Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 3.djvu/559

Rh himself and his will; he has shined upon us, so some; has favoured us, and lifted up upon us the light of his countenance; he has given us occasion for joy and rejoicing, which is light to the soul, by giving us a prospect of everlasting light in heaven. The day which the Lord has made brings light with it, true light. (2.) The duty which this privilege calls for; Bind the sacrifice with cords, that, being killed, the blood of it may be sprinkled upon the horns of the altar, according to the law; or perhaps it was the custom (though we read not of it elsewhere) to bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar, while things were getting ready for the slaying of it. Or this may have a peculiar significancy here; the sacrifice we are to offer to God, in gratitude for redeeming love, is, ourselves, not to be slain upon the altar, but living sacrifices, (Rom. xii. 1.) to be bound to the altar; spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise, in which our hearts must be fixed and engaged, as the sacrifice was bound with cords to the horns of the altar, not to start back. Lastly, The psalmist concludes with his own thankful acknowledgments of divine grace, in which he calls upon others to join with him, v. 28, 29. (1.) He will praise God himself, and endeavour to exalt him in his own heart, and in the hearts of others, and this because of his covenant-relation to him, and interest in him; "Thou art my God, on whom I depend, and to whom I am devoted, who ownest me, and art owned by me; and therefore I will praise thee." (2.) He will have all about him to give thanks to God for these glad tidings of great joy to all people, that there is a Redeemer, even Christ the Lord; in him it is that God is good to man, and that his mercy endures for ever; in him the covenant of grace is made, and in him it is made sure, made good, and made an everlasting covenant. He concludes this psalm as he began it; (v. 1.) for God's glory must be the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, of all our addresses to him. Hallowed be thy name, and thine is the glory. And this fitly closes a prophecy of Christ. The angels give thanks for man's redemption. Glory to God in the highest, (Luke ii. 14.) for there is on earth peace, to which we must echo with our hosannas, as they did, Luke xix. 38. Peace in heaven to us through Christ, and therefore Glory in the highest.

PSALM CXIX. This is a psalm by itself, like none of the rest, it excels them all, and shines brightest in this constellation. It is much longer than any of them; more than twice as long as any of them. It is not making long prayers that Christ censures, but making them for a pretence; which intimates that they are in themselves good and commendable. It seems to me to be a collection of David's pious and devout ejaculations, the short and sudden breathings and elevations of his soul to God, which he wrote down as they occurred, and, toward the latter end of his time, gathered out of his day-book, where they lay scattered, added to them many like words, and digested them into this psalm, in which there is seldom any coherence between the verses, but, like Solomon's proverbs, it is a chest of gold rings, not a chain of gold links. And we may not only learn, by the psalmist's example, to accustom ourselves to such pious ejaculations, which are an excellent means of maintaining constant communion with God, and keeping the heart in frame for the more solemn exercises of religion, but we must make use of the psalmist's words, both for the exciting, and for the expressing, of our devout affections; what some have said of this psalm is true. He that shall read it considerately, it will either warm him or shame him.

I. The composition of it is singular, and very exact. It is divided into twenty-two parts, according to the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and each part consists of eight verses; all the verses of the first part beginning with Aleph, all the verses of the second with Beth, and so on, without any flaw, throughout the whole psalm. Archbishop Tillottson says, It seems to have more of poetical skill and number in it, than we at this distance can easily understand. Some have called it the saints' alphabet; and it were to be wished we had it as ready in our memories, as the very letters of our alphabet, as ready as our A B C. Perhaps the penman found it of use to himself to observe this method, as it obliged him to seek for thoughts, and search for them, that he might fill up the quota of every part; and the letter he was to begin with might lead him to a word which might suggest a good sentence; and all little enough to raise any thing that is good in the barren soil of our hearts. However, it would be of use to the learners, a help to them, both in committing it to memory, and in calling it to mind upon occasion; by the letter the first word would be got, and that would bring in the whole verse; thus young people would the more easily learn it by heart, and retain it the better even in old age. If any censure it as childish and trifling, because acrostics are now quite out of fashion, let them know that the royal psalmist despises their censure; be is a teacher of babes, and if this method may be beneficial to them, he can easily stoop to it; if this be to be vile, he will be yet more vile.

II. The general scope and design of it is to magnify the law, and make it honourable; to set forth the excellency and usefulness of divine revelation, and to recommend it to us, not only for the entertainment, but for the government, of ourselves, by the psalmist's own example, who speaks by experience of the benefit of it, and of the good impressions made upon him by it; for which he praises God, and earnestly prays, from first to last, for the continuance of God's grace with him, to direct and quicken him in the way of his duty. There are ten several words by which divine revelation is called in this psalm; and they are synonymous, each of them expressive of the whole compass of it, (both that which tells us what God expects from us, and that which tells what we may expect from him,) and of the system of religion which is founded upon it, and guided by it. The things contained in the scripture, and drawn from it, are here called, 1. God's law, because they are enacted by him as our Sovereign, 2. His way, because they are the rule both of his providence and of our obedience. 3. His testimonies, because they are solemnly declared to the world, and attested beyond contradiction. 4. His commandments, because given with authority, and (as the word signifies) lodged with us as a trust. 5. His precepts, because prescribed to us, and not left indifferent. 6. His word, or saying, because it is the declaration of his mind, and Christ, the essential Eternal Word, is all in all in it. 7. His judgments, because framed in infinite wisdom, and because by them we must both judge and be judged. 8. His righteousness, because it is all holy, just, and good, and the rule and standard of righteousness. 9. His statutes, because they are fixed and determined, and of perpetual obligation. 10. His truth, or faithfulness, because the principles upon which the divine law is built are eternal truths. And I think there is but one verse, (it is v. 122.) in all this long psalm, in which there is not one or other of these ten words; only in three or four they are used concerning God's providence, or David's practice, as v. 75, 84, 121: and, v. 132, they are called God's name. The great esteem and affection David had for the word of God, is the more admirable, considering how little he had of it, in comparison with what we have; no more perhaps, in writing, than the first books of Moses, which were but the dawning of this day; which may shame us who enjoy the full discoveries of divine revelation, and yet are so cold towards it. In singing this psalm, there is work for all the devout affections of a sanctified soul; so copious, so various, is the matter of it. We here find that in which we must give glory to God, both as our Ruler and great Benefactor; that in which we are to teach and admonish ourselves and one another; (so many are the instructions which we here find about a religious life;) and that in which we are to comfort and encourage ourselves and one another; so many are the sweet experiences of one that lived such a life. Here is something or other to suit the case of every Christian. Is any afflicted? Is any merry? Each will find that here which is proper for them. And it is so far from being a tedious repetition of the same thing, as may seem to those who look over it cursorily, that, if we duly meditate upon it, we shall find almost every verse has a new thought, and something in it very lively. And this, as many other of David's psalms, teaches us to be sententious in our devotions, both alone, and where others join with us; for, ordinarily, the affections, especially of weaker Christians, are more likely to be raised and kept by short expressions, the sense of which lies in a little room, than by long and laboured periods.