Psalm 10

Lamentation

Though He Seems Far Off, God Beholds All and Will Vindicate the Oppressed

                1 Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?

                Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

                14 You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your

                     hand.

                The unfortunate commits himself to You;

                You have been the helper of the orphan.

·         “[I]n their straits pious men chiefly complain of the absence of God; because they have found that in all that concerns them, God and his providence are chiefly to be regarded, because the absence of God is cause of the greatest consternation to all creatures, and because the presence of God brings adequate consolation against all evils.”

·         “Our ground of glorying in God is that he is just. He tries the righteous as gold is tried in the furnace, but he punishes the wicked. The one is corrected, the other is destroyed. Both may suffer; but the one for his present and eternal good, the other as the prelude to everlasting ruin.”

·         “Cecil was pacing to and fro in the Botanic Garden at Oxford when he observed a fine specimen of the pomegranate almost cut through the stem. On asking the gardener the reason, he got an answer which explained the wounds of his own bleeding spirit. ‘Sir, this tree used to shoot so strong, that it bore nothing but leaves. I was, therefore, obliged to cut it in this manner, and when it was almost cut through, then it began to bear plenty of fruit.’ Ye suffering members of Christ, be thankful for every sorrow which weakens a lust or strengthens a grace. Though it should be a cut to the heart, be thankful for every sin and idol shorn away. Be thankful for whatever makes your conscience more tender, your thoughts more spiritual, and your character more consistent. Be thankful that it was the pruning-knife and not the weeding-hook which you felt: for if you suffer in Christ, you suffer with him; and if with him you suffer, with him you shall also reign.”

Psalm 9

Praise

God Remembers the Poor and Needy

                18 For the needy will not always be forgotten,

                Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.

·         One of the strongest marks of wisdom is simply to know whence our help comes.

·         “In their greatest straits, God’s people shall find themselves garrisoned by omnipotent love.” (Morison)

·         “Not any benefit or gift received of God, but God himself, and his free favor is matter of the believer’s joy.” (Dickson)

·         “The better God is known, the more he is trusted.” (Henry)

·         The holiest mere man that ever lived had great need to cry for mercy.

Psalm 8

Praise

God Is Majestic

                1 O LORD, our Lord,

                How majestic is Your name in all the earth,

                Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

·         Perhaps we commonly err in attempting by conjecture to fix on some event in history, as the key of the interpretation of any Psalm. [hermeneutics]

·         [I]t is safe and proper to say that the obvious sense of the words grammatically construed must give us the primary meaning, and then that any authorized or sober use of a secondary import may properly be received. [hermeneutics]

·         We must not give up the truths of natural religion.

·         What revelations are effected by redemption. The whole of man’s happy state lost by sin is recovered and restored by faith in the incarnation and mediation of Jesus Christ.

·         Sin will pervert anything, even the noblest truths and sciences.

Psalm 7

Lamentation (persecuted and accused) / Imprecatory

My Refuge Is in God Alone

                1 O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge;

                Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,

                2 Or he will tear my soul like a lion,

                Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.

·         David does not boast of a confidence which he constantly entertained in his afflictions. And this is a genuine and undoubted proof of our faith, when, being visited with adversity, we yet persevere in cherishing and exercising hope in God.

·         The heart of a regenerate man is the best part about him. He is not deceitful. He intends and aims to do better than he does.

·         It is right to turn every event of life into an occasion of devotion.

·         “The gate of mercy is shut against our prayers if the key of faith do not open it for us.” (Calvin)

·         Let us chiefly pray for those things God commands us to ask for. In other things, let us always confess that we know not what is best, and ask God to choose for us.

·         In the darkest hours it is well to praise God.

·         We should praise him for our keenest afflictions.

Psalm 6

Lamentation

My Extremity is God’s Opportunity

                4 Return, O LORD, rescue my soul;

                Save me because of Your lovingkindness.

·         The wrath of God destroys, but his paternal love corrects, reclaims and saves. It is itself a mercy and he who receives it may well pray, have mercy upon me, O LORD.

·         Let men beware how they harden themselves in sin by pleading the falls of David. If they resemble him only in sinfulness, they will miserably perish. Unless like him they repent, they are undone forever. And this repentance must be speedy, for as Augustine says, “Though after this life repentance be perpetual, it is in vain.”

·         The wise prefer to mourn when mourning for sin shall be followed by peace and joy.

·         “That supposed greatness of soul which considers suffering as a plaything, upon which one should throw himself with manly courage, is not to be met with on the territory of Scripture . . .” (Hestenberg)

·         A soft heart has goods to lose which a hard one never possessed.

·         God loves his people too well to let them wander on in sin.

·         There is a great difference between “encouraging the exercise of a salutary repentance,” and provoking feelings of “unmitigated despair.” (Dickson)

Psalm 5

Lamentation (persecuted and accused)

Look to God in the Morning

                3 In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice;

                In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

·         Every well spent day must by begun with God. It is right he should have our first and best thoughts.

·         “The morning is a proper time for prayer, both to return thanks for refreshing sleep and rest, for preservation from dangers by fire, by thieves and murderers, and for renewed mercies in the morning; as also to pray for God to keep from evil and dangers the day following; to give daily food, and to succeed in business and the employments of life; and for a continuation of every mercy, temporal and spiritual.” (Gill)

·         Is there a thriving Christian on earth, who gives his earliest thoughts to the world and only later ones to God?

·         The only hope of sinners is in mercy; nor will a little answer their purpose. They need a great deal.

·         Inscrutable points of doctrine, mysterious providences, and insoluble questions in casuistry are often occasions of terrible temptations.

·         What a model of tenderness and earnestness in intercession for others we have in Abraham. Nor can any circumstances of personal affliction or distress excuse us from praying for all God’s saints as we learn from the example of David recorded here and elsewhere.

·         The whole Psalm shows that never in this life shall we get beyond the means of grace. Nor is it best we should. . . . Let us follow Christ, and know the fellowship of his sufferings.

Psalm 4

Lamentation (persecuted and accused) / Trust (individual)

Be Still Before God

                4 Tremble, and do not sin;

                Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.

·         How blessed is the doctrine of the divine mercy. It is all our hope.

·         The people of God never act more wisely than when they trust and hope in him, even in the darkest times. Reliance on God is as safe for us as it is honorable to him.

·         The way to any great attainment is usually steep and rough. This is true in everything. It is especially true in moral attainments. Let not the children of God be discouraged through the greatness of their way. No strange thing has happened to them.

·         Let us use all proper efforts, and then not rely on means but on him, who has ordained them.

·         Self-examination is a duty of true religion under all dispensations. . . . [S]urely a wise man will deal honestly with himself before the day of final trial shall come.

Psalm 3

Lamentation (persecuted and accused)

God and Man Make a Majority

                6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people

                Who have set themselves against me round about.

·         The saddest thing in all this tumult and civil war was that it was the punishment sent by God, according to prophecy, on David for his sin in the matter of Uriah.

·         In the conflict, also, man has not understanding, but becomes capable of this only after the conflict is over—reflects then aright upon what has occurred to him under it.

·         [I]n times of deep trouble the mind studies not logical unity. It is more apt to give vent to its emotions in broken sentences, yet really pertinent.

·         [David’s] view of his own sinfulness showed him the justice of God in sending these, and even worse afflictions.

·         Despair is the perfection of unbelief.

·         There is hardly a sweeter thought of heaven than that there we shall be done with temptation.

·         The effects of a pious education are often not manifest until the heart of parents is nearly broken by the wickedness of their offspring. . . . Grace is not hereditary. God is a sovereign.

·         Popular breath is as fickle as the wind, and as light as vanity. The want of it is proof against no man’s worth. The possession of it confirms no man’s title to esteem.

·         [God] knows how to make the iron enter into the soul of his erring people.

·         God may greatly afflict his chosen even after they have truly repented of their sins. It was so with David here. The Lord often sees it good for us to have the past in sad remembrance. When he does thus try us, let us fall into the arms of him, who chastises us.

·         “Perils and frights should drive us to God, not from him.” (Henry)

·         As soon as David’s trouble comes, he goes to God. Blessed words are these: “We are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” ( 1 Cor 11:32).

·         We never receive from God a stroke more than we both deserve and need either for our purification or usefulness. And we never repent too frequently or too humbly for our sins. They are more hateful than we have ever felt them to be. True repentance is not a fit; it is a habit.

·         Despair may do a prodigious deed of valor; it never performed a great work of faith or of patience.

·         “True Christian fortitude consists more in a gracious security and serenity of mind, in patient bearing, and patient waiting, than in daring enterprises, sword in hand.” (Henry)

·         “This Psalm is profitable to us for comforting weak and straitened consciences, if we understand in a spiritual sense, by the enemies and teeth of the ungodly, the temptations of sin and the conscience of an ill-spent life. For there indeed is the heart of the sinner vexed, there alone is it weak and forsaken; and when men are not accustomed to lift their eyes above themselves, against the floods of sin, and know to make God their refuge against an evil conscience, there is great danger: and it is to be feared lest the evil spirits, who, in such a case, are ready to seize upon poor souls, may at last swallow them up, and lead them through distress into doubt.” (Luther)

·         Apollinarius calls the third Psalm a mournful song, and so it is; yet where will you find higher confidence expressed than in portions of this wailing composition?

·         In devotion, logical connection is of far less importance than fervor, humility, faith, and the spirit of submission and importunity.”

Psalm 2

Royal (earthly king)

God Laughs at the Machinations of Men

                4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,

                The Lord scoffs at them.

·         If sin had its way, it would annihilate God’s government. It seeks to dethrone him. This is true of all sin.

·         “[God] is Lord over those that hate him. . . . They are his unwilling servants even when they rage most against him.” (Newton)

·         The death of the Savior was the signal for the fall of Satan’s kingdom.

·         There is a consanguinity between all the graces of the Christian.

Psalm 1

Wisdom / Torah

 A Fruitful Life Comes from Wise Choices

                6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

                   But the way of the wicked will perish.

·         What the fool does in the end, the wise man does in the beginning.

·         Scorning is an old artifice to keep conscience quiet.

·         When a man commences a downward course, there is no telling where he will stop.

·         All sin hardens the heart, stupefies the conscience, and shuts out the light of truth.

·         He who would be truly blessed, must become a student of Scripture. There is no substitute for this. God’s word is able to make men wise unto salvation. It is quick and powerful. Nothing so penetrates the heart of man. With a good man it has authority.

·         Hell follows close on the heels of transgression. The rivers do not more naturally run into the sea, than does iniquity tend to ruin.

·         No man will make his case worse by honestly looking into it. Some have escaped a dreadful overthrow by finding out in time that they were self-deceived.