Psalm 50

50       God and the Nations (Asaph)

            God, the Righteous Judge, is the Sovereign Creator-Owner of All

            6 And the heavens declare His righteousness,

            For God Himself is judge.

·         “God will not accept an outward for a spiritual homage, the mere carcass of religion for its living fires on the altar of the heart.” (Morison)

·         Sins of the tongue terribly grow on a man, and when the spirit of slander fairly gets possession of one, it balks at nothing.

·         He, who would be truly holy, must take God’s word for his rule of living, God’s Son for his Savior, God’s Spirit for his guide, comforter and sanctifier, God’s people for his chosen companions, God’s glory for the aim and object of his life, God’s love as the great animating principle of his conduct.

·         If our hearts are cold or lukewarm, let us, in our approaches to the throne of grace, freely so confess.

·         [A]re you ready for the scrutiny of God?

Psalm 49

49       Wisdom / (Korah)

            Man’s Works are Fleeting [But God’s Work is eternal]

            11 Their inner thought is that their houses are forever

            And their dwelling places to all generations;

            They have called their lands after their own names.

            12 But man in his pomp will not endure;

            He is like the beasts that perish.

·         Before God all human distinctions and gradations are as nothing. The difference between the greatest and the least of men is but the difference between two worms, two atoms.

·         Do right, and trust in God. Fear God, and then fear nothing else. The Lord reigns over all, in wisdom, justice, mercy and power. The eulogy pronounced on John Knox was short but well-deserved: “There lies he who never feared the face of man.”

·         One of the Latin poets says: “It is death, which forces us to confess how worthless the bodies of men are.”

·         If anything could settle the question of the folly of man’s mind, we should suppose it would be the necessity of reminding us that when we die we can carry none of our possessions with us.

·         All other flattery would be harmless, if we did not flatter ourselves.

·         “At the call of Folly, what multitudes are always ready to assemble! But Wisdom, eternal and essential Wisdom, crieth without; she lifteth up her voice in the streets, and who is at leisure to attend her heavenly lectures?” (Horne)

Psalm 48

48       Royal (heavenly King) / (Korah)

            God Is Great, and to be Praise Greatly

            1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,

            In the city of our God, His holy mountain.

·         Great thoughts of God are very becoming, because they are just and true. They are very important to give us right views of our sinfulness and weakness and to elevate our conceptions in all our attempts to worship him.

·         Christ’s kingly authority is never to be forgotten or slighted. He is a “Great King.” Blessed are all they, who bow to his scepter. But woe to him that rebels.

·         In his nature and in his works and ways God is always equal to the best reports we have heard of him. He always acts like himself. He never denies himself. . . . We need never fear that God will act out of character.

·         We cannot in any song or service dismiss the idea of God’s infinite justice. His right hand is full of righteousness. Compare Job 37:23. The divine clemency is worthy to be eternally celebrated, yet no more so than the awful rectitude of the divine character, which is the sure foundation of settled comfort in the church.

Psalm 47

47       Praise / Royal (heavenly King) / (Korah)

            God is the Great King Over All the Earth

            2 For the LORD Most High is to be feared,

            A great King over all the earth.

·         “[E]xpressions of pious and devout affections as to some may seem indecent and imprudent ought not to be hastily censured or condemned, much less ridiculed, because, if they come from an upright heart, God will accept the strength of the affection, and excuse the weakness of the expressions of it.” (Henry)

·         Yet we should never forget that godly fear is a part of all true worship. Jehovah is the great and dreadful God.

·         An affliction at God’s hands is better than a joy of our own creation.

Psalm 46

46       Wisdom / Royal (heavenly King) / (Korah)

            God’s Is My Refuge and Strength!

            1 God is our refuge and strength,

            A very present help in trouble.

·         In seeking comfort and protection go to God himself. All his attributes, all his titles, all his promises show that he is wise and loving. The practice of the saints in all ages has been not to rest in any means or creature; but in God only.

·         One great end of affliction is to cause us to return unto the Most High. The greater our distress, the more we need him.

·         “Our faith is really and truly tested only when we are brought into very severe conflicts, and when even hell itself seems opened to swallow us up.”

Psalm 45

45       Royal (earthly king) / (Korah)

            God’s Throne is Forever and Ever

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

            A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

·         In religion everything turns on our views of Christ.

·         It is easy to love the best earthly and temporal things excessively; but it is impossible to love Christ too much.

Psalm 44

44       Lamentation (community) / (Korah)

            O God, Save Us for the Sake of Your Lovingkindness!

            26 Rise up, be our help,

            And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.

·         We are weak as water; and commonly God lets us see and feel our impotence before he sends relief. At least “faith knows that the strength of man is not his, but God’s.”

·         “Trouble maketh faith thirst, and teacheth the believer to make use of his right and interest.” (Dickson)

·         Means must be used but not relied on. Not to use them is to despise God’s ordinance; but to trust in them is to despise God himself. Man must sow and water; God gives the increase. Man is to bend his bow and sharpen his sword in the day of battle, and use both with his utmost skill; and then trust God as if he were unarmed.

·         All the vessels of mercy need scouring.

Psalm 43

43       Lamentation / Wisdom / (Korah)

            God is My Hope!

            5 Why are you in despair, O my soul?

            And why are you disturbed within me?

            Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,

            The help of my countenance and my God.

·         [W]here our cause is good, our Judge becomes our Advocate and pleads our cause. When the Lord is on our side, it cannot go ill with us.

·         Live in sight of the Cross.

·         If seasons of terrible depression come, no strange thing has happened to us. The same came to the author of this Psalm. A horror of great darkness once fell on Abraham himself.

·         The more terrible the storm, the more necessary is the anchor. Hope in God (Hebrews 6:19).

Psalm 42

42       Wisdom / Lamentation / (Korah)

            Do I Long for God?

            1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,

            So my soul pants for You, O God.

            2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;

            When shall I come and appear before God?

·         Godly mourning is better than carnal rejoicing.

·         Dejection is not the offspring of piety. We must have faith and hope in God, or we must lose our cause.

·         No situation in life, no anguish of mind, no cares or duties can justify us in forgetting God. We must call him to mind, though nothing but our wants and sorrows in a howling wilderness remind us of him.

·         Let none be surprised at the violence of temptations. They often come in like a flood. Onset succeeds onset, until we are ready to yield. But the only thing that ever lost a believer the victory was cowardice.

·         It is eminently fit for God to undertake cases which without divine assistance are hopeless. [Things that only God can do . . .]

·         “Although the Lord, for a time, shall neither remove the outward affliction nor inwardly give comfort, yet faith will sustain itself by the covenant, and lay its whole weight upon it.” (Dickson)

Psalm 41

41       Lamentation (individual-sick)

            God Is My Protection and Deliverance

            1 How blessed is he who considers the helpless;

            The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble.

            2 The LORD will protect him and keep him alive,

            And he shall be called blessed upon the earth;

            And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.

·         [I]t is a blessed thing to be able to hold fast a well-grounded confidence of our interest in Christ, and to take cheerful views of our own case, when we are poor, or sick, or afflicted, or forsaken.

·         Prodigality is not beneficence.

·         We may all reasonably calculate on being both sick and sad. We ought to prepare for such trials. They are needful for our sanctification.

·         Sickness of soul is the worst disease. “Nothing is so distressing to the contrite believer, as a sense of the divine displeasure, guilt on his conscience, and the prevalence of sin in his heart: pain and sickness will remind him to pray especially for pardoning mercy, and for the healing of his soul, which is wounded and diseased, because he has sinned against the Lord.” (Scott)

·         Anything is good for us, if it makes us loathe ourselves, and penitently sue for mercy. Let affliction in its worst forms assail us, if it but make our consciences tender, abase us for past follies, and show us the hideous nature of sin and the preciousness of redemption.

Psalm 40

40       Thanksgiving (individual)

            O God, I Patiently Wait on You

            1 I waited patiently for the LORD;

            And He inclined to me and heard my cry.

·         Deliverances are generally such as to show that none but God could have wrought them.

·         When will the world learn that forms and ceremonies, though ordained by God, are wholly inefficacious for salvation? Baptism and the Lord’s Supper can do no more good than sacrifices and circumcision did of old. To despise any ordinance of God is certainly sin; but to put an ordinance in the place of hearty piety towards God is to despise God himself; and to put any ordinance in the place of Christ is to become a thief and a robber.

·         “When the law of God is written in our hearts, our duty will be our delight.” (Henry) Then also it will be the delight of God.

·         Though our views of sin may through life be inadequate, yet we have no reason for believing that our sanctification will progress rapidly, or ever be perfected without our experiencing a deep sense of personal vileness and ill-desert. A perfect view of his iniquities would sink any man in despair, unless he had far clearer apprehensions of God’s mercy in Christ than are attained by the majority of converted men. Let us ask for such a sense of our sins, as we can bear, and as will make the cross of Christ most dear to us. “Nothing can so empty a man, and lay him low, and fill him with confusion of face, as his sin pursuing him.” (Dickson) Whatever thus abases him is useful to him.

·         Our low estate is not despised by God. He as readily goes to a hovel as to a palace. He has powerful leanings to the poor and sorrowful. Nor will he make any tarrying, when the right time for their deliverance comes.

Psalm 39

39       Lamentation

            O God, Make Me to Know My End

            4 LORD, make me to know my end

            And what is the extent of my days;

            Let me know how transient I am.

·         Though some do vainly put a good resolution for a good deed, and do make it only to break it, and when broken do vainly make another just as worthless; yet he who expects to do right, must resolve to do right.

·         “There is nothing more slippery or loose than the tongue.” (Calvin) “It thou desire to be held wise, be so wise as to hold thy tongue.” (Quarles)

·         “There are seasons when a good man must be blind to what he sees, deaf to what he hears, and dumb when temptation to speak is peculiarly strong.” (Morison)

·         It is not wicked to be sad. He, who laughs when he should weep, or is glad when he should be grieved, is at least a fool.

·         If our thoughts and hearts are right, the more we are aroused, the more will we be inclined to carry our cause before the Lord.

·         It is wise to seek relief from all our distresses by beginning with earnest cries for pardon and purification.

·         Because our strength is small, it is wise, with submission to the sovereign will of God, to ask that any of our sufferings may be assuaged, any of our afflictions be made light. We must indeed close all such prayers with the sentence, “Thy will be done.”

·         God’s stroke is terrible. It will consume any who are not mercifully spared and sustained. It is not anywhere of record that man or angel has hardened himself against God and prospered.

·         Someone asked Leighton if he had been to hear a sermon. He answered: “I met a sermon, for I met a corpse; and rightly and profitably are funeral rites performed when the living lay it to heart.” “The best preparation for our own funeral is to meditate seriously and prayerfully over another’s grave, and take home with us the solemn truths it enforces.” (Bouchier)

Psalm 38

38       Lamentation (individual-sick)

            Do Not Forsake Me, O God, for I Trust in You!

            15 For I hope in You, O LORD;

You will answer, O Lord my God.

21 Do not forsake me, O LORD;

O my God, do not be far from me!

22 Make haste to help me,

O Lord, my salvation!

·         “It is consistent with God’s fatherly love, and our sonship, to taste of fatherly wrath against our sins.” (Dickson)

·         God’s hot displeasure is terrible. Whoever has felt it will wish never to feel it again. One drop of the divine anger falling into the conscience of man makes him turn pale and tremble and die away.

·         In many things our estimates are extravagant; but we never over-estimate the evil of sin.

·         “[I]t is not wrestling with trouble within ourselves, nor venting our grief as natural men, which can give us ease, but pouring out our heart before the Lord, which must do it.”

·          “Experience confirms it, that if we have to deal with any crafty and embittered foes, resigned suffering is more likely to benefit than a zealous apprehension of our good cause.” (Tholuck)

·         “We must not limit the Lord to give us comfort and deliverance when we think we have greatest need of it, but must leave our prayer at his feet.” (Dickson)

Psalm 37

37       Wisdom

            Trust, Delight, Commit, Rest, Wait

            23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD,

            And He delights in his way.

            24 When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong,

            Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;

He is their strength in time of trouble.

40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;

He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

Because they take refuge in Him.

·         We cannot too carefully watch against the insidious attacks of evil tempers. Even a little indulgence in irritability will torment us and displease God.

·         “[F]retfulness, unchecked and allowed to have its way undisturbed, will eventually undermine and corrode all that is valuable and estimable and lovely in the character.” (Bouchier)

·         He who makes God his refuge has a right to expect that his lawful undertakings will be finally crowned with more than ordinary success, although for a time things may look dark.

·         “Desert not thy station. Enjoy quietly what thou hast at present. Be pleased with God’s way. Labor in an honest vocation, and leave the rest to him. Acquiesce in his will and in the dispensations of his providence; wait patiently for him. His time is best.” (Nicolson)

·         The nature of all sin is to recoil on its author.

·         Let the humble pious be content. If they have not much, they have more than they deserve; they have as much as infinite love sees best for them; they have no account to give of what never was under their control; and they have God’s blessing on what is theirs.

·         True religion has its seat in the heart. Genuine purity is internal.

·         The path of duty, however steep and thorny, always terminates in the land of peace and blessedness.

Psalm 36

36       Wisdom / Praise

            In God’s Light I See Light

            9 For with You is the fountain of life;

            In Your light we see light.

·         Self-flattery and self-deception seem to be born with sin; and, if not resisted, will certainly prove our ruin.

·         We cannot too often or too earnestly ask God to make us honest with ourselves, that we may not by self-flattery fall into the condemnation of the wicked.

·         God will not show mercy at the expense of justice; but God is love, and has infinite delight in exercising his loving nature, and in filling heaven with its monuments, and he has sworn that he has no pleasure in the death of sinners.

·         “No man can illuminate his own soul: all understanding must come from heaven.” (Clarke)

Psalm 35

35       Lamentation / Imprecatory

            Joy In the God of My Salvation!

            9 And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD;

            It shall exult in His salvation.

·         When God says, I am thy salvation, it is folly to look further. We ought never to ascribe to creatures [including ourselves] what belongs to God in our successes.

·         When God works, he does marvelous things. His deliverances are wonderful. There is none like him in counsel, in deeds and mighty acts, and in glorious excellence.

Psalm 34

34       Wisdom

            God Comes Alongside the Brokenhearted

            18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted,

            And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

·         “Every day of a pious man’s life is marked with the monuments and tokens of the mercy of God, so that he has every day to sing a new song.” (Tholuck)

·         The providence of God, which we should devoutly study, has two aspects. One smiles on the righteous; the other frowns on the wicked.

·         Ever since man became a sinner, true religion has had in it the element of penitence. Let us often inquire whether we have this penitence. It is far different from remorse. It is a great error of some that they so little cultivate a penitent state of mind.

·         Through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God.

·         Were the pious freed from every trouble and affliction, motives to piety would become impure, faith would grow faint, prayer cease, and carnal security abound.” (Tholuck)

·         Afflictions are proofs of love. Stripes are the marks of sonship.

Psalm 33

33       Praise

            Wait for the Lord

            20 Our soul waits for the LORD;

            He is our help and our shield.

            21 For our heart rejoices in Him,

            Because we trust in His holy name.

·         In all earthly affairs change is the order of things. The winds, the tides, the seasons, the face of nature, and even friends change, but in all our calculations we may rely on the immutable holiness, justice and goodness of God.

·         Long, long ago the enemy hoped to make a full end of the worship and service of God on earth; but he has failed, and shall ever fail.

·         No man ever acts with true wisdom till he fears God, and hopes in his mercy.

·         The cry for mercy ever becomes us, till we get our crown. It is never out of place. Even in closing a triumphant song it is proper.

Psalm 32

32       Lamentation / Wisdom / Thanksgiving (individual)

            God Forgives When I Truly Confess

            1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

            Whose sin is covered!

·         Sins never grow out of date. There is no statute of limitation for crimes either at God’s bar, or at the bar of conscience.

·         Blessedness does not begin till pardon is received.

·         It is [God’s] glory and delight to forgive transgressions, cover sin, and not impute iniquity.

·         Justification and sanctification are distinguishable but not separable.

·         Sin is a dreadful entanglement.

·         All godly confession of sin is full, ingenuous, humble, penitent.

·         God is more ready to forgive sin than we are to forsake it, or confess it.

·         Whether God or his servants invite us to be instructed, we should attend unto the things which are spoken for our learning.

·         “If we do not consent to serve God willingly, we must serve him in the long run whether we will or not. He, who runs away from God’s willing service, falls into his compulsory service. On this account the wise Stoic prayed, ‘Lead me, O God, the way which thou hast chosen: and if I will not, nothing is better than that I be compelled.’ Recourse is not had to bit and bridle, unless we will not become wise by gentler means. God employs these for the purpose of delivering us from destroying ourselves.” (Berleberg Bible)

·         [E]ven in times of bereavement and tribulation, [God’s servants] have good cause of exultation. Mercy compasses them about.

Psalm 31

31       Lamentation / Thanksgiving (individual)

            My Strength and Courage Is in God

            24 Be strong and let your heart take courage,

            All you who hope in the LORD.

·         Great honor is brought to God by the trust which his people repose in him in the darkest hours.

·         [T]he evil [the righteous] receive here is all the evil that shall ever befall them.

·         God was self-moved to undertake man’s salvation. His glorious name makes it certain the top-stone shall be laid in glory.

·         Dr McLaren of Scotland dying said: “I am gathering together all my sermons and all my prayers, all my good deeds and all my evil deeds, and am throwing them overboard, determined to swim to glory on the plank of free grace.”

·         The worst sting of any trial is sin. This gives our griefs their dreadful poignancy. “The conscience of sin joined with trouble is a load above a burden, and able to break a man’s strength more than any trouble.” (Dickson) The reason is that sin is the bitterest and most accursed thing, the most venomous and deadly poison, the most killing and horrible evil in the universe.

·         God withholds nothing from those, who withhold nothing from him.