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Psalms 64
Psalms 65
Psalms 66
Psalms 65 β€” Commentary 4
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Benson
Benson Commentary Psalm 65:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm and Song of David. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. Psalm 65:1 . Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion β€” Waits in expectation of the mercy desired; waits till it arrives, that it may be received with thankfulness at its first approach. For, when God is coming toward us with his favours, we must go forth to meet him with our praises. Praise waits with an entire satisfaction in thy holy will, and in dependance on thy mercy. When we stand ready in every thing to give thanks, then praise waits for God. Hebrew, ??? ???? ???? , lecha dumijah tehillah, praise is silent unto thee, as wanting words to express thy great goodness, and being struck with silent admiration of it. As there are holy groanings in prayer, which cannot be uttered, so there are holy adorations in praise which cannot be expressed, and yet shall be accepted by Him who searcheth the heart, and knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. Our praise is silent, that the praises of the blessed angels, that excel in strength, may be heard. Before thee (thus the Chaldee) praise is reputed as silence. So far is God exalted above all our blessing and praise. Praise is due to God from all the world; but it waits for him in Sion only, in his church among his people; all his works praise him, that is, they minister matter for praise, but only his saints bless him by actual adorations. Unto thee shall the vow be performed β€” The sacrifices and thank-offerings, which thy people vowed unto thee, in the time of their danger, when they were supplicating deliverance, and other blessings, at thy hands, shall be faithfully paid. We shall not be accepted in our thanksgivings to God for the mercies we have received, unless we make conscience of paying the vows which we made when we were in pursuit of these mercies; for better is it not to vow than to vow and not to pay. Psalm 65:2 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Psalm 65:2-3 . O thou that hearest prayer β€” That usest and delightest to hear and answer the prayers of thy people in Zion; which he justly mentions as one of the chiefest of God’s favours vouchsafed to his church; unto thee shall all flesh come β€” Men of all sorts and nations, who were allured by this and other singular benefits, to unite themselves to the Jewish Church, according to Solomon’s prediction, 1 Kings 8:41-43 . Or, rather, this may be considered as a tacit prediction of the conversion of the Gentiles, namely, that on account of God’s mercy in hearing the prayers of his people, all mankind, out of every nation, should come and make their supplications before him in his church, when called by his gospel. And the chief subject of the prayers made by all flesh to God being the forgiveness of sin, in order to this it is here confessed, Iniquities prevail against me β€” My iniquities are so many and so great, that on account of them thou mightest justly reject my prayers, and destroy my person; they are a burden too heavy for me; but thou shalt purge them away β€” This is another glorious privilege granted to thy people, that, in answer to their prayers, thou dost graciously pardon and take away their sins. Psalm 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. Psalm 65:4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Psalm 65:4 . Blessed is the man β€” The particular person, how poor and mean soever; whom thou choosest β€” To be one of thy peculiar people; and causest β€” That is, permittest and commandest; and by the disposal of thy providence, and the influence of thy grace, inclinest and enablest, to approach unto thee β€” To draw near to thee in thy house and ordinances, by prayer and praise, and other acts of communion with thee. That he may dwell in thy courts β€” In the courts of thy house; may frequently resort thither, and wait upon thee there, at all opportunities, among thy people. He mentions courts, because the people were permitted to go no further into God’s house. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house β€” We shall enjoy solid satisfaction, such as all men desire, but which only thy true and genuine people obtain, in those spiritual and everlasting blessings there conferred upon them, namely, thy grace, and favour, and fellowship with thee. Observe, reader! remission of sins, renovation of heart and life, the knowledge of God and of ourselves, and of our duty and true interest, joy and peace through believing, with well-grounded hopes of eternal life, are the blessings included in the goodness of God’s house, or holy temple, which is here mentioned, in comparison of which all the enjoyments of this world are but dross and dung. Psalm 65:5 By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea: Psalm 65:5 . By terrible things, &c. β€” Or, in a terrible manner; that is, so as to strike thy people with a holy awe and reverence of thee, and of thy judgments, and thine enemies with dread and horror. The Chaldee renders the word, ????? , noraoth, here used, in a wonderful manner. This may be understood of the rebukes which God, in his providence, sometimes gives to his own people; he often answers them by wonderful and terrible events, for the awakening and quickening of them; but always in righteousness; he neither doth them any wrong, nor intends them any hurt; for even then he is the God of their salvation. But it is rather to be understood of his judgments upon their enemies; God answers his people’s prayers by the destructions made for their sakes among those who reject his truth; and the recompense which he renders to their proud oppressors as a righteous God, the God to whom vengeance belongs, and the God that protects and saves his people. The clause may be read, by wonderful things wilt thou answer us; things which are very surprising, and which we looked not for, Isaiah 64:3 . Or by things which strike an awe upon us. β€œThe ancient church here foretels,” says Dr. Horne, β€œthat God would answer her prayers for the coming of the Messiah, by wonderful things in righteousness, which were brought to pass by the death and the resurrection of Christ, the overthrow of idolatry, and the conversion of the nations.” Some again, by these wonderful things, understand the works of God’s providence mentioned in the following verses; β€œwhich, however they may be disregarded by us, through our familiarity with them, are indeed most stupendous, amazing, and awful; such as will always engage the inquiry and excite the wonder of the most profound philosophers; but will for ever surpass their comprehension.” See Dodd. Who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth β€” Of all thy saints all the world over, and not only of those who are of the seed of Israel. For he is the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews; the confidence of them that are afar off from his holy temple, that dwell in the islands of the Gentiles, or that are in distress upon the sea. They trust in him, and cry to him when they are at their wit’s end. Nor is there any other in whom they can safely trust, or to whom they can have recourse with any prospect of relief. For this God of our salvation is the only object of a safe and undeceiving confidence; there is no other person or thing in the world that any man living can trust to, without fear or certainty of disappointment. Psalm 65:6 Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power: Psalm 65:6-7 . Which setteth fast the mountains β€” That they are not overthrown by floods, or earthquakes, or other natural causes; which stability they have only from God’s preserving providence, which alone sustains all persons and things; being girded with power β€” Being able to do it, and that with infinite ease, having only to speak and it is done. Which stillest the noise of the sea β€” When it is very tempestuous, and threatens to swallow up ships and men that are in it, or to overflow the earth. And the tumults of the people β€” As he stills the natural, so he also quiets the metaphorical seas, tumultuous and unruly mobs and insurrections of people, often represented under this emblem in the prophetical writings. Psalm 65:7 Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people. Psalm 65:8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. Psalm 65:8 . They also that dwell in the uttermost parts β€” Namely, of the earth; are afraid at thy tokens β€” Hebrew, ???????? , meothotheicha, at thy signs, at the great and terrible judgments which thou inflictest upon wicked men, and particularly on the enemies of thy people. Or rather, at such occurrences as extraordinary thunders, lightnings, and meteors in the air, comets in the heavens, or volcanic eruptions and earthquakes on the earth; all which are the works of God, whatever secondary causes he may use to produce them. As if he had said, The remotest and most barbarous people are struck with the dread of thee, when thou alarmest them with any unusual tokens of thy power. Thou makest the out goings of the morning and evening to rejoice β€” The successive courses of the morning and evening, or of the sun and moon, which go forth at those times, the one bringing the light of the morning, and the other the shades of the evening, and both which are said poetically to rejoice, because they give men occasion of rejoicing. For as it is God that scatters the light of the morning, and draws the curtains of the evening, so he does both in favour to man. And how contrary soever light and darkness are to each other, or how inviolable soever the partition between them may be, both are equally welcome to the world in their season. And it is hard to say which is more welcome to us, the light of the morning, which befriends the business of the day, or the shadows of the evening, which befriend the repose of the night. Doth the watchman wait for the morning? So doth the hireling earnestly desire the shadow. Thus, this whole verse speaks of the natural works of God; the former clause of such as are extraordinary and terrible, the latter of such as are ordinary and delightful. Psalm 65:9 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Psalm 65:9-10 . Thou visitest β€” In mercy, or with thy favour, the earth, and waterest it β€” The whole earth, which is full of thy bounty. So understood, he continues to speak of the general providence of God over all people. Or, he may mean, Thou visitest the land β€” Namely, the land of Israel; and so he proceeds, from God’s general providence over all places and nations, to his particular and special providence over his people in the land of Canaan, whereof he gives one eminent and considerable instance, namely, his giving them rain and fruitful seasons, and that after a time of drought and scarcity, to which, it is not improbably supposed, this Psalm refers. And this may be the particular occasion, for which the psalmist said, that praise waited for God in Zion. Thou enrichest it with the river of God β€” With rain, which he calls a river for his plenty, and the river of God, because it is of his immediate providing; which is full of water β€” The clouds, like a vast river, are never exhausted, or, if they empty themselves upon the earth, they are soon and easily replenished again. Thou preparest them corn β€” By these means thou causest the earth to bring forth and ripen corn for its inhabitants; when thou hast so provided for it β€” Hebrew, ?? ????? , cheen techineah, hast so ordered, disposed, or prepared it; namely, the earth by thus watering it, which would otherwise be hard and barren. Thou settlest the furrows thereof β€” Which are turned up by the plough or spade. Or, thou bringest them down, as ??? , nachath, rather signifies: for the rain dissolves the high and hard clods of the earth. Thou blessest the springing thereof β€” When all is done, the fruitfulness of the earth must not be ascribed to the rain or sun, or any second causes, but to thy blessing alone. Psalm 65:10 Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Psalm 65:11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. Psalm 65:11-12 . Thou crownest the year with thy goodness β€” Thou, by thy powerful goodness, dost enrich and adorn all the seasons of the year with their proper fruits and blessings. And thy paths β€” Either, 1st, Thy clouds, (as the word ??????? , is rendered in the Liturgy version,) upon which God is frequently said to walk or ride, and which drop fatness upon the earth; or the outgoings, or ways of the divine goodness. Wherever God goes, speaking after the manner of men, or works, he leaves the tokens of his mercy behind him, he dispenses rich and salutary blessings, and thus makes his paths to shine after him. Mudge renders this verse, Thou encirclest the year with thy richness, and the tracks of thy wheels drop fatness. God is considered, he thinks, in his chariot, riding round the earth, and from that chariot, that is, the clouds, everywhere distilling fatness, fertility, and increase. They β€” God’s paths, the clouds; drop upon the pastures of the wilderness β€” And not only upon the pastures of the inhabited land. The deserts, which man takes no care of, and receives no profit from, yet are under the care of the divine providence; and the produce of them redounds to the glory of God, as the great Benefactor of the whole creation. For hereby they are furnished with food for wild beasts, which, being God’s creatures, he thus takes care of and provides for. And the little hills β€” He intends chiefly the hills of Canaan, which, for the generality of them, were but small, if compared with the great and high mountains which are in divers parts of the world. He mentions the hills, because, being most dry and parched with the sun, they most need, and are most benefited by the rain; rejoice on every side β€” That is, all around, as being clothed with verdure, enamelled with flowers, and rendered fertile for the use of man and beasts. Nothing can be more elegant and poetical than the personifying of the hills, the pastures, and valleys in this and the following verse. But, indeed, as Dr. Delaney justly observes, this whole paragraph, from the 9th verse to the 13th, is β€œthe most rapturous, truly poetic, and natural image of joy that imagination can form.” The reader of taste cannot but see this in any translation of it, however simple. β€œWhen the divine poet had seen the showers falling from heaven, and Jordan overflowing his banks, all the consequent blessings were that moment present to his quick, poetic sight, and he paints them accordingly.” Psalm 65:12 They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. Psalm 65:13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing. Psalm 65:13 . The pastures β€” Which were bare before; are clothed with flocks β€” As they are with grass. They are so well stocked that they seem covered over with sheep and cattle, feeding or resting in them; the valleys also are covered with corn β€” So that the face of the earth cannot be seen for the abundance of it. He mentions valleys, or low grounds, as being generally most fruitful, but does not intend to exclude other places. Such are some of the good effects of these refreshing, fertilizing rains. They shout for joy: they also sing β€” They are abundantly satisfied with thy goodness, and, in their manner, sing forth the praises, and declare the goodness of their great Creator and Benefactor. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.
Expositors
Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 65:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm and Song of David. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. Psalm 65:1-13 THIS and the two following psalms form a little group, with one great thought dominant in each, namely, that God’s manifestations of grace and providence to Israel are witnesses to the world. They all reach out to "the ends of the earth" in yearning and confidence that God’s name will be adored there, and they all regard His dealings with His people as His appeals to mankind, which will not always be vain. Psalm 65:1-13 begins with that privilege of approach to God with which Psalm 66:1-20 ends. In both, iniquity in heart is regarded as hindering access to God; and, in both, the psalmist’s experience of answered prayer is treated as testimony for the world of the blessedness of worshipping Israel’s God. This psalm falls into three parts, which set forth a threefold revelation of God in His acts. The first ( Psalm 65:1-4 ) deals with the most intimate privileges of the men who dwell in His house. The second ( Psalm 65:5-8 ) points to His rule in nature, the tokens of God’s power in the mighty things of creation-mountains, ocean, day and night, the radiant east, the solemn sunset west. The third ( Psalm 65:9-13 ) gives a lovely picture of the annual miracle which brings harvest joys. The underlying thought binding these three parts into unity seems to be the witness to God’s name which each set of His acts bears-a witness which "they that dwell in the uttermost parts" hear sounded in their ears. If this is the true view of the psalm, we may hear a reminiscence of it in Paul’s remonstrance with the rude Lycaonian peasants: "He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." The first strophe is wholly concerned with the glory of God as answering prayer. It begins with enigmatical words, which, if the existing text is adhered to, carry a deep truth. There are two kinds of prayer-wordless submission of will and spoken vows. The former is truly praise. The same thought is found in Psalm 62:1-12 . It goes down to the root of the matter. The true notion of prayer is not that of swaying God’s will to gratify ours, but that of bringing ours into unremonstrating acceptance of His. When the accents of eager desire or of impatient murmuring and vain sobs and weeping are hushed, the still soul enters into closeness of communion, else unattainable. Beautiful and profoundly true as this is, it is not indubitably the psalmist’s meaning; and there is much to be said for the rendering which is adopted from the LXX by many commentators, and which only requires a slight change in the vocalisation-namely, "Praise is meet for Thee." But that idea is expressed in Psalm 33:1 by a different word, and the meaning of the one used here is not to be suitable for, but to be like. So that we have to choose between altering the text and then imposing a somewhat unusual meaning on the word gained, and adhering to the present reading and gaining a meaning which is admitted to be "fine" but alleged to be "unbiblical." On the whole, that meaning seems preferable. The convictions that God accepts silent devotion and answers vows, so that the thank offering promised in trouble will be called for by deliverance, "fill the psalmist with a longing that all mankind may have recourse to the same Divine Friend" (Cheyne, in loc. ). His experience of accepted prayers has taught him that it is God’s nature and property to be "the hearer of prayer" (the word is a participle, expressive of a permanent characteristic), and therefore he is sure that "all flesh," in its weariness and need of an ear into which to pour necessities and sorrows, will come to Him. His eye travels far beyond Israel, and contemplates mankind as coming to worship. But one black barrier rises between men and God, the separating power of which the singer has painfully felt. Sin chokes the stream that would flow from seeking hearts into the ocean of God. The very act of gathering himself up to pray and praise quickens the sense of sinfulness in the psalmist. Therefore his look turns swiftly inwards, for the only time in the psalm. The consciousness of transgression wakes the sense of personality and isolation as nothing else will, and for one bitter moment the singer is, as it were, prisoned in the awful solitude of individual responsibility. His words reflect his vivid sight of his sins in their manifoldness, for he says that "matters of iniquities" have overcome him. The exuberant expression is not tautological, but emotional. And then he passes into sunshine again, and finds that, though he had to be alone in guilt, he is one of a company in the experience of forgiveness. Emphatically he reduplicates "Thou" in his burst of confidence in God’s covering of sins; for none but God can cope with the evil things that are too strong for man. I can neither keep them out, nor drive them out when they have come in, nor cleanse the stains that their hoofs have made; but Thou, Thou canst and dost cover them. Is not that an additional reason for "all flesh" coming to God, and almost a guarantee that they will? The strophe ends with an exclamation celebrating the blessedness of dwelling with God. That refers, no doubt, to Israel’s prerogative of access to the Temple; but the inward and outward are blended, as in many places in the Psalter where dwelling in the house of the Lord is yearned for or rejoiced in. The universalism of the psalm does not forget the special place held by the nation whom God "has chosen and brought near." But the reality beneath the symbol is too familiar and sweet to this singer for him to suppose that mere outward access exhausts the possibilities of blessed communion. It is no violent forcing more into his words than they contain, if we read in them deeply spiritual truths. It is noteworthy that they follow the reference to forgiveness, and, when taken in conjunction therewith, may be called an itinerary of the road to God. First comes forgiveness by expiation, for such is the meaning of "covering." Then the cleansed soul has "access with confidence"; then approaching, it happily dwells a guest in the house and is supplied with that which satisfies all desires. The guest’s security in the house of his host, his right to protection, help, and food, are, as usual, implied in the imagery. The prerogative of his nation, which the psalmist had in mind, is itself imagery, and the reality which it shadowed is that close abiding in God which is possible by faith, love, communion of spirit, and obedience of life, and which, wherever realised, keeps a soul in a great calm, whatever tempests rave, and satisfies its truest needs and deepest longings, whatever famine may afflict the outward life. Forgiven men may dwell with God. They who do are blessed. The second strophe ( Psalm 65:5-8 ) celebrates another aspect of God’s manifestation by deeds, which has, in like manner, a message for the ends of the earth. Israel is again the immediate recipient of God’s acts, but they reverberate through the world. Therefore in Psalm 65:5 the two clauses are not merely adjacent, but connected. It is because God is ever revealing Himself to the nation (for the tense of the verb "answer" expresses continuous action) that He is revealed as the trust of the whole earth. God’s grace fructifies through Israel to all. How clearly the psalmist had grasped the truth that God has limited the knowledge of Himself to one spot of earth in order to its universal diffusion! The light is focused and set in a tower that it may shine out over sea and storm. The fire is gathered into a brasier that it may warm all the house. Some commentators take that strong expression "the trust of all the ends of the earth" as asserting that even the confidences of idolaters in their gods are at bottom trust in Jehovah and find their way to Him. But such a view of idolatry is foreign to the Old Testament, and is not needed to explain the psalmist’s words. God is the only worthy object of trust, and remains so whether men do in fact trust Him or not. And one day, thinks the psalmist, God’s patient manifestation of His grace to Israel will tell, and all men will come to know Him for what He is. "The remotest sea" is not translation, but paraphrase. The psalmist speaks in vague terms, as one who knew not what lay beyond the horizon of that little-traversed western ocean. Literally his words are "the sea of the remote [peoples]"; but a possible emendation has been suggested, reading instead of sea "regions" or "nations." The change is slight, and smooths an awkward expression, but destroys the antithesis of earth and sea, and makes the second clause a somewhat weak repetition of the first. From the self-revelation of God in history the psalm passes to His mighty deeds in nature ( Psalm 65:6-7 a), and from these it returns to His providential guidance of human affairs ( Psalm 65:7 b). The two specimens of Divine power celebrated in Psalm 65:6-7 , are suggested by the closing words of Psalm 65:5 . "The ends of the earth" were, according to ancient cosmography, girdled by mountains; and God has set these fast. The dash of "the remotest seas" is hushed by Him. Two mighty things are selected to witness to the Mightier who made and manages them. The firm bulk of the mountains is firm because He is strong. The tossing waves are still because He bids them be silent. How transcendently great then is He, and how blind those who, seeing hill and ocean, do not see God! The mention of the sea, the standing emblem of unrest and rebellious power suggests the "tumult of the peoples," on which similar repressive power is exercised. The great deeds of God, putting down tyranny and opposition to Israel, which is rebellion against Himself, strike terror, which is wholesome and is purified into reverence, into the distant lands; and so, from the place where the sun rises to the "sad-coloured end of evening" where it sinks in the west, i.e. , through all the earth; there rings out a shout of joy. Such glowing anticipations of universal results from the deeds of God, especially for Israel, are the products of diseased national vanity, unless they are God-taught apprehension of the Divine purpose of Israel’s history, which shall one day be fulfilled, when the knowledge of the yet more wondrous deeds which culminated in the Cross is spread to the ends of the earth and the remotest seas. God reveals Himself not only in the sanctities of His house, nor in His dread "signs" in nature and history, but in the yearly recurring harvest, which was waving as yet unreaped, while the poet sang. The local colouring which regards rain as the chief factor in fertility and the special gift of God is noticeable. In such a land as Palestine, irrigation seems the one thing needful to turn desert into fruitful field. To "water" the soil is there emphatically to "enrich" it. The psalmist uses for "river" the technical word for an irrigation cutting, as if he would represent God in the guise of the cultivator, who digs his ditches that the sparkling blessing may reach all his field. But what a difference between men-made watercourses and God’s! The former are sometimes flooded, but often dry; His are full of water. The prose of the figure is, of course, abundant rain. It prepares the earth for the seed, and "so" in effect prepares the corn. The one is the immediate, the other the ultimate issue and purpose. Spring showers prepare autumn fruits. It is so in all regions of man’s endeavour and of God’s work; and it is practical wisdom to train ourselves to see the assurance of the end in His means, and to be confident that whatever His doings have a manifest tendency to effect shall one day be ripened and harvested. How lovingly and patiently the psalm represents the Divine Husbandman as attending to all the steps of the process needed for the great ingathering! He guides the showers, he fills the little valleys of the furrows, and smooths down the tiny hills of the intervening ridges. He takes charge of the germinating seed, and His sunshine smiles a benediction on the tender green blade, as it pricks through the earth which has been made soft enough for it to pierce from beneath. This unhesitating recognition of the direct action of God in all "natural" processes is the true point of view from which to regard them. God is the only force; and His immediate action is present in all material changes. The Bible knows nothing of self-moving powers in nature, and the deepest conception of God’s relations to things sensible knows as little. "There is no power but of God" is the last word of religion and of true philosophy. The poet stands in the joyous time when all the beauty of summer flushes the earth, and the harvest is yet a hope, not a possibly disappointing reality. It is near enough to fill his song with exultation. It is far enough off to let him look on the whitened fields, and not on the bristly stubble. So he regards the "crown" as already set on a year of goodness. He sees God’s chariot passing in triumph and blessing over the land, and leaving abundance wherever its wheel tracks go. Out in the uncultivated prairie, where sweet grass unsown by man grows, is the flush of greenery, where, before the rain, was baked and gaping earth. The hills, that wear a girdle of forest trees halfway up towards their barren summits, wave their foliage, as if glad. The white fleeces of flocks are dotted over the vivid verdure of every meadow, and one cannot see the ground for the tall corn that stands waiting for the sickle, in each fertile plain. The psalmist hears a hymn of glad praise rising from all these happy and sunny things; and for its melody he hushes his own, that he and we may listen to "The fair music that all creatures make To their great Lord." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.
Illustrator
Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion: and unto Thee shall the vow be performed. Psalm 65 A harvest hymn J. Stalker, D. D. This is a psalm of thanksgiving for plentiful rain, falling at the critical time in a year of drought and ensuring a plentiful harvest. To an agricultural people this was a memorable mercy. I. THE ATTITUDE OF THE WORSHIPPERS (vers. 1-4). The opening words, "Praise is silent for Thee, O God, in Zion," describe the hush of a multitude just ready to burst forth in song. The air is full of an intention which has not yet expressed itself, but it will utter its thought immediately, because the nation has assembled to perform the vows made during the drought, when dearth was feared. The worshippers acknowledge their dependence on the Hearer of prayer: they are part of frail humanity ("all flesh"), which can never be equal to its own requirements, but must ever be dependent on a higher Power. But there is a still deeper cause for humility, which ought always to be kept in mind when an approach is made to God: "Iniquities," says the psalmist, "prevail against me." What mortal has ever existed who did not require to say so? Iniquities press in from without and they press outwards from within; and man is not able to withstand their force. Yet the psalmist has discovered the secret: "As for our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them away." God can overcome this terrible force, by blotting out the guilt of past sin and breaking the power of present sin. And the next verse supplies a description of the blessedness of those who, thus liberated, have free access to the throne of the Divine grace and full enjoyment of its privileges. II. THE OBJECT OF WORSHIP (vers. 5-8). He is not a God unknown, but in all the centuries of the history of Israel has shown Himself mighty on behalf of His people, by acts of salvation which have struck terror into their enemies. And not only in the events of history has His power from time to time been shown; it is exhibited continually in the great aspects of nature. III. A PICTURE OF PLENTY (vers. 9-13). After weeks of rainless weather, when the hearts of the husbandmen were quaking with fear, the showers, earnestly prayed for, had come at last. In the clouds sweeping over the landscape the happy inhabitants saw the footsteps of the passing Deity dropping fatness as He went. Hill and dale and wilderness had all partaken of the benefit. The flocks were full of life on the mountain sides and the fields and the valleys stood in all the bravery of healthy and abundant crops; till it seemed to the poet as if a great shout of joy were going up from all the revived objects in the landscape to the heaven from which the blessing had come. ( J. Stalker, D. D. ) God as He appears in human history Homilist. I. GOD AS HE APPEARS IN HUMAN HISTORY. 1. As a prayer-answering God (ver. 2). That this title belongs to Him as He appears in human life is β€” (1) Suggested by universal consciousness. (2) Proved by the universal experience of the good. (3) Declared by the mouth of God Himself. "Call upon Me," etc. "Ask, and ye shall receive," etc. 2. As a man-needed God. Sooner shall the Mississippi keep away from the ocean or the earth from circling round the sun, than your soul keep away from your Maker. 3. As a sin-removing God (ver. 8). 4. As a world-trusted God (ver. 5). (1) All men require some object to trust in. They must lean on something. (2) Their condition, whether happy or otherwise, depends on the object they trust. The great misery of man is, that he rests on the unworthy, the changeable, and the insecure. (3) The only safe object of trust is God. II. God as He appears in human history, WORSHIPPED. 1. The kind of worship. "Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion." Are we to understand "waiteth," in the sense of silence? Then the essence of worship is silent β€” it is in the profoundest thoughts, the deepest feelings, the strongest aspirations, which are independent of language or sound. The deepest things of the soul are unutterable. 2. The blessedness of worship (ver. 4). The idea is, fellowship with God, going into His courts, dwelling in His temple.(1) The fellowship is chosen. "Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest." What a distinction is thus put on man! No other creature in the world can hold fellowship with the Infinite.(2) The fellowship is permanent. "Dwell in Thy house." Not a mere visitant for a terminable period. But a resident so long as existence endures.(3) The fellowship is satisfying. "We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house." This is, and nothing else, the satisfaction of the soul. "In Thy presence is fulness of joy." ( Homilist. ) Praises and vows accepted in Zion Upon Zion there was erected an altar for the offering of sacrifices. Burnt offering was only to be offered there. In fulfilment of this type, "we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat that serve the tabernacle." There is but one altar, Jesus Christ our Lord. I. THE HOLY OFFERING OF WORSHIP WHICH WE DESIRE TO PRESENT TO GOD. There is β€” 1. Praise. It is the chief part of the worship of heaven, and therefore should be much regarded upon earth. It is to be rendered only to God. "For Thee, O God." For Thee only, and for Thee all. Not to virgins, or saints. And our praise is not to be formal, of lips and sound, but of the soul. And let it be continual β€” "waiteth for Thee." And humble; let it wait as the servants wait in the king's palace. And let it be expectant: on the look-out for more of God's blessings. What abundant reason we have for praise. Mercies temporal and spiritual. 2. The vow. "Unto Thee shall the vow be performed." We are not given to vow-making in these days. But there have been some we have made. At our conversion, at our uniting ourselves to the Church of God; when we entered on our work as Christian ministers; and, perhaps, in times of affliction. Let us keep them. II. THE BLESSED ENCOURAGEMENT. 1. God hears prayer. "O Thou that hearest prayer." 2. And all prayer, if it be true. "Unto Thee shall all flesh come." 3. Let none of us exclude ourselves. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Zion's praise ready for her Lord If not always soaring we may be as birds ready for an instant flight, always with wings, if not always on the wing. Our hearts should be like the beacons made ready to be fired. When invasion was expected in the days of Queen Elizabeth, piles of wood and combustible material were laid ready on the tops of certain hills, and watchmen stood prepared to kindle the piles should there be notice given that the ships of the enemy were in the offing. Everything was in waiting. The heap was not made of damp wood, neither had they to go and seek kindling; but the fuel waited for the match. The watch-fire was not always blazing, but it was always ready to shoot forth its flame. Have ye never read, "Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion"? So let our hearts be prepared to be fired with adoring praise by one glimpse of the Redeemer's eyes. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) O Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come. Psalm 65:2 God's hearing of prayer What avails prayer if it be not heard? But the text comforts us by the title it ascribes to God, and by the effect that the belief of it shall have upon all flesh. God in Christ is the hearer of prayer. I. WHEREIN GOD'S HEARING OF PRAYER LIES. This involves β€” 1. His accepting of our prayer ( Psalm 141:2 ). But some prayer God hates ( Proverbs 28:9 ). 2. His granting the request ( Psalm 20:1, 4 ; Matthew 15:28 ). 3. His answering of prayer ( Psalm 102:2 ). Prayer heard in heaven comes back like the dove with the olive branch of peace in her mouth. II. THE IMPORT OF GOD'S BEING THE HEARER OF PRAYER. It imports β€” 1. God in Christ is accessible to poor sinners ( 2 Corinthians 5:19 ). 2. He is a sin-pardoning God ( Exodus 34:6, 7 ). 3. He is an all-sufficient God. 4. Bountiful and compassionate ( Psalm 86:5 ). 5. Omnipresent and omniscient, and β€” 6. Of infinite power. III. WHAT PRAYERS THEY ARE THAT GOD HEARS. 1. Those of His own children. 2. Such as are agreeable to His will ( 1 John 5:14 ). 3. Made by the aid of the Holy Spirit. None else are acceptable. And β€” 4. Prayers offered to God through Christ. IV. CONSIDER MORE PARTICULARLY THIS DOCTRINE. 1. The instinct of prayer in all God's people shows that He will hear prayer. 2. And so does the intercession of Christ (Romans 8:84). 3. Promises ( Matthew 7:7 ; Isaiah 65:24 ; Psalm 145:19 ). 4. Invitations to prayer ( Song of Solomon 2:14 ; Hosea 5:1 . ult.; Psalm 50:15 ; Isaiah 41:17 ). 5. The gracious nature of God ( Exodus 22:27 ). 6. The experiences of the saints in all ages. 7. The present ease and relief which prayer gives ( Psalm 138:8 ; 1 Samuel 1:18 ; Micah 7:7 ). V. IN WHAT MANNER GOD HEARS PRAYER. 1. A thing prayed for may be obtained and yet the prayer be not accepted ( Psalm 78:29 ; Psalm 34:1-38:22 ). So that a thing prayed for may be given in downright wrath ( Hosea 13:11 ). Or in uncovenanted condescension. As Ahab ( 1 Kings 21:29 ; also Hosea 11:3 ). 2. Whether answers come in the way of grace or not may be discerned. They do not when there is a wilfulness and unhumbledness of spirit in asking ( 1 Samuel 8:19 ). Or when men's lusts are strengthened and fed by them when received ( Psalm 78:29 , 80). Or when men ask on the ground of their necessity more than on the intercession of Christ. The heart loves the gift more than the giver. But a prayer may be accepted and yet not granted. So was it with our Lord ( Matthew 26:39 ). And David ( 2 Chronicles 6:8, 9 ). And such prayers are ever submissive to God's will ( Matthew 26:39 ); they contain in the denial of them an unseen greater mercy; and even aim at the glory of God. And though unanswered we may know they are accepted when the heart is brought to meek submission ( Psalm 22:2, 3 ); and we are supported under the denial, as our Lord was ( Luke 22:42, 43 ; Psalm 138:3 ). And helped to go back to God with new petitions in faith and hope of hearing ( 2 Samuel 12:20 ). Let us remember that delay is not denial. Abraham prayed for an heir, yet fifteen years passed before the answer came ( Genesis 15:3, 4 ; Genesis 17:25 ; Exodus 2:23, 24 ; Daniel 9:28). There is a difference between the granting of a petition and our knowing that it is granted. They may come together, as in Matthew 15:28 . But, as with Abraham, they may not. The hearing and granting of prayer is an object of faith; the answer, of sense and feeling ( 1 John 5:14, 15 ; Matthew 15:28 ). But the two are generally at a distance from one another. And the reason of this is manifold. 1. To keep us at the throne of grace ( Proverbs 15:8 ; Song of Solomon 2:14 ). 2. To try our graces ( James 1:12 ; Job 27:10 ; Luke 18:7 ). God delights in our faith. 3. To prepare and fit us for the answer ( Psalm 10:17 ). 4. That we may have them at the fittest time, and when they will do us most good ( John 11:14, 15 ; John 2:4 ). ( T. Boston, D. D. ) Encouragements to prayer Daniel Moore, M. A. I. FROM ITS NATURE. 1. It is a spiritual thing; not any mere outward form, but the soul seeing the invisible, grasping the intangible and linking itself by sacred affinities with things eternal. 2. Consider also its dignity, it holds correspondence with the court of heaven. 3. And how important. For how unspeakably great is our need, and we can only gain supply for them as we seek it from God. II. FROM THE PLIGHTED FAITHFULNESS OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER TO HEAR AND ANSWER IT. How, in face of all God's promises to hear us, can we doubt the success of our prayers? Objections against prayer lie equally against all human endeavour. God will give good things to them that ask Him, but only He can say what things are good. They may be such as we deem anything but good. Many have been laid on beds of languishing to save them from a bed of everlasting burnings. And when the time for the blessings we. ask for may be, we cannot know, nor fix the rate of their progress towards us. III. THE SUGGESTING AND CONTROLLING INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE ACT OF DEVOTION. IV. THE CO-OPERATING INTERCESSIONS OF OUR ASCENDED SAVIOUR, and the security we have in the use of His all-prevailing name. Oh! could the recording angel give you back an exact copy even of this morning's prayers β€” a copy in which all the thoughts which passed through your mind while in the act of devotion should be translated into words, β€” how shocked would ye be at the intermixture of piety and profaneness, of reverent expressions and solemn trifling, with which ye insulted the majesty and provoked the patience of the holiest and best of beings. Wherefore was it, then, that ye were not consumed? Oh! it was that Jesus, "touched with a feeling of our infirmities," stood in the gap between us. V. THE REFLECTIVE BENEFIT WHICH, APART FROM DIRECT ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS, COMES TO OUR SOULS. If a man do not move God he is sure to move himself. ( Daniel Moore, M. A. ) The answerableness and the inevitableness of prayer Homilist. I. THE ANSWERABLENESS OF PRAYER. Hearing, here, means answering. He hears millions of prayers He never answers. The grand reason is, that the prayers are selfish. 1. The mind in this state looks upon God's universe in new aspects. 2. Turns all events to new accounts. II. THE INEVITABLENESS OF PRAYER. "Unto Thee shall all flesh come." "Flesh" here means mankind. As all waters must find their way into the ocean, so all souls must find their way to God, sooner or later. Two things necessitate this. 1. Internal instincts. In all sentient existences there would seem at times to be something like an instinct of prayer. 2. External circumstances necessitate prayer. Men suppress the instinct, and sometimes make it well-nigh numb as death. But in the presence of a great danger, a great sorrow, a great grief, it bounds into earnest life. ( Homilist. ) On prayer H. Blair, D. D. 1. The nature of prayer supposes, in the first place, that we have a just sense of our own wants and miseries, and of our dependence on God for relief. We live in a world where everything around us is dark and uncertain. When we look back on the past, we must remember that there we have met with much disappointment and vanity. When we look forward to the future, all is unknown. We are liable there to many dangers which we cannot foresee; and to many which we foresee approaching, yet know not how to defend ourselves against them. We know that we are the subjects of a supreme righteous Governor, to whom we are accountable for our conduct. How soon the call for our removal may be given, none of us know. Who amongst us can say, that he is perfectly ready to appear before his Creator and Judge, and to give an account to Him for all the actions of his life? 2. Thus it appears that there is a just foundation for prayer, in all its parts, naturally laid in the present circumstances of man, and in the relation in which he stands to God.(1) With regard to temporal blessings, though men may lay a restraint upon themselves in the expressions which they utter in prayer, yet it is much to be suspected that the inward wishes of their hearts for such blessings are often the most fervent of any. To wish and pray for the advantages of life is not forbidden. Our Saviour hath so far countenanced it, as to command us to pray that God would give us our daily bread.(2) With regard to spiritual mercies, we are unquestionably allowed to be more fervent and explicit in our requests at the throne of grace. God can never be displeased in hearing us implore from Him those graces and endowments of the soul, that beautify us in His sight, that are good for all men, good at all times, indeed, the only certain and immutable goods.(3) Intercessions for the welfare of others form a material part of prayer. When we bow our knee to the common Father, let it be like affectionate members of His family, desiring the prosperity of all our brethren. 3. In order that prayer may produce its proper effect, there are certain qualifications necessarily belonging to it, which come next to be considered.(1) One of the first and chief of these is seriousness, or an attentive and solemn frame of mind, in opposition to thoughts that wander, and to words that drop forth unmeaning from the lips.(2) To seriousness, we must join affection in prayer; I mean that devotion of the heart which is inspired by gratitude and love, in distinction from forced prayer, or what is unwillingly preferred from servile fear, or mere regard to decency.(3) Faith is another qualification required. We acknowledge our guilt; we disclaim all trust in our own righteousness; and implore grace from God on account of what His Son has done and suffered for us. 4. Having thus pointed out the chief qualifications of prayer, it remains that I show the importance and advantages of it.(1) Prayer is one of the most powerful means of recalling our minds from the vanities of life to serious thoughts; to a proper sense of God and our duty; and to all the high objects with which we are intimately connected as rational and immortal beings.(2) Prayer is useful, not only as a corrective of our natural levity and forgetfulness of God, but as an actual exercise of the best affections of our nature, which are thereby confirmed and strengthened. It implies the highest sentiments of reverence and adoration, of love and gratitude to God, of trust in His mercy, and of faith in our blessed Redeemer, all animating the heart.(3) Prayer is important, "not only as a means of high improvement in religion, but as an instrument of consolation and relief under the distresses of life. ( H. Blair, D. D. ) The prayer-hearing God W. Jay. God not only hears prayer, but glories in so doing. He derives His fame, His character from it. For, think how constantly, readily and certainly He hears prayer. Hence, the psalmist declares, "Unto Thee shall all flesh come." It speaks not of God on the judgment-but on the mercy-seat; all shall seek unto Him. Let us then make known God as the prayer-hearing God, and let us, more and more, come to Him ourselves. ( W. Jay. ) Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them away. Psalm 65:3 Sin overcoming and overcome A. Maclaren, D. D. There is an intended contrast in these two clauses, between man's impotence and God's power in the face of the fact of sin. The first clause might be translated, "iniquities are too strong for me"; and the "Thou" of the next clause is emphatically expressed in the original, "as for our transgressions" (which we cannot touch), "Thou shalt purge them away." Despair of self is the mother of confidence in God; and no man has learned the blessedness and the sweetness of God's power to cleanse who has not learnt the impotence of his own feeble attempts to overcome his transgression. The very heart of Christianity is redemption. Only he who knows the cruel bondage of sin understands and appreciates the meaning and the brightness of the Gospel of Christ. He was called Jesus because He should "save His people from their sins." So here we have our own hopelessness and misery, but also our confidence in the Divine help. I. THE CRY OF DESPAIR. "Too strong for me," and yet they are me. Me, and not me; mine, and yet, somehow or other, my enemies, although my children β€” too strong for me. The picture suggested by the words is that of some usurping power that has mastered a man, laid its grip upon him so that all efforts to get away from the grasp are hopeless. But some of you say, "We were never in bondage to any man." You do not know or feel that anything has got hold of you which is stronger than you. Well, let us see. Consider for a moment. You are powerless to master your evil, considered as habits. You do not know the tyranny of the usurper until a rebellion is got up against him. As long as you are gliding with the stream you have no notion of its force. Turn your boat and try to pull against it, and when the sweat-drops come on your brow, and you are sliding backwards, in spite of all your struggles, you will then know the force of the stream. Did you over try to cure some trivial bad habit, some trick of your fingers, for instance? You know what infinite pains and patience and time it took you to do that, and do you think that you would find it easier if you once set yourself to cure that lust, say, or that petulance, pride, passion, dishonesty? Any honest attempt at mending character drives a man to this β€” "Iniquities are too strong for me." And so also it is with sin regarded as guilt, you cannot rid yourself of it. What is done is done. "What I have written I have written." Nothing will ever wash that little lily hand white again, as the magnificent murderess in Shakespeare's great creation found out. You can forget your guilt; you can ignore it. You do not take away the rock because you blow out the lamps of the lighthouse. And you do not alter an ugly fact by ignoring it. I beseech you, as reasonable men and women, to open your eyes to these plain facts about yourselves, that you have an element of demerit and liability to consequent evil and suffering which you are perfectly powerless to touch or to lighten in the slightest degree. II. THE RINGING CRY OF CONFIDENT HOPE. Jesus Christ, when trusted, will do for sin, as habit, what cannot be done without Him. He will give the motiye to resist, which is lacking in the majority of cases. He will give the power to resist, which is lacking in all cases. He will put a new life and spirit into our nature which shall strengthen and transform our feeble wills. The only way to conquer the world, the flesh, and the devil, is to let Christ clothe you with His armour. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) Iniquities W. Jay. I. THE LANGUAGE OF COMPLAINT β€” "Imquities prevail," etc. They may do so β€” 1. In the growing sense of our guilt. As light increases, we see them more and more. 2. In the power of their acting. This prevalence cannot be entire, for sin shall not have dominion over the believer in Christ. He may be bruised, but he is not enslaved. II. OF TRIUMPH. The Lord purges away our transgressions. 1. By His pardoning mercy. 2. By His sanctifying grace. And that He will do this the Christian is confidently persuaded. ( W. Jay. ) Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts. Psalm 65:4 Worship Anon. This psalm includes a thanksgiving for God's bounties in Providence, for the beauties of spring, and the natural supply of man's wants; but the privileges of the sanctuary are here made a special subject of grateful acknowledgment. I. THE PSALMIST HERE COMMENDS PUBLIC WORSHIP β€” 1. As a peculiar privilege. "Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee." The opportunity of enjoying such an approach is not given to all, but brings special responsibility to those to whom God grants it. 2. As an approach unto God. God is never far from us, but when we meet in His courts we are able more distinctly to realize His nearness to us. We often have a deep and glad sense of His presence. 3. As the finding a new home. "That he may dwell in Thy courts." There may be a reference here, as in other psalms, to the Levites who literally dwelt there that they might attend to the performances of the services; but the latter part of this verse implies that David claimed for himself a share in the privilege. The thought is β€” "we, as dwellers in the courts of the Lord, shall be satisfied." 4. As an abundant provision. Here the wants both of the mind and of the heart are met. 5. As a holy service. II. GENERAL REMARKS ON PUBLIC WORSHIP. 1. It is valuable for testimony. Christians thus witness for Christ, and confess their faith. 2. For its associations. What memories cluster round the sanctuaries where we have worshipped I 3. For communion 'with one another. Thus we are helped by association one with the other in the various acts of worship. 4. For the worship itself in its various parts β€” prayer, instruction, praise. Then, let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and let us seek to make the highest use of the ordinances of religion. ( Anon. ) The blessedness of approaching to God S. Lavington. Who is the happiest man? The miser says, Blessed is the man whose corn and wine are increased, The sensualist says, Blessed is he who has no Lord over him, and who walks after the ways of his heart, and the sight of his eyes, without the least control from any laws, human or divine. The ambitious man says, Blessed is he who is highest in favour at court; who is admitted to the confidence of his prince. But, "Blessed is the man," says David (and so says every Christian), "whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee." I. EXPLAIN THE NATURE OF THIS APPROACH TO GOD. 1. Consider what it is not. It is not bowing the knee, and saying a prayer, and putting on an appearance of seriousness at particular times; it is not going often to the house of the Lord, and coming and sitting before Him as His people; the humble, self-condemned publican, that stood afar off, approached nearer to God than the Pharisee, though he confidently pushed forward to the holy of holies. To approach Him is an act of the mind, not of the body. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him acceptably, must do it not merely with a bended knee, and a loud voice, and an uplifted eye, or a head hanging down like a bulrush. These things are comparatively indifferent; if unaccompanied with sincerity, they are worse than indifferent; they are offensive and abominable to God, who will be worshipped in spirit and in truth. II. IN WHAT DOES THE BLESSEDNESS OF APPROACHING TO GOD CONSIST? In the honour, the pleasure, the profit we enjoy. III. THE HINDRANCES TO SUCH APPROACH. 1. Sin, this destroys our communion with God until we repent and return to Him. 2. The world. 3. Satan. ( S. Lavington. ) The happiness of saints T. Laurie, D. D. The saints of God are blessed β€” I. IN FEELING THE JOYS OF DEVOTION. II. IN OBTAINING THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. III. IN FINDING A RETREAT FROM AFFLICTION. IV. IN THE ANTICIPATION OF A BETTER WORLD. As the mariner who has been long tossed on a troubled ocean, or detained in a foreign country, is desirous to revisit his native shore, and, when he first discovers the hoary rocks of the green isle rising with rugged grandeur above the waves, his eye beams with joy; so the saint who has been sojourning many a tedious year in a waste howling desert, pants to behold the beauty of paradise, and darts his eye radiant with rapture towards the delightful abode. ( T. Laurie, D. D. ) The blessedness of approaching to God John Ramsay, M. A. I. WHAT IS MEANT BY APPROACHING TO GOD. There was a time when the Lord came down and conversed with man, as one friend does with another, when no thunder, and lightning, and tempest accompanied him, and when no conscious guilt inspired the human breast with terror; and a time will come again, dark and disconsolate though our condition now be, when the veil shall be removed, and we shall so behold the glory of the Lord, as to be completely changed into the same image. Now, sin interposes a dark cloud betwixt us and our God, so that we can have but a very imperfect view of His glory and majesty. "We see as through a glass darkly." There are seasons, however, when the Christian is admitted, as it were, within the veil, when he sees the King in His beauty, and enjoys that delightful communion with Him, which is a foretaste of the heavenly bliss. II. WHEREIN THE HAPPINESS OF APPROACHING TO GOD CONSISTS. 1. It is the highest honour; far superior to every dignity, an honour compared to which all the pomp and splendour of earthly greatness dwindle into insignificance. 2. It is a pleasure. God is the chief good. He is the source of life, and joy, and happiness. To go, therefore, to Him, and draw our enjoyments pure from the fountain from which they flow, must be peculiarly gratifying to every person who can properly distinguish between good and evil. 3. It is highly profitable. III. OBSTACLES THAT PREVENT OUR APPROACHING TO GOD. 1. The corruption of our own heart. This may be regarded as the first and greatest of all, because while this continues unsubdued, we cannot advance a single step in our journey to heaven; whereas, if this be overcome, none of the rest will be able to obstruct our progress. 2. The world.(1) How many, oppressed with the cares of this life, are wholly unconcerned about the joys of the life that is to come!(2) How many are the slaves of unhallowed lusts! The world holds out to them the intoxicating cup of forbidden pleasures; they drink it, and the luscious draught diffuses its baneful influence over the soul.(3) How many are deterred from the service of God by the fear of suffering! They would willingly serve God if they could do it with safety; but they cannot think of submitting to difficulties and trials in His service. 3. Another obstacle in the way of our approaching to God, is Satan. He is the deceiver and the destroyer.Lessons β€” 1. They who do not approach to God will perish. 2. The value of the privilege we possess, of approaching to God in the ways of His appointment. 3. It is only through the mediation of Jesus Christ that we can approach to God. ( John Ramsay, M. A. ) Delight in the presence of God A nervous clergyman, who could only compose to advantage when absolutely alone and undisturbed, left his door unlocked, and his little three-year-old child softly opened the door and came in. He was disturbed, and a little impatiently asked, "My child, what do you want?" "Nothing, papa." "Then what do you come in here for?" "Just because I wanted to be with you," was the reply. To come into God's presence and wait before Him, wanting nothing but to be with Him β€” how such an hour now and again would rest us. By terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou answer us, O God of our salvation. Psalm 65:5 God's terrible things Paxton Hood. Now, it is here we are to ponder such things, and to seek a solution of these mysteries. We have all had to do with them at one time or another. Holy men of old have known them ( Isaiah 26:8-11 ; Psalm 45:4 ; Isaiah 64:1, 3, 4 ). I. GOD HAS HERE AND NOW HIS TERRIBLE THINGS, BUT THEY ARE ALSO RIGHTEOUS THINGS ( Psalm 97:8 ; Proverbs 16:4 ). If God has terrible things, as the exhibition of His righteousness and His power, so also men become sometimes terrible things, objects of terror, and I knew of nothing so terrible as a hard, and impenitent, and proud heart. But God is love! I feel that, but few arguments have convinced me of it; it is in my own consciousness, it is affirmed to me; but nature is so cruel I know not how to hang much consolation upon the compensations and kindnesses of natural theology, and Paley's celebrated assurance that "it is a happy world, after all!" But, alas, the world is one great calamity, and the contradictions to the assurance that God is love meet us in every age. It is thus I am often compelled to say, how perfect things are, how perplexing and cruel events are. What do you see? In one age a city ablaze beneath the calm and beautiful mountains and skies. I remember, years since, visiting, one bright mocking day, a village on the coast, near the scene of the horrible tragedy of Hartley; you come to it as you walk along that fine coast from Tynemouth; a quiet little village, called Cullercoats. I forget how many boats had been lost in the wild tempest, a night or two since; there was a sob of agony in every house. I did not think of Paley's selfish aphorism, "It's a happy world, after all!" just then, although the sea was bright, and birds were sailing pensively overhead: rather should I have said, "By terrible things dost Thou answer us, O God." Natural theology has little to say in reply to such scenes as these. II. THE TERRIBLE THINGS OF GOD ARE NOT ONLY RIGHTEOUS THINGS, BUT NOT LESS THAN THESE, MAY BE AN ANSWER TO PRAYER. "I believe you are a child of God, and I believe you will never now be prosperous in your outer life again," said an old patriarch to a new convert; and the prophecy was fulfilled. The old man spoke from some instinctive perception of spiritual means and ends; and, undoubtedly, shadowy and dark as the prophecy seems, it was far more prescient and wise than that which supposes that all pain, and adversity, and affliction, and disappointment retire from the circle in which the child of God moves. This is not invariable, but we must believe the plan and the order of our life require it. "By terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou answer us." And thus, at last, we learn that all the ends of God, in us and with us, have rel
Matthew Henry
65:1-5 All the praise the Lord receives from this earth is from Zion, being the fruit of the Spirit of Christ, and acceptable through him. Praise is silent unto thee, as wanting words to express the great goodness of God. He reveals himself upon a mercy-seat, ready to hear and answer the prayers of all who come unto him by faith in Jesus Christ. Our sins prevail against us; we cannot pretend to balance them with any righteousness of our own: yet, as for our transgressions, of thine own free mercy, and for the sake of a righteousness of thine own providing, we shall not come into condemnation for them. Observe what it is to come into communion with God in order to blessedness. It is to converse with him as one we love and value; it is to apply ourselves closely to religion as to the business of our dwelling-place. Observe how we come into communion with God; only by God's free choice. There is abundance of goodness in God's house, and what is satisfying to the soul; there is enough for all, enough for each: it is always ready; and all without money and without price. By faith and prayer we may keep up communion with God, and bring in comfort from him, wherever we are. But it is only through that blessed One, who approaches the Father as our Advocate and Surety, that sinners may expect or can find this happiness. 65:6-13 That Almighty strength which sets fast the mountains, upholds the believer. That word which stills the stormy ocean, and speaks it into a calm, can silence our enemies. How contrary soever light and darkness are to each other, it is hard to say which is most welcome. Does the watchman wait for the morning? so does the labourer earnestly desire the shades of evening. Some understand it of the morning and evening sacrifices. We are to look upon daily worship, both alone and with our families, to be the most needful of our daily occupations, the most delightful of our daily comforts. How much the fruitfulness of this lower part of the creation depends upon the influence of the upper, is easy to observe; every good and perfect gift is from above. He who enriches the earth, which is filled with man's sins, by his abundant and varied bounty, can neither want power nor will to feed the souls of his people. Temporal mercies to us unworthy creatures, shadow forth more important blessings. The rising of the Sun of righteousness, and the pouring forth of the influences of the Holy Spirit, that river of God, full of the waters of life and salvation, render the hard, barren, worthless hearts of sinners fruitful in every good work, and change the face of nations more than the sun and rain change the face of nature. Wherever the Lord passes, by his preached gospel, attended by his Holy Spirit, his paths drop fatness, and numbers are taught to rejoice in and praise him. They will descend upon the pastures of the wilderness, all the earth shall hear and embrace the gospel, and bring forth abundantly the fruits of righteousness which are, through Jesus Christ, to the glory of the Father. Manifold and marvellous, O Lord, are thy works, whether of nature or of grace; surely in loving-kindness hast thou made them all.