COMMENTARY.

PSALM I.

A didactic psalm, for its contents' sake (which resemble Psalm cxii.) designedly placed at the beginning of the book. It expresses in noble yet simple language the gospel truth, that "godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Popular wisdom, viz. the daily experience of life compressed into proverbs, is in perfect agreement with that proposition; e.g. "Honesty is the best policy," "Illgotten gains don't prosper," "Lightly come, lightly go," etc. Particular exceptions to such expressions will of course occur on earth, the land of faith, but an attentive observer cannot help noticing their truth in the aggregate.

The confirmation of the doctrine of this Psalm which Divine justice has provided in the history of the Jewish nation, appeals strongly to the conscience of believers. It promises blessings and salvation to the kings of Israel who fear the Lord, visitation and multiform punishment to those who forsake Him: Israel a flourishing kingdom among the kingdoms of the earth, with a king and the sanctuary, before the advent of the Messiah,without kings and priests, a proverb and a byeword among men, after their rejection of Him. It has been shown in the Introduction how the saints of the Old Testament used to reconcile particular exceptions to this rule with their faith in the mundane government of a righteous God, such as the spectacle of crushed innocence contrasted with the assurance of the wicked, or that of the want of the godly contrasted with the abundance of the ungodly. We who live under the Gospel dispensation, and understand clearly what they did but darkly apprehend, seek the ultimate solution of all mysteries in the final judgment, which is to complete all the judgments of earth; and as we now admire the longsuffering and goodness of God by which he intends to lead the rebellious to repentance, so shall we then tremble at the justice with which he will judge the obdurate. Many passages of the Old Testament, especially of the Psalms, point, though with less clearness, to that final solution of all mysteries. So does this Psalm, as do also Psalms xxxvii. xlix. and lxxiii.

3

The Psalmist contrasts the godly with the ungodly as two different generations, describes the difference of their destiny on earth (v. 1-4), and from it infers with still more assurance their ultimate destinies at the final judgment which is to complete God's temporal judgments (v. 5). The last verse comprehensively repeats the doctrine in both respects.

1 BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor standeth in the way of sinners,

Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD;

And in his law doth he meditate day and night.

8 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season;

4

His leaf also shall not wither;

And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so:

But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

V. 1. 2. The generation of the righteous refuse to be determined and controlled in their resolutions by the ungodly; they have in their actions no communion with sinners, and shun the society of those who keep not holy the name of God. The law of God is not only the sole rule of conduct, but the delight of the pious. The saints of the Old Testament, though without the "grace and truth," and confined to "the law and the shadow of things to come," for "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,"1 had so great a delight in the law of the Lord, that they did meditate on it day and night, and were able to say with the Psalmist, "Oh, how love I Thy law! it is my meditation. all the day." True, the law had expressly enjoined it upon them; and the Psalmist had no doubt clearly before his mind the words in Josh. i. 8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." But the language of the Psalms clearly shows that delight and love prompted many an Old Testament saint to comply with the demands of the law.

V. 3. Trees planted by the water side are in a thriving condition, from the humidity which impregnates their pith, so that their leaves continue green,-in the case of some, e.g. the olive tree, all the year round,3—and they yield their fruit in their season. So the soul of man gets watered and fecundated from communion with God and delight in his law, so that he appears healthy while others decay, and finds strength adequate to the calls of duty. "I know both how to be abased," says the apostle, "and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me."4 The assertion of the Psalmist, that "whatsoever he doeth shall prosper," is apparently liable to many exceptions, but when thoroughly fathomed will hold good in its strictest sense. He refers not to every act of the godly, but only to such "that are wrought in God,"5 -he speaks of the pious deeds of the pious. The old Adam and the new

(1) John i. 17; Col. ii. 17. (2) Psalm cxix. 97. (5) John iii. 21.

(3) Psalm lii. 10. (4) Phil. iv. 12.

are waging war while flesh and blood attach to man; hence many acts are done which cannot succeed; but is it possible that acts which flow from the new Adam should prove otherwise than successful? In performing them, man is simply the instrument of God; how then can at any time ill-success attend to that which the eternal God accomplishes by his instruments? The prophet Jeremiah propounds the same sentiment (chap. xvii. 7. 8): "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

V. 4. As the pious who derives the strength and fecundation of his soul from the Word of God is like a firmly rooted tree, so he who lives without God in the world is like drifted chaff. He who has nothing sure in Heaven, cannot have anything firm on earth. His views and resolutions change with the weather, as James says, "a double-minded man (doubter) is unstable in all his ways." Just as the wind carries away the light chaff from the loftily situated threshing-floors of the East, when the corn is winnowed, so are they scattered. Can a man confidently pursue the path of life if his views and principles are devoid of firmness? If the most confirmed miscreants and usurpers (and such ripened evildoers are the exceptions), who seemed with unwavering step to pursue their end for the greater portion of their life, have been known to reel at certain decisive moments, as though the soil were receding from under their feet, how much more does this apply to beginners in evil! Universal experience thus shows the inconstancy of the prosperity of the wicked, and that is the judgment which they prepare for themselves on earth.

V. 5. The temporal judgments of God will be completed in eternity. When the Lord shall have sent forth His angels, and gathered the entire assembly of the righteous on earth, then shall the ungodly, though already frequently scattered here below, be as chaff before the blast of the final judgment, and find no place in the congregation of the righteous.

V. 6. It often appears as if God were unmindful of the path of thorns which His children have to tread here in "time," and they often think every way of escape cut off; but "The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous." His eye fixedly rests on it, and beholds the blessed issue where they can only see the boundary of thorns. The way of the ungodly, though broad and secure in the sight of men, suddenly breaks off and ends with terror. "The Lord shall laugh at the wicked, for He seeth that his day is coming."4

PSALM II.

A hortatory psalm against the princes who oppose Messiah, the anointed King of God.

The author is not mentioned in the title, but Acts iv. 25 refers its authorship to David. Even if the Messianic character of this psalm were denied, and it were explained of a rebellion of some tributary nations against a king of Israel, it would still have to be assigned to the times of David or Solomon, since in the later periods of Judah there lived no king sufficiently power(1) James i. 8. (2) Job xxi. 18; Ps. xxxv. 5; Hos. xiii. 3. (3) Isaiah iv. 4; xi. 9; lx. 21; Mal. iv. (4) Psalm xxxvii. 13.

ful that this psalm could apply to him. But it cannot be referred to the events in the history of David or Solomon: it cannot apply to the times of David, for, to mention but one thing, it clearly treats of the rebellion against a newly instituted king, and David on ascending the throne had not subdued all the tribes of Israel, much less foreign nations; it cannot refer to Solomon's accession, for that as well as the whole of his reign was strictly peaceful,* on which account Solomon was called par excellence "the prince of peace." David rather composed it in the spirit, when he contemplated the future useless resistance of the nations of the earth against his royal Son. It was shown in the Introduction how David, meditating on the prophecy made to him (2 Sam. vii.), was led to the thought that the Messiah should spring from his own house. In the song from the last period of his life (quoted page 37), we have a clear evidence of his Messianic hopes: the contents of that song may be compared with this psalm. The object of David's hopes in the song is the coming of a righteous and holy King from his own house, during whose reign universal prosperity should spring up like an unclouded sunrise, while the ungodly should perish. In this psalm he beholds the eternal sovereign of his house entering upon his reign, the princes of the earth rebelling against him, the Lord, while assuring him of victory, exhorting them to obey him. As David calls himself divinely inspired in 2 Samuel xxiii., and Christ says (Matt. xxii. 43) that David spoke Psalm cx. in the spirit, we may assume inspiration in this psalm. Its manner of expression indicates as much. Majesty and life characterise this beautiful psalm: the kings, God, and lastly the Messiah, appear in dramatic succession. Tranquillity ensues at last. Most Jewish interpreters consider the king here referred to to be the Messiah. Messiah means "the anointed one,"2 and this very king is described in verse 6 as the Anointed of God.†

1

Respecting the manner in which the Redeemer is mentioned, we refer to Introduction, page 38. Offence has been taken at the punishment with which the opponents of Messiah are threatened; but the same occurs in our Lord's own words in the New Testament. While the Saviour uses similar terms in representing the citizens of his kingdom as rebellious and "killing the heir," he likewise declares that the wicked shall be slain, and those "who would not that He should reign over them" be destroyed. "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken," says he, "but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder." Such is the harmony of the words of prophecy and those of the New Testament.‡

4

The prophetic Psalmist is translated to the time of the appearance of the Son of God as king of the earth, and hears the rebellious speech of the princes (v. 1-3). For a while God seems to sleep, but then awakes like a hero, making the indisputable declaration, that no mortal can despise the king whom He has instituted (v. 4—6). Then appears the Messiah, to testify to the dominion over all flesh which the Father has conferred upon

(1) Cf. ad. Psalm lxvii. 7. (2) John i. 41. (3) Luke xix. 14; Matthew xxi. 38. (4) Matt. xxi. 41; Luke xix. 27.

* 1 Kings v. 3. 4. The insurrections mentioned 1 Kings xi. 14. 23, were trifling in themselves, and belong to the last period of the king's reign. The psalm could not have been composed then, because Solomon was at that time too much immersed in idolatry to compose such a psalm. To those who refer it to the accession of Solomon (Ewald, Bleek,) it may be replied that there is no allusion whatever to a rebellion on the part of subdued nations: again it is a question whether if v. 6 be rendered "Upon Zion," it may be said of Solomon, that he was anointed upon Zion. (Cf. 1 Kings i. 38.)

The Hebrew has not the word from which the name "Messiah" is derived, but one cognate to it and in poetic use.

Cf. to this Psalm and the prophetic psalms in general (Sack's Apologetik, 2nd edition, 1841, p. 278), etc.

Him (v. 7-9). The royal prophet, finally, exhorts the kings of the earth to timely obedience, ere punishment befal them (10. 12).

1

HY do the heathen rage,

WHY

And the people imagine a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves,

And the rulers take counsel together,

Against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

3 "Let us break their bands asunder,

And cast away their cords from us."

4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The LORD shall have them in derision.

5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, And vex them in his sore displeasure:

6 "Yet have I anointed my king

Upon my holy hill of Zion."*

7 I will declare the decree (of the Lord):

The LORD hath said unto me, "Thou art my Son;
This day have I begotten thee.

8 Ask of me,

And I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;

Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings:

Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,

And ye perish from the way,

For his wrath is soon kindled.

Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

V. 1-3. The spirit of prophecy reveals to David, that the world will not willingly submit to the government of the Prince of Peace. His spirit hears the wild rage and tumult which usher in rebellion, but discerns also its ill-success. He beholds their gathering-for darkness has its potentates-and however much rent and divided they may be, in one thing they are of one mind. "We will not have this one to reign over us.' "My yoke is easy and my burden is light," said the Saviour when he was on earth, and yet but few were willing to bow beneath those light bands and blessed cords,-John had to complain in those days that "He came to his own and his own received him not." They who refuse to wear those light bands are injuring themselves most by bringing down upon them the righteous judgment of Him, who will not suffer his honour to be trampled under foot with impunity. The New Testament as well as this psalm state, that rejecting the Messiah is the same as rejecting the Lord of Heaven and earth, since here the bands and cords of the Anointed of God are described as God's (1) Luke xix. 14.

Or, "Over my holy hill of Zion."