Psalms 62 commentary

We are in the way both of duty and comfort, when our souls wait upon God; when we cheerfully give up ourselves, and all our affairs, to his will and wisdom; when we leave ourselves to all the ways of his providence, and patiently expect the event, with full satisfaction in his goodness. See the ground and reason of this dependence. By his grace he has supported me, and by his providence delivered me. He only can be my Rock and my salvation; creatures are nothing without him, therefore I will look above them to him. Trusting in God, the heart is fixed. If God be for us, we need not fear what man can do against us. David having put his confidence in God, foresees the overthrow of his enemies. We have found it good to wait upon the Lord, and should charge our souls to have such constant dependence upon him, as may make us always easy. If God will save my soul, I may well leave every thing else to his disposal, knowing all shall turn to my salvation. And as David's faith in God advances to an unshaken stedfastness, so his joy in God improves into a holy triumph. Meditation and prayer are blessed means of strengthening faith and hope.

Those who have found the comfort of the ways of God themselves, will invite others into those ways; we shall never have the less for others sharing with us. the good counsel given is, to trust wholly in God. We must so trust in him at all times, as not at any time to put that trust in ourselves, or in any creature, which is to be put in him only. Trust in him to guide us when in doubt, to protect us when in danger, to supply us when in want, to strengthen us for every good word and work. We must lay out wants and our wishes before him, and then patiently submit our wills to his: this is pouring out our hearts. God is a refuge for all, even for as many as will take shelter in him. The psalmist warns against trusting in men. The multitude, those of low degree, are changeable as the wind. The rich and noble seem to have much in their power, and lavish promises; but those that depend on them, are disappointed. Weighed in the balance of Scripture, all that man can do to make us happy is lighter than vanity itself. It is hard to have riches, and not to trust in them if they increase, though by lawful and honest means; but we must take heed, lest we set our affections unduly upon them. A smiling world is the most likely to draw the heart from God, on whom alone it should be set. The consistent believer receives all from God as a trust; and he seeks to use it to his glory, as a steward who must render an account. God hath spoken as it were once for all, that power belongs to him alone. He can punish and destroy. Mercy also belongs to him; and his recompensing the imperfect services of those that believe in him, blotting out their transgressions for the Redeemer's sake, is a proof of abundant mercy, and encourages us to trust in him. Let us trust in his mercy and grace, and abound in his work, expecting mercies from him alone.

PSALM 62

The greater part of this psalm is occupied with meditations, in which David encourages himself and others to hope in God, and fortifies his mind against the assaults of temptation. And as we are ever prone to be drawn away from God by the influence which worldly objects exert over our senses, perishing and evanescent as these are, occasion is taken to show the folly of this, and bring us to a single and entire dependence upon God.

To the chief musician upon Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.

The fact being ascertained that there was one of the chief singers who bore the name of Jeduthun, some have thought that this psalm was committed into his hands to be sung, (1 Chronicles 9:16; 16:38, 41; and 25:1) In the title to Psalm 39, it is sufficiently probable that the allusion is to some musician of that family. But this would not seem to be the case here; for the psalm is not said to be given to, but upon Jeduthun. This has led to the opinion that it formed the beginning of some song commonly known at that time. Still the Hebrew particle על, al, which we have rendered upon, means frequently for, to, or before; and it will consist with the words to suppose, that this psalm was put into the hands of the posterity of Jeduthun. Jeduthun was first chosen to be one of the chief musicians in conducting the praises of the Jewish sanctuary when the ark was brought from Obed-edom to mount Zion. His sons were also appointed to preside over different departments of the vocal and instrumental worship in the tabernacle. He had six sons who were thus employed. Jeduthun and his family appear to have been eminent for their piety, and to have been endued with the spirit of prophecy.

Psalm 62:1-2

1. Nevertheless, my soul is silent towards God: from him is my salvation. 2. Nevertheless, he himself is my rock and my salvation, my high tower: I shall not be greatly moved.

1. Nevertheless, my soul is silent towards God. Should the translation I have followed be adopted, the psalm is to be considered as beginning abruptly, in the usual style of compositions of an impassioned kind. “Sicuti patheticae sententiae ut plurimum defectivae sunt.” — Lat. “Comme nous scavons que les propos dits de quelque affection vehemente, le plus souvent sont imparfaits.” — Fr. Of this we have an instance in Psalm 73, where the prophet, who had been agitated with doubts, as we shall see more particularly afterwards, suddenly brings his mind to a fixed decision, and, in the way of cutting off all further subject of debate, exclaims, “Yet God is good to Israel.” And so it is, I conceive, in the psalm before us. We know that the Lord’s people cannot always reach such a measure of composure as to be wholly exempt from distraction. They would wish to receive the word of the Lord with submission, and to be dumb under his correcting hand; but inordinate affections will take possession of their minds, and break in upon that peace which they might otherwise attain to in the exercise of faith and resignation. Hence the impatience we find in many; an impatience which they give vent to in the presence of God, and which is an occasion to themselves of much trouble and disquietude. The Hebrew particle אך, ach, is often used in an exclusive sense, and has been rendered by some, only; it is also employed in an affirmative sense, and has been rendered truly, or certainly. But in order to arrive at its full meaning, we must suppose that David felt an inward struggle and opposition, which he found it necessary to check. Satan had raised a tumult in his affections, and wrought a degree of impatience in his mind, which he now curbs; and he expresses his resolution to be silent. The import of the Hebrew word is “patient silence.” The Septuagint reads, “Ουχι τῶ Θεῶ ὑποταγήσεται ἡ ψυχή μου? “Shall not my soul be subject to God?” And doubtless the Psalmist intended to say that his soul was quiet, submissive, and subject; the rebellious affections being tamed and subdued. With respect to the translation of our English Bible, “Truly my soul waiteth upon God,” Dr Adam Clarke remarks, “I do not think that the original will warrant this translation.” He reads, “Surely to God only is my soul dumb;” which he thus explains: “I am subject to God Almighty. He has a right to lay on me what He pleases; and what He lays on me is much less than I deserve; therefore am I dumb before God. The Vulgate, and, almost all the versions, have understood it in this sense: ‘Nonne Deo subjecta erit anima mea? Shall not my soul be subject to God?’” With this agree the version and interpretation of Calvin. The word implies a meek and submissive endurance of the cross. It expresses the opposite of that heat of spirit which would put us into a posture of resistance to God. The silence intended is, in short, that composed submission of the believer, in the exercise of which he acquiesces in the promises of God, gives place to his word, bows to his sovereignty, and suppresses every inward murmur of dissatisfaction. The Hebrew word דומיה, dumiyah, which I have rendered is silent, some consider to be the noun; and it is of little consequence which translation we adopt.

PSALM 62

Psa 62:1-12. To Jeduthun--(See on Psa 39:1, title). The general tone of this Psalm is expressive of confidence in God. Occasion is taken to remind the wicked of their sin, their ruin, and their meanness.

1. waiteth--literally, "is silent," trusts submissively and confidently as a servant.

2. The titles applied to God often occur (Psa 9:9; 18:2).

be greatly moved--(Psa 10:6). No injury shall be permanent, though devised by enemies.

3. Their destruction will come; as a tottering wall they already are feeble and failing.

bowing wall shall ye be--better supply "are." Some propose to apply these phrases to describe the condition of "a man"--that is, the pious suffer: thus, "Will ye slay him," &c.; but the other is a good sense.

4. his excellency--or, elevation to which God had raised him (Psa 4:2). This they try to do by lies and duplicity (Psa 5:9).

5-6. (Compare Psa 62:1, 2).

7. rock of my strength--or strongest support (Psa 7:10; 61:3).

8. pour out your heart--give full expression to feeling (1Sa 1:15; Job 30:16; Psa 42:4).

ye people--God's people.

9. No kind of men are reliable, compared with God (Is 2:22; Jr 17:5).

altogether--alike, one as the other (Psa 34:3).

10. Not only are oppression and robbery, which are wicked means of wealth, no grounds of boasting; but even wealth, increasing lawfully, ought not to engross the heart.

11. once; twice--(as in Job 33:14; 40:5), are used to give emphasis to the sentiment. God's power is tempered by His mercy, which it also sustains.

12. for thou renderest--literally, "that Thou renderest," &c., connected with "I heard this," as the phrase--"that power," &c. [Psa 62:11]--teaching that by His power He can show both mercy and justice.

Truly my soul waiteth upon God - I do not think that the original will warrant this translation, אך אל אלהים דומיה נפשי ak el Elohim dumiyah naphshi, "Surely to God only is my soul dumb." I am subject to God Almighty. He has a right to lay on me what he pleases; and what he lays on me is much less than I deserve: therefore am I dumb before God. The Vulgate, and almost all the Versions, have understood it in this sense: Nonne Deo subjecta erit anima mea? Shall not my soul be subject to God? In other words, God alone has a right to dispose of my life as he pleases.

I shall not be greatly moved - Having God for my rock - strong fortified place, for my salvation - continual safety, and my defense - my elevated tower, which places me out of the reach of my enemies; I shall not be greatly moved - I may be shaken, but cannot be cast down.

How long will ye imagine mischief - The original word, תהותתו tehothethu, has been translated variously; rush upon, rage against, stir yourselves up, thrust against: the root is התת hathath or התה hathah, to rush violently upon, to assault. It points out the disorderly riotous manner in which this rebellion was conducted.

As a bowing wall - a tottering fence - Ye are just ready to fall upon others, and destroy them; and in that fall yourselves shall be destroyed: "Ye shall be slain the whole of you."

To cast him down from his excellency - They are consulting to dethrone me, and use treachery and falsehood in order to bring it about: "They delight in lies."

They bless with their mouth - Probably alluding to Absalom's blandishments of the people. He flattered them in order to get the sovereign rule. Or it may refer to the people of Jerusalem, whose perfidy he saw, while they were full of professions of loyalty, etc.; but he could not trust them, and therefore retired from Jerusalem.

Wait thou only upon God - There is none but him in whom thou canst safely trust; and to get his help, resign thyself into his hands; be subject to him, and be silent before him; thou hast what thou hast deserved. See on Psa 62:1 (note).

In God is my salvation - עי אלהים al Elohim, "Upon God is my salvation;" he has taken it upon himself. And my glory - the preservation of my state, and the safety of my kingdom.

Trust in him - ye people - All ye who are faithful to your king, continue to trust in God. The usurper will soon be cast down, and your rightful sovereign restored to his government. Fear not the threatenings of my enemies, for God will be a refuge for us.

Men of low degree are vanity - בני אדם beney Adam, which we here translate men of low degree, literally, sons of Adam, are put in opposition to בני איש beney ish, men of high degree, literally, the sons of substance, or children of substantial men. Adam was the name of the first man when formed out of the earth; Ish was his name when united to his wife, and they became one flesh. Before, he was the incomplete man; after, he was the complete man; for it seems, in the sight of God, it requires the male and female to make one complete human being. אנוש enosh is another name given to man, but this concerns him in his low, fallen, wretched estate: it properly signifies weak, poor, addicted, wretched man.

Common men can give no help. They are vanity, and it is folly to trust in them; for although they may be willing, yet they have no ability to help you: "Rich men are a lie." They promise much, but perform nothing; they cause you to hope, but mock your expectation.

To be laid to the balance - במאזנים לעלות bemozenayim laaloth, In the balances they ascend: exactly answerable to our phrase, they kick the beam.

They are altogether lighter than vanity - Literally, Both of them united are vanity, המה מהבל יחד hemmah mehebel yachad. Put both together in one scale, and truth in the opposite, and both will kick the beam. They weigh nothing, they avail nothing.

Trust not in oppression - Do not suppose that my unnatural son and his partisans can succeed.

Become not vain in robbery - If ye have laid your hands on the spoils of my house, do not imagine that these ill-gotten riches will prosper. God will soon scatter them to all the winds of heaven. All oppressors come to an untimely end; and all property acquired by injustice has God's curse on it.

God hath spoken once - God has once addressed his people in giving the law on Mount Sinai. The Chaldee translates the whole passage thus: "God hath spoken one law, and twice have we heard this from the mouth of Moses the great scribe, that strength is before God: and it becomes thee, O God, to show mercy to the righteous; for thou renderest to man according to his works."

Twice have I heard this - Except some of the ancient Versions, almost every version, translation, and commentary has missed the sense and meaning of this verse. I shall set down the text: אחת דבר אלהים שתים זו שמעתי achath dibber Elohim; shetayim zu shamati; of which the true version is this: Once hath God spoken; these two things have I heard. Now what are the two things he had heard?

1. כי וז לאלהים ki oz lelohim, "That strength is the Lord's;" that is, He is the Origin of pourer.

2. ולך אדני חסד ulecha Adonai, chased; "and to thee, Lord, is mercy;" that is, He is the Fountain of mercy.

These, then, are the two grand truths that the law, yea, the whole revelation of God, declares through every page. He is the Almighty; he is the most merciful; and hence the inference: The powerful, just, and holy God, the most merciful and compassionate Lord, will by and by judge the world, and will render to man according to his works. How this beautiful meaning should have been unseen by almost every interpreter, is hard to say: these verses contain one of the most instructive truths in the Bible.

Ye - Mine enemies; to whom now he turns his speech. Against - Against me, a man like yourselves, whom common humanity obliges you to pity.

Vanity - Vain, and helpless creatures. A lie - They promise much, but generally deceive those who trust in them.

Vain - Feeding yourselves with vain hopes of felicity, from those riches which you take from others by violence.

Spoken - Frequently, both immediately as at Sinai, and by his holy prophets, from time to time. That - That power is God's prerogative; and consequently all creatures, either against or without him, are poor impotent things.

Therefore - God is almighty, therefore he can easily destroy all his enemies: he is also merciful, and therefore will pardon good mens failings. Renderest - And this as he is obliged to do by his holy nature, so is he able to do it, being omnipotent, and willing to do it to the godly (which was the only thing that might be doubted, because of their manifold miscarriages) because he is merciful and gracious.

1 TRuely my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation .

Or, Surely. This is my certain and fixed Resolution. Or, Nevertheless, as this Particle is oft rendred. So the beginning of this Psalm is abrupt, as it is in some other Psalms. This seems to be the Conclusion of a long and hard Conflict, which David had within himself, as he often had, what Course he should take to get out of his Trouble.

Heb. be silent, as it is also, Psal. 37. 7. (i. e.) Silently, quietly and Patiently, look up to God for Deliverance, and that in his time and way, without Mourning or Despair, or using indirect and sinful Practises.

I have no Hope of Deliverance, but from and by him.

Marginal references: Heb. Or, [illegible: 1+ letters] ly.; Heb. is [illegible: 1 word].

2 He onely is my rock, and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved .

Though I may be shaken, yet I shall not be overthrown. Compare, Psal. 37. 24. 2 Cor. 4. 9.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] place.

3 How long will ye imagine mischief against a man ? ye shall be slain all of you : as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence .

Mine Enemies: To whom now he turneth his Speech.

(i. e.) Against me, a Man like your selves, whom common Humanity obligeth you to Pity; a single Man, who is no fit match for you, a Poor, Contemptible, miserable and impotent Creature, as the word Man is oft used, as Psal. 9. 20. and 82. 7. &c. a dead Dog, or a Flea, or a Partridge, as, upon the same Account he calleth himself 1 Sam. 24. 14. and 26. 20. whom you cannot thus pursue, without reflecting Disparagement upon your selves, as he there saith.

The Mischief which you design for me, shall fall upon your own Heads. And accordingly Saul and the generality of these Men were slain, 1 Sam. 31

(i. e.) As suddenly and easily overthrown as these are.

Marginal references: Isa. 30. 13.

4 They onely consult to cast him down from his excellency , they delight in lies , they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly, Selah.

To wit, the man mentioned, v. 3. (i. e.) Himself: Of whom he continues to speak in the third Person.

From the hopes and Attainment of that Royal Dignity, to which God hath designed and anointed me.

In secret Slanders and Execrations covered with Flatteries and fair Speeches, as it here follows.

Marginal references: Psal. 28. 3.; Heb. in [illegible: 1 word] inward [illegible: 1 word].

7 In God is my salvation and my glory : the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God.

Heb. Upon, or with God. It depends upon him, and his Favour, and Help.

Either, 1. The matter of my Glorying. Or, 2. That Honour which I either have or Hope for.

8 Trust in him at all times; ye people , pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us, Selah.

By my Example be encouraged, and Learn to trust God.

(i. e.) Make known all the Desires, and Cares, and Griess, of your Hearts to him, freely and frequently, with Confident Expectation, of obtaining what you want or desire from him.

9 Surely men of low degree are vanity , and men of high degree are a lye : to be laid in the ballance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

(i. e.) Most Vain, impotent and helpless Creatures in themselves. This he delivers as a Reason or Argument, to enforce his foregoing Exhortation, Trust in God, because there is no other Person, or thing to which you can safely Trust.

Because they Promise much, and raise mens Expectations upon Consideration, of their great Power and Dignity, but are not able to perform, and generally deceive those who Trust in them. In which Respect Lying is ascribed to a Fountain, Ier. 15: 18. to Wine, Hose. 9. 2. to the Olive, Habak. 3. 17. when they do not give what they Promise.

Marginal references: Psal 30. 5. 11. [illegible: 1 word]. 3. 4.; Or, alik[illegible: 1+ letters].

10 Trust not in oppression , and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them .

As you may not trust any other Men, so neither must you trust to your selves, nor to your own Wit or Industry, or Courage by which you may oppress others, and so think to secure and enrich your selves.

Lifting up, and feeding your selves with vain Hopes, and Expectations of safety and felicity, from those Riches which you take from others by Robbery or Violence.

So as to please your selves immoderately in them, to place your Hope and Trust, and chief Joy in them, or to grow Proud and insolent because of them.

Marginal references: Iob 31. 25. [illegible: 1 word]. 12. 15. [illegible: 1 word]. 6. 17.

11 God hath spoken once: twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God .

(i. e.) Frequently, as Iob 33. 14. both immediately as at Sinai, and by his holy Prophets, from time to time.

That Power is God's Prerogative, and Consequently all Creatures, either against or without him, are poor Impotent things, to which no Man can trust without certain Disappointment, and God alone is fit to be trusted.

Marginal references: Or, Strengths.

12 Also unto thee O LORD, belongeth mercy; for thou rendrest to every man according to his work .

Or, therefore. For the following Words seem to be either a Reason, or Proof of, or an inference from, the two foregoing Properties of God, Power and Mercy. God is Almighty, therefore he can easily subdue and destroy all his and mine ungodly Enemies, and Recompence unto them all their Malicious and wicked Practises. He is also mild and merciful, and therefore will pardon good Mens failings, and graciously reward me and others, of his People according to our Integrity.

According to the Nature and quality, though not according to the Proportion, of their Works, whether they be good or bad. And this as he is obliged to do by his holy Nature, and by that Respect which he oweth to his own Glory, so he is able to do it, being Omnipotent, and willing to do it to the godly (which was the onely thing that might be doubted, because of their manifold and great Corruptions, and Imperfections, and Miscarriages) because he is merciful and gracious.

a Or, Benignity, or Readiness to do good. Thou art no less willing than able, to defend and preserve all that put their Trust in thee.

Marginal references: Job 34. 11. Prov. 14. 12. Jer. 31. 19. Ezek. 7. 27. [illegible: 1+ letters] 33. 20. Mat. 16. 27. Rom. 2. 6. 1 Cor. 3. 8. 2 Cor. 5. 10. Ephes. 6. 8. Col. 3 25: 1 Pet. 1. 17. [illegible: 1 word]. 22. 12.

Resignation to God When Foes Crowd in upon One

Concerning this Psalm, which is placed next to the preceding Psalm by reason of several points of mutual relationship (cf. Psa 62:8 with Psa 61:4, Psa 61:8; Psa 62:9 with Psa 61:4; Ps 62:13 b with Psalms 61:9), as being a product of the time of the persecution by Absalom, and also concerning על־יוּתוּן, we have spoken already in the introduction to Psa 39:1-13, which forms with it a twin pair. The particle אך occurs there four times, and in this Psalm even as many as six times. The strophic structure somewhat resembles that of Psa 39:1-13, in that here we also have longer strophes which are interspersed by tristichs.

Psa 62:1-4 The poet, although apparently irrecoverably lost, does not nevertheless despair, but opposes one thing to the tumultuous crowding in upon him of his many foes, viz., quiet calm submission - not, however, a fatalistic resignation, but that which gives up everything to God, whose hand (vid., 2Sa 12:7-13) can be distinctly recognised and felt in what is now happening to him. אך (yea, only, nevertheless) is the language of faith, with which, in the face of all assault, established truths are confessed and confirmed; and with which, in the midst of all conflict, resolutions, that are made and are to be firmly kept, are deliberately and solemnly declared and affirmed. There is no necessity for regarding דּוּמיּה (not דּומיּה), which is always a substantive (not only in Psa 22:3; Psa 39:3, but also in this instance and in Psa 65:2), and which is related to דּוּמה, silence, Psa 94:17; Psa 115:17, just as עליליּה, Jer 32:19, is related to עלילה, as an accus. absol.: in silent submission (Hupfeld). Like תּפּלּה in Psa 109:4, it is a predicate: his soul is silent submission, i.e., altogether resigned to God without any purpose and action of its own. His salvation comes from God, yea, God Himself is his salvation, so that, while God is his God, he is even already in possession of salvation, and by virtue of it stands imperturbably firm. We see clearly from Psa 37:24, what the poet means by רבּה. He will not greatly, very much, particularly totter, i.e., not so that it should come to his falling and remaining down. רבּה is an adverb like רבּת, Psa 123:4, and הרבּה, Ecc 5:19.

There is some difficulty about the ἅπαξ λεγομ. תּהותתוּ .לןדו (Psa 62:4). Abulwalîd, whom Parchon, Kimchi, and most others follow, compares the Arabic hatta 'l - rajul, the man brags; but this Arab. ht (intensive form htht) signifies only in a general way to speak fluently, smoothly and rapidly one word after another, which would give too poor an idea here. There is another Arab. htt (cogn. htk , proscindere) which has a meaning that is even better suited to this passage, and one which is still retained in the spoken language of Syria at the present day: hattani is equivalent to “he compromised me” (= hataka es - sitra ‛annı̂, he has pulled my veil down), dishonoured me before the world by speaking evil concerning me; whence in Damascus el - hettât is the appellation for a man who without any consideration insults a person before others, whether he be present or absent at the time. But this Arab. htt only occurs in Kal and with an accusative of the object. The words עד־אנה תהותתו על־אישׁ find their most satisfactory explanation in the Arab. hwwt in common use in Damascus at the present day, which is not used in Kal, but only in the intensive form. The Piel Arab. hwwt ‛lâ flân signifies to rush upon any one, viz., with a shout and raised fist in order to intimidate him.Neshwân and the Kâmûs say: “hawwata and hajjata bi - fulân-in signifies to call out to any one in order to put him in terror (Arab. ṣâḥ bh);” “but in Syria,” as Wetzstein goes on to say, “the verb does not occur as med. Jod, nor is hawwata there construed with Arab. b, but only with ‛lâ. A very ready phrase with the street boys in Damascus is Arab. l - 'yy š' thwwt ‛lı̂, 'why dost thou threaten me?' “

From this הוּת, of which even the construction with Arab. ‛lâ, together with the intensive form is characteristic, we here read the Pil. הותת, which is not badly rendered by the lxx ἐπιτίθεσθε, Vulgate irruitis.

In Psa 62:4 it is a question whether the reading תּרצּחוּ of the school of Tiberias or the Babylonian תּרצּחוּ is to be preferred. Certainly the latter; for the former (to be rendered, “may you” or “ye shall be broken in pieces, slain”) produces a thought that is here introduced too early, and one that is inappropriate to the figures that follow. Standing as it still does under the regimen of עד־אנה, תרצחו is to be read as a Piel; and, as the following figures show, is to be taken, after Psa 42:11, in its primary signification contundere (root רץ).The reading of Ben-Asher תּרצּחוּ is followed by Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, and others, taking this form (which could not possibly be anything else) as Pual. The reading of Ben-Naphtali תּרצּחוּ is already assumed in B. Sanhedrin 119 a. Besides these the reading תּרצּחוּ without Dag.) is also found, which cannot be taken as a resolved Piel, since the Metheg is wanting, but is to be read terotzchu, and is to be taken (as also the reading מלשׁני, Psa 101:5, and ויּחלקם, 1Ch 23:6; 1Ch 24:3) as Poal (vid., on Psa 94:20; Psa 109:10).

The sadness of the poet is reflected in the compressed, obscure, and peculiar character of the expression. אישׁ and כּלּכם (a single one-ye all) stand in contrast. כּקיר וגו, sicut parietem = similem parieti (cf. Psa 63:6), forms the object to תּרצּחוּ. The transmitted reading גּדר הדּחוּיה, although not incorrect in itself so far as the gender (Pro 24:31) and the article are concerned (Ges. §111, 2, a), must apparently be altered to גּדרה דחוּיה (Olshausen and others) in accordance with the parallel member of the verse, since both גּדרה and גּדר are words that can be used of every kind of surrounding or enclosure. To them David seems like a bent, overhanging wall, like a wall of masonry that has received the thrust that must ultimately cause its fall; and yet they rush in upon him, and all together they pursue against the one man their work of destruction and ruin. Hence he asks, with an indignation that has a somewhat sarcastic tinge about it, how long this never-satiated self-satisfying of their lust of destruction is meant to last. Their determination (יעץ as in Isa 14:24) is clear. It aims only or entirely (אך, here tantummodo, prorsus) at thrusting down from his high position, that is to say from the throne, viz., him, the man at whom they are always rushing (להדּיח = להדּיחו). No means are too base for them in the accomplishment of their object, not even the mask of the hypocrite. The clauses which assume a future form of expression are, logically at least, subordinate clauses (EW. §341, b). The Old Testament language allows itself a change of number like בּפיו instead of בּפיהם, even to the very extreme, in the hurry of emotional utterance. The singular is distributive in this instance: suo quisque ore, like לו in Isa 2:20, ממּנּו, Isa 5:23, cf. Isa 30:22, Zec 14:12. The pointing יקללוּ follows the rule of יהללו, Psa 22:27, ירננו, Psa 149:5, and the like (to which the only exceptions are הנני, חקקי, רננת).

Psa 62:5-8

The beginning of the second group goes back and seizes upon the beginning of the first. אך is affirmative both in Psa 62:6 and in Psa 62:7. The poet again takes up the emotional affirmations of Psa 62:2, Psa 62:3, and, firm and defiant in faith, opposes them to his masked enemies. Here what he says to his soul is very similar to what he said of his soul in Psa 62:2, inasmuch as he makes his own soul objective and exalts himself above her; and it is just in this that the secret of personality consists. He here admonishes her to that silence which in Psa 62:2 he has already acknowledged as her own; because all spiritual existence as being living remains itself unchanged only by means of a perpetual “becoming” (mittelst steten Werdens), of continuous, self-conscious renovation. The “hope” in Psa 62:6 is intended to be understood according to that which forms its substance, which here is nothing more nor less than salvation, Psa 62:2. That for which he who resigns himself to God hopes, comes from God; it cannot therfore fail him, for God the Almighty One and plenteous in mercy is surety for it. David renounces all help in himself, all personal avenging of his own honour - his salvation and his honour are על־אלהים (vid., on Psa 7:11). The rock of his strength, i.e., his strong defence, his refuge, is בּאלהים; it is where Elohim is, Elohim is it in person (בּ as in Isa 26:4). By עם, Psa 62:9, the king addresses those who have reamined faithful to him, whose feeble faith he has had to chide and sustain in other instances also in the Psalms belonging to this period. The address does not suit the whole people, who had become for the most part drawn into the apostasy. Moreover it would then have been עמּי (my people). עם frequently signifies the people belonging to the retinue of a prince (Jdg 3:18), or in the service of any person of rank (1Ki 19:21), or belonging to any union of society whatever (2Ki 4:42.). David thus names those who cleave to him; and the fact that he cannot say “my people” just shows that the people as a body had become alienated from him. But those who have remained to him of the people are not therefore to despair; but they are to pour out before God, who will know how to protect both them and their king, whatever may lie heavily upon their heart.

Psa 62:9-12

Just as all men with everything earthly upon which they rely are perishable, so also the purely earthly form which the new kingship has assumed carries within itself the germ of ruin; and God will decide as Judge, between the dethroned and the usurpers, in accordance with the relationship in which they stand to Him. This is the internal connection of the third group with the two preceding ones. By means of the strophe vv. 10-13, our Psalm is brought into the closest reciprocal relationship with Psa 39:1-13. Concerning בּני־אדם and בּני־אישׁ vid., on Psa 49:3; Psa 4:3. The accentuation divides Psa 62:10 quite correctly. The Athnach does not mark בּמאזנים לעלות as an independent clause: they are upon the balance לעלות, for a going up; they must rise, so light are they (Hengstenberg). Certainly this expression of the periphrastic future is possible (vid., on Psa 25:14; Psa 1:1-6 :17), still we feel the want here of the subject, which cannot be dispensed within the clause as an independent one. Since, however, the combining of the words with what follows is forbidden by the fact that the infinitive with ל in the sense of the ablat. gerund. always comes after the principal clause, not before it (Ew. §280, d), we interpret: upon the balances ad ascendendum = certo ascensuri, and in fact so that this is an attributive that is co-ordinate with כּזב. Is the clause following now meant to affirm that men, one and all, belong to nothingness or vanity (מן partitivum), or that they are less than nothing (מן comparat.)? Umbreit, Stier, and others explain Isa 40:17 also in the latter way; but parallels like Isa 41:24 do not favour this rendering, and such as Isa 44:11 are opposed to it. So also here the meaning is not that men stand under the category of that which is worthless or vain, but that they belong to the domain of the worthless or vain.

The warning in Psa 62:11 does not refer to the Absalomites, but, pointing to these as furnishing a salutary example, to those who, at the sight of the prosperous condition and joyous life on that side, might perhaps be seized with envy and covetousness. Beside בּטח בּ the meaning of הבל בּ is nevertheless not: to set in vain hope upon anything (for the idea of hoping does not exist in this verb in itself, Job 27:12; Jer 2:5, nor in this construction of the verb), but: to be befooled, blinded by something vain (Hitzig). Just as they are not to suffer their heart to be befooled by their own unjust acquisition, so also are they not, when the property of others increases (נוּב, root נב, to raise one’s self, to mount up; cf. Arabic nabata, to sprout up, grow; nabara, to raise; intransitive, to increase, and many other verbal stems), to turn their heart towards it, as though it were something great and fortunate, that merited special attention and commanded respect. Two great truths are divinely attested to the poet. It is not to be rendered: once hath God spoken, now twice (Job 40:5; 2Ki 6:10) have I heard this; but after Psa 89:36 : One thing hath God spoken, two things (it is) that I have heard; or in accordance with the interpunction, which here, as in Psa 12:8 (cf. on Psa 9:16), is not to be called in question: these two things have I heard. Two divine utterances actually do follow. The two great truths are: (1) that God has the power over everything earthly, that consequently nothing takes place without Him, and that whatever is opposed to Him must sooner or later succumb; (2) that of this very God, the sovereign Lord (אדני), is mercy also, the energy of which is measured by His omnipotence, and which does not suffer him to succumb upon whom it is bestowed. With כּי the poet establishes these two revealed maxims which God has impressed upon his mind, from His righteous government as displayed in the history of men. He recompenses each one in accordance with his doing, κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, as Paul confesses (Rom 2:6) no less than David, and even (vid., lxx) in the words of David. It shall be recompensed unto every man according to his conduct, which is the issue of his relationship to God. He who rises in opposition to the will and order of God, shall feel God’s power (עז) as a power for punishment that dashes in pieces; and he who, anxious for salvation, resigns his own will to the will of God, receives from God’s mercy or loving-kindness (חסד), as from an overflowing fulness, the promised reward of faithfulness: his resignation becomes experience, and his hoping attainment.

Waiting upon God; Confidence in God.

1 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. 2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. 3 How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. 4 They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah. 5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

In these verses we have,

I. David's profession of dependence upon God, and upon him only, for all good (v. 1): Truly my soul waiteth upon God. Nevertheless (so some) or "However it be, whatever difficulties or dangers I may meet with, though God frown upon me and I meet with discouragements in my attendance on him, yet still my soul waits upon God" (or is silent to God, as the word is), "Says nothing against what he does, but quietly expects what he will do." We are in the way both of duty and comfort when our souls wait upon God, when we cheerfully refer ourselves, and the disposal of all our affairs, to his will and wisdom, when we acquiesce in and accommodate ourselves to all the dispensations of his providence, and patiently expect a doubtful event, with an entire satisfaction in his righteousness and goodness, however it be. Is not my soul subject go God? So the LXX. So it, certainly so it ought to be; our wills must be melted into his will. My soul has respect to God, for from him cometh my salvation. He doubts not but his salvation will come, though now he was threatened and in danger, and he expects it to come from God, and from him only; for in vain is it hoped for from hills and mountains, Jer. iii. 23; Ps. cxxi. 1, 2. "From him I know it will come, and therefore on him will I patiently wait till it does come, for his time is the best time." We may apply it to our eternal salvation, which is called the salvation of God (Ps. l. 23); from him it comes; he prepared it for us, he prepares us for it, and preserves us to it, and therefore let our souls wait on him, to be conducted through this world to that eternal salvation, in such way as he thinks fit.

II. The ground and reason of this dependence (v. 2): He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence. 1. "He has been so many a time; in him I have found shelter, and strength, and succour. He has by his grace supported me and borne me up under my troubles, and by his providence defended me from the insults of my enemies and delivered me out of the troubles into which I was plunged; and therefore I trust he will deliver me," 2 Cor. i. 10. 2. "He only can be my rock and my salvation. Creatures are insufficient; they are nothing without him, and therefore I will look above them to him." 3. "He has by covenant undertaken to be so. Even he that is the rock of ages is my rock; he that is the God of salvation is my salvation; he that is the Most High is my high place; and therefore I have all the reason in the world to confide in him."

III. The improvement he makes of his confidence in God.

1. Trusting in God, his heart is fixed. "If God is my strength and mighty delivered, I shall not be greatly moved (that is, I shall not be undone and ruined); I may be shocked, but I shall not be sunk." Or, "I shall not be much disturbed and disquieted in my own breast. I may be put into some fright, but I shall not be afraid with any amazement, nor so as to be put out of the possession of my own soul. I may be perplexed, but not in despair," 2 Cor. iv. 8. This hope in God will be an anchor of the soul, sure and stedfast.

2. His enemies are slighted, and all their attempts against him looked upon by him with contempt, v. 3, 4. If God be for us, we need not fear what man can do against us, though ever so mighty and malicious. He here, (1.) Gives a character of his enemies: They imagine mischief, design it with a great deal of the serpent's venom and contrive it with a great deal of the serpent's subtlety, and this against a man, one of their own kind, against one single man, that is not an equal match for them, for they are many; they continued their malicious persecution though Providence had often defeated their mischievous designs. "How long will you do it? Will you never be convinced of your error? Will your malice never have spent itself?" They are unanimous in their consultations to cast an excellent man down from his excellency, to draw an honest man from his integrity, to entangle him in sin, which is the only thing that can effectually cast us down from our excellency, to thrust a man, whom God has exalted, down from his dignity, and so to fight against God. Envy was at the bottom of their malice; they were grieved at David's advancement, and therefore plotted, by diminishing his character and blackening that (which was casting him down from his excellency) to hinder his preferment. In order to this they calumniate him, and love to hear such bad characters given of him and such bad reports raised and spread concerning him as they themselves know to be false: They delight in lies. And as they make no conscience of lying concerning him, to do him a mischief, so they make no conscience of lying to him, to conceal the mischief they design, and accomplish it the more effectually: They bless with their mouth (they compliment David to his face), but they curse inwardly; in their hearts they wish him all mischief, and privately they are plotting against him and in their cabals carrying on some evil design or other, by which they hope to ruin him. It is dangerous putting our trust in men who are thus false; but God is faithful. (2.) He reads their doom, pronounces a sentence of death upon them, not as a king, but as a prophet: You shall be slain all of you, by the righteous judgments of God. Saul and his servants were slain by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa, according to this prediction. Those who seek the ruin of God's chosen are but preparing ruin for themselves. God's church is built upon a rock which will stand, but those that fight against it, and its patrons and protectors, shall be as a bowing wall and a tottering fence, which, having a rotten foundation, sinks with its own weight, falls of a sudden, and buries those in the ruins of it that put themselves under the shadow and shelter of it. David, having put his confidence in God, thus foresees the overthrow of his enemies, and, in effect, sets them at defiance and bids them do their worst.

3. He is himself encouraged to continue waiting upon God (v. 5-7): My soul, wait thou only upon God. Note, The good we do we should stir up ourselves to continue doing, and to do yet more and more, as those that have, through grace, experienced the comfort and benefit of it. We have found it good to wait upon God, and therefore should charge our souls, and even charm them, into such a constant dependence upon him as may make us always easy. He had said (v. 1), From him cometh my salvation; he says (v. 5), My expectation is from him. His salvation was the principal matter of his expectation; let him have that from God, and he expects no more. His salvation being from God, all his other expectations are from him. "If God will save my soul, as to every thing else let him do what he pleases with me, and I will acquiesce in his disposals, knowing they shall all turn to my salvation," Phil. i. 19. He repeats (v. 6) what he had said concerning God (v. 2), as one that was not only assured of it, but greatly pleased with it, and that dwelt much upon it in his thoughts: He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence, I know he is; but there he adds, I shall not be greatly moved, here, I shall not be moved at all. Note, The more faith is acted the more active it is. Crescit eundo—It grows by being exercised. The more we meditate upon God's attributes and promises, and our own experience, the more ground we get of our fears, which, like Haman, when they begin to fall, shall fall before us, and we shall be kept in perfect peace, Isa. xxvi. 3. And, as David's faith in God advances to an unshaken stayedness, so his joy in God improves itself into a holy triumph (v. 7): In God is my salvation and my glory. Where our salvation is there our glory is; for what is our salvation but the glory to be revealed, the eternal weight of glory? And there our glorying must be. In God let us boast all the day long. "The rock of my strength (that is, my strong rock, on which I build my hopes and stay myself) and my refuge, to which I flee for shelter when I am pursued, is in God, and in him only. I have no other to flee to, no other to trust to; the more I think of it the better satisfied I am in the choice I have made." Thus does he delight himself in the Lord, and then ride upon the high places of the earth, Isa. lviii. 14.

An Exhortation to Trust in God.

8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. 9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. 10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. 11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. 12 Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

Here we have David's exhortation to others to trust in God and wait upon him, as he had done. Those that have found the comfort of the ways of God themselves will invite others into those ways; there is enough in God for all the saints to draw from, and we shall have never the less for others sharing with us.

I. He counsels all to wait upon God, as he did, v. 8. Observe,

1. To whom he gives this good counsel: You people (that is, all people); all shall be welcome to trust in God, for he is the confidence of all the ends of the earth, Ps. lxv. 5. You people of the house of Israel (so the Chaldee); they are especially engaged and invited to trust in God, for he is the God of Israel; and should not a people seek unto their God?

2. What the good counsel is which he gives. (1.) To confide in God: "Trust in him; deal with him, and be willing to deal upon trust; depend upon him to perform all things for you, upon his wisdom and goodness, his power and promise, his providence and grace. Do this at all times." We must have an habitual confidence in God always, must live a life of dependence upon him, must so trust in him at all times as not at any time to put that confidence in ourselves, or in any creature, which is to be put in him only; and we must have an actual confidence in God upon all occasions, trust in him upon every emergency, to guide us when we are in doubt, to protect us when we are in danger, to supply us when we are in want, to strengthen us for every good word and work. (2.) To converse with God: Pour out your heart before him. The expression seems to allude to the pouring out of the drink-offerings before the Lord. When we make a penitent confession of sin our hearts are therein poured out before God, 1 Sam. vii. 6. But here it is meant of prayer, which, if it be as it should be, is the pouring out of the heart before God. We must lay our grievances before him, offer up our desires to him with all humble freedom, and then entirely refer ourselves to his disposal, patiently submitting our wills to his: this is pouring out our hearts.

3. What encouragement he gives us to take this good counsel: God is a refuge for us, not only my refuge (v. 7), but a refuge for us all, even as many as will flee to him and take shelter in him.

II. He cautions us to take heed of misplacing our confidence, in which, as much as in any thing, the heart is deceitful, Jer. xvii. 5-9. Those that trust in God truly (v. 1) will trust in him only, v. 5. 1. Let us not trust in the men of this world, for they are broken reeds (v. 9): Surely men of low degree are vanity, utterly unable to help us, and men of high degree are a lie, that will deceive us if we trust to them. Men of low degree, one would think, might be relied on for their multitude and number, their bodily strength and service, and men of high degree for their wisdom, power, and influence; but neither the one nor the other are to be depended on. Of the two, men of high degree are mentioned as the more deceiving; for they are a lie, which denotes not only vanity, but iniquity. We are not so apt to depend upon men of low degree as upon the king and the captain of the host, who, by the figure they make, tempt us to trust in them, and so, when they fail us, prove a lie. But lay them in the balance, the balance of the scripture, or rather make trial of them, see how they will prove, whether they will answer your expectations from them or no, and you will write Tekel upon them; they are alike lighter than vanity; there is no depending upon their wisdom to advise us, their power to act for us, their good-will to us, no, nor upon their promises, in comparison with God, nor otherwise than in subordination to him. 2. Let us not trust in the wealth of this world, let not that be made our strong city (v. 10): Trust not in oppression; that is, in riches got by fraud and violence, because where there is a great deal it is commonly got by indirect scraping or saving (our Saviour calls it the mammon of unrighteousness, Luke xvi. 9), or in the arts of getting riches. "Think not, either because you have got abundance or are in the way of getting, that therefore you are safe enough; for this is becoming vain in robbery, that is, cheating yourselves while you think to cheat others." He that trusted in the abundance of his riches strengthened himself in his wickedness (Ps. lii. 7); but at his end he will be a fool, Jer. xvii. 11. Let none be so stupid as to think of supporting themselves in their sin, much less of supporting themselves in this sin. Nay, because it is hard to have riches and not to trust in them, if they increase, though by lawful and honest means, we must take heed lest we let out our affections inordinately towards them: "Set not your heart upon them; be not eager for them, do not take a complacency in them as the rest of your souls, nor put a confidence in them as your portion; be not over-solicitous about them; do not value yourselves and others by them; make not the wealth of the world your chief good and highest end: in short, do not make an idol of it." This we are most in danger of doing when riches increase. When the grounds of the rich man brought forth plentifully, then he said to his soul, Take thy ease in these things, Luke xii. 19. It is a smiling world that is most likely to draw the heart away from God, on whom only it should be set.

III. He gives a very good reason why we should make God our confidence, because he is a God of infinite power, mercy, and righteousness, v. 11, 12. This he himself was well assured of and would have us be assured of it: God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that is, 1. "God has spoken it, and I have heard it, once, yea, twice. He has spoken it, and I have heard it by the light of reason, which easily infers it from the nature of the infinitely perfect Being and from his works both of creation and providence. He has spoken it, and I have heard once, yea, twice (that is, many a time), by the events that have concerned me in particular. He has spoken it and I have heard it by the light of revelation, by dreams and visions (Job iv. 15), by the glorious manifestation of himself upon Mount Sinai" (to which, some think, it does especially refer), "and by the written word." God has often told us what a great and good God he is, and we ought as often to take notice of what he has told us. Or, 2. "Though God spoke it but once, I heard it twice, heard it diligently, not only with my outward ears, but with my soul and mind." To some God speaks twice and they will not hear once; but to others he speaks but once, and they hear twice. Compare Job xxxiii. 14. Now what is it which is thus spoken and thus heard? (1.) That the God with whom we have to do is infinite in power. Power belongs to God; he is almighty, and can do every thing; with him nothing is impossible. All the powers of all the creatures are derived form him, depend upon him, and are used by him as he pleases. His is the power, and to him we must ascribe it. This is a good reason why we should trust in him at all times and live in a constant dependence upon him; for he is able to do all that for us which we trust in him for. (2.) That he is a God of infinite goodness. Here the psalmist turns his speech to God himself, as being desirous to give him the glory of his goodness, which is his glory: Also unto thee, O Lord! belongeth mercy. God is not only the greatest, but the best, of beings. Mercy is with him, Ps. cxxx. 4, 7. He is merciful in a way peculiar to himself; he is the Father of mercies, 2 Cor. i. 3. This is a further reason why we should trust in him, and answers the objections of our sinfulness and unworthiness; though we deserve nothing but his wrath, yet we may hope for all good from his mercy, which is over all his works. (3.) That he never did, nor ever will do, any wrong to any of his creatures: For thou renderest to every man according to his work. Though he does not always do this visibly in this world, yet he will do it in the day of recompence. No service done him shall go unrewarded, nor any affront given him unpunished, unless it be repented of. By this it appears that power and mercy belong to him. If he were not a God of power, there are sinners that would be too great to be punished. And if he were not a God of mercy there are services that would be too worthless to be rewarded. This seems especially to bespeak the justice of God in judging upon appeals made to him by wronged innocency; he will be sure to judge according to truth, in giving redress to the injured and avenging them on those that have been injurious to them, 1 Kings viii. 32. Let those therefore that are wronged commit their cause to him and trust to him to plead it.

PSAL. LXII.

To the Master of the Musicke over Ieduthun, a Psalme of David.

YEt surely unto God my soule keepeth silence; from him is my salvation. Surely he is my rocke, and my salvation, mine high defence, I shall not be moved much. How long wil ye endevour mischiefe against a man? ye shall be killed all of you; ye shall be as a bowed wall, as a fence that is shooved at. Surely they consult to thrust him downe from his high dignity, they delight in a lye: with his mouth each of them blesseth, & with their inward part they curse Selah. Yet unto God, my soule keepe thou silence: for from him is my expectation. Surely he is my rocke and my salvation; mine high defence, I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, my safe hope, is in God. Trust ye in him in all time, O people; powre out your heart before him; God is a safe hope for us Selah. Surely the sons of base man are vanity, the sons of noble man are a lye; in balances to mount up, they together are lighter than vanitie. Trust not yee in oppression, and in robbery become not vaine: if powerfull wealth do increase, set not the heart theron. Once did God speak, twice heard I this same: that strength pertaineth to God. And to thee O Lord mercy, for thou wilt pay to man according to his worke.

Annotations. OVer Ieduthun] [illegible: 1 letter]hat is, over Ieduthuns posteritie, who was a singer in Israel, 1 Chron. 25. 3. or, to Ieduthun: See also Psal. 39. 1. Vers. 2. Yet surely] or Only. It is an earnest affirmation, against some contrary temptation or speech, and excludeth also other things. So vers. 3, 5, 6, 7, 10. keepeth silence] or is sile[illegible: 1 letter], or still, that is, quiet, submisse, and (as the Greeke explaineth it) subject; the rebellious affections being tamed and subdued. See also Psal. 4. 5. Vers. 3. moved much] or, moved with a great moving. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast downe, but [illegible: 1 word] perish not, as 2 Cor. 4. 9. for God giveth the issue with the temptation, 1 Cor. 10. 1▪3. The Chaldee expounds it, I shall not be moved in the day of great affliction. Vers. 4. endevour mischiefe] this word is not found elsewhere in the Scripture. It denoteth both a purpose in minde, and a thrusting forward in act of any mischievous deed. against a man] in Chaldee, against a gracious man. So man here is used as in Jer. 5. 1. if yee can finde a man, that is, a just and godly man. yee shall be killed] or will yee be murdered? violently killed. Some Hebrew copies varying a point or vowell, give it an active signification, will ye murder? This the Greek followeth; but the former sense here fitteth best. a fense] wall, or mure, another word than the former. shooved at] or thrust, namely, for to fall, as is expressed, Psal. 118. 13. Hereby is meant a great and sudden ruine, as Isa. 30. 13. Ezek. 13. 13, 14. Vers. 5. from his high dignity] or excellencie whereunto he was exalted of God. David speaketh this of himselfe, (therefore the Greeke hath, mine honour;) and blameth them here for opp[illegible: 1 letter]gning his dignity, as he did before in Psal. 4. 3. they d[illegible: 1 letter] light] or readily like of▪ and accept o[illegible: 1 letter] a deceivable, lie▪ each of them blesseth] Hebr. they blesse: but his mouth leadeth us to minde it of all in general, & every one in particular. Compare Psal. 5. 10. Blessing is used for faire words, and sometimes flattery, Rom. 16. 18. Vers. 6. my expectation] that is, my salvation expected, and hoped for, as vers. 2. Vers. 9. in all time] that is, alwaies: See Psal. 34▪ 2. powre out your heart] that is, the desires of your heart, your prayers with teares. A similitude taken from powring out of waters, as is expressed, Lam. 2. 19. powre out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord. This was practised in Israel when they drew water (from their heart) and powred it out (by their eyes) before the Lord, 1 Sam. 7. 6. A like phrase is of powring out the soule, Psal. 42. 5. 1 Sam. 1. 15. The Chaldee maketh this paraphrase, Cast downe before him the prides of your heart, & pray before him with all your heart, and say, God is our hope for ever. Vers. 10. noble man] hereby is meant men of all degrees, high and low. See the notes on Ps. 49. 3. in ballances to mount up] or, to ascend: meaning that all men together, if they be put in one ballāce, and vanity in another, they will mount up, that is, be lighter than vanity it selfe. And the word hebel, vanity, here used, denoteth a vaine light thing, as the breath of ones mouth, or bubble on the water. Vers. 11. in oppress[illegible: 1 letter]an] that is, in goods gotten by oppression, extortion, or fraudulent inj[illegible: 5 letters] this word importeth guilefull wrong, as the next, more open violent robberie. See also Isa. 30. 12. become not vaine] that is, foolish and vile in respect of others, and deceiving your selves. For to make vaine, is to deceive, Ier. 23. 16. and to wax vaine, is to be vile and come to nothing, Iob 27. 12. Ier. [illegible: 1 word]. 5. Rom. 1. 21. This instruction which concerneth all men, David applieth to his souldiers, that they should not give themselves to the spoile. Compare Luke. 3. 14. powerfull wealth] riches; see Psal. 49. 7. set not the heart] that is, doe not affect it, or carefully regard it, but use this world as though you used it not, 1 Cor. 7. 31. So, to set the heart, is to regard or care for a thing, 1 Sam. 4. 20. and 9. 20. 2 Sam. 18. 3. Exod. 7. 23. Prov. 22. 17. Vers. 12. Once] Hebrew One, meaning one time, as Exod. 30. 10. and as is expressed, Ios. 6. 3. So twise, or two times. Though it may also be interpreted one thing, two things, (as achath is one thing, Psal. 27. 4.) The Greeke here saith, Once spake God, these two things have I heard. Vers. 13. to man] that is, to every one, as this phrase is opened, Matth. 16. 27. Rom. 2. 6. Rev. 22. 12. to his worke] whether it be good or evill. See the like in Prov. 24. 12. ler. 32. 19. Iob 34. 11. Ezek. 7. 27. 2 Cor. 5. 10. Ephes. 6. 8. Coloss. 3. 25. 1 [illegible: 1 letter]er. 1. 17.

PSAL. LXII.

APſalm of David] Who being well aſſured that his prayers in the former Pſalm were heard, and ſhould be anſwered, breaketh forth into this triumphant profeſſion of his faith. Lo here the happy fruit of faithful and fervent prayer.

Verſ. 1. Truly my ſoul waiteth upon God] Waiting is nothing elſe but Hope and Truſt lengthened; and hereof David giveth us an excellent example in his own perſon, Idque tantâ tam que vegetâ cum magnitudine animi, cul ipſa quo que ſententiae & voc[illegible: 1 letter]s reſpondent, and that with ſo good a courage ſet forth in ſuitable expreſſions, that he who hath this Pſalm by heart, and hath laid it to his heart, cannot but be transformed into the ſame Image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Cor. 3.18.

From him cometh my ſalvation] Take it in the full extent, not only as it ſignifieth the privative part of mans happineſs, but the poſitive part alſo, and preſervation therein.

Verſ. 2. He only is my rock &c.] See Pſal. 18.2, 3.

I ſhall not be greatly moved] Non labaſcam multo lapſu, Vatabl. Tehom Nabi bah. for the Lord putteth under his hand. I ſhall not be moved greatly, or into the great abyſſe (as Aben-Ezra hath it) into Hell (as other Rabbines ſenſe it) I ſhall not be tempted above that I am able, as 1 Cor. 10.13. perſecuted I may be, but not relinquiſhed; caſt down, but not caſt off, 2 Cor. 4.9. ſhaken, but for my better ſettlement at laſt.

Verſ. 3. How long will yee imagine miſchief againſt a man?] What though I am but a man, and in your eyes a mean deſpicable creature; yet know yee, that the Lord hath ſet apart him that is godly for himſelf, Pſal. 4.3. where David beſpeaketh his enemies, with like ſharpneſs as here, for their malice and madneſs againſt him. The Hebrew word rendred imagine is found only here, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Irrnitis. the Septuagint and Vulgar Latine render it, How long will ye ruſh againſt a man? Auſtin, Quouſ que apponitis ſuper hominem? ſc. Onera & opprobria, how long lay you load of injuries and indignities upon me?

Yee ſhall be ſlain all of you] Or, Will yee be murthered? Will yee run upon the Pikes? Are you ambitious of your own ruine?

As a bowing wall ſhall yee be] Born down by the weight of your own wickedneſs. As a bulging wall ſtandeth not long, and as a rotten Hedge, if but trod on, breaketh under a man; ſo ſhall yee be ſuddenly deſtroyed, and with little ado. Thus he threatneth his enemies, the proudeſt of them, being himſelf gotten upon the rock that was higher than he, Pſal. 61.2.

Verſ. 4. They only conſult to caſt him down from his excellency] Or, yet they conſult, q. d. Notwithſtanding all that I can ſay, or that God will do to them, they will on in their evil deviſes and indeavours againſt me; there is no reclaming of them. Deus quos deſtruit dement at.

They delight in lyes] Not only he that maketh a Lye, but he that loveth and delighteth in it when made by another, ſhall bee ſhut out of Heaven, Revel. 22.15. See Rom. 1. [illegible: 1 letter]lt.

They bleſs with their mouthes] Heb. With his month, that is, every one doth ſo; neither is there ever a better of theſe glavering companions, diſſembling ſcrubs.

Verſ. 5. My ſoul, wait thou only upon God] They truſt not God at all, that is, not alone. He that ſtands with one foot on a Rock, and another foot upon a Quick ſand, will ſink and periſh, as certainly as he that ſtandeth with both feet on a Quickſand. David knew this, and therefore calleth earn and earneſtly upon his Soul, (for his buſineſs lay moſt within doors) to truſt only upon God. See verſ. 1.

For my expectation is from him] If he will not help me, none elſe ſhall; but it is he that ſaith, Look unto me and be ſaved, for I am God, and there is none elſe, Iſa. 45.22.

Verſ. 6. He only is, &c.] Verſus amaebaeus, ſee verſ. 2.

I ſhall not be moved] Before it was, I ſhall not be greatly moved; now, upon further exerciſe of his truſt, it is, I ſhall not be moved. Ita in lucta creſcit lux fidei, & ſides fit firmior: faith is made ſtronger by trials.

Verſ. 7. In God is my ſalvation, and my glory, &c.] By theſe many Adjuncts and Attributions David helpeth his faith, and quelleth the Commotions of his headſtrong affections. See Pſal. 18.2.

Verſ. 8. Truſt in him at all times] As well in the fail of outward comforts, as in the abundance of them, truſt him without a pawn; truſt in a killing God, as Job did.

Pour out your hearts before him] ſc. In prayer, 1 Sam. 1.11. firſt, rent your hearts, ut effundatur peccatum, ſaith Kimchi, and then your them out as water, Larn. 2.19. not as Oyl, which ſticks to the ſides of the Veſſel that held it, but as water, that will out every drop: make a plain and full confeſſion of all your ſins in prayer, leſt God ſay to you of your ſins, as Samuel did to Jeſſe of his ſons, Are theſe all? See the practice hereof in thoſe penitent Iſraelites, 1 Sam. 7.6. and give not over the practice of Mortification, till you feel your hearts fall aſunder in your boſoms like drops of water. If iniquity be harboured there, prayer is obſtructed; and if it do break out, it will have the ſcent and ſavour of that iniquity upon it.

God is a refuge for us] A ſafe and ſure refuge; not as men who are a lye, verſ. 9. and were never true to thoſe that truſted them.

Verſ. 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity] Man is a depending Creature, and like the Vine muſt have ſomewhat to lean upon; apt he is to leave God, and cleave to the Creature, to make either Men, or Means his refuge: David therefore dehorteth from both, in this and the next verſe; ſhewing, that men of what degree ſoever are in no wiſe to be confided in. The word rendred Vanity denoteth a vain light thing, ſuch as is the breath of ones mouth, or a bubble on the water.

Men of high degree are a lye] There is no more truth, nor aſſurance in them, than in a falſe tale; alſo they fruſtrate mens hopes, as a barren Fruit-tree, Habbak. 3.17.

They are altogether lighter, &c.] Put all Mankind into one bundle, into one balance and vanity into the other, and it will weigh them down, Vt aſcendant ipſi pra vanitate ſimul.

Verſ. 10. Truſt not in oppreſſion, &c.] In the fail of Perſons, ſome may think that Things may be truſted to, as Wealth, Wit, Power, &c. but eſpecially Wealth, 1 Tim. 6.17. Truſt not to that, ſaith the Pſalmiſt, whether it be ill or well gotten, unleſs you covet to be deceived: for Firſt, he who getteth riches and not by right ſhall leave them in the middeſt of his days, and is his end be a [illegible: 1 letter]ool, a poor fool God will make of him, Jer. 17.11. Male parta wa[illegible: 1 letter]e dilabentur.

If riches increaſe] Though by means lawful and laudable, though they come in at the ſtreet door,Policrat. l. 8. c. 4. and not at a poſtern (Non minimum felicitatis argumentum Metello fuit bona multa bono modo inveniſſe:) yet

Set not your heart upon them] Place not your felicity in them, think not your ſelves ſimply the better, or the ſafer, for them. Be not puffed up with outward things, as a bubble with a Childes blaſt in a Walnut-ſhel, when he hath in it a little Sope: Wilt thou cauſe thine eyes to fly upon that which is not? Prov. 23.5. An Eagle will not catch Flies (that is no Game for her) much leſs will ſhe make a flight at nothing, when there is no Game ſprung at all. He is the true rich man, who loveth his riches poorly, ſaith one.

Verſ. 11. God hath ſpoken once: twice have I heard this] The Septuagint have it thus, Once ſpake God, theſe two things have I heard, that is, ſay ſome, in the Second Commandement, where mention is made of Gods jealouſie and mercy, Exod. 20.5, 6. Others, Once and again ſpake God, and I have heard it. Or, God ſpake once, I heard him twice, viz. by an after-deliperate meditation upon what I had heard; I preached over the Sermon as it were again to my ſelf, and ſo heard it a ſecond time.

That power belongeth unto God] He is well able to puniſh the wicked, Ezra 8.22. See the Note there.

Verſ. 12. Alſo unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy.] viz. To ſet thy Power a work for the good of thy people. And as theſe two, Gods Power, and Gods Mercy, are the two Pillars, the Boaz and the Jachin of every Beleever (hence Job, chap. 42.2. having ſpoken of his Power, he ſpeaketh of his thoughts of peace toward his people) ſo they are ſufficient proofs of the Doctrines before delivered, and do evince the truth of that which followeth.

For thou rendreſt to every man according to his work] viz. Judgement to the wicked, and Mercy to the righteous; where the Syriack interpreter giveth this good Note, Eſt gratia Dei ut reddat homini ſecundum opera bona, quia merces bonorum operum est exgratia. It is mercy in God to ſet his love on them that keep his Commandements, Exod. 20.6.

Truly, or verily, or only. The last is probably the most prominent sense here. That faith alone is true which rests on God alone, that confidence which relies but partly on the Lord is vain confidence. If we Anglicized the word by our word verily, as some do, we should have here a striking reminder of our blessed Lord's frequent use of that adverb. My soul waiteth upon God. My inmost self draws near in reverent obedience to God. I am no hypocrite or mere posture maker. To wait upon God, and for God, is the habitual position of faith; to wait on him truly is sincerity; to wait on him only is spiritual chastity. The original is, "only to God is my soul silence." The presence of God alone could awe his heart into quietude, submission, rest, and acquiescence; but when that was felt, not a rebellious word or thought broke the peaceful silence. The proverb that speech is silver but silence is gold, is more than true in this case. No eloquence in the world is half so full of meaning as the patient silence of a child of God. It is an eminent work of grace to bring down the will and subdue the affections to such a degree, that the whole mind lies before the Lord like the sea beneath the wind, ready to be moved by every breath of his mouth, but free from all inward and self caused emotion, as also from all power to be moved by anything other than the divine will. We should be wax to the Lord, but adamant to every other force. From him cometh my salvation. The good man will, therefore, in patience possess his soul till deliverance comes: faith can hear the footsteps of coming salvation, because she has learned to be silent. Our salvation in no measure or degree comes to us from any inferior source; let us, therefore, look alone to the true fountain, and avoid the detestable crime of ascribing to the creature what belongs alone to the Creator. If to wait on God be worship, to wait on the creature is idolatry; if to wait on God alone be true faith, to associate an arm of the flesh with him is audacious unbelief.

He only is my rock and my salvation. Sometimes a metaphor may be more full of meaning and more suggestive than literal speech: hence the use of the figure of a rock, the very mention of which would awaken grateful memories in the psalmists's mind. David had often lain concealed in rocky caverns, and here he compares his God to such a secure refuge; and, indeed, declares him to be his only real protection, all-sufficient in himself and never failing. At the same time, as if to show us that what he wrote was not mere poetic sentiment but blessed reality, the literal word salvation follows the figurative expression: that our God is our refuge is no fiction, nothing in the world is more a matter of fact. He is my defence, my height, my lofty rampart, my high fort. Here we have another and bolder image; the tried believer not only abides in God as in a cavernous rock; but dwells in him as a warrior in some bravely defiant tower or lordly castle. I shall not be greatly moved. His personal weakness might cause him to be somewhat moved; but his faith would come in to prevent any very great disturbance; not much would he be tossed about. Moved, as one says, "but not removed." Moved like a ship at anchor which swings with the tide, but is not swept away by the tempest. When a man knows assuredly that the Lord is his salvation, he cannot be very much cast down: it would need more than all the devils in hell greatly to alarm a heart which knows God to be its salvation.

How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? It is always best to begin with God, and then we may confront our enemies. Make all sure with heaven, then may you grapple with earth and hell. David expostulates with his insensate foes; he marvels at their dogged perseverance in malice, after so many failures and with certain defeat before them. He tells them that their design was an imaginary one, which they never could accomplish however deeply they might plot. It is a marvel that men will readily enough continue in vain and sinful courses, and yet to persevere in grace is so great a difficulty as to be an impossibility, were it not for divine assistance. The persistency of those who oppose the people of God is so strange that we may well expostulate with them and say, "How long will ye thus display your malice?" A hint is given in the text as to the cowardliness of so many pressing upon one man; but none are less likely to act a fair and manly part than those who are opposed to God's people for righteousness' sake. Satan could not enter into combat with Job in fair duel, but must needs call in the Sabeans and Chaldeans, and even then must borrow the lightning and the wind before his first attack was complete. If there were any shame in him, or in his children, they would be ashamed of the dastardly manner in which they have waged war against the seed of the woman. Ten thousand to one has not seemed to them too mean an advantage; there is not a drop of chivalrous blood in all their veins. Ye shall be slain all of you. Your edged tools will cut your own fingers. Those who take the sword shall perish with the sword. However many or fierce the bands of the wicked may be, they shall not escape the just retribution of heaven; rigorously shall the great Lawgiver exact blood from men of blood, and award death to those who seek the death of others.

As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. Boastful persecutors bulge and swell with pride, but they are only as a bulging wall ready to fall in a heap; they lean forward to seize their prey, but it is only as a tottering fence inclines to the earth upon which it will soon lie at length. They expect men to bow to them, and quake for fear in their presence; but men made bold by faith see nothing in them to honour, and very, very much to despise. It is never well on our part to think highly of ungodly persons; whatever their position, they are near their destruction, they totter to their fall; it will be our wisdom to keep our distance, for no one is advantaged by being near a falling wall; if it does not crush with its weight, it may stifle with its dust. The passage is thought to be more correctly rendered as follows: —"How long will ye press on one man, that ye may crush him in a body, like a toppling wall, a sinking fence?" (So Dr. Kay, of Calcutta, translates it.) We have, however, kept to our own version as yielding a good and profitable meaning. Both senses may blend in our meditations; for if David's enemies battered him as though they could throw him down like a bulging wall, he, on the other hand, foresaw that they themselves would by retributive justice be overthrown like an old crumbling, leaning, yielding fence.

They only consult to cast him down from his excellency. The excellencies of the righteous are obnoxious to the wicked, and the main object of their fury. The elevation which God gives to the godly in Providence, or in dispute, is also the envy of the baser sort, and they labour to pull them down to their own level. Observe the concentration of malice upon our point only, as here set in contrast with the sole reliance of the gracious one upon his Lord. If the wicked could but ruin the work of grace in us, they would be content; to crush our character, to overturn our influence, is the object of their consultation. They delight in lies; hence they hate the truth and the truthful, and by falsehood endeavour to compass their overthrow. To lie is base enough, but to delight in it is one of the blackest marks of infamy. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Flattery has ever been a favourite weapon with the enemies of good men; they can curse bitterly enough when it serves their turn; meanwhile, since it answers their purpose, they mask their wrath, and with smooth words pretend to bless those whom they would willingly tear in pieces. It was fortunate for David that he was well practised in silence, for to cozening deceivers there is no other safe reply. Selah. Here pause, and consider with astonishment the futile rancour of unholy men, and the perfect security of such as rest themselves upon the Lord.

My soul, wait thou only upon God. When we have already practised a virtue, it is yet needful that we bind ourselves to a continuance in it. The soul is apt to be dragged away from its anchorage, or is readily tempted to add a second confidence to the one sole and sure ground of reliance; we must, therefore, stir ourselves up to maintain the holy position which we were at first able to assume. Be still silent, O my soul! submit thyself completely, trust immovably, wait patiently. Let none of thy enemies' imaginings, consultings, flatteries, or maledictions cause thee to break the King's peace. Be like the sheep before her shearers, and like thy Lord, conquer by the passive resistance of victorious patience: thou canst only achieve this as thou shalt be inwardly persuaded of God's presence, and as you wait solely and alone on him. Unmingled faith is undismayed. Faith with a single eye sees herself secure, but if her eye be darkened by two confidences, she is blind and useless. For my expectation is from him. We expect from God because we believe in him. Expectation is the child of prayer and faith, and is owned of the Lord as an acceptable grace. We should desire nothing but what would be right for God to give, then our expectation would be all from God; and concerning truly good things we should not look to second causes, but to the Lord alone, and so again our expectation would be all from him. The vain expectations of worldly men come not; they promise but there is no performance; our expectations are on the way, and in due season will arrive to satisfy our hopes. Happy is the man who feels that all he has, all he wants, and all he expects are to be found in his God.

He only is my rock and my salvation. Alone, and without other help, God is the foundation and completion of my safety. We cannot too often hear the toll of that great bell only; let it ring the death knell of all carnal reliances, and lead us to cast ourselves on the bare arm of God. He is my defence. Not my defender only, but my actual protection. I am secure, because he is faithful. I shall not be moved —not even in the least degree. See how his confidence grows. In the second verse an adverb qualified his quiet; here, however, it is absolute; he altogether defies the rage of his adversaries, he will not stir an inch, nor be made to fear even in the smallest degree. A living faith grows; experience develops the spiritual muscles of the saint, and gives a manly force which our religious childhood has not yet reached.

In God is my salvation and my glory. Wherein should we glory but in him who saves us? Our honour may well be left with him who secures our souls. To find all in God, and to glory that it is so, is one of the sure marks of an enlightened soul. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. He multiplies titles, for he would render much honour to the Lord, whom he had tried, and proved to be a faithful God under so many aspects. Ignorance needs but few words, but when experience brings a wealth of knowledge, we need varied expressions to serve as coffers for our treasure. God who is our rock when we flee for shelter, is also our strong rock when we stand firm and defy the foe; he is to be praised under both characters. Observe how the psalmist brands his own initials upon every name which he rejoicingly gives to his God —my expectation, my rock, my salvation, my glory, my strength, my refuge; he is not content to know that the Lord is all these things; he acts faith towards him, and lays claim to him under every character. What are the mines of Peru or Golconda to me if I have no inheritance in them? It is the word my which puts the honey into the comb. If our experience has not yet enabled us to realise the Lord under any of these consoling titles, we must seek grace that we may yet be partakers of their sweetness. The bees in some way or other penetrate the flowers and collect their juices; it must be hard for them to enter the closed cups and mouthless bags of some of the favourites of the garden, yet the honey gatherers find or make a passage; and in this they are our instructors, for into each delightful name, character, and office of our covenant God our persevering faith must find an entrance, and from each it must draw delight.

Trust in him at all times. Faith is an abiding duty, a perpetual privilege. We should trust when we can see, as well as when we are utterly in the dark. Adversity is a fit season for faith; but prosperity is not less so. God at all times deserves our confidence. We at all times need to place our confidence in him. A day without trust in God is a day of wrath, even if it be a day of mirth. Lean ever, ye saints, on him, on whom the world leans. Ye people, pour out your heart before him. Ye to whom his love is revealed, reveal yourselves to him. His heart is set on you, lay bare your hearts to him. Turn the vessel of your soul upside down in his secret presence, and let your inmost thoughts, desires, sorrows, and sins be poured out like water. Hide nothing from him, for you can hide nothing. To the Lord unburden your soul; let him be your only father confessor, for he only can absolve you when he has heard your confession. To keep our griefs to ourselves is to hoard up wretchedness. The stream will swell and rage if you dam it up: give it a clear course, and it leaps along and creates no alarm. Sympathy we need, and if we unload our hearts at Jesus' feet, we shall obtain a sympathy as practical as it is sincere, as consolatory as it is ennobling. The writer in the Westminster Assembly's Annotations well observes that it is the tendency of our wicked nature to bite on the bridle, and hide our grief in sullenness; but the gracious soul will overcome this propensity, and utter its sorrow before the Lord. God is a refuge for us. Whatever he may be to others, his own people have a peculiar heritage in him; for us he is undoubtedly a refuge: here then is the best of reasons for resorting to him whenever sorrows weigh upon our bosoms. Prayer is peculiarly the duty of those to whom the Lord has specially revealed himself as their defence. SELAH. Precious pause! Timely silence! Sheep may well lie down when such pasture is before them.

Surely men of low degree are vanity. Here the word is only again; men of low degree are only vanity, nothing more. They are many and enthusiastic, but they are not to be depended on; they are mobile as the waves of the sea, ready to be driven to and fro by any and every wind; they cry "Hosanna" today, and "Crucify him" tomorrow. The instability of popular applause is a proverb; as well build a house with smoke as find comfort in the adulation of the multitude. As the first son of Adam was called Abel or vanity, so here we are taught that all the sons of Adam are Abels: it were well if they were all so in character as well as in name; but alas! in this respect, too many of them are Cains. And men of high degree are a lie. That is worse. We gain little by putting our trust in the aristocracy, they are not one whit better than the democracy: nay, they are even worse, for we expect something from them, but get nothing. May we not trust the elite? Surely reliance may be placed in the educated, the chivalrous, the intelligent? For this reason are they a lie; because they promise so much, and in the end, when relied upon, yield nothing but disappointment. How wretched is that poor man who puts his trust in princes. The more we rely upon God, the more shall we perceive the utter hollowness of every other confidence. To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Take a true estimate of them; judge them neither by quantity nor by appearance, but by weight, and they will no longer deceive you. Calmly deliberate, quietly ponder, and your verdict will be that which inspiration here records. Vainer than vanity itself are all human confidences: the great and the mean, alike, are unworthy of our trust. A feather has some weight in the scale, vanity has none, and creature confidence has less than that: yet such is the universal infatuation, that mankind prefer an arm of flesh to the power of the invisible but almighty Creator; and even God's own children are too apt to be bitten with this madness.

Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery. Wealth ill gotten is the trust only of fools, for the deadly pest lies in it; it is full of canker, it reeks with God's curse. To tread down the poor and silence their cries for justice, is the delight of many a braggart bully, who in his arrogance imagines that he may defy both God and man; but he is warned in these words, and it will be well for him if he takes the warning, for the Judge of all the earth will surely visit upon men the oppression of the innocent, and the robbery of the poor: both of these may be effected legally in the courts of man, but no twistings of the law, no tricks and evasions will avail with the Court of Heaven. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. If they grow in an honest, providential manner, as the result of industry or commercial success, do not make much account of the circumstance; be not unduly elated, do not fix your love upon your money bags. To bow an immortal spirit to the constant contemplation of fading possessions is extreme folly. Shall those who call the Lord their glory, glory in yellow earth? Shall the image and superscription of Caesar deprive them of communion with him who is the image of the invisible God? As we must not rest in men, so neither must we repose in money. Gain and fame are only so much foam of the sea. All the wealth and honour the whole world can afford would be too slender a thread to bear up the happiness of an immortal soul.

God hath spoken once. So immutable is God that he need not speak twice, as though he had changed; so infallible, that one utterance suffices, for he cannot err; so omnipotent, that his solitary word achieves all his designs. We speak often and say nothing; God speaks once and utters eternal verities. All our speaking may yet end in sound; but he speaks, and it is done; he commands, and it stands fast. Twice have I heard this. Our meditative soul should hear the echo of God's voice again and again. What he speaks once in revelation, we should be always hearing. Creation and providence are evermore echoing the voice of God; "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." We have two ears, that we may hear attentively, and the spiritual have inner ears with which they hear indeed. He hears twice in the best sense who hears with his heart as well as his ears. That power belongeth unto God. He is the source of it, and in him it actually abides. This one voice of God we ought always to hear, so as to be preserved from putting our trust in creatures in whom there can be no power, since all power is in God. What reason for faith is here! It can never be unwise to rest upon the almighty arm. Out of all troubles he can release us, under all burdens sustain us, while men must fail us at the last, and may deceive us even now. May our souls hear the thunder of Jehovah's voice as he claims all power, and henceforth may we wait only upon God!

Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy. This tender attribute sweetens the grand thought of his power: the divine strength will not crush us, but will be used for our good. God is so full of mercy that it belongs to him, as if all the mercy in the universe came from God, and still was claimed by him as his possession. His mercy, like his power, endureth for ever, and is ever present in him, ready to be revealed, For thou renderest to every man according to his work. This looks rather like justice than mercy; but if we understand it to mean that God graciously rewards the poor, imperfect works of his people, we see in it a clear display of mercy. May it not also mean that according to the work he allots us is the strength which he renders to us? he is not a hard master; he does not bid us make bricks without straw, but he metes out to us strength equal to our day. In either meaning we have power and mercy blended, and have a double reason for waiting only upon God. Man neither helps us nor rewards us; God will do both. In him power and grace are eternally resident; our faith should therefore patiently hope and quietly wait, for we shall surely see the salvation of God. Deo soli gloria. All glory be to God only.

Psalms 62, and 63 compared. ONLY AND EARLY. There is a sweet and profitable lesson taught us in Psalms 62 and 63. The heart is ever prone to divide its confidence between God and the creature. This will never do. We must "wait only upon God." "He only"must be our "rock, "our "salvation, "and our "defence." Then we are frequently tempted to look to an arm of flesh first, and when that fails us, we look to God. This will never do either. He must be our first as well as our only resource. "O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee." This is the way in which the heart should ever treat the blessed God. This is the lesson of Psalm 63. When we have learnt the blessedness of seeking God "only, "we shall be sure to seek him "early." Charles Mackintosh, in "Things New and Old, "1858.

Whole Psalm. There is in it throughout not one single word (and this is a rare occurrence), in which the prophet expresses fear or dejection; and there is also no prayer in it, although, on other occasions, when in danger, he never omits to pray... The prophet found himself remarkably well furnished in reference to that part of piety which consists in pleroforia, the full assurance and perfection of faith; and therefore he designed to rear a monument of this his state of mind, for the purpose of stimulating the reader to the same attainment. Moses Amyraut, 1596-1664.

Whole Psalm. Athanasius says of this Psalm: "Against all attempts upon thy body, thy state, thy soul, thy fame, temptations, tribulations, machinations, defamations", say this Psalm. John Donne.

Only. The particle may be rendered only, as restrictive; or, surely, as affirmative. Our translators have rendered it differently in different verses of this Psalm; Ps 62:1, truly; in Ps 62:2,4-6, only; in Ps 62:9, surely. If we render only, the meaning will be here that God exclusively is the object of trust; if surely, that this truth, that God is his salvation, has come home to him with a more lively conviction, with a more blessed certainty than ever. The first line of the verse rendered literally is, "Only unto God my soul is silence." J. J. Stewart Perowne.

Truly my soul waiteth upon God, etc. In the use of means, for answers of prayer, for performance of promises, and for deliverance from enemies, and out of every trouble: or, is silent, as the Targum; not as to prayer, but as to murmuring; patiently and quietly waiting for salvation until the Lord's time come to give it; being subject to him, as the Septuagint, Vulgate, Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions; resigned to his will, and patient under his afflicting hand: it denotes a quiet, patient waiting on the Lord, and not merely bodily exercise in outward ordinances; but an inward frame of spirit, a soul waiting on the Lord, and that in truth and reality, in opposition to mere form and show. John Gill.

Truly my soul waiteth upon God; or, as the Hebrew, My soul is silent. Indeed, waiting on God for deliverance, in an afflicted state, consists much in a holy silence. It is a great mercy, in an affliction, to have our bodily senses, so as not to lie raving, but still and quiet, much more to have the heart silent and patient; and we find the heart is as soon heated into a distemper as the head. Now what the sponge is to the cannon, when hot with often shooting, hope is to the soul in multiplied afflictions; it cools the spirit and makes it meeker it, so that it doth not break out into distempered thoughts or words against God. (See also Ps 62:5.) William Gurnall.

Waiteth. Waiting is nothing else but hope and trust lengthened. John Trapp.

My soul is silent before God. As if he had said: to me as a man God has put in subjection all his creatures; to me as a king he has subjected the whole of Judaea, the Philistines, the Moabites, Syrians, Idumeans, Ammonites, and other tribes; having taken me from the sheep cotes he has adorned me with a crown and sceptre now these thirty years, and extended my kingdom to the sea, and to the great river Euphrates; it is not without reason, then, that I subject myself to God alone in this affliction, wherein Absalom thirsts to crush me, especially since he reveals the deliverance prepared for me, and from him alone can I expect it. Thomas Le Blanc —1669, in Psalmorum Davidicorum Analysis.

Is silent. The Hebrew word used is hymwd dumijah, that is, silent, resting, expecting, reflecting, solicitous, and observing. For, first, we ought to be subject to God as silent disciples before a master...Whatever God has allowed to happen to me, yet I will be silent before him, and from my heart admire, both enduring his strokes and receiving his teaching... Secondly, we ought to be subject to God as creatures keeping quiet before their Creator... "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker." Isa 45:9. Thirdly, we ought to be subject to God as clay in the hands of the potter, ready for the form into which he wishes to fashion us... "As clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel." Jer 18:6. Fourthly, we ought to be subject to God, as a maid servant to her master, observing his wish, even in the most menial affairs... Fifthly, we ought to be subject to God, as a wife to her husband (sponsa sponso), who in her love is solicitous and careful to do whatever may be pleasing to him. "My beloved is mine, and I am his." Canticles 2:16. And, "I am my beloved's." Canticles 6:3. Thomas Le Blanc.

After almost every quiet prayer and holy meditation in the divine presence, we have the consciousness that there was an ear which heard us, and a heart that received our sighs. The effect of a silent colloquy with God is so soothing! There was a time when I used greatly to wonder at these words of Luther: —

"Bear and forbear, and silent be,

Tell no man thy misery;

Yield not in trouble to dismay,

God can deliver any day."

I wondered because we feel the outpouring of grief into the heart of a friend to be so sweet. At the same time, he who talks much of his troubles to men is apt to fall into a way of saying too little of them to God; while, on the other hand, he who has often experienced the blessed alleviation which flows from silent converse with the Eternal, loses much of his desire for the sympathy of his fellows. It appears to me now as if spreading out our distress too largely before men served only to make it broader, and to take away its zest; and hence the proverb, "Talking of trouble makes it double." On the contrary, if when in distress we can contrive to maintain calm composure of mind, and to bear it always as in the sight of God, submissively waiting for succour from him, according to the words of the psalmist, Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation; in that case, the distress neither extends in breadth nor sinks in depth. It lies upon the surface of the heart like the morning mist, which the sun as it ascends dissipates into light clouds. Agustus F. Tholuck, in "Hours of Christian Devotion," 1870.

The natural mind is ever prone to reason, when we ought to believe; to be at work, when we ought to be quiet; to go our own way, when we ought steadily to walk on in God's ways, however trying to nature... And how does it work, when we thus anticipate God, by going our own way? We bring, in many instances, guilt on our conscience; but if not, we certainly weaken faith, instead of increasing it; and each time we work thus a deliverance of our own, we find it more and more difficult to trust in God, till at last we give way entirely to our natural fallen reason, and unbelief prevails. How different if one is enabled to wait God's own time, and to look alone to him for help and deliverance! When at last help comes, after many seasons of prayer it may be, and after much exercise of faith and patience it may be, how sweet it is, and what a present recompense does the soul at once receive for trusting in God, and waiting patiently for his deliverance! Dear Christian reader, if you have never walked in this path of obedience before, do so now, and you will then know experimentally the sweetness of the joy which results from it. George Müller, in "A Narrative of some of the Lord's Dealings," 1856.

I shall not be greatly moved. Grace makes the heart move leisurely to all things except God. A mortified man is as a sea that hath no winds, that ebbs not and flows not. The mortified man sings and is not light, and weeps and is not sad, is zealous but he can quit it for God. Ah! few can act but they over act. Alexander Carmichael, in "The Believer's Mortification of Sin," 1677.

"How long will ye assault a man?

How long will ye crush him,

As though he were a leaning wall — |A fence nearly thrust down?" French and Skinner.

Against a man. That sure is but a poetical expression for against me, i.e., David, the speaker, against whom the neighbouring nations raised war, and his own subjects rebellions. Thus doth Christ oft speak of himself under the title of the Son of Man, in the third person; and Paul (2Co 12:2), Oisa anyrwpon, "I knew a man, "i.e., undoubtedly himself. Henry Hammond.

As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. Christ gave no blow, but merely asked his murderers whom they sought for; and yet they fell flat and prostrate to the ground (John 18), so that the wicked persecutors of the godly are aptly and properly likened and compared to a tottering and trembling wall. For as soon as ever the blasts of God's wrath and judgment are moved and kindled against them, they are so quivering and comfortless, that they would take them to be most their friends who would soonest despatch them out of the world; as Christ said aptly of them, they would pray the mountains to fall upon them. Luke 23. John Hooper.

As a bowing wall shall ye be. In consequence of heavy rains and floods, and unsound foundations, it is very common to see walls much out of perpendicular; and some of them so much so, that it might be thought scarcely possible for them to stand. "Poor old Raman is very ill, I hear." "Yes, the wall is bowing." "Begone, thou low caste! thou art a kuttle chiover, "that is, "a ruined wall." "By the oppression of the head man, the people of that village are like a ruined wall." J. Robert's "Oriental Illustrations."

A bowing wall. A wall, when ill built, bulges out in the centre, presenting the appearance of nearly twice its actual breadth; but, as it is hollow within, it soon falls to ruins. The wicked, in like manner, are dilated with pride, and assume, in their consultations, a most formidable appearance; but David predicts that they would be brought to unexpected and utter destruction, like a wall badly constructed, and hollow in the interior, which falls with a sudden crash, and is broken by its own weight into a thousand pieces. John Calvin.

They only consult, etc. Truly I am he whom if they shall consult to cast down from his excellency, they shall delight in a lie, they shall bless with their mouth and curse inwardly. That is: what I have said of worldly men, boasting themselves upon a man, falling into ruin, I desire that you should know that the same fate shall never befall me who trust in God; for otherwise does the matter stand. Hermann Venema.

Excellency. Rather, elevation; the figure of the preceding verse being followed out. Religious Tract Society's Notes.

My soul, wait thou only upon God. They trust not God at all who trust him not alone. He that stands with one foot on a rock, and another foot upon a quicksand, will sink and perish, as certainly as he that standeth with both feet upon a quicksand. David knew this, and therefore calleth earnestly upon his soul (for his business lay most within doors) to trust only upon God. See Ps 62:1. John Trapp.

My expectation is from him. As if he had said, never will he frustrate the patient waiting of his saints; doubtless my silence shall meet with its reward; I shall restrain myself, and not make that false haste which will only retard my deliverance. John Calvin.

My expectation is from him. In an account of the voyage of some of the early missionaries who left Hermannsburg for South Africa, is the following incident: —After a long calm, a brother prayed thus to the Lord for favouring wind: "Lord, thou givest them that fear thee the desires of their heart, and dost help them; help us now, that we may no longer be becalmed upon the sea; help us on our journey, you who ride on the wings of the wind." He was so joyful over this word of the Lord, that he rose up and said in his heart: "Now I have already that for which I prayed." After the prayer, one of the crew stepped over to the helmsman, and said, half mocking, half in earnest, "So we shall have wind: did you hear the prayer? It does not look very like it!" So he said, and half an hour after there came so strong a blast that the waves broke over the ship. William Fleming Stevenson, in "Praying and Working," 1862.

He shifts much needless labour, and provideth great contentment, who closes himself with God alone. To deal with man alone, apart from God, is both an endless and fruitless labour. If we have counsel to ask, help or benefit to obtain, or approbation to seek, there is none end with man: for every man we must have sundry reasons and motives; and what pleaseth one will offend twenty: as many heads, as many wits and fancies. No man can give contentment to all, or change himself into so many fashions, as he shall encounter humours; and yet it is more easy to take sundry fashions than to be acceptable in them. William Struther.

Verses 6-7. Twice in this Psalm hath he repeated this, in the second and in the sixth verses, He is my rock and my salvation, and my defence, and (as it is enlarged in the seventh verse) my refuge and my glory. If my defence, what temptation shall wound me? If my rock, what storm shall shake me? If my salvation, what melancholy shall defeat me? If my glory, what calumny shall defame me? John Dunne.

Verses 6-7. How quickly the soul of the faithful returns again to the God of its confidence. He spared a moment to admonish the ungodly, but like the dove of Noah he returns to the ark. Observe how the expressions of this holy confidence are repeated, with every pleasing variety of expression, to denote the comfort of his heart. Reader, ask yourself —are such views of Christ your views of him? Do you know him in those covenant characters? Is Jesus your rock, your salvation, your defence? Robert Hawker, D.D.

(first clause). On the shields of the Greeks, Neptune was depicted; on the shields of the Trojans, Minerva; because in them they put their confidence, and in their protection deemed themselves secure... Now, Christ is the insignia of our shields. Often does David say, God is his protector. The Hebrew is magen; that is, shield, buckler, as Ps 18:2,30. Thomas Le Blanc.

There are several names of God given in this verse, that so every soul may take with him that name which may minister most comfort to him. Let him that is pursued by any particular temptation, invest God, as God is a refuge, a sanctuary; let him that is buffeted with Satan, battered with his own concupiscence receive God, as God is his defence and target; let him that is shaked with perplexities in his understanding, or scruples in his conscience, lay hold on God, as God is his rock and his anchor; let him that hath any diffident jealousy and suspicion of the free and full mercy of God, apprehend God, as God is his salvation; and let him that walks in the ingloriousness and contempt of the world, contemplate God, as God is glory. Any of these notions is enough to any man; but God is all these, and all else, that all souls can think, to every man. Abraham Wright.

Other doctrines, moral or civil instructions, may be delivered to us possibly, and probably, and likely, and credibly, and under the like terms and modifications, but this in our text, is assuredly, undoubtedly, undeniably, irrefragably, Surely men of low degree, etc. For howsoever when they two are compared together with one another, it may admit discourse and disputation, whether men of high degree, or of low degree, do most violate the laws of God; that is, whether prosperity or adversity make men most obnoxious to sin; yet, when they come to be compared, not with one another, but both with God, this asseveration, this surely reaches to both: "Surely men of low degree are vanity, and, as surely, men of high degree are a lie." And though this may seem to leave room for men of middle ranks, and fortunes, and places, that there is a mediocrity that might give an assurance, and an establishment, yet there is no such thing in this case; (as surely still) to be laid in the balance, they are all (not of low, and all of high degree, all rich, and all poor), but all, of all conditions, altogether lighter than vanity. Now, all this doth destroy, not extinguish, not annihilate, that affection in man, of hope and trust, and confidence in anything; but it rectifies that hope, and trust, and confidence, and directs it upon the right object. Trust not in flesh, but in spiritual things, that we neither bend our hope downward, to infernal spirits, to seek help in witches; nor miscarry it upward, to seek it in saints or angels, but fix it in him who is nearer to us than our own souls —our blessed, and gracious, and powerful God, who in this one Psalm is presented unto us by so many names of assurance and confidence: "my expectation, my salvation, my rock, my defence, my glory, my strength, my refuge, "and the rest... Men of high degree are a lie. The Holy Ghost hath been pleased to vary the phrase here, and to call men of high degree not "vanity, " but a lie; because the poor, men of low degree, in their condition promise no assistance, feed not men with hope, and therefore cannot be said to lie; but in the condition of men of high degree, who are of power, there is a tacit promise, a natural and inherent assurance of protection and assistance flowing from them. For the magistrate cannot say that he never promised me justice, never promised me protection; for in his assuming that place, he made me that promise. I cannot say that I never promised my parish my service; for in my induction I made them that promise, and if I perform it not I am a lie: for so this word chasab (which we translate a lie) is frequently used in the Scriptures, for that which is defective in the duty it should perform: "Thou shalt be a spring of water" (says God in Isaiah), cujus aquae non mentiuntur, "whose waters never lie; "that is, never dry, never fail. So, then, when men of high degree do not perform the duties of their places, then they are a lie of their own making; and when I over magnify them in their place, flatter them, humour them, ascribe more to them, expect more from them, rely more upon them than I should, then they are a lie of my making... To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Vanity is nothing, but there is a condition worse than nothing. Confidence in the things or persons of this world, but most of all a confidence in ourselves, will bring us at last to that state wherein we would fain be nothing, and cannot. But yet we have a balance in our text; and all these are but put together in one balance. In the other scale there is something put too, in comparison whereof all this world is so light. God does not leave our great and noble faculty and affection of hope, and trust, and confidence without something to direct itself upon, and rectify itself in. He does not: for, for that he proposes himself. The words immediately before the text are, God is a refuge; and, in comparison of him, To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. John Donne.

Surely men of low degree are vanity.

"Who over the herd would wish to reign,

Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain!

Vain as the leaf upon the stream,

And fickle as a changeful dream;

Fantastic as a woman's mood,

And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood,

Thou many headed monster thing,

O, who would wish to be thy king!" —Walter Scott (1771-1832).

Surely men of low degree are vanity, etc. Or, sons of Adam; of the earthly man; of fallen Adam; one of his immediate sons was called Hebel, vanity; and it is true of all his sons, but here it designs only one sort of them; such as are poor and low in the world; mean men, as the phrase is rendered in Isa 2:9; these are subject to sinful vanity; their thoughts are vain, their affections vain, their minds vain, their conversation vain, sinful, foolish, fallacious, and inconstant. John Gill.

Men... are a lie. An active lie —they deceive others; and a passive lie —they are deceived by others; and they who are most actively a lie, are most usually and most deservedly a passive lie, or fed with lies. Joseph Caryl.

Lighter than vanity. If there were any one among men immortal, not liable to sin, or change, whom it were impossible for any one to overcome, but who was strong as an angel, such a one might be something; but inasmuch as every one is a man, a sinner, mortal, weak, liable to sickness and death, exposed to pain and terror, like Pharaoh, even from the most insignificant animals, and liable to so many miseries that it is impossible to count them, the conclusion must be a valid one: "Man is nothing." Arndt.

Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery. Now this robbery and wrong is done two manner of ways —to God and to man. He that putteth his trust for salvation in any other, save in God, loses not only his salvation, but also robs God of his glory, and does God manifest wrong, as much as lieth in him; as the wicked people amongst the Jews did, who said as long as they honoured and trusted unto the queen of heaven, all things prospered with them; but when they hearkened to the true preachers of God's word, all things came into a worse state, and they were overwhelmed with scarcity and trouble. Hosea 2; Jeremiah 44. He also that puts his trust and confidence in any learning or doctrine beside God's word, not only falls into error and loses the truth; but also, as much as lies in him, he robs God's book of his sufficient truth and verity, and ascribes it to the book of men's decrees; which is as much wrong to God and his book as may be thought or done. In which robbery, or rather sacrilege, no man should put his trust, as the prophet saith. John Hooper.

Become not vain in robbery. What? would he have them serious in robbery? No; the meaning is this: do not trust in a thing of nought; if you rob, oppress, deceive, or wrong others, you trust in a vain thing —in a thing that is not —in a thing that will never do you good: there will be no tack, no hold in anything got in such a manner. When you think to get riches by wrong dealing, or closely circumventing others, you become vain in robbery. Joseph Caryl.

If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. We naturally love riches, and therefore as naturally spend many thoughts, both how to get and how to keep them. If a man have riches, or an increase in riches, it is not unlawful for him to think of them (yet we should be as sparing of our thoughts that way as may be, our thoughts and the bent of our souls should always be upon God), but that which the psalmist forbids is the settling of our hearts; as if he had said, Let not your thoughts stay or dwell here. Riches are themselves transient things, therefore they should have but our transient thoughts. Set not your hearts upon them, for they may quickly be unsettled. Samuel bespoke Saul in the same language about a worldly concernment, when he went out to seek his father's asses: "Set not thy mind on them." 1Sa 9:20. It is like Saul was overburdened with this thought, "What's become of, or what shall I do for, my father's asses?" "Be not solicitous about them, "saith Samuel, "greater things are towards thee." Joseph Caryl.

If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Consider what is here meant by "riches." Indeed, some may imagine that it is hardly possible to mistake the meaning of this common word. Yet, in truth, there are thousands in this mistake; and many of them quite innocently. A person of note hearing a sermon preached upon this subject several years since, between surprise and indignation, broke out aloud, "Why does he talk about riches here? There is no rich man at Whitehaven, but Sir James L — —-r." And it is true there was none but he that had forty thousand pounds a year, and some millions in ready money. But a man may be rich that has not a hundred a year —not even one thousand pounds in cash. Whosoever has food to eat, and raiment to put on, with something over, is rich. Whoever has the necessaries and conveniences of life for himself and his family, and a little to spare for them that have not, is properly a rich man, unless he is a miser, a lover of money, one that hoards up what he can and ought to give to the poor. For if so, he is a poor man still, though he has millions in the bank; yea, he is the poorest of men; for

"The beggars but a common lot deplore;

The rich poor man's emphatically poor." ...O! who can convince a rich man that he sets his heart upon riches? For considerably above half a century I have spoken on this head, with all the plainness that was in my power. But with how little effect! I doubt whether I have in all that time convinced fifty misers of covetousness. When the lover of money was described ever so clearly, and painted in the strongest colours, who applied it to himself? To whom did God and all that knew him say, "Thou art the man?" If he speaks to any of you that are present, O do not stop your ears! Rather say, with Zacchaeus, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have done any wrong to any man, I restore him fourfold." He did not mean that he had done this in time past; but that he determined to do so for the time to come. I charge thee before God, thou lover of money, to "go and do likewise.!" I have a message from God unto thee, O rich man! whether thou wilt hear or whether thou wilt forbear. Riches have increased with thee; at the peril of thy soul, "set not thine heart upon them!" Be thankful to him that gave thee such a talent, so much power of doing good. Yet dare not rejoice over them but with fear and trembling. Cave ne inhaereas, says pious Kempis, ne capiaris et pereas; "Beware thou cleave not unto them, lest thou be entangled and perish." Do not make them thy end, thy chief delight, thy happiness, thy god! See that thou expect not happiness in money, nor anything that is purchasable thereby; in gratifying either the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, or the pride of life. John Wesley's Sermon "On the Danger of Increasing Riches."

If riches increase, etc. "The lust of riches, "says Valerian, "stirs with its stimulus the hearts of men, as oxen perpetually plough the soil." Hugo, on Isaiah, says: "The more deeply riches are sown in the heart through love, the more deeply will they pierce through grief." Thomas Le Blanc.

If riches increase bwg —literally, "sprout up" of their own accord, as distinguished from riches acquired by "oppression" and "robbery." A. R. Faussett.

Riches have in them uncertainty and deceitfulness. Riches have never been true to those that trusted in them, but have ever proved "a lie in their right hand." Isa 44:20. Hence they are called "lying vanities, "Jon 2:8; and compared to a flock of birds sitting upon a man's ground, which upon the least fright, take wing and fly away. Riches have "wings, "saith Solomon; and rather than want they will "Make to themselves wings." Pr 23:5. Yea, though they have not the wings so much as of a little sparrow, wherewith to fly to you; yet will they make to themselves the large wings of a great eagle, wherewith to fly from you. Oh, how many have riches served as Absalom's mule served her master, whom she lurched, and left, in his greatest need, hanging betwixt heaven and earth, as if rejected of both! A spark of fire may set them on flying, a thief may steal them, a wicked servant may embezzle and purloin them, a pirate or shipwreck at sea, a robber or bad debtor at land; yea, an hundred ways sets them packing. They are as the apples of Sodom, that look fair yet crumble away with the least touch —golden delusions, a mere mathematical scheme or fancy of man's brain, 1Co 7:31; the semblances and empty show of good without any reality or solid consistency; nec vera, nec vestra: as they are slippery upon the account of verity, so they are no less in respect of prosperity and possession, for they are winged birds, especially in this, that they fly from man to man (as the birds do from tree to tree), and always from the owner of them. This is a sore deceit and cozenage, yet your heart is more deceitful, inasmuch as it will deceive you with these deceitful riches, a quo aliquid tale est, illus est magis tale: they are so, because the heart is so. Christopher Love (1618-1651), in "A Crystal Mirror, or Christian Looking glass," 1679.

Set not your heart upon them. The word tyv properly is to place, to arrange in a fixed firm order, is specially used of the foundation stones of a building being placed fitly and firmly together... Therefore to set the heart upon riches is, to fix the mind closely and firmly upon them, to give it wholly up to them with all its powers; at the same time to be puffed up with confidence and arrogance, as Cl. Schultens observes. Hermann Venema.

Verses 10-12. Our estimate of man depends upon our estimate of God. David knows that men of low and high degree, if separated from the primal fount of every good, weigh nothing, and are less than nothing. Riches are nothing, especially ill gotten ones. Man is not to get proud when riches increase. But such is the course of things, that in proportion as the gifts of God are rich, men confide more in the gifts than in the rich giver. But holy David is better instructed. Once and again he has heard the divine voice in his soul, "that power belongeth unto God only." Job 33:14. This powerful God is merciful: can then any merit attach to our poor works? and yet the Lord rendereth to every pious man according to his imperfect pious work. Agustus F. Tholuck.

Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy. Something more is necessary to invite us to a dependence on God than his bare power and ability to help us. There must be also a firm persuasion of the promptitude and readiness of his will to do what he is able; and this we have in the other attribute of his mercy.... "Unto thee, "unto thee alone, and unto none else. The most tender mercy amongst the creatures is none at all, being compared with the divine mercy. It belongeth unto thee, as thy prerogative and peculiar excellency. Mercy is a peculiar jewel of his crown. Or, thine, O Lord, is mercy. Nothing amongst the creature deserves the name of mercy but his own. Nothing is worthy to be so called, but what is proper and peculiar to God. Or, with thee is mercy, as it is expressed elsewhere. Ps 130:4,7. It is with him; that is, it is inseparable from his nature. He is merciful in a way peculiar to himself, "the Father of mercies." 2Co 1:3. William Wisheart.

For thou rend rest to every man according to his work; namely —judgment to the wicked, and mercy to the righteous; where the Syriac interpreter giveth the good note: Est gratia Dei ut reddat homini secunda opera bona, quia merces bonorum operum est ex gratia: It is mercy in God to set his love on them that keep his commandments. Ex 20:6. John Trapp.

Thou renderest to every man according to his work. Learn to admire the grace of God in rewarding your works. It is much that he accepts them; and what is it, then, that he rewards them? It is much that he doth not damn you for them, seeing they are all defiled, and have something of sin cleaving to them; and what is it, then, that he crowns them? You would admire the bounty and munificence of a man that should give you a kingdom for taking up a straw at his foot, or give you a hundred thousand pounds for paying him a penny rent you owed him: how, then, should you adore the rich grace and transcendent bounty of God in so largely recompensing such mean services, in setting a crown of glory upon your heads, as the reward of those works which you can scarcely find in your hearts to call good ones! You will even blush one day to see yourselves so much honoured for what you are ashamed of, and are conscious to yourselves that you have deserved nothing by. You will wonder then to see God recompensing you for doing what was your duty to do, and what was his work in you; giving you grace, and crowning that grace; enabling you to do things acceptable to him, and then rewarding you as having done them. Edward Veal (1708), in "The Morning Exercises."

1. What he did? Waited upon God. Believed, was patient, was silent in resignation, was obedient.

2. To whom he did it? To his God, who is true, a sovereign, gracious, etc.

3. How he did it? With his soul, truly and only.

4. What came of it? Salvation present, personal, eternal, etc.

God a rock. David speaks of him as high and strong, and as a rock to stand upon, a rock of defence and refuge, a rock of habitation (Ps 71:3, in Hebrew), and a rock to be praised. Ps 95:1. See the Concordance for many hints. "Christ the Rock:" a Sermon on 1Co 10:4. By RALPH ROBINSON, in "Christ All and in All."

(first clause). See "SPURGEON'S Sermons", No. 80, "God alone the Salvation of His People."

Verse 2, 6. I shall not be greatly moved. I shall not be moved. Growth in faith. How it is produced, preserved, and evidenced.

Wherein lies a believer's excellency? Who would cast him down, and why, and how they seek to do it?

They delight in lies. Those who invent them, or spread them, or laugh at them, or readily believe them. Romanists, self righteous persons, the presumptuous, persecutors, zealous errorists, etc.

(first clause). See "SPURGEON'S Sermons, "No. 144, "Waiting only upon God."

(second clause). Great expectations from a great God; because of great promises, great provisions, and great foretastes.

(last clause). What we expect from God, and why and when?

Verse 2, 6. I shall not be greatly moved. I shall not be moved. Growth in faith. How it is produced, preserved, and evidenced.

Evils usually connected with the love of riches. Idolatry, covetousness, carking, care, meanness, forgetfulness of God and spiritual truth, neglect of charity, hardness of heart, tendency to injustice, etc. Means for escaping this seductive sin.

1. How God speaks. "Once, "plainly, powerfully, immutably, etc.

2. How we should hear. Twice, continually, in heart as well as ear, observantly in practice, in spirit as well as in letter.

Verses 11-12. The constant union of power and mercy in the language of Scripture.

WORKS UPON THE SIXTY-SECOND PSALM

An Exposition upon some Select Psalmes of David. Containing great store of most excellent and comfortable doctrine and instruction for all those that (under the burden of sinne), thirst for comfort in Christ Jesus. Written by that faithful servant of God, M. ROBERT ROLLOK, sometime pastor in the Church of Edinburgh: and translated out of Latin into English, by CHARLES LUMISDEN. Minister of the Gospel of Christ at Dudingstoun... 1600. (Contains an Exposition of Psalm 62.)

Certain Comfortable Expositions of the constant Martyr of Christ, John Hooper, bishop of Gloucester and Worcester... Written in the time of tribulation and imprisonment, upon the Twenty-third, Sixty-second, Seventy-third, and Seventy-seventh Psalms of the prophet David.