts in the pursuit of his aims, and the man's way is good 
 or bad not so much with the reference to the moral character 
 of his actions, as to the likelihood of their bringing him to a 
 happy result. 
 
 In this verse, the expression "my ways," might, con- 
 sidered by itself, mean "my habits of action" — "my ordinary 
 actions" — "my conduct." But that it means something 
 more than this is evident from the fact that the recounting of 
 them, amounts to a petition, for it is said in the last clause, 
 that God answers him. A paraphrase will most easily set 
 forth the right meaning. "I have laid before the Lord the 
 attempts and undertakings with which my life has been oc- 
 cupied — the various ways in which I have striven to attain 
 my purposes. I have brought to Him all my failures as 
 to One who can remedy all, and not only acknowledging my 
 ill success, but also the sinfulness mingled with all these 
 "ways," begged Him by the very act, to take the matter 
 in hand and do for me what I ineffectually tried to do for 
 myself." And then comes the request "teach me Thy stat- 
 utes." The word translated, statutes is peculiarly appropri- 
 ate here; it might be translated "orders"; it signifies the ex- 
 pression of the will of God as arbitrary and irreversible, with- 
 out any regard to its character in other respects. The psalm- 
 ist had in time past been fond of having his own way, and 
 that had brought him to the humiliating recital of his "way," 
 for that is the way of failure now he gives his own will up 
 
Eeth jFceDerick JLa I&ue ding 203 
 
 and submits himself to God's orders — "statutes." "Teach," 
 that is, "permit no neglect or blindness of mind to hide Thy 
 statutes from me, when they are explicit in the Scriptures; 
 help me to deduce them, when they are implicit; enable me 
 to recognize and acknowledge them, when they come to me 
 by the mouth of men or circumstances." We can easily 
 imagine the young Solomon to have been unable to keep 
 himself in the attitude of waiting and to have tried to help 
 himself forward by aiming at prominence and repute and 
 popularity. He may have also attempted to do something to 
 thwart the designs of his enemies. Such efforts would be 
 embarrassed by his conscientious regard for God's law. It 
 would be very like trying to walk with shackled limbs. 
 Schiller notices the additional energy that want of principle 
 gives a man. Many men have made failures where they 
 could easily have been successful, if they had only been 
 unscrupulous. We can easily imagine that Solomon was 
 inconceivably puzzled, seeing clearly what would be effective, 
 but not being able to find out what would be at once effect- 
 ive and right. Notwithstanding all his ability, he may well 
 have made many mortifying failures; and besides, his very 
 successes dishearten him. The burden of taking his own 
 welfare into his own hands is too much for him, seeing that 
 he is hampered by moral considerations, and he comes to 
 God for orders. What a relief! The aching will rests upon 
 God's will; there passes into the soul a sense of safety, free- 
 dom from temptation, a feeling that success is probable, and 
 that whether success is ours or not, we at least have God, 
 for obedience to God is clinging to God, and possession of 
 God. There is in coming to God for orders, a satisfaction 
 all the greater that we do not obey, because we understand 
 the significancy or reason of those orders, but simply from 
 simple personal devotion, which implies a close communion 
 and inspires the assured confidence that we are pleasing him. 
 Christians have often need to make the kind of petition re- 
 ferred to in this verse — to bring their failures and their un- 
 
204 Selected psalmg ana Q§onograpi)$ 
 
 finished work to God for success and completion. When a 
 Christian man once realizes that he is acting from himself, 
 that his "ways" are his own, then it becomes him to recount 
 them to God and have a new spirit put into them, a spirit 
 which while it is one of energy is yet one of dependence; for 
 this is one of the ways in which God answers us — a new 
 spirit put into our work is a new efficiency. Sometimes there 
 is a grant of earthly wisdom, sometimes we are directed to a 
 change of work; and sometimes are made to stand still and 
 have God work for us. Even where our work is prosperous 
 we should in this way lay it down before God in order that 
 it may be assured, feeling insecure as long as it is our own. 
 A spirit of submission to God's orders, a feeling that we 
 need God's orders cannot be too sedulously cultivated by 
 the Christian. Even confidence in the indwelling of the 
 Holy Spirit often leads to dependence upon one's self and 
 wilfulness — the Christian living from grace received, rather 
 than drawing at once upon the source of all grace. Obstin- 
 acy and wilfulness are often seen in the Christian, but if 
 he receives God's orders humbly, he, by that, enters into 
 the possession of what is the rightful basis of all authority 
 and energy. 
 
 Verse 27. "The way of Thy precepts make me un- 
 derstand, and I will muse of Thy wonders." 
 
 Taking the word "way," in the active sense, the first 
 clause would mean "make me to understand that thy pre- 
 cepts are a way to the attainment of whatever, by 'my ways,' 
 (verse 26) I have attempted." "Precepts" — the law as 
 assigned work. "Make me to understand how, if I do the 
 work that you set me, I shall be doing my own." The pru- 
 dential interested views of a man, whose natural tendency is 
 to look to the main chance is manifested here, and is pre- 
 dominant in the psalm. It is one proof that Solomon wrote 
 this psalm, so like is the spirit of the psalm to his character. 
 Of course, this prudential interest is of a high and broad 
 character; not the highest and noblest type of God's ser- 
 
Eetn jFreDerick La Hue ifting 205 
 
 vice; not like David's attitude toward God, but still tending 
 to bring a man onward and upward, like one, who on a 
 lower declivity of a great mountain is yet moving towards 
 the top. Still it involves peril, not utterly to devote ones self 
 in love to the Lord. This, Solomon found in the latter 
 years of his life. An acute mind, serving God from con- 
 siderations of duty and looking to His commandments, rather 
 than to Him, is in danger of explaining away commands, 
 and reconciling the most diverse practices when temptation 
 furnishes an inducement to do so. The spirit with which 
 these words are uttered may be set forth thus, in a paraphrase 
 of the text: "Make me to understand, that in letting myself 
 be absorbed in the work Thou settest me to do, I am on 
 the way to the realization of my wishes, and then I will oc- 
 cupy myself with the realization of those desires only so 
 far as to encourage myself by meditating upon Thy won- 
 drous works in times past, where I see, first, Thy power and 
 will to help Thy servants; second, how, in spite of their 
 occupation with the work Thou settest them, to the neglect 
 apparently of their own interest, they yet came out success- 
 ful, nay where third, I see how, when that which Thou set- 
 test them to do by word (as Abraham) or by promise (as 
 Joseph) in a human sense, also precluded (see also Daniel) 
 the realization of the very promises, still Thou didst make it 
 a wonderful way, by means of which to attain the very sum- 
 mit, and higher than the summit of their desire. Thus the 
 two clauses are in perfect correlation. To Solomon and to 
 the servant of God now, this absorbtion in divinely assigned 
 work, while at the same time, contemplating the wonders of 
 the Lord is a mode of prayer, that would carry light into 
 many a darkened path. How many have to crush out 
 their tastes, how many have to deny themselves congenial 
 society or books or study, simply because their duties come 
 in the way. God assigned the duties, God also implanted 
 the dates — one ought to be done, the other ought to be 
 gratified. Bury yourself in your duties, no matter what you 
 
206 ^elcctcD psalms anD e^onogtapfjs 
 
 cast away; but it is also your duty to meditate upon the 
 wonders of God. You may be absorbed in the thought 
 of them and yet not neglect your work, nay the very thought 
 of them will set you free to work, and make you take an 
 interest in your work; for you will be helped thereby to trust 
 that out of the eater will come forth meat, and as in time 
 past God's providences were births which could not be fore- 
 seen, so it will be with you; when the Lord turns your cap- 
 tivity you will be "like to those that dream." 
 
 Verse 28. "My soul weeps from sorrows; raise me up 
 according to Thy word." 
 
 Raise me up seems to be correlative with the expression 
 weeps. A person weeping, naturally bends over and hides 
 his face. To raise such an one up, implies that his weeping 
 was put an end to, by the removal of its cause. In this verse 
 the promise gets a still broader and more liberal interpretation 
 than in the 25 th verse. There, the psalmist prays that his 
 energy may be restored, here, that his heart may be cheered ; 
 in both cases the petition is based on the promise. Now the 
 promise could be exactly fulfilled upon its final realization 
 alone. But, as man's activity is always implied, so we can 
 claim, on the part of God, as part of that promise, all that 
 is necessary to secure our activity, always saving this — it is 
 sometimes best that God should act and not we. Sometimes 
 He ties our hands or fetters, our spirit, in order that what 
 we aim at, may be better done than we could do it ourselves. 
 So likewise the servant of God can pray to be granted that 
 which will comfort his heart and fill him with joy on the 
 way. This must be true, since the promise of God is an 
 expression of His good will towards the recipient of the prom- 
 ise, and therefore, any needless delay in the execution is in- 
 consistent with it, and any needless suffering permitted is still 
 more inconsistent with it. We may infer, that He who 
 promises a time of joy to us at the end through the constraint 
 of that very nature that gives the promise, desires and implies 
 that He would give us that same or like joy all along the way. 
 
I&eto* jFteDerick La Eue ifting 207 
 
 Let this, however, be remembered; if the servant claims pres- 
 ent comfort as in accordance with the promise, so let him by 
 this very sanction to his petition, "according to Thy word," 
 cast away all comfort and joy that is inconsistent with it. 
 There is some joy that we must fail of, if we would have 
 the greater and final joy. Afflictions have their need and 
 that very often. Is it going too far to say that the cleaving 
 to the dust, spoken of in verse 25, is a cleaving of stupidity 
 and sensuality and worldliness destroying energy, and that 
 sometimes sorrow, though prayed against, "according to 
 Thy word," is retained, that the soul may be brought to lay 
 hold of the promise and thus its energy restored "according to 
 Thy word." Then the soul, though still bowed down and 
 weeping, is nevertheless out of the dust and acting and pray- 
 ing still, against its sorrow, "according to Thy word," may 
 look forward to a time of the lifting up of the head. 
 
 Verse 29. "The way of falsehood remove from me, 
 and Thy law, grant unto me graciously." 
 
 Right before the psalmist stretches a way that offers 
 to him deliverance and prosperity. But he knows that it is a 
 lie, "a way of falsehood." He knows that it will not lead 
 whither it pretends to. Still, it has some alluring power; a 
 temptation ever before the eyes may be too strong for the 
 strongest, and he asks not that he may be strengthened to 
 resist, but that the temptation may be removed. This peti- 
 tion might be answered by the actual removal of the external 
 temptations to a wrong course; or God might, while allowing 
 the external occasion for the temptation to remain, grant such 
 understanding of this false way, by having reports from those 
 who have tried it, by having the tempting men or circum- 
 stances unmasked, as should lake from it the power to tempt. 
 Or the psalmist might, (and this is indicated in the latter 
 clause) have God's way of salvation, so thrust upon his 
 attention and illuminated, that it shall appear a better and 
 more alluring way. This is what is specially prayed for — 
 deliverance from evil temptation by having the soul tempted 
 
208 Selected psalms anD ^onograpjjs 
 
 by God's proposals. "Grant me Thy law graciously." That 
 broad cult and mode of approaching God laid down by 
 the Mosaic Institutions. The law that "restores the soul" 
 (see 19 Psalm), the broad symbolic setting forth 
 of God's grace, this law which we are so apt to have in form, 
 while failing of its power, the psalmist asks to possess more 
 thoroughly, to understand more completely and to be sur- 
 rounded with all its glorious privileges and ministry crying 
 "How amiable are Thy Tabernacles, O, God of Hosts," 
 God is asked to grant this graciously, since the way of false- 
 hood does not long present itself to a man without his tam- 
 pering with it in all likelihood, and in asking for its removal, 
 he cannot but feel that he does not deserve to have it done. 
 Also, in view of the many perils besetting the way of false- 
 hood, it is an act of grace on God's part to remove it. Also 
 it is a gracious act to grant the law in view of the law's 
 character. "The way of falsehood" that offered itself to the 
 youthful Solomon, was very likely some short cut to the 
 kingly throne. Just as our Saviour was offered by the 
 Devil, the kingdom of the world, so doubtless, to the royal 
 youth, was often offered by the Father of Lies, the throne of 
 Israel upon certain conditions, which, at times, seemed tempt- 
 ing. What these conditions were we do not know, but from 
 the latter petition we may perhaps be justified in supposing 
 that he might have been tempted, through his self interest at 
 the beginning of his career, with the very same temptation, 
 that through his unconsciousness, availed to overthrow him 
 at its close. The administration was Judaic and Jerusalemic 
 and there may have been a suggestion to Solomon's mind, 
 that an apposition, founded on tribal righte, both governmen- 
 tal and sacerdotal, might make him popularity and power. 
 Such a temptation, if entertained for a moment, would be so 
 far forth, and for so long a departure from the law in the 
 thoughts of his heart. And quick as a flash must have come 
 the consciousness that any falling back from David's work 
 involved a falling back from the work of Moses; that if he 
 
l&eto* jFreOeuck La Eue ifting 209 
 
 gave up Jerusalem he must be content with only high-place 
 worship and lose all the gracious verdation of the Wilderness 
 and Tabernacle. This must have made him feel that that 
 way was a way of falsehood and led him back with an in- 
 creased sense of the law's value, crying in the dread of de- 
 served loss "grant me Thy law graciously." A Christian is 
 only safe in living on the highest plane. If he has opened to 
 him the privilege of being a son of God, let him accept it 
 with all its God-like self abnegation. Let him not try to give 
 up any of his high position in order to enjoy any of the 
 pleasures of sin. Above all let him not encourage others in 
 living on a lower plane that he may yet gain by pleasing 
 them. We should exact of ourselves strictly in this matter. 
 Much might be permitted to David that cannot be tolerated 
 in our clearer light. Let us not be willing to stand on David's 
 plane of knowledge and consciousness in order to have what 
 to David was permitted. For that we know we must 
 realize in heart and life at our peril. Going back from the 
 perfect cult and metropolitan rule, established by David, in- 
 volved the giving up of more than that. If one goes back 
 towards heathenism, why not go all the way. If a Christian 
 is content to remain where he is or tries to go further back, 
 in order that he may be in a position that will require less 
 of him, and where he may live more of the mere natural life 
 than he could in going further towards God, then he adopts 
 a line of motion in which there is no stopping place and 
 which will lead him further and further away from God. 
 We ought to live at high-water-mark of grace, if we would 
 live safely. "Forward" should be our word; "Forward to 
 the highest and holiest of all." Grant me Thy law graciously. 
 The cult that Solomon prized was splendid and gracious, but 
 we have one more splendid and gracious still — the Temple 
 of God in Heaven and the Great High Priest and the in- 
 numerable company of angels. Over against the way of 
 falsehood we must set the open door, the gracious promise, 
 the near access, the exalted dignity and the large reward. 
 
210 Selected psalms anD ^onogcap&s 
 
 Verse 30. "The way of truth have I chosen; Thy 
 judgments have I set (before me)." 
 
 "The way of truth" — the true way — the way which 
 leads whither it professes to lead, "have chosen" i. e. have 
 permanently chosen, do choose, will hereafter choose. 
 
 The false way is false, not only because it is in itself 
 not calculated to bring to happiness, him who treads it, but 
 also because God's judgments overhang it. The "way of 
 truth" is true, not only because it is in itself calculated to 
 promote the happiness of those it invited, but also because 
 it avoids God's judgments, and this is the peculiar view taken 
 of it here. The motive here, to the choice of the true path, 
 is not that to which it will lead, but that which it will avoid. 
 This is in striking harmony with the general tone of religious 
 prudence, which rules this psalm; and that this has rightly 
 a place in the experience of the servant of God is very mani- 
 fest, from the very fact that God's people have had to be so 
 often warned and threatened. Even St. Paul acknowledges 
 that this fear has influence upon him, and is a motive to his 
 work. "Lest I, who have preached the Gospel to others, 
 should be myself a castaway." This declaration is the 
 complement of the petition in the preceding verse. It will be 
 but naught for us to ask that the way of falsehood be re- 
 moved, if we do not choose the way of truth. If the way 
 of falsehood was the opportunity offered to him of using 
 wrong means to advance himself, then the choosing of the 
 way of truth implies the embracing of the right opportunities 
 of advancing himself, consistent with quiet waiting God's 
 time. There can be no doubt but that the time of youth 
 was occupied by Solomon with such exercises and studies as 
 helped to make him the king he was. If he had given way 
 to the temptation of vain and unholy endeavor, he would 
 not have made the brilliant monarch he did. He had in his 
 time of enforced inactivity, an excellent opportunity to study 
 the nation in its parties. Men would unveil themselves with- 
 out reserve before and towards the little and despised prince, 
 
mem jFreDerick La Kue fting 211 
 
 and he would come to the throne as rich in experience, 
 almost, as if he had governed all this time. The judgments 
 that Solomon set before himself as warnings, might have 
 been God's general judgments against sin. The judgments 
 against Saul and his house would be nearer and more suited 
 to his case. But the judgment against Absalom would be 
 of specific application. He was taught by these judgments 
 that the throne was the Lord's, and that the sub-royalty of 
 Israel was in His gift and that he was not to lay hands upon 
 it himself. The child of God now has need to learn this 
 lesson. He may, as Solomon was, be little and despised. 
 He may feel that his opportunities for usefulness are limited; 
 that, if he had more wealth, social position or official posi- 
 tion or whatever makes power for a man, he then would 
 be able to do more for the Kingdom of God. But let him 
 beware, self-seeking sometimes takes this form. It may be 
 only repining, when he is laid by helpless by sickness; it may 
 be the neglecting of duties that imprison the faculties and tie 
 up the powers and even appear to destroy them. It may 
 take the form of desiring popularity, and seeking it by over 
 eager and questionable means, and even by unholy intrigues. 
 This is all the way of falsehood. He must reject, for there 
 is danger in the path and the mode of rejection is the choice 
 of the "way of truth." He must make the most of his time 
 in the position and circumstances that God has chosen for 
 him, no matter how unlikely it may appear that they will 
 bear fruit for the kingdom. Special and peculiar opportuni- 
 ties may be found in any peculiar set of circumstances, and if 
 used aright, they will promote not only our growth in grace, 
 but our efficiency as servants of God. God never cuts 
 blocks with razors; but it requires great faith not to believe 
 it. This whole life is but a waiting time, like that of Solo- 
 mon. The throne will come bye and bye, and we will be 
 sorry enough if we are not ready for it. 
 
 Verse 31. "I have cleaved unto Thy testimonies, oh, 
 Jehovah, put me not to shame." 
 
212 Selected psalms and e@onojjrapf)g 
 
 The word "cleave" means, adhere — stick-to, as in 
 verse 25, but is followed by a different preposition. There 
 the word is followed by the preposition "to" indicating a 
 mere outside adherence as of lint to a rough surface. Here 
 "cleave" is followed by the preposition "in," indicating 
 an internal adherence or sympathy. This latter form of ex- 
 pression is used in Hebrew where a strong feeling attracts 
 towards another e. g. "Ruth clave unto her" (in her). In 
 verse 25 then, we have some part of the psalmist — some 
 precious part designated as his soul, described as brought 
 down into the dust and made to adhere to it; while at the 
 same time the man himself loathing his position, cries out 
 for deliverance. Here, verse 3 1 , we have the man himself 
 freely giving himself up to that which at the same time at- 
 tracts him so strongly that the word well describes him as 
 carried away by and sticking to it. These two kinds of 
 cleaving are then dissimilar, the one is voluntary, the other 
 involuntary and yet there is a likeness between them. A 
 man who, of his own accord mounts a horse's back is, while 
 he remains there, as entirely in the power of his horse's mo- 
 tions, as if he had been placed there and tied fast. So one 
 who steps into a boat of his own accord, must be carried 
 with the motion of the boat as long as he remains in it, as 
 irresistibly as if he had been forced into it and made to re- 
 main. We must not lose sight of the original sense of the 
 word cleave — to stick fast to. In English the word "stick" 
 is used only of intense resolve, e. g., the cry of encourage- 
 ment, "stick to him." But the Hebrew expression means 
 more than simple resolve, however intense, something of 
 involuntary emotion, that perforce carries a man away and 
 which the volition merely gives expression to, is intimated. 
 For instance, in the expression, Ruth clave to her, while 
 there is volition, there is also a strong emotion that carries 
 Ruth away and fastens her to Naomi, so different from 
 mere resolve as to be analogous to the adhering of one body 
 to another. This strong expression then of the Psalmist 
 
EefcK jFreDetick La IRue ifting 213 
 
 manifests the intensity of his choice, its unreservedness, and 
 the utter subserviency to the testimonies of God implied in 
 and following from it. It is as if he gave himself up to 
 the sway of that which from henceforth had him completely 
 in its power. This supreme dominance of the Law of God 
 over the man is necessary to a real and truthful relation with 
 it. The law of God is intolerant of any other allegiance, 
 and until the servant of God can say, "I have cleaved to 
 Thy testimonies" he may well suspect his loyalty. But he 
 must not let this adherence to the testimonies of God ter- 
 minate in a mere mental act, if true active obedience will 
 flow from it; indeed it may be said that an act of obedi- 
 ence is the necessary basis for the mental choice. As a 
 mental act, we may accept the law and resolve to obey it, 
 may resolve to cleave to it; but the actual cleaving to God's 
 testimonies is in the act of obeying them from the heart. 
 They who try as a preliminary to active obedience, to 
 devote themselves to God's law by an inner act of the soul 
 often find it unsatisfactory, for the mind reacts against itself. 
 God made the mind not to act alone, but through the body, 
 with reference to the external world, and all difficulties 
 would vanish, and they who are sticking fast in the slough 
 of self-consciousness would be free, if letting their mental 
 processes alone they would fix their attention upon what 
 is to be done and do it. Then would the soul truly 
 cleave to God's testimonies and every succeeding act would 
 make the dominance of the law more complete. But we 
 must go farther than this, and say that not only is an act 
 required, but the act must be towards God; it is in vain 
 to try any mere dealing with the law, any care in obeying 
 the external precept, to attain to this utter subjection of the 
 soul to God's testimonies — the moral precepts are the very 
 soul of the law; they command the assent of the natural 
 reason and conscience, they attract the loftier part of man, 
 but that strong feeling which is necessary to bear a man 
 away and fasten him to the law forever, is attraction to- 
 
214 Selected p$alm$ attD ^onograpljs 
 
 wards God. We must deal at first hand with Him. There 
 cannot be devotion to the law without devotion to the law 
 giver. He that is made in the image of God, cannot cleave 
 to any statement of God's will because for cleaving there 
 must be loving, therefore the testimony to God's moral 
 character must be adhered to in all its forms and through- 
 out the Bible. The command marks, interpreted by the 
 Spirit, become very broad and multitudinous, reaching to 
 the thoughts and intent of the heart and placing the ser- 
 vant of God en rapport with Him who is the infinite source 
 of the command. If we were interpreting this clause alone, 
 there is no height of loyal love which we could not con- 
 ceive it to imply. But here comes in the second clause, not 
 to trim down the luxuriancy of the emotion, but still to 
 introduce a little regard to self-interests. Reading the two 
 together the verse is equivalent to this, "Put me not to shame 
 in my cleaving to Thy testimonies." There is a depth in 
 the Psalmist's feeling that would doubtless impel him to 
 cleave to God's testimonies no matter what the result might 
 be, but the feeling does not carry him away to that degree 
 that he forgets all about consequences. He is very regard- 
 ful of them. This is a prudent man. He has invested in 
 God's testimonies and is evidently understood by those 
 around to have risked his all upon his adherence to them. 
 And this does not derogate in the least from the nobleness 
 of the feeling that impels him. It is, perhaps, on a lower 
 plane than David who would forget both law and conse- 
 quences in thinking about God. But still this is the ex- 
 pression of true and acceptable service. The truth is, many 
 feelings unite in an impulse to obey God; a sense of his 
 rightful authority, of his dread power, of the utter folly of 
 disobedience, and as here, hopes beckoning forward to the 
 attainment of one's aim, a feeling of covenant claim, all 
 unite with love of the law giver to impel the servant to 
 utter devotion. This would all the more easily take place, 
 if, as in the case of young Solomon, the thing which self 
 
J&eto* jFre&erick La Eue ifting 2t5 
 
 interest demands were promised by God and to be viewed 
 as but further and higher employment in His service. 
 
 Verse 32. "The way of Thy commandments will I 
 run, for Thou wilt enlarge my heart." 
 
 "The way of Thy commandments" is the way marked 
 out by God's commandments, which are the law, considered 
 in its directive capacity. Now a way exists not for itself, it 
 is merely a means of reaching a place, of attaining an end. 
 Now in the highest sense of the word "way," the com- 
 mandments point out the way to God. They are a means 
 by which God's servant is united at last to God Himself — 
 the real aim of all His children. But the child of God can- 
 not make personal communion with God his sole aim. He 
 is on the Earth and of the Earth, and earthly things must 
 be the objects of intense interest and eager pursuit or not 
 only would the work that God has appointed to be done 
 here remain undone; but the proper and natural avenues of 
 approach to God through the things that He has made, 
 would be neglected and men would surfer spiritual loss. 
 The child of God may and must make his aim, health, 
 wealth, happiness, prosperity, power. All these may not 
 only be good for him personally, but they may be made the 
 means of something higher and better if they are subordi- 
 nate to that higher and better aim. Just as the words of a 
 sentence would be subordinate to the sense of the 
 sentence, just as the notes of a piece of music 
 should be subordinate, to the strain, just as the 
 parts of a building should be subordinate to its purpose, so 
 should all the aims of God's servant centre in one aim, in 
 all his seekings he should seek God. The position of young 
 Solomon illustrates both the possibility and the difficulty 
 of this. The hope that was set before him might well be 
 called a glorious hope, for it was a call to more magnificent 
 service for God than had ever fallen to the lot of mortal be- 
 fore. Every step towards the position of King of Israel 
 might well be a step towards God. But that exalted posi- 
 
216 ©elected psalms and ^onograpfjs 
 
 tion was also an opportunity to serve himself — to gratify his 
 taste for splendor, his desire for authority, his capacity for 
 ruling; it was a mine of earthly pleasure for him to work. 
 The word of promise then brought him into the scope of a 
 temptation, and he was in danger of falling away from the 
 search after God while seeking what He had promised. If 
 he desired the kingdom in order that he might gratify self, 
 then he must of needs wait with impatience, and the temp- 
 tation to seize "suddenly and unholily" the throne, would 
 have nothing to break its force save the consideration of 
 personal peril. But on the other hand waiting patiently as 
 one waits for an opportunity to serve, he has already the 
 service that he seeks and would depart from it by yielding 
 to the evil solicitation. The Lord's way with him becomes 
 his way. The guiding way-marks of the commandments 
 chafe not his will, for his heart is enlarged by the Lord. 
 Petty aims have vanished. He will have only the greatest and 
 the best, and is able in the least to see the greatest, in the 
 parts to see the whole, in the petty details of his preparatory 
 training, in the alarming adversities, delays and denials, he 
 realizes the promise. He need not wait for the summer, 
 his bushes bear roses in the winter. His heart is so enlarged 
 to perfect sympathy with the holiness of the command, to 
 entire trust in God's faithfulness, in wisdom, that he is sure 
 that not a step marked out by the command is a step lost, 
 to the magnificent feeling that he is serving in the highest 
 sense possible in conforming to God's denial of service that 
 he bounds along in his path, however tortuous it may ap- 
 pear, assured that it is a true way, the true way for the 
 attainment of his aim. This is the only way for the child 
 of God to be diligent in business, fervent in Spirit, serving 
 the Lord. If the heart is only enlarged the commandments 
 solve the problem. The secular becomes sacred and the 
 sacred secular, and the Christian's life is one. He has in- 
 tense earthly desires, but has a desire (a hierarchy of de- 
 sire) that swallows these up. So he rests not in any earthly 
 
Eeti* jFreDerick &a l&ue ifting 2X7 
 
 aim even the highest, but at all times and in all things feels 
 after God. The astronomer intensely desires a telescope, 
 but that desire is swallowed up in the desire of the sky, 
 and he only arrives at the perfect possession of the telescope 
 when he forgets it in his gaze through it upon the stars. So 
 one whose heart God has enlarged finds in the commands 
 that restrain the worldling, his largest liberty, the worldling's 
 ends become his means, toys turn in his hands to tools, and 
 all the details of life precious as the parts of a wondrous 
 song which rests not in any note, now hastens to its cadence 
 but is perfectly beautiful only when according to the law 
 of the strain it is passing to its perfect close. This is Chris- 
 ian waiting. 
 
 "The men of grace have found 
 Glory begun below." 
 
 HE. 
 
 Verse 33. "Guide me Jehovah, in the way of Thy 
 statutes and I will keep it (to the) end." 
 
 In the preceding verse we have the Psalmist looking 
 to the commandments for direction and in his present state 
 of mind he chafes at their restrictions, trusting confidently 
 that God will, by enlarging his heart, bring him into har- 
 mony with them. Here the application is made directly to 
 God Himself for guidance. "O! Jehovah! guide me." In 
 verse 33 God is looked to that repugnance to the directions 
 of His commandments may be overcome by an inner change. 
 Here the psalmist would put himself under God's personal 
 direction in order to secure perseverance in the way. There 
 is considerable difference between looking to God's com- 
 mandments for direction with a heart enlarged by God's 
 spirit, and applying directly to God for guidance. Either 
 would secure our safe arrival at the Heavenly Home; but 
 the first implies a more active exercise of the faculties, a 
 certain degree of independence. Our minds lighted up by 
 the large heart must be all alive to scrutinize, interpret and 
 
218 ©elected p$alm$ and ^onograpftsi 
 
 follow out the directions given in the commandments. But 
 there are those Christians who crave and there are times 
 when all Christians crave to be led like little children. 
 Weariness, discouragement and self-distrust sometimes leave 
 us nothing as a basis of hope in our future good conduct, 
 but a child-like trust in God's guidance. The word 
 "guide," the address "O Jehovah," both indicate this di- 
 rect, personal appeal, the "statutes" that is, "arbitrary com- 
 mands" — "orders" of God, is just what the tired and 
 daunted soul demands to make its obedience full of rest. 
 No impulse is asked, for the soul earnestly desires to do 
 right; it is in the right way, but it fears lest it should not 
 per:evere; no j- instruction does it ask, for that involves the 
 labor of thought; it wants "orders" and it asks to be guided 
 in obeying these. One would think that if one had the 
 statute there would be no need of guidance since if one 
 desired to obey, he could literally obey. But there are 
 many of God's orders which yet require the exercise of 
 judgment in their application. For instance, Christ's com- 
 mand to take no thought for the morrow. That is a stat- 
 ute — an arbitrary command; it does not appeal to the moral 
 sense or to human wisdom. So, also, of other directions, not 
 to go to law, to love thy neighbor as thyself; the obedience 
 must not be slavish; the statutes cannot be followed out 
 with lazy literalness. They constitute no mathematical rule, 
 and even where the soul is not under the stress of a glazing 
 temptation, that makes the command appear other than it 
 is — even "in the quietness of thought" it is difficult to see 
 what is duty. Besides, the enactments of God cannot cov- 
 er all special cases, the law would be so voluminous as to 
 be impossible for us to use. We cannot keep the law by 
 keeping the typical action enjoined or forbidden, we must 
 expand the statute, and this requires the exertion of both 
 art and will, and needs to be guided. Besides this, to keep 
 the "way of the statutes" is something more than to keep 
 the statutes. The ceremonial enactments, which are in a 
 
Eetn jFreDerick £a IRue i&ing 219 
 
 great measure arbitrary, could be perfectly kept as statutes 
 and yet without heart and without faith. They might be 
 to the Jew only the path in which God has ordained that 
 he should tread. But a way is more than a path. The 
 way of God's statutes is the path marked out by God's 
 statutes as used by the Child of God in order to attain an 
 end other and higher than the statutes themselves. Thus a 
 man might go up to the temple at the appointed times 
 and discharge all the appointed dues, walking like Zacha- 
 riah and Elizabeth in all the statutes and ordinances of the 
 Lord, blameless, yet without a higher purpose than merely 
 to obey God's command. He walks in the way, but does 
 not make it his way. He makes the statute a way, when 
 he approaches the temple and uses the rites to rid him- 
 self of a sense of guilt and to recover God's favor again, 
 to be filled with all hope for this life and that to come. 
 Not without significance is the omission of the preposition 
 "in." It is not "guide me in the way, but guide me the 
 way." Guide me by way of Thy statutes. "Guide me 
 in the following out of my purposes so that I may follow 
 them out in the line of and by means of Thy statutes." 
 The state of mind of the Psalmist seems to be this. He 
 desires to be spiritual, craves, as some minds do, special 
 and minute cultus, and though on the right path and with 
 a prevailing purpose to follow it to the end, yet fears the 
 force of temptations to turn him aside in momentary de- 
 flections which may become permanent ones. He asks for 
 guidance, that God by providential arrangement of circum- 
 stances should incline his heart to constant obedience, and, 
 if necessary, hedge his way up, guiding him as a horse 
 with a rein, if it must be. This is not the way of the 
 strong man in Christ, it is the way of weak and tired ones, 
 who walked not as they would, strong in the Lord, but like 
 humble sheep look to their shepherd's steps and are thank- 
 ful for his rod and crook. 
 
 "I will keep it to the end." This is uttered, 
 
220 Selected psalms anD aionograpljs 
 
 First, with a sense of the natural helplessness of the 
 Psalmist. Looking forward to the long path before him, 
 he feels that the only ground of hope is God's guidance. 
 "I will keep it," is simply future. Granted God's guidance 
 to the end, perseverance to the end will follow. 
 
 Second, it may be understood in a covenant sense, 
 and as a resolve. "Guide thou me for Thy part, and I will 
 for my part keep the path to the end, or more than that, 
 will be to the end pressing forward in the path towards the 
 end," for when the path becomes a way to a man, it is 
 more than an ending, an aim. But this covenant resolve is 
 based on the hope manifested by the simple future. On 
 the God who performs His part is based all power to per- 
 form ours. The value of the covenant idea is this. If we 
 exert ourselves to do our part, then we bind God as it were 
 to do His — to do what is necessary to be done in order that 
 we may do our part. This paradox is involved in every 
 act of faith. So that the covenant resolve is very like the 
 
 Third sense, simple resolution in reliance on the Lord. 
 Guide thou me and then in that strength I will do not one 
 action, but all the long series of actions issuing in the great 
 end. 
 
 Verse 34. "Make me understand (it) and I will 
 keep Thy law, and will observe it with a whole heart." 
 
 The word law signifies the whole Mosaic Cult — the 
 law of God not as arbitrarily laid down, (statutes), not as 
 guiding (commandments), not as assigning duty (precepts) 
 not as appealing to the moral consciousness (testimonies), 
 or to the sense of dread (judgments), but as suited to the 
 needs of His people; soothing their fears, arousing their 
 hopes and drawing out their affections — restoring the soul. 
 This is perhaps, vague; it might mean understand any or 
 everything; the next clause, however, limits it as is usual 
 in this psalm. Alexander understands law after under- 
 stand; this is perhaps, too definite to be poetical. The want 
 of regimen is part of the poetical form. A man may under- 
 
Eel), iFreDettck La Hue ifting 221 
 
 stand the law and yet may not have 
 the understanding that will secure his keeping of the 
 law. The understanding asked for here is full understand- 
 ing, all the knowledge that tends to put a man in due rela- 
 tion to the law: knowledge of God's purpose in giving it, 
 knowledge of one's need of it, the need that others have 
 of it, skill in the law, experimental knowledge of its power 
 to restore the soul. It should not be kept as a mere arbi- 
 trary statute after which the heart does not go, but from 
 the heart, as it manifests the loving heart and large purpose 
 of God. Just as the "testimonies" appeal to the moral 
 sense, and to be kept properly should be appreciated by 
 the conscience and obeyed according to the principle lying 
 beneath each, so the law should be kept as remedy, as 
 promise, as a present revelation of God. Then the splen- 
 did structure, the awful manifestation, the magnificent cere- 
 monial, the significant rite, fully understood, would secure its 
 own obedience, and with the whole heart it would be ob- 
 served. Such an understanding as would make obedience 
 attractive is asked for and confidence expressed that it alone 
 would secure perseverance. We have no law in the sense 
 of cult. We are free of the Mosaic law, and yet have been 
 made free only in order that we may in the Spirit build forth 
 from a consciousness of our needs and our aesthetic and 
 social powers a new and perfect cult. If we would only 
 ask to be made to understand the old law of the Jews as it 
 is asked here, and also to understand the various cults of 
 the churches about us; instead of keeping blindly and ob- 
 stinately as a statute of God our own cult despising or hat- 
 ing that of others, if we would come to God's house with 
 hearts full and eager to meet the Lord; then would our 
 forms of worship transform themselves towards the perfect 
 cult, and we would keep the law in the sense that it is to 
 be kept by us, and all its details would be full of pregnant 
 suggestion to the Ecclesiologists of the future. In this last 
 point of view we see that the want of regimen in "under- 
 stand" helps to the larger meaning. 
 
222 Selected psalms and eponogtapJjs 
 
 Verse 35. "Make me tread in the path of Thy com- 
 mandments, for in it do I delight." 
 
 The commandments of God, prescribing a certain 
 course of action, mark out a path. This path used as a 
 means of attaining one's end becomes a way, and an ex- 
 cellent way it is, direct, smooth and safe. But the com- 
 mandments prescribe a course of action pleasant in itself 
 considered, made so by the consciousness that we are obey- 
 ing Him whom we ought to obey and love; and also by 
 the fact that what we are directed to do is consonant with 
 our better nature, and tends, besides, to throw around us 
 agreeable circumstances by reason of the effects produced 
 on others. 
 
 "Flowers laugh before Thee in their beds 
 And fragrance in Thy footing treads," 
 
 — Wordsworth's Ode to duty. 
 Considered merely as a path, without reference to its leading 
 any whither it is pleasant. Both the word "tread" and the 
 etymology of the word translated path, indicating the origin 
 of a path by trampling show that the view, is limited here 
 to the track marked out by the commandments. In this 
 track the child of God desires to be made to walk, and 
 petitions God for more forceful influences than are asked for 
 in verse 33. In the word "guide" some choice or impulse 
 to the right is presupposed; here, in distrust of one's impulses 
 and powers, an appeal is made to God, that He would 
 bring us into the right path, and secure our continuance 
 therein by the use of means that are independent of our 
 choice. This may be done in many ways, for the resources 
 of God are infinite; by hedging up the way, by losses, be- 
 reavements, by chastisements, by Judgments. Christians can, 
 in looking back upon their past lives, see how their general 
 purpose in life has been guided in its details unto something 
 different from that they intended. They may often also no- 
 tice that God sometimes, by some sudden providence 
 
nzto. jFreOerick La l&ue mm 223 
 
 changed their purpose, took away their relish for worldly 
 things, and even earthly things, and made them come into 
 the right path. This petition may be asked by one who is 
 treading with delight the path of the commandments, and 
 who looks to God to secure his continuance therein. But 
 it is mainly and properly the petition of one who is out of 
 the way and, remembering his former delight in it, desires 
 to be set back therein again. It might be asked what more 
 would be needed to impel one to enter the path of the 
 commandments again than the knowledge that so doing 
 would bring delight. But there is a natural sluggishness to 
 be overcome. We are not always willing to pay the price 
 of exertion for that which we know will please us when 
 gained; and then, though reason and remembrance both as- 
 sures that the course marked out by God will bring pleasure, 
 still it does not seem so to us. The delight of the path is 
 a higher, different kind of delight from that which is present 
 and powerful out of the path; we feel that we would have 
 to be different beings to enjoy the path. Reason may tell 
 one steeped in coarse pleasures, that refined, cultured people 
 enjoy more, and yet, being what he is, the sty pleases him 
 best. The first steps towards the path may be painful, 
 something of force is necessary on God's part to propel us 
 forward. I may be perfectly convinced that the extraction 
 of a tooth might bring me ease, and yet might need some- 
 thing to compel me to have it out. So I might be con- 
 vinced from past experience that if I were only living on a 
 higher plane, I would take delight in that life, but I am 
 living on a lower plane, and its impulses so sway me that I 
 need some impulse extra to push me forward out of it. It 
 is but tempting God to pray this prayer if we do not strive 
 at all. If we go on to enjoy to the utmost the coarse en- 
 joyments of the lower plane till we are driven by main 
 force to the higher. Indeed we cannot earnestly ask to be 
 made to walk in the right path without some effort to give up 
 the wrong. 
 
224 Selected psalms ano ^ottograp&s 
 
 Verse 36. "Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies, 
 and not to gain." 
 
 The word "incline" is remarkable as being the strong- 
 est expression yet of the soul's dependence upon God for 
 its motions towards good. The only expression like it is 
 "enlarge my heart" in verse 32. Nothing could mark the 
 age of the psalm more definitely than this does. It must 
 have been at the end of a long national religious experience, 
 by which the soul is forced upon a knowledge of itself, that 
 this petition was uttered. "Heart" here means, not merely 
 the seat of the affections, but the propulsive centre, the seat 
 of cravings, desires, demands. The exact sense in which 
 it is used here is seen by the next clause, which written out 
 fully would be "and do not incline my heart to gain" — 
 cause me not to crave gain. Gain is desired for its own sake, 
 and the petition is that we may be inclined to crave moral 
 purity for its own sake, for our own satisfaction independent 
 of any reward. From the correlation of the clauses it would 
 appear that the petition is at bottom this, "may I not be 
 inclined to prefer gain to Thy testimonies." Now as this 
 is a sinful preference, God cannot be conceived as directly 
 inducing it upon the soul, or He would be the author of the 
 sin; we are bound not to take the word "incline" in the 
 sense of direct working upon the mind to change its states. 
 The petition then would be very like the last petition of the 
 Lord's Prayer, "lead us not into temptation." Place me in 
 such circumstances, deal with me in such a way as shall in- 
 cline me to prefer Thy testimonies to any gain. This peti- 
 tion we must not understand to be uttered as a general peti- 
 tion, but, in view of some special temptation to prefer gain, 
 or worldly advantage of any kind, to the testimonies of God. 
 In the case of him whom we suppose to be the author of this 
 psalm, there was no lack of temptation of this kind. In a 
 thousand ways he could gain influence and present power, 
 and increase the prospect of his succession to the throne. 
 We see how Absalom used his opportunities, and Solomon 
 
l&eto* jFre&etick JLa Eue Mm 225 
 
 was a far shrewder man. Here in the presence of some 
 opportunity to get advancement at the expense of his con- 
 science; he prays that he may be inclined to hold fast to 
 God's testimonies, not because he thereby acquired a claim 
 on God for deliverance from evils as at verse 22, or for 
 prosperity, as at verse 3 1 , or because it was shrewder to 
 adhere to God's testimonies as at verse 24, for none of these 
 he prays, but that he might be made to feel that his true 
 gain was holiness, and in holiness to rest satisfied. Incline 
 my heart unto Thy testimonies as unto gain. 
 
 This petition commends itself to the child of God in 
 all ages. O, that we might be tempted by the testimony! 
 Then would temptation be abolished. 
 
 Verse 37. "Turn away my eyes from seeing false- 
 hoods; in Thy ways quicken me." 
 
 In verse 29 the psalmist asks that the false and tempt- 
 ing way may be removed from before him. There the false 
 thing remaining, he asks that God would turn his eyes away 
 from it. The word for falsehood is different in significance 
 from that used in verse 29. That signifies something that 
 appears what it is not, this signifies what appears to be 
 something, but is really nothing. There is thus a peculiar 
 fitness in the use of the Hebrew word in verse 29, in con- 
 nection with the word "way," a way is nothing in itself, its 
 importance consists in what it leads to. The false way is a 
 way that leads to something, but to what is very different 
 from its promise. Here the temptation which the false thing 
 presents is not in what it promises, but in itself — what it ap- 
 pears to be. Wicked aims and pursuits considered on the 
 side of their worthlessness and emptiness, shams of all kinds 
 so often attractive and despotic, are indicated here. Alexan- 
 der regards the word translated in our version "vanity" to 
 indicate false objects of religious worhsip, but this use of the 
 word is rare. And besides, not to say that better sense is 
 made by the meaning "nothingness" or "emptiness, ' we can 
 hardly conceive a man of the stable and contemplative piety 
 
226 Selected psalms anO ^ottograp&s 
 
 of the psalmist having any strong temptation to worship other 
 gods. In the case of the young Solomon it is still more 
 unlikely, pious and devoted as we know him to have been, 
 depending for all his earthly support upon the theocratic 
 party in Israel. If we will compare further with verse 29, 
 we shall see there a greater passivity of soul. There, there 
 is no hope of resisting the temptation, and the petition is that 
 the temptation may be removed — it is asked that the object 
 that allures to evil may be taken away and another substi- 
 tuted, one that presenting the true way may obliterate the 
 false one. Here there is more energy. The man that says 
 "turn away my eyes from the temptation" instead of "take 
 it away" contemplates deliverance through activity of his 
 own. No change of objects or circumstances does he desire, 
 but asks that his wrong activity may be taken away; by his 
 being stimulated to a right course of action. "Turn away 
 my eyes from seeing vanity, by making me live in Thy 
 ways." The ways of God would mean, first His customary 
 acts (Ps. 103: 7; Is. 25:9 and Ex. 33 ), then his deal- 
 ings with men, Is. 44:5. From this the transition is easy 
 to precepts, either direct or derived from his example (Ps. 
 1 19:3) or from knowledge of what pleases him. So the 
 "ways of a mistress" which a good servant ought to learn 
 may be either the directions she gives, her actions, or her 
 wishes and tastes, all these will be a law to the servant who 
 desires truly to serve. So the servant of the Great King 
 strives to walk in "all His ways" and learn them from word 
 and works, precept and acts — the law is in the truth, the 
 lawgiver Himself. "Make me to live in Thy ways" would 
 seem to mean, "let me live in the constant experience of 
 Thy dealings." Make the empty and pretentious shams 
 that now tempt me, to vanish by bringing me on Thy part 
 within the scope of Thy ways of mercy and love and in- 
 clining me to "walk in those ways" by, on my part, doing 
 according to those ways of mercy and love, keeping in them 
 by striving to do nothing that would cast me out of them. 
 
Betn ^Frederick &a IRue ifting 227 
 
 and seeking to conform myself to all the ways of my God, 
 imitating His example and consulting His wishes and in- 
 clination in all things. There is in this verse an acknow- 
 ledgement of the powerful influence of the temptation even 
 when its emptiness is known. Who asks any one to turn 
 his eyes away from anything? Our eyes are under our 
 complete command, but not under the complete command of 
 the reason, a change in the affections and desires is 
 needed for that. This verse also gives a glimpse of perhaps 
 the most melancholy condition of a sinner who is slave to 
 his sin, while knowing it to be profitless; in this condition the 
 psalmist will find himself if God does not help him. We are 
 taught also that the only way to be delivered from the force 
 of a temptation is not to contemplate it — is to shut our 
 eyes to it and also that in such a simple act as turning away 
 one's eyes we should not strive in our own strength, but do 
 it in God. We may learn also that our striving should be 
 not simply to avoid the seeing of any evil thing, but to turn 
 away from it by turning to another and better; to turn away 
 from the pursuit of shadows and the consequent gain of 
 nothing to the pursuit of substance and the gain of blessing. 
 
 Verse 38. "Make good to Thy servant Thy word 
 which (Thou hast spoken) to Thy fearers." 
 
 "Make good unto Thy servant Thy word which is 
 for Thy fear." "Thy word" means Thy promise, it cannot 
 well mean anything else, and yet even Alexander makes it 
 the promise as annexed to and implied in the commandment. 
 It does not seem to me to have anything to do with the 
 commandments. This interpretation is a remarkable instance 
 of the power of a theory. Simply because an old commen- 
 tator says, that the law is alluded to in nearly every verse 
 it seems we are bound to make it so by force, when it is 
 manifest that there are many verses in which the law is not 
 alluded to. And this is one of them. Whether the first 
 word is translated "fulfil" or "confirm," it cannot well refer 
 to anything but some promise that God has made to His 
 
228 Selected P$alm0 anD ^onograpftf 
 
 servant. This promise is said to be calculated to promote 
 God's fear. This description would indicate the person to 
 whom the promise was made to be a distinguished man, one 
 whose experiences of God's dealings would be impressive 
 in the community in which he lived. And it strengthens 
 the probability that Solomon was the author of this psalm 
 when we consider that the very making of the promise that 
 assigned him to the throne, was peculiarly "to God's fear." 
 It took the disposition of the throne out of the hands of 
 people and king, and vindicated for the Lord, the political 
 headship over Israel. The fulfilling of the promise in the 
 baffling of so many intrigues, the overthrow of so many 
 splendid aspirants, and above all in the elevation of one 
 young and despised, but trusting in the word of the Lord, 
 would make all feel that God was worth waiting for and 
 looking to. And more than this, Solomon well knew that 
 not for himself was the throne promised him; it was that he 
 might build the temple, perfect the cult of Israel, and reign 
 to the Glory of the Lord. Upon this ground then — that it 
 would promote God's fear — Solomon bases his urgent en- 
 treaty that God would soon fulfil His word of promise. But 
 every child of God may make this plea, if he lives mani- 
 festly and not secretly a life of trust and service, then the 
 fulfilment of God's promises in his person, will indeed be for 
 God's fear, and will be calculated to win others to trust and 
 reverence, and in his degree he can join in the joyous antici- 
 pation of the Church (Ps. 65:2), "O, Thou that hearest 
 prayers, to Thee shall all flesh come." And even though 
 the child of God thinks that he is too obscure to be noticed, 
 yet he may feel that in the great realization of all promises 
 his blessed state shall help to confirm throughout the Universe 
 the honor of God's name. They who would use this 
 glorious argument with God, must see to it that they so live 
 that their prosperity will tend to make God feared, for God's 
 name is often blasphemed on account of the blessings that 
 are granted to the ungodly. 
 
Beth jFre&euck JLa l&ue Eing 229 
 
 Verse 39. "Turn away my disgrace, which I dread, 
 for Thy judgments (are) good." 
 
 From the fact that he dreads the disgrace it would 
 seem not yet to have fallen upon him, and yet it is called 
 "my disgrace"; this would imply that he is already under 
 this reproach. The word "turn away," though it may mean 
 avert more naturally signifies "remove." Perhaps we reach 
 the real meaning, as is so often the case in Sacred Scriptures, 
 by taking both meanings. This would make the verse ap- 
 plicable not only to the case of one who only dreads dis- 
 grace, but also to the case of one who suffers under it, and 
 is the fitting petition of him who, enduring present contempt 
 has reason to apprehend still further and greater dishonour. 
 It suits well the young Solomon, little and despised on account 
 of his great pretensions and exposed to become an object 
 of yet greater derision by the turn of events. His momen- 
 tary lack of faith in his final success may find expression in 
 terms not of the loss, but of the contempt he would then 
 experience. But it may be that Solomon, without doubting 
 of the final result, still prays that during the interval of 
 waiting he may not be exposed to contempt of those around 
 him. Taken in this sense the petition would not misbecome 
 our Blessed Lord, who, though He could not doubt of the 
 end, still suffered keenly under the contempt and reproach 
 inseparable from His humiliation. It well befits the servant 
 of God whether in a moment of despondency he doubts his 
 final triumph or suffers keenly under the reproach that is so 
 often his. The word translated "disgrace" is very strong, 
 all the degrading ideas that gather round the word "expos- 
 ure" belong to it, public scorn, unbounded derision, with no 
 defence or even hiding place. The second clause is his 
 plea for his petition, that which inspires faith; faith pleads 
 in God's presence. The psalmist regards the ordinary events 
 of his life as an expression of God's judgment. The malice 
 and sneers of enemies, the losses, privations, as also all com- 
 forts and joys are God's judgments. And since they are, 
 
230 Selected psalms anD ©onograpfjsi 
 
 they must manifest His goodnesss. He has reason to think 
 what impends will be averted, what at present annoys, will 
 be removed, and so cries out to God. This petition may 
 be made by a sinner who dreads public shame on account 
 of his sins which he richly deserves. Turning to the Lord 
 he may ask for pardon and favor, a remission of all earthly 
 penalties, and especially this one of public disgrace. God's 
 acts as Judge are not merely inspired by Justice, but tem- 
 pered with mercy. And, indeed, mercy is a true part of 
 judgment. It was because Joseph was a just man that he 
 was unwilling to put Mary to an open shame by enforcing 
 the strict penalties of the law. Samuel, although in private 
 he sternly denounced to Saul the rending of the kingdom 
 from him, still regarded (Sam. 1 5 : 30 and 31) his agon- 
 ized entreaty not to make his disgrace public, and honored 
 him before the elders of Israel, and there is many a man to 
 whom God may not remit the earthly penalty for his sin, 
 who will nevertheless be saved from shame in the eyes of his 
 fellows, because God's judgments are as truly an expression 
 of His goodness as His justice. With still more reason may 
 this prayer be made by the servant of God, who has sinned 
 or made an unhappy mistake, and with how much greater 
 confidence may the servant of God ask to be delivered from 
 shame and derision when it threatens him, because he does 
 his duty. And yet this petition may not always have an 
 earthly answer. There is such a thing permitted, as 
 reproach for the name of Christ (1st Peter 4:14). Our 
 Blessed Master had His last sufferings embittered by scoffing 
 and taunts, and followers of Him — benefactors of their race, 
 servants of the Most High — martyrs of Truth or civilization 
 or liberty, have gone to their death amid derision that 
 covered themselves and their aims, but all the more carefully 
 will God see to it that for their shame they shall have 
 "double." So surely also shall their present shame minister 
 to their future honour that if they could bear the marks of 
 
Ifteto* jfre&erick La Eue Mm 231 
 
 their disgrace upon their persons forever, it would be for- 
 ever to them a crown of glory. 
 
 Verse 40. "Behold I long for Thy precepts; in Thy 
 righteousness quicken me." 
 
 "Behold I long for Thy precepts, make me to live in 
 Thy righteousness." The word translated, "precepts" sig- 
 nifies the law as enjoining duties, commissions, the law in 
 short as it cuts out work for one. The expression "behold" 
 calls special attention to the fact that he does long for them, 
 and either presents the fact as an appeal for pity, or as a 
 claim upon Jehovah to grant him His precepts. Here it 
 would seem to constitute a claim. This probability is 
 strengthened by the expression "in thy righteousness." The 
 psalmist says in substance, "Since I am Thy servant and long 
 to have my work appointed, it seems no more than a right- 
 eous thing for Thee to assign to me my work." The word 
 "quicken" would then indicate what he asks for. If he is 
 made to live he would by that have his work assigned. And 
 this will be easy to understand when we consider that the 
 endowment of a particular form of life does of itself assign 
 its possessor to a particular work. Let God only grant 
 the gift and the man will need nothing more to find out his 
 work. It is those who have no decided gifts and tendencies, 
 that find it so hard to know what God requires of them in 
 the way of work. But the word "behold" in the first 
 clause, may not introduce a claim, but merely call attention 
 to a petition, which the second clause states more directly 
 and definitely. "In Thy rghteousness" would not mean 
 through Thy righteous acting or dealings, and so "because 
 Thou art righteous," but rather quicken me "into Thy right- 
 eousness," quicken so that I may act righteously as Thou 
 actest. If any prayer ought to be made in faith, surely it is 
 this. And it will certainly be answered. Let any one long 
 to have his work assigned by God, and God is bound to 
 grant his desires. Whether it be action or waiting, it will 
 be the thing that will most serve God and his fellow-men. 
 
232 Selected psalms anO O^onograpftf 
 
 God is not bound to make it clear to them that they are 
 doing His work, that is the burden laid upon their faith; they 
 may think themselves woefully misplaced, and chafe their 
 lives long, but they nevertheless serve, if only they long for 
 
 VAV. 
 
 Verse 41. "And let Thy mercies come (unto) me, 
 oh Jehovah, Thy salvation according to Thy word." 
 
 The word translated "mercies" properly signifies 
 "kindness," "favor" without any necessary implication of 
 ill-desert as is inseparable from the word mercy. Yet God's 
 kindness to such as we are implies great forbearance, and 
 it is not therefore without reason that our translators have 
 rendered it often by the word "mercy." The singular 
 would be kindness apart from its exercise, then some great 
 act of kindness; the plural many acts of kindness, therefore 
 little acts, daily ordinary blessing. The use of the plural 
 indicates that the idea of kindness is uppermost here. It 
 is equivalent to "acts of kindness" and implies present need. 
 This is strengthened by the use of the word "salvation" in 
 apposition. These are delivering mercies that he asks for. 
 He is in trouble and asks for those dealings of God towards 
 him, that will from day to day help him. And these favors 
 of God are asked as fulfilling the great promise of salvation. 
 In the case of the young Solomon, the great promise was 
 the promise of the throne, and the favors or kindnesses asked 
 are such partial fulfilments of that promise as he needs day 
 by day. Thus as we have seen before, (verses 25 and 28) 
 he claims of God not only the final realization of His word, 
 but such earnests as shall (verse 25) strengthen and quicken 
 him, and (verse 28) such earnests as shall encourage and 
 cheer, and here such earnests as shall give him credit in the 
 eyes of others, such as shall be indications that he is to be 
 king. This is seen plainly from the next verse. Solomon 
 had doubtless the comforts of a palace. But like the child 
 
Eetn jFreDerick La Eue ming 233 
 
 of God whose eye is fixed on what is far ahead, he counted 
 the present possession nothing unless it was a means and 
 stepping stone to the future glory. What the special kind- 
 nesses were that he desired, we cannot tell. But it doubt- 
 less was something that implied public recognition, some 
 recognition by the king, some public employment, some- 
 thing that would give him credit with influential men, some 
 hampering of his rivals, something that would show that 
 God was favoring him as heir apparent and would not allow 
 him to drop into utter obscurity. If we may judge by the 
 position in which Solomon was found upon the occasion of 
 the attempt of Adonijah, this petition was not answered in 
 such a marked way as perhaps he wished. No great party 
 was formed for him, no prominent position assigned to him, 
 no great power intrusted to him. And yet something was 
 undoubtedly done for him, not only to encourage his hopes, 
 but to keep his claims alive before the people. This we 
 have a right to infer from the response of universal acclima- 
 tion which Jerusalem gave upon the occasion of his first 
 coronation. God would not utterly neglect such a prayer. 
 Christians should in imitation of this prayer avoid separating 
 the present mercies that they desire from the future promised 
 them. Let their lives be so consecrated to God, that, like 
 a perfect work of art, in which the whole is manifested in 
 every part, their daily life in its cravings and necessities may 
 be a striving towards that great final aim, and then they can 
 claim blessings, new every morning and renewed every eve- 
 ning, on the ground that these are earnests, and may be 
 claimed according to the spirit of the promise. For God 
 will not let us wait one single moment, but will at once, as 
 far as possible, partially fulfil what He has given us reason 
 to expect. Not only precious to Him is the hour that gives 
 full redemption to His people, but also the hour of their trial 
 by the way. He tells all their wanderings, He records in 
 His book their every tear. This petition according to its 
 context is very suitable for the Christian who, as Solomon, 
 
234 ©elected Psalms and ^onograpjjs 
 
 striving for influence and power, as a child of God is dis- 
 credited in his claim to royalty. He who strives by doc- 
 trines or institutions, especially novel doctrines and institu- 
 tions, to do good to his fellows must often be weakened in 
 spirit and in power to do good by the accusation that he 
 is making a false claim, that he has no right to be heard, 
 that he is against truth, against God. It would apply to a 
 lowly preacher of the Gospel in the presence of hierarchical 
 claims that disown Him. All such may ask and are en- 
 couraged to ask for God to set His seal upon them by such 
 favors and successes as will bear witness for them that they 
 are making rightful claims. And let not the thought of their 
 imperfections and sins, nor the difficulties and dangers 
 around, nor their great lack and long waiting dishearten 
 them. God's kindnesses are always mercies and in spite 
 of sins; and are asked of One who is able to save in spite 
 of all danger, and who is faithful to all His promises. 
 
 Verse 42. "And (then) I will answer my reviler a 
 word; for I trust in Thy word." 
 
 The word translated, "reviler" does not mean one 
 who brings grave accusations, but one who deals in scurri- 
 lous abuse. We see then here, the child of God smarting 
 under the vilest opprobrium and eager to be able to retort. 
 In the case of the young Solomon we can easily conceive 
 how hard it must have been to endure in silence the malic- 
 ious taunts of his rivals and their minions, founded upon his 
 present low position. We can easily comprehend how, 
 while looking forward with unshaken faith to the fulfilment 
 of the last of God's promise to him, he yet would be im- 
 patient to realize so much as would enable him to rebut 
 these taunts and revilings, and deliver him from their sting. 
 This is perfectly consistent with unshaken faith, for in the 
 second clause he asserts that the petition is made not be- 
 cause he doubts, but because of the pain suffered from the 
 sneers of others that at the same time he feels to be ground- 
 less. It is hard to hear people maliciously reiterating that 
 
I&eto, jFre&erick La Rue l&ing 235 
 
 we will never attain our hopes and mocking our pretensions. 
 Our Saviour Himself without doubt had a pang added to 
 all His other trials in the mocking to which He was exposed 
 during His last sufferings. The reed and the robe and the 
 "hail" of ridicule were as really painful as the scourge and 
 the cross. His followers may expect to be delivered from 
 some part of this through prayer, but He had silently to 
 endure the extremity of derision throughout the long agony 
 of His dying. And this was all the more painful, because 
 He could not lose His confidence that He was the Son of 
 God and Lord of all. And here faith is a necessary ele- 
 ment in the impatience of the psalmist. If he did not trust 
 he would not be so galled. His hope makes the sting to 
 have its venom. Who could feel pain at the taunt that he 
 never could become a mighty king unless there were some 
 prospect of it. Some there are indeed who are so cold and 
 indifferent to the feelings and opinions of others, that they 
 can endure very quietly long waiting and great present oblo- 
 quy. So it is not with one who loves his fellows, so it is not 
 with the large-hearted child of God. These revilings and 
 malignant accusations may originate with evil men, who 
 delight to hinder all good and the representative of good; 
 but they deceive a better class. They are caught up and 
 reechoed by those who are at heart friends of the truth 
 and who know not what they do when they swell the howl 
 of execration or stand by giving consent even to persecution 
 and death. The petition of this verse may be used by the 
 Christian as including all the evil cutting words they get 
 from opposers among men, but it applies with the greatest 
 force to evil ones of the hidden sphere and especially to 
 Satan. These psalms cannot be properly interpreted unless 
 the relation of the child of God to his spiritual enemies is 
 taken into consideration. The Christian discouraged with 
 the taunts and revilings of Satan may very properly pray 
 for some token of good — some gracious gift that will en- 
 courage him and be a sufficient answer to the enemy. 
 
236 Selected P$alm$ anD ^onogtapftg 
 
 "Word" in the first clause is not pleonastic; it indicates a 
 special answer to a special accusation, and may also allude 
 to the fact that the special answer is based on a partial ful- 
 filment of the great word of promise to him. This is one 
 of the many instances in the psalms of the enigmatical play 
 upon words. 
 
 Verse 43. "And lake not out of my mouth (this) 
 word of truth utterly, for in Thy judgments do I hope." 
 
 The equivoque noticed in the last verse is continued in 
 this, to get the whole force of which the expression "word 
 of truth" must be left indefinite and not as in our version 
 referred to the word of God. The expression "take not out 
 of my mouth" implies that the "word" still is in his mouth, 
 or was till very lately — that he usually has some answer 
 of the kind indicated, to make to his enemies. It is a little 
 biographic touch and shows the young Solomon during his 
 time of waiting as not silent, but losing no opportunity to 
 make good his claim, and doubtless able heretofore to make 
 a shrewd statement of his case. It is what we would expect 
 of his ability and enhances the difficulty he must have ex- 
 perienced in exercising faith. But now his trials press upon 
 him, some new crop not only causes discouragement but 
 gives occasion for new taunts and discouraging remarks, to 
 say nothing of abuse, and all power to answer seems to be 
 vanishing. This the word "utterly" seems to intimate, and 
 hence the prayer becomes importunate that God would 
 grant that partial realization of His promise that he desires 
 at the present time. He calls it a "word of truth," that is 
 a true answer, implying that if God should grant him dis- 
 tinguishing favors, it would not cnly be calculated to im- 
 press others, but would be in his case a true indication. The 
 wicked indeed prosper for a while, but that is delusive, and 
 even a snare to them, but the prosperity of the righteous is 
 a solid indication of God's favor. The word of promise 
 to Solomon was not a promise of spiritual blessings, but of 
 temporal power and glory, so there was the more reason 
 
Retn JFreDerick La i&ue Eing 237 
 
 for his regarding immediate prosperity as a true indication. 
 It may be said also that in the case of one who is to be a 
 king, it would seem necessary to have the throne made 
 ready for him before he ascended. A youth of distinction 
 would add to his prestige and so to his authority when he 
 came to be king. There can be no doubt but that in Old 
 Testament times, God manifested His love and favor to His 
 people by temporal prosperity as an ordinary rule, but the 
 trials of a Joseph and a Job plainly taught them that the 
 rule was not universal. God then, just as in the case of 
 Christians He does now, could consistently with His prom- 
 ises cause His people to want and suffer. This paradox is 
 boldly stated in almost identical expressions in Ps. 1 05 : 19. 
 "Until the time that His word came the saying of Jehovah 
 tried him." The appeal in the latter clause is not to God's 
 promises, but to God's justice, "for Thy judgments have I 
 waited." This fixes the meaning of salvation in verse 41 
 to deliverance from the oppressions of his enemies. He 
 asks for a punitive exhibition of God's justice. The argu- 
 ment here used with God is this: "I am in such a strait 
 that God seems to me really called on to execute justice, as 
 well as to enhance my standing as to deliver me from dis- 
 tress. The earnest expectation of the child of God is a 
 strong argument with his Heavenly Father. But still he 
 must not insist upon God's doing what is just, instantly or 
 in the particular manner that seems desirable. He may 
 say, "I have waited for Thy judgments, and now it seems 
 full time for Thy interference," but after all it must be a 
 pleading petition as here, "take not utterly out of my 
 mouth," leaving all to God's decision. God sometimes 
 delays His judgments when to our short sight they are 
 righteously and imperatively called for. 
 
 Verse 44. "And I will observe Thy law always, 
 unto eternity and perpetuity." 
 
 If we make here the word law to mean 
 strictly the Mosaic Cult, we can discern a connection with 
 
238 ©elected psalms; ana ^onogtapjjg 
 
 the preceding verses. These "judgments" which he desires, 
 this "salvation" he asks for, was in order to his being ad- 
 vanced to the throne, and his designation to the throne was 
 in order to the fuller development of that "law" which he 
 here promises to observe. That cult which was to take a 
 further step forward towards its full magnificence and na- 
 tionality through Solomon's reign, was the great means by 
 which Israel was to be united into one nation; and there 
 is little doubt but that one great reason why the accession 
 of Solomon to the throne was dreaded by some, was be- 
 cause they were opposed to that national unity and that 
 perfected worship. The promise and resolve of this verse 
 are in close connection with the preceding. Answer these, 
 my petitions, and then I will observe; that is 
 
 1 . I will out of gratitude observe. ' 
 
 2. I covenant to observe. 
 
 3. Then shall I be able to observe on the throne, 
 I shall be able to honor the law as I could never 
 do while a private person. 
 
 But we are leaving out of consideration the extraordinary 
 terms which are used to describe the length of that obser- 
 vance. It is to be throughout all time. How could this be 
 the resolve of a man? It would be convenient here of 
 course, to suppose an ideal speaker (verse 9) the church. 
 But we have elsewhere shown the untenableness of that pro- 
 saic hypothesis. Is there not 
 
 4. "an equivoque" in the use of the word 
 "observe," meaning both "I will keep on my own path" 
 and also "I will watch over to preserve"; "I will look 
 out for Thy law, and care for it by observances and institu- 
 tions and especially by the great building of the temple 
 itself, that the care shall be everlasting." "My provident 
 institutions shall watch over the law through the long series 
 of coming years." It is entirely contrary to the lyric form 
 to explain these strong expressions as the utterance of an 
 
iftetn jFreDetick Ha I&ue iking 239 
 
 ideal speaker. The transition is too harsh and the idea is 
 too much a matter of the fancy. Lyric utterance is very 
 nearly dramatic utterance, and that precludes idealization. 
 The singer speaks in his own person. The poet once having 
 conceived the singer must adhere with perfect consistency 
 to the conception. Such a verse as the ninth and, there are 
 many of the sort, utterly precludes an application to the 
 church. While the supposition that this is the utterance of 
 a young prince who knew that to him was committed the 
 founding (at least execution) and development of institutions 
 that were to conserve the Mosaic Cult, make the supposi- 
 tion of an ideal speaker utterly needless. To such a youth 
 as Solomon the best part of his blessings were his opportuni- 
 ties. It must have been delightful to him to think that he 
 could make such a return to God for His care over him, 
 to provide for the observance of the law throughout the far 
 future. His position was one of peculiar influence, but 
 every child of God has in his degree a like influence, We 
 live not unto oursleves. The father of a family can use 
 these words, if not in their full import, yet with the con- 
 sciousness that his example and instructions and the habits 
 he may induce upon his children and the customs he may 
 originate will tend, generation after generation, to perpetuate 
 an observance of the law of God like to his. These words 
 may be used by any one who begins any movement for 
 God, who organizes a religious society, or church, or founds 
 an institution of Christian benevolence. While such per- 
 sons are struggling with difficulties and especially the dis- 
 credit that almost always attends beginnings, they may plead 
 the far-reaching and long enduring influence that they aim 
 at as a reason why they should have present help to tide 
 them over present difficulties. "Help me now, and I will 
 see to it that thou art honored in coming time by what I 
 am striving to rear." Taking the word in the sense of 
 "observe" — the other branch of the equivoque, the verse 
 may be made the utterance of either Solomon or any child 
 
240 Selected Psalms anD e@onogtapf)0 
 
 of God. The worship of God is an eternal worship, they 
 who "serve the example and shadow of heavenly things" 
 here, will not depart from that worship when they leave this 
 world, but will adore the heavenly realites in Heaven itself. 
 
 Verse 45. "And I will walk in a wide place, for 
 Thy precepts have I sought." 
 
 In a land like Palestine where paths were so often 
 mere gullies or ravines, down or up which the traveller had 
 to pick his way with constrained step — a wide level plain 
 admitting of smooth and easy paths, must have been an 
 unspeakable relief. The pace of horse or man would be 
 quickened, steps free (see "enlarged" Ps. 18:36) and 
 journeying very rapid. This expression of the psalmist is a 
 strong affirmation of the freedom with which he would act 
 in observing the "law." Well does the authorized version 
 translate "wide place" by "at liberty." Praying, verses 41, 
 42, 43, for earnests of the fulfilment of the promise made 
 to him, he, in verses 44,45, 46, imagines himself in the full 
 realization of the promise and in the kingly position at last. 
 Almost inseparable from the idea of kinghood is liberty of 
 action, but he binds himself in the strictest manner and in 
 perpetuity to the "law," a law which made him but the 
 deputy of his God in the kingly office. And yet he says, 
 "I will walk in a wide place." "I will not be obliged to 
 put any constraint on myself. That law in its beautiful rit- 
 ual, its glorious satisfactions and promises, gives to me all 
 that I can desire as a worship. I am free, perfectly free, 
 when I most strictly obey." Indeed the verse presents one 
 who is cramped and restrained in the present, because he 
 is not free to act out the inclination of his heart in obeying 
 God. Such doubtless was the situation of the young Solo- 
 mon when he thought of all that work for God's law to 
 which he was appointed, and from which he was withheld. 
 He must hold his tongue, and keep back his hand when the 
 impulse must have been very strong to speak and act. No 
 wonder that he looked forward to the beginning of his 
 
Retn jFte&ertck la Eue mm 241 
 
 binding service to the law as the beginning of liberty. The 
 reason is not far to seek, it is contained in the correlative 
 clause — "for Thy precepts have I sought." "Precepts" 
 are the commands of God that assign duties, and he who 
 is eager to know the duties that God assigns him, will be 
 free in His service. This seems to be the foundation of his 
 declaration that he will enjoy the largest independence while 
 rendering the closest obedience. The fullest and freest 
 activity of the child of God is only possible through per- 
 fect submission to His will, and by desiring not the gratifica- 
 tion of self-will, in devising and carrying out plans, but to 
 have our work appointed for us. 
 
 Verse 46. "And I will speak of Thy testimonies 
 before Kings, and will not be ashamed." 
 
 Here is one of the verses that distinctly shows that the 
 psalmist was heir expectant to a throne. The "testimonies" 
 of God are the moral law. To speak of these before kings 
 is not only to avow this moral law as the guiding principle 
 of his action, but to urge it upon kings as their proper rule 
 of action. This is evidently the language of a prospective 
 king looking forward to the time when he shall be sur- 
 rounded by fellow kings. These words imply that some- 
 thing of moral courage would be required in order to do 
 this. A private man or an ambassador would have no 
 conceivable reason in acknowledging before a foreign king 
 that his religion was the law of his life. But an eastern king 
 was considered as the source of law. It was part of his 
 royal dignity, to do as he pleased in all things. The con- 
 stant tendency in the East was to enthrone the monarch as 
 an earthly god, and it was not easy, in the presence of such 
 potentates, to avow oneself as bound by the rules of action 
 that God gives. The throne would appear to most as worth 
 just so much the less. The testimonies of God could not 
 mean the religion — the cult — or decree by Him, for no one 
 could be ashamed of that in those days. The moral direc- 
 tions of God as guiding the life must be referred to here. 
 
242 Selected psalms ano e@onograpi)0 
 
 Verse 47. "And I will delight myself in Thy com- 
 mandments which I love." 
 
 "Commandments," guiding law, directions, differing 
 from law (cult), precepts (work assigned), statutes (arbi- 
 trary commands, orders), judgments (judicial decisions ex- 
 press or implied), testimonies (moral law). Command- 
 ments include all that tells us what to do at the moment — 
 directions, very galling, such would be to a proud king. 
 He might in speaking of God's testimonies before kings ap- 
 peal to the eternal principles of right, but to be made to 
 stop suddenly in a course of action, or to modify it simply 
 because God wills it, when no other reason for our action 
 can be assigned, would be a very trying thing to a high 
 spirited king. Even where it involved no shame, it would 
 be chafing. But when, as in the case of Saul at Gilgal, it 
 involved waiting like a schoolboy when everything seemed 
 to call for promptitude, and all the people looking to him as 
 king for action — in such a case it must have been to one 
 who did not love God supremely, simply intolerable. In the 
 mood that the young Solomon is now, he looks forward, 
 as to a time of great delight, to the time when he shall 
 honour God by evidently appearing as His servant. O, if 
 God will only grant him a little now to credit him, he will 
 esteem the visible manifest servantship to God the greatest 
 honor. God's work he will do (verse 44), and it will be 
 just what he will freely choose (verse 45 ) , the holiness, that 
 he prescribes he will urge upon his fellow kings (verse 46), 
 and it will be a daily and hourly delight to be directed by 
 Him in his duty. Well may he say that he loves God's 
 commandments, for not only are they of the greatest ser- 
 vice to him, but they bring him into nearer relations with 
 God than any other form of His will. They are like the 
 guiding of a child's steps by the touches of its mother's hand. 
 The spirit of this verse ought to animate a Christian always. 
 And yet, since now we cannot inquire of God, but must 
 receive God's directions from providential circumstances, our 
 
Eeto, jFrenetick La ftue ming 243 
 
 trials are in some respects harder than those of Solomon. 
 Harder because it is harder to say of any one course of 
 action, "thus saith the Lord" and easier, because God's 
 will once known, it requires much less moral courage to go 
 forward. No other gods can be in question now. The 
 difficulty is that we and others doubt whether God does 
 command and that even when the words, literally interpre- 
 ted, would be clear. How much for example, of the sermon 
 on the mount do we explain away. Nature and men per- 
 suade us that God has not spoken. 
 
 Verse 48. "And I will raise my hands to Thy com- 
 mandments which I love, and I will muse of Thy statutes." 
 
 This would at first sight appear to be a formula for 
 swearing — an oath to keep God's commandments, but the 
 word used for "hand" is not that proper to the oath. It 
 is the peculiar word for the hand as a container — the hol- 
 low hand. It is the number considered as an instrument of 
 action "lift up your hand in the sanctuary." Ps. 134:2. 
 Here hand is used, but it is for the acts of blessing not 
 for petitioning that the hands are lifted up. (Though the 
 real idea of blessing is petition for one, still it is in language 
 use, an act) ; hand, is used in Ps. 28 :2 and 143: 6, evidently 
 in the sense of asking to receive and so probably in Lam. 
 1:17; but elsewhere where the hand is said to be lifted up, 
 it is a formula for swearing. Wherever the hands (are said 
 to be spread forth, there is a petition to receive. As Ex. 
 9:29 and 33—1 Kings 8:22 and 38: 54; II Chronicles 
 6: 12, 13:29, Ezra 9: 5; Is. 1 : 15; Jer. 4:31, to- 
 gether with Job 11: 13; Ps. 88 : 9 and Lam. 
 2:19; Ps. 141 : 2, where there is undoubtedly a petition 
 for reception. In Ps. 63: 4 the simple text would imply 
 action, but the context reception. In Lam. 3:41 the sense 
 of reception is a proper one — the proper one. 
 
 The lifting of the hands then in this verse is in order 
 to receive. The psalmist lifts up his hand to the com- 
 mandments as the source of benefits to him. He not only 
 
244 Selected psalms anD aponograp&s 
 
 loves them as proceeding from the God he loves and bring- 
 ing him into constant communion with Him, but as that 
 from which he constantly receives good. "If ye love me," 
 says the Saviour, "keep My commandments"; this is the 
 spirit of the 47th verse. The spirit of this verse is — "if ye 
 crave good things, keep the commandments as a delightful 
 means of getting them. Lift not your hand to the great 
 and powerful — to your fellows or to nature, seek from the 
 commandments what you want." Self interest wisely fol- 
 lowed out would lead us simply to obey the guiding hand 
 of God. Other paths may appear pleasant and to lead to 
 what we desire, but where God leads, there alone is satis- 
 faction, there alone is true gain. But we must not imagine 
 that the mere spirit of shrewdness will enable us to act in 
 this way for our interest. The psalmist adds to the declara- 
 tion of his intention to seek good from the commandments 
 "which I love." Love must first impel; the consideration of 
 advantage must be an after thought. The reversal of this 
 not only makes a hypocrite; but renders us weak and de- 
 ceivable in the presence of temptation. The psalmist was 
 no hypocrite; though he sought self, he was first godly, he 
 had that love which is the acme of all policy. The "sta- 
 tute" is the arbitrary command, not near enough or plain 
 enough/ to be a daily, hourly guide. The love that makes 
 the truest self-seeking to be devotion to the commands, 
 accepts the statutes. And as one gazes at a picture or 
 listens to a piece of music that he cannot appreciate, but 
 which he knows is a masterpiece, so the dark and myster- 
 ious decree, which so often comes to him in the course of 
 God's providence is to him who loves God a riddle of won- 
 der, which, when he understands, becomes the guidance that 
 he needs and the source of all profit. 
 
 ZAYIN. 
 Verse 49. "Remember to Thy servant (Thy) word, 
 because Thou hast made me to hope." 
 
Ketn jFreOetick La Hue Ifting 245 
 
 "The common version of the last clause (upon which) 
 is forbidden by the facts that the Hebrew verb is never con- 
 strued elsewhere with the preposition 'on' and that the 
 Hebrew usage requires a different combination (which upon 
 it) to convey the sense supposed." — Alexander. 
 
 It may also be said that this rendering of the last clause 
 would signify that an influence had been exerted upon the 
 psalmist independent of the simple promise, to cause him 
 to depend upon it, which is, to say the least, extremely un- 
 likely. The second clause would also lose the correllative 
 and defining office that it holds throughout the psalm, and 
 become merely an additional and weaker argument urged 
 upon God for the fulfilment of His promise. But used as 
 we have always used it, it fixes the meaning of "word" in 
 the first clause, "remember Thy word," or perhaps better, 
 as in the revision, "the word." "What word, what prom- 
 ise might be asked. And the answer would be according 
 to the second clause, "the promise involved in the hopes 
 Thou jiast induced in me." "Remember and fulfil my 
 hopes, for Thou hast caused me to entertain them." The 
 fact that "word" in the first clause is perfectly indefinite 
 without the definite article or the possessive pronoun in- 
 creases the probability of this explanation. If this view of 
 the meaning of the verse be correct, then the prayer of the 
 psalmist is based on the principle that God is bound not only 
 by His specific promises, but by all those general encourage- 
 ments that cause us to form and cherish specific hopes. And 
 why should not this be so since in Him we live and move 
 and have our being and all our innocent hopes are rooted in 
 Him. He has declared that His word of promise is greater 
 than all His name, and yet His works, words and acts — His 
 whole glorious name is a commentary upon the specific! 
 promise. It is elevated in significance by the promise, while 
 the promise is rendered more clear and impressive by the 
 broad splendor of God's name. The two clauses are in 
 strict correlation. It is as if the psalmist had said, "Re- 
 
246 Selected Psalms and ^onograpfjs 
 
 member, it is a promise, since Thou hast caused me to 
 hope." God causes us to hope in many ways. He has 
 created us for hope. The healthy soul must hope. The 
 mere bounding impulse of health and youth will fill us with 
 hope. Well, God cannot create a lie, these bright visions and 
 anticipations are not deceptive; they are from God, He 
 causes us to hope in this way — they are conditional promi- 
 ses, and we can appeal to Him to fulfil them. Whatever 
 of hope arises in our minds in considering the abundance, 
 beneficence, order and beauty of nature, is really a prom- 
 ise on the part of God, for He induces it in us. Those so- 
 licitations to the imagination in sunset skies, the splendor of 
 opening day, the vault of heaven, or the beauty of the 
 earth's vesture, do not deceive, they lead us to body forth 
 the things that shall be. By these and more than all these 
 high hopes and imaginings is God bound, and to them He 
 will be faithful. We are made in the image of God, and 
 all the hope that can be roused in us by the love, the mercy 
 or the good will to others that we find in ourselves; when 
 we think that God is better than that; all hopes based on 
 just inferences from the course of nature to the end of 
 nature and man, these are caused by God and He will be 
 bound by them. All deductions from specific promises con- 
 sistent with all that God has revealed of Himself and His 
 purposes, are of the same character. God gives the outline 
 and our imagination if it only keeps in view the whole great 
 word of promise cannot outrun its scope. Solomon was 
 promised the kingdom. But we have no evidence that the 
 great glory of that kingdom was revealed to him. Yet he 
 must have had hopes concerning it, hopes which comforted 
 him in hours of suffering (see next verse), and yet for 
 which he had no specific statement on the part of God. He 
 would draw his conceptions from his own consciousness of 
 ability, his insight into the state of the kingdom, his forecast, 
 his view of what was needed at the time. The very name 
 that God had given him like a piece of purest gold might 
 
Eetn jFreOenck &a Eue i&ittg 247 
 
 be made to extend as gilding to cover a great deal. What 
 visions and hopes of power, usefulness, splendor, and pleas- 
 ure would not arise in the mind of this young man devoted, 
 indeed, but worldly wise, and fond of what the eye sees 
 and the ear hears. Like a ray of purest light refracted by 
 a prism, the promise takes shape and hue from the character 
 of the person to whom it is made, and in that form he may 
 ask God to fulfil it to him. 
 
 Verse 50. "This is my comfort in my affliction for 
 Thy word hath quickened me." 
 
 This cannot well refer to anything else than the pre- 
 ceding verse. Hope builds its castle up into the air indeed, 
 but upon the solid foundation of the promise, and feels that 
 it has a valid claim for its realization at the hands of God. 
 And truly this is a comfort, not the promise in bare outline, 
 but filled up and glowing with such hues as the imagination 
 alone can supply. It is comfort in present trouble to be 
 rapt away into bright scenes which we can assure ourselves 
 shall be. The "affliction" spoken of may well have been 
 that arising from hope deferred. He would suffer from the 
 fret and fever of inaction, but more from its palsying influ- 
 ence and seeming death. From that, the promise delivers 
 him. It quickens him. And that does not mean simply 
 that he is thrilled with hope and filled with the delight of 
 confident visions of the joys and triumphs that are to come. 
 Something of action is permitted him in this time of waiting. 
 He can brood over the problems of sovereignty. He can 
 master data, he can plan, and purpose and form himself for 
 the throne. The best work of a man's life is often that 
 which is done before what we call active life has com- 
 menced. The work of the root in the earth, and the work 
 of the plant in the air is one and the same. In the previous 
 verse, then, he is bold enough to claim the fulfilment of his 
 hopes at the hands of God, on the ground that they are 
 really God's promises; in this verse he sets forth the special 
 formal promise as the living principle of his hopes. There 
 
248 ©electeD psalms anD ^onogtapf)0 
 
 is a double definiteness in the expression used for promise as 
 compared with verse 49. It is "saying" instead of "word," 
 and it has the possessive pronoun "thy" also — "Thy say- 
 ing." For the significance of "saying" see Ps. 105: 19 — 
 God's "word" promised Joseph honor, His saying ordered 
 him fetters and a prison. It is this specific promise that he 
 owns to be the root of all his hopes. With it the whole 
 universe is a mirror to reflect the love of God. With it 
 the poet can look into sunset skies and say "such is that 
 which shall be." 
 
 "Come forth, ye old men, look around 
 And see to what fair countries ye are bound." 
 
 — Wordsworth . 
 
 With it all nature is bursting with the great secret of 
 God's loving purpose; without it nature is like ciphers that 
 have lost their numeral, like sunset clouds when the light is 
 withdrawn. What men call the light of nature is for the 
 most part reflected from the Word of God. Once let that 
 go, and the great meaning is lost, and we can read the 
 universe but little better than the brutes. We cannot de- 
 pend on God's character as revealed through His name, for 
 there are dark and terrible things written there of God. It is 
 the promise, the inexplicable promise, that outrunning the 
 indications of mere nature, gives nature a soul, and makes 
 it instinct with life and love. 
 
 Verse 51. "Proud (ones) have derided me greatly; 
 from Thy law I swerve not." 
 
 Judging from the correlative clause we should infer 
 that the derision of the proud was on account of his keeping 
 of the law. This would be entirely unsuitable in the mouth 
 of the Church captive at Babylon, or in the mouth of 
 Daniel. The "proud ones" would be foreigneis and heath- 
 en, and they would never deride adherence to a national re- 
 ligion. It would have no suitableness to the case of the 
 youthful David, or even to the case of Jeremiah, for though 
 
Eefcn jFceDeuck £a l&ue Mm 249 
 
 we find in the latter days of the history of Judah much wor- 
 ship of false gods, there does not appear to have been any 
 opposition to the worship of Jehovah. The law is to the 
 last a proper thing to be observed. But in the days of the 
 Kingdom of David and Solomon the spirit was different, a 
 political element had become mingled with the religions. The 
 revolt of Jeroboam casts a light back upon the two preceding 
 reigns. No one can possibly think that his revolt was his 
 work alone. Jeroboam was but the ambitious leader who 
 took advantage of a feeling existing against both nationality 
 and the law. Just as truly as the pride and ambition of 
 Solomon's brothers were offended by the designation of 
 a Solomon to the throne, so were tribal pride and ambition 
 offended by the designation of Jerusalem as the civil and 
 religious capital of the nation. It was plainly manifest to 
 all that the law — the cult that was identifying itself more 
 and more with the metropolitan character of Jerusalem — 
 was to be that which should restrain the independence of 
 the tribes, humble their Kedeshes, and merge their greatness 
 in the greatness of the nation. We can easily imagine that 
 the Jeroboam impulse which in the end reft the Kingdom 
 of Solomon in twain, existed then, and that doubt might 
 be entertained whether the national impulse would overcome 
 it or not. Shrewd, worldly wise men might well think it 
 good policy to pander to the secession feeling. Punctilious 
 devotion to the law would be an expression of views upon 
 national policy — a stand taken that his proud enemies — his 
 proud brothers and their adherents, might regard as su- 
 premely foolish, and which, notwithstanding, might inspire 
 hate and fear as well. The humble Christian, as well as 
 the young Solomon, have often the hard trial and temptation 
 to undergo of appearing to others and to themselves ineffi- 
 cient simply because they swerve not from the law. In 
 earlier times Joshua the son of Nun "abode in the Taber- 
 nacle" and gained prestige and influence — the same is told 
 of Scipio Africanas. In the time of our Lord, pharisaic de- 
 
250 ©elected P$aim0 anD ^onogtapt)0 
 
 votion to the Law won popularity and power, but Solomon 
 could only look for derision in the present. This derision 
 might be a manifestation of violent opposition. And no 
 better weapon could be used against an heir expectant of 
 the throne than derision; to cover him with ignominy, to 
 show him as inefficient, wanting in energy and spirit, might 
 be the very best way to defeat his hopes. But it might also 
 imply temptation: "Proud" ones offering their adherence 
 and help, on condition that he would walk in their "proud" 
 ways — the way of Saul and the nations, and it might be 
 added, in the way of the tribes. 
 
 Verse 52. "I have remembered Thy judgments from 
 eternity, Jehovah, and have consoled myself." 
 
 This must be connected with the previous verse. His 
 recalling of God's judgments may not be in a vindictive 
 sense, but may have respect to expected deliverances. As 
 the psalmist looks back, he sees that "from eternity," that 
 is throughout the long tract of recorded time, God's judicial 
 inflictions have ever been ready for the help of His suffering 
 servants. In view of that fact he may well wait without 
 anxiety or impatience. Such a survey also consoles by les- 
 sening temptation arising either from dread of the proud or 
 any attraction for them. Their power and pride seem 
 mean in view of the judgments of God that overhang them; 
 and all that they can offer worthless. He consoles himself 
 in the third place, in view of the past judgments of God, 
 that by his course of obedient waiting and service, though he 
 may suffer pains and privations and have many anxieties, still 
 he has secured perfect immunity. God's judgments, fearful 
 as they are, are not to be feared by His servants. They 
 should be comforting, since they are not mere exhibitions 
 of feeling, but true judicial decisions, and to be calculated 
 upon. Perhaps a ground of consolation is implied in the 
 name "Jehovah" — God as covenant God of Israel. The 
 review of God's judgments strengthens the impression of His 
 faithfulness to His covenant obligations, and gives a sense 
 
Retn jFteOerick La Hue l&iw 251 
 
 of power in the midst of derision on account of apparent 
 helplessness. "From Eternity" — we cannot do without the 
 past. God is there. In the past we find Him especially as 
 a prayer hearing and answering God. We see His hand 
 busy in men's lives as we cannot in the present. To vividly 
 realize the past is one of the best ways to draw near to 
 God. 
 
 Verse 53. "Rage has seized me from wicked (men) 
 abandoning Thy law." 
 
 This is one of the verses that show that the real or 
 ideal position of the Psalmist was the Holy Land. "Law" 
 is of course, the Mosaic Cult. To abandon it was not 
 to abandon the worship of Jehovah, but His prescribed 
 forms of worship. Therefore this could not refer to heathen 
 to whom they were not prescribed. It could hardly refer 
 to the people in the Captivity, for they were shut out neces- 
 sarily from the practice of the Mosaic Cult; and the effect 
 of the Captivity was to make them very strict in observing 
 all the provisions of the law possible to them. 
 
 The word translated, "rage" is very strong and can 
 only be justified in the mouth of one who speaks with some- 
 thing of the feeling of a magistrate appointed to coerce evil- 
 doers. This makes it very suitable for the utterance of Solo- 
 mon. The incipient king so far from being tempted to 
 transgress like Jeroboam and perhaps Absalom, is impatient 
 for the time when he shall be king and able to coerce the 
 transgressors of the law. This feeling may be proper to a 
 private Christian now when he sees men neglecting or mar- 
 ring the worship of God, or moulding rites for evil. He may 
 feel outraged and indignant just so far as the feeling arises 
 from love to God and his fellows and from his sense of 
 duty as member of a selfgoverning body. Authority implies 
 indignation at crime; but let not bigotry or prejudiced ad- 
 herence to certain accustomed forms feel justified by this. 
 We indeed have a law, but it is not a cult prescribed to us 
 by God, nor by the authority of that impossible abstraction, 
 
252 ©elected psalms and ^onogtap&s 
 
 "the Church," nor by use and wont; it is that which to the 
 enlightened mind and loving heart of Christian men appears 
 best for the present time. The law that we obey must thus 
 change in outward form, but must keep the same relation 
 to the church as a way to come into rapport with the loving 
 God. 
 
 Verse 54. "Songs for me have been Thy statutes in 
 the house of my sojournings." 
 
 The word "house" would be entirely inappropriate in 
 the mouth of David — a young man and wandering about, 
 or in the mouth of the Church personified; but would be 
 peculiarly appropriate in the mouth of the young Solomon, 
 living, as is probable, in the palace under some sort of 
 tutelage up to the time of his accession to the throne. 
 'House of my sojournings,' i. e. the house where I so- 
 journ, is an imitation of the phrase 'land of my sojournings' 
 which occurs so often in the patriarchal history, Gen. 17:8, 
 28: 7, 37: l ."—Alexander. 
 
 This kind of allusion is common in the psalms, and is 
 a regular part of the lyric form used. By this one phrase 
 here the psalmist indicates that he is tried as the patriarchs 
 were, that longed for good is withheld, but is promised and 
 hoped for, and, more than this a consciousness on his part 
 is indicated that his waiting and trials are neither purposeless 
 nor ending on himself but intended to subserve God's great 
 and loving purposes for the welfare and glory of His people. 
 
 During this time of waiting, he not only has the en- 
 couragement of hope, but has also matter for triumphant 
 praise. The word "song" is used often for the subject of 
 the song. The Lord is said to be a "song" for His servant. 
 The song of Miriam was the simple recounting of what the 
 Lord had done for Israel. The destruction of Pharoah 
 might be said to be the "song" of Miriam. The implica- 
 tion that the psalmist has substantial cause for rejoicing is 
 strengthened by the etymology of the word translated "song ' 
 which associates it with harvest — the joy of harvest. And 
 
fteto. jFreDerick La Eue fting 253 
 
 yet that which the psalmist calls "songs" are the "statutes" 
 — the expression of the arbitrary will of God — the farthest 
 removed of all the aspects of God's law from anything like 
 realization of desire. This verse exhibits the psalmist as not 
 only entirely submissive to God's will, but as hoping all 
 good things from the exercise of that will. God did not 
 doubtless show him why He caused him to remain and 
 wait so long in "the house of his "sojournings." It was a 
 statute — an arbitrary and incomprehensible decree. So 
 delighted, however, is he, first to know that it is God's will 
 and not chance or the intrigues of enemies; so sure is he, 
 second, that God tarries not in the performance of His 
 promise, and that His time is the best time, His way the 
 best way; that he rejoices over these privations as if they 
 were joyous fruitions, just as a soldier who confides implicitly 
 in his commander rejoices to execute any movement that is 
 ordered, though on its face it may appear needless or even 
 injurious. To those who thus rejoice in God's statutes, 
 there will arise incidentally many pleasures. They will be 
 relieved of "the weight of chance desires," ambition will be 
 no more their taskmaster, the heart will have leisure and 
 will for the first time understand its own wishes, lowliness 
 will take the place of the two kill-joys, pride and discontent, 
 and the slave of this present evil world will be emancipated. 
 They who by God's decree are made to sojourn in the 
 wilderness will not find it altogether a cheerless place. They 
 will have whatsoever is needed for their sustenance, and 
 they will find besides many pleasant spots in it, and there 
 is "spicy store," as Keble says, to be gathered. But that 
 which most of all makes God's statutes "songs" to those who 
 receive them, is the fact that they bring them into the closest 
 relations with God Himself. They who obey God's stat- 
 utes, not because "they commend themselves" to their rea- 
 son or conscience, but simply because God wills them, may 
 well make them "songs," for they have realized a great part 
 of the joy of the redeemed — they are made to possess God. 
 
254 Selected psalms ana ^onogtapfts 
 
 And even if the "house of their sojournings" be like the 
 prison of Joseph, it will be no prison to them; 
 "Stone walls do not a prison make" 
 
 — Lovelace, 
 or as Madame Guyon says, 
 
 "O it is good to soar 
 These bolts and bars above 
 To Him whom I adore, 
 Whose only name is love, 
 And in Thy boundless will to find 
 The strength, the freedom of the mind." 
 Verse 55. "I have remembered in the night Thy 
 name, Jehovah, and will observe Thy Law." 
 
 Throughout this stanza the situation of the psalmist is 
 the same. He is in the darkness, and yet holding fast his 
 confidence. In verse 49 even the light of a specific promise 
 is not granted him, and yet he hopes; in verse 50 he is 
 suffering, yet comforted; in verse 51 derided by the "proud," 
 and yet swerving not; in verse 52 consoled, but only by 
 remembering God's judgments on evil oppressors; in verse 
 53 amid great declension zealous, in verse 54 tried with 
 hope deferred, and yet rejoicing in God's sovereign disposal 
 of his lot. Here in verse 55 he observes God's law although 
 the tide is all against him, though he has to struggle against 
 the force of example in his associates and the community, 
 and though there is no present manifestation on the part of 
 God towards His true worshippers of His presence or favor. 
 This is very adroitly expressed by means of two correllative 
 clauses, the first of which has the force and office of a similie, 
 used however, not as similies usually are, for ornament, or at 
 most for illustration, but as an essential part of the statement. 
 Instead of saying, "I observe Thy law when all the circum- 
 stances surrounding are discouraging. Just as in the night I 
 recall the wondrous manifestation Thou hast made of Thy- 
 self," he says, "I remember Thy name in the night and 
 observe Thy law." This is Alexander's translation. It 
 
Eetn jFteDerick La i&ue Ifting 255 
 
 seems to me, however, that the idiom is very often if not al- 
 ways in the psalms a part of the poetic form. By giving 
 the tenses their literal meaning the punctum lyricum is defined 
 — the night behind the worship of the day before — also the 
 verse is made a true lyrica oratio instead of a prosaic state- 
 ment of two correllated facts. Thus "I have remembered 
 in the night Thy name and will observe Thy law." Thus 
 the lyrical moment is fixed, and the lyrical utterance is 
 simply a resolve to observe the law, the effect of the first 
 clause being merely a setting forth of the circumstances of 
 discouragement under which the resolution was made. The 
 name of God is, of course, all that by which He manifests 
 Himself — words, works, acts, etc., and to constantly realize 
 that name is to have a constant sense of God's presence and 
 power. Now to realize the psalmist's position we must con- 
 ceive him as upon his bed in his dark chamber, for the couch 
 is as closely associated with the night as is the darkness. All 
 the glorious exhibition that God makes of Himself by day 
 through the works of nature is withdrawn, even the starry 
 heavens are shut out from his gaze. Thus he is deprived 
 of what helps him most when he wishes to think of God, 
 and which, when he is not consciously thinking of Him, gives 
 him a latent sense of His presence — lifting him towards the 
 infinitely beautiful and great. He is shut out from human 
 intercourse, from reading the Word of God, events are 
 brought to a stand still, the whole motion and progress of 
 life ceases. God's usual means of communicating with him 
 are absent, and the poor soul (foolish though it may be to 
 think so), seems shut out from God. The darkness has 
 strange power, too, to quicken fears. The mind is turned 
 in upon itself, upon its sorrows, its dangers, its anxieties. 
 Real dangers, too, approach in the night, crime stalks abroad, 
 diseases of body and mind are aggravated; superstitious ter- 
 rors also assail, and he who is wakeful in the hours of the 
 night is sometimes as desolate as if alone in a desert even 
 though the first beam of morning light avails to change the 
 
256 ^electeo psalms anD ^onogtapljg 
 
 whole course of his feelings and make him wonder at them. 
 The very mention of night implies a bad night — a night 
 when the spirit was assailed with doubts and discourage- 
 ments; for it suggests wakefulness from trouble especially, 
 occurring in the connection it does. It is, then, a great thing 
 for the psalmist to say, "I have remembered Thy name in 
 the night," for it was a hard thing to remember God's name 
 then. It was much easier to remember the Devil's name — 
 the power and oppression of his enemies, his sins, weaknesses 
 and errors, his sorrows and anxieties. To remember God's 
 glorious name, the kind acts of God in the past towards 
 him, and the words of truth in which He was revealed in 
 the Scriptures, so as to have a vivid realization of His pres- 
 ence, and power, and readiness to help, that was hard. It 
 may be doubted whether "name" refers to any manifestation 
 of God in the sanctuary, for the temple was not yet built, 
 and the Shekinah glory had not yet appeared (see Ps. 122: 
 4), but we are warranted in including in it the metropolitan 
 glory of Jerusalem, that dawning prophecy of a better time, 
 which was made complete and brilliant under Solomon, and 
 which, even now, would deeply impress Solomon's imperial 
 mind. Thus it would be with a feeling of hope and in- 
 creased confidence as heir designate not only to a throne, 
 but to a divinely planned reform and national advance, that 
 he would resolve to keep God's Law. The remembrance 
 of God's acts of delivering mercy as also His acts of 
 punishment, both essential parts of His Holy Name, 
 may well have been the subjects of his meditation during 
 the night watches, and would quicken his morning resolve 
 with gratitude and fear. The feeling had need to 
 be a strong one to enable him to face the opposition 
 to God's law. The tide was against the appointed cult of 
 Jehovah. The day discouraged worship as the night clouded 
 joy. No happy crowds filled the courts of the Lord. He 
 would be obliged to show his devotion in the face of some- 
 thing more than neglect. This is eminently suitable to the 
 
I&eto* jFreDerick JLa I&ue Mm 257 
 
 time of the young Solomon when the cult of Israel was dis- 
 located as it was at no other time; the ark on Mt. Zion, 
 the tabernacle and altar of burnt offering at Gibeon, the 
 king worshipping with song on Mt. Zion and sacrificing only 
 on Mt. Moriah, the rest of the people sacrificing at Gibeon, 
 while around Jerusalem were high places for the irregular 
 worship of Jehovah. And yet at this time (Ps. 122:4) 
 Jerusalem was the place of holding the national festivals, 
 doubtless under great protest. (The text Ps. 1 22 :4 goes to 
 show that the name of the Lord was regarded as dwelling 
 at Jerusalem). 
 
 Verse 56. "This has been to me, for Thy precepts 
 I have kept." 
 
 These words refer evidently to the preceding verse. 
 Alexander condemns as unmeaning the usual interpretation, 
 yet his interpretation is not much better — "This (observance 
 of the law) has come to pass since Thy precepts, etc." "I 
 have manifestly observed Thy law, for I have kept Thy 
 precepts." To say the least, such an utterance seems to be 
 flat and purposeless. The interpretation disregards the dis- 
 tinctive meaning of the word "precepts," which is the title 
 of the law as it assigns our work. Referring then "this" to 
 the preceding verse, the psalmist would seem to say, "the 
 precious privilege of being able, in the night, to realize the 
 presence and power of a loving God, was mine because, dur- 
 ing the day I was intent on the service He assigned me." 
 Thoughtless, selfish, careless living is a great burden in the 
 night time, weighing down the spirits, and tending to pre- 
 clude that trust in God that helps to realize His presence, 
 and is really included in the meaning of the word "remem- 
 ber." He whose remembrance of the Lord during the day 
 stimulates him to assiduous service, will have the priceless 
 privilege of that remembrance of the Lord that gives com- 
 fort and joy during the watches of the night. The word 
 "this," may however, refer to the whole stanza for faithful, 
 humble service — the keeping of God's precepts, results in 
 
258 ©elected psalms anD S@onogtap!)0 
 
 the hope, comfort, firmness, consolation, zeal, joy, and sense 
 of God's presence that are spoken of in the preceding verses. 
 
 CHETH. 
 
 Verse 57. "My portion, O Jehovah, I have said (is) 
 to keep Thy words." 
 
 To translate "my portion is Jehovah," as Hengsten- 
 berg and the A. V., gives a richer meaning and is permis- 
 sible, but, however it may suit the analogy of Ps. 1 6 :5 and 
 Ps. 73:26, does not suit the analogy of Ps. 1 19, which is 
 wholly on a far lower plane of feeling than that. Not God 
 Himself but what belongs to Him — His law, statutes, pre- 
 cepts, ways, etc., are spoken of. There is not a single ex- 
 pression of love to God in the whole psalm. "Blessed be 
 Thou Jehovah," in the second stanza, is only love by impli- 
 cation, or, perhaps, not personal love at all, but unbounded 
 loyalty and hearty choice of a rightful ruler. Besides, if we 
 translate the first clause, "My portion is Jehovah," and it be 
 allowable to translate the second, "I have said that I will 
 keep Thy words," so startling is die change of person that 
 it might well be asked "whose words"? The fact that there 
 is an address to Jehovah in the second part of the verse, 
 makes it probable that there is a like address in the first. 
 Besides, it may be said that it is a kind of anti-climax to 
 have a simple resolution to keep God's words follow a 
 solemn taking of Jehovah as one's portion. It is entirely in 
 keeping with the selfconscious legal character of this psalm 
 that the psalmist should go no farther in his devotion than the 
 words (commands) of God. Highly religious it is, but 
 there is little of that personal devotedness which is so charac- 
 teristic of the psalms of David. Still, it is good as far as it 
 goes. An excellent portion it is for any man to keep the 
 words of Jehovah. It is a better provision even for this 
 world, than houses or lands, and better for us than the clue 
 of Ariadne when we come to enter that dark region that 
 .lies before us, and which we will soon be called upon to 
 
Ifteti* jFreDetick JLa IEue ding 25a 
 
 traverse. The verse shows the servant of God and the 
 shrewd man — Solomon. 
 
 Verse 58. "I have sought Thy favor with my whole 
 heart; be gracious to me according to Thy word." 
 
 This verse is, of itself, sufficient to prove that the pre- 
 ceding verse cannot be translated, "My portion is Jehovah," 
 or as an address, "O Jehovah, my portion." The latter es- 
 pecially, which would express a very ecstatic feeling of union 
 with God, is quite inconsistent with these words of distance 
 and solicitation which bear some resemblance to the approach 
 of a courtier to a king. It is curious, however, to notice 
 how this character of religious prudence clings to the psalm, 
 no matter how you translate. One might well call it a self- 
 seeking psalm had the phrase not a bad sense. It is certainly 
 self-seeking in the highest and noblest sense. Even if we 
 make the psalmist (in verse 57), address Jehovah as his 
 portion; the very address, though it is ecstatic, is still not 
 self-forgetting, is not love. And even then the analogy of 
 interpretation which we have observed throughout this psalm 
 would further limit this ecstasy and make it not ecstasy over 
 the possession of Jehovah Himself, but His words. 
 
 To ask for God's favor implies that His favor is at 
 present withheld. But from the two following verses we 
 learn that there had been backsliding, and this makes it very 
 evident that the verse is a petition for restoration to favor. 
 Even if it should be interpreted independently of the con- 
 text, it still would indicate a want of God's favor, and, 
 therefore, we may take it as a suitable expression of feeling 
 for the sinner in his first approaches to God, or for the Chris- 
 tian on his return to God after a sinful absence. In such a 
 case all the conditions of successful seeking of God are 
 present. 
 
 We must approach God with thorough earnestness, 
 "with all my heart." 
 
 We must approach Him simply for His grace. 
 
260 Selected Psalms ana ^onogtapftsi 
 
 There must be no sense of desert. There must be a 
 pleading of the promise. 
 
 All these three require faith; indeed, they are but 
 modes of faith. The unreconciled sinner must not feel that 
 there is any need of his earning a right to the promise. If 
 anything is needed to introduce us within the scope of 
 grace, grace becomes no more grace. We must come to 
 God for that which is necessary to enable us to come to 
 God — as in Hart's hymn: 
 
 "Ho ye needy, come and welcome, 
 God's free bounty glorify; 
 True belief, and true repentance, 
 Every grace that brings us night, 
 Without money 
 Come to Jesus Christ and buy." 
 
 A paradox, but a blessed one. 
 
 The backsliding Christian must not think that he has 
 forfeited the promise no matter how long or gravely he has 
 sinned. 
 
 Anyone who seeks God's favor with all his heart may 
 plead God's promise. 
 
 Verse 59. "I have thought on my ways and turned 
 my feet back to Thy testimonies." 
 
 The psalmist hitherto has evidently not been looking 
 closely to his actions. This carelessness may have arisen 
 from great worldly occupations, causing him to forget his 
 duty to God ; or, what is more likely in the case of a servant 
 of God, he has been led to feel that there is no need for 
 him to be careful. Such a feeling is often the result of a 
 long course of obedience or of high raised feeling. The 
 habit of doing the things commanded has made it so easy 
 that the man insensibly gets to feel that he may safely com- 
 mit himself to the care of his good habits, or to the power 
 of his good feelings — his gifts and graces. It would be a 
 delightful thing if this were the method of the Christian life, 
 if we had merely to give way to an impulse within us. 
 
IRetn jFre&erick La Eue Mm 261 
 
 Says Wordsworth: 
 
 "Serene will be our days and bright 
 And happy will our nature be, 
 When love is an unerring light 
 And joy its own security." 
 
 But the fact is, these days have not yet come. We 
 have not yet been made perfect, and we are, besides, walking 
 among snares and enemies. We have, however, received 
 the germ of a perfect nature, the beginnings of an impulse 
 which in the end will be a perfect guide, and the life of a 
 Christian ought, even now, to be for the most part a life of 
 impulse, for it ought to be for the most pari a life of love. 
 The poet continues insisting on this: 
 
 "And blest are they who in the main 
 This truth even now do entertain, 
 Live in the spirit of this creed, 
 Yet find that other strength according to their need." 
 
 "That other strength," that is the force of watchful 
 obedience to God's command. The Christian will often 
 need to appeal to this. As well might a mariner commit 
 himself to the winds and the ocean currents without a look at 
 his chart or compass or the stars, as a Christian commit him- 
 self to his impulses. No! the true Christian must learn to 
 combine watchfulness, with reliance upon grace working in 
 himself. "Mine eyes are ever turned towards the Lord for 
 He shall pluck my feet from the net." This combines the 
 two to a certain degree. But one must not regard himself 
 as powerless, and looking to be always lifted out or stimu- 
 lated forth as by a power external to himself. This is indeed, 
 what the Christian is sometimes brought to; but he is at the 
 perfection of Christian action at once dependent and inde- 
 pendent, watchful and impulsive, who looks to God to work 
 mightily in him entirely under the veil of his natural freedom, 
 and rests upon Him in the exercise of his active powers. This 
 is hard to attain — to be as cautious as Gideon, and yet to 
 
262 Selected psalms and apnograp&s: 
 
 be as trustful as Gideon, when he was at last taught to trust. 
 The temptation is to rely too much upon the portion of 
 grace that is ours already — upon the oil in our lamps, and 
 the result at the best is described by Wordsworth in the fur- 
 ther lines: 
 
 "I loving freedom and untried. 
 No sport of every random gust, 
 Yet being to myself a guide, 
 Too blindly have reposed my trust. 
 Oft when within my heart I heard 
 Thy timely mandate, I deferred 
 The task imposed from day to day." 
 
 Then comes a line that expresses the very resolution of 
 the verse under consideration: 
 
 "But now I Thee would serve more strictly if I may." 
 
 The examination that the psalmist has made of his 
 ways — his customary course of action, has resulted, as it will 
 in most cases result, in the discovery that he was straying 
 from the right path. He must turn back; he must test his 
 actions by the highest principles of holiness laid down in 
 God's testimonies (moral law), for he has been on the verge 
 at least, of doing wiong. In the case of the young prince 
 Solomon we may well imagine that the temptation was some- 
 thing that allured him to grasp at that which was his by 
 promise, but which he ought to have waited for. "All 
 things are yours," said the apostle, yet we must be content 
 with the abundance of God's house while we are waiting, 
 and not hazard the very promises by our impatience. Ps. 
 65:4. 
 
 Verse 60. "I hastened and delayed not to observe 
 Thy commandments." 
 
 They who find themselves straying out of the path are 
 not without a feeling that they have sinned, for it is sinful to 
 stray. But if they hesitate when once brought to the know- 
 ledge that they are straying, they commit a new and greater 
 sin, a sin which is less a sin of ignorance than the other. Such 
 
I&etn jFreoerick La Rue iftins 263 
 
 a hesitation is often because we have but slightly "thought 
 on our ways." It is a difficult thing to weigh and judge our 
 course of action in the presence of blinding habits that are 
 dear, sinful delights that we dislike to part with, sinful pride 
 unwilling to confess that the course we are pursuing is wholly 
 wrong. When the servant of God can say, "my sin is ever 
 before me," then he will be likely to hasten and delay 
 not to observe God's commandments. The word "com- 
 mandments," which is the name of the law as directive — 
 as pointing out the path, admirably suits the image of the 
 preceding verse of one straying and turning back to the right 
 way. It is one of the little indications of connection in the 
 psalm and of the discriminating use of the names of the 
 law. 
 
 The word "observe" would be more poetically ren- 
 dered "look to." As if the psalmist had said, "Finding 
 that I was going wrong, I immediately looked out for the 
 waymarks that God had placed to guide me." Of course 
 the implication is that the right action followed. No matter 
 how evil or lost our state, if we only look for them, we will 
 be able to find waymarks and be set on our way at once. 
 There is nothing of the paralysis of despair here, no hesita- 
 tion from hopelessness, no waiting for anything on the part 
 of the psalmist; he simply gives a searching look for God's 
 directions what now to do in his evil case. And there will 
 always be something to do — a course, a career for every 
 one. Even if he is sick and near his end, there is a path 
 for him to tread marked out by God, a life to live for Him, 
 a work to do for Him, if it is only prayer and praise, or 
 simply endurance. 
 
 Verse 61. "The bands of wicked men environed me 
 (but) Thy law I did not forget." 
 
 It cannot be that this is an isolated utterance; it must 
 continue the account of his experience in his conversion. The 
 wicked men who surrounded him were not so much a peril 
 to him as a temptation. Yet at the same time it might have 
 
264 Selected p$alms and ©onogtapijs 
 
 been a threatening temptation, a menace as well as an al- 
 lurement. "Be our leader in things wicked, or expect loss, 
 expect destruction." Young princes often have temptations 
 of this character. If we understand "law" in the sense of the 
 Mosaic cult, then we must take the temptation to be a 
 promise of support and advancement if only the young Solo- 
 mon would agree to oppose the political and ecclesiastical 
 plans of his father David, or agree to undo them when king. 
 We can easily understand that the promise to Solomon of 
 the throne and the manifest designation by David would 
 make the young prince a good card for mal-contents to play. 
 These wicked men then solicited him not to the indulgence 
 of youthful lusts or any sin of that character, but to go 
 against the law. The statement that he did not forget the 
 law sets forth not only his thankfulness and complacency be- 
 cause that he, even when his steps did a little wander, was 
 saved from utter declension, but also, by implication his 
 present devotion to God's prescribed worship. The tempta- 
 tion must have been a strong one. "Bands" suggest organ- 
 ization, and point, since the latter part of David's reign was 
 peaceful, to political movements. It may be that this sudden 
 and threatening temptation came to Solomon partly because 
 of some attempt he had made to get political strength — to 
 ensure his prospects. The child of God has himself to 
 thank for many an unholy allurement. Had he waited on 
 God, and been simple and patient and hopeful, he would 
 have been untouched. But he thinks to use unholy tools 
 holily, and lo! they aspire to dictate to him and be his 
 masters. But he yields not — will not yield God's Law. 
 He forgets it not. He would gladly have a cabal in his 
 favor, but rather than make the guilty concession requisite, 
 he will remain an isolated youth, without any adherents, but 
 his mother, adorned with the shadow of a future possible 
 crown, but little and despised for all that. Here he was 
 fixed. And he might well have need of all his resolution. 
 
Eetn jFre&erick &a Eue l&ing 265 
 
 There may be an equivoque in the word "bands"; it may 
 call attention not only to the organized strength of the tempt- 
 ers, but to their power over him. The revised version trans- 
 lates it "cords." The tempters were not only banded to- 
 gether, but had succeeded in binding him. Had he lacked 
 firm principle, or given way to fear, he would have been 
 lost. But when he understood that they required him to 
 give up the law, their power over him was gone. What a 
 blessing in the hour of temptation it is to have something 
 definitely and clearly before the mind that we know is duty, 
 something that we will not concede. There is a great ad- 
 vantage in being able to hold to something prescribed, some 
 institution, some act. They are at a great disadvantage in 
 the hour of temptation who only have general principles, 
 whose views as to institutions and specific acts are unfixed 
 and fluent. It is a good thing to make perfectly clear to our- 
 selves exactly what is our duty. Then we have something 
 fixed upon which to plant ourselves, and the Devil will not 
 be able to swamp us in a discussion of general principles. 
 Good habits, good prejudices, wise obstinacy in adhering to 
 that which is good, for fear that the better offered will not 
 prove better, these are great helps. Still we must keep in 
 mind that a Christian cannot live by prescription, but must 
 be ever forming, ever growing. 
 
 Verse 62. "At midnight I will rise to give thanks 
 unto Thee on (account of) the judgments of Thy right- 
 eousness." 
 
 Alexander thinks that there is here in the word used 
 for midnight, an allusion to the midnight destruction of 
 the firstborn at midnight in Egypt at the exodus. If this 
 be so, it would follow that "judgments of Thy righteous- 
 ness" must mean judicial inflictions. Indeed, from verse 75 
 we judge that it cannot be otherwise interpreted. The 
 three stanzas, of which this is the first, have for their com* 
 mon subject the partial backsliding of the psalmist and his 
 
266 ©elected Psalms mio ^onograpfjs 
 
 recovery. "The judgments of Thy righteousness," in this 
 verse, must be the same as "Thy judgments which are 
 righteousness" in verse 75, and they are plainly judicial in- 
 flictions — simply chastisements; here judgments of deliver- 
 ance as well as chastisements. 
 
 That they are the first is implied in the historical allu- 
 sion, and such judgments would be eminently suitable to 
 enable him to emerge from the threatening temptations of 
 verse 6 1 . And that they are the latter seems probable since 
 in verse 75 these judgments are personal inflictions, and in 
 verse 65 chastisements are made the means of his recovery 
 from backsliding. It may also be said that judgments on 
 the wicked men (verse 6 1 ) would involve judgments on 
 himself since he was in their company and had gone some 
 of the way to meet them. He had sought those by whom 
 he was at last beset. Also it is to be noted that the judg- 
 ments upon ungodly companions that remove them from 
 us are often the most severe of chastisements and the most 
 mysterious of dispensation to ourselves. But when the due 
 effect is wrought upon us, when the temptation is removed 
 and we think on our ways, and turn back our feet to God's 
 testimonies (verse 59), then no blessing of God is so 
 calculated to call out thankfulness. Here we see it is thank- 
 fulness that will not let the psalmist sleep. The remem- 
 brance of his peril, the consciousness of his deliverance, go 
 with him to his couch and remain with him during the night 
 watches, and his wonder and praise at midnight are like 
 the wonder and praise of the children of Israel upon another 
 midnight, when, at a stroke, their chains were broken, and 
 the march of deliverance began. 
 
 Verse 63. "A fellow I (am) to all that fear Thee 
 and to the keepers of Thy precepts." 
 
 There may be in the word "fellow" a reference to the 
 temptation and partial declension through which he has 
 recently passed. As if he had said, "I have withdrawn 
 
Ifteth JFreOerick La Eue ding 267 
 
 myself from the fellowship of those wicked men who sur- 
 rounded me, and would have led me astray, and have 
 joined myself to the fellowship of God's servants." And 
 we may draw from this the lesson that the most effectual 
 way to deliver ourselves from wicked entanglements, is to 
 join ourselves to the good. It means this, but also more. 
 The recovered backslider does not merely choose fearers of 
 Jehovah for his associates and equals, but all the fearers of 
 God, that is, any one who fears God, whatever his condi- 
 tion of life may be. Pride seems thoroughly mortified in 
 him. 
 
 They who truly repent and turn to the Lord will be 
 as much distinguished by lowliness of behavior towards, 
 and loving equal union with all His servants, as by adher- 
 ence to His law. And thus it is with the psalmist. Does 
 not his mentioning it show that he was likely to be tempted 
 to loftiness of demeanor on account of his high social 
 claims? It certainly seems suited to the circumstances and 
 character of a young prince like Solomon, who was ready 
 enough, as we see by his after history, to assume lofty state 
 and to surround himself with observance and the barriers 
 of close drawn etiquette. The temptation that offered to 
 him power and party promised to gratify this tendency. 
 And this he resolves to cast away when he shrinks from 
 paying the price of apostacy and turns with renewed love 
 to the law of God. He descends eagerly to his position of 
 tutelage and social obscurity, glad and thankful to make 
 persons, nameless and despised, his companions if only they 
 are the servants of his Master. 
 
 Verse 64. "Of Thy mercy oh Jehovah, full is the 
 earth; Thy statutes teach me." 
 
 "Since Thy mercy fills the whole earth, let it reach 
 to me, enabling me to understand Thy will and obey it." — 
 Alexander. This would make the verse nearly identical 
 with verse 1 24 ; the only difference being that here God's 
 
268 Selected Psalms arm a^onograpbs 
 
 mercy as creator and governor of the world is appealed to; 
 there, God's mercy as known by experience of His dealings. 
 Verse 124 can mean only this, the regimen compels it. 
 And one cannot call it unsuitable in the mouth of a man 
 newly delivered from backsliding, and newly reconverted to 
 God. We can imagine such a one in the consciousness 
 of ill desert, looking for encouragement to the evidences of 
 God's mercy in all Nature, and invoking the exercise of 
 that mercy towards him, making so clear to him God's will, 
 that the deserts of temptation may have no power hereafter 
 to obscure it and so render him an easy prey. And well 
 may God's mercy be appealed to for this, since one of the 
 evil effects of sin and its just punishment is the loss of sim- 
 plicity and sincerity of judgment, so that the soul is not 
 only tempted, but puzzled and bewildered in its efforts to 
 discover what is God's will. Deserving to be left in the 
 maze, the soul may still appeal to God's mercy for delivering 
 light. God's way of giving light, however, may be very 
 painful. 
 
 More than one feeling may be expressed by these 
 words. It may be that the psalmist strengthens himself in 
 his renewed submission to God, by the thought that He is 
 a merciful God and that what He requires will not be 
 harsh or unnecessary. The statutes of God engraven on 
 the adamantine rock of nature and unalterable, result in 
 beauty, comfort and provident and even tender ministry. 
 The whole earth proclaims that God is merciful. We may 
 then say in sum, that the psalmist has been delivered from 
 temptation by being taught God's statutes and praying that 
 in the future that knowledge may ever be his; and full of 
 the compunction arising from a clearer view of God's re- 
 quirements, declares his willingness to submit to those com- 
 mands whatever they may be, comforting himself with the 
 knowledge drawn from the works of God that those com- 
 mands will be gentle and beneficient. 
 
Eeto* jFreOerick £a Eue i&ing 269 
 
 TETH. 
 
 Verse 65. "Good hast Thou done to Thy servant, 
 O Jehovah, according to Thy word." 
 
 This stanza continues the general strain of the pre- 
 ceding one. It is with the psalmist a time of chastisement 
 and reform. The first tendency of the soul brought into 
 trial of such a kind is to think that God is against it and 
 is about to punish, that His patience is worn out and the 
 promises ours no longer. Often there is a temptation to 
 think that God is unkind and unjust in His dealings. If 
 the psalmist has had this feeling, it has passed away. Chas- 
 tisement has had its blessed effect in purging the sight and 
 softening the heart. He is made, through the sharp stroke, 
 to see God's hand in his life, and to recognize it not merely 
 as the hand of a ruler but of one who loves him. He 
 begins to learn the true meaning of the experiences through 
 which he has passed. God has done good and not evil to 
 him, and not only that, but He has been all the while ful- 
 filling His promises to him. It is conceivable that one 
 means that God used to awaken him from his false hopes, 
 and to deliver him from his temptation, was to reveal to 
 him the character of those with whom he was about to 
 join himself. Tempters soon become masters. The prince 
 who is set upon the throne by an intrigue and especially an 
 unhallowed intrigue, is a servant to his supporters. Solo- 
 mon, had he been lifted to the throne by means of a cabal 
 against the metropolitan and theocratic movement of the 
 reign of David, would have found himself shorn of real 
 power. The failure of Solomon to concede anything to 
 them, the fact that, even when environed by them, he did 
 not forget the law, (verse 61), might have removed the 
 mask and revealed the hidden contempt, imperiousness and 
 malice of these pretended friends. Thus may Solomon well 
 say, when God has spoiled all his plans and brought him 
 into great suffering, "Good hast Thou done," etc. The 
 
270 Selected psalms and ^onogtapfts 
 
 emphatic position of the word "good," and indeed, the 
 whole clause, implies that there had been at first a pang of 
 disappointment, and that what God had done had not 
 appeared good; but his eyes had been opened to behold 
 the "wonders" of God's providential dealings. The appli- 
 cation is easy to the case of any child of God who has 
 hoped for gain from worldly associations, and has been 
 delivered from those associations through the contempt and 
 slights he was made to suffer because of his shrinking back 
 from open sin. As the Israelites were taught the nature 
 of heathenism by being made to undergo a heathen yoke, 
 so with him temptation has been transmuted into a scourge 
 and so has revealed its real character. When this takes 
 place well may he exclaim in surprise, "It was then good 
 and not evil that came upon me." 
 
 Verse 66. "Goodness of judgment and knowledge 
 teach me, for in Thy commandments I believe." 
 
 The preceding verse shows the enlightening effect of 
 discipline. He now prays that he may be permanently en- 
 dowed with wisdom in this respect. He asks, "Give me 
 insight into Thy dealings that I may know their real char- 
 acter, and not be tempted to hard thoughts of Thee, or 
 even to a momentary sense of desertion and desolation." 
 But the verse may have a wider scope. Indeed it may be 
 said of the verses of this psalm that while commentators have 
 needlessly despaired of finding a connection between them, 
 still they do stand as independent statements and have a 
 larger meaning than is necessitated by the connection. We 
 may therefore understand this as a petition for wisdom in 
 the discharge of the affairs of this life generally. It is worthy 
 of being noted that Solomon's petition to God at Gibeon 
 upon his accession was for "an understanding heart." It 
 behooves the child of God to believe that God's divine 
 guidance may be had in the affairs of life from day to day. 
 and that true prayer for this will be answered not by voice 
 
Eetn jFreOericfe La iRue l&tng 271 
 
 or vision as they were guided, who of old inquired of the 
 Lord; but by guidance not less real than that which the 
 Israelites enjoyed when the cloud and the fire led them 
 through the desert. This confidence the psalmist expresses 
 in the second clause, "for in Thy commandments" — the 
 law, as directing one's path — "I believe." This is the 
 reason why he asks for "goodness of judgment and know- 
 ledge." He believes that God has furnished to him in the 
 "commandments" a sufficient and infallible guidance in the 
 conduct of life. He feels that they are his best policy and 
 that when he holds fast to them, then he is shrewd indeed. 
 The brave command however, would not be enough; it 
 would indeed be little, were not "goodness of judgment" 
 also granted — power to understand and apply. Not 
 servilely nor stupidly must God's "commandments" be re- 
 ceived and acted out. Like the rules of an art, they must 
 be received and applied by intuitions that are themselves 
 directive. And this leads to the remark in the last place, 
 that God guides and commands not merely by issuing the 
 direction in so many words. Natural wisdom is the gift 
 of God, and he who uses his natural wisdom lowlily and 
 in reliance on God, will have introduced into it a higher 
 wisdom, even a divine, and thus in the exercise of his 
 powers as a man, he becomes an instrument in the hand of 
 the Highest. 
 
 Verse 67. "Before I suffered I (was) going astray, 
 and now Thy saying I observe." 
 
 The keynote of this stanza together with the preceding 
 and following one is evidently "chastisement and its blessed 
 effects." If we have been correct in our previous exposi- 
 tion, the "going astray" has been by reason of false hopes; 
 and this is corroborated by the fact that his returning and 
 repentance is shown by his observing — looking to — God's 
 "saying" — the word of His promise. Lured by those who 
 had promised him a rapid realization of his expectations. 
 
272 ©elected Psalms and ^onograpbs 
 
 he had well nigh turned his hopes away from the promise 
 and based it upon these intriguers, but being made to suffer 
 he now looks alone to the promise of God for hope and 
 encouragement. 
 
 Suffering, pure and simple, is often sufficient to call 
 the child of God to himself, for he is made to feel at once 
 the necessity for God's help and the powerlessness of earthly 
 consolation. He has a foretaste of the last result of trust- 
 ing to the world, and turns to God while it is yet time — to 
 the word of His promise. Much more is this the case, 
 when as often happens, the error gives birth to the chas- 
 tisement, when they who allure trouble him, or, smitten 
 themselves, involve him in their disaster. Well for the 
 child of God if suffering, that watchful sentinel, warn him 
 in time for him to extricate himself. 
 
 Verse 68. "Good (art) Thou and doing good; teach 
 me Thy statutes." 
 
 Not "do one good thing more by teaching me Thy 
 statutes." This verse must be interpreted as the 64th was. 
 The first clause is not a plea; it assigns the reason why he 
 asks; not the reason why God should grant. There is 
 something here of the glow of feeling with which in verse 
 65 he recognizes that what he had thought so bad for him 
 was really good for him, and brought upon him by God in 
 the fulfilment of His gracious promise. Indeed there is even 
 a higher and deeper feeling here. The surprise and grati- 
 titude with which he discovers God's goodness in what he 
 thought hardness and severity in verse 58 carries him for- 
 ward to the realization of the fact that all God's acts every- 
 where are good and the outcome of a nature that is good, 
 and this is the reason why he desires to be taught God's 
 statutes. Now "statutes" is the law considered as the 
 expression of God's arbitrary will. It is this that the psalm- 
 ist desires to understand and, of course, strictly to obey. 
 High as is the spirituality of this psalm, it has its limitations. 
 
Iftetn jFreDeuck &a Eue Mm 273 
 
 Here is no utter surrender of his will to God's will, but 
 to God's enactment, His order. At the same time there is 
 more here than the feeling that it would be good for him 
 to know and obey whatever God insists upon. There is 
 something other and higher than this; and, though we may 
 not claim for the psalmist the unreserved devotion charac- 
 teristic of love, still there is something in such a vision of 
 the divine goodness that draws forth the soul into rapport 
 with the divine greatness — that infinite sum of all being — 
 and gives the soul to know that it is all, that there is nothing 
 beyond; and enables the soul to choose it in the place of all 
 things and repose in God forever. 
 
 Verse 69. "Proud (men) have forged a lie against 
 me; I with all (my) heart will keep Thy precepts." 
 
 This verse has been understood to refer to the accusa- 
 tions made to the king of Persia against the Jews who were 
 building the Temple (Ezra 4th chapter). No doubt the 
 Jews at that time could make his language their own; but 
 still it does not seem probable that it has direct reference to 
 this. It injures the lyrical character of the piece to make 1 
 it the utterance of an impersonal church; and besides it 
 further requires a depersonification to make it suit the case 
 of an individual believer. Besides, though pride may have 
 entered as an element into the opposition of the "people of 
 the land" to the Jews, still it never would have occurred 
 to the sufferers to describe that by the sole characteristic of 
 pride which was mainly envy and malignity and hatred of 
 God and His people. But we know that pride, tribal pride 
 and pride of royalty was one of the main obstacles to the 
 theocratic Davidic policy, political and ecclesiastical. By 
 the accession of Solomon, who without doubt had declared 
 his adherence to the new cults, pride would be permanently 
 humbled. Solomon's ambitious brothers would also be well 
 described as proud men. We can easily understand that 
 they as well as the proud chiefs of tribes, would intrigue 
 
274 ©electeD p$alm$ and a^onograpljs 
 
 against the expectant heir to the throne. The lie that 
 they would contrive against him might be accusations calcu- 
 lated to poison the mind of David and make him think 
 that this son of his was either planning to gain the throne 
 surreptitiously, or else was intending to overthrow, when 
 on the throne, the institutions that were specially character- 
 istic of his father's reign; while on the other hand, these very 
 men might be representing to the tribes thai Solomon would 
 be the very tyrant he was regarded, at the time of the ac- 
 cession of Jereboam. Like accusations were made against 
 our Lord. The Pharisees strove to make Him appear to 
 the people as a truckler to the Romans, whilst to the Ro- 
 mans He was accused of plotting to be king. The psalmist 
 does not propose to make any reply to these accusations 
 made by his eneimes, or to engage in any counter-plotting. 
 His hands and heart are full of other business. "Precepts" 
 is the law as assigning work to do. The expression may 
 cast light back upon the first clause. The accusations may 
 have been a misconstruction of some activity of Solomon's, 
 for he could not escape slander whatever course he took. 
 If he held himself aloof from all business, he was inert and 
 wanting in capacity. If he made himself at all busy, he 
 was an intriguer. The response he makes is to go right 
 forward with his work, doing what his hand found to do 
 with all his might. Best and sufficient answer for every 
 child of God to make to slanders which are inevitable, what- 
 ever he does or doct not do. Wisdom is always justified 
 of her children. 
 
 Verse 70. "Fat as grease is their heart; I (in) Thy 
 law delight." 
 
 Alexander says: "The connection of the clauses lies 
 in the figurative use of the word "fat" to denote spiritual 
 insensibility." The only place in the Old Testament where 
 "fat" is used directly in this way is Is. 6: 10. The word 
 in the other places when used figuratively, denotes not so 
 
Eeto* jFre&euck JLa Eue King 275 
 
 much the spiritual insensibility induced by a satiation with 
 good things, as the evil feelings enkindled by prosperity. It 
 is connected with apostacy, Deut. 31 : 20, Rebellion, Job, 
 15: 27, Deut. 32: 15; Nek 9: 25; 1st Samuel 2: 29, 
 Pride, Ps. 17:10, 73: 7, Is. 10: 16. And here the persons 
 whose heart is said to be "fat" are called in verse 69 proud. 
 Thus, although spiritual insensibility is involved in the state- 
 ment and perhaps implied, still the verse is mainly a contrast 
 between the loftiness of these men and the lowliness of 
 the psalmist. It was pride that especially opposed the 
 Davidic cult, which was only the Mosaic cult conserved, 
 and developed. Doubtless the service in itself was a humb- 
 ling one. It was for sinners, and besides the new cult- 
 center appointed by God at the threashing floor of Arannah 
 the Jebusite humbled their tribal pride. And here we have 
 the force of the verse. These "fat" ones are satiated and 
 satisfied — lofty of spirit; they feel rich and increased in 
 goods like the church of Laodicea. They can conceive 
 of no enjoyment out of themselves. They value themselves, 
 upon what they have and hold. They do not know what 
 it is to have nothing and yet possess all things. The psalm- 
 ist is poor in spirit, lowly, delights in obedience to the 
 worship prescribed by God, is a sinner, feels the need of. 
 the remedies of the law, delights in the promises of the law, 
 and hopes for the glory of Israel through the law. 
 
 Verse 71. "It is good for me that I was made to 
 suffer to the end that I might learn Thy statutes." 
 
 It is one of the greatest comforts of Christians under- 
 trial to realize that it subserves their present good. This,, 
 however, may not always be, one often has to wait a long 
 time before he sees any good resulting to himself; faith is 
 then severely tried. It is not so with the psalmist; and it is 
 noticeable that the good that he owns as conferred through 
 suffering is the knowledge of God's statutes. Instruction 
 is one of the main ends subserved by trial. The direcJt 
 
276 Selected psalms ano ©onopap&s 
 
 effect of pain and sorrow upon the child of God is to con- 
 centrate his attention upon his highest interests. God is 
 often so successfully rivalled by worldly things, that a little 
 suffering, giving a distaste for many allurements, may be re- 
 garded as a labor saving expedient in the work of sanctifi- 
 cation. Just as a master will stimulate the slow mind of a 
 child sometimes by a sharp tone or a threat not in anger 
 but to assist the child, so God helps to a knowledge of 
 His will by removing those things that obscure the mental 
 and moral sight. Pleasures that have usurped the name of 
 duty and duty to God fall dead as withered leaves, and 
 only eternal obligation remains. Then there is the bringing 
 down of the proud will by suffering, effected perhaps, imme- 
 diately. Then there is the intimation sometimes conveyed 
 by the trial that one is going wrong, this recalls the man 
 to himself. Then God never melts the will more effectually 
 than by His blessed ministries to us in the valley of humilia- 
 tion. The willing soul can learn, but the proud soul never 
 reads the open secret. 
 
 Verse 72. "Good for me is the law of Thy mouth 
 (more) than thousands of gold and silver." 
 
 This comparison of sacred things to gold and silver 
 is peculiarly eastern. Gold and silver were of great im- 
 portance to them. It is a child-like simile, although it may 
 have reference to the peculiar temptation by which the 
 young Solomon was assailed. It was the shadow of a 
 crown that was held out to him, and with royal dignity 
 was associated, especially in those days, royal wealth. And 
 that something like royal wealth was meant is slightly in- 
 dicated by the vague but significant phrase, "thousands of 
 silver." "The law of Thy mouth" may mean generally 
 "Thy commands." But the word used is one peculiarly 
 employed for the proper cult of the Jews. We should also 
 note that the Mosaic cult was said to have been spoken by 
 word of mouth to Moses by God. The whole force of 
 
Rett, JF reDetick JLa Rue ding 277 
 
 the verse may be this. Better than vast wealth and the 
 power that comes from it, are the ordinances which teach 
 us how to approach Thee and find grace and favor, es- 
 pecially since they were delivered to us directly by Thee." 
 
 YODH. 
 
 Verse 73. "Thy hands made me and fashioned me; 
 make me understand and let me learn Thy commandments." 
 
 Alexander seems to understand this merely as a similie. 
 "As I owe my existence to Thy power, so too, I rely upon 
 Thy grace for spiritual illumination." There must be 
 more than this in it. The first clause may be understood as 
 giving the reason why his petition should be answered. The 
 Creator may well be expected to take care of His creation. 
 He that made the machine may be expected to guide it. He 
 who made man what he is may well be exepcted to grant 
 those commandments (law directive) that shall guide him 
 in his actions. The second verb means to establish and also 
 to set in order. It is well rendered by "fashioned." The 
 clause may mean, "Thou hast made me a man and hast 
 given me a peculiar constitution, as an individual." The 
 expression, "Thy hand" draws attention not so much to 
 God's power as His contrivance, and connects the psalm- 
 ist's frame closely with God. This is heightened by the 
 second verb. 
 
 The force of the whole is about this: "Thou hast 
 made me, therefore Thou understandest me. Thou knowest 
 what is suited to me. The creator is one with the lawgiver; 
 the law is one with the constitution of man. Make me to 
 understand and learn thoroughly Thy commandments, and 
 then I will act in harmony with my whole being." 
 
 Verse 74. "Thy fearers shall see me and rejoice; 
 for in Thy word have I hoped." 
 
 This evidently is the language of one whose experi- 
 ence is well known. It is one of the verses that indicate 
 
278 ^electeo psalm* anD aponograp&s: 
 
 the high station of the psalmist. "They shall rejoice in 
 my case as a new proof that they, who trust in God, can- 
 not be disappointed." — Alexander. It means this, and 
 more. The rejoicing would indicate a sharing in the pre- 
 vious trouble and present deliverance. This is not merely 
 a fellow-feeling because he and they are alike servants of 
 God. There must be something more than inference here. 
 Alexander refers to Psalm 34: 2. But the impression is 
 irresistible that there the rejoicing of "the humble" is not 
 because of an inference from his case to theirs but because 
 their cause is the same. 
 
 Suppose Solomon to be the author of this psalm, and 
 we can easily see that the true fearers of the Lord would 
 rejoice in his success as their own. His pretensions to the 
 crown were in the direct line of the complete development 
 of the theocracy and his ascension of the throne would 
 secure their prosperity and triumph. The pious young 
 prince may be engaging here that he will see to it that God 
 gets the glory, and that, by this means, encouragement will 
 be given to those who fear the Lord and who, besides, 
 shall then be rewarded. Whether this psalm was written 
 by Solomon or for Solomon, it is the reflex of his lofty posi- 
 tion and high hopes. And none the less does it become 
 an humble child of God in these days, who is called by 
 a nobler name than son of David, and has a more affec- 
 tionate appellation than Jedidiah — beloved of the Lord, 
 who has secured to him not merely by God's promise, but 
 by His oath, a throne grander than the throne to which 
 Solomon aspired. He, too, can feel that he is not alone 
 in his longings and prayers, that his welfare is knitted up 
 with the welfare of the great family of God, the body of 
 Christ. Not only is their triumph his, but his triumph is 
 theirs. For that "multitude that no man can number" 
 would never be able to stand before God ascribing their 
 salvation to Him, if only one, the humblest of all who 
 
Rett* jFreDerick Jta Ifttie King 279 
 
 have laid hold of Christ, should fail to be there. The sal- 
 vation of the Lord Himself is no more necessary to His 
 church than is the salvation of the lowliest one who trusts 
 in Him. 
 
 Verse 75. "I know Jehovah, that righteous are Thy 
 judgments and (in) faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me (or 
 made me suffer)". 
 
 Here, as ever in the psalm, Jehovah — the covenant 
 God, is addressed — an affectionate title used by the psalm- 
 ist even when he would be naturally tempted to impatience. 
 
 "Judgments" here cannot possibly be law. They 
 must be judicial decisions issuing in acts of chastisements. 
 There is not in this place any of the feeling of one despair- 
 ing or thinking that God is against him. And yet there is 
 something of punishment in His chastisements. Trials are 
 hard to bear, and yet a consciousness that suffering is un- 
 deserved, helps to support. There is something noble and 
 dignified in the position of one who endures wrong patiently. 
 But the psalmist has not that support. He acknowledges 
 (what is very hard to acknowledge) that he has deserved 
 the infliction. The trial is a judgment upon him, and a 
 righteous judgment. This he scruples not to say, though 
 there might have been a great deal of injustice on the part 
 of men mixed up with it. Every event is complex; the 
 sufferer is not wholly at fault nor is he wholly innocent. In 
 trial of this kind it is a gracious sign to dwell not on one's 
 innocence, but one's ill desert. From the plural being used, 
 it may be indicated that it required a course of chastisement 
 to bring the psalmist to himself. The plural, however, may 
 be used to express the conclusion to which he had come 
 from considering his individual experience. He is able to see 
 that not only this affliction from which he has suffered, is 
 consistent with God's righteousness, but also, that all God's 
 judgments are righteous. And, painful as it is, there is 
 some relief in knowing that what we suffer is by a judicial 
 
280 ©elected Psalms and flionogtap&g 
 
 decision of a righteous God. For then we at least are not 
 the sport of reasonless nature or of men. God has not for- 
 gotten us; that thought, the most dreadful that can enter the 
 mind, is banished. Our pains are not wasted if they are 
 punishment. And then we have a right to remember that, 
 if God punishes, He also pardons. 
 
 But the psalmist has a right to a pleasanter thought 
 than this. He is able to see that in this judgment which 
 has fallen upon him, God has been not merely just, but 
 faithful to His promises. This is well put in the second 
 clause. They who first acknowledge their ill desert in their 
 afflictions may then have the comfort of seeing and acknow- 
 ledging that they are not merely just pains and penalties, 
 but also a means which God uses to fulfil to them His 
 precious promises. Christians often fail of this comfort be- 
 caue they fail to acknowledge their sin — not sin in general, 
 that is not hard, but sin in the specific matter in which 
 they are troubled. The way to peace is through brambles. 
 Let Christians note that all God's promises may be summed 
 up in one word — redemption — and that until they are per- 
 fectly redeemed they may expect to find sin present in them 
 in every trial. Now the very care and beginning of redemp- 
 tion is the renovation of the heart, and that needs, for the 
 most part, chastisement and discipline, which, though they 
 cannot plant new impulses, yet avail to bring renovation 
 within the sphere of the will and intelligence, and thus 
 help to make a man not only innocent but holy. 
 
 Verse 76. "O that Thy loving-kindness might be for 
 my comfort, according to Thy word (saying) to Thy 
 servant." 
 
 We lose the force of the preceding verse if we do not 
 consider it a preparation for the petition in this. Here lies 
 the force of the expression "I know." It is as if he had 
 said, "I am well aware; I keep in mind that my present trial 
 is not only just but for my benefit, and yet (verse 76) r O, 
 
EetK jFreHerick La Eue &ins 281 
 
 that Thy loving-kindness," etc. Justice is one thing; 
 faithfulness is quite another since it can only be for those 
 who can claim the promises. But God can be a just judge 
 and a faithful promiser, and yet deal very strictly and 
 severely with His children. A faithful surgeon may give 
 a great deal of pain. But they who acknowledge the jus- 
 tice and faithfulness of God may pray for something dif- 
 ferent from either of these, even God's loving-kindness. 
 God is not like the applier of earthly remedies, who can. 
 perhaps, sugar-coat a pill or sweeten a bitter medicine, but 
 whose power goes only a little way in making pleasant 
 what is needed to heal. He can, if He sees best, bring 
 the soul, in spite of many trespasses, home to Himself by 
 pleasant paths. His children must believe that God cannot 
 be bound to any one course of procedure, that the resources 
 of His contriving love are so great that He has the choice 
 among an infinite variety of means, to produce a given effect. 
 It is not sufficient to acknowledge His justice and faithful- 
 ness. Many do so, and then settle themselves down to 
 endure the hard discipline under which justice and faithful- 
 ness bring them, when they should remember that God's 
 loving-kindness is as dear to Him as His Justice and faith- 
 fulness, and that His dealings are not made perfect until they 
 manifest that also, not only to the believer but to all around. 
 God's loving-kindness is always present in His dealings with 
 His children, but it is not always manifest. Many a parent 
 in love, makes his child to suffer pain. The child of God 
 may realize this through faith; but faith should go farther 
 than this, and pray that God, in the strict exercise of His 
 justice and faithfulness should still make His dealings pleas- 
 ant to us. We must not make up our minds to rest in our 
 evil case and endure, but lay hold of God, the author of all 
 change, in whom is infinite hope. We should be quiet 
 in nothing but God, and acknowledge the sway of any 
 painfulness or deprivation, no, not for a single moment. We 
 should pray for relief with all confession and thanksgiving, 
 
282 ©elected Psalms and e@onograp!)$ 
 
 and with submission to God's will. Let not the sufferer say, 
 "it will be of no avail." He will get by it, at least, God. 
 Whatever he may be denied, he will have the essence of 
 his petition. God is waiting in many cases, for just this 
 prayer, which so honors His omnipotence, working by love. 
 The psalmist asks that God's loving-kindness may be for his 
 "comfort" not only, as we are to understand, by giving him 
 relief from distress, but by bringing God near in communion 
 with Him, through that very relief. God gives Himself in 
 His gifts. The last clause reveals the spiritual limitations 
 under which the whole psalm was written. It is not as a 
 son, but as a servant, that the psalmist approaches God. It 
 is not in reliance on God Himself, but on His promise, 
 at the same time it honors the promise, as we have seen, 
 by including in it not only the happiness at the end, but 
 comfort and pleasure by the way. 
 
 Verse 77. "Let Thy compassions come unto me (or 
 upon me) and I shall live, for Thy law (is) my delight." 
 
 In the preceding verse Alexander translates by 
 "mercy" Loving-kindness is better, since "mercy" implies 
 ill desert, and there is no ill desert implied in the word as it 
 is generally used. The psalmist is at peace with God, 
 feels that he is in the hands of a loving Father, whose 
 dealings with him are just and faithful. He does not desire 
 kind dealings on the part of God, for he knows that God's 
 present dealings with him are kind; it is pleasant dealings 
 that he desires. This view is strengthened by the plural 
 (compassions) used here. The psalmist does not ask that 
 God should entertain a feeling of compassion towards him; 
 that he may be secure of, while yet asking for acts of com- 
 passion — manifestations of compassion that will be intelli- 
 gible to his sore heart. "Take pains," he asks "to make 
 the working out of Thy faithful purpose pleasant to me." 
 It is as if a surgeon should be asked to give as little pain as 
 possible. Only in the case of a surgeon, he is bound to do 
 
I&eto* jFreDericfe La Hue i&ing 283 
 
 this — no proper end could be subserved by giving pain that 
 could be avoided. But with God the case is different. 
 There may be reasons why He should make the fulfilling of 
 His promise exquisitely painful to His servant, but, never- 
 theless, we may pray that it may be otherwise. It was to 
 this infinite power and contrivance of God that our Saviour 
 made appeal when He said, "if it be possible, let this cup 
 pass from me." Not for one moment did our Lord shrink 
 from the discharge of His office as Saviour, but He asked 
 that God might find out a way by which He might dis- 
 charge the office and yet avoid the agony. Well might the 
 Sinless One pray for that; but, it is permitted, even to one 
 suffering under deserved chastisement (as here the Psalmist) 
 to pray, "Let Thy compassions come unto me, and I shall 
 live." If we consider that he has (verse 75) declared that 
 he regards the very terrors and trials that he has gone 
 through as the means God takes to fulfil His promises, and 
 (verse 76) asks that God's loving-kindness may be for his 
 comfort, here we must interpret "that I may live," not as 
 referring to the preservation of his natural life, but rather 
 to the making of that life full, free, rich. The psalmist 
 does not desire anything that would directly go to make his 
 life such, but only that the pain and trouble which hinder 
 and mar the life that is now his, should be compassionately 
 removed. That this alone is necessary we see by the second 
 clause, "for Thy law is my delight." The law — the cult of 
 Jehovah, the ordinances of approach to God, and worship 
 in His presence; all those symbols and ceremonial that com- 
 fort and restore, that warn and enlighten, indeed, we may 
 say all that made the distinctive life of a true Israelite, 
 that is his delight, and what is one's delight, that is his 
 life. But life he cannot fully enjoy while God's chastising 
 hand is heavy upon him, for he asks that his distress may 
 cease in order that he may live. Like the psalmist in 
 Psalm 42, he says, "when shall I come and appear before 
 God"? "for I had gone with the multitude; I went with 
 
284 Selected psalm* aim aponograpijs 
 
 them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, 
 with a multitude that kept holy-day." And now he pleads, 
 "Be gentle with me; let Thy hand rest lightly upon me 
 while Thou art working out Thy kind and righteous will, 
 and then, although I am yet in the house of my sojournings, 
 and have not attained, I shall still have fulness of life, mo- 
 tive for living and scope for activity, for Thy law is my 
 delight — my multitude of pleasures. It furnishes me with 
 occupation, fills me with joy and kindles all hope." We 
 cannot help thinking of Joshua, the son of Nun, who de- 
 parted not out of the Tabernacle; or of Scipio Africanus. 
 who in the days of his youth was such a devotee. "We 
 shall be satisfied with the abundance of Thy house," says 
 the psalmist (Ps. 65 : 5 ) of the waiting church. 
 
 Verse 78. "Shamed be the proud, for falsely have 
 they wronged me; I will muse of Thy precepts." 
 
 At first sight there seems to be little or no difference 
 between this verse and the 69th in both clauses, and so 
 there is, if we look only to the "doctrine" involved — if we 
 put the screws to the poetical utterance to express forth 
 some abstract truth or abstract fact as is usually done. The 
 proud are spoken of and their falseness, and the psalmist's 
 devotion to God's precepts; but it should be noticed that 
 the psalmist's trouble in this verse is different from that in 
 verse 69. There he was calumniated, here treacherously 
 injured. The spirit is different. There he made no attempt 
 to check the tide of wrong, but quietly bore it, immersing 
 himself in his duties; here he feels stronger, and denounces 
 shame on the heads of the wrong doers — shame, the most 
 galling thing to the proud man, and that which required the 
 greatest faith on his part to ask for. There he says that he 
 will keep God's precepts, here that he will muse on them. 
 There he gives the lie to slanders by doing his duty. Here 
 the sting of treacherous injury is not keen enough to disturb 
 the calmness of his mind — he muses on God's precepts, he 
 
i&etn jFrenerick La Iftue J&ittg 285 
 
 meditates on the work assigned, plans and contrives. The 
 proud enemies have injured him, but they have no power 
 to degrade him, to disturb the balance of his mind, or for a 
 single instant to prevent his complete absorption in the duties 
 God has laid upon him. 
 
 Verse 79. "Let them return to me that fear Thee, 
 and know Thy testimonies." 
 
 This is one of the verses that more than hint that the 
 psalmist was of princely dignity. It implies that he had a 
 following — a party, and that circumstances had discouraged 
 them with his prospects. Now, favor with God being re- 
 stored, full of faith (verse 75), and large petition (verses 
 76 and 77), defiant and with a little gleam of triumph 
 (verse 78); the feeling in this verse swells higher; and he 
 begins to prepare for the future — to gather up his strength 
 for earthly contest. The paralyzing night of sorrow has 
 passed away, activity begins, hope rises like a rosy dawn 
 as he looks for favor at the hands of men as well as God 
 again. If we have been correct in our previous exposition, the 
 psalmist's trouble arose from the approach to him of proud, 
 self-seeking men, careless of God or His worship. He has 
 had experience of them, and now turns to those who once 
 favored him, and, perhaps were discouraged by his very 
 coquetting with the ambitious and ungodly. He turns to 
 them with hearty choice; with a summons, implying that his 
 cause is their cause and the cause of God; and with a 
 petition to God that He may cause them to come, for all 
 this is implied in the words, "Let them return to me." He 
 is not a man to despise earthly strength, to fold his hands 
 when anything is to be done to further his prospects, but 
 he desires to cooperate now only with those who fear God 
 and know His testimonies — understand, appreciate and prac- 
 tice them. Nothing less than that is full knowledge. He 
 would have to do with holy men alone. 
 
 Verse 80. "Let my heart be perfect in Thy statutes, 
 to the end that I may not be shamed." 
 
286 ©elected Psalm* anD aicmogtapfm 
 
 This verse is plainly in connection. The dawn of pros- 
 perity suggests the dangers of prosperity and the only sure 
 safeguard. Not strong resolution to obey, not habit of 
 obedience, but devotion of the heart. And here the title 
 used for the law is significant. It is "statutes" — the law as 
 the expression of the arbitrary will of God. The law in 
 any other aspect can be liked, in this aspect only can it be 
 loved. For the heart to be perfect in God's statutes means 
 that it should perfectly love God as commanding; and for 
 the heart to be perfect in God as commanding is very nigh 
 to be perfect in love to God. If this had been the state 
 of the psalmist before, he never would have fallen under the 
 power and the pain of temptation. That obedience which 
 is loving obedience, is quick to see — sensitive as an electro- 
 meter to the slightest deviation from the path, and is the 
 only thing that will secure from shame. 
 
 KAPH. 
 
 Verse 81. "For Thy salvation has my soul fainted; 
 for Thy word have I waited." 
 
 In the interpretation of this psalm, two extremes are 
 to be avoided. It will not do, with Hengstenberg and 
 others, to deny all connection between the verses, neither will 
 it do to presume that the connection involves the whole sig- 
 nificance of the verses. The verses, even when most closely 
 connected, are, after all, independent utterances. They are 
 very often like round pebbles touching each other, indeed, 
 but only at one point. And as a general thing, connection 
 of feeling is to be looked for rather than connection of 
 thought. And as with the verses, so with the stanzas, only 
 in a greater degree. Indeed, the whole psalm bears marks 
 of having not been composed as a whole, but made up for 
 the most part of isolated utterances arranged upon the prin- 
 ciple of association of feeling and sometimes of thought. In 
 the preceding stanza there seemed to be progress of feeling — 
 
Ifteto* jFreDetick La Rue I&ittg 287 
 
 trouble and sorrow coming forth into something approaching 
 peace and triumph. Here, the lyric ebb commences. This 
 stanza presents the psalmist in the depths of trouble and 
 sorrow. There is something very touching in the use of the 
 preterite — "my soul has fainted," "I have waited." Of 
 course, the present is included, but the past adds to the 
 burden of the present, the fainting and the waiting have 
 been long. The longing for God's salvation is expressed in 
 terms of the suffering arising from the absence of it. It is a 
 dumb, inarticulate petition like the "groaning" and the 
 "roaring" spoken of in the psalms more than once; and there 
 is something comforting in the thought that such agonies 
 constitute an appeal to God that is heard — God hears the 
 voice of our "roaring." Many are the times when fainting 
 and longing are so mingled that the soul hardly knows 
 whether it prays or not. Let it take comfort, at any rate, 
 God hears its moaning. More especially can it do so when 
 it can say, "for Thy salvation my soul has fainted"; when 
 all other forms of satisfaction fail to satisfy, when putting 
 aside all other promises and offers it waits for the fulfilment 
 of the Word of the Great God. Then its very trials and 
 sorrows redound so much to God's glory to the blessing of 
 others and itself through that very glorifying, that we can 
 easily see how God can make the soul wait and faint 
 while earning greater blessedness when the happy change 
 comes. He does not faint; his soul only faints. There 
 is no giving up on his part, but still he goes through great 
 suffering. 
 
 Comparing with the correlative clause, we note that 
 "word" can mean here promise alone. Also we see that 
 the experience of the first clause is not one merely due to 
 the discomforts and pains owing to the absence of God's 
 salvation. It is suffering also, and, perhaps mainly arising 
 from the expectations roused by the promise. Had he not 
 been led to hope for salvation, he could have put up with 
 his present situation better. But the desire awakened and 
 
288 Selected Psalms and ®onogtap&0 
 
 the confidence inspired make possible an acute form of 
 suffering, and that is an evidence of trust in God, and may 
 well bring to him deliverance. 
 
 Verse 82. "Mine eyes have failed for Thy saying, 
 so that I say, when wilt Thou comfort me." 
 
 The first clause may have reference to the injury pro- 
 duced by weeping; but it more probably means the dim- 
 ness of sight caused by long and eager gazing. Intense 
 scrutiny, even without any emotion, will of itself, prevent 
 sight, a fact well known to astronomers. Combined with 
 emotion and its wearying, disheartening effects, producing 
 languor and inertness, it might well make the eyes fail. The 
 correlative clause strengthens this view. The very form 
 of the expression "so that I said," an infinitive with a prepo- 
 sition, implies that it but expresses in another form the 
 failing of the eyes. My eyes, at first eagerly intent, have 
 become dim and listless, they gaze without beholding, they 
 look without seeing, so that they say for me what my dis- 
 couraged heart feels, "when wilt Thou comfort me." This 
 question is the utterance of a hope that is almost dying down 
 into despair. 
 
 Verse 83. "For I have been like a bottle in the 
 smoke, Thy statutes have I not forgotten." 
 
 The bottle of skin used in the East would be service- 
 able only when soft and flexible. An empty bottle hung 
 up amid the smoke and heat of a chimney would shrivel and 
 blacken, and become stiff, ugly and useless. To a like state 
 has the psalmist been reduced — to shame, ignominy, pain, 
 sorrow and impotence. Alexander says: "The meaning of 
 the last clause is, that, notwithstanding these afflictions, the 
 sufferer has not forgotten God's commandments." 
 
 This remark is correct, but fails to bring out the sig- 
 nificance of the clause. It seems to be a true correlation. 
 His not forgetting God's statutes was the very cause of 
 his trouble. He might have had an easy time if he had 
 
Rein ^Frederick JLa Rue Utfng 289 
 
 forgotten them. It was his adherence to God's statutes that 
 placed him in this situation of ignominy and pain. 
 
 This verse may not be interpreted independently of 
 the others in the stanza; and the whole stanza sets forth a 
 servant of God, unjustly treated by God's enemies. Now, 
 if we interpret strictly according to the correlation, not only 
 in this verse brought into entire harmony with the others, 
 but the latter clause furnishes the most weighty consolation 
 in trouble as well as the most potent pleading for deliverance 
 from it. When we can feel that we are reproached for 
 the name of Christ, happy are we, says the apostle, and well 
 may our petitioning grow in strength into a claim — a wrest- 
 ling for release. 
 
 One thing he has, in the midst of all his trouble; he 
 knows just what is required of him, for he says, "Thy stat- 
 utes have I not forgotten." He has no doubt as to what 
 he is to do or what endure, or who gives the command. 
 But his obedience brings him into great distress — he is 
 misconceived, misrepresented, hated, opposed, ridiculed, in- 
 jured, because he does that which is at the same time 
 agony (perhaps) for him to do. He is like a bottle in the 
 smoke, just as our Lord was — despised and rejected of 
 men. And his only support it may well be is the conscious- 
 ness that he is only doing God's will. For he is obeying 
 "statutes," "orders," and may not see the reason for them. 
 He may wonder why he is required to do what is plainly 
 laid upon him. Such a wonder lies very near to a dread 
 temptation. But he suffers not himself to shrink back; by 
 main force he drags himself to his dreaded task an astonish- 
 ment to himself as well as as to those around him. God's 
 order to him may have come through circumstances, or 
 through men, that may make it thrice as bitter and hard. 
 So it was not with our Lord, who knew from the beginning, 
 that He was required to die, but from that He shrank 
 back with unutterable loathing and dread. He, too, was 
 obeying "orders" and His obedience made Him like a 
 
290 Selected Psalms and sponograpfrs 
 
 bottle in the smoke, changed the shouts of "Hosanna" to 
 "Crucify." 
 
 Verse 84. "How many (are) the days of Thy ser- 
 vant? When wilt Thou execute upon my persecutors, judg- 
 ment?" 
 
 "The shortness of life is urged as an argument for 
 speedy action." — Alexander. This, of course, is possible. 
 The interrogative may really signify a negative as in 2nd 
 Samuel 19: 34, and it also yields a good sense, a ready 
 sense. There is some objection, however, to this interpreta- 
 tion. There is a touch of wrong about this sense that is 
 suitable to a reply. Barzillai uses this expression as ironical 
 and in reply to what has gone before. The psalm is too 
 earnest and direct for this. Only as a repjy can any reason 
 be assigned why the psalmist should not have written, "How 
 few are the days." But the great objection is that it des- 
 troys the correllation. There would be, indeed, some rela- 
 tion between the clauses; great trouble may remind a man 
 that he has few days to see good in and make him impa- 
 tient for deliverance; but this does not amount to a true 
 corelation in which the latter clause adds to the former by 
 limiting it. It seems better to take "how many" in its nat- 
 ural sense. The effect of trouble upon the mind is to make 
 the days appear long and many. "How long" is an oft 
 repeated exclamation in the psalms. Then the sense of the 
 passage would be nearly this: "How many of these weari- 
 some days of service are to be required of me?" "How 
 many," in this sense may be taken in two ways: First, as a 
 question; second, as simply a form of stating that they are 
 many. How many are the days of task and trial allotted to 
 me, when will they have an end?" The writer of this 
 psalm is evidently a young man, and as such would not be 
 likely to think of the shortness of his life, but would be 
 likely to regard his days of painful service as long and many. 
 The sense that we have established, for, "how many" ren- 
 ders the verse a perfect correlation. The first clause ex- 
 
Rett. jFteDerick La Eue i&ing 291 
 
 presses the weariness and disgust of the psalmist in his ser- 
 vice, and the second states the cause of it. He is persecuted 
 in it; he is persecuted because of it. But there is no vin- 
 dictiveness in his exclamation against his persecutors. He 
 appeals to God's righteousness as Judge. He "gives place 
 unto wrath," remembering that judgment is God's, and He 
 will repay. The latter clause is half despairing, but only 
 half. Hope is present, even while he desponds. 
 
 Verse 85. "Proud (men) dig pits for me which 
 (are) not according to Thy law." 
 
 There are two ways of translating this verse. The 
 relative may be either "which" or "who," may be made to 
 refer either to the "pits" or to the "proud." In the one 
 case it would mean that the making of snares for him to be 
 caught in is not in accordance with God's law. This is a 
 good meaning. Giving the word "law" the sense used 
 throughout the exposition — the Mosaic Cult — we would 
 have here a reference to the precepts that inculcated the kind 
 and fair treatment of one's fellows of the Hebrew race and 
 nation. The mere laying of a trap, is not, in itself, contrary 
 to God's law. A trap may be laid to catch a rogue, of 
 which he would have no right to complain. But there are 
 malicious snares, true temptations, for the purpose of ruining 
 an enemy — a neighbor whom they are bound to love. The 
 word "proud' not only indicates who it is who set the 
 snares, but what kind of snares they set. But what kind 
 of snares would the "proud" dig? Bad men are apt to 
 suspect in another, their own characteristic sin. They are 
 very apt to lay at another's door, falsely, their own sin. 
 And nothing would be so readily suggested as a trap to 
 set for another as that to which their own evil desire prompts 
 them. So the Pharisees, who at heart hated the Roman 
 domination and would gladly have been rid of it, yet tried 
 to trap our Lord into a false position with the empire and 
 make Him out a rebel, and all because their pride of power, 
 and place, and heart was humbled by the mission of our 
 
292 Selected psalms attD ®onograp&s; 
 
 Saviour to men. In the case of the young Solomon, we 
 may suppose that these snares were intended to put him in 
 the position of opposing the great Davidic movement, politi- 
 cal and ecclesiastical, which must have been exceedingly 
 hated by the proud tribal aristocracy. This view may con- 
 nect this stanza with the three preceding. The temptation 
 and sinful straying from which we theic have his return 
 and conversion, may have consisted in an advance made to 
 him by the "proud" party, which was not sincere, but 
 mainly intended for a trap, which he now sees through. 
 This thing is not without its parallel in the experience of 
 God's children nowadays. The invitation to worldly con- 
 formity has often for its object merely the ruin of the 
 tempted one. It is like Balaam's temptation of Israel 
 through the Midianites. It is the readiest way to spike a 
 Christian's guns, to destroy the force of his example, and to 
 put out the light that he is holding forth in this dark world. 
 But "which" of the second clause, may be rendered "who," 
 then the clause would describe the "proud." It may be 
 regarded as a meiosis; "not according to Thy law" would 
 mean "opposed to, adversaries of." This translation, which 
 Maurer, Conant and Barnes prefer, seems to bring this verse 
 more into harmony with the rest, makes it easier to interpret, 
 gives a richer meaning, and confirms the previous exposition 
 as to the character and aims of these "pioud" persons. It 
 may be that the equivoque is used here, and that the rela- 
 tive may be either "which" or "who." 
 
 Verse 86. "All Thy commandments (are) faith- 
 fulness; falsely do they persecute me; help Thou me." 
 
 Giving "commandments" its usual meaning of the law 
 as directive, we have this meaning for the first clause. All 
 that which Thou hast commanded for my guidance is cal- 
 culated to guide me aright. The implication is that he 
 has followed this guidance. If this were not true, there 
 would be no correllation between the clauses. It is also 
 implied in "falsely do they persecute me." The word 
 
Rett* JFreOerick La IRue Eing 293 
 
 translated "pursue" is generally rendered "persecute," but 
 there is nothing in the bare word to imply wrongful treat- 
 ment, as the word persecute does. And yet persecution it 
 was in fact. Often the wickedest acts of persecution are 
 those veiled in the fair forms of orderly and sincere accusa- 
 tion. The first clause, then, declares the perfect confidence 
 of the psalmist in God's guidance. God is faithful to the 
 promise implied in everything he enjoins. The second 
 clause asserts that their pursuit of him is a sham. First, 
 because it is made treacherously under false pretences of 
 zeal for the Kingdom of God. Second, a sham, because 
 based upon false allegations, his real offense with them being 
 his adherence to duty and his obedience tc the command- 
 ments of God; third, it is a sham because God's command- 
 ments are faithful and will guide him to a good and happy 
 issue, and all that his enemies can do against him will be 
 "in vain"; which last translation is fully wai ranted, falsehood 
 having, in Hebrew, often an objective, as well as subjective 
 sense, as in English, weak ice that appears strong, may be 
 called "deceitful." The third clause shows how full and 
 rounded is the psalmist's experience, indeed, can only be 
 maintained by another kind of prayer — the prayer of specific 
 position; otherwise the prayer of silence is apt to degenerate 
 into stoicism or a confidence in a fixed state of things, which 
 though established by God is very far from God Himself. 
 That only is true bliss, when the heart is fixed, and confi- 
 dent, and calm, through rapport with an Almighty Person, 
 with whom we are face to face. The psalmist, therefore, 
 does not keep silence, but cries out for help to God. Note, 
 too, that he asks help against those who persecute him — help 
 now. His confidence in God's faithfulness has done more 
 than assure him as to the far off issue, it has set him face 
 to face with a loving Father, and he knows that God not 
 only regards the grand result but will, if it may be, smooth 
 every step of the way of His trusting children towards it. 
 Sometimes it may not be, as in the case of our Lord's 
 prayer in the Garden. 
 
294 Selected Psalms and ^onogtaplxs 
 
 Verse 87. "They have almost consumed me in the 
 land, and I have not forsaken Thy precepts." 
 
 Maurer translates " destroyed down to the ground," 
 that is "utterly." Other versions "in the earth" equivalent 
 to "off the face of the earth." Alexander's is best. The 
 sense seems to be that even in the land of promise he is in 
 danger. "They have made almost every place in the land 
 a place of peril for me." According to this, David would 
 be quite consumed in the land when he was driven out of it, 
 and his son and promised successor may well have felt at 
 times that the "land" was no resting place for him. "And" 
 is equivalent to "and yet." The correlation implies that it 
 was his keeping of God's precepts — his steady adherence 
 to the work given him to do, that caused him to be "almost 
 consumed." Alexander gives the verbs an aorist significa- 
 tion, but the lyric force is best preserved by the perfect defi- 
 nite. The latter clause must not be considered as the bald 
 statement of a fact, but has all the force of a resolve, "I 
 have not," "I do not," "I will not." Many children of 
 God, especially in the past, could make these words their 
 own. The church has, since Pentecost, been the "land" — 
 the home of God's people, and many of whom the world 
 was not worthy, have found the church, to them, as a fiery 
 furnace, and all because they were faithful to their God. 
 
 Verse 88. "According to Thy loving kindness quick- 
 en me, and I will keep the testimonies of Thy mouth." 
 
 The appeal to God's word of promise so often made 
 does not exclude the simple reliance on His loving kindness 
 Indeed, be it noted that that reliance on God which is 
 merely dependence on His promise is insufficient. There 
 is a reliance on God's promise which is accompanied by 
 aversion from God Himself. This was seen in the Jews 
 who rejected Christ. Our reliance must be on the promise 
 as rooted in the infinite love of God. And our reliance on 
 God's love will be vain if it is not reliance on God Himself 
 — if it does not embrace His other attributes as His wisdom 
 
Eetn jFre&ettck JLa I&ue Ifting 295 
 
 and justice, as well as His far reaching purposes with refer- 
 ence to others besides ourselves. Indeed, there must be 
 rapport with God, for any true reliance on God. To be 
 merely told, though even in the Bible, that God loves us is 
 not enough, we must have that love revealed in us. We 
 must have enlightened love for God, for the heart has eyes 
 as well as the head (Eph. 1 : 18). 
 
 A sense of ill-desert is very apt to make a child of 
 God rely on His nature rather than His promise. For a 
 promise of God is, in some sense, a covenant, these are 
 conditions to be fulfilled. And it is when the soul feels 
 that it has failed in its part of the covenant and cannot claim 
 the fulfilment of the promise, that it turns from the promise 
 to that which the promise reveals, to the infinite love — to 
 God Himself. Then it finds that He who "will by no 
 means dear the guilty" is the same God who "forgiveth 
 iniquity, transgression and sin." The sinner who dare not 
 claim the promise dares lay claim to God Himself, and 
 is able to cry out, "Thou art my hiding place," "Quicken 
 me," "Give me life," "Save my life''; this sense is suitable 
 to the case of the psalmist almost consumed in the "land." 
 
 "Quicken" may mean "add to my spiritual life," 
 "rouse up my soul to higher activity." This suits the case 
 of every child of God everywhere. The last clause may 
 be considered as the psalmist's part in a covenant; "save me 
 and I will keep"; or as a condition necessary, "save me 
 in order that I may keep"; or as the response of love, "man- 
 ifest Thy loving-kindness to me, and I will manifest my love 
 for Thee." The expression, "testimony of Thy mouth," 
 suits this interpretation. The reference is to the law of the 
 ten commandments delivered on Sinai by word of mouth. 
 "Thy mouth," not only points to this, but indicates the 
 character of the obedience — it is a personal devotion to 
 God — it is not obedience to the law of righteousness, but to 
 the word uttered by God. 
 
296 Selected psalms anO Qiottograpjjg 
 
 LAMED. 
 
 Verse 89. "To eternity, Jehova, Thy word is 
 settled in heaven." 
 
 The Heavens not only exhibit the word of promise 
 (Ps.XIX), but have it inwrought into their very consti- 
 tution. Their order and beauty as well as their beneficient 
 ministry to men arising out of their structure and nature, is 
 a partial realization of the promise. And this is the case 
 "forever"; the hand that God has laid upon chaos He will 
 never take back; what He has done towards making His 
 universe perfect, He will never allow to be undone. 
 
 Verse 90. "To generation and generation (is) Thy 
 faithfulness; Thou hast fixed the earth and it stands." 
 
 Faithfulness to His word of promise is manifested by 
 the stability of the dry land that rose out of the waters of 
 chaos and by the permanence of those natural laws that 
 make the earth a secure dwelling place for man, and a 
 minister to his wants. This is "unto all generations" — the 
 farthest future of the earth will but exhibit and realize, more 
 and more fully the promise of God. 
 
 Verse 91. "For Thy judgments they stand today, 
 for all are Thy servants." 
 
 God's "judgments" often minister to the fulfilment of 
 His promises. The Canaanites were cast out that the child- 
 ren of Israel might have a home. The Jews were rejected 
 that the gospel might be preached to the gentiles, and An- 
 tichrist is to be destroyed in the day of our Lord's coming 
 that the church may be delivered. The heavens and the 
 earth are here said to be ministering servants to perform His 
 judgments. Thus the stars in their courses, the earth as it 
 turns on its axis, or circles round the sun, all influences from 
 above, all powers and changes below — the whole mighty 
 movement of the universe tends to realize God's promise, 
 
I&etu jFteDetick La Eue ming 297 
 
 especially because it even tends to destroy wickedness and 
 the wicked. 
 
 Verse 92. "Unless Thy law were my delight, then 
 should I perish in my affliction." 
 
 The "law" is generally the scheme of salvation re- 
 vealed to the Jews. In it the word of promise was in- 
 wrought. The saint, delighting himself in this law, has his 
 faith strengthened so that he endures, when, by reason of 
 afflictions arising from nature or men, he is tempted to be- 
 lieve the nature of things is against him. Nature and men 
 so near to us, and so powerful, make for us a strong temp- 
 tation. In prosperity we were tempted to rely on them, and 
 in adversity to despair, because of them. Only the constant 
 proclamation of the promise through the law to the Jew 
 and through the word and ordinances to the Christian can 
 keep us without fear. 
 
 Verse 93. "To eternity I will not forget Thy pre- 
 cepts, for in them hast Thou quickened me." 
 
 Literally "forever I will not forget." The "word" 
 being wrought into the texture of the universe, the precepts 
 were also. That is, they bear such a relation to the universe 
 of things, throughout all its duration, that no change what- 
 ever will destroy their significance. They are the law of 
 the saint's life, the means by which God ministers to him, 
 life; and under the new dispensation, they are the indispen- 
 sable condition of obtaining and holding, that which will 
 last forever, — the new life. Therefore they are to be re- 
 membered forever. 
 
 Verse 94. "Thine am I, save me, for Thy precepts 
 I have sought." 
 
 The soul that waits not for God's precepts to be 
 thundered in its ear, or forced upon its notice, that does 
 not demand to have them stated with a severe exactness, 
 
298 Selected psalms ann ^onograpfcs 
 
 which it, with severe exactness, will then obey; but seeks, 
 searches for, and longs to know, God's will; which runs 
 before all expression of God's will in words, and tries to 
 divine what God would have; that soul has as surely as 
 the heavens and earth the word of promise made part of its 
 very constitution, unites itself to the irresistable development 
 towards glory with which heaven and earth are instinct, 
 and in prayer for salvation with imperious wrestling, lays 
 hold on God and says, "Thine am I." 
 
 Verse 95. "For me have wicked (men) waited to 
 destroy me; Thy testimonies will I understand." 
 
 Destruction threatens from enemies. The way to 
 thwart them and deliver one's self, is not to strive with 
 them or counterplot, but to turn the whole mind to God's 
 testimonies to understand them for the purpose of obeying 
 them. There is safety. So surely do His testimonies, ex- 
 pressing His Character, while they tend to make the soul 
 morally like God, also tend to make the soul, like God, in- 
 vincible and indestructable. 
 
 Verse 96. "To all perfection have I seen an end; 
 (but) wide is Thy command." 
 
 All earthly law and custom is perfect only in its place 
 and time. Tomorrow the best will be obsolete and even 
 foolish, and even today, carry it but a few miles away from 
 its place, and it will become inapplicable and barbarous. 
 This was especially so in ancient times. If it is less so at 
 the present time, it is because laws and customs are informed 
 with the spirit of that "commandment which is exceeding 
 broad," — which is wide as the universe, which is fitted to 
 the whole scope of things, and to the last syllable of the his- 
 tory of things; whose "beams are laid in music," set to the 
 secret harmony by which all things move; and Which, though 
 the fashion of this world passes away, changes not one 
 jot or tittle. He who holds to it shall not be moved. 
 
EUto* jFteUetick L£ ftue i&tng 209 
 
 MEM. 
 
 Verse 97. "How I love Thy law! All the day it is 
 my meditation." 
 
 This is the shrewd stanza — the politic stanza. Solo- 
 mon is called to mind as especially astute of all the kings 
 of Israel. This expression of love for the law and the habit 
 of quiet meditation upon it are peculiar to this psalm and 
 Psalm 1st. Very suited is it to Solomon's position, as a 
 young intelligent prince desiring activity, and yet shut out 
 from it. We may well conceive the delight of young Solo- 
 mon when here he found exercise for his faculties, comfort, 
 preparation for his future, satisfaction for his scientific mind 
 in the knowledge of the origin of things. In these hours of 
 quiet meditation he found that knowledge of God's great 
 love for the saint, and that communion with God entered 
 into which finds expression in the Song of Songs. And as 
 the word "law" here signifies the whole of Mosaic revela- 
 tion of grace in history, precepts, instruction, and especially 
 ritual, we may well imagine how these quiet meditations of 
 the future builder of the temple were filled with the vast 
 conceptions of a fuller and more complete worship, and a 
 further revelation of grace to the people through it. Per- 
 haps even then the thought came into his mind, that he was 
 to be in his own royal person, a revelation and prophecy of 
 God's grace to men, a thought that came to its expression 
 in the 72 Psalm. 
 
 Verse 98. ("More) than my enemies do Thy com- 
 mandments make me wise; for to eternity it is mine (or to 
 me)." 
 
 But specially does the study of the law delight his 
 shrewd spirit, for it makes him wise to act. His enemies, 
 counting as his enemies his ambitious brethren and their sup- 
 porters, doubtless thought him inactive and dull of mind 
 because he did not intrigue. But he feels that he knows 
 better than they. And then, (what is particularly intended 
 in this verse), he feels that as far as his enemies' plans are 
 
300 ©elected psalms and £©onograp!)0 
 
 directed to ruin him, the best way to thwart them is to 
 keep God's commandments. If he should do as Absalom 
 or Adonijah, he would break at least the fifth command. 
 By adherence to the simple command he would have God 
 for him, and in the end all the power of earth. No doubt 
 but that the holy behaviour of the young Solomon prepared 
 the way for the throne, not only with his father, but with 
 the people. The word for commandments, indicates God's 
 law as directing actions. In the face of one's enemies there 
 is no time to plan. If a plan of action has been made, it 
 cannot provide for all the quick shifting and unexpected 
 turns of the struggle. We need something that will direct 
 unmistakably, instantaneously and strongly isolated actions, 
 and yet have all these actions consistent. Now take the 
 fifth command, how powerful and minute a director of 
 isolated actions must it have been in the case of Solomon. 
 How quickly the "no" must have come to banish a snare- 
 ful solicitation to do something that would weaken his 
 father's authority and retard that consolidation of the king- 
 dom which so many dreaded, notwithstanding that it would 
 be clothed with the temptation of popularity. Thus Solo- 
 mon would be wise, for time in being directed by God's 
 law; but the expression "to eternity they are mine." (Alex- 
 ander) would seem to intimate that Solomon took a "larger 
 view"; forever, can hardly mean "all my life," it may mean 
 my descendants shall sit upon the throne, (for the Sacred 
 Scripture gathers them up in the person of David; why 
 then may they not be in the person of Solomon?) it shall be 
 to then perpetually directive. Or it may mean the results ot 
 my obedience last forever, either referring to his being made 
 head of an everlasting line of kings, or else to his enjoying 
 throughout eternity the fruits of his obedience. 
 
 Verse 99. "(More) than all my teachers I act wise- 
 ly, for Thy testimonies (are) a meditation to me." 
 
 "Teachers" indicates the young man in his pupilage. 
 As I understand it, he does not compare his actions with 
 
I&eto, jFteoertck La Eue Mm 301 
 
 theirs, but asserts that he acts more wisely than they have 
 taught him to act, for he has a wisdom higher than they 
 could impart. "More than all my teachers I act wisely." — 
 Alexander. "Testimonies," that is, the moral law, and well 
 may it be said that knowledge in that law is uncommuni- 
 cable. One must know it for himself. No teaching can 
 enable one to dispense with meditation. Does not this give 
 the lie to the doctrine of priestly authority in instruction and 
 does it not teach the necessity of private judgment and the 
 rich results of it? 
 
 Verse 100. "(More) than old men I understand, 
 because Thy precepts I have kept." 
 
 "More than the ancients," or (Alexander) "more 
 than old men," that is, "I am wiser than all the wisdom 
 garnered in the traditions and maxims handed down from 
 old times," or "I am wiser than the shrewdness natural to 
 old age." "Precepts" are the law as it assigns work to be 
 done by us. The experience of the past and the wisdom 
 of age are especially available in the formation of plans of 
 operations. He says, "I have not a large experience, but I 
 I have what is better." It is not to be doubted but that 
 Solomon, born king of men as he was, meditated largely 
 and profoundly upon the law as it disclosed the political 
 institutions of Israel, and bodied forth in his constructive 
 imagination from its principles the political institutions of 
 his kingdom that was to be. The wisdom of the Almighty 
 as applied to the problem of governing Israel, was his, in His 
 precepts. 
 
 Verse 101. "From every evil path I refrain my feet, 
 to the intent that I may keep Thy word." 
 
 The "word" is specially the word of promise to him 
 that he should be king of Israel — a promise not without its 
 implied conditions (2nd Sam. 7: 12, 16) and limitations. 
 He keeps himself pure and holy in order that that promise 
 may be joyfully fulfilled to him. And then especially, he 
 does not attempt to advance himself by ways that are sinful 
 
302 Selected psalm* and egonograp&si 
 
 or in themselves innocent, are yet wrong because they in- 
 volve him with wicked men, or entangle him with question- 
 able plans. The word translated, "path" is strictly 
 "direction"; "I do not turn in any evil direction." The 
 psalmist does not represent himself as walking in any path, 
 but as it were standing and resisting solicitations on every 
 side to evil. "I do not turn in an evil direction." Of 
 course, it is not meant to deny that more motives than one 
 impelled him to this course, fear of God, love to God, dis- 
 like of what is wrong, etc., but one motive alone is presented 
 here. It is that he may be able to keep God's word — 
 the word of His promise. Now, if we should consider the 
 word translated, "evil path" as meaning merely evil course 
 of conduct, it is very wise in Solomon to act in this way. 
 We not only have no title to the promises when we deliber- 
 ately indulge in evil, but we cannot lay hold of the promise 
 to the full if we deliberately indulge in sin. The external 
 part of it we may take to ourselves, but not the promise in 
 its real inner meaning and fulness, thus a sinful man may be- 
 lieve that he is going to Heaven, but how little of the 
 promise is he expecting. His very sinful state prevents his 
 desiring and therefore expecting what the promise of heaven 
 holds forth. He cannot keep God's "word." But the 
 word "orch" means "direction," and refers not so much 
 to behaviour as to the deliberate aim and purpose of the 
 mind. Now then, if a man aims at evil, he must give up 
 the good that the promise holds out to him. And if it be 
 said that the good and bad man aim alike at their own 
 welfare, it may be said that a choice of means is in this case 
 a choice of end; a good thing may not be sought in a bad 
 way. And then, besides, the attempt to reconcile evil aim 
 with the keeping hold of the promise may be brought to a 
 reductio ad absurdum thus. Every evil way is walked 
 in, in reliance on our own strength, independent of God, 
 and this makes it morally impossible for us to trust in both, 
 we must make our choice. The psalmist has made his. 
 
IReto. JFreDericb La Eue fting; 303 
 
 Verse 102. "From Thy judgments I do not depart, 
 because Thou guidest me." 
 
 God's judgments which are, as Alexander well de- 
 fines, "the external exhibitions of the divine righteousness 
 by word or deed, by precept or punishment," are in the 
 psalms, and especially in this psalm, the deeds of divine 
 justice. In this verse it would yield a good sense to regard 
 them as the divine precepts. The sense would be: "I do 
 not err in the carrying out of Thy precepts, for Thou dost 
 show me how, and dost exert by providential arrangements, 
 various influences upon me to keep me in the right path." 
 But there is no good reason for departing from the natural 
 and common meaning of judgments. Deeds of judgment, 
 either punitive or justifying, are calculated to make a deep 
 impression on the mind. While that impression is strong, a 
 man will be likely to go in accordance with it i. e., avoid 
 that which brings down punishment and follow after what 
 brings reward. But impressions are evanescent, and the most 
 impressible men are often those who soonest "depart" from 
 God's judgments. But he has not departed from God's 
 judgments; this he says, not in self sufficiency, for in the 
 latter clause he attributes his constancy to God. "I have 
 perseverance because Thou has guided me." This may 
 refer to the guiding force of the judgment. It opens the 
 eyes, it points out the way. It not merely awakens feelings 
 of awe, or fear, or joy; it imparts knowledge. Sometimes 
 the only way that God can take, apparently, to intruct His 
 servants in the path they ought to walk in is by judgments 
 on themselves or others (Psalms 19: 11). It is because 
 God has guided me by His judgments that I do not depart 
 from them. The influences of His spirit are needed for 
 this or else the spiritually stupid awakened to awe, terror or 
 remorse, by God's judgments, will soon depart from them. 
 The spiritually stupid may triumph in God's judgments, 
 while failing to make the application to themselves. Many 
 and terrible judgments could the young Solomon in his se- 
 
304 ©elected psalms ana ^onograp&s 
 
 elusion and tutelage look out upon. God guided him in 
 the way of His judgments. These terrible and wondrous 
 deeds searched out the thoughts of his heart, and were 
 constant instruction and monition to him, because he was 
 enabled to look upon them in the light of the Spirit. 
 
 Verse 103. "How sweet to my palate are Thy say- 
 ings, sweeter than honey to my mouth." 
 
 The word "sayings" being in the plural had better 
 be interpreted as general, equally — what God says, includ- 
 ing all kinds of precepts and all kinds of promises. "The 
 passive form may possibly denote that the psalmist's relish 
 for God's word was not a native, but an acquired taste." — 
 Alexander. In Ps. 19: 10, the figures "sweetness" and 
 "honey" are used with reference to the judgments of God. 
 We might infer from this, that the reference is here to 
 God's judgments, spoken of in the previous verse, as to those 
 monitions that guided him in the way of them. Accepting 
 Alexander's suggestion, we would have these monitions of 
 God, which kept the psalmist ever dwelling near God's 
 judgments, filled with the humiliating sense of them, and 
 walking in the humbling path of them, at first, perhaps, irri- 
 tating and painful, at last become sweet "as honey" to his 
 mouth. 
 
 Verse 104. "From Thy precepts I get understand- 
 ing; therefore I hate every path of falsehood." 
 
 Here again appears the shrewdness that appeared at 
 the first to characterize Solomon. "From Thy precepts," 
 that is from the law as it assigns my work — my duty in 
 life, "I get understanding/' that is, I am made practically 
 wise. "Path of falsehood," that is, plans that are plausible, 
 but which must come to naught — impracticable as they are 
 wicked. The law guiding my life, makes me shrewd enough 
 to detect the emptiness of and loath every proposition that 
 would turn my feet astray. 
 
Iftetn jFreDericfe JLa Eue i&tng 305 
 
 NUN. 
 
 Verse 105. "A lantern for my foot is Thy word, 
 and a light for my path." 
 
 The paralellism is here very beautiful. In the first 
 clause we have the lamp, or lantern hanging by a cord near 
 the foot, as may be seen now any evening in Florence. In 
 the second clause, we have the light illuminating the path- 
 way. The word translated "path" means the beaten track. 
 There is thus a perfect picture suggested. There is no ref- 
 erence here to the aim of the wayfarer — the direction in 
 which he is going, as e. g„ in verses 101 and 104. It 
 rather refers to the various details of life that he is conver- 
 sant with. We may all be walking in the same direction, 
 our "way" may be the same, yet our paths may be very 
 unlike. As position, means, and office vary, so does the 
 "path" vary, though the way (derek) and the aim (orah) 
 may be the same. But the same "word" (promise) guides 
 all upon these varying paths. The stimulating power of 
 the promise is manifest, its guiding power may not be so 
 clear. And yet it is plain that the soul, full of the hope and 
 expectation of the glorious things that God has promised, is 
 by that, made wise to find its proper path. Its tastes, ex- 
 pectations and demands are raised so high, that it is keenly 
 alive to whatever is inconsistent with their high claims, and 
 quick to shrink back from anything which not merely com- 
 promises those claims, but which is not consistent with, and 
 a partial realization of them. They whose souls are filled 
 with these lofty hopes are led aright by a kind of instinct — 
 by their very cravings. It is possible for the immediate aim 
 of every day and hour to be essentially one with the great 
 final aim. The whole work of the world in all its varied 
 aspects may be done in the spirit of one who is assisting in 
 preparing for the coming of the great King. Every mo- 
 ment we may be approaching God, and having some faint 
 foretastes of the final glory, at least through faith. It is 
 not by minute attention to details, and studious questioning 
 
306 ©elected psalms anD a^onogtap&s 
 
 as to our duty in the details of conduct. It is not said 
 "Thy statutes" or "Thy precepts," are "a lantern, etc.," 
 but Thy word (promise) that we are best guided. Let 
 then the mind be filled with eager desire to move towards 
 the realization of the great promises, that great aim will 
 dominate over all minor aims and unify them. We will 
 walk upon a straight line most surely, not by looking care- 
 fully at the line, but by fixing our eyes upon a distant object 
 and walking towards that. The helmsman fixing his eye 
 on the distant harbor light, will with hardly a thought move 
 the rudder so as to guide the ship. So does the far distant 
 hope direct us to the next duty. Many a difficult piece 
 of casuistry would be decided at once if we used the prom- 
 ise instead of the law as a touchstone. The last words of 
 the verse do not form a correllation, but a beautiful parallel- 
 ism and lifts this verse far above the slavish spirit that reigns 
 in the hymn "Lead Kindly Light." The Christian who 
 is guided by promise and not prescription, not only is guided 
 step by step from within, but may look forward and around 
 by the light of God's word of promise. 
 
 Verse 106. "I have sworn and will stand to it to 
 observe the judgments of Thy righteousness." 
 
 The oath was a very prominent religious observance 
 in the days of the old dispensation. The Lord swore to 
 Abraham (Gen. 15: 17 and 1 8) and the symbolical act 
 of the people ( 1 st Sam. 7:6) were both of the nature of an 
 oath. It pledged themselves, risked all they held dear upon 
 their fidelity. It is the very highest form of resolve to do, 
 or the desire to do, and of a sense that which one ought 
 to do, and of the extreme peril of not doing. It is in this 
 last point of view that there is a beautiful propriety in the 
 phrase "judgments of Thy righteousness." These "judg- 
 ments" are the moral decisions and condemnation of God 
 with reference to sin, express or implied, in every command 
 that He gives. If the lesson of God's righteous judgments 
 was learned, he would feel that whether he pledged his 
 
i&eto* jFreDerick La Rue fting 307 
 
 existence and happiness upon his fidelity or not, that still it 
 was imperilled if he were unfaithful. The oath in that 
 case would be a mere formal recognition that the way of 
 the transgressor is hard. These words are suitable in the 
 mouth of a prospective king who engages to see to it that 
 God's righteous law shall be respected and hardened trans- 
 gressors punished. It will suit the ordinary child of God 
 who has, or who is looking forward to power or position 
 of any kind. They engage him to use that power and' 
 position, (and who has not some) not for the furtherance of 
 the low and false judgments of this world, but to carry out 
 God's decisions as to what is right. The oath permitted 
 and even enjoined in the Old Dispensation, is discouraged 
 and even forbidden in the New. Since the latter brings us 
 more nearly face to face with God, Christians, constantly in 
 His presence need not make a formal agreement with Him 
 that His attribute of justice shall be exercised without mercy 
 upon them, if they are unfaithful — they know it will. The 
 oath taken by the servant of God under the old economy 
 put him into the same position with regard to God's punish- 
 ments, that the spiritual worship of the new induces in the 
 Christian at all times, with a great difference, however. 
 The oath excludes from the sphere of mercy. The punish- 
 ment was conceived as less, but it was inevitable, "for the 
 Lord will not hold him guiltless, who taketh His name in 
 vain." Whereas it is the duty of a Christian to conceive 
 God's mercy as reaching to the measure of His justice. We 
 are told however that there is "a sin unto death." 
 
 Verse 107. "I have been afflicted to extremity; 
 Jehovah quicken me according to Thy word." 
 
 The first verb does not merely refer to a mental state, 
 but includes the external trials that tend to bring on mental 
 trouble. So, also, the second verb means more than a 
 mental change, but also an actual deliverance from danger 
 that threatens the psalmist's life. The sense is, "I have 
 been exposed to exceedingly harrowing trials, filled with 
 
308 Selected psalms anD S@onograp&0 
 
 fear and full of danger — trials prolonged and increased till 
 they have become more than I can bear. He is about to 
 sink under them and calls out for his life, "Quicken me. 
 There is danger that I die, Thou has promised." "Man's 
 extremity is God's opportunity, "often because only in ex- 
 tremity will the man turn to God. Only when he sees no 
 help on earth will he lift his eyes "to the hills." Christian 
 lay long in Giant Despair's dungeon and suffered much, 
 before he pulled the golden key promise out of his bosom. 
 Blessed is this direct application to God aside from the 
 use of means. But still more blessed is it, to use means 
 in utter dependence on God. Indolence ought not to mas- 
 querade as faith. Still when all means fail, even though 
 through our guilty neglect, let us confess the sin, and 
 plead the promise in sure hope that we shall be heard. 
 
 Verse 1 08. "The free will offerings of my mouth, 
 accept I pray Thee, O Jehovah, and Thy judgments teach 
 me." 
 
 Free will offerings are sacrifices, neither prescribed by 
 God nor dictated by a sense of duty. They were expressive 
 of thankfulness and praise and devotion, a desire for God's 
 society. The private festivities of ancient Israel were gen- 
 erally of this character. "Free will offerings of the mouth" 
 were spontaneous utterances of thanksgiving and praise. It 
 might seem to detract from the spontaneous character of 
 these utterances, that they are called sacrifices. And indeed 
 the expression is one of the many marks in this psalm that 
 indicate a lower tone of spirituality than the naive lyric out- 
 pourings of David. But though the tone is lower, it is 
 one of true spirituality and the service is doubtless accept- 
 able. We have one here, whose impulse to praise and 
 thanksgiving is not quite self-forgetting. There is a con- 
 sciousness that such utterances are pleasing to God and 
 a tender desire to please Him by them. And so he takes 
 these praises and thanks, as it were in his hands, and lifts 
 them up in the very uttering of them to God. The most 
 
Hell* jFreDerick £a Rue King 309 
 
 striking manifestation of this attitude of the soul of the Old 
 Testament is in Hosea 14: 2, in the expression, "calves 
 of our lips" and of the New Testament in Hebrews 13: 15, 
 "sacrifice of praise — fruit of our lips." This calling of 
 devout utterances, sacrifices, was not a mere figure of speech, 
 such speech was of the very essence of sacrifice, for it was 
 the manifestation of devotion to God. The more ritual sac- 
 rifice was not the sacrifice ordained by God as is shown in 
 Jer. 7: 22 and 23 in expressions amazingly strong and 
 even paradoxical. And the verse is one of the many places 
 in the Old Testament in which the gradual revelation of the 
 true nature of sacrifices was made, foreshowing that time 
 when God, desiring no longer the sacrifices of beasts, sent 
 Him on the earth who became a living sacrifice and in 
 whom we may all become living sacrifices and offer priestly 
 service to God with the sum of all our rational and emo- 
 tional powers. Ps. 40 : 6, 7 and 8, Rom. 12:1. From 
 his regarding the utterance of his praises and thanksgivings 
 as sacrifices, flows naturally the earnest entreaty, "accept I 
 pray Thee, O Jehovah." When we offer anything to God 
 we must consider whether it is worthy, and these words 
 disclose his sense of inadequacy and faultiness of his 
 praises and thanksgivings. It is a gracious act on the part 
 of God to accept them. This petition is enforced and 
 illustrated by the correlative clause "teach me Thy judg- 
 ments." Some of the most offensive things that have ever 
 been offered to God are praises and thanksgivings. Wit- 
 ness the Te Deums for the massacre of St. Bartholemew, 
 and for the auto de Fes that have disgraced Spain. And 
 so it is often in the affairs of individual Christians, and the 
 church, God is often praised and thanked for successes at- 
 tained by means that He cannot approve of. Well does 
 the 8th verse of this psalm say, "I will thank Thee with 
 rectitude of heart when I have learned Thy righteous judg- 
 ments." Our praises and thanksgivings may well halt, till 
 we have learned God's opinion of the matter. This verse 
 
310 Selected psalms ant) e^onogtapbs 
 
 has something for the lowly soul which is sometimes cast 
 down at the thought that it has so little to offer to God. 
 Let such a one remember that in the 50th Psalm God^ 
 while speaking scornfully of costly sacrifices, which are 
 merely the offering of slain beasts, shows that He does desire 
 and prize the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Let him be sure 
 that his praises and thanks inadequate and faulty though 
 they may be are in God's sight precious and of more worth 
 than the hecatombs of kings. 
 
 Verse 109. "My soul is in my hand always, and (yet) 
 Thy law have I not forgotten." 
 
 That is he is always in peril of death. There was 
 not a moment of rest or peace. This verse must not be 
 taken as a mere setting forth of what has been, a simple 
 narration of the facts as regards his situation and conduct. 
 We must consider such statements as we have elsewhere 
 had occaion to do, rather as a lofty profession and resolve. 
 In the midst of these perils I have not forgotten, do not, 
 will not forget Thy law — the rites and ceremonies of ap- 
 proach, intercourse and expiation, that thou hast ordained 
 this cult given in the wilderness to the children of Israel, 
 long in abeyance and half forgotten, was rapidly coming to 
 the fore under David, greatly to the disgust of the tribes 
 who saw in it the curb to their independence and the down- 
 fall of their pride. These "proud" ones must have felt an 
 intenser hate towards the heir presumptive as they gazed 
 upon the rising metropolis which was to be his capital and 
 watched the preparations for the temple he was to build. 
 It was not wonderful if every day should have its peril 
 for him. Yet he says, "these dangers shall not preoccupy 
 my mind, nor prevent my being drawn by the remembered 
 delight, and filled by a sense of the beauty of the law. 1' 
 shall not be frightened out of acts of devotion, or the ad- 
 vocacy of the great forward movement inaugurated by my 
 Father." Alexander says, "Yet Thy law I have not 
 forgotten." This is too prosaic and limits the connection 
 
iftein iFre&erick JLa Eue ifting 311 
 
 of the clauses to the difficulty of keeping the law in remem- 
 brance in times of great and continued peril. It is more 
 lyric to leave the connection vague. "And," should have 
 the force of meanwhile, and the whole verse should set 
 forth not merely that he adhered to the law in spite of 
 danger that threatened him on that account, but also that 
 the law was his comfort in the midst of danger whatever. 
 Strictly analogous to this is the case of Daniel calmly con- 
 tinuing his private worship, although he knew the king's 
 decree had been signed, or of the early Christians persisting 
 in assembling for prayer and praise, and the breaking of 
 bread in the face of apalling dangers or of the Scotch Cov- 
 enanters, gathering for worship in the recesses of the hills, 
 and also of any private Christian nowadays, who, though 
 he may not be in danger of life, if he boldly professes his 
 faith, is still in danger of loss. 
 
 Verse 1 1 0. "Wicked (men) have laid a snare for 
 me, and yet from Thy precepts I have not strayed." 
 
 The snare may be hidden in the path that the psalmist 
 treads the way of God's precepts, or may be a snare meant 
 to allure him from that way, or a snare to frighten him 
 from that way. But whether it is a concealed danger or 
 an open temptation daunting or alluring the psalmist goes 
 on in the way of God's precepts, that is the discharge of 
 the duties God has assigned him for that is the force of 
 the word "precepts." Here again "yet" is narrowing as 
 used by Alexander to connect the clauses. The psalmist 
 walks in the way of God's precepts not merely in spite of 
 the snare. But finds in God's precepts the very clue he 
 needs to guide him through the labyrinth of the snares 
 of the wicked. "They lay their snares to catch me. 1 
 hug myself with the thought, that I have in God's precepts 
 that which will ever deliver." "Who is he that will harm 
 you if ye be followers of that which is good." "That 
 through which they seek to take me is that very thing which 
 makes me safe and also secure." So Daniel, by his ad- 
 
312 ©elected psalms and ^onofftap&s 
 
 herence to the law of his Lord was delivered, when "occa- 
 sion" was found against him "concerning" the law of his 
 Lord. When will Christians learn that m times of danger 
 and perpelxity the best policy is simply to do one's duty. 
 
 Verse 111. "Thy testimonies have I taken as a heri- 
 tage forever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart." 
 
 The three stanzas, Lamed, Mem and Nun, have for 
 their special subject, the praise of God's revealed will in 
 its aspects of prescribing duty and giving assurance of future 
 good — precept and promise. This verse is a strong ex- 
 pression of regard for the moral law — God's testimonies. 
 We still see in it the prudence of a man who has regard 
 for his own interests in the highest sense. He takes God's 
 testimonies as a valuable possession. But this is simply 
 the form, as to substance the verse unmistakably expresses 
 the deepest spiritual sympathy for the commandments, wit- 
 nessing to God's holiness and prescribed to His creatures 
 under awful sanctions and terrors. This is brought out 
 clearly by the correlative, limiting clause, "for they are the 
 rejoicing of my heart." In verse 1 4 the psalmist rejoices in 
 the obeying of the commandments because it is wealth. It 
 is that wisdom whose price is "above rubies" — invaluable 
 for this life as well as that which is to come. When we put 
 together what we escape by means of it, and what we gain 
 by means of it, well may it be said "man knoweth not the 
 price thereof" (Job 28: 13). Here, God's testimonies 
 which have been enjoined on him, are not merely submitted 
 to, but regarded as a valuable possession, because they in 
 themselves delight him. And what is more calculated to 
 excite joy in the devout heart than the fact of the imposi- 
 tion of the moral law upon His creatures by God. How 
 it enhances the dignity of man, when He, the work of 
 whose fingers are the very heavens, "visits" him not merely 
 to do him physical good, but to reveal His own character to 
 its depths and say to him, "Be like unto me." Consider 
 too, what a beneficent purpose is revealed by God in those 
 
Eeth jFte&erick La Eue ding 313 
 
 commands. His imposing them implies that He would see 
 to it that they were obeyed. He foresaw the inevitable fail- 
 ure to obey, and long before the giving of the law, gave 
 a promise that foreshadowed all the means and apparatus of 
 redemption. Consider the laws of the first table and mark 
 God's desire to have man know and love Him — His desire 
 for communion with Him on the part of His creatures. 
 The very thought is a fount of joy. Consider the laws of 
 the second table and note God's purpose to make this 
 world a happy one, for happy would we all be if they 
 were kept. These ten "words" are ten joys, and joy is 
 more precious than gold or lands. No wonder that the 
 psalmist takes them as his sole and sufficient possession. 
 And not for himelf alone; it is a heritage for ever. It is 
 for his children after him. 
 
 "Our lips shall teach them to our sons, 
 And they again to theirs, 
 That generations yet unborn 
 May teach them to their heirs." 
 
 Some things grow old fashioned, but God's testimon- 
 ies never, it is a fashion forever exhaustless by time or 
 eternity. If God's testimonies were a precious heritage to 
 the psalmist and are to us, how precious our better heritage, 
 even He who is God's testimonies embodied, who is at 
 once Life, Law and Light and who is our eternal possession 
 and joy. 
 
 Verse 112. "I have inclined my heart to do Thy 
 statutes to eternity, (even to) the end." 
 
 The English word that perhaps best represents the 
 active Hebrew word that is translated "inclined" is "bent." 
 "I have bent my heart to do Thy statutes." At once we 
 feel that there is something strange about this. It is natural 
 to say "I have bent myself," "I have bent my energies" 
 for that means merely I have guided my active impulses in 
 a certain direction. But this statement of the verse is quite 
 
314 Selected p$alms ano ^onograpb0 
 
 different. Here the heart, the source of active impulses, 
 is said to be bent. It is as if the volition got behind the 
 inclination and pushed it — laid it under constraint, which 
 would destroy the very nature of "inclination." And un- 
 doubtedly this cannot be directly done, the emotional nature 
 is not under the control of the conscious act of will. But 
 indirectly we have the control of our active powers. We 
 can bend our lazy energies upon any object, by pouring in 
 upon them, streams of quickening influence from our living 
 heart, and so the dull and lazy heart can be roused; how- 
 ever dull and dead we may be. We can deliberately place 
 ourselves under enlightening and stimulating influences. We 
 can seek the society, we can put ourselves in the way of 
 utterances that will tend to rouse the sluggish soul. But 
 especially is it in the doing of congruous acts of obedience, 
 those acts that we cannot do without another heart to do 
 them with, in the very doing of these acts, we receive the 
 stimulus necessary to the doing of them. It must be no 
 mere trying to do; that will not bring the blessing. We 
 must actually will to do and that, by the very constitution 
 of our nature, we cannot do unless we are conscious of 
 sufficient power. And being conscious only of our weak- 
 ness, we can only will to do in the faith that God will 
 work with us. So it was with the man with the withered 
 hand, he willed in Christ to stretch forth his hand, and forth 
 it came. So it was with the palsied man. He must rise in 
 order to be able to rise and he could not will to rise without 
 the fullest confidence that He who commanded him to rise 
 would enable him. This is the paradox of faith. Hart 
 says in his matchless hymn, that we must go to Christ in 
 order to get the grace that is absolutely necessary to enable 
 us to go to Him. 
 
 "True belief and true repentence, 
 Every grace that brings us nigh, 
 
 Without money 
 Come to Jesus Christ and buy." > 
 
i&eto* iFreDettck £a Hue Ifting 315 
 
 Let anyone in this spirit set about stimulating his dull 
 and languid heart. Though the limbs are as lead, though 
 he does not seem to desire what he petitions for, still let him 
 set about in faith, in Christ, working the works of Christ 
 and it will end in his being occupied, interested, and finally 
 carried away. How soon "I have bent" becomes "I am 
 bent," resolve transforming itself into tendency and tendency 
 into passionate devotion. The psalmist seems to have ar- 
 rived at this. He makes no chary resolve. It is not for a 
 time, but forever that he will serve God. The bondage is 
 to be eternal. He has not merely bent his hands, his feet, 
 or his brain, but his very heart. He is upheld by a "willing 
 spirit" (Ps. 51: 10). And what but an eternal service 
 is worthy of God, and what can render any eternal service 
 tolerable but that devotion of the heart that will make it 
 perfect freedom. 
 
 "Stone walls do not a prison make, 
 Nor iron bars a cage." 
 
 In taking God's testimonies (moral law) for a "heritage 
 forever" verse 3, the psalmist is binding himself to something, 
 that he approves, appreciates and likes. For we cannot 
 keep the moral law unless it comes home to our sense of 
 justice and purity. But here in binding himself to God's 
 arbitrary commands (statutes) he binds himself to God 
 as His servant to eternity. This verse comes nearer to 
 David's expressions of devotion than any other. But it 
 is not quite up to them. It is not God's loving one who 
 speaks, but God's devoted servant. 
 
 We cannot but contrast this verse with the prayers 
 we often hear in church and prayer meeting; which seem 
 well night to disavow any responsibility on our part for our 
 feelings. "May we praise," "may we pray." We need 
 to be sure, divine influence to enable us to praise and pray 
 aright, but we deceive ourselves often, and fail to realize 
 that we are responsible in a great measure for the state 
 
316 Selected Psalm* anD a^onofftapiw 
 
 of our hearts. We should rouse ourselves up to say with 
 the psalmist, "I have bent," "I bend," "I will bend," my 
 heart to do Thy statutes to eternity. 
 
 SAMECH. 
 
 We regret to say that Mr. King's work on the eight 
 verses under this letter is lost, and all die editor can now do 
 is to give his own views in addition to the invaluable words 
 of Alexander which we quote. 
 
 Verse 1 1 3. "Waverers I hate, and Thy law I love." 
 
 "The first word in Hebrew occurs only here. Accord- 
 ing to the most probable etymology, it means men of divided 
 and unstable minds. See above, on Ps. 12:3, (2), and 
 compare James 1 : 8." — Alexander. 
 
 The variorum Bible gives this rendering: "I hate 
 them that are of a double mind." 
 
 Paraphrasing, we might put the following in the 
 mouth of the psalmist. Jehovah Thy law reveals Thy per- 
 fections, and because perfections cannot be lessened or in- 
 creased, Thy law has, like Thyself, a rock-like unswerving 
 stability which commands my admiration and love, and 
 through grace, in turn imparts to me a measure of that 
 strength and fixedness of purpose like Thine own in kind. 
 Therefore do I hate the fickleness of the disobedient, who at 
 one moment commend Thy law, and the next despise and 
 break it. 
 
 Verse 1 1 4. "My hiding place and my shield (art) 
 Thou — for Thy word I wait, i. e., for the fulfilment of Thy 
 promise. See above on verse 81. "The first word in the 
 verse means properly a secret or secret place. The shield 
 is a favorite figure for protection. See above in Ps. 3: 3, 
 7: 10, 18: 2, 30.— Alexander. 
 
 The common, intense exhibition of the sinner's aliena- 
 tion from God, is hiding from God's eye (Gen. 3: 8 to 10), 
 and shielding himself from His face by calling upon the 
 
Eetn jFreDerick JLa iRue ifting 317 
 
 rocks to fall on him. (Rev. 6: 15, 16). That the psalm- 
 ist selected as a hiding place and shield God Himself, shows 
 how well ripened in him was the gracious process of sancti- 
 fication. See 2nd Sam. 24: 14. 
 
 Verse 115. "Depart from me evil doers, and I will 
 keep the commandments of God." 
 
 It might be well to ask if the relation between the 
 two clauses of the verse is that of cause and effect. Certain 
 it is that our Lord with emphasis of sympathetic love urged 
 His disciples to "Pray lest ye enter into temptation." But 
 if all things else being equal, it is as easy to obey God's 
 commands in the presence as in the absence of evil doers, why 
 is spoken this strenuous warning injunction of Jesus? 
 
 Verse 1 1 6. "Uphold me according to Thy promise 
 and let me live, and let me not be ashamed of my hope." 
 
 "Promise literally saying, that which Thou hast said, 
 as in verse 82. 'Let me live,' might also be translated *and 
 I shall live,' or paraphrased 'that I may live." See above 
 on verse 1 7. 'Of my hope,' literally 'from my hope,' 
 which some understand in a privative sense, 'away from,' 
 'deprived of,' 'without my hope,' i. e., without having it ful- 
 filled. 'Ashamed of my hope' does not convey the sense so 
 fully as 'shamed in my hope,' frustrated, disappointed, in 
 my expectations." — Alexander. 
 
 Verse 1 1 7. "Sustain me and I shall be saved, and 
 I will look to Thy statutes always." 
 
 "The first verb is nearly synonymous with that at the 
 beginning of verse 1 1 6, and the same that occurs above, 
 Ps. 20: 2; 41: 3; 94: 18; 104:15. 'I shall be saved, 
 or let me be saved,' or 'that I may be saved,' precisely as 
 in the preceding verse. The strict future sense is here to 
 be preferred, as the verb is not both preceded and followed 
 by a prayer, as in the other case." — Alexander. 
 
 Look to — for dependence. 
 
 Verse 1 1 8. "Thou despisest all (those) straying 
 from Thy statutes, for a lie (is) their deceit." 
 
318 Selected P0alms anD ^onogtaptjg 
 
 By implication we find in this verse three things. 
 
 First, Jehovah's statutes are rooted in justice and truth. 
 Second, Those who shrink from these statutes evidently pre- 
 fer flattering falsehoods, and are (at least in the desires of 
 their hearts) liars. Third, These liars are worthy of con- 
 tempt for in attempting to deceive others, they best succeed 
 in deceiving themselves, with their own lie. 
 
 Verse 119. "(As) dross hast Thou made to cease 
 all the wicked of the earth; therefore I love Thy testimonies.' 
 
 "The verb in the first clause, which occurs in its prim- 
 ary sense in Ps. 8: 2, is applied to purging out of leaven at 
 the passover. (Ex. 12: 15) and to the extirpation of 
 wild beasts (Lev. 26: 6)." — Alexander. 
 
 There is also a reference in this verse to the work of 
 the refiner of silver, who separates the silver from the dross 
 by subjecting the ore to a long process of refining, first crush- 
 ing it to powder, and then the mass is put into a crucible 
 and over a hot fire. The dross is very willing to escape 
 from the great heat, but the precious metal is rather willing 
 to remain in the crucible until it becomes so pure as to 
 mirror the face of the refiner, who bends over it in love. 
 Just so true is it with the wicked who are blind to the 
 blessings hidden under afflictions, and seek only to escape 
 from them. So is it true that "the sorrow of the world 
 worketh death." But saints know that "it is good to be 
 afflicted," and that every species of trial is a proof that 
 God loves us. Mai. 3: 2 and 4. Heb. 12: 6, 8 and 11. 
 Thou dost testify of these things in the Scriptures, therefore 
 I love Thy testimonies. 
 
 Verse 1 20. "My flesh shudders from dread of Thee, 
 and of Thy judgments I am afraid." 
 
 "The first verb in Hebrew occurs only here, but is 
 universally admitted to denote some bodily effect of fear, 
 such as trembling, shuddering, or the instinctive creeping 
 of the flesh. Afraid, in the last clause, does not fully rep- 
 
Eetn jFreDericfe La Eue ifting 319 
 
 resent the phrase which denotes not mere apprehension of 
 something still future or absent, but terror in view of some- 
 thing actually present. Judgments has its usual wide sense, 
 but with special reference, in this case, to God's penal visita- 
 tions. Here ends the fifteenth stanza, in which, as in the 
 one before it, every verse has a distinct initial word." — 
 Alexander. 
 
 There are but few words we wish to add to this 
 valuable comment. 
 
 In the case of one so godly as the psalmist, and whose 
 hope clings to God's mercy, we are not constrained to sup- 
 pose that his terror and creepings of flesh, are the result 
 wholly of a sense of guilt and shrinking from God as 
 Judge, which distresses the hearts of the impenitent. It is 
 rather permissable to conceive that these are due to a felt 
 sense of the near personal presence of the infinite, eternal 
 God, in the sublime majesty of His glorious attributes, in 
 the awful grandeur of His being, and in the piercing 
 strength of His boundless and ceaseless vitality. Many of 
 the great saints of our race, have been so affected when 
 they have perceived, by the senses of the body, that they 
 were in the actual presence of, and in bodily contact with 
 our living Creator and God. 
 
 Abraham (Gen. 15: 12). "Lo, an horror of great 
 darkness fell upon him." (18: 27). "I am but dust and 
 ashes." Jacob. (Gen. 28: 17). "How dreadful is 
 this place." Moses. (Heb. 12: 21). "So terrible was 
 the sight, that Moses said, 'I exceedingly fear and quake.' 
 David. (II Sam. 6: 9). "And David was afraid of the 
 Lord that day." Daniel. (Dan. 10: 8). "I was left 
 alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no 
 strength in me; for my vigor was turned upon me into 
 corruption, and I retained no strength." Paul. (Acts 
 9: 6). "And he trembling and astonished, said, 'Lord, 
 what wilt Thou have me to do"? But not only does 
 
320 Selected psalms ano 9§ono$rap&0 
 
 Jehovah's awful majesty cause us to shudder in His pres- 
 ence, it also causes us to see the depths of our iniquity with 
 self-abhorrence. (Job :4 26). — "Wherefore I abhor 
 myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 
 
 AIN. 
 
 Verse 121. "I do justice and righteousness; leave 
 me not to my oppressors." 
 
 The meaning is not that he has acted right and there- 
 fore can claim that God will not desert him. There is a 
 closer connection between the clauses. There is a true 
 correlation here, the latter clause limiting in some degree the 
 former, and so giving a hint as to the character of those 
 acts of justice and righteousness which he did. They were 
 such as subjected him to enmity and oppression. These 
 words are perfectly suitable as referring to the acts of a 
 private person, and yet is there not almost involved in the 
 words something more than the utterance an obscure indi- 
 vidual? It would seem that the psalmist was one whose 
 acts were influential upon others. These words might be 
 at least the words of a prospective magistrate, who views 
 his private acts under the aspect of a laying down of prin- 
 ciples and policy. The supposition that young Solomon 
 was the author of this psalm, harmonizes the official au- 
 thoritative air of the first clause with the state of humiliation 
 disclosed in the second. The form of the first clause is 
 justified, when we consider that these oppressors would not 
 care about those acts of righteousness of Solomon, which 
 were purely personal, but only for those which defined his 
 attitude as heir apparent to the crown. This verse is very 
 suitable for just magistrates and judges under obloquy, but 
 also for any private Christian whom the pursuance of duty 
 has brought into trouble. The prayer in the latter clause, 
 may be made in the strongest confidence that it will be 
 heard and specifically answered; and yet, at the same 
 
Eetn jFreDericfe JLa i&ue i&inff 321 
 
 time, how easy is that resignation which is the complement 
 of true prayer; since, if we are called upon to endure, it is 
 plainly for God's sake — for the name of Christ and there- 
 fore to His glory. That which inspires confidence in the 
 specific answer, is the very thing that inspires resignation. 
 The vagueness of the first clause, while it does not disclose 
 the situation so manifestly, and therefore lacks energy, still 
 better enabled it to be the utterance of all the tried servants 
 of God of all ages and times. 
 
 Verse 122. "Be surety for Thy seivant for good; 
 let not the proud oppress me." 
 
 The use of the legal term "surety," may have been 
 suggested to the psalmist by legal oppression with which he 
 was threatened — e. g. false accusations, perhaps of treason. 
 A surety is one who places himself voluntarily in the posi- 
 tion of another, so that upon certain contingencies he shall 
 become the substitute of that person and shall be mulcted in 
 the same or equivalent penalties. The primary meaning of 
 the Hebrew word is, to interweave. The surety interweaves 
 his cause with his for whom he is bound, so that if he falls, 
 the surety falls. The surety pledges himself. The psalmist 
 asks God to pledge Himself for him, so that they shall alike 
 be involved. The word "servant" is significant. There is 
 in it an implication of the legal principle, "what one does 
 through another, he does himself." "I am Thy servant, and 
 as Thy servant and deputy, I do what brings me in danger 
 of oppression by the "proud." There is therefore an im- 
 plied claim — a demand that of right God ought to be surety* 
 for him. "For Thy servant" is defined by "for good." 
 When Judah was surety "for the lad" (Gen. 43: 9) it 
 was for his being brought back again. The psalmist asks 
 God to be his surety "for good." That is, to engage to 
 secure his good" — his prosperity, peace, deliverance, or else 
 be subject Himself to oppression and trouble. The petition 
 is one in which God has placed Himself more than once 
 in the oaths that He took which were neither more nor less 
 
322 ^electeH P$alm$ anO Sionograp&s 
 
 than making Himself surety for the fulfilment of His threats 
 or promises. He was surety for the generation of the 
 wilderness for evil (Numb. 14: 28), He was surety for 
 Abraham for good (Gen. 22: 16 and 17). "Be surety 
 for Thy servant for good" is then equivalent to "be surety 
 for Thy servant's good." The latter clause defines the 
 nature of the good God is asked to pledge Himself to 
 secure. The designation of the oppressors of the psalmist 
 as "the proud" points very distinctly to the time we have 
 fixed upon for the composition of this psalm. For never 
 before did pride so stand in the way of spiritual and national 
 advancement as in the days of David, and never afterwards 
 till David's antitype came. It was pride more than any- 
 thing else that opposed our Lord. And that which the 
 psalmist here asks, was granted to the fullest extent. The 
 Lord was surety for His people, became involved in the 
 same condemnation, and in order that "the proud" might 
 not oppress us, He was Himself oppressed. He entered 
 into an engagement with Abraham to die or fulfil His prom- 
 ise to Him, and, seeing that there was no other way, actually 
 suffered that death to which symbolically, and under the 
 guise of smoking furnace and a burning lamp, He had be- 
 come subject so many ages before. 
 
 Verse 1 23. "My eyes fail for Thy salvation, and 
 for the word of Thy righteousness." 
 
 This verse is very like the 82nd. There is in both 
 the same agonized weary longing, but in verse 82 it is 
 well nigh despair. Here it is very far from that, but rather 
 the longing of one who boldly claims. There is a difference 
 too, in the object of the longing. In verse 82 it is for the 
 fulfilment of a promise; here it is for the good thing that 
 the promise secures. There is a difference between the 
 two. I may desire what I have no promise for, and I may 
 desire the fulfilment of a promise, not so much for the 
 good is uppermost, and the promise is mentioned mainly on 
 account of the binding claim it gives him on God for that 
 
l&etn jFreDericfe La Eue mm 323 
 
 good. This is the reason why the word "righteousness" 
 is so significantly added. The fulfilment of the promise 
 involves the righteousness of God. In verse 82 the desire 
 that God would fulfil His promise is uppermost. That is 
 sometimes more precious than any good it brings. The 
 fulfilment of a promise by a husband may be desired by a 
 wife, not so much for what it will give her as for his sake — 
 that he may be found true and noble, and that she may 
 have assurance that she possesses him. Thus the servant of 
 God in desiring that He should fulfil His promise is often 
 really desiring God's glory — that he and others may be 
 enabled to honor God through the clever display of His 
 truthfulness and faithfulness and love. In other words they 
 desire God Himself rather than His gifts. "Salvation" is 
 a broad word, but the latter clause limits it, the salvation 
 for which longing has well night become fainting, is what 
 God has specifically promised; in the case of Solomon, the 
 throne, in the case of the ordinary Christian, a greater prom- 
 ise, a better throne. 
 
 Verse 1 24. "Deal with Thy servant according to 
 Thy loving kindness, and teach me Thy statutes." 
 
 This verse again, is very like the 64th with the ex- 
 ception of the significant epithet "Thy servant," and that 
 in verse 64 the mercy is inferred, and here it is assumed. 
 This makes the relation of the clauses different. In verse 
 64 the psalmist says, "I see abundant evidence around me 
 that Thou art a kind and loving God, and that inclines 
 me to place myself at Thy orders." Here he says, "Since 
 Thou art a God of loving kindness, I may make bold to 
 ask, yea, I may even go so far as to demand, that Thou 
 make a display of that attribute by leaching me Thy 
 statutes." The demand seems to be implied in the word 
 "servant," for is it any more than fair that a servant should 
 have his orders? This demand God will not disregard; 
 He will never leave a servant, desirous of doing His will, 
 without the means of ascertaining what that will is. But 
 
324 Selected P$alm0 and $©oncun:ap[)0 
 
 He uses in His Providence many ways, and all of them 
 righteous. There are some to whom He teaches His will 
 through the stress of trial, through painful self-revelations 
 and mortifications, every precept comes with a pang. There 
 are those who are left to be in a state of doubt and be- 
 wilderment as to what God would have them do. Those 
 who are compelled to wait long and go through hard ex- 
 perience before they get their orders, are so treated often 
 because without it, their obedience would be shallow, un- 
 spiritual and mechanical. By trial they are not only taught 
 God's will, but the secret of that will. There are others 
 who are shown what they are to do in quite another fashion, 
 the way of knowledge is made plain and easy to them. 
 This is what the psalmist asks for — it is that he may be 
 taught his duty "according to God's loving kindness." And 
 wondrously easy God can make this learning. He may 
 place us under the guidance of wise masters and teachers 
 in Christ, He may enlighten our minds that we may 
 understand His word and the leadings of His Providence, 
 or He may pour into our hearts such an endowment of love 
 for Him and our fellows as shall be better than any oracle, 
 making us all alive with eyes to see for ourselves what 
 God orders for each moment as it comes. Well may the 
 psalmist regard it as an act of God's loving kindness that 
 he should be taught His statutes. Happy are the servants 
 of the Highest who always know just what to do — happy 
 in their loving service, and happy in the assurance that 
 their labor is not in vain. Their faces are towards the 
 dawn "that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 
 We draw both warning and encouragement from this 
 prayer of the psalmist. They who are careless about 
 knowing God's will, or knowing, disobey, are often terribly 
 chastised by having God's will hidden from them, when 
 they grope like the blind, but find not till they repent and 
 He visits them in mercy again. On the other hand, those 
 who are eager to know God's will and zealous in their 
 
Retn iFre&ericfe JLa Hue J&ing 325 
 
 obedience, will find it easier and easier to understand the 
 word of the Lord to them. Indeed, He will speak to them 
 no more as He did to the outside multitude of old, in 
 parables and dark sayings, but plainly as He did to His 
 chosen ones. And in them will be fulfilled the saying, 
 "Unto him that hath shall be given." 
 
 Verse 125. "Thy servant am I; make me under- 
 stand and let me know (or then shall I know) Thy testi- 
 monies." 
 
 Maurer translates "that I may know Thy testimonies." 
 Here the claim to the knowledge of God's testimonies is 
 distinctly and nakedly based on the fact that the psalmist 
 is God's servant. God's testimonies are the Moral Law, 
 the witness to His character. The servant may claim at 
 God's hand a knowledge of His statutes in order that 
 he may do what a servant ought to do, and he may 
 also rightfully claim at God's hand a knowledge of His 
 testimonies, in order that he may be what a servant should 
 be. The man is the representative of His Master and 
 therefore should be like Him. The claim that a servant 
 may make for knowledge of God's law under its various 
 aspects can be staled thus: "Grant me Thy statutes that 
 I may know Thy orders, Thy precepts, that I may know 
 the details of the work assigned to me, Thy commandments 
 that I may know how to do it well, Thy testimonies that I 
 may do it holily. Thy judgments that I may have the 
 stimulus of fear, Thy word that I may have the stimulus 
 of hope, and Thy law that I may not despair on account of 
 my faults and failures." (See Ps. 19: 7). The petition, 
 "make me understand," brings out clearly the nature of 
 God's "testimonies." They are God's witness of Him- 
 self to man, and are a witness just so far, only as men 
 understand them and feel their propriety. God's "testi- 
 monies" — the moral law — may not be obeyed as we obey 
 God's "statutes" (orders) simply by bending our wills to 
 His. It would not be pleasing to God for a man to obey, 
 
326 Selected psalm* and t^onoctrapfjs 
 
 say the first or the sixth commandment, simply because 
 it is God's will. Our hearts must obey — we must under- 
 stand — or it is no obedience at all. God's "testimonies" 
 is that phase of God's law under which it must be re- 
 enacted by man, or it is not God's law to Him. 
 
 Verse 126. "(It is) time for Jehovah to do; they 
 make void Thy law." 
 
 There is a propriety in calling on God by His cove- 
 nant title, Jehovah, to act for the law was Jehovah's cove- 
 nant with Israel, and if the covenant was broken, then it 
 behooved God to come forward for the honor of His 
 name. The word "break" means more than simply 
 "transgress." King James and the revision say, "make 
 void," which is more nearly the word. There was never 
 a time when the law was not transgressed, but this must 
 have been a time when the infraction amounted to a deci- 
 sive and effective rejection of the covenant. Such times 
 sometimes occur, and though the servants of God are 
 often short-sighted and think that all is lost, when there 
 would be no danger were it not for their panic fears, when 
 all they have to do to ensure safety is to be calm, hopeful 
 and active, still there sometimes comes a crisis when man 
 seems to have done his utmost in vain, and one more step 
 only remains for wickedness to be impregnably intrenched, 
 and the evil to become irremediable. Then God's people 
 can plead the necessity there is for His direct action. Then 
 it becomes them to "stand still and see the salvation of 
 God." Such a time seemed the present to the psalmist. 
 If, as we have conjectured, the young Solomon was the 
 author of this psalm, we can easily conceive a situation of 
 affairs that might have called forth this utterance. Remem- 
 bering that Solomon was the divinely appointed successor 
 not only to the throne of David, but to his plans and 
 theocratic policy; remembering that the dread of this policy 
 was upon many in Israel, and that dread caused and made 
 virulent an opposition to Solomon's succession; we can 
 
Retn jFre&erick La Rue ftittg 327 
 
 easily see with what intense interest he would regard each 
 move in the game. He would naturally regard a success- 
 ful combination against him as aimed directly at the theo- 
 cratic development, ecclesiastical and national, which was 
 nothing more than the conserving of that law whose full 
 form was first attained under David. Whether the prayer 
 was answered or not we cannot tell. Probably it was. 
 Probably God did providentially intervene and check the 
 movement that appeared so threatening. But if not, if 
 the case was not so critical as it seemed, still it was a 
 proper and consoling prayer, and doubtless not without 
 spiritual fruit to him who offered it. God regards our 
 prayers not in the light of His superior knowledge, but 
 puts Himself in our place, as we do in the place of our 
 children; and is ready to soothe even our groundless fears. 
 "He knoweth our frame." Let not the prayer, however, 
 be made in the spirit of presumption — the spirit of Uzzah. 
 God is all wise and knows when to intervene. 
 
 Verse 127. "Therefore I love Thy commandments 
 (more) than gold and (more) than fine gold." 
 
 Alexander says: "The first word does not refer to the 
 immediately preceding verse, but to the whole previous des- 
 cription of the excellence of God's commandments." 
 
 This can hardly be. There is nothing said directly 
 (whatever may be implied) in praise of any aspect of the 
 law since verse 105. And it may be said further that 
 very few of the verses of this psalm directly praise the law; 
 almost all of them are simple expressions of devotion to 
 it. We cannot suppose either, as Alexander does, that 
 the mere exigencies of the alphabetical arrangement led to 
 the use of the word. "Therefore" in this and the next 
 verse. The ingenuity of the writer was surely greater than 
 this. If any connection can be made with what goes 
 before, it should be done. "Therefore" implies some fact 
 set forth in what goes before, because of which, he is led to 
 value God's commandments. No such fact, express or 
 
328 Selected psalms anO $©onoatap!)0 
 
 implied, is set forth in the stanza except in the verse that 
 immediately precedes, to which we would naturally be 
 referred by the word "therefore." We find there a peti- 
 tion that God should act directly, expressed in such strong 
 terms as to amount to a claim that God should act and cer- 
 tainly involve the principle that God will not allow the wicked 
 to go too far, but may be expected to intervene, and bring 
 to naught their devices and their works. If this is the 
 case, how precious these commandments, the guide in life's 
 activity. How perfectly secure may the good man be 
 who allows them to govern his life. The opposers of the 
 good public man, especially, may be using craft and that 
 sum of all power, gold; but he has something better than 
 gold — a guide better than power or craft. The last ex- 
 pressions of the verse may be fairly held to mean more 
 than vague expression of value set forth in a childlike com- 
 parison — at least, it may possibly have a reference to the 
 power of gold in political affairs. 
 
 Verse 1 28. "Therefore all Thy precepts (as to) all 
 (things) I think right; every way of falsehood do I hate." 
 
 For the same reason that the commandments (the law 
 as guiding) are precious, so likewise are the precepts of 
 God (the law as assigning work) precious. The great 
 work that had been assigned to Solomon in his earliest years 
 was the work of reigning. His main occupation in life was 
 getting ready to reign, and there would be a strong ten- 
 dency on his part to shape his actions so as to ensure his 
 possession of the throne, and to smooth the way to his 
 prosperous reigning. But the temptation would be also 
 strong to neglect those duties which were for the time, of 
 waiting. The fear of God, the dread that is in him, when 
 he thinks how just it would be for God to interfere, and 
 how probably imminent the interference with those who 
 break His covenant law, quickens his approval of God's 
 precepts, and stimulates to the performance of the full round 
 of duty appointed him by God. The word translated 
 
Rett* ^Frederick La IRue Mm 329 
 
 "think right" does not have so much reference to moral rec- 
 titude as to their wise character. "Thy precepts are ex- 
 cellent, because in the practice of them I can think without 
 fear of Thy intervention in the affairs of the nation." The 
 correlative clause strengthens this impression. A "way of 
 falsehood" is a way that leads to falsehood or no result, 
 which promises great good but ends in the reverse. God's 
 precepts — the occupations dictated by Him, lead to pros- 
 perity and the avoidance of danger. Ilie strong word 
 "hate" is not a mere manifestation of moral detestation, but 
 an expression of the dread awakened in his mind by his 
 summons of God in verse 126, and as a consequence 
 of a sense of the danger those incur who walk 
 in ways of falsehood. They who summon God on 
 their own behalf and against others may well remember that 
 God is no partizan, and when He comes to make inquisi- 
 tion He will not neglect us. It would little avail the psalm- 
 ist, if he were guiltless of the sin of rejecting God's covenant, 
 if he sinned in other directions, if he were neglecting the 
 plain duties belonging to his waiting time. This lends great 
 significance to the claim he makes that he hates, not one 
 but every way of falsehood, and approves not of one, but 
 of all God's precepts as to all things. These last two verses 
 are not merely justificatory, but declarations of adherence 
 and devotion. 
 
 PE. 
 
 Verse 129. "Wonderful (are) Thy testimonies, 
 therefore my soul keepeth them." 
 
 "Testimonies" are the moral law. This moral law 
 is wonderful. To be wonderful it cannot be the product 
 of human wisdom or fully explainable by human wisdom. 
 A perfect system of scientific ethics is an impossibility. If it 
 were possible it would not be moral, for into all morality 
 must enter the two elements of direct authority on the part 
 of God and unquestioning obedience on the part of man. 
 
330 Selected psalms mm ^onoatapN 
 
 The moral law must be the product of an intelligence apart 
 from, and above man, and yet akin to man, and at once 
 appreciable by man. God's commandment must be "nigh," 
 to be a true commandment, yet any examination of it shows 
 its preternatural wisdom and adds to its sanction. When a 
 man gives himself rules that he has thought out, it will 
 lack the element of wonder and therefore the sanction that 
 a command of God has. It is the attitude of wondering 
 obedience that causes the law to be kept by God's servant. 
 The habit of casuistry either as a scientific or practical exer- 
 cise, tends to destroy the law. The moment we begin to 
 consider whether what we propose to do is right or wrong, 
 by the light of reason and not by the light of God's ex- 
 pressed will, that moment we will begin to doubt, and the 
 further we go in our investigations the more doubtful we 
 will be. It is like trying to discover by reasoning, whether a 
 picture is beautiful or not. Law is no law unless we derive 
 it from an intuition which involves the consciousness of God 
 whether we are aware of it or not, or else have it express 
 from God and made forceful to us by an intuition. Law 
 is no law unless it comes from God, and also comes to us 
 ("the word is nigh thee"). The moral law of the ten 
 commandments if reverently studied will be found wonder- 
 ful. The topics selected, the form in which they are 
 expressed, so wonderful that a strict observance of the let- 
 ter in reverence and love for the Lawgiver will give some- 
 thing very like spiritual observance. And, it may be 
 added, the slightest deviation from which no matter how 
 plausibly justified will tend to great evil. Wonderful is the 
 law if we consider the results following from obedience or 
 disobedience whether in a single man or a community. The 
 attitude of wonder will prevent any paring down of the 
 form of the command, with the empty and wicked excuse 
 that we desire to get at its essence, and with the latent 
 desire to get permission to do evil. What is wonderful will 
 be precious. 
 
Retn jFreDertcb JLa Eue fting 331 
 
 "My soul keepeth them." This means something 
 more than "I keep them," which would only state, what- 
 ever it would imply, that he consciously keeps them. But 
 to say "my soul keeps them," is to say that the emotional, 
 propulsive part of the man, makes the man keep the law. 
 The psalmist has not only the moral sense to understand the 
 law and the resolve to keep it, but has strong tendencies 
 toward the moral law from the sense of its being the guid- 
 ance of superior wisdom which knows better than he does 
 what is right. Thus God's testimonies are wonderful; they 
 are like natural objects to which we stand related, and which 
 we appreciate, but which transcend our powers to make or 
 comprehend. A rose is that to us. 
 
 Verse 1 30. "The opening of Thy word enlightens, 
 making the simple understand." 
 
 "Opening" as of a gate. The words of God are as 
 open gates or doors by which we have entrance into what 
 was before unseen and inaccessible. The realm of the 
 spiritual is as a dead wall till the open door of the word 
 permits gaze and entrance. There is very great harmony 
 between this verse and the preceding. The "simple" is 
 the uninvestigating, the not worldly wise or specially intel- 
 lectual. Perhaps those who do not exercise themselves in 
 things too high for them, (Ps. 131 ), who realize that there 
 are matters in which a humble bowing down of the pride 
 of intellect is best and wisest. Such minds find the words 
 of God very enlightening. Of course, revelation is what 
 is directly referred to here, but the same is true of the cre- 
 ated works of God — the works of nature. Something 
 more is needed than the self-sufficient investigating spirit; 
 some submission of the intellect to the higher faculties of 
 insight; some sense of the wonderfulness lying behind all 
 nature as behind all revelation. Carrying out the figure 
 more perfectly we might say that the word which is as a 
 closed wall to the hard, scientific spirit, is as an open door 
 to the lowly soul (the simple) who, aspiring to penetrate 
 
332 ©electeD psalms anD ^ONoarap&s 
 
 beyond the veil into the secret place finds that it cannot 
 walk bui must fly thither, and if it uses natural wings, must 
 spread them in spiritual air and pursue its way by means of 
 that Spirit who is given to all who ask for Him. 
 
 Verse 131. "My mouth I stretch and pant, because 
 for Thy commandments, I long." 
 
 There is here apparently a figure taken from the habits 
 of wild animals. They often suffer great thirst and this 
 stretching the mouth and panting would denote extreme 
 eagerness for water. On the part of the child of God it 
 expresses the intensest longing for God's commandments — as 
 the thirsty animal longs for drink, so he longs for such in- 
 dications furnished by God's law, which will guide when 
 perplexed. There is expressed a desire here for immediate 
 direction. He will not be teased by constant interference 
 with his movements. This arises from a feeling of helpless 
 ignorance, an indication that his view of his situation is 
 wider than that of those who feel wise. His is the spirit 
 of David, not that of Saul. He is willing to be under a 
 tutor. This connects directly with the topic of the preceding 
 verses — the wonderfulness and the enlightening character 
 of the law of the Lord. Men often gain a principle from 
 the law and then proceed to apply it, but with the prin- 
 ciple enters also the spirit of self will and self conceit and 
 leads a man upon a wrong path, while he thinks he is 
 following the precepts of God. It needs, it may be, some 
 other precept to recur to him which he also must obey and 
 which will modify the application of the principle that he 
 thinks he has perfectly seized and is perfectly applying. It 
 is not enough, then, that one should be fuli of zeal for en- 
 lightenment and of energy in the applying of that knowledge. 
 He must crave as a thirsty animal craves water to be di- 
 rected in his zeal and energy, in other words, to have God's 
 commandments. It is curious that as the figure for longing 
 is taken from the habits of wild animals, so the absolute 
 necessity for constant guidance, implied by the eagerness 
 
Eeu* jFreDerick La iftue ftittg 333 
 
 to be directed, suggests a brute animal harnessed, as a horse 
 or mule. 
 
 Verse 1 32. "Turn to me and be gracious to me, as 
 (is) due to the lovers of Thy name." 
 
 We have in this stanza set forth, one who is acquainted 
 with God's "testimonies," and has been enlightened by 
 God's words, but who craves earnestly practical direction — 
 or that view of the law that will tend practically to guide. 
 He is also subject to trials. "Turn to me," implies that 
 God has not been gracious to him. There is no implication 
 that the psalmist has lost God's secret favor — that God has 
 any controversy with him. For such a feeling as that must 
 necessarily be accompanied by a sense of ill desert, or else 
 God would be regarded as a fickle and capricious God. 
 Now so far from any ill desert being indicated here there is 
 on the contrary a strong assertion of merit. He was one 
 of the lovers of God's name, and there was therefore some- 
 thing due him. There is also as strong an implication of the 
 consistency of God and His want of caprice in the ex- 
 pression "as (is) due" literally "according to judgment," 
 which some translate "according to Thy wont." Both ideas 
 may be included. For "judgment" does not mean simple 
 right, but God's decision as to what is right; God's usual 
 decision, the decision that may be expected of Him. Cap- 
 rice is excluded then by the very expression that sets forth 
 the psalmist's merit; and we have here not the utterance of 
 one who like the heathen, solicits the favor of his god, 
 which he has lost he knows not how, but a prayer for 
 the manifestation of God's favor, through acts of kindness 
 and compassion which he has reason to expect from what 
 he knows of Him. To be a lover of God's name, is to 
 love all the manifestations He makes of Himself in words 
 or works or acts. This does not amount to loving all that 
 is made or happens, for though the whole universe shows 
 forth God's glory, it also shows forth something else, since 
 there is evil and imperfection there, and not till the creation 
 
334 Selected pgalms anD S©onojitap^0 
 
 has partaken of the liberty of the glory of the sons of God, 
 can we rejoice in, or even accept all things. We love that 
 part of God's name which we see to be God's name, be- 
 cause it seems to us to exhibit His goodness and beneficence. 
 And if we are really in rapport with Him, then we shall 
 be able to love His name even where we cannot see in it 
 goodness and beneficence, through faith that they are there 
 even if we do not see them. In the earlier day God's peo- 
 ple limited His name to the vicinity of the theophanic glory, 
 and later, to the Shekinah glory of the temple so that the 
 Jews at Babylon were careful to pray with their faces to- 
 wards Jerusalem, because there God had "caused His name 
 to dwell," and all along there failed not those who under- 
 stood God's intimate relation to His universe in all its parts 
 and His dominance over it all. A remarkable example of 
 this is seen in the 29th Psalm. As time rolled on this 
 doctrine commanded more and more the assent of God's 
 people, and now that the light of science has flooded the 
 whole realm of creation, the universe is seen to be one and 
 instinct with reason, that is with God. Yet the universe 
 is not without its dark corners; there are hard problems for 
 those to solve who desire that all God's works and acts 
 should praise Him, and to overcome which, there needs 
 something of love and loyalty as well as intelligence, some- 
 thing of the spirit of Ps. 1 33. Would that that spirit were 
 rife at the present time. But it is to be feared that another 
 spirit is even in the church, a spirit that manifests itself not 
 always in direct complaints of God's dealings, but in a 
 mood of disquiet and anxiety ("so brutish was I and igno- 
 rant") that amounts to doubting whether goodness is on 
 the throne; a thing which there are found those who deny. 
 To love God's name then may well draw God's favor 
 and kindness. This the psalmist claims, but humbly and 
 modestly. He does not claim as of absolute right that God 
 would make things pleasant for him, but says "so Thou 
 judgest right to deal with those who love Thy name." God 
 
iftein jFreDericb La Rue fting 335 
 
 must be free to bring tribulation upon His most devoted 
 servant as in the case of Job. And yet we may be sure 
 that if we appeal to God for His favor and kindness, glori- 
 fying the while His holy name, nothing shall happen to us 
 without His love going with it and a purpose to make it 
 subserve our benefit. A distinction ought here be made. 
 We ought to love all of God's holy name and yet we are 
 not obliged to like it. We may writhe under God's deal- 
 ings and pray to be delivered from them (as Job) and yet 
 love them. As a daughter might love her father's taking her 
 to a surgeon for it might evidence his self denying love, 
 while she might at the same time shrink from it with 
 dread. Clearly does the apostle (Philipp. 4:6) teach us 
 the love of God's name in the midst of trial, for he tells us 
 that the prayer that brings peace in troublous times is to 
 be made "with thanksgiving." 
 
 Verse 1 33. "My steps establish by Thy word, and 
 let not any iniquity rule over me." 
 
 "Establish," make firm, as opposed to steps sinking 
 in the mire. "By Thy word," through the cheer and energy 
 induced by Thy promise and through its fulfilment. The 
 servant of God is struggling onward in his toilsome pilgrim- 
 age towards his goal and reward, and he asks that every- 
 thing that hinders his free activity should be removed "by 
 Thy word." That is, by bringing to mind the promise 
 when it is forgotten, or inspiring trust in it when confidence is 
 ready to fail, and also by the hope it inspires with its result- 
 ing energy, and also by the fulfilment of that word. This 
 last will not fail for He who pointed out the goal and 
 promised the reward by that pledges Himself to be with 
 us every step of the way and to bring us safely through. 
 The peculiar trial that is upon him and makes his footing 
 unstable, appears in the correlative clause. It is the rule 
 of iniquity over him either feared or experienced. We can 
 easily sympathize with the psalmist for every child of God is 
 in danger from the rule of iniquity. First, there is iniquity 
 
336 ©elected psalms and ^onogtap&$ 
 
 without the evil ruler, whether governmental or social. To 
 be dependent in any sense upon one who is evil is a dread- 
 ful thing for one who not only desires to do what is right 
 but what is large and loving. He can never know the 
 delight of one's own impulses, in the rythmic activities of 
 love. Second, iniquity within — heart iniquity and its fruits, 
 rooted habits of evil, and the tyranny of committed sin. This 
 is a rule that governs and enslaves the intellect as well as 
 the emotional nature. Third, the power of the evil one in 
 tempting and swaying the soul, and organizing and intensi- 
 fying evil around us. One of the most dreadful results of 
 sin is that it enslaves, and one of the noblest results of 
 holiness is that it sets free. One of the best definition* of 
 holiness is freedom. Of course, perfect freedom will not be 
 till the rule of evil be entirely swept away, and with new 
 bodies, and a new world, we begin at last to live. But the 
 apostle teaches us, that the slave while yet a slave, may 
 be the Lord's freeman. And so the servant of God op- 
 posed by form of evil that hamper him and conscious of 
 evil in his heart can be made by the light that the word of 
 God causes to shine through the grates of his dungeon, a 
 prisoner of hope, and therefore the Lord's freeman. 
 
 Verse 1 34. "Redeem me from the oppressions of 
 man, and I will keep Thy precepts." 
 
 "Opressions" in the plural is very strong — many acts, 
 many forms of oppression. "Man" in the singular is also 
 very significant. The troubles of the psalmist do not arise 
 from any peculiarity of character in those about him and in 
 whose power he is, his position is such that he is placed 
 in antagonism with human nature itself. So was it with our 
 Lord. It was the fact that not merely did certain men 
 strike at him, but human nature struck at him, and became 
 guilty through His death. So was it with the apostles. 
 They conferred not with their own flesh and blood, and 
 as little with the flesh and blood of others. Their message 
 was directly in the teeth of the predilections and prejudices 
 
Eetn iFreOertcfc JLa iftue Eing 337 
 
 of their nation. An influence from above had to be granted 
 or it would not have been accepted. So was it with the 
 prophets. They were a living reproof, and even in their 
 promises they often held forth what was humiliating instead 
 of the glory that was craved, and bitter instead of the de- 
 light that was desired. So is it with the humblest ser- 
 vant of God he often has to say "it is not men who have op- 
 posed me but man." And here is a consideration that tends 
 to induce pity and forgiveness under oppression. As our 
 Lord's "Father forgive them, for they know not what they 
 do." This form of expression would be peculiarly suited 
 to the young Solomon, for the opposition to his reigning or 
 his policy as a crown prince, would be largely an outcome 
 of human nature itself. Tribal pride revolting at the idea 
 of Jerusalem's becoming either politically or ecclesiastically 
 supreme national pride revolting at the king of Israel's 
 under the tutelage of Jehova, would be largely used, 
 to oppose the accession of Him, who, as was well understood 
 would be not only the heir of David's throne, but of his 
 policy. The Assyrian king would loudly proclaim that he 
 was a servant of Asshur and did all things through his 
 might, but Isaiah 10:13 shows how little reality there was 
 in that. David the man after God's heart was really sub- 
 servient to Jehovah in his royal position. "1 will keep Thy 
 precepts." This may be understood as a covenant resolu- 
 tion. "If Thou will redeem me, I will keep Thy precepts." 
 But it is better to take it as setting forth the reason of the 
 petition of the first clause. "Thy precepts" — the work 
 Thou has appointed me to do, hindered and thwarted by 
 the oppressions of my enemies. Set me free from them, 
 that I may do it. Happy they who pray to be made free 
 only that they may accomplish their mission; they may well 
 pray in assured hope. Still we should try to feel that even 
 if we are tied up from doing the work that seems ours in 
 the world, we still are submitting to His will. If we are 
 not doing His precepts we are keeping His statutes. The 
 
338 ©elected psalm* ano a^onograpiw; 
 
 main point is to realize that God orders everything, even to 
 our being laid aside by incapacity, infirmity or oppression. 
 In waiting we not merely serve His will but His purpose also. 
 
 Verse 135. "Let Thy face shine upon Thy servant, 
 and teach me Thy statutes." 
 
 The word "servant," indicates not merely who he is, 
 but what he is who makes this petition. He is God's ser- 
 vant and may claim something because of this relation. It 
 does not imply that he is a profitable servant, but that he 
 holds the office of servant and desires to do service. This 
 is sufficient to found a claim that God would teach him 
 His statutes (orders). What can a servant do unless he 
 has his lord's orders. The true prosperity of a devoted 
 servant is to have his master's orders. And when that mas- 
 ter is God the more specific the orders, and the more num- 
 erous they are, even to the end occupying of every minute, the 
 happier he is. That would be a perfect realization of Car- 
 lyle's "fire proof days." This interprets the verse according 
 to the strict form that we have ascribed to the verses of 
 this psalm according to which the second clause limits the 
 signification of the first. It may be further said that the 
 expression "Let Thy face shine upon Thy servant," can 
 be taken as a general petition for prosperity; the confident 
 petition inducing a grateful desire to know God's will. And 
 it may be further said more directly in the line of the correl- 
 ation, that one of the best ways that God takes to teach 
 us what He orders, and at the same time to enable us to 
 erter into the spirit of those orders — teach us something 
 about their nature, and so to let His face shine upon us, to 
 bring us into close rapport with Him. 
 
 Verse 1 36. "Streams of water run down my eyes, 
 for that they do not keep Thy law." 
 
 "They" is emphatic — the community, the people 
 around me. This verse fixes the place of the psalm either 
 at a time when the law was not fully established, or else 
 when it was falling in the esteem of the people. It would 
 
Eetn jFreDetick La Eue l&ing 339 
 
 seem at first glance fitted to express the feelings of a Jere- 
 miah, or a Daniel, or an Ezra. But in the case of Jere- 
 miah, his reproofs are directed rather against the political 
 and moral iniquity of his people, than ecclesiastical short- 
 coming. And in the case of Daniel, it can hardly be the 
 case that there was any extensive defection among the 
 children of the captivity. The historical result of their 
 captivity was, as we know, a remarkably strict adherence to 
 the law, and the effect must have been begun to be wrought 
 during the captivity. From the animosity against the Jews 
 as appeared in Esther and indeed in Daniel, it seems clear 
 that they did not coalesce religiously with the people of the 
 lands. And in the case of Ezra though the past sins of his 
 people afflicted him, yet they repented and reformed. That 
 was a hopeful case in which there was little occasion for 
 weeping. This is the language rather of one who dwells 
 amid persistent opposition to the law and who is helpless in 
 the face of it. It is certainly fitted for the mouth of the 
 youthful Solomon, who would be filled with sorrow all the 
 more bitter, because he was not naturally of the melting 
 mood, because he could so plainly see the remedy that ought 
 to be applied and knew how to use it. This psalm 
 and this verse would be all the better fitted to be the vehicle 
 of pious emotion for all ages, than if it was originally the ut- 
 terance of one in exceptional circumstances, as were Jere- 
 miah, Ezra and Daniel. Solomon's position was a universal 
 one. A servant of God holding to a promise of future rule 
 over wicked men, whom he was at present able to do noth- 
 ing to restrain. Able only to exact a limited influence, for 
 the most part serving God by witness bearing, and enduring 
 obloquy on account of his adhering to God's law. 
 
 TZADDE. 
 
 Verse 137. "Righteous art Thou O Jehovah and 
 just Thy judgments." 
 
340 ^electeU psalms anD ^onograpijg 
 
 This verse was probably the outcome of a spiritual 
 struggle. God's judgments had been brought very near the 
 psalmist. He had felt them in his own person or was the 
 witness of the infliction on his friends or neighbors. Now 
 in such a case, the temptation is first not to recognize what 
 has happened as a judgment at all. It is a mishap due 
 simply to natural forces, or it is a wrong inflicted by evil 
 men. We are loud in proclaiming our innocency. The 
 awful judgment of the French Revolution fell upon those 
 who were full of self-complacent enthusiasm — their very ef- 
 forts to do good brought down the judgment on their heads, 
 God's judgments are often so disconnected in appearance 
 with the sin as to need insight in order to read the warn- 
 ing. The psalmist has insight. He is taught his sin by 
 what has befallen him, and his anger against others gives 
 place to anger against himself. He feels that he deserves all 
 that has befallen him, and an overwhelming sense of God's 
 righteousness fills his mind, which is near to acquiescent 
 submission and the recovery of an eternal friend. 
 
 Verse 1 38. "Thou hast commanded righteousness, 
 and Thy testimonies, faithfulness — exceedingly." 
 
 The revisors give the sense correctly and smoothly by 
 supplying "in" before righteousness and faithfulness. "Thou 
 hast commanded Thy testimonies in righteousness and very 
 faithfulness." This is admirable as a translation. There 
 is, however, great poetic force notwithstanding its harshness 
 in rendering literally "righteousness" and "testimonies" as 
 oppositions. The verse then might be paraphrased thus: 
 "Thou hast commanded righteousness in commanding Thy 
 testimonies and faithfulness also in an eminent degree." 
 The state of mind expressed by this verse is what Chris- 
 tians often fail of attaining to, and yet it should be the 
 feeling of all. We should acknowledge that the moral law 
 which He calls on us to obey is no more than He ought 
 to exact, and we ought to render. To be righteous Him- 
 self, He must insist upon our being holy, and that insistence 
 
Eeto* jFteDerick JLa Eue ifting 341 
 
 involves the awful menace of what He must inflict upon the 
 disobedient. We are apt to consider with the old Jews, 
 that God has tied Himself up by the covenant of grace, 
 to give us every good thing if only we perform the stipulated 
 condition. Our trust to Christ takes the place of circum- 
 cision and can as easily be made consistent with a sinful life. 
 Religion can be in our case as thoroughly divorced from 
 morality as it is among the Musselmans. It was remarkably 
 so in the Middle ages, and there are survivals of that feeling 
 in the present day. Not many years ago a faithful Lutheran 
 missionary having charge of several country churches not 
 far from Easton, Pa., had to be guarded in his passages to 
 and fro from the animosity of many of his congregations, 
 who maintained that he swindled them, requiring as he did, 
 repentance and faith, when they had complied with all the 
 conditions required, being baptized, having children bap- 
 tized, paying all church dues, and taking the communion 
 regularly. We smile when we read this, but how much 
 better is the young man of the world called Christian, who 
 makes of Christ a convenience, to be relied on in his ex- 
 tremity as delivery from the consequences of his sins, but 
 who cuts and carves and trims down the moral law to 
 suit the exigencies of one who must obey whether or 
 no the customs and maxims of society; who bridles in the 
 little love he has for God and man lest it enact for him a 
 law more exacting than any literal interpretation of the 
 old. What better is that emotional Christian, full of en- 
 thusiastic feelings, who thinks that he fulfils the conditions 
 God requires by unbridled emotion, when there is just one 
 condition He has laid down and that is holiness. "Be not 
 deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth, 
 that shall he also reap." "Holiness and Godliness is es- 
 sential," Paul says; "though I understand all mysteries, 
 though I give my body to be burned and have not love I 
 am nothing." And shall the Lord not insist upon righteous- 
 ness?" "Many shall say unto me in that day, 'Lord have 
 
342 Selected pgalms anD S@onograpi)0 
 
 we not prophesied in Thy name and in Thy name cast 
 out devils?" The claim is correct, but it gains nothing 
 for them. Alas, the surprise and shame that awaits many 
 who look forward confidently. That was a gem of comic 
 poetry of the Rev. Quake Strong, who was an eminent re- 
 vivalist on earth, and who expected to be received with 
 all honors to heavenly mansions. He would not have been 
 received at all, had he not humbled his claims and appealed 
 for mercy as a miserable sinner. No, God means that His 
 law shall be obeyed and woe to those who trifle with it, 
 for it is trifling with Him. We may call God, Father, but 
 let us remember that as St. Peter tells us, that God judgeth 
 without respect of persons according to each man's work, 
 and that nothing will pass muster except obedience. It is 
 in "very faithfulness" to His promises, that God requires 
 holiness. What sort of a God would He be who was not 
 hostile to the unpenitant sinner? What sort of a heaven 
 would it be that admitted unholiness? It is illegal for the 
 sinner to be saved, and yet Christ saves him because He 
 has power to justify him. It was illegal for Christ to 
 touch the leper, and yet He touched the leper; for when 
 He touched the leper it was no leper that He touched, such 
 is the Paradox of grace. 
 
 Verse 1 39. "My zeal consumes me because my ad- 
 versaries forget Thy words/' 
 
 The words translated "zeal" is more commonly used 
 in the sense of jealousy or even "envy." We must give 
 the word the association with the jealousy of a husband; 
 and the envy of one who craves the possession of a precious 
 thing that another has, to get at the strange strength of 
 the feeling. It consumes the psalmist. It passes all bounds 
 and becomes exclusive, destroying for the time all others. 
 This verse is a very intense expression of desire for the 
 honor of God. The situation is this; he has malignant ad- 
 versaries, and he is in the midst of their strivings against 
 him; immediate peril and prospective loss menace him 
 

 Retn iFtedeticfe La Hue ding 343 
 
 through their machinations, to say nothing of their bitterness 
 against him personally which tends to awaken bitter feel- 
 ings. Yet here all anxiety, fear and anger that is personal 
 are swallowed up in thought for God's honor. Natural 
 feeling in one who believed in God's "words" — His pre- 
 cepts and promises with their tremendous sanctions, would 
 be contented with the fact that his enemies forgot God's 
 words, for it would be their exceeding great loss. But 
 there is here something better than nature. Not love of 
 his enemies, but such a desire for God's honor as not only 
 makes him eager that those who hate and would destroy 
 him, should hold fast God's words and gain full fruition 
 from that adherence, but so fills him with the desire of it that 
 jealousy is the only word that can express the feeling. Jeal- 
 ousy is one of the most egotistical and selfish of feelings, 
 yet the word describes his position of self abnegation be- 
 cause he has so indentified himself with God, that he feels 
 wronged in himself by the neglect of God by his enemies. 
 This becomes stronger if we consider these words as either 
 actually or dramatically Solomon's. One of those words of 
 God forgotten by His enemies, was the word of promise 
 that he should sit on the throne of his Father David. Had 
 his adversaries remembered that word they would have 
 been his adherent supporters. It was natural that the 
 denunciation of his adversaries' contempt of God's "words" 
 should be inspired by self interest. But it is not so. He 
 feels that the promise of the throne was not made to him 
 for his own sake, but for the sake of his people. And he 
 claims that it is because that promise is an expression of 
 the large faithfulness of God to Israel, that he is so outraged 
 because it is disregarded. There are abundant indications 
 throughout this psalm that it was in this wide view of the 
 purpose of the promise, that Solomon desired the throne. 
 It is a great spiritual height to attain when we desire our 
 good not because it is our good but because it promotes 
 God's glory, and the welfare of others. Far easier it is 
 
344 ©elected psalms and q^onogtapfts 
 
 for us to acquiesce in an evil for God's glory. Solomon 
 did not always keep this frame of mind. Indeed, his 
 whole life was a great temptation to desire the honor and 
 glory of God for his own glory. For his office in the history 
 of redemption was to make palpable, and exhibit in forms 
 of prophetic splendor and beauty and wise organization, the 
 purpose of God to His people and all these redounded to 
 his own glory also. Tyranny and oppression could thus 
 be easily justified and was doubtless justified. The glory of 
 God was hidden by the glory of Solomon. 
 
 Verse 140. "Pure is Thy word — exceedingly, and 
 Thy servant loves it." j 
 
 Pure, smelted, refined, purified, as some precious metal 
 without any earthly matter or slag in it. What does this 
 mean as to the word or promise of God? It would seem 
 to be this. God's promise in its real meaning holds out the 
 expectation of that which is most precious and of only that. 
 Now, that which is most precious is not regarded by all 
 as such. A work of art in pure taste is only enjoyed by 
 the few. The coarse taste of the mass is attracted by 
 something gaudy and glittering. Fine flavors require a 
 refined palate. That which is best and most precious, ap- 
 pears often at first tasteless and weak until we understand 
 how to appreciate and enjoy it. So it is with die word of 
 God. It holds forth most precious things, but they are 
 often not recognized as precious. They cannot at once be 
 realized, they must be waited for. They may be not what 
 is desired, or perhaps what goes contrary to the desires, e. g. 
 In our Lord's time the Jews desired salvation and would 
 have welcomed a Saviour who offered them dross and slag 
 instead of pure gold. When the pure gold was offered 
 them they despised and rejected it. They could not ap- 
 preciate a salvation that consisted in reconciliation with God, 
 and required an humbling of their proud self will, and a 
 brotherhood with all nations. So it is with God's promise 
 at all times. It is too pure and high to be appreciated by 
 
Iftetn jFreDeucfe La Eue ifting 345 
 
 any but those whose heart God has touched. The promise 
 to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was a pure promise. It held 
 forth what should be precious throughout the ages eternal. 
 It required faith in the patriarch to believe not merely that 
 it would be fulfiled, but that it was good at all. The 
 acceptance of it involved renunciation for generations on the 
 part of the patriarchs. Doubtless Abraham, Isaac and 
 Jacob, had a far off understanding that there was more in 
 the promise than met the ear, that no mere home for their 
 descendants, nor their great increase was signified by the 
 promise, but higher blessings for themselves, for others, and 
 for all. But how many of their successors understood them 
 in a narrow material sense, appropriating for themselves the 
 dross, the slag and not the refined gold of the promise. 
 How many are now complaining of God that He does not 
 fulfil the narrow literal form of His promises. The promises 
 to true prayer are interpreted as if they meant that each one 
 of us may have his own wilful way if he chooses to ask 
 for it. But God gives us often the pure gold by denying 
 often our earnest request for that which is mere slag. The 
 promise to our Lord was that He should not dash His foot 
 against a stone, yet He was given over to death, but through 
 that door He entered into immortal glory. The psalmist 
 had insight, he loved this "word" because of its exceeding 
 purity. He says "Thy servant loves it." "Servant" is 
 significant. The acquiescence of docility is the main thing 
 necessary to induce the acquiescence of satisfaction. Sub- 
 mitting to the severe purity of God's word which sometime* 
 seems hard and trying, God's servant learns to love it. The 
 child of God should learn to do without present delights and 
 realizations — "the ginger that is hot in the mouth" and be- 
 lieve that God's promise waits only that it may be ful- 
 filled more perfectly and that in truly waiting for it, the 
 child of God has begun to realize it. "Loves it," this is 
 something near to an expression of love to God which is 
 singularly wanting in this psalm. The very far off applica- 
 
346 ©elected psalms ana e@onogtap&0 
 
 tion of the promise, yielding so little in the present, indicates 
 the far reaching wisdom and love of God, and awakens 
 like love in the psalmist. 
 
 "There is no architect 
 Can build as the muse can; 
 She is skillful to select 
 Materials for her plan. 
 She lays her beams in music." 
 
 Verse 141. "Little (am) I and despised, (but) Thy 
 precepts do I not forget." 
 
 This is one of the verses which force us to the conclu- 
 sion that this psalm has reference to a real person whether 
 he speaks in his own person or is spoken for dramatically. 
 No ideal Israel will answer the requirement. Here is a per- 
 son who is "little and despised," and yet, who appears 
 from many places in the psalm, to be a person of great 
 importance, worthy the opposition and hate of princes. In- 
 deed, the very word "despised" indicates a certain promi- 
 nence, when the position of the despisers is considered. He 
 is evidently a pretender to some high place, and in the 
 public eyes. It is evidently inapplicable to Daniel in the 
 days of his tutelage at the Babylonian court, and to Jere- 
 miah appropriate only at the opening moment of his stormy 
 career. David was despised and regarded as little for a 
 very little while and only in the bosom of his own family, 
 by his brothers. But the psalmist was despised by "the 
 proud," by "princes." David was hated by Saul but not 
 despised. From the very first of his public career he was 
 regarded as formidable and prominent. It suits Solomon 
 perfectly in the years of his tutelage. But what is the 
 connection between these clauses. "Precepts" is to be 
 understood as meaning the law of God as it assigns one's 
 work. Now there is nothing strange or strikng in the fact of 
 a little and despised one, keeping to the work that is set 
 him by God. Indeed, service is closely allied to a lowly 
 station. Yet these clauses are set over against each other 
 
Rett* jfreDerick La iftue ifting 347 
 
 as if they were in some respect contrary to each other. The 
 key to the relation of the clauses may be indicated by the 
 context. If we look back we find in verse 137 and 138 
 a strong assertion of God's righteousness and faithfulness 
 made in such a way as to suggest that appearances were 
 against that righteousness and faithfulness. In verse 1 39 we 
 have the adversaries of the psalmist. Judging according 
 to those appearances and disregarding the injunctions and 
 promises of God. Then in verse 1 40 we have the same 
 implication in the emphatic assertion of the purity of God's 
 word, that present appearances are against it. Carrying on 
 this view of the stanza we would have in this the 1 4 1 verse 
 one of those false appearances that make it necessary to 
 assert in strong terms God's righteousness. He — God's ser- 
 vant — is little and despised. This in the minds of worldly 
 men is sufficient to create more than a presumption that the 
 service of God is unprofitable. This presumption is not 
 contradicted in express terms, but in effect, and lyrically, by 
 the antithesis of these two clauses, "I am little and despised 
 (yet) I do not forget Thy precepts." I keep to the duties 
 that God has assigned me. My situation does not show 
 that God is unrighteous or unfaithful; I am able rather by 
 my adherence to God's precepts, to give the lie to my little- 
 ness and the contempt with which I am regarded. I have 
 by it the warrant that I am not what I seem, that I shall 
 be great and honored. So these adversive clauses involve 
 the same assertion of God's righteousness that the others do. 
 The children of God should lay this consolation to heart 
 and boast (Rom. 5:2) in the hope of the glory of God. 
 The laborer is worthy of his hire, and no one serves the 
 true and faithful God in vain — though he wait long. 
 
 Verse 142. "Thy righteousness" (is) right forever, 
 and Thy law (is) truth." 
 
 The word "righteousness" must not be understood as 
 an abstract quality, as an attribute of God in the theological 
 sense. It is equivalent to right doing. "Righteousness" 
 
348 Selected psalms anD ^onograpjjs 
 
 and "right" are respectively masculine and feminine forms 
 of the same word. The first is concrete, the second rather 
 abstract. Taken in this sense the verse would read, "Thy 
 right doing is right forever and Thy cult — Thy law of or- 
 dinances is reality itself — right forever." Standards of right 
 and wrong vary. One age reverses the judgments of another. 
 The long lapse of ages will but bring out in clearer light the 
 righteousness of God and force a recognition at the hands of 
 unwilling men. But God's righteousness is not approved 
 at all times or all at once. As the great man's work is meant 
 "not for a day but for all time" and requires a long interval 
 to bring out fully its merits. So the righteousness of God 
 needs the great forever to bring it out clearly before the 
 minds of all. This last harmonizes with the tone thought 
 of this stanza — which is a strong assertion of the righteous- 
 ness and faithfulnes of God in spite of appearances to the 
 contrary. And here is found a great source of consolation 
 for God's afflicted people. If God's word and work is for 
 all ages and is to be judged by all the ages, it stands to rea- 
 son that a hasty and partial view may cause misunderstand- 
 ing. The afflicted one can see but a little way. Let him 
 be assured that what appears unfair and untrue in God's 
 dealings is so because of His partial view. The promise 
 that He makes and seems not to fulfil, he fulfils as far as 
 possible, nay, the very withholding tends to the realization. 
 The law of God with all the warnings and promises con- 
 tained in its types and symbols is truth. It leads some- 
 whither. He who takes that path will arrive. There is no 
 delusion about it. It means all and more than all it seems 
 to mean* Besides it is not all promise, or instruction or 
 precept; it is realization, partial realization — foretaste and 
 prophecy of what shall be to the individual and to society. 
 Compared with other nations, Israel must have been while 
 she kept the law, a social paradise. We have reached the 
 rock when we repose on what God has ordained. 
 
l&etn jFre&ericR JLa IRue Mm 349 
 
 Verse 143. "Distress and anguish seize me; Thy 
 commandments (are) my delight." 
 
 Here again we have the tone thought, or rather the 
 tone situation of the stanza — present trouble, prospective de- 
 liverance, present comfort through faith. In this verse, as in 
 so man y cases, the second clause modifies the first. The 
 trouble and anguish are not utter, there is great alienation; 
 the psalmist can take delight in the commandments of God. 
 If he were merely called to work it would be much, for 
 that call, heard and heeded in the stress of sorrow, is very 
 comforting and healing. Well does Carlyle call occupations 
 "fire proof joys." But this is occupation appointed by God. 
 Great is the sanction to that, and glorious must be the issue. 
 In one's trouble and anguish God may appear to be absent. 
 Well, in His commandments we have something that is 
 His. We all know what pleasure there is in carrying out 
 the commands of one who was loved and is departed, and 
 how much society there is for our lonely hearts in carrying 
 out what we know would be his desires. No wonder that 
 the psalmist takes delight in God's commandments, for it 
 brings him into communion with God Himself. There 
 is the refuge from sharp cutting words or sharp cutting acts 
 or from threats or machinations that fill the heart with dis- 
 quiet. We are able to forget all these through the joy of 
 rapport through obedience and we can well afford to forget 
 them. There is no need for us to be alive to all the plots of 
 our enemies in order to counteract them. God's command- 
 ments are our best guidance through the mazes of our ene- 
 mies' designs, and better and shrewder than any plotting 
 on our own behalf. In obedience to them is a sure hope 
 of deliverance from trouble and a better recompense for all 
 losses. Here is trouble amounting to anguish to be ex- 
 changed for pleasure amounting to delight by simply follow- 
 ing God's commandments. That is not only the way of 
 peace but of victory. 
 
350 ^electen psalm* ana aponogtap&s 
 
 Verse 144. "Right (are) Thy testimonies to eternity; 
 make me to understand and I shall live." "Testimonies" — 
 the moral law. 
 
 The moral law will command the assent of rational 
 minds forever. It is eternally right; right in an absolute 
 sense; right in its accordance with the highest moral taste; 
 right and faithful in the results that flow from obedience, 
 throughout eternity. The judgments of passion and preju- 
 dice and self interest are but for the moment. The con- 
 science is often warped, but the law is eternally right. It 
 is the standard of right. It is that by which conscience 
 corrects itself and educates itself before perfect works of 
 art. Its dictate is "do this and live, disobey and die." Life 
 is the result of obedience, not merely because by obedience 
 we are delivered from death as the extra punishment of 
 an offended God, but because the commandments of the 
 moral law are a true source of life if obeyed. Acts of 
 obedience are acts of the higher life and naturally result 
 in life as disobedience, likewise naturally, results in death. 
 Hard would it be for us if that law, which the final result of 
 the ages approves, should be attained only through the 
 experience of the ages. Even if it were given to us in 
 letter, it would be worth little to us if the long experience of 
 the ages were necessary to understand it. But this is not 
 so. It was given to us in letter by the infinite mind which 
 comprehends all the ages, and our souls made to chord 
 with that infinite experience, so that all men naturally confess 
 and approve the right. But we have need to pray with 
 the psalmist "make me to understand," for While we ac- 
 cept and admire a general moral principle. It is in the 
 application of it to the details of life that we are deceived 
 and fall into sin. The most intense obedience becomes 
 the intensest disobedience. As St. Paul says, sin used the 
 commandment to deceive him and so he was slain. We 
 need that the Giver of the commandment should use the 
 commandment to enlighten us and to make us live. 
 
Rett* jFreDerick La Eue ding 351 
 
 KOPH. 
 
 Verse 145. "I have called with a whole heart; an- 
 swer me Jehovah; Thy statutes will I keep." 
 
 The omission of the object of the verb "call," espec- 
 ially since it is found in the next verse, seems to direct at- 
 tention to the simple act of calling, as in Ps. 116: 2. The 
 point made is not that he calls on Jehovah, but that he 
 calls at all, and especially that he calls with his whole heart. 
 That the psalmist is in difficulty and danger is manifest 
 throughout this stanza. But his mind has been troubled 
 about the manner of his calling. He feels that he has not 
 called as he should. Now he says "I call whole heartedly." 
 The omission of "my" confines the attention still more mark- 
 edly to the simple call itself. What is this calling with the 
 whole heart? It is an unreserved call. 1 might call a man 
 in for a purpose. "Come in" I would say, yet I might very 
 soon wish him to go away. I need his special help, but 
 I do not need him. A true call on God in the highest 
 sense, summons Him without any reservations. It calls 
 Him to the soul to stay there forever, and to reign there as 
 God, in all the vast meaning of the word. This verse seems 
 to be the expression of a soul which has conquered its in- 
 difference or repugnance and says: "At last, I call with a 
 whole heart." There will be something involved in such 
 utterances as this, something different in each individual case. 
 In one it will imply the passing away of a guilty dread; 
 in another the giving up of a sinful desire or practice; in 
 another (as here) the submission of the human will to the 
 Divine will. This last is sometimes the hardest of all. 
 The "statutes" of God which he here engages to keep, do 
 not mean the "law" as it appeals to the rational and moral 
 man, but the expresion of the abitrary will of God which 
 orders without assigning any reason for those orders. Dread 
 ful is the state of that soul, which, conscious that it needs 
 God, is also conscious that it is unwilling to submit to God — 
 to obey His will ex animo — for that is the meaning of 
 
352 §>electeD psalms anD 6©onoarapi)0 
 
 keeping His statutes. God will never accept constraint of 
 ourselves for whole hearted service. 
 
 Verse 146. "I have called Thee — save me — and I 
 will observe Thy testimonies." 
 
 In the preceding verse the desire expressed is to enter 
 into relations with God — relations before broken or im- 
 perfect. "I call," he says, "answer me"; not answer me 
 by doing something for me as is the usual signification of the 
 phrase. But answer in personal response — in whatsoever 
 of supernatural reply that we may call communion with 
 God. At least this is the poetic form. In this verse his 
 mind is full of his danger and of Him as a helper upon 
 whom he calls. Instead of saying, "I call," he says, "I 
 call Thee"; instead of saying "answer me," he cries "save 
 me." Truly there is an order in this. The bar that often 
 prevents the souls cry for help is the consciousness of broken 
 relations with God. That last communion reestablished, 
 then comes the cry of faith for help, "Save me." The de- 
 liverance that the psalmist asks for is indicated in verse 150. 
 He is surrounded by enemies and is in danger from them. 
 It is a touching exhibition of the trials of young Solomon's 
 position — this cry "save me." He must often have seemed 
 about to be swept away by those who were striving to catch 
 all that was promised to him by God out of his hand. But 
 there is that in the last clause which indicates a sense of 
 sin; as in the preceding verse, he resolves to submit to God's 
 will; here he resolves to be more than ever careful and con- 
 scientious in the keeping of the moral law. The cry for 
 salvation to be a true cry must be accompanied with, yea 
 half-inspired by the decision to obey God's holy will — to 
 strive after holiness. Sometimes the prayer for help to God, 
 is restrained by the consciousness that we only desire God's 
 will to be done in helping us, and together with the prayer 
 for help comes a striving after a higher life. "Of what use" 
 we feel, "is it for us to be saved from external danger, if 
 our better self — our soul is dead to all the glorious life for 
 
Eetn jFreDetick La Eue ifting 353 
 
 which it was created." In this point of view this utterance 
 of the psalmist becomes the utterance of every child of God, 
 who finds it in his heart to ask God for help. And even 
 if he has not human enemies that he knows of, still let him 
 be well aware, that his deliverance must be not only from 
 himself and his sins, but from the power of an evil spiritual 
 world, that ever surrounds and ever wars against him. 
 
 Verse 147. "I have come before (Thee) in the 
 (morning) twilight and cry to Thee, for Thy words do I 
 wait." 
 
 The construction would be quite clear were it not 
 for the preposition "in." Without it "anticipate the twi- 
 light" or "meet the twilight" would mean. "I rise at the 
 morning twilight." That the preposition is used significantly, 
 however, is plain from its disuse in the next verse. Yet 
 most interpreters try to do away with its significance by 
 supplying the verb rise, as if it were, "I anticipate to rise" — 
 I rise early and so there would then be no reason for the 
 use of the preposition. It is better to supply as object of the 
 verb the pronoun "Thee," which indeed is almost forced 
 upon us by the preceding context. Or without understand- 
 ing any object we might translate, "I present myself in the 
 twilight." The verb has often the meaning of "meet" also 
 (with "face") come into the presence of a person, before 
 whom we stand as before an object. In Ps. 88 : 14 we 
 have "come before Thee" and we have, in verse 145, an 
 example of the significant omission of the object pronoun. 
 Indeed if we give the verb this construction we have a curi- 
 ous uniformity in this stanza. The first two verses begin with 
 the verb "call," first without, then with the object "Thee." 
 The next two begin with the verb "come before" with the 
 object "Thee," omitted in the first instance, and supplied in 
 the second. It is harder to say what the significance of the 
 omission or why he speaks at all of the morning twilight un- 
 less he pleads this as a proof of his sincerity, and a reason, 
 why, therefore, God should hear his prayer. This is thor- 
 
354 ©elected psalms and $@onograp&$ 
 
 oughly artless and may be made lyric by the consideration 
 that he also encourages himself by the thought of his praying 
 in the morning twilight. It is congruous to earnestness and 
 therefore can become part of his cry to God; just as bowing 
 the knees, prostration, or sackcloth and ashes. These are 
 all but utterances of what in the case of some, would be 
 done in silence. We must remember that this is not silent 
 but vocal prayer. It is not self-forgetful. The thought of 
 himself is rarely absent from the psalmist. This is the 
 utterance of a servant of God, but of a highly self con- 
 scious one. He is filled also with the thought that he is in 
 the presence of God; and the surrounding circumstances — 
 the twilight, etc., — join to impress him with the feeling that 
 he is performing an act of much solemn service. "I am 
 standing before Thee," he says. This solemn gathering up 
 of the soul for the meeting of the great King in His state, 
 it is well for the child of God often to perform. We should 
 not always come in haste before Him, not always familiarly. 
 God is our Friend and Father, but He is as well the Lord 
 of heaven and earth. "I present myself," he says, and "I 
 cry" as if his mind was not so much occupied with what 
 he cried for as with the mere fact of his calling on God. 
 And to this corresponds the last clause — he waits not for 
 "Thy word," that is Thy promise, but "for Thy words." 
 Here we have set forth the waiting servant. He presumes 
 not to dictate at all to the great Being in whose presence 
 he stands. He does not so much as refer to His word of 
 promise, to hold Him to that. He waits to hear whatever 
 He may please to say, to receive whatever He may please 
 to give. The last clause corresponds to "answer me," in the 
 first verse, "give me words in reply," "I wait for Thy 
 words." Nothing is more unexpected than a word, who 
 can prophesy it? Who can prophesy the words of 
 God? Yet we know that they will be words worthy of 
 Him, instinct with love and providential care, and also of 
 power, for His words are Himself. Better than any provi- 
 
I&etn 4FreHerick La mue ming 355 
 
 sion that we may make for the future is it to wait for the 
 words of God. For "man does not live by bread alone, 
 but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of 
 God." 
 
 Alexander remarks about the augmented form of the 
 second verb, that some grammarians consider it to denote 
 motion towards. Cry to, or cry towards, gives the im- 
 pression of entering a presence; here may be the reason for 
 the omission of the object. 
 
 Verse 1 48. "My eyes anticipate the watches to muse 
 of Thy promise." 
 
 The "watches" divided the night, they were properly 
 intervals of time, but came to mean the time of changing 
 the watch. This verse states that the psalmist is kept 
 awake at night by thinking on the promise of God. He 
 is awake at the turning of the watch. His eyes meet the 
 watch as it is coming. Alexander explains the verse, thus: 
 "Before the stated hours of vigil he is awake and ready for 
 devout meditations." This can hardly be called happy. 
 For the word "vigil" implies that the watches were set 
 for religious purposes; and it destroys the poetry by substi- 
 tuting vague "devout meditation for 'to muse of Thy prom- 
 ise." The psalmist is in trouble, in danger, in need, if 
 we allow the context to influence the interpretation. He 
 lies awake at night thinking of the promise that God has 
 given, trying to exercise faith in it, trying to encourage him- 
 self in it, pleading it with God, hoping for immediate ful- 
 filment. At the same time we may well suppose that such a 
 time of silent striving and meditation must have had its 
 happy moment. By musing on the promise he must, many a 
 time have been filled with joyous hope or, what is better, with 
 a blessed sense that God's present ordering is best, insert, 
 full of love and pregnant with victory. Note the advance 
 in "muse of Thy promise," upon, "wait for Thy words." 
 
 Verse 149. "My voice hear according to Thy loving 
 kindness, O, Jehovah, according to Thy judgments quicken 
 me. 
 
356 ©elected Psalms and e@onogtap&0 
 
 This whole stanza is gathered up in one pleading tone 
 and may be said to be a continued act of prayer. It is 
 hardly the utterance of a bold faith. Something of distance 
 from God is preserved. And yet faith is here and that of 
 a high quality. The attitude is that of leaving one's in- 
 terests in God's hands — and waiting on Him. Certainly 
 it suggests the idea of one who is powerless to act in his 
 own defense, whose sole help is in God. The peril is evi- 
 dently very great, and yet only two verses contain direct 
 petitions for help, verse 45 and this verse. There is, as it 
 were, a certain inaction in the presence of his enemies. The 
 fact is, his mind is more taken up with God than with his 
 peril. And yet there is confidence and hope. He "muses" 
 on the promise, (verse 148), He waits for God's words. 
 He simply gazes (verse 150) on those who are coming 
 against him, and simply realizes (verse 151), the presence 
 of the Divine Helper. There is little crying to God, no 
 panic; there seems to be a feeling that he will, he must be 
 helped. He is standing in the presence of God and he 
 cannot be destroyed there. God is near and therefore there 
 need be no fear, even if his malignant enemies are very 
 near. In verse 152 he seems to draw strength from the 
 spirituality of the ten commandments. There is no feeling 
 of merit with God to originate or enhance this confidence. 
 Here, in this verse, we see the appeal made to God's lov- 
 ing kindness. This may fairly be understood to imply de- 
 merit on his part. In love towards him he asks to be saved 
 from death (for that is what the expression must mean), 
 but in judgment towards his enemies. "According to Thy 
 judgments," i. e„ after the manner that Thou judgest." 
 These enemies are unjust to me, through me they strike 
 at the good — even Thy cause. Deal now with them as 
 is Thy way to deal, as the great Judge of heaven and I 
 shall be saved. 
 
 Verse 150. "Near have drawn those pursuing wicked 
 devices, from Thy law they go far off." 
 
Iftetn jFteDenck JLa Hue mm 357 
 
 "Wicked devices." The etymology of the word im- 
 plies carefully prepared plans of evil. The statement that 
 they draw near implies that these devices are directed, at 
 least in the first place, against himself. But the expression is 
 intentionally vague, so to leave room for and to suggest that 
 the evil these men contrive respects more than himself. 
 Alexander in place of wicked devices translates "crime," 
 which has the advantage of suggesting something of public 
 interest, in the evil machinations of the psalmist's enemies. 
 "Mischief" is not only too vague but suggests just the oppo- 
 site of what is really meant — something puckish, impish, ir- 
 rational or at least thoughtless form of evil. This evil has 
 a deep purpose, not merely to injure a single person, but 
 to catch away from him certain advantages — to supplant 
 him. And not only that but to thwart a great policy, politi- 
 cal and ecclesiastical. And this corresponds to the last 
 clause — "from Thy law they go far off." This last is a 
 meiosis, a great deal less is said than is meant. The fact 
 is in their drawing nigh the psalmist they are doing their 
 utmost against the "law" which represents the whole move- 
 ment in advance initiated by God through David. This 
 is what is principally in the mind of the psalmist — not his 
 danger but the danger to the law, and therefore it is an 
 implied argument of urgency for God to interefere. It is 
 as if he had said "this is Thy cause, Thou wilt see to it, 
 and it will be for Thy honour. Here we see the connection 
 with the preceding verse. "Thy judgments" suggest punish- 
 ments and deliverances upon a vast scale and of great pub- 
 lic interest. In crushing those who were drawing near to 
 destroy him, God would be doing something of a moment 
 beyond the welfare of a single individual or the bringing 
 to naught of a petty intrigue. This strengthens the impres- 
 sion that the authorship and circumstances of this psalm 
 have not been misapprehended and that the psalmist's joys 
 and sorrows were of national import, and are of far reaching 
 meaning to the children of God, who, like the author, are 
 
358 Selected Psalm* anD ^onograpD* 
 
 heirs to the promised throne, and who wait for it in training 
 and trial, as well as in temptation and danger. 
 
 Verse 151. "Near art Thou, Jehovah, and all Thy 
 commandments are truth." 
 
 "Thou drawest nigh, Jehovah." The connection with 
 the previous verse is manifest. With the approach of 
 enemies to injure, Jehovah approaches to aid. If he does 
 not appear Himself in person, He appears by the command- 
 ments He has given. "Commandments," as we have 
 often stated, is God's law as guiding action. "All Thy 
 commandments are truth. The guide posts Thou hast 
 placed to mark out my way are true guide posts. Follow- 
 ing them I am safe. Following them I am led near to 
 Thee. His adherence to the law brings his enemies upon 
 him; his adherence to God's directions brings him into the 
 scope of safety, into the presence of God. "Are truth"; 
 this does not mean merely that they are true; (the term is 
 a concrete one) ; they are ihs truth itself, that is, the reality. 
 The moment we begin to move in that path upon which 
 God's commandments set our feet, we begin to arrive. No 
 matter how far from the Celestial City we are when we 
 begin our pilgrimage, we are in its suburbs at once. The 
 earnests and foretastes that we have are of the very nature 
 of the blessedness at the end. The Interpreter whose house 
 stood at the beginning of the way, is the Blessed One who 
 receives at the last. The Lord who calls Himself the Way, 
 calls Himself at the same moment, the Truth. There is 
 no clearer sight of Heavenly realities than the sight of Him, 
 and Heaven itself holds nothing more precious. 
 
 Verse 152. "Long have I known from Thy testi- 
 monies (themselves) that Thou, unto eternity, hast founded 
 them." 
 
 "Testimonies," moral law, especially the ten com- 
 mandments. There is here something which goes to prove 
 that our explanation of the term "testimonies" is correct. 
 The precepts of the moral law are peculiarly self evidencing. 
 
Retn jFre&etick Ha Rue mfng 359 
 
 The soul in its healthy state sees at once that they are 
 right, and not only so but that they are right forever. This 
 impression the psalmist has, and that not for a moment by 
 a happy gleam of insight, or by being attuned to them for a 
 little time by a flash of high wrought feeling, but he has 
 known it long. It is an experience of his soul — a direct in- 
 tuition that these tetsimonies are not for any temporary pur- 
 pose, any conjuncture of circumstances, which, however en- 
 during, must at last change; but forever. It is impossible 
 for him to conceive of God's repealing these laws, they 
 must always be fulfilled throughout eternity. The only 
 change that can come to any one of them is the broadening 
 of its scope. It is in that way, that it adjusts itself to 
 eternal realities. No matter how large and liberal of view 
 they may be who dwell in the eternal world, they will never 
 look upon God's testimonies as narrow, nor upon those as 
 narrow and bigoted who in the spirit obey them. Many 
 a true act of fidelity and faith has an element of the ludicrous 
 about it, because the form that it takes is distorted through 
 misapprehension. The pilgrim fathers sent out an expedition 
 to search for a good landing place which was benighted on 
 Saturday evening and remained all that night and 
 Sunday night, on a low little island, exposed and un- 
 sheltered in a cold, pelting storm. They did so because 
 in their narrow view they had no right to work enough on 
 the Sabbath to get themselves into better quarters. Now, of 
 course, there was in that an element of the literal, unspiritual, 
 legal and slavish. If there was only that in it, it would 
 doubtless appear ridiculous to the enlightened society of 
 the upper world. If they did it because they dared not 
 do otherwise, or because custom was a law to them, or 
 the fear of their fellows' judgment, then they did not do a 
 noble thing. If they did it through the fear and love of God, 
 thinking He had commanded such a strict observance, then 
 their act, so far forth noble, showed a pitiful conception of 
 their God and of Christian liberty and discretion. This 
 
360 ^electeD Paalmg anD 6@onogcapJ)0 
 
 word "long" implies a quiet consistent course of life, for that 
 is necessary to a quiet and long continued intuition of the 
 character of the testimonies of God. A long intuition has 
 the force of geometrical progress in strengthening the impress- 
 ion. There is no knowledge like that with which the soul 
 knows that the moral law of God is an eternal law. And 
 he Who keeps God's testimonies may well feel that he 
 takes hold on eternity. He who founds his fortunes on 
 them "lays his beams in music" and may be assured that 
 the long flight of ages cannot bring harm to him or his. 
 This verse seems like all the verses of this stanza, to be 
 written in a spirit of confident repose in God — a feeling 
 that because God is, He must be safe. He seems to 
 think that the main condition of safety is to be in relations 
 of communion with God, and to properly wait on Him. 
 There are really only two petitions in the stanza and one 
 (verse 149) actually amounts to a claim. In this verse the 
 psalmist seems to feel that the very eternity of the "testi- 
 monies" ensures his deliverance and safety. He, by obedi- 
 ence, shares in their everlastingness. 
 
 RESH. 
 
 Verse 153. "See my sufferings and deliver me; for 
 Thy law I forget not." 
 
 Perowne says, "look upon," or "look at" would be 
 better, for "look upon" implies both sympathy and action, 
 which do not appear to be indicated here, but rather at- 
 tention to, and scrutiny of the psalmist's sufferings. The 
 force of the word seems to be this. Either the suffering is 
 too great for explanation in words, or too obscure, or else 
 it has wearied out body and mind to that degree that he 
 cannot make himself utter forth a detailed supplication. He 
 comes to God as to a physician, who, at a glance can see, 
 what is the disease, and can understand more about it 
 than the patient himself. Taking into consideration the 
 next clause, the tone of the stanza and the larger context of 
 
i&eto* jFreDerick £a i&ue Ifting 361 
 
 the psalm, we understand this trouble to be because of un- 
 just, wicked and even traitorous enemies; his enemies, large- 
 ly because he is God's friend. Yet we must always under- 
 stand the verses so that they may be the utterance of any 
 child of God, and if this is to be the case something of sin 
 must mingle with his trouble. The whole book of Psalms is 
 full of outcry to God because of unrighteous oppression. 
 But at the same time the whole book is full of confession of 
 sin, and the two are inextricably mingled. It is sin that al- 
 most always is the heaviest part of the burden that the 
 psalmist has to bear. So in this verse we must not exclude 
 the idea of wrong doing. When the psalmist says "see my 
 affliction," he lays himself and all his involvements open 
 before God, not merely as a summary confession, but as 
 confiding to His fatherly love, glad that He knows his er- 
 rors, weaknesses and sins. It is not merely "see what I 
 am suffering for Thee," but "see my affliction, sound the 
 whole depths of it. I rejoice to have Thee know all even 
 if it be to my shame. I rejoice to have a Father to whom I 
 can reveal my shame since He can remedy even that."' 
 But at the same time this is the utterance of a true servant 
 of the Highest. He comes to God with the burden of 
 trials, perplexities, anxieties, difficulties and dangers, feel- 
 ing that they are not unmixed with sin, conscious that the 
 very mistakes which have brought so large a part of them 
 on him are not innocent mistakes. And now how great is 
 the comfort of such a one to feel that he does, after all, 
 desire to and serve his Master. "For I have not forgotten 
 Thy law." How it helps his prayer assuring him that he is 
 not a hypocrite. How it encourages him to pray when 
 he thinks that he is worth something to God, that he can 
 look forward to future service if he is delivered, not because 
 of strong resolutions born of sorrow and gratitude, but be- 
 cause his past tendency has been towards service. If the 
 young Solomon wrote this psalm, he must have felt a pe- 
 culiar thrill when he came to the word "law" for the 
 
362 ^electeo psalms and ^onograptus 
 
 word was strong with God as an argument for his deliver- 
 ance, for it was the law of Jehovah, the gracious cult — one 
 might say the cult of grace, that Solomon was appointed 
 to confirm and develop. 
 
 Verse 154. "Strive my strife and redeem me; as to 
 Thy word, quicken me." 
 
 In the preceding verse he lays himself and his woe 
 before God for investigation and for deliverance. Here 
 very much the same tone of weariness finds expression. 
 "Strive my strife," "fight for me." This indicates the 
 nature of the trouble that oppresses him. It is the opposi- 
 tion of enemies. This also takes the word "quicken" out 
 of the mere mental and moral sphere and gives it an objective 
 meaning — save my life. "As to Thy word." This is 
 generally translated "according to Thy word." In saying 
 this last which is so often done in this psalm another preposi- 
 tion is used. The word "promise" to Solomon was the 
 throne, but again and again has the psalmist pleaded the 
 promise as securing another good on the ground that the 
 promise implied it. It may seem an over refinement to 
 make the expression here mean anything else. But the 
 expression is strikingly different, and when we consider how 
 wayworn and discouraged the believer sometimes becomes, 
 how pressed nigh to being overwhelmed with the trials and 
 dangers, with the temptation of the evil one and the 
 troubles that he and his bring upon us, may not this change 
 of expression betoken a state of mind in which the Chris- 
 tan's great hope, while not given up, becomes dim, and the 
 present anguish is very pressing, when strength seems about 
 to give way and we are about to be crushed. Then in- 
 stead of appealing to the great hope that all troubles may 
 be swept away, we ask for help in our troubles in order 
 that we may keep fast hold of the great hope. "Thou 
 hast promised me a throne and eternal glory, at least per- 
 form part of Thy promise, and deliver me from my pressing 
 misery. It certainly suits the air of exhaustion and fainting 
 struggle that pervades this stanza. 
 
I&eth jFteoeticb La Eue fting 363 
 
 Verse 155. "Far from the wicked (is) salvation, 
 because Thy statutes they seek not." 
 
 Salvation it may be presumed is what the wicked seek 
 for. Salvation, that is, what they understand to be salva- 
 tion, all men seek for. The crowd on Palm Sunday hailed 
 Christ as the bringer of salvation, and yet they desired not 
 the salvation He brought. They desired a partial salva- 
 tion that contradicted itself. We must have a whole salva- 
 tion or none at all. The wicked desire to be saved only 
 from certain evils that they understand. But true salva- 
 tion keeps out of their reach like a rainbow pursued. "Seek" 
 in the second clause, explains "far" in the first. The wicked 
 are far from salvation though they seek it, because they do 
 not seek for more, than the attainment of a certain limited 
 good. If they only sought God's statutes — his priceless 
 orders, in other words if they only sought Him, He would 
 be near them (verse 151) and so salvation would be 
 near. "Salvation" may mean any kind of deliverance or 
 blessing. The salvation sought by the psalmist is deliver- 
 ance from his enemies, from the tyranny and tyrannical temp- 
 tations of men, who are seeking for liberty, power and self 
 gratification by trying to thwart God's purposes for good 
 and to crush him who has been appointed to be His minis- 
 ter. These tyrannical oppressors of the psalmist had the 
 name of being free, he had the name of being perceuted and 
 despised. And yet it is remarkable that, pained and tried as 
 he is and exposed to fearful dangers, he looks upon his 
 enemies with a kind of pity as upon those who in their 
 very attack are seeking a salvation which they can never 
 attain. 
 
 "The sensual and the dark rebel in vain, 
 Slaves by their own compulsion in mad game 
 On their bars and manacles they wear the name 
 Of freedom graven on a heavier chain." 
 
364 ^eiectea Psalms anD ^onogtapfjs 
 
 If we do not seek the orders of God we put ourselves 
 in the way of the orders of men; and what orders are they? 
 
 Verse 156. "Many are Thy compassions Jehovah, 
 according to Thy judgments quicken me." 
 
 This is something different from saying "Thy com- 
 passion is great"; the point is that God's compassion is 
 manifold. It is not always the man of strong and deep 
 compassion that can sympathize. The compassion of men 
 is narrow. One man may have a sympathy with you — a 
 fellow feeling on one matter, and yet be totally unable to 
 understand and so compassionate other troubles. One rea- 
 son why women are more compassionate than men is be- 
 cause their sympathies are wider. The father may sym- 
 pathize with and feel compassion for his daughter in any 
 physical or itellectual want, but what does he know of 
 the cravings of a young girl's heart. And even the com- 
 passions of a mother often fail her daughter, because she 
 lacks knowledge or else is narrow hearted. Man's com- 
 passions reach but a little way; they are not multiform 
 enough to meet all the carying states of mind and heart of 
 their fellows. God's compassions are manifold exceedingly. 
 "According to Thy judgments" plainly indicates that he 
 desires that God should do justice to him and upon his 
 enemies, and does not permit us to give "quicken" the 
 meaning of "rouse spiritually." It must mean deliver my 
 life. And yet the meaning we have given to "many" would 
 indicate more than one kind of trouble to be delivered from 
 — not only death but something else — many other things 
 besides. The strict meaning can be kept however, by 
 considering that the psalmist mentions the multiform nature 
 of God's compassions, to enable him to feel that even such 
 a one as he may find compassion. "Thou dost compassion- 
 ate many sorts of people, high and low, rich and poor, good 
 and bad, then I too may find compassion." Or the psalm- 
 ist may say to himself, "I ought to stand up and fight, 
 I ought not to fear. If I was courageous I would be in no 
 
ifteto* jFre&ericfe JLa iRue I&ittg 365 
 
 danger. But I lack courage, I cannot fight; God can feel 
 for a poor timid one, though he is so strong. Thy com- 
 passions are manifold save me." The soul may believe 
 that there is no real danger, and yet may fear the danger 
 all the same, like a timid woman who knows she is foolish, 
 and yet appeals to one who will not rebuke her foolish 
 fears. Take for example a spirtual assault. "Resist," the 
 apostle says, and that is the privilege of the Christian, but 
 he is not shut up to it. He who rules over all spirits as 
 irresistibly as over physical nature, can yet sympathize with, 
 and have compassion for the weakness and weariness of one 
 who has tried unavailingly to resist. Even though such a 
 soul may blame itself for its weakness, it may appeal con- 
 fidently to God's justice against its enemies. They deserve 
 rebuke, and for itself, justice often expresses itself by com- 
 passion. "And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man," 
 (Matt. 1 : 19). And then our Blessed Lord, under whose 
 especial guardianship we are, remembers that, He was in the 
 garden, weak and wearied and well nigh over watched, 
 needing the ministry of an angel to give Him comfort and 
 to add to His strength. 
 
 Verse 157. "Many (are) my persecutors; and op- 
 pressors; from Thy testimonies I decline not." 
 
 Many and therefore mighty. There is a cumulative 
 force in oppositions and trials that are numerous. And 
 number is also daunting out of proportion to its real power. 
 "Many" may also mean many kinds. This is suggested by 
 the preceding verse. If all our adversaries were of one 
 kind we might learn how to deal with them, and how to 
 endure them. But it puzzles the wits and strains the temper 
 to be tried by many sorts of men and in many ways. The 
 trials of a housekeeper with servants is in point here. Hardly 
 anything is more harassing to mind and nerves. The words 
 "persecutors and oppressors" are happily chosen. The first 
 indicates one who makes it his sleepless aim to annoy and 
 injure you. The second, one who has acquired power 
 
366 ^electeD psalms and ^onogtapljs 
 
 over you and uses it to annoy and injure you. If we may 
 continue the illustration of the housekeeper we would in- 
 stance an influential guest in a boarding house who is inimi- 
 cal to its head as a combination of a persecutor and an 
 oppressor. "Testimonies" — the moral law. "I decline 
 not." I do not swerve. I am not forced or induced to 
 go in the least aside from what seems to my conscience right, 
 notwithstanding these oppressors and persecutors. These 
 may gain their aim if they can induce or force me to some 
 compliance in a matter they may think desirable. I resist, 
 but I must be careful how I resist. I am asked to do 
 something that infringes upon one commandment, but I may 
 refuse in such a way as to infringe upon another. I must 
 not forget the law of kindness; I must not treat them un- 
 justly.. I must not show wrong feeling of any kind. It is 
 a great attainment to resist our enemies and the Lord's and 
 still to love them. And yet it is very easy to "decline" to 
 yield. The force of the temptation is to be measured not 
 merely by the number and variety of the persecutors and 
 oppressors, but by the smallness of the concession demanded. 
 It is hard to make a servant of God retrace his steps and give 
 up his service, but it is quite another matter to make him 
 swerve, and to effect that swerving when the persecutors 
 and oppressors of the world set themselves to accomplish it. 
 They will be satisfied with that little concession; it does 
 not involve anything essential; it is only a form, a manner 
 of doing a thing, the softening of an expression, an omis- 
 sion. But God's servants should remember that a swerving 
 aside is a switching off. It is a beginning to leave His ser- 
 vice altogether. Yield not an inch should be our motto. 
 The correlation of the clauses implies that the persecution 
 and oppression would cease at once if he only would swerve, 
 but he feels that peace would be bought at too heavy a 
 price. To the hasty reader, the latter clause may appear 
 but a self complacent and perhaps self righteous assertion of 
 the psalmist's merits. It is however to be regarded not 
 
Eeto* jFreUerick Jta I&ue Mn& 367 
 
 merely as describing his action in the present, but as ex- 
 pressing the firmest resolution for the future. The present 
 in common parlance often has this force. 
 
 Verse 158. "I see traitors and am filled with loath- 
 ing, (those) who Thy saying keep not." 
 
 By traitors does not mean those merely who have 
 treacherous dispositions, but those who are manifestly acting 
 treacherously by their failing to keep God's "saying." There 
 is no manifestation of fear of the traitors, they do not seem 
 to be aiming at himself. Or if these traitors are the perse- 
 cutors and oppressors of the previous verse, any feeling of 
 fear or dread is swallowed up in disgust at their treachery. 
 His disgust comes to the aid of his conscience and causes 
 him to cling more closely to the service they have forsaken 
 (see verse 159). "Saying" is the promise of God. In 
 the case of the Jews it is easy to see how failure to look to 
 this promise as their only hope, and allow it to govern their 
 lives involved broken faith. They were God's people, 
 whose very choice involved a promise. Their nationality 
 and patriotism consisted in an adherence to that promise. 
 They had become participants in the partial realization of 
 that promise that their national life afforded. Every tie of 
 honor, loyalty and gratitude bound them to a close adher- 
 ence to that promise, and to labor for its full realization. 
 These men were labouring against that realization when 
 from the pettiest and most contemptible of motives — "the 
 shrieks of locality" — they secretly strove to undermine Da- 
 vid's great political aims and theocratic policy. Many dis- 
 loyal men have been still noble and honourable, they were 
 contemptible and disgusting. 
 
 Verse 159. "See how I love Thy precepts Jehovah; 
 according to Thy loving kindness quicken me." 
 
 Both here and in verse 1 5 6, any idea of spiritual 
 rousing seems to be excluded from the petition of the second 
 clause. "According to Thy judgments" (verse 156) could 
 not mean rouse me spiritually after the fashion of Thy vin- 
 
368 ^electeti psalms and ^onograp&s 
 
 dictive judgments; and hear the petition — quicken me — is 
 preceded by the statement of the psalmist that he is spiritually 
 alive, at least filled with love for God's precepts. "Pre- 
 cepts" are — the law as work assigned. He loves the 
 duties God has appointed for him because he loves God, 
 not because he likes them. This verse is truly lyric. It is 
 not, "according to Thy judgments" — as I deserve because I 
 love, but according to Thy loving kindness. He pleads his 
 love not as a merit, but as something that will move God's 
 compassions. "Permit me not to be taken from the work 
 I love." So in verse 156 he says "according to Thy judg- 
 ments," but that is preceded by assigning God's compas- 
 sions as a reason why His judgments should awake. Love 
 of God's work does not constrain God to continue us in 
 it. It is of His mercy that we are allowed to exercise our 
 highest aspirations. We can however appeal to God's wont 
 — he does exercise compassion in this way. 
 
 Verse 1 60. "The head of Thy word (is) truth, and 
 to eternity (is) every judgment of Thy righteousness." 
 
 The word "head" in Hebrew has much the same sig* 
 nificatior.s as the word in English. It indicates what is the 
 most striking and important characteristic of a thing. "Truth" 
 is not truthfulness, but reality, fact in its largest sense, and 
 the meaning of the statement is that the most striking and 
 important characteristic of the promise is its consistency with 
 truth and fact. The promise to Abraham had this charac- 
 teristic. It was no act of partiality. It was in accordance 
 with God's duty as Creator towards all His creatures. The 
 calling of Abraham was but the confiding to him and his 
 race of a ministry for the salvation of mankind. It is not in- 
 consistent with the great fact of God's Fatherhood as Cre- 
 ator. Again the promise of Solomon to the throne was no 
 act of partiality, that too, was "truth," and the psalmist, (if 
 Solomon must have been strengthened in his reliance on 
 the promise, by the knowledge that not for his own sake 
 but for the sake of his people he was chosen. He could 
 
Eetn jfreDerick La I&ue l&ing 369 
 
 feel that it was what ought to be, what the long ages 
 would not discredit, that it was for his people's best in- 
 terests and that their best interests would subserve higher 
 interests yet. The promise of the Gospel to the sinner 
 has many characteristics. It is gracious, it is beneficent and 
 compassionate, but its most striking and important character- 
 istic is its accordance with the truth of things. The "head" 
 fact of the Gospel is the death of the son of God that great 
 submission to inexorable fact and truth on the part of God. 
 So important is this that St. Paul says that Christ was sent 
 to make an exhibition on the cross of God's adherence to 
 truth in his plan for the salvation of men (Rom. 3:25 and 
 26,) to show that He could be inexorably just and yet 
 be able to exercise to the utmost His infinite pity and loving 
 kindness towards the sinner. All this is strengthened if we 
 give to the second clause its correlative office. There could 
 hardly be a stronger assertion of the fact that the judgements 
 of God's righteousness are in accordance with the truth of 
 things, than to say that they are for eternity — that they will 
 never be reversed. And this reinforces the first clause when 
 we consider the promise to Abraham was a judgment upon 
 the nations around. The promise to Solomon was a judg- 
 ment upon his persecutors and slanderers and all the tribe of 
 plotters who would thwart God's purpose in the calling of 
 David to the throne, and retard the movement of his people 
 towards the goal of grace. And may it not be that the 
 salvation of those who will be saved is on its other side die 
 condemnation of those who will be lost. If so who can 
 complain that it is "to eternity?" 
 
 SHIN. 
 
 Verse 161. "Princes persecuted me without cause — 
 and at Thy words my heart is awed." This is one of the 
 verses that give a personal, individual form to the psalm, 
 and seem to require the ascertaining of the author and, at 
 
370 Selected psalm* anD ^onograp&s 
 
 least, guiding the interpretation by his peculiar character and 
 circumstances. The plural number strongly indicates Solo- 
 mon. It was a league of princes, and that not trying to 
 oppose, to thwart, but trying to injure maliciously. Cer- 
 tainly he whom princes leagued against was not one of the 
 little ones on earth. They could not crush him, they could 
 only persecute, annoy and injure. "Without cause" does 
 not mean that they had no reason for it. There was reason 
 enough. There was reason why his brothers and their sat- 
 allites should pursue Solomon. The very fact that he per- 
 sisted in his claim as against them, or with his claim conceded 
 did not allow himself to be used to thwart the Davidic 
 policy, civil and ecclesiastical, was enough to rouse malev- 
 olence. The persecutions of these princes consisted prob- 
 ably in false accusations — not only false, but insincere. 
 Their action was merely factious. They could not pursue 
 their main aim; they had failed in that, and were now striv- 
 ing to injure on false pretense. Our Lord was treated in 
 the same way. His real offence could not be presented 
 before the tribunal that tried him. He was persecuted with- 
 out cause. And so it is with every child of God, the enemy 
 almost always gets up a false issue in order that he may per- 
 secute. The words imply intense, sleepless manevolence 
 ever watching and ready for the assault. Naturally the 
 psalmist would be occupied with the thought of his danger. 
 Few persons, even the most hardy, have been able to resist 
 a constant wear on the nerves like this. Men who could 
 stand up against one great danger, one great strain, will at 
 last break down under a continual pressure, like a string 
 that could very well stand a great strain, but would, in a 
 little while, be worn asunder. It is not said that he is calm 
 under the trial. He is filled with another feeling — awe at 
 the words of God. Two awes cannot be felt at once. 
 The superior must predominate and cast out the other, and 
 especially when one is of such a nature that it contradicts 
 the other. The fear of man contradicts the fear of God, 
 
iftetn jfreoeticfe JLa I&ue ifting 371 
 
 and vice versa. The words must, of course, mean the writ- 
 ten word of God. There seems to be an imaginative con- 
 ception of God as a prince on a throne, and the psalmist 
 standing in His presence and hearing him speak. It might 
 be going too far (although the strict correlation would seem 
 to require it) to make the psalmist conceive the words of 
 these haughty persecutors, and slanderers, and wicked op- 
 posers, God's messages to the Christians. We may be 
 striving with all our might to serve God, but sin mingles in 
 our working. Pride, and self seeking, and an unloving 
 spirit mar our work and make it offensive to others, or at 
 least, give others an occasion against us; and one of God's 
 ways to recall us to ourselves and to consider our ways, 
 is to allow our faults to bring punishment on us. We may 
 well then hear and be awed by God's words in the words of 
 our persecutors and slanderers. Well for the church had 
 she heard God's words in the shout of "Allah" which an- 
 nounced the Mohammedan attack! Well for her had she 
 seen in it not merely a new and terrible danger, to be self- 
 righteously resisted, but a reproof and warning from God, 
 to repent, to cast her ilols to the moles and bats, and to 
 turn to Him in spiritual worship and love. 
 
 Verse 1 62. "I (am) rejoicing over Thy saying, like 
 one finding much spoil." 
 
 The strict present strongly asserts the constant habit of 
 his mind with reference to the promise of God — the special 
 promise to the psalmist. We must suppose a 
 special promise or the poetry becomes too vague to have a 
 personal root. At the same time the great promise of God 
 to His people must be meant or the psalm lacks its poetry 
 and thus becomes unfit for the general use of God's people. 
 If this is a promise to an expectant king, then we see how 
 the special promise could be a general promise. And here 
 is made the transition to the case of the child of God in any 
 age. For all Israel, with its economy and history, is but 
 
372 Selected Psalms ana 6£onograp&* 
 
 the germ of a better economy and covenant. Thus, even 
 the psalmist, in his rejoicing over the personal promise to 
 him, could rise to higher and higher spheres of rejoicing as 
 its effects widen to his contemplation like concentre rings in 
 the water when a stone is dropped into it. The stress of the 
 simile in the second clause may be made to depend on the 
 word "spoil." Then the intensity of the rejoicing over the 
 promise is measured by the intensity with which one would 
 rejoice to find unexpectedly a treasure. But the stress may 
 be laid on "finding." Then construing the participle the 
 same way, "I am constantly rejoicing, like one who is con- 
 stantly finding." And this interpretation of the second clause 
 is needed if we make the first a strict present. Constant 
 rejoicing implies constant finding — constant novelty and sur- 
 prise. And here it may be said that this holds true of all 
 truth, of all fact, indeed. We grow familiar with the most 
 astonishing fact, the most wondrous statement of truth. 
 Feeling is evanescent in its nature and can only be fed by 
 novelty. The fact that feeling towards a person is perma- 
 nent is nothing against this; for a person is the source of con- 
 stant novelty. The object of love is an ever-changing ob- 
 ject, it follows that if we would ever rejoice over the promise 
 we must ever find new things in it. And to do that we 
 must constantly apply it to our ever-varying circumstances 
 and carry it out into the breadth of all things. Thus the 
 presence (v. 161) of persecutors and slanderers would tend 
 to make the promise ever fresh and new. 
 
 Verse 1 63. "Falsehood I hate and abhor; Thy Law 
 I love. 
 
 "Falsehood is not so much untruthfulness as the thing 
 that is untrue — the thing that promises much and leads to 
 nothing or worse. This interpretation of the word agrees 
 with that of "Law" in the second clause — the concrete 
 promise of the old cult which in its own self realizes so much 
 and holds forth so much more. "Hate" has reference to 
 
ftetn JFreDerick La Eue ftinjj 373 
 
 the spirit in Which this false thing is held forth for acceptance 
 and "abhor" is used with reference to the thing itself and its 
 results. The lures used, the baits proposed are falehood, 
 they will afford no real advantage, and the system which is 
 wished to advance by the compliance of the psalmist is 
 falsehood also. The law on the contrary yields immediate 
 and personal advantages while holding forth future blessings 
 to himself through the blessing upon all God's people. He, 
 therefore, loves it in the sense of liking it. It is, besides, an 
 expression of love throughout — the love of God for his 
 people and, therfore, also he loves it. These two meanings 
 of the word love correspond to "abhor" and "hate" of the 
 first clause. Then again, the system of the law up- 
 held and would develop — the law in its fuller extension of 
 the time of David was truth — tended to real and blessed 
 results therefore he loved it. This verse is a good example 
 of the correllation of clauses. The strength of the expres- 
 sions of the first clause should be deeply considered by 
 us. They are not the impulsive utterance of deep emotion, 
 but the well-considered expressions proper to the servant of 
 God of all ages. We ought to demand of ourselves the 
 same hate and abhorrence of sin— of sin considered as 
 "falsehood," for that is the special meaning here. This 
 may well be after we have experienced the effects of that 
 sin after yielding to temptation. But this clause is not to be 
 taken alone. "Hate" and "abhorrence" to be worthy in 
 its character of an enduring defence against temptation, 
 must be accompanied by love to the law — that is, love of 
 the means of grace — all the ordinances of the Christian cult. 
 Else it is a mere fright or disgust that will vanish with the 
 remembrance of the disagreeable occurrence with the re- 
 newal of the temptation. And this love for the means of 
 grace is necessary to ennoble this hate and abhorrence, to 
 make it a true hatred of sin and not merely of the sinner and 
 certain of his acts that have been injurious and to prevent 
 its running into bigotry and intolerance or mere revengeful 
 
374 Selected psalms ano t^cmograplrs 
 
 feeling, as has been die case too much on the part of Prot- 
 estants toward the Roman Catholics. Well for the Church 
 of God if such a holy hate and abhorrence of sin could per- 
 vade its members. The tone nowadays is rather one of sym- 
 pathy with sin. Prisons are rapidly becoming hospitals, 
 and the sword that the magistrate bears for the defence of 
 society he is not permitted to use upon the offender. 
 
 Verse 1 64. "Seven times a day I praise Thee, for 
 the judgments of Thy righteousness." "Seven times," that 
 is very often — indicates strong reason for praise. In v. 
 62 he rises at midnight to thank God for the judgments of 
 this righteousness — so strong is his thankfulness that it dis- 
 turbs his rest. Here it breaks in upon all the cares and oc- 
 cupations of the day; and in spite of all the other things that 
 demand attention. Night and day he thinks of God's 
 judgments. It may not be hypocritical to notice that thank- 
 fulness at night, When despondency is apt to fill the heart, 
 and praise during the day, when so many objects claim our 
 attention and trust, is peculiarly strong. This whole stanza 
 seems to be full of the presence of God and acknowledgment 
 to Him. And in these first four verses, though there seems 
 to be a reference to the presence of enemies, the rejoicing of 
 v. 1 62 is stimulated by that presence, the hate and abhor- 
 rence of v. 1 63 indicates that presence, and here his praise 
 to God for His judgments has its root in his danger, "Para- 
 dise is under the shadow of swords." The judgments of 
 the past, the terrible overthrows, the startling deliverances, 
 are his protection. They make him safe, they prevent his 
 enemies from doing what they wish. They also make 
 him secure. He may feel safe when he thinks that the 
 Judge of all the earth will do right. He will intervene 
 if there is any need of intervention to prevent His promise 
 failing. Or, perhaps, that last remark is not strict enough, 
 for the masculine form for righteousness is used, and judg- 
 ment of His righteousness does not mean judgments for the 
 purpose of carrying out faithfully His engagements; but 
 
metn 4FreDecick JLa Hue ming 375 
 
 rather judgments that are in accordance with His righteous 
 character as Ruler and Judge. Rapidly and surely was 
 this confidence in God's judgments justified in the case of 
 the young Solomon. Like a dream past was his painful 
 tutelage and weary sojourn in his father's house. When 
 the time was most critical and all seemed to be lost, he at- 
 tained at once the summit of his hopes. Happy are they 
 who feel that their enemies are in the wrong, and who can 
 appeal to God's justice to defend them, who dare to say 
 "Judge me, O Lord." We should be ever about our 
 Father's business so that, if we are interrupted therein — 
 (or perhaps it is better to say) we should sanctify our 
 whole lives even its refreshments and enjoyments that we 
 may feel that our paradise is under the shelter of God's 
 sword of justice. We should not be unmindful of the ene- 
 mies of this world, who ever stand ready to attack him 
 who bears witness for God. Civilization or enlightenment 
 will not shelter us. Our only safety is that God never 
 will permit the "rod of the wicked" to rest " on the lot of 
 the righteous." He will, he is bound to see the right done. 
 Also we should not be unmindful of the evil spiritual ene- 
 mies that surround us, and think often of the saying of the 
 Saviour, that "the Prince of this world is judged." It 
 may be that the very destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 
 will yet send a thrill of joy and exultation through our hearts 
 "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and 
 He shall make thy righteousness to go forth as the light, 
 and thy judgment as the noonday." 
 
 Verse 165. "(There is much peace to the lovers of 
 Thy law, and there is to them no stumbling block.)" The 
 connection between this verse and the one before it, is not 
 far to seek. There is one thing that breaks up the security 
 set forth in verse 1 64, it is sin — let a person feel sinful and 
 it is hard to appeal to God's justice in his behalf, or to 
 wait secure at its exercise. It may, however, be done. 
 David again and again appeals confidently to God's justice 
 
376 g>electe& psalms ana aponograpijs 
 
 and claims that he is righteous when at the same time ac- 
 knowledges that he is not without fault — fault even in the 
 things whereof he is accused. He can rejoice in God's 
 righteous judgments, for his faults are exaggerated by the 
 tongues of enemies. God will judge him fairly. It is better 
 to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. 
 Then again, the real fault, in their eyes, was something 
 very different from what they accused him of. He was 
 really reproached for the name of Christ, though accused of a 
 sin. This is what secured him. It enabled him to look 
 to God confidently for defense. He was jealous for God; 
 that brought him into difficulties, that enabled him to be at 
 peace in the midst of them. Still it requires strong faith to 
 overlook our own errors in action or courses of action that 
 are indicated by the highest motives. Now, then, if there is 
 anything that will eliminate errors from our working for 
 God it is the love of God's law. It is love of self that so 
 often smirches our best work, self-seeking, often latent, when 
 we are trying to serve God. Simple and single love will 
 enable one to escape the stumbling blocks that lie in the way 
 of one who would originate, or develop, or carry on a 
 movement that pertains to the economy of God's home. It is 
 mortifying that a man with a great purpose and with great 
 energy should ever have cause to blush and ever seriously 
 be hampered by little faults. Hearty love for the work 
 will make a man meek and single in his aim. It will ren- 
 der a man so far forth as the object of his love, well-nigh 
 perfect. What is true of a servant of God in public sta- 
 tion, with reference to public work and work for God is 
 true as well of those whose lives are obscure, and whose 
 work that of private life. If we would have peace, we must 
 avoid sin, and if we would avoid sin we must avoid occasions 
 to sin, not by departing from the life that affords occasion — 
 but by importing into our lives that love which will render 
 temptation no temptation at all. Many stumbling blocks lie in 
 the way of one whose love is not fixed upon his wife. With 
 
I&etn ^Frederick JLa IRue ifting 377 
 
 every attractive person he meets his affections begin to wan- 
 der. But if his heart is fixed where his affections are due, 
 temptation of that sort becomes the very reverse of temp- 
 tation. The eye does not see; the ear does not hear, like 
 Madiline in the Eve of St. Agnes, "hoodwinked by faery 
 fancy," alive only to that which is absent, that which is 
 beyond and above what the eye sees and the ear hears. 
 There is little need for such a person to be careful and 
 cautious. 
 
 "Love is an unerring light 
 And joy its own security." 
 
 The tithing of mint, anise and cummin will never en- 
 able us to render acceptable service to God or ever keep us 
 free from sin; questions of caruistry are endless, bottom- 
 less and at the last unsolvable, the question of duty is 
 solvable by the judgment which, quickened by love, is 
 unerring. The question of duty is simple and strictly this, 
 and nothing more; and is what I ought to do in this mat- 
 ter in this place, at this time. The moment we begin 
 to lay down abstract principles or rules, difficulties com- 
 mence. Besides God likes positive characters. 
 
 Verse 1 66. "I hope for Thy salvation. Oh, Jehovah, 
 and Thy commandments I do." The past of the verb is 
 used in both clauses, but it is a past that does not exclude 
 the present or the future. Omitting the consideration of the 
 special force of the tenses, let us look at the correllation of the 
 clauses. It is sufficient to remark that the psalmist is not 
 making a prosaic narrative or setting forth his merits, though 
 in the verse he may take a self-conscious view of the 
 grounds of his peace. As to the clauses we have in them 
 the two extremes of life, the meditative and the practical. 
 One perfects the other; true hope always manifests itself in 
 activity. Hope that palzies exertion is a sham; neither is there 
 any interest taken in what is expected. The psalmist as- 
 serts both hope and action with regard to himself, and the 
 
378 ^electeD Psalms anD sponogtap&s 
 
 motive might be to lay down a model, using his own ex- 
 perience as a means of instructing others. Yet the address 
 to Jehovah appears to exclude this. The soul of the psalm- 
 ist seems to be alone with God. This militates against the 
 idea of his having others in his mind. Unto Jehovah, he 
 may say, "I hope and do, what lack I yet?" Or something 
 either past or future is excluded from the meaning of this 
 tense, this may be a resolve in the form of a mere statement 
 of fact. "I hope in Thy salvation, and Thy command- 
 ments I do," that is my fixed state. We have often found 
 this the force of like statements in this psalm, and ordinary 
 speech furnishes many examples of the same sort. For a 
 company of soldiers in a battle to say, "we are going right 
 on," would be to express their determination to fight as 
 strongly as words well could. This may be regarded as a 
 private transaction of the psalmist with God recorded for 
 our benefit, as it is indeed a noun of conduct. There is 
 a great propriety in the use of the word "command- 
 ments." It is the law as guiding toward that salvation 
 which is offered to us. The activity of the servant of God 
 in running along the path marked out by the commandments 
 and leading to everlasting salvation, is but an expression of 
 his hope. This "do" answers to "hope," and "command- 
 ments" to "salvation." The beginning of salvation is to 
 have the commandments. A clue found is deliverance be- 
 gun. Hope together with activity, hope expressed by ac- 
 tivity, activity lighted up by hope. That sums up the 
 Christian's work in the world. 
 
 Verse 1 67. "My soul observes Thy testimonies and 
 I love them exceedingly." 
 
 The peculiarity about the first clauses that it is not said 
 "I observe," but "my soul observes." This self-conscious 
 expression has great force. I might observe God's testi- 
 monies by virtue of a resolve. The Pharisees observed 
 God's testimonies in this way, it was without any hearti- 
 ness, though with the extremity of resolve. When the 
 
Iftetn jFreDericfe JLa Iftue fcing 370 
 
 psalmist says "my soul observes" he brings into view a force 
 beneath the conscious volition — the feelings, that will propel 
 a man forward, which act with lightning rapidity, and which 
 direct with the most acute discrimintion. A man may do 
 a great deal by effort, but when the feelings become en- 
 listed, then alone can the whole man be said to act. What 
 are those feelings? First, fear of God. Second, response 
 of the moral nature to the command. To disobey is going 
 against the soul itself. How easy and to-be-depended-on is 
 the action of a man when his soul is engaged, when it be- 
 comes unnatural for him to disobey. And this ought to be 
 the aim of every servant of God, to educate himself towards 
 this. And to ask of God whatever change in him by the 
 Holy Spirit is needed to make it unnatural for him to disobey. 
 Advance in the religious life is not merely the educating and 
 disciplining the volition Volition is not service. Volition 
 may be heartless. It is when the will is the man that the sub- 
 mission of the will is grateful to our Heavenly Father. In 
 the second clause love is used in the sense of "lie," and the 
 correllation with the first clause is complete. "My soul ob- 
 serves," i. e., "my inclinations tend toward the observance 
 of the commandment? "I love," the commandment. I 
 incline to obey them. Of love proper, terminating on a person 
 there is little in this psalm. Still in a latent way here, as in 
 v. 163, liking of the commandment may be a manifestation 
 of love for the Giver. 
 
 Verse 1 68. "I observe Thy precepts and testimonies 
 because all my ways are before Thee." The first clause is 
 remarkable as being the only clause containing in it two of 
 the terms used to designate the law in this Psalm, namely 
 "precepts" — work assigned, and testimonies — the moral law. 
 This verse presents a detail of the emotional experience 
 summed up in the preceding verse in the expression "my 
 soul." The fear of God explained as one element of that 
 mental attitude is here stated alone. And well will it be for 
 us if we, amid our various mental exercises fail not to exer- 
 
380 Selected psalms and ^onogtap^0 
 
 cise fear towards God as a separate and distinct feeling, and a 
 means to be used to keep us in the right way. We must 
 not rely upon a general cultivation of, or depend on, the 
 general influence of the Holy Spirit, or seek for that alone. 
 Our faith ought to be exercised on single and separate ob- 
 jects or it will become too vague in character to be effective. 
 And surely a place is to be found for that exercise of faith, 
 that realizes the Invisible One before whom all things are 
 naked and open. If we do not we will lose a vivid stimulus 
 to right action and a means of direct appropriation of a spec- 
 ial grace. Also, we will be in danger of relying upon the 
 impulses of our own natural hearts, taking unwarrantably for 
 granted the influence of the Holy Spirit. "The fear of the 
 Lord is clean, enduring forever." Not that a Christian man 
 must walk habitually through fear of the Lord. The psalm- 
 ist does not here mean to say that this sums up all the mo- 
 tives that he has for the observance of God's precepts and tes- 
 timonies. When he says, v. 167, "my soul observes," he 
 indicates many others. The verses of this psalm may be con- 
 sidered as the great impulse to service analyzed into its ele- 
 ments for the use of God's people. "All my ways" all that 
 pertains to my activity is before Thy sight, before Thy judg- 
 ment and before Thy power. 
 
 TAU. 
 
 Verse 169. "Let my cry come near before Thee, 
 Jehovah; according to Thy word make me understand." 
 
 The figure of a king is indicated here ; and as it is a sign 
 of attention and favor to invite a petitioner to come near, so 
 the request is that his "cry" may be permitted to come "near 
 before" Jehovah, since the monarch's ear, once gained, all 
 else will follow. It is remarkable how exclusively, in this 
 Psalm, the appeal is made to God by His covenant name, 
 Jehovah. There is a very great and importunate petition, 
 and claim in the very use of the word. According to the 
 correlation the cry in the first clause interpreted by the pe- 
 
i&eto* jFreDerick La Kue I&ittg 381 
 
 tition in the second, would have cleared up certain mysteries 
 of God's providence. No more speculative interest how- 
 ever is sought here to be gratified, the word "cry" is too 
 strong for that. The psalmist is evidently in difficulty if 
 not in danger. And these troubles are mysterious to him; 
 he cannot see why they have come upon him. Pefhaps 
 there was an element of novelty, as well as terror — the open- 
 ing before him of a new and unexpected sphere of appre- 
 hension. So was it with our Lord in the stress of His trial. 
 We are told by Mark that at the entering upon 
 the agony of the garden he was "greatly amazed," and, on 
 the cross, he asked "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" And 
 this is often the hardest part of a trial, that it attacks the 
 peace. Hard as it is in itself, the trouble may be borne if 
 we can see its purpose and that it is kind and loving. This 
 seems to be what principally presses upon him; his 
 soul is dark — his peace is disturbed — he does not under- 
 stand. His petition is that he may understand "according 
 to Tlhy word," i. e., First, In fulfillment of Thy promise 
 grant me understanding; for, as we have often seen, God 
 fulfills His promise not only at the last, but all along, doing 
 whatever is in accordance with the spirit of the promise. 
 The apostle argues a fortiori from the great gift of the Son of 
 God to the lesser things, not logically, but spiritually implied. 
 And so, we may argue, that the promise that was meant 
 to cheer and make bright at the last, was also meant to cheer 
 and make clear to our minds God's good-will to us through- 
 out our pilgrimage. We can claim whatever is needed to 
 make us understand and can ask that the promise may, of 
 itself, minister understanding to us. 
 
 Second. Enable me to see that the promise accords with 
 our present trials. 
 
 Third. This is a petition for hastening the fulfillment 
 of die promise. After all, we cannot understand clearly 
 until salvation is revealed. Gleams of understanding we 
 
382 ©elected Psalms and Qionograpjjs 
 
 can have but full satisfaction we can never hope for until 
 faith is changed to clear vision. 
 
 Verse 170. "Let my supplication come before Thee; 
 according to Thy promise deliver me." The form of the 
 first clause is such that one cannot help regarding this verse 
 as a correllative of the preceding. The first noun, accord- 
 ing to its etymology, denotes a prayer for grace or favor, 
 — Alexander. This makes die clause answer to the first 
 clause of the preceding verse, which is not so much a peti- 
 tion to be delivered from trouble as from a mind troubled 
 from a loss of clear sense of God's wisdom, and good- 
 ness and love, from heavy trials that beset it. "Let this, 
 my earnest desire for a sense of Thy grace and favor, come 
 before Thee. It is curious to notice the difference between 
 this and the preceding verse. The vague word "cry" is 
 replaced by the more definite "supplication." At the same 
 time that "cry" is more vague it is more intense — expresses 
 stronger emotion. And so we have in the former, "come 
 near before"and in the latter, only "come before." The 
 omission of the appeal, "Oh Jehovah," is significant, also, 
 and suitable to the lowered intensity of feeling of v. 1 70, 
 since the very fact that Jehovah is the covenant God is what 
 makes it some times seem mysterious. The petition in the 
 second clause of v. 1 69 subordinately includes a prayer for 
 deliverance from trials, but principally seeks for renewed 
 union with God through clearer light upon His ways with 
 His people. In this verse the petition is directly to be deliv- 
 ered from trouble. And yet the phrase used suggests some- 
 thing more than external trouble. "Set me free," disen- 
 tangle me," indicates perplexity, and this correlates it slight- 
 ly with the preceding verse. "Deliver me from the trouble 
 of perplexity," "disimplicate me," "help me to the feelings 
 I ought to entertain; enable me to see what is to be done 
 and how it is to be done." 
 
 Verse 171. "My lips shall pour forth praise; for 
 Thou shalt teach me Thy statutes." Here we have in 
 
Eetn jFre&etick La Etue &ing 383 
 
 the promise of future praise an indication that he is not yet 
 ready to praise — that God's glory is to a certain degree, 
 darkened. The "pour forth" marks the depth of the dark- 
 ness by the intensity of its promise. For this is a promise — 
 a resolve, and yet it is more. It is the statement of what 
 will be the inevitable result of the granting of his peti- 
 tion. " My difficulties will all be cleared away. I shall 
 understand. I shall be relieved of my perplexity." What 
 that perplexity is may, perhaps be understood from the 
 last clause of the verse. He wishes to have God's orders 
 — the expression of His arbitrary will. This is stated, 
 not in the form of petition, but in that of confident ex- 
 pectation — the true petition of faith. The mere know- 
 ledge of God's arbitrary will, cannot, of course, reveal to the 
 mind the wisdom and love of which these statutes are the 
 expression. But such a knowledge would be calculated 
 to call forth praise on account of the clearing up of one's 
 path. One of the most mysterious of God's dealings 
 with His servants is that He sometimes leaves them without 
 orders. We often can see the reason of this. Such a de- 
 privation demands the exercise of, and develops intuitional 
 judgments as to what is right and best. It is a great re- 
 lief, when one has been left to judge for one's self and has 
 been puzzled and wearied beyond endurance, to be able 
 to lean against the arbitrary will of God. There is a de- 
 light in knowing just what to do at every moment. We 
 may arrive at the knowledge by a clear light being thrown 
 upon some preceptive passage of Scripture previously mis- 
 understood or by the brushing away of some temptation that 
 obstructed the clear view of our duty. Or God may give 
 us a statute, by hedging up our path, to give us ease and 
 even delight though it may break up our plans of life and 
 involve loss. The word "teach" may mean, not simply 
 state, but explain. A statute it would seem has need often 
 to be more than a mere arbitrary decree to enable us to 
 differentiate it. God can teach us by letting us a little into 
 
384 ^electeD psalms anO 0ionogtapf)0 
 
 the heart of an order, and so to get at its principle, or by 
 providences that may lead us to the application of it into 
 all details. And in this way God may evoke the pouring 
 forth of praise from us by showing us what wisdom and love 
 were hidden in this arbitrary will. After a long struggle 
 with disease at a missionary station in India, after all the re- 
 sources of science had been used and many prayers, in faith, 
 certain missionaries were at last forced to abandon their po- 
 sition and choose another place for a central station. They 
 immediately found the advantages of the new location were 
 so great that they counted it well worth the enduring those 
 trials that compelled them to recognize God's arbitrary will 
 and compelled them to obey. 
 
 Verse 1 72. "Let my tongue answer Thy saying — 
 that all Thy commandments are right." 
 
 The word "saying" throughout the psalm means the 
 promise. The proper response would seem to be thankful- 
 ness, joy. It should also be obedience stimulated by thank- 
 fulness and hope — eager actively in seeking the kingdom 
 of Heaven offered to the servant, by a path leading through 
 many duties; for it is a proper effect of the promise to guide; 
 and it may even be said to enact a law for the recipient. 
 Thus, by the impulse of the promise they "rive the dark by 
 private ray." But the steps we ought to take are some- 
 times prescribed to us. These prescriptions seem some- 
 times unwarrantable and even contradictory to the prom- 
 ise. There was a full and free promise made to Abraham 
 and his seed, but long after the giving of the promise, 
 a condition of holiness was annexed to it. Now a man, 
 without moral sense, would pronounce the commandments 
 wrong. A man of keen moral sense would be inclined to 
 count the commandments right and to give up the promise. 
 This is often done, especially when the mind is clouded 
 with a sense of transgression. It is a far harder and indeed 
 wondrous thing for a man not only to declare the command- 
 ments right, but consistent with the promise, and that in 
 
Iftetn jFreDerick La Hue Mm 385 
 
 answer — who to the promise, as an expression of the feelings 
 that the promise awakens. It is as if he saw the promise in 
 the commandments. And, indeed did not the law of Moses 
 requiring holiness of God's people really add a further 
 grace to the promise of Abraham. Did it not make the 
 promise pregnant with a higher promise? They who see 
 furtherest and best see that the law and the promise are one. 
 Cromwell on his death bed comforted himself with the 
 thought that the covenant of works and the covenant of prom- 
 ise are one in Christ. God's "saying" is essentially one with 
 the promise, and yet, by itself, it seems often hard to bear. 
 In Psalm 1 05 : 1 9 the two words used in this psalm for 
 "promise." "Word" and "saying" are used in the same 
 verse and discriminatingly. "Until his word came, the say- 
 ing of the Lord tried him." The "word of God to Joseph 
 held forth the promise of great advancement, and yet from 
 the time of the giving of the promise, the providential ap- 
 pointments of God (represented by the word, "saying") 
 tried him. He was hated by his brethern, cast into a pit, sold 
 into Egypt, and left to languish in prison. Yet all these 
 events so contrary in appearance to the promise, were in 
 reality steps to its fulfillment. The word that promised, 
 and the word that imposed these trials were really one. And 
 if Joseph realized this it must have given him good cheer 
 even in a dungeon. And we Christians, if we only are able 
 to see that providential dispensations of God are not con- 
 tray to his promise, will have peace no matter how thorny 
 a path His commandments call upon us to tread. The 
 "saying" will always be to us as the "promise." The 
 optative is used in this verse: "Would that my tongue 
 might." The psalmist has not attained unto the power, but 
 only to the desire of it, which is a great attainment. 
 Christians nowadays can easily see the consistency of the 
 commandments with the promise, since both can be fulfilled. 
 Even sinners can enter into the promise if they will accept of 
 it. But how could the Old Testament saints respond to 
 
386 Selected psalms anO e@onogtapb$ 
 
 the promise in declaring the commandments right. It may 
 be that this optative describes the position of the Old Test- 
 ament saints. Letting the promise over against the com- 
 mandments, accepting both, and believing both to be consist- 
 ent, and catching gleams of that consistence in the terrors 
 and the splendors of the law (Thorah) — cult, they yet 
 longed for more, they desired to accept the commands in the 
 same spirit that they accepted the promise, realizing that they 
 were both a source of joy and expectation. Faith prompted 
 the longing and faith, perhaps, nay doubtless, bridged over 
 the gap, for in God are all solutions. If this psalm was 
 written by the young Solomon we can easily see the dif- 
 ficulty of reconciling His promise of a throne, with the path 
 which God laid down by this way marks for him to tread 
 which seemed to lead away from it. 
 
 Verse 1 73. "Let Thy hand be near for my help, 
 for Thy precepts I choose." 
 
 Perhaps it is not straining the meaning to establish a 
 connection between this verse and the preceding verses of the 
 stanza. In verse 1 73 the bewilderment of verse 1 69, the 
 perplexity of verse 1 70, the doubt as to what is God's 
 will of verse 171, and the doubt as to the consistency be- 
 tween that will and the promise of verse 1 72 all reappearing 
 in a burden of mysterious perplexity, doubtful and trying 
 work that is laid upon him, which yet he chooses because 
 God assigns it. There is something more in choosing than 
 mere acceptance — acquiescence. Many accept as a bur- 
 den what they would find bliss in choosing if they only 
 loved God and felt confident in His good will. Here the 
 psalmist seems to rise at least towards the height of his pe- 
 tition of the preceding verse. When we heartily accept the 
 life's lot and work that God has assigned us, we are in a 
 fair way to choose them with joy, to take them as we take 
 the promise, and indeed as the promise. At any rate the 
 psalmist accepts the commandments that guide him to his 
 work, which He chooses to be his. And notice how neatly 
 
I&e*h jFte&etick JLa Eue ming 387 
 
 the verb of the first clause is suited to the title precepts in the 
 second clause. "Precepts" is work assigned, and the peti- 
 tion is for assistance. "I choose ex animo the work assign- 
 ed, help me do it." Surely here is something to base a 
 petition upon. If we behave slavishly, doing God's will of 
 constraint we can have less of a spirit of supplication for help. 
 The farther we are from choosing, the farther we are draw- 
 ing God. And there is something contradictory in our draw- 
 ing near to God for help from his hand when we draw 
 away from His hand that assigns our burdens. But in 
 drawing near to the hand that assigns our burdens, we draw 
 near to the hand that helps. 
 
 N. B. May we not gather something from the form 
 of the clause? Is there not something of the claim about 
 it? Is there not an implication that God's hand ought to be 
 for his help, since he chooses what that hand assigns? Is 
 there not, also, something of general trust rather than specific 
 request? He does not desire that God should give him 
 some particular sort of help (as to way or time,) but relies 
 simply on God's hands — this whole hand, and asks what- 
 ever that hand can do. 
 
 Verse 1 74. " I long for Thy salvation, O Jehovah, 
 and Thy law (is) my delight." 
 
 If we give the title "law" its proper meaning — the cult 
 — the Mosaic worship, then the clauses can be easily brought 
 into correlation. The law is especially the promise and 
 partial realization of salvation. It appealed to the imagina- 
 tion even in its splendid and reassuring exhibitions, and its 
 acts of satisfaction and went some way toward bringing 
 about a blessed social state. Now the moment we interpret 
 these clauses in the light of this meaning of the title law, the 
 clauses cease to be independent propositions, one expressing 
 desire for salvation and the other delight in doing God's will. 
 They become closely related. The first is no more desire to 
 be delivered from present difficulties or generally from the 
 
388 Selected psalms anD QOonogtap&s 
 
 troubles of this world. It is Thy salvation that he longs for, 
 that happy state of things national, social and personal that 
 God had encouraged, and made deeper and broader, 
 and in the law, too, he finds the beginning of satisfaction. 
 Hie longing to be delivered from present and prospective 
 dangers should not be excluded — the aching of the heart at 
 the prosperity of the wicked. In this the law is a soother 
 and encourager of the heart of God's servant, for there are 
 parts that reveal and promise God's judgment on the ene- 
 mies of his people. They "shall be as the fat of lambs." 
 And this he understands when he goes into the house of 
 God (see psalm 73, 3, 16, 17, 18,) and is therefore 
 enabled to be patient and wait in comfort. Here, then, 
 is a spiritual attitude that we ought to try to put on as we 
 repeat these words. Longing so intense and exacting that 
 nothing can satisfy it but that which is perfect and yet pres- 
 ent delight in what God, at present, supplies. Divine 
 discontent and divine content at one and the same time. 
 Enjoying the inn where we lodge for the night, thankful for 
 the comfort it affords, gaining from it some new conception 
 of our blessed and permanent home, and yet longing to 
 press forward in our pilgrimage "willing to be happy" as 
 I heard it said of one, who though tried, still made the 
 most of little joys. Ever content, no matter what ex- 
 ternal things may be. And thus there is in the midst of the 
 Christian's longing always a satisfaction. He may be un- 
 troubled in the midst of trouble while he makes the law 
 his delight (Psalm 46:1, 2 and 4.) waiting and longing 
 they shall yet (Psalm 36:8) be abundantly satisfied with 
 the fatness of Thy house, and may well say with David 
 in what is manifestly a waiting longing. (Psalm 65 :4) 
 "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to 
 approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts; we 
 shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of 
 Thy holy temple." 
 
i&etn JFreDetick La i&ue Mm 389 
 
 Verse 175. "Let my soul live and praise Thee; 
 and let Thy judgments help me." 
 
 "Let my soul live" is evidently a petition of the psalm- 
 ist for his endangered life, a petition often occuring in this 
 psalm. But not merely life is petitioned for, but fullness of 
 life, moral and emotional, a life full of peace and joy, and 
 the active exercise of its highest powers. The combination 
 occurs many times in the scriptures. When Abraham says 
 to Sarah "My soul shall live because of tru.e," he means 
 not merely that his life will be saved but that he will be 
 secure and cheered in the confidence of it. So with Lot 
 petitioning for Zoar, he asks that his life may be preserved 
 by a favor that will give immediate care and comfort to him. 
 In Jeremiah 38:17 and 20 the same expression is used, evi- 
 dently meaning Zedekiah's life would be saved on condition 
 that he should go out to the king of Babylon, and yet it 
 must mean more than that, for he had been promised life in 
 any case (Jer. 34:3.) And so it turned out that not hav- 
 ing gone out to the king of Babylon, he nevertheless lived; 
 but as a blinded prisoner bereft of all the glorious fullness of 
 life. So, then, this clause means "let me live in the happy 
 use of all the multiform powers of my soul and praise 
 Thee. That last is one of the very highest and happiest 
 exercises of the soul. It is the greatest of the delights of 
 life that he petitions for. And in this sense we must un- 
 derstand Isaiah 38:18, "For the grave cannot praise Thee, 
 death cannot celebrate Thee; they that go down to the pit 
 cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, he shall 
 praise Thee as I do this day." Hezekiah does not speak 
 of praise as something done for God, but as the acme of 
 happy living, and so it is, and eternal praise implies the 
 eternal reception of what fills the heart with ever-new 
 thankfulness and the unfolding of scenes of ever-deepening 
 grandeur; the grateful praise and adoring response to which 
 is the highest form of life. Well says the poet Addison: — 
 
390 ^electeu psalms ano a&onogtap&s 
 
 "To all eternity, to Thee, 
 A joyful song I'll raise, 
 For Oh! Eternity's too short 
 To utter all Thy praise." 
 
 The latter clause limits the source of praise to ex- 
 tending help in righteousness. The psalmist asks that God 
 in the exercise of His just decisions shall deliver him. It is 
 the prayer of one whose troubles do not arise from his 
 own fault, but perhaps from his good qualities and good 
 actions. It may be God who is struck at in him. But 
 what if it is otherwise? What if the injuries inflicted on him 
 by others are simply the wages of his own ill doing? What 
 if he feels that he deserves all he suffers? Can he still ask 
 "Let Thy judgments help me. There was an answer to 
 this even in the time of the Old Economy, but we have a 
 clearer one under our dispensation. God's judgments can 
 help even a sinner. In Christ we can appeal to God's 
 justice for deliverance from sin's guilt. That is certainly 
 implied in Psalm 5 1 . "Deliver me from my blood guilti- 
 ness, O God, Thou God of my salvation, and my tongue 
 shall sing aloud," not of Thy mercy, but "of Thy right- 
 eousness." But in the cross of Christ it was first shown 
 how such a thing could be possible. The Christian may use 
 these words in the highest evangelical sense that his exper- 
 ience dictates, and not beyond the meaning with which 
 these words were uttered through the Holy Spirit from the 
 soul if not from the intellect of the psalmist. The use of 
 the word "soul" suggests that the praise which he desires 
 to offer is not merely the sacrifice of his lips, but the devo- 
 tion of his life, and thus understood it becomes a model 
 of all prayers for deliverance. They should be in their 
 essence renewed acts of self-dedication. Faith will be 
 helped to greater flights by such a petition as this. 
 
 Verse 1 76. "I wander like a lost sheep — seek Thy 
 servant — for Thy commandments I do not forget." 
 
Eeth ^Frederick JLa Eue iftmg 39t 
 
 We have here another instance of the careful use of 
 terms of which we have so many examples in this psalm. 
 They are especially valuable as helping to prove the accur- 
 acy of the meaning assigned to the various titles of the law. 
 We have the servant of God in the first clause having lost his 
 way and we see him in the latter relying on the command- 
 ments, the law as guiding, the way mark God has granted 
 to keep us in the right path. The wandering meant here is 
 not the active going astray — the sinning — but rather is the 
 result of sin. Notice this is the wandering of a sheep. 
 That implies sin, for a sheep need not go astray if he only 
 will attend to the shepherd. But once having gone astray, 
 he must wander, that is, search aimlessly and helplessly for 
 what he has not — the way out of the condition he is in. 
 He cannot make his home away from the fold, as the wolves 
 and other wild beasts can. He knows something better, 
 and he will to the end wander in another fashion than theirs. 
 He will still helplessly and ineffectually but with true desire 
 seek to get back to the fold. His erring course, will, if a 
 course make it difficult to get back at once to the fold. 
 There has been a blinding and hardening process at work 
 upon him. He is bewildered, and that state of puzzled 
 guilt is one of the most painful for anyone to get into. It 
 seems almost impossible for him to recognize any act of 
 his as an undoubted sin, much more to confess and repent 
 of it. Well for such an one when he sees that there is no 
 deliverance from the coil he is in but by the power of God. 
 "Seek Thy servant;" it takes faith to say that, and yet, 
 God is ready to seek, glad to hear the petition forced from 
 the lips of this erring child. "Thy servant," this expression 
 shows that though he has lost much he has much remaining, 
 it looks like the strain upon the clue that is to conduct him 
 to the lost fold. The last clause, "for Thy commandments 
 I do not forget," is not adduced as an evidence of desert, 
 but rather as an evidence that he looks for God's help, and 
 begins to hope for it. An erring child of God is at first 
 
392 Selected Psalms anD ^onograpbs 
 
 tempted to rely on his own efforts to find the way back. 
 Then, perhaps, despairingly, call on God. But no true call 
 on God for Him to do for us what He has not done can 
 be made, if we do not take advantage of all the help He has 
 given us. If we desire the clearer revelation, we will prize 
 and use whatever revelation He has already made. If we 
 do desire Him to seek us and come to us, we will follow 
 the indications He has given in His commandments. Per- 
 haps there is a coincidence here. The turning helplessly 
 to the Lord stimulates to a new attention to His command- 
 ments. And so, the words "for Thy commandments I do 
 not forget," is merely another way of saying mat he turns 
 to the Lord. He has at last caught sight of the forgotten 
 way marks, and springs forward in the path, crying to the 
 Lord, for he realizes at last, that he must have something 
 more even than God's way marks to help him through the 
 wilderness. Here, then, we have the servant of God, a 
 wanderer through his sins, despairing of being able to get 
 back even when aided by the law, comes to feel that God's 
 love goes out towards him, and cries "seek Thy servant, who 
 striving strives not, who seeking seeks not, who coming 
 comes not" and who helplessly cries "come to me." 
 
Rem ^Frederick La Eue fting 393 
 
 Soto to pecome a Gfrue 
 CJjrtettan* 
 
 Hetterg to a Jlommal Cfjrtettatt 
 
 Reti* jFtedericfe £a Eue ding 
 
 [These Letters are printed as an addition to the "Selected Psalms 
 and Monographs" in order not only to show my brother's views on this 
 vital theme, but also to reveal another phase of his literary versatility. — 
 A. B. K.] 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Common mistake — Must act upon knowledge possess- 
 ed — not wait for feelings — Claim Jesus Christ as Saviour 
 by faith. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 In the short conversation we had the other 
 day about conversion, I learned, somewhat to my surprise, 
 that you were not, what is usually called, a "professing 
 Christian." It was also plain that you felt it would not be 
 your duty, and Would even be wrong, for you to join your- 
 self to the people of God, and at the Lord's Supper obey 
 the Saviour's command, "Do this in remembrance of Me," 
 until the Holy Spirit should work a thorough, conscious, and 
 even sudden change, in your moral nature. This you hoped 
 would take place some time or another. Till then, you 
 considered that your sole duty in the premises was to place 
 yourself in the way of the converting influence of the Holy 
 Spirit. Part of this, you see, I infer, but I think I cannot be 
 
394 Selected p$aims anD ©onograpfts 
 
 mistaken. I am familiar with this state of mind. Indeed 
 it was my own when I was young. I was brought up 
 surrounded by religious influences, instructed from my earl- 
 iest youth in the knowledge of the Gospel. I hoped, some 
 day, to become a Christian, and expected, when that event 
 took place, to become a member of the church, from whose 
 privileges I was meanwhile debarred. All that was left for 
 me to do was, to hear sermons and attend meetings, in order 
 that, through them, by God's grace, I might be changed. 
 I used, in fact, these means of grace, just as one goes to the 
 fire to be warmed. 
 
 One day, I was made aware that when God says 
 "come," He means "come now"; when He says "do 
 this," He means "do it now," that the "accepted 
 time" is "today." I found that the invitation, "Come, 
 for all things are ready," was addressed to me, just as I was, 
 that there was nothing to wait for; that it was disobedience 
 to wait a single minute. I came to see that God does not 
 merely ask that we should be willing that something should 
 happen to us; that we should put ourselves in the way of the 
 Spirit's influences, just as one goes out into the sunshine to 
 be warmed; but demands activity of the soul that would 
 possess Him. It must knock, seek, strive, enter; and I, at 
 once, without any conscious change in my spiritual state, 
 sought, and found admission to the table of the Lord, and 
 that too, without being able to see in myself, or state to 
 others, distinct evidence that I had passed from death to life. 
 It was a good day when I did so — I have never regretted it 
 — I acted on the spirit of the hymn: — 
 
 "Just as I am, without one plea, 
 
 But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
 
 And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, 
 Oh Lamb of God, I come." 
 
 "Just as I am, and waiting not 
 To rid my soul of one dark blot, 
 
 To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
 Oh Lamb of God, I come." 
 
i&eto* jFreDerick La Eue ifting 395 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Coming to the Church and coming to Christ essen- 
 tially the same. The excuse of unworthiness is really an as- 
 sertion of worthiness, and is a marked rejection of Christ. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 In my first letter you may think that I confound 
 the two things, that are entirely distinct — coming to Christ, 
 and coming to the church. I do not confound them, for they 
 are essentally the same. What is the church? What are the 
 sacraments, but the representation of the Lord Jesus Christ? 
 Entering the church is but seeking the society of the Lord; 
 coming to baptism, and the Lord's Supper, is but seeking 
 the Lord — to have Him dwell within us as our life. You 
 will find, I trust, hereafter, that the whole Christian life, from 
 the first thought of love and trust in Jesus, to the last effort of 
 hand or heart for Him, is all coming to Christ, and putting 
 on Christ. Coming to Christ as the phrase is generally un- 
 derstood, is trusting Him in thought; putting the hand forth 
 to the table of the Lord is trusting Him in act; both are es- 
 sentially the same exercise of faith. Whosoever has a right 
 to do the one, has a right to do the other. 
 
 That very unworthiness, that is given as the reason for 
 not coming to the communion, is also often the reason, 
 whether acknowledged or not, why we do not come to 
 Christ. 
 
 We cannot have too deep a sense of our unworthiness. 
 But when I say or feel that I am too unworthy to come to 
 Christ, I show plainly that I neither adequately feel my un- 
 worthiness, nor know the character and office of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ and the fullness of the offer He makes to us. I 
 should not have thought that you needed instruction on this 
 point, but we all, instructed or not, fail to realize as we 
 ought, how wide open is the door to eternal life, and how all- 
 embracing is the invitation to enter. The most experienced 
 
396 ©elected P$aim$ anD ^onogtapjj0 
 
 Christians are ever learning, more and more fully, the mean- 
 ing of the words, "without money and without price." 
 
 We Protestants profess to have one mediator only — the 
 Lord Jesus Christ — but so ingenious is Satan and the de- 
 ceitful heart, that often, to veil and excuse its real unwilling- 
 ness, it alleges that it is unworthy to come to the Lord. 
 Now this, translated into plain language, means this, "I am 
 not utterly unworthy — I am not entirely lost I can do 
 something to help myself. I can get ready to come to Christ. 
 That responsibility rests on me." And so the soul man- 
 ufactures a mediation to go between itself and Christ. 
 
 And it calls this humility, but it is really pride and 
 self-confidence. It does not deny (but) that Christ is to 
 do something for it, but is secretly of the opinion that the 
 greatest part of the work is to be done by itself. It would 
 furbish itself up, remove a good deal of its sinfulness, partly 
 redeem itself, and then, come to be redeemed. It will do 
 anything but obey the simple command, "Come." That 
 would be too dreadful; that would be to own that it is 
 utterly helpless, lost, and guilty, and God perfectly just in 
 condemning it — that the impenitent soul is not willing to do. 
 Not believing in God's grace, it would thereby be plunged 
 into despair. No — it would rather tire its head and paint 
 its face like another Jezebel. Saupitz said to Martin Luther 
 "If we come to Christ painted sinners, we will have but a 
 painted Saviour." 
 
 When that poor sinful woman who washed His feet 
 with her tears came to our Lord, we may be sure that she did 
 not first put on her fine clothes, her bracelets and ear-rings. 
 If she had such things, she took them off at the very thought 
 of coming. Not in costly array and braided hair she pre- 
 sented herself to Him, but dishevelled and weeping, she 
 brought only her sinful, ruined self — and that was just what 
 the Saviour wanted. That was what He came from heaven 
 to seek and to save. As she came, so must we all come to 
 Him, bringing only our sinful, 'ruined selves, without any 
 
Eetn jFreDettck JLa i&ue fcing 397 
 
 preparation of good thoughts or good feelings. He is the 
 A. and Z. of Christian experience. There is nothing be- 
 fore A, and so there is in the Christian life nothing before 
 Christ. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Nothing need precede our coming to Christ, not even 
 the consciousness of having faith, contrition, etc., which 
 coming to Christ seems to imply. 
 
 Dear Friend : — You may say that deep conviction of sin and 
 contrition must precede our coming to Christ. No, there 
 is no must about it. They often do precede. So, great 
 hunger often preceds eating, but we daily eat without 
 great hunger. Conviction of sin does not begin the Christian 
 life. Conviction of sin itself is mere despair. It is of ser- 
 vice in leading man to give up all idea of helping himself, 
 and so far, makes him ready to accept the Saviour when 
 offered. But it no more brings the Saviour to him, or en- 
 ables him to accept the Saviour, than extreme hunger fur- 
 nishes the starving wretch with food. 
 
 Many eminent Christians have come to Christ without 
 having first suffered the pangs of conviction. John Newton, 
 who always owned himself as one of the greatest of sinners, 
 and the most completely lost, says that he had not a moment's 
 time to feel the agonies of a new conviction. The Lord 
 entered at once into his soul, and filled it on the instant 
 with light and peace; so that he realized what a great sinner 
 he was, only after he realized that his sins were all washed 
 away in the blood of the covenant. 
 
 But you may say, I must certainly have faith first. To 
 come to Christ is to trust in Christ, and I cannot trust with- 
 out faith, and that, the Scripture says, "is the gift of God." 
 Now, here is a nice point. I do not believe that a scien- 
 tific solution of it can be given so that the reason shall be per- 
 
398 Selected psalms anD ^onograpbs 
 
 fectly satisfied. But one can be given, sufficient for all 
 practical purposes. One day four men brought a sick friend 
 to our Lord. He was paralyzed. He could not move 
 hand or foot. Now mark how the Saviour healed him. 
 He did not first remove the palsy and then tell him to arise. 
 But while he was still helpless with the disease, He said to 
 him, "Arise, take up thy bed and go unto thy house." 
 Now it was impossible for him to do that. It was even 
 impossible for him to will to do it. For such is the consti- 
 tution of the human mind, that we cannot will to do — that 
 is, make a true effort to do anything unless we have the con- 
 sciousness that we possess the power to do it. Now there the 
 man lay; to obey the command, was the only way he could 
 be cured; and yet, he could not obey the command. He 
 could not even make a true effort to obey, yet he did rise, 
 take up his bed and go to his house. It was because he 
 willed not in himself but in Christ. Let me illustrate. Place 
 a heavy weight in the hand of a man so sick that he can 
 hardly lift his hand. Tell him now to lift the weight. He 
 cannot even will to lift it. But place your hand under his, 
 and say, "Lift, and I will lift with you." Then he can both 
 will to do and do it. So the poor palsied man looked at 
 Christ. He believed that He would will with him, that 
 Christ's will would be under his will, Christ's power under 
 his power, and he was able to will and do. 
 
 An acute person can still find difficulties, philosophy 
 would not be satisfied with the explanation. But it is 
 enough to enable one rationally to act. The word of com- 
 mand, "Come," is a word of power, it enables us to obey 
 as truly as the words, "Come forth" enabled Lazarus to 
 obey. This is to the Greeks (people who demand a scien- 
 tific explanation of everything) "foolishness," but it is, for 
 all that the power of God unto salvation. ( 1 Cor. 1 :22- 
 24.) No, if you desire to be able to come to Christ, you 
 must come to Christ. 
 
Eetn iFreDeuck la Eue King 390 
 
 "Ho, ye needy, come and welcome! 
 God's free bounty glorify. 
 True belief and true repentance. 
 Every grace that brings us nigh. 
 
 Without money, 
 Come to Jesus Christ and buy." 
 There is the paradox of grace! There is the foolish- 
 ness of God, wiser than men. Surely, true belief and true 
 repentance are necessary to enable us to come to Christ, yet 
 those and all other graces to enable us to come to Christ, yet 
 Christ, we must get by coming to Christ for them. 
 
 What then have we to wait for? Come then to the 
 Lord Jesus Christ now, without waiting a moment. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Salvation is not to be besought, but, being freely of- 
 fered it is to be simply taken. 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 Do you ask, what is coming to Christ? 
 Coming to Christ is trusting Christ, by taking what He 
 offers. If you offered a starving man food and, instead of 
 taking it he should still continue to beg for it, would it not 
 show that he did not put any confidence in your offer? And 
 is it not dishonoring our Lord, when He says, "Come," to 
 stand aloof, and request permission to come? So the Med- 
 ieval church stood aloof from Christ and agonized in prayer 
 to Him for salvation. The consequence was that Christ 
 became to them a stern judge, and they made of the Virgin 
 Mary, a mediator between the sinner and Christ. No, there 
 are many things we may ask of the Lord Jesus Christ — 
 help, healing, guidance, light, etc., but to be justified in Him, 
 to enter into the state of salvation through Him, that, we 
 must not ask for; we must claim. It is offered, we have 
 only to take it. 
 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ states all this, as we would 
 never dare to do, had we not His very words. He describes 
 
400 Selected p$alm$ anD ^onograp&s 
 
 Himself as merely a minister, a steward, to whom God the 
 Father has entrusted gifts to distribute to men, which gifts 
 He cannot withhold from those for whom the Father 
 destined them. He says (John 6:38 and 39.) See also 
 (Ps. 68:18) "For I came down from heaven not to do 
 mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this 
 is the Father's will, that of all which He hath given me I 
 should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the Last Day/' 
 And now if you ask for whom the Father has destined this 
 great gift of salvation which he has entrusted to the Son, the 
 next verse (40th) tells, "And this is the will of Him that 
 sent me, that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on 
 Him, may have everlasting life." 
 
 Indeed God the Father is represented as having bound 
 Himself, in such a manner, to save all who have recourse to 
 Him through the Lord Jesus Christ that He cannot re- 
 fuse them. (Heb. 6:17) Not only does the sacrifice of 
 our Lord on the cross enable God to be just and (yet) 
 justify the sinner who believes (Rom. 3:26) but makes it 
 unjust for God to withhold salvation from one who ap- 
 proaches Him in the way He has appointed. (1st John, 
 1 :9) No permission then, is needed for us to enter the 
 blessed home of God. It is our right. Indeed, so anxious 
 is our Lord to show us that we have waited for nothing, 
 but enter at once into the state of grace, that He says, "The 
 Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take 
 it by force." (Matt. 1 1 :12) Think of the condescension of 
 God! Of the gifts of His grace He speaks in this way to 
 reassure us. It is just as if He would say, "You need 
 ask no questions. You need not say, 'By your leave' — 
 lay hands straight upon that which may be had for the 
 seizing of it." What more can our Lord say to show us 
 that salvation is free. 
 
 "And as the bird each fond endearment tried, 
 To tempt its new fledged offspring to the skies, 
 He tried each art, rebuked each dull delay." 
 
Eteto* jFreDerick La Eue I&ma 401 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 The peace and joy that fill the soul immediately upon 
 the act of faith, fully warranted; though we may seem to 
 ourselves not a whit changed for the better. But the change 
 then entered upon is tremendous and transcendent, being a 
 deliverance from ourselves. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 I can easily fancy you yet incredulous. 
 You may ask me, "Do you mean to say that I can take out 
 my watch and before three seconds have passed on the dial 
 I can make my peace with God, entering into a state of 
 salvation, and may, with reason, allow my heart to fill with 
 the peace and joy of the Christian?" Now consider: dur- 
 ing the passage of three seconds, an angel could come from 
 Heaven and tell you that you were a child of God and 
 heir to the Kingdom of Heaven. If this took place you 
 would not wait the tenth part of a second before peace and 
 joy would fill your heart. Now One greater than an angel 
 has assured us all in these words, "Whosoever will may 
 take of the water of life freely." "Whosoever" includes 
 you, therefore, to you it is said, "Take, and you shall 
 have." And how long a time is needful for you to take? 
 How long a time for you to look up and say, "Lord I 
 believe." "I trust myself to Thee, I give myself to Thee." 
 And when should you allow assurance and peace to 
 enter your heart? Why, the moment of your act of trust; 
 if at the moment of your act of trust, you believe that our 
 Lord's invitation is a sincere one. If a man who has needed 
 a large sum of money to save him from bankruptcy should 
 apply to a rich friend and be told, "Yes, you shall have 
 the money at once," at what moment should his anxiety 
 cease? Why, at the moment his friend uttered these words; 
 that is, if he believed his friend meant what he said. He 
 
402 Selected psalms ana ^onograpijg 
 
 would not wait till he got the money in hand. Nor need 
 we wait till we are conscious of a work of grace in our 
 hearts — till we see evidence in ourselves that we are chil- 
 dren of God, before we call ourselves such and enjoy the 
 confidence and peace proper to such a happy relation. 
 When Jesus told the ten lepers to go and show themselves to 
 the priests (Luke 17:12-14,) that they might get the 
 certitude that they were healed, it would have been but 
 mockery had he not intended to heal them. They believed 
 that the direction He gave implied a promise to heal so the 
 moment they started they might well dismiss all anxiety 
 and count themselves clean and restored to society. One 
 man of the number, a grateful Samaritan, I am sure, walked 
 along with a heart full of delight and thankfulness, though 
 he was yet a leper, white as snow. So I believe that, if 
 you turn your face to God, God will that instant turn His 
 face towards you; if you choose God, God will that instant 
 choose you. If you hear the words of Christ, "Come to 
 Me," and will come, though your limbs seem palsied, you 
 do come; though you seem a million miles away from 
 Him, He is at that moment by your side, and He will never 
 leave you nor forsake you. 
 
 What you do, is nothing, indeed; but the effects are 
 tremendous and eternal. The hand of a weak child may 
 dip a wire into a cup of quicksilver and establish an electric 
 current which will generate in a moment a force sufficient to 
 lift 3,000 pounds. So it is in becoming a Christian — only 
 the effect may not be instantaneously apparent. If you, 
 though your faith is so small that you seem to yourself faith- 
 less, though interest is so small that you seem to yourself 
 indifferent, will only truly and honestly come to the Lord 
 for what the Lord has to give you, then you may take for 
 granted that a vital relation is established between you and 
 Him which shall, bye and bye, become a vital possession, 
 and shall transform your body, soul and spirit into His 
 image. 
 
i&em ^Frederick JLa Eue l&mg 403 
 
 "But," I fancy that I hear you say, "is this the whole 
 story? Is the whole of Christianity to be summed up in one 
 spiritual act — the coming of Christ — which, once performed, 
 entitles a man to everlasting life, just as a ticket purchased 
 at a railroad station entitles one to a passage in the cars? 
 And may a man, simply because of that past spiritual act, 
 feel secure in a possession guaranteed to him by God on the 
 ground that he has performed the full condition required?" 
 I have known those who regarded the matter in this light; 
 a view condemned by Scripture and sound doctrine. I 
 hasten to say then, that those only, who preserve the at- 
 titude of trust with which they first came to the Lord, have 
 any right to continued peace and security. (Heb. 10:38.) 
 And I would also say that faith in Christ is of such a tran- 
 scendent nature, that it begins a transformation of the whole 
 man, body, soul and spirit, so that in the end, if faith is held 
 in exercise, we shall be presented before God's Throne, 
 "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." 
 
 I have previously showed you what it was to come 
 to Christ; the question is now in order, what do we come 
 to Christ for? I would say in answer to this — Christians 
 may come to Christ for help, healing, guidance, instruction 
 and many other things. But the coming to Christ which 
 is the very beginning of the Christian life- — the Alpha before 
 which there is nothing, is of such a nature that, if you come 
 to Christ merely to have him do anything for you, or even to 
 work anything upon you, you do not come to Christ in 
 this sense at all. You may think this is a strange saying, 
 but it is literally true. You come to Christ to be saved 
 from what? Some such illustration as this is often used to 
 set the matter forth. A man is in a quicksand, helpless and 
 sinking. A person comes to the edge of the firm ground, 
 and throws him a rope, saying, "Hold fast to this, and I 
 will pull you out." He has confidence in the power and 
 willingness of the one who offers him help, clings to the 
 rope and is drawn out. In a like manner a man accepts 
 
404 Selected psalms anD ^onogtapijg 
 
 Christ's offered help and is saved. Now this is good as an 
 illustration, but fails just here. The man in the quicksand 
 is separate from it. But sinful man is his own quicksand. 
 It is himself that he needs to be delivered from. As Mil- 
 ton quotes Satan as saying, "Which way I fly is hell; myself 
 am hell." Sinners are their own jailers, their own chains. 
 The marvellous thing about man is that, while he is 
 made in the image of God, and has, in spite of the fall, so 
 much there is lovely and excellent in him, still sin is at the 
 root of his being. As the psalmist says, "Behold, I am 
 shapen in iniquity." (Ps. .51 :25) And a thorough con- 
 viction of sin shows a man that it is not something that be- 
 longs to him like a disease from which he would be deliv- 
 ered; it is not like the shirt of Nersus, from which Hercules 
 could not deliver himself and which destroyed him, but it is 
 the sinner himself. A man who has not this thorough con- 
 viction thinks sometimes, "I must strive against sin within 
 me." Vain man. That very "I" that is going to strive 
 is itself sinful; and sin cannot conquer sin. One sin can 
 conquer another — as for instance, a man may keep from get- 
 ting drunk that his hand may be steady to shoot and do 
 murder. Much of the temperance, generosity, self-devotion 
 and nobleness of the world is of this character. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Salvation is not the abasing of our wills before God's 
 will, but the making of God's will ours. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 When a man comes to be convicted of sin, 
 he gets to know two things, first that sin is not an essential 
 part of his nature, that he is not forced to commit one single 
 sinful act. And second, he becomes conscious that sin 
 is at the very foundation of his being and he cannot deliver 
 himself from it. Thus, though he is perfectly free to do or 
 
Kein jFreOerick La Eue l&tng 405 
 
 not to do any wrong act, there will be sin in anything he 
 does; though there may be at the same time something 
 praiseworthy about it. Though he can deliver himself from 
 sins, he cannot deliver himself from sin. Now we come to 
 Christ to be delivered from sin. You may say that sal- 
 vation means more than this; that it comprises deliverance 
 from sorrow, poverty, pain, disease, death, and the world of 
 woe. True; but all these dreadful things are not arbitrary 
 punishments of sin; they follow sin by an inevitable law of 
 the universe of God. They are no more arbitrary than 
 burning is the arbitrary punishment of putting one's hand 
 into the fire. 
 
 Deliverance from sin includes deliverance from all 
 these evils, because it is deliverance from the source of all 
 these. So does salvation include peace, joy, wealth, health, 
 eternal life and the blessedness of the world to come. 
 
 Sin is separateness from God, and everything evil nat- 
 urally flows from it. Deliverance from sin can only be ef- 
 fected by unison with God, and everything good flows 
 naturally from it. Now, a man in a state of sin thinks that 
 he may acknowledge Him as king, and even be ready to 
 worship God, as really as he is separate from another man. 
 He may feel his dependence upon God, he may own God's 
 power, he may acknowledge Him as king, and even be 
 ready to obey everything that He orders. But there is a 
 reserve. He is not willing to have his will swallowed up 
 in God's will and above all, he is not able to find great- 
 er independence and liberty through that surrender. He 
 cannot say with Madam Guyon, 
 
 "And in Thy boundless will to find 
 The strength, the freedom of the mind." 
 
 The man in a state of sin is like Saul, who is willing 
 enough to own God religiously and worship Him, but 
 could not, would not, acknowledge Him as the real ruler of 
 Israel. He could not understand how He could be God and 
 
406 Selected psalms anD ^onogtapfjs 
 
 at the same time be king. David, on the contrary (as a man 
 after God's own heart) was willing that God should be 
 ruler over Israel in every detail of national life, and he, him- 
 self, but a sub-king under Him. It is hard for us to realize 
 how much David gave up in the words, "Thine is the great- 
 ness and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the 
 majesty. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord." (1st Chron. 
 29:11.) For a different spirit see Dan. 4:30. And yet 
 these heathen kings could at times make profound acknowl- 
 edgments to their God. 
 
 This was the reason why Michael despised David ( 2d 
 Sam. 6 : 1 2-2 1 ) when he humbled himself to dance be- 
 fore the ark. She could not conceive of a king who did 
 not keep his place, and here was a king who was behaving 
 himself before the Lord as a common servant before his 
 master. The natural man is willing that God should 
 keep His place, if he is only allowed to keep his own. He 
 may be willing that God should rule from the Heavens 
 over him, but not on the earth and in him. Nay, the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, whom our Saviour stigmatized as 
 hypocrites, were perfectly willing that God should rule over 
 them. There was nothing that they were not willing to do, 
 if God would only state plainly what it was He wished. 
 They were also as ready to do everything that could be 
 logically deduced from the distinct statements of His will 
 that He had given. Their rabbis thought the week well 
 spent in meditating how to keep the Sabbath perfectly, and 
 as to bearing burdens on the Sabbath, nothing could be more 
 punctillious than their teaching and their practice. They 
 taught that if a woman should wear a ribbon pinned on her 
 dress it would be a dreadful violation of the law, it would 
 be labor, the bearing of a burden. No, she must sew it 
 on the dress, and then it would become part of the garment, 
 there would be no breach of the Sabbath in wearing it. 
 This is a specimen of some of the results of their profound 
 theological study. And what a lovely spirit of submission 
 
I&eu* jFreDetick La Hue ifting 407 
 
 to the will of God does it manifest. What righteousness 
 too. In Isaiah, 1st chapter, 1 1 th to 1 4th verses, you will 
 see what the prophet thought about such righteousness. 
 And you know what our Lord thought and said about it 
 (Matt. 23: 13-33.) Never were people so determined 
 to do the will of God; never were people at the same time 
 so averse to doing the will of God. On the morning of 
 the crucifixion they were too scrupulous to tread the pave- 
 ment of Pilate's judgment hall, but they were not too 
 scrupulous to hound on the rabble to a judicial murder. 
 
 Suppose a daughter were to say to her mother, "Now, 
 only tell me distinctly all that you wish me to do, and I 
 will always do it as strictly and accurately as I can." 
 What kind of a daughter would she be? And would the 
 mother rejoice over her? I think not. She might say that, 
 and say it sincerely, and yet hate her mother, indeed 
 would not such words imply a lack of love, and real devo- 
 tion? A true mother does not care what her daughter 
 can do for her, she craves her daughter's self. And so 
 God does not ask anything of us because He asks everything 
 of us, even our very selves. And how far are those from 
 doing this, who regard God as an infinite powerful official 
 at the head of the universe, and strive with all their might 
 to bend themselves to His will, and obey all His com- 
 mands. No, unless we give God everything, we cannot 
 give Him anything. And herein is seen the truth of the 
 old theological maxim, that we cannot please God (try as 
 hard as we may) unless we are in a state of Grace. It 
 sounds like a hard saying, but it is simply common sense, 
 and we act constantly on the principle (as we have 
 shown) in daily life. Our Saviour tells us, "After this man- 
 ner pray ye." He means that it is the only manner that 
 we can rightly pray. The only view to take of God that is 
 not intolerable, and even terrible, is to regard Him as our 
 Father. Take any other view, and we shall be, sooner or 
 
408 Selected psalms and sponograp&s 
 
 later, calling upon the mountains and rocks to fall upon 
 us and hide us from Him. 
 
 And if God is our Father and we are His children 
 we cannot please Him with anything that is not done in a 
 childlike spirit. And how can we have that childlike 
 spirit unless we are conscious that we are really God's chil- 
 dren (not merely His creatures), unless we are led by His 
 Spirit as they are led by the spirit of their parents, who 
 take after their parents? We must be really His children, 
 to have the childlike spirit. That is, we must be born, "not 
 of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but 
 of God" (John 1 :13). 'Tis only the true rapport of a 
 common nature, which we obey of ourselves, then only we 
 really obey. To obey commands issued by God as an 
 arbitrary legislator outside of us is perfectly consistent with 
 keeping ourselves aloof from Him. So to bend our will 
 unlovingly to His is not to yield ourselves up to Him. 
 
 A captive king may bow to the power of his con- 
 queror, consent to walk in chains after his triumphant char- 
 iot, and may obey all the commands, however ignominious, 
 that may be laid on him. But there is one ignominy to 
 which he will never submit — he will never consent to be a 
 free and willing subject. He will never give up his slave- 
 hood, he hugs his chains because they leave him — no, they 
 make him, a king in will and aspiration. So the soul 
 separate from God stands aloof from Him and strives to 
 bend its will to His. It surrenders and surrenders, but it 
 never gives up. It merely retires into the inmost recesses of 
 its being, and there occupies a throne from which it will not 
 be driven. It may suffer acute tortures, it may watch to 
 obey with pharasaical scrupulousness, but still it will hold 
 itself, with imperial spirit, face to face with God, and inde- 
 pendent. 
 
I&etn jFteDenck JLa Eue ifting 409 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Examples of this surrender of the will in the earthly 
 life. God, the essence of all that the true man holds as 
 sufficiently furnishing the enabling motive to this surrender. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 It may be thought that man, because he 
 is an individual, must act as described in my last letter. 
 Keep ourselves to ourselves to be free. But this is not so. 
 Man is endowed with a self, but he is also endowed with 
 a power of giving away himself. You shall see two persons 
 — a man and a woman — separate and independent souls; 
 and between them shall kindle up a feeling that shall unite 
 them so completely, that one cannot conceive of peace or 
 happiness apart from the other. Nor can one will any- 
 thing contrary to the other's will. This state may not be 
 permanent, but while it lasts, it is an image of the relation 
 that should subsist between ourselves and God, and proof 
 that such a relation is possible. Not merely in the love 
 that causes man to leave father and mother and cleave to 
 his wife, can he give himself away. For country, for party, 
 for philanthropy, for truth, for righteousness, for honor, and 
 in many other ways, can he give himself away, and if he 
 did it in all these ways and at one and the same time per- 
 manently and completely, then we would have a still more 
 perfect likeness of the surrender of the soul to God, which 
 is an infinite surrender and forever. For, as I said, God 
 is not merely an infinitely powerful official at the head of the 
 universe; He is the essence and infinite perfect ideal of 
 truth, beauty, peace, joy, love, power, wealth, life, pity, 
 mercy — but why multiply words? Everything worthy is 
 gathered up in the living, loving God. To stand aloof 
 from Him is to stand aloof from all that is excellent. To 
 join oneself to God is to receive God into one's soul — to 
 become everything that is excellent. 
 
410 Selected psalms anD e@onograpl)0 
 
 But you may say, "Cannot one have beautiful moral 
 qualities apart from God? Are there no persons unselfish, 
 generous, devoted, and who are not religious, and who 
 even deny the existence of God? And are there not many 
 religious persons of very unlovely characters? ' Granted. 
 Man was made in God's image, and yet retains many 
 traits of that image. You may cut a rose from its bush, 
 and if you take care of it, it will retain for a long time every- 
 thing that its connection with a bush gave it — everything 
 except permanency of life. It will look and smell the same, 
 but it is practically dead; and it only needs certain hours to 
 pass to make its death manifest to all — petals and leaves 
 and stalk will all wither. Now at the Fail man was sev- 
 ered from the source of his life and became practically 
 dead. In some circumstances he withers away very rapidly, 
 in others, where he is surrounded with the influences of true 
 religion, the change is retarded and even arrested. 
 
 Not till the day of Pentecost could the severed branch 
 be set back to the source of its life — could man be bap- 
 tized into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy 
 Ghost. Now this explains the beautiful character of many 
 who are apparently without religion. It is a trace of God's 
 image not wholly lost, or it is what is induced upon them by 
 the surrounding influences of Christian society. And then 
 we must consider that there is a great deal of secret religion. 
 Many are looking to and depending on God, and living in 
 Him when those who are around them know nothing of it, 
 and indeed they themselves are hardly aware that it is so. 
 And then, if we consider, these lovely natural characters, we 
 will find that they often lack symmetry to that degree that 
 they sometimes become moral monsters. Robespierre, with 
 his guillotine, and the anarchists with their dynamite, may 
 be called sincerely philanthropic. And in daily life we con- 
 stantly meet with the same kind of inconsistency, only less 
 striking in degree. But we are called to full-orbed virtue. 
 Not in one, but in every direction, must the soul ray forth 
 
Eeth jfreDertck La Eue Mm 411 
 
 towards whatsoever is good and lovely in all things at all 
 times. And virtue is only safe, when it is thus universal; 
 indeed then only is it real virtue. This is why we say that 
 to love God and bow our wills utterly to His, is not only 
 the first of virtues, but that which includes all others. 
 
 We cannot love all without loving The All, and it is 
 just as true that we cannot embrace God without embracing 
 all that He has made. Madam Guyon's husband said once 
 to her, "You love God so much that you cannot love me at 
 all." If that was the fact, then her love to God was not 
 what it ought to have been; for "he that loveth not his 
 brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he 
 hath not seen?" (1st John 4:20.) St. Paul says of all 
 created men (Acts 1 7:28) "For in Him we live and move 
 and have our being." And therefore much more may it be 
 said of God's children of Grace, "If we love one another, 
 God dwelleth in us and His love is perfected in us." (1st 
 John 4:12) That is, loving others is the best way of loving 
 God, and when others love us, that is the most precious 
 manifestation of His love. Does it seem a hard thing to you 
 to submit to the will of God? Why, you cannot ride 
 on horseback without recognizing and obeying implicitly His 
 will in the law of gravitation that He has made; and His 
 laws are all like that. The true conception of submission 
 to the will of God, is not the forcing our wills to bend 
 before an external will. That is not the way we obey the 
 law of gravitation. That law is in ourselves, it is a part of 
 ourselves, we would not have it otherwise, and in just this 
 way are we to obey all God's will. 
 
 We may — nay, we must, be spontaneous and free, 
 or we have not submitted to God. Indeed it is the only 
 way to attain true liberty. This is what is meant by the words, 
 "I will put My law into their hearts, and in their minds will 
 I write them." (Heb. 10:16.) And "In the hidden parts 
 thou shalt make me to know wisdom." (Ps. 51 :6) That 
 is, all my impulses, the nature that lies beneath the will, will 
 
412 Selected psalms anD ^onograpljs! 
 
 be right. If you dread becoming a Christian because you 
 dislike the prospect of doing many things you have no relish 
 for, and to deny yourself many things you desire, be as- 
 sured that God dislikes to have you do so more than you 
 yourself dislike it. You may indeed have to do many things 
 that are trying, but if the relish is not greater than the dis- 
 relish, it is not perfectly pleasing to God. Said Garibaldi 
 to his followers, "The rewards I offer you are hunger, thirst, 
 weariness, prison, wounds, pain, death." But none the less 
 they willingly offered themselves, and Italy became free. In 
 the fight with the Merrimac Lieut. Worden, who com- 
 manded the Monitor, was thought to have lost his eye- 
 sight. After all was over, he asked but one question — "Is 
 the Merrimac beaten off?" "Yes." "Then I don't care 
 what becomes of me." This is meant to illustrate not 
 only the completeness of the surrender to God's will that I 
 should urge, but the kind of a motive there is for such a 
 surrender. We can see motive enough for us to suffer for 
 freedom for one's country. The red, white and blue of our 
 country's flag, who can see it in a strange land without a 
 thrill? Around that beloved emblem gather thoughts of 
 what is most precious to us — home, kindred, the blessings of 
 liberty, the hope of mankind. Under that fluttering symbol 
 how willingly marched our brothers to battle and death. 
 They followed wherever it lead; to shield it from insult they 
 held their lives cheap. They forgot self, they cast away 
 themselves for their flag. And all that flag meant to them 
 and means to us, God is, and ten thousand times more. 
 The flag, precious as it is, is but a symbol; God is the 
 reality — home, hope and liberty for the world, for the uni- 
 verse. If Worden's satisfaction was perfect, no matter what 
 became of him, can we not understand the words of our 
 Lord, (Mark 8:35) "Whosoever will save his life shall 
 lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the 
 Gospel's, shall save it?" 
 
Retn jFreOeuck JLa Eue Mm 413 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 This surrender not in the power of the. will; the new 
 birth necessary. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 I heard a certain German general say the 
 other day, "Not one of us but would lay his neck upon any 
 block for our dear Emperor." And now think of our Em- 
 peror — Our Father in Heaven. Is it so hard to receive 
 God as our Father? Easy enough if our Father were Em- 
 peror of Germany, but how impossible, of ourselves, when 
 He is sovereign of all worlds. For a moment, for one whom 
 we love, for our country, for a finite object, we can forget 
 ourselves and cast all away. But for all men, for all worlds, 
 for all time, for eternity, for God who sums up all that is 
 worth the sacrifice of self — this infinite surrender of self, so 
 glorious is not for us with our unaided strength to make. 
 We can kill ourselves, but to kill oneself and yet live, that is 
 not for us to effect. And yet this alone is salvation. To be- 
 come Godlike, that is to be saved. Said I not well that this 
 man is his own quicksand, that he must be delivered from 
 himself if he is to be saved? And it is as impossible to de- 
 liver one's self as it is to step off one's shadow. Re- 
 solve to obey all God's commands, and your resolutions will 
 amount to nothing. And if your resolution held firm, and 
 God should intimate His will distinctly and definitely in 
 everything and at every moment, our very souls would be 
 paralyzed by the constraint and self-watch. We would 
 render to God no better worship than the postures of an 
 automaton. God does not want a machine for a son, but 
 a living, breathing man, and a free man, who does as he 
 pleases, and yet pleases Him. 
 
 Unless we find out ourselves what will please God and 
 do it of ourselves, we can never please Him. Could any 
 friend please us on any other terms? Who could endure 
 
414 Selected psalms ano ^onograpfjs 
 
 a friend to whom one would have to issue specific requests 
 for any friendly words or deeds that we should have from 
 him? We could no more have intercourse with such a per- 
 son, than with something that we kept moving by turning a 
 crank. But how can we be friends of God in this spontan- 
 eous way? It cannot be by any effort of our own. Let 
 us then cease from our striving. "Behold," as the Apostle 
 says, "I show you a more excellent way," even the way of 
 the New Birth. That giving up of self that I have been 
 describing is just what the Scriptures call it — it is death. 
 We give up all the life that is ours, and receive a new life 
 from the Lord. Just as the chrysalis dies to its chrysalis 
 state, in unfolding its wings as a butterfly, so do we cast off 
 self by means of the new birth, and find ourselves again in 
 God. We submit ourselves to God and find ourselves for 
 the first time true freemen. 
 
 We do not come to Christ, then, to be delivered from 
 any perilous position — to be plucked back from the world of 
 woe. It is not an outside danger that we have to dread, 
 but the danger within — source and fountain of all ills. 
 Without a thorough change, wherever we may be we are 
 lost, and with that change, wherever we may be we are 
 saved. We come to Christ to have that change wrought 
 in us. 
 
 The inquiry is in order then — what are the means by 
 which this change is affected? And here must be noted 
 another point in which the quicksand illustration fails. If 
 I were in the quicksand, I would only want to know about 
 the man who offered to pull me out, whether he was able 
 and willing to deliver me. It would matter nothing to me what 
 sort of man he was. If, however, his pulling me out of the 
 quicksand made me like him, I might well hesitate and in- 
 quire as to his character; for there are men so base and de- 
 graded, that I had better be swallowed up in the quicksand 
 than be made like them. Now the necessary condition to our 
 Lord's saving us is in our being made like Him, indeed that is 
 salvation itself. And it behooves us to ask ourselves, we 
 
Ifteto* jFre&erick La Eue iftins 415 
 
 who are seeking to be saved, "Do I really desire to be like 
 Christ?" For there are some seekers so base and degraded 
 in their views that the salvation that they seek, if they only 
 knew it, is the very destruction that they dread. To be 
 redeemed, that very thing must die which they wish to 
 save. 
 
 We have seen that evil from which we are to be de- 
 livered is not something external to ourselves, it is ourselves. 
 And so our Lord saves us, not by means of anything external 
 to Himself — He saves by imparting Himself to us. Not by 
 doing anything for us, or working by His power any change 
 in us, but by joining us to Himself, and making us one with 
 Himself. So that, as the smallest branch of a vine has all 
 the precious qualities and characteristics of the vine, we by 
 being set into Him come to be like Him, because we are 
 become part of Him, John 15:5. This is the new birth, 
 without which no one can enter the kingdom of heaven. 
 When Nicodemus (John 3rd chapter) came to our Lord 
 by night, he thought he was acknowledging his highest 
 claims in acknowledging that he was a teacher sent from 
 God. Our Lord shows him at once that he must be some- 
 thing more than this, or he could not be a saviour at all. 
 His answer amounts to this: "Though I taught all I know, 
 though you obeyed me implicitly, though you loved me 
 with your whole heart, you would still stand outside the 
 kingdom of heaven till bom again." Does this appear 
 to you as it did to him, — a very discouraging doctrine, 
 and the conditions required impossible of realization? On 
 the contrary, it is an encouraging doctrine, and the new 
 birth is a possible thing. Consider how many persons 
 there are of whom we are apt to say, — "It is very easy 
 for them to be good." Their very nature lifts them out 
 of the power of many of the common temptations of life. 
 And then, on the other hand, how many there are who 
 seem by their very nature predestined to evil, com- 
 pletely in the . power of tendencies that make them- 
 
416 Selected psalms ano s@onograpi)0 
 
 selves and every one around them miserable. Education 
 and self-discipline can do something (but after all, how 
 little!) to change birth characteristics. We are for the 
 most part as we are born, and although alike free, we 
 differ so much from each other, and these different charac- 
 teristics so surely direct our lives, that a man may be said to 
 be born victorious or defeated, with a happy or miserable 
 life in the bud. His efforts will no more avail to change 
 this than the efforts of a rose bud will avail to change 
 itself into the bud of another flower. Who could by any 
 effort become a musician like Mozart, a painter like Raphael, 
 or a sculptor like Michael Angelo? They are born so. 
 Now if God can cause men to vary thus at birth according 
 to the laws he has affixed to heredity, while all alike are free 
 and responsible, is it not conceivable that He by His omni- 
 potant power could work such a change in a grown man 
 as would endow him with qualities that he would have 
 by heredity, had his ancestry been different? And what 
 more blessed gift from God to us could there be than such 
 an exertion of His power as should endow us with the 
 most perfect human qualities, and make it as natural as 
 breathing for us to live a perfect human life? 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 And this new birth and the presence of the Holy 
 Spirit within us renders possible the free development of 
 natural powers, and the resulting variety of Christian charac- 
 ter. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 We are not left to conjure in this matter the trans- 
 figuration and use of the natural by God's gracious Spirit. 
 The Lord Jesus Christ is a man, and God as well as man, 
 and as he had power to send forth "virtue" (Mark 5 :30) 
 
Eein jFreOenck La Eue i&ing 417 
 
 to change disease into health, so those who in faith join 
 themselves to Him, He has power to join actually to His 
 person. So that they become sons of God, even as He 
 is son of God (John 1st, 12-26). For he is the first born 
 among many brethern. (Romans 8:29.) No new faculties 
 are introduced, we are essentially the same persons as be- 
 fore, only a divine force goes through all our being, lifting 
 us up into a higher and spiritual sphere of life. It is just 
 like the bud of a rose tree set into the branch of a healthy 
 rose tree of another kind, which grows in accordance with 
 its own peculiar life, but is possessed by the energy of the 
 bush into which it is set, and grows as it could not have 
 grown on the branch from which it is taken. This roughly 
 illustrates the matter but to explain fully is beyond our 
 power. It is one of the deep things of God. The Apostle 
 (Eph. 5:30) says, "We are members of His body ", but 
 also says (v.32) "This is a great mystery." How the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who must be seperate from us, or we could 
 not admire, love, obey or adore Him, should be still joined 
 to us so that we should be in Him, — that is indeed hard 
 to be understood. 
 
 Both facts, however, may be grasped and harmonized 
 in our spiritual experience; and we are helped to do this 
 by the conception of God that the church presents to us as 
 deduced from the Word of God, in the doctrine of the 
 Trinity. God the Father, invisible and incomprehensible, 
 at the root of all things, so satisfying our demand for law 
 and order, and unity everywhere. God the Son, visible com- 
 prehensible and near, satisfying our craving for a teacher, 
 a ruler and a friend. And third in the Trinity, — God the 
 Holy Spirit, — God within us, — soul of our souls, inhabit- 
 ing all our powers and faculties, lying at the root of our 
 being, and making us in the hidden part to "Know wisdom" 
 "(Ps. 5:1-6). It is the fact of this third person in the ador- 
 able Trinity that enables us to conceive how we, keeping 
 
418 ^electeD psalms and ^onograpjjs 
 
 our individuality distinct from the Lord, can yet be joined 
 to Him, — how we, born of the earth, earthy, can be re- 
 born brothers of the Lord from Heaven, — how we, retain- 
 ing all our freedom, can be made to possess the blessed traits 
 of Our Lord's perfect character. The Holy Spirit brings 
 into our inmost soul something from Christ that moulds 
 and makes us like Him. Just as the white light of heaven 
 passing through a stained window falls tinged with the color 
 upon the pavement below. 
 
 It cannot be too earnestly insisted on that we are not 
 free in all this, but retain our individual characteristics. 
 Some persons think that Christianity consists in moulding 
 ourselves into something other than we are. Some indeed, 
 strange to say, pass their lives in a struggle against a taste 
 for music or painting. Fighting against nature, they are 
 fighting against God. The mediaeval idea of a saint was 
 one who violated every tendency of his being. See the 
 self-inflicted tortures of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. But since 
 Christ came in the flesh He has sanctified human nature in all 
 its parts, in all its natural impulses. And all these it becomes 
 our duty to dedicate to God. And we dedicate them to God, 
 not by stripping ourselves of them, but by using them in God. 
 And here the priceless doctrine of the Holy Spirit enables 
 us to see how God, without curtailing our freedom or mar- 
 ring any one of our native endowments, can work mightily 
 in us, "both to will and do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 
 2:12-13). It is true that there are times When we are called 
 upon to deny ourselves, — to cut off the right hand, to pluck 
 out the right eye (Matt. 5:29-30), but 'A it be possible we 
 should rather use them for the glory of God. 
 
 We are told in the 19th Psalm that, though all days 
 show forth the glory of God, yet each does it in its own 
 peculiar way, so that as it is poetically expressed, one day 
 has something to tell about the glory of God to another 
 day, that it did not know. How much more is this true 
 
Eein ^Frederick La Eue iftittg 419 
 
 of God's children; each should be an unique Christian, of- 
 fering peculiar praise to God, and serving Him in a peculiar 
 way. When you see a number of Christians all alike, — 
 just as if they had been run in one and the same mould, 
 you see persons who give very little evidence of being true 
 Christians at all. Where there is life, there must be variety, 
 individuality. The relations God established with each soul 
 are peculiar to that soul alone. He comes to each believer 
 apart from all others. Madame Guyon, in her strong meta- 
 phorical language, calls herself in relation to the Lord, "a 
 solitary bride". See also the beautiful figure in Canticles, 
 3rd chapter, 12-16 verses. That this individuality of re- 
 lation is eternal is indicated clearly in Rev. 2nd, 1 7th, and 
 the fact that each one of us is to be exactly like no one 
 else, helps us to conceive how God can love each of us, 
 and for ourselves, as we love a friend. And this individuality 
 of characteristics involves our free development of character. 
 Dismiss, then, the idea that Christianity is a religion of 
 constraint or prohibition or denial. It is exactly the opposite 
 of that. The Holy Spirit breathes itself into the church 
 and through every believer, and it is just as when the wind 
 is breathed into an organ and visits every pipe, — each pipe 
 gives its own sound alone, and not that of another. And 
 therefore as a Christian you should glorify God not apart 
 from, but through, the peculiar tastes and faculties and 
 energies you have freely exercised. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 But till we are perfect we must look to the Law and 
 heed it, or we will be led astray. There will be no bondage, 
 however, since the Law's demands are in harmony with the 
 new life. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 Constraint and command were the characteristics of the 
 Old Dispensation, though love of God made the yoke easy 
 
420 ©elected Psalms and e@onograp&0 
 
 to such as David. Liberty is the characteristic of the Gospel, 
 and if we were perfect Christians, we should have only to 
 act from our impulses and desires. In that case "Love," as 
 Wordsworth says, would be "an unerring light, and joy 
 its own security". So strong is the language of Scripture 
 on this head that errorists have wrested it into the doctrine 
 that at no time in a Christian's career need he regard and 
 obey law. This would be true if when we came to Christ 
 we were at once transformed into His image. But the fact 
 is, the kingdom of heaven is in us at its first beginnings very 
 small, — but a grain of mustard seed. Regeneration is one 
 thing, perfect Santification and redemption quite another. 
 We come to Christ to be joined to Christ, to be 
 regenerated. The act of true faith effects this. A trem- 
 endous change it makes in our condition. We become Sons, 
 sons of God and brethem of the Lord Jesus. Our guilt is 
 gone in a moment, a vital relation is established between 
 us and the Lord. 
 
 But vital relation is not vital possession. The first is 
 established in a moment, by the act of God, we being per- 
 fectly passive; the second requires our whole lives, and in 
 this long growth in grace or santification we are active. 
 It is, one may say, our work in the Lord Jesus Christ 
 through the Spirit. And it is just because so much sin 
 remains in those who have been born again, that they must 
 heed the law and be judged by it. But the Law is not 
 their life, nor is obedience to the Law. Neither is the 
 law their ideal. Even under the Old Dispensation servants 
 of God were pointed to God himself as the one who was 
 their great exemplar. But under the New Dispensation 
 how much more is Christ our law and our ideal. You then 
 having come to Christ and received as you trust, the gifts 
 of regeneration, which you cannot be conscious of, but 
 must take for granted, as the lepers whom Christ told 
 to show themselves to the priests, took for granted their 
 
Eetn jfreDerick £a Rue Mm 421 
 
 cleaning, must in the spirit of those lepers begin to put on 
 Christ, believing that Christ works in you to make you 
 like Himself. We should ask ourselves often, "What would 
 Christ do in these circumstances?" And then strive to do 
 that very thing. If we make the effort in our own strength 
 we shall probably fail in doing what we attempt to do 
 and even when we succeed it will not be genuine success. 
 A forced action is indeed better than nothing, but it is not 
 Christian action; that is, the genuine manifestation of the 
 Christian's real nature, upspringing from free impulse, not 
 harnessed and bridled impulse. And to this we will at- 
 tain if we, realizing that it is impossible of ourselves to do 
 what we are called upon to do, believe also that a mighty 
 will and power works with our power to enable us to do 
 what our Lord under the circumstances would do. No, we 
 must believe that He acts by and through us, and give Him 
 the glory for it all. 
 
 To no slavery, then, are you called, no ascetic self 
 denial is required of you. You are merely asked that, 
 in Christ, you should turn yourself into one like Christ. 
 That is true salvation, and they who think they have sec- 
 ured salvation by performing some condition required by 
 God or going through some intense spiritual exercise, and 
 then feel free to devote themselves to more congenial 
 worldly matters (that business being attended to) will find 
 themselves dreadfully mistaken. We cannot choose Christ 
 to have Him take our guilt away, to deliver us from the 
 world of woe, and admit us to the world of glory, without 
 choosing Him in all acts of fairness and nobleness and 
 self forgetting disinterestedness, courage, loving ministration 
 and cordiality. But why attempt to make a catalogue of 
 what are innumerable? It is sufficient to say that you 
 must choose Christ in all the acts proper to a beautiful, 
 perfect human being. This hardly expresses it, for our 
 Lord is something above humanity; and we are called 
 
422 ^electeQ Psalms anD a^onogtapjjs 
 
 upon to live a life above the original humanity, — just as 
 Lazarus in his state of death was commanded to do the 
 acts of life. Not for the sake of being a beautiful human 
 being. Not for the sake of being saved, — though each 
 such act of choice is of the nature of a saving act of faith, 
 whether you are aware of it or not. No, — the motive 
 should be love of Him who gave Himself for you, "The 
 Just for the unjust," and for love of your brethren of God's 
 great family. 
 
 Remember, if you shrink from this it is entirely anal- 
 ogous to the shrinking that we could conceive a lower animal 
 to experience at the thought of being turned into a higher 
 animal. The nobler life it cannot appreciate, it cannot 
 conceive it as anything else than torture. Suppose a fish 
 swimming in the water should look up at a man walking 
 on the bank and be told that, if it only wished, it could 
 be turned into a man; it would certainly shrink from it; 
 for to be a fish would seem better. An invitation akin to 
 that is given to you. Do not consider it a call to constraint, 
 to dreariness, to loss and joyless life. It is a call to a 
 nobler, happier human life. Not more pleasureable perhaps. 
 The first necessary condition of a human happiness is 
 to trample pleasure under foot. The fish, if he become 
 a man, would lose the pleasure of darting about under 
 the water, but how much nobler is it to live as a man in 
 the air! 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 Faith joins us to the Lord, but not necessarily the 
 thought of faith. We may take hold of God by an act, 
 when we are not at all aware that it is inspired by faith. 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 I have now tried, as well as I could, to show the 
 nature of the act of coming to Christ, and also what we 
 
Retn jfteDetick La i&ue ming 423 
 
 come to Christ for. It remains in a few words to speak 
 of the manner of our coming to Christ. There are two 
 modes of trusting Christ, — in thought, and in act. The 
 dying thief had only time and opportunity for the thought 
 of faith. He could only say, "Lord, remember me when thou 
 comest in Thy Kingdom." (Luke 23:42). That was 
 enough, — though he had no opportunity to manifest his faith 
 by works, though a few moments before he was a blas- 
 phemer; though he had no time to become sanctified, he 
 was justified and that very day passed into paradise with 
 the Lord. Our Saviour asks only for trust in him as the 
 sole condition of salvation. "As Moses lifted up the serpent 
 in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted 
 up, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish but 
 have everlasting life." (John 3:4-15.) It needed but 
 a look of faith at the brazen serpent for the Israelites to be 
 healed, and there is eternal life for a look unto the Lamb of 
 God who taketh away the sin of the world." 
 
 The couplet, 
 
 "Between the saddle and the ground, 
 I mercy sought and mercy found," 
 is not too strong a statement of the instantaneousness with 
 which the remedy which God has provided can be exhibited 
 and appropriated. Though it would be perilous in the 
 extreme to presume upon it, — still we must allow the 
 possibility of a man's being saved in the article of death, 
 for in a moment he can rest in faith on the Saviour. It is 
 very unlikely that a man at the instant of death will for 
 the first time trust the Saviour, but we must allow the 
 possibility. 
 
 Union with the Lord and the Christian life begins in 
 the case of many with the thought of faith alone. Though 
 a man were alone in a desert, afar from his fellow men, 
 and so unable to do the works of faith, it is sufficient for 
 his salvation if he know and act upon the sole condition 
 of the Gospel, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 
424 Selected Psalms anO ©onogtapfjg 
 
 shalt be saved." But where it is possible, more than the 
 thought of faith is required. Now all those acts in which 
 we strive to do holily, lovingly and nobly in the Lord — 
 relying upon His working through us, — are acts of faith 
 and in them often begins the Christian life, in them we 
 are sometimes for the first time joined to the Lord. Some- 
 times a person in his closet strives with all his might to 
 think the thought of faith, and finds it impossible. He 
 calls up all the promises of the Gospel and tries to give 
 himself up to the Saviour. But he finds himself as unable 
 to do it, as to lift himself in his own arms. After all his 
 efforts he remains without rest or peace or hope or joy. 
 The very eagerness of his desire lends to defeat itself. 
 Sometimes peace comes after a long struggle, and in 
 thought the burdened one is enabled to take hold on Christ. 
 But often peace comes in another way. Forgetting him- 
 self and his needs, in the care for and sympathy with the 
 sorrows and necessities of others, the man, trying to do 
 the work of the Lord, relying on the might of the Lord, 
 finds that he has unaware given himself to the Lord, and is 
 planted in Him, never more to be shaken. The joy and 
 peace of his Risen Lord fills his heart, and to his surprise 
 he finds that he has fulfilled the condition of salvation. 
 The thought of faith is good, and we ought to pursue it in 
 our closets. Our Master often sought His closet, and even 
 passed whole nights in prayer, but His life was mainly 
 passed in acts of love and service towards His fellow men, 
 and in such acts we most naturally draw near to find Him 
 and company with Him, striving to do those things that 
 without Him we cannot do, — not merely giving away to 
 pleasent natural impulses. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 The Church, with her ordinances, is Christ's best rep- 
 resentative in this world; if we come in faith and love to 
 the Church, we come to Christ to grow into His likeness. 
 
Rein jFreDerick £a Rue ifting 425 
 
 Dear Friend: — 
 
 There is one act of faith great and prominently as- 
 sociated with the beginning of the Christian life. I mean 
 the entering the Christian Church. The great new com- 
 mandments of our Master was that Christians should love 
 each other. Christianity is intensely social. In so far as 
 a Christian Church is not social, in so far forth it is not 
 Christian. If, then, we love the Lord, we will not, we can- 
 not, remain apart from our brethren in the Lord. And if 
 Christians were only more like Christ, what better way 
 would there be to seek Christ than to seek the society of 
 Christians. To love Christians would be to love their Master 
 for in them they would find their Master. But still, though 
 Christian society, that is, the Church, falls far short of what 
 it should be, though it but faintly and brokenly reflects His 
 glory who is "chiefest among ten thousand and altogether 
 lovely", it is still a priceless privilege to enter and become 
 part of it. Whither must we go to hear the word of the 
 Lord preached, Which is not only a duty but a means of 
 grace? Whither must we go for united prayer and praise, — 
 not only a duty, but a means of grace? And there we 
 have preserved for our use those precious symbols of grace, 
 baptism and the Lord's Supper, which Our Lord com- 
 manded that we should forever use, that forever might be 
 kept alive in the Church the sense of entire dependence upon 
 His life and presence in those who are His. And if you 
 would do what is now incumbent upon you, you must seek 
 Christ, not only in your closet, through the thought of faith, 
 not only in acts of faith through deeds of love and service, 
 but also in His church, — listening humbly and faithfully 
 to Hib word, singing His praises, relying on the help of the 
 Spirit of all praise, praying as by means of Him who 
 maketh intercession through us "with groanings that cannot 
 be uttered" (Rom. 8:2,6.); and (if you have been al- 
 ready baptized) drawing near to His table to take and eat 
 of the symbols of His broken body and shed blood. 
 
426 ^electeD P$alm0 anD ^onograpfjg 
 
 Many there are who now having failed to find Christ 
 in the thought of faith, or in the acts of service, have found 
 Him in His church, and especially at His holy table, — in 
 the large promise and offer, — bountifully free, — that He 
 makes through those who minister in His name. "Take 
 and eat, this is my body". Surely, if ever, we can draw 
 near there and then. Nowhere does He show himself more 
 accessible, putting Himself into (as it were) our very hearts, 
 and nowhere can we so fully realize His great act of dying 
 for us. 
 
 Tihis then is the sum of all that I have written. Would 
 you be saved, you must first become aware that you are 
 lest. Not that it is necessary for you to have that intense 
 feeling of this. Many make a great mistake here, and think 
 that if they do not have deep and terrible conviction of sin 
 first, then they have no right to act in the matter. This 
 is an exceedingly mistaken view. If you only feel your 
 lost estate so that you are prompted to apply to the Lord 
 for deliverance, it is enough. But you must not merely 
 feel that you are in a bad situation, and in danger of peril 
 from that, but that in yourself you are undone, and your 
 desire for deliverance must be a desire for transformation 
 into the likeness of Christ. This you are not to beseech of 
 Christ, but to take at once, — it being freely offered to you. 
 Simple trust will save you, for as Christ met the woman's 
 touch upon the hem of His garment by healing virtue from 
 His person, so He will surely meet your trust, by sending 
 the power of His whole life through the Holy Spirit into 
 the centre of your life, and make you one with Him as 
 really as my hand, eye or heart is part of myself. What 
 I deserve, my hand, eye or heart deserves; to touch my 
 hand, eye or heart, is to touch me; and so those who are 
 through faith, made Christ's members, are at once as free 
 from condemnation as He is, and deserve all that He de- 
 serves, though in themselves they deserve nothing but punish- 
 ment. This will be their confidence in the Great Last 
 
Rett* jFreOerick La Eue iking 427 
 
 Day. They are found in Him and in Him are justified, 
 and in Him inherit all things. (Eph. 1 :22-23). 
 
 You may not be conscious, though you do really 
 trust in the Saviour, that this vital relation has been estab- 
 lished, for it is the act of God, and not spiritual experience. 
 It is beneath the consciousness. But the whole Christian 
 life is made up of acts of faith. Seek Him without ceasing 
 in your closet by thought, in the world by all acts of love 
 and service, in the church in its praises and prayers, and 
 at the Table of the Lord. At some point, at some time, 
 you will realize that you are actually joined to the Lord, 
 that you are His, and He is yours, and you will be filled 
 with peace and joy. But feelings do not save us, nor are 
 they a sure mark of a saved state. Faith saves us even 
 though we pass through life without the assurance. 
 
 And then having entered into the way of life, go on 
 to perfection. Put on Christ in all holy and lovely human 
 doing, "hasting not, resting not" in the constant exercise 
 of faith till that day when He who has the Key of David, 
 "who openeth and no man shutteth," (Rev. 3:7) shall 
 swing wide Heaven's portal, and receive you with welcome 
 and plaudits to your everlasting home. Remember you must 
 exert your will. Though you may be joined to the Lord 
 and have the Holy Spirit, that will not perforce make you 
 grow in grace. Your growth as a Christian will be the natu- 
 ral result of the life of Christ within you, just as the growth 
 of a plant is the natural result of its life and its environment. 
 You may have the Holy Spirit in you, but unless you ex- 
 ert your will in all holy acting, it will not possess you. The 
 life in my body will not lift it, or it will hang down list- 
 less. So a Christian must exert himself if he would grow 
 in grace. Use all the means of grace, and especially the 
 Church and its ordinances. 
 
 Not that joining the church makes us safe, or even 
 safer. Any one who feels a sense of security merely be- 
 cause of belonging to the church is in a dangerous way. 
 
428 Selected psalms anD Oionograpjjs 
 
 We do not trust the Church, but we are commanded to con- 
 fess Christ publicly — before all men. That is to join the 
 Church, and the true church is found wherever there is 
 "a congregation of faithful men in which the pure word of 
 God is preached and the sacraments administered" (See 
 Article XIX). Thither go and enlist as a good sol- 
 dier of the Lord Jesus Christ. Put forth your hand to His 
 holy table, and eat and drink through faith to life ever- 
 lasting. You may say, "I am too unworthy to do this". 
 It is because you are unworthy that I call upon you to do 
 it. If you were worthy, there would be no need of it. 
 The most humiliating acknowledgment that a Christian can 
 make of his unworthiness is in taking the Holy Communion. 
 By it he owns that he is so utterly lost and undone and cur- 
 rupt; that he must be made entirely anew by the life of the 
 Son of God. Enter, then, into His banqueting hall, and 
 His banner over you is love." 
 
 And now I have endeavored to bring you to the 
 threshold of the inner sanctury of God. Before you 
 the holiest of all — the very presence of God. In former 
 days, under the Old Covenant, there hung before it the 
 separating veil. It is now rent, and the way is open for 
 you to enter. Into it you must go if you would be saved. 
 No high priest, no mediator, can now go for you — you 
 must go for yourself — you must go alone. No, — not alone. 
 No human being, no priest no church — can help you or 
 go with you, but there stands by you at the threshold Our 
 Great High Priest who said, "Lo, I am with you always, 
 even to the end of the world." With Him enter, in Him 
 present yourself, and you can look up as He does, and say, 
 Abba — Father. And say with Him, "Our Father. — (John 
 20:1 7 verse, last clause.) 
 
Keii. JFteDetitb Ha Rue King 429 
 
 [Another specimen of my brother's writings, exhibiting a rare ver- 
 satility in his literary genius. — A. B. K.] 
 
 In the course of my travels through the Earth, I came, 
 once upon a time, to a beautiful city, seated upon a lofty 
 eminence, so as to be plainly seen While yet one was far off. 
 They told me that the name of this fair City was Zion — 
 The City of the Living God — and that those who dwelt 
 in it were especially loved by him. It was very strongly 
 fortified, with high walls and many lofty towers and pon- 
 derous gates; and upon the ramparts walked they who 
 watched continually. I asked if strangers were permitted 
 to visit this City, and was told that the gates stood open 
 all the day, so that any one might enter, only when the sun 
 went down they were shut "because of fear in the night." 
 
 So I ascended the hill upon which the City was built, 
 and found, indeed, the gates open; but hardly had I passed 
 through, when many of the citizens came running to me and 
 embraced me with tears and joy, as if I was a long lost 
 brother. Indeed, they said that I was their long lost brother 
 and told me, "Welcome home!" They took away my 
 clothes, soiled and worn by my much wandering. They 
 had me bathed, and clothed me in the clean white raiment 
 of the City, and set before me bread and wine. Much did 
 I wonder at first that I was treated thus, but soon such 
 a feeling of security and peace and rest possessed me that 
 it seemed the most natural thing in the world that the people 
 of the City should behave so kind towards me. For though 
 I did remember the place where I was born and bred and 
 my kinsfolks and brothers and sisters, yet, for all that, the 
 conviction became stronger in my mind that I had been 
 
430 Selected Psalms and ^onograpljg 
 
 all my life under a delusion, and that this was my true home 
 and birth-place, and that these were my true kindred whom 
 I saw around me. 
 
 But now my attention was drawn to the City and 
 its inhabitants. I walked with one of the citizens upon the 
 ramparts from which we could survey a vast extent of 
 country. "Your City seems large," said I, "and its in- 
 habitants a great multitude. How are they supported? What 
 is their occupation?" "Our support", he said, "comes from 
 above, from the Father of lights. He sends us the hidden 
 manna, the living bread, and wine and milk we have with- 
 out money and without price. Water we draw from the 
 wells of salvation which are within the citadel. As to 
 our occupation, it is gone. We are gardeners, but our 
 garden is laid waste, and we dare not enter it. All the 
 land as far as the eye can reach on every side is our pat- 
 rimony. And were it not in the possession of our enemy, 
 it would be as the garden of God for beauty and faithful- 
 ness. But by his destructive raids and tyrannical rule, he 
 keeps everything desolate. It is because of him that this City 
 is so fortified and guarded. He makes many an attack in 
 open day, tries many a surprise by night, and never ceases 
 his effort to corrupt the garrison. So great are his craft and 
 his power that we know it is only because the Lord keepeth 
 the City that we are safe. 
 
 Hearing all this, I was surprised, in going about among 
 the people, to see so much content and cheerfulness mani- 
 fested in their looks and actions. No sound of fretfulness 
 or impatience could be heard, peace and silence was over 
 all the City. 
 
 Then I asked one how this was. "I see", said I, 
 "that your townsmen have not forgotten their birthright 
 and patrimony. There are garden tools in every house, 
 and wherever a flower can be made to blow or a vine be 
 trained, there I see flowers and vines. I note their craving 
 for the free life of the country, by their striving to realize 
 
Eetn ^Frederick £a Eue ifting 431 
 
 garden-life as far as they can in the midst of the City, — 
 but, then, what quiet and rest, — what absence of all com- 
 plaint!" 
 
 "That is because they live in the assured hope that 
 the King above, will, at the proper time, make them to 
 re-possess (again) their garden-land. They never cease 
 to desire, but they cry not out to the Lord, for they know 
 that He knows their hearts, so they wait on Him, content. 
 They crave the blessing, and their vow is recorded, and 
 when the blessing comes it will be performed." 
 
 "What vow?" I asked. Then he led me up to 
 the Temple and showed me, together with all the imple- 
 ments of service, vast organs and other instruments, some of 
 which I could not name. They were all placed in order, 
 and in countless numbers, — as he told me, — kept in perfect 
 tune, so that at any time they might be used. He showed 
 me also in the cloisters, great halls where multitudes of 
 youth and maidens were a-training in the service of song. 
 Everything bore the appearance of the eve of a great and 
 joyful celebration. "Surely, we know now," said my con- 
 ductor, "that the vow is the vow of praise. When the 
 day of restitution comes, this silent City will ring with the 
 sound of music and with voices that sing." 
 
 "Now do I remember", said I, "reading of this place 
 in a certain Book, — 'as well the singers as the players on 
 instruments shall be there'. "Grand will be the day when 
 the voice of loud praise shall fill the City, but the best 
 praise that can be given now is the praise of silent waiting. 
 They do well to be quiet and prepared, so that, whether 
 He cometh at midnight or at cock-crowing, they may be 
 ready with their songs of joy. 
 
 I now perceived that I had come into a blessed place. 
 
 I was thankful that it was my home, and, as day suc- 
 ceeded day, I was fast forgetting mine own people and my 
 father's house. 
 
432 Selected psalms and ^onograpfts 
 
 Still, from time to time I was made uneasy by thoughts 
 of them. When the people of the City descend to take 
 possession of their patrimony, what will become of my kind- 
 red and all the dwellers in the Plains? Will they be trampled 
 under foot, as were the nine nations of Canaan? Have they 
 nothing to hope for in our prosperity? So I asked the one 
 who before had instructed me. "Think not", he said, 
 "that we of this City are selfish in our prayers and ex- 
 pectations. Surely, you yourself know how open stand 
 our gates and how warm our welcome is to all the in- 
 habitants of the plains. Nay, we have sent and let them 
 know again and again that we would have all of them come 
 to us. But our great enemy has power to deceive them. 
 He causes, by spells in the air, — for he is the Prince of 
 the Power of the air, — 'that this City shall be invisible to 
 many, so that they say there is no such place. And to 
 those who see it he makes it appear, by false shows of 
 clouds and dark shadows, most dismal and dreary. And 
 if any catch glimpses of it in its beauty, he causes to be re- 
 ported to them that the way is beset and impassable, and 
 that they never will be received. They know not that the 
 gates are wide open all he day." 
 
 "Our enemy also reports that this City is a dreadful 
 prison, and we, unhappy captives, and that Our Lord is 
 a hatefull tyrant; and while he and his underlings harass 
 the people and eat out their substance, he layeth many of 
 the grievous things that he does to the charge of the City's 
 King. Many of the townsmen have gone down to tell the 
 people the truth about this place, and to assure them of 
 Our Lord's good will, and our loving mind towards them, 
 but some of them have been chased away, and some of 
 them have been killed. Only here and there has (and that 
 by the help of the Lord, for our enemy set them against us) 
 one been permitted to see and desire the beauty of this 
 City, and to come near enough to know that he might enter. 
 
Eefcn jFreDerick £a Eue Eing 433 
 
 Now when our King leads us forth, He will cast 
 out the oppressor of the people of the land, and although 
 we shall possess all, yet they shall be blessed in our 
 blessing, and shall possess under us. What cheers us 
 most in our long waiting is that our triumph will show them 
 so clearly the might and faithfulness of Our God, and will 
 bring to them so much good, that they will become willing 
 servants of Our Heavenly King, will live with us as brethren, 
 and together with us go up to this City, where He will 
 ever be, (and whence His glory will shine over all this re- 
 gion) and worship in His presence. 
 
 The day that restores to us a patrimony will restore 
 a Father, and that is one great reason why we long for 
 that day. 
 
 Then I mused for a while, and said, "I now see how 
 you can lovingly desire to cast down all the power of the 
 land below; I see now that it is for them you pray and 
 wait, as much as yourselves. I see how blessed they will 
 be who shall dwell in your houses with you in the garden 
 land that is to be." 
 
 "But how glorious the lot of the people of this City! 
 I perceive that they are those whom the Lord makes 
 "Princes in all the Earth". (Ps. 45:16) "Surely, they 
 shall reign with him over the Land. Such favor can be only 
 for sinless ones." Then my thoughts troubled me, and my 
 sins mame to my remembrance, and I thought, — I can never 
 be one of those who will triumph from this place and reign 
 in glory; as soon as I am known I will be cast out, into the 
 hand of the Enemy, and who knoweth if I shall ever even 
 see the good time of the Land. 
 
 When my instructor perceived my thoughts, for I told 
 him, he was troubled with me, and said, — "You must 
 banish this fear, or else leave the City, as no doubtful or 
 fearful ones are allowed to remain here. Hasten to the Ob- 
 servatory. You must see some things with your own eyes 
 or you will never be delivered from your fears." 
 
434 Selected psalms anD S@onograpi)$ 
 
 Now, in the highest part of the City there was built 
 a lofty tower, on whose top was a sage with a great pro- 
 spective glass and hearing tube, by means of which heavenly 
 things could be seen and heard. To him did we ascend, 
 and him my conductor begged to show me how it was that 
 the people of the City kept favor with God and were right- 
 eous in His eyes. Then he bade me look through the pro- 
 spective glass, and at once I saw the throne of God and Him 
 that sat thereon, and ten thousand times ten thousand holy 
 angels around about. Then before the throne I saw one 
 dark and crafty present himself. I knew that he was the 
 great enemy of the City, the ruler over the Land. "What 
 seest thou?" said the sage. So I told him. "Now apply 
 thine ear to the hearing tube, and thou wilt hear what 
 he shall say." So I listened, and though I saw nothing, I 
 thought I was there. I heard dreadful things. I heard the 
 saints accused of fearful crimes. Abraham and Isaac and 
 Jacob and Moses and David and all God's great ones 
 were accused. I heard it said that the people of this City 
 had been fornicators, and idolators, and adulterers, and 
 thieves and covetous, and drunkards, and revelers, and ex- 
 tortioners, and I knew in my own heart that these things would 
 never be said before the throne of God unless they were 
 true. At last there came silense. "Look now through the 
 glass", said the sage. I looked, and saw before the throne 
 of the Great God and confronting the adversary one of ma- 
 jestic form, clothed in priestly garments of linen. He was 
 like to Him who sat on the throne as a son is to his Father. 
 He seemed stricken to death, His side was pierced with 
 a great gaping wound, and His hands and feet were pierced 
 and seemed to drip with blood. He addressed himself to 
 speak, and I listened through the tube of hearing. Then 
 did I hear the Son of God take shame to Himself, and con- 
 fess the sins of His people as if they were His own. He 
 made no distinction between Himself and His people. Me- 
 thought He used these words, — "Mine iniquities are gone 
 
Eeto* JFreDerick La Eue i&ina 435 
 
 over my head". "Mine iniquities have taken hold of me, 
 so that I am not able to look up." (Ps. 38:4) (Ps. 40:12). 
 "O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not 
 hid from thee." (Ps. 69:5). "Thou hast known my re- 
 proach and my shame and my dishonor, mine adversaries are 
 all before thee." (Ps. 69:19). "Pour out thine indignation 
 upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them." 
 (Ps. 69:24). "For they persecute him whom thou hast 
 smitten, and talk grief to those whom thou hast wounded." 
 (Ps. 69:26). 
 
 Then boldly did He say that they who had com- 
 mitted the sins which Satan laid to the charge of the people 
 of the City, had long ago died, that the spear thrust in His 
 side and the wounds in His hands and feet, had slain them. 
 (Gal. 2:20) That they were no more on earth and that 
 their death had paid all claims. (Rom. 6:7) He said that 
 those who dwelt in the City, He had begotten since the time 
 that He had risen from the grave by the power of the 
 Life of his Father in Him, which could not be touched by 
 the spear or by any human agonies. Then he called all the 
 heavenly host to look at the City, and said, "Behold, I 
 and the children which God hath given me", and claimed 
 for them all that was rightfully due Himself. Then re- 
 member I the words, "He made Him to be sin for us 
 who knew no sin", and again, "I am crucified with Christ, 
 nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the 
 life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God 
 who loved me and gave himself for me." And again, "For 
 if we have been planted together in the likeness of His 
 death, we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection", — and 
 yet again, "that He might be just, and yet the justifier of him 
 that believeth in Jesus." I wondered, and joy and hope 
 began in my heart, but doubt snatched it away, as I asked 
 within myself, "Is it for me?" Then, with my heart full 
 of doubt and fear I looked through the prospective glass, to 
 see if I could catch a token for Good. But when I looked I 
 
436 Selected psalms ana ^onograp&s 
 
 saw the Adversary standing with outstretched hand, point- 
 ing down directly at me. I started back in great affright, 
 and would have fled fiom the place, but they held me, and 
 said that it behooved me to hear the words that the Adver- 
 sary would say. So I listened at the tube of hearing, and 
 heard his words, and I knew that all the time his hand was 
 pointing at me. 
 
 He accused me of being the worse sinner of all, because 
 I doubted. He said that the decree had long gone forth 
 from the throne that the fearful and unbelieving should have 
 their part in the lake of fire. And indeed I saw, myself, 
 what a sin it was not to lay hold of Eternal Life as one's 
 own, since God had so clearly given it to me. 
 
 Surely it was known in the upper region, for ere I 
 turned away I heard What seemed the first part of a triump- 
 hant song, struck upon many thousand harps, and I remem- 
 bered the words, "There is joy in heaven over one sinner 
 who repenteth." And also it did seem to me as if every bell 
 in the city did softly chime, and as when a wind rustles the 
 leaves of a wood, a sound passed over as if every one in the 
 city whispered, "The Lord our Righteousness." Truly 
 this was not all, for when I reached the foot of the tower, 
 there was given into my hands a letter that a messenger from 
 the throne had that moment brought for me. It was to be 
 my warrant that I had the freedom of the city. So, when 
 I had cut the silk around it, I read therein, — "Whosoever 
 will, let him take of the water of Life freely." 
 
 And now a trumpeter was sent out upon the walls, to 
 the accuser. And first he sounded his trumpet so melo- 
 dious and loud, that it rang over all the plains. Then he 
 proclaimed, "The Virgin, the Daughter of Zion, hath de- 
 spised thee, and laughted thee to scorn; the daughter of 
 Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou 
 reproached and blasphemed? And against whom hast 
 thou exalted thy voice? Even against the Holy One of 
 Israel!" 
 
l&etn jFreDerick La Eue Mm 437 
 
 When this defiance had been uttered, from the highest 
 part of the city a flag was unrolled, and upon that 
 flag was painted the words, "Jehova-nissi — the Lord my 
 banner." 
 
 Methought I heard in response some note of warlike 
 preparation, and could discern threatening movements, and 
 the glitter of arms far off in the plain. So the watch was set 
 with care on the walls at the down-going of the sun, and ere 
 he lay down, every one looked to his arms, but nothing came 
 near that night, and all night long a light shone from the 
 Temple, and enwrapped the whole city, so that it was like 
 day, and the Townsmen knew that the Lord was with them, 
 so they lay themselves down in peace and slept. 
 
 Then there was silence, as if the enemy was waiting 
 for Judgment to be given against me. But immediately I 
 began to hear innumerable voices, whether of angels or re- 
 deemed men I knew not, but as distinctly and clear as if 
 there was no other, and yet they seemed to be innumerable 
 like the flakes of snow that fill the air in a winter storm. I 
 heard such things as these, "Only believe." "Come, for 
 all things are ready." "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth 
 from all sin." "I will. Be thou clean." "Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." "Without 
 money and without price." "Come unto me." 
 
 And then there was a great voice, that seemed to 
 sound from far away like deep thunder. "It is finished." 
 
 I cannot tell how it was, but I seemed to lose the power 
 to doubt. I was as if borne away by a current that I 
 could not resist. I said to myself, "If the King wills it, 
 who am I to gainsay it?" 
 
 I ventured on God. I remembered the words, "The 
 kingdom of heaven suffereth violence." And I took it as 
 my own.