Pilgrim Songs:
being
The Songs of Degrees.
by E. Dennett.
Publisher: Rouse, 1897.
CBA10,125.
Introduction.
THE Psalms bearing this title are fifteen in number (Psalms 120-134), and, while diversified in their contents, are manifestly bound intimately together, and make progress towards a desired goal. They have afforded much interest and instruction to God's people in all ages, even if imperfectly understood and applied; and the interest and instruction will rather be deepened if their divine intent and object are apprehended. The significance of the title, which these Psalms bear, has been much discussed; but almost all the various opinions offered may be included in what undoubtedly is the true solution. For example, the word translated "degrees" is almost universally allowed to be that used of the recurring journeys of Israel up to Jerusalem for the several festivals, and some accordingly have maintained that these songs were sung by the godly at the various stages of their route. Others seeing references to a later period, to the turning again of the captivity of Zion (Psalm 126), have concluded that they were used on the pilgrim journey from Babylon to Jerusalem for the rebuilding of the temple. (Ezra 1-3.) Another class of interpreters assert that the whole of the fifteen Psalms were sung on "the fifteen steps between the court of the men and the court of the women," as the pilgrim bands were actually entering the precincts of the sacred building. Without discussing these several theories, it will suffice to point out that all alike coincide in making the temple the object, or goal, to which the faces of the pilgrims were turned; and secondly, that all alike fail to perceive the prophetical character of these Psalms. It is in the combination of these two points that the truth will be found.
To take the latter point first, it is easy from many allusions to prove that the Psalms are mainly prophetical. Reference has already been made to Psalm 126, where it is said, "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them," etc. (vv. 1, 2.) That the restoration from Babylon was a shadow of a larger fulfilment may be readily conceded; but to those who are acquainted with the predictions of the prophets concerning the establishment of the kingdom under the glorious Messiah, nothing short of the future deliverance and glory of Zion could be accepted as answering to this description. The last verse of the Psalm, indeed, will only find its complete fulfilment in Christ as King in Zion. Predictions, only to be realized after the Lord has restored His earthly people to blessing under His own sway, are as plainly found in Psalms 124, 125, 128, 130, 132-134.
The last three Psalms of the series undoubtedly justify the contention that the temple, the habitation of the Mighty One of Jacob, is the longed-for end, or consummation. If, however, the prophetic interpretation of these Psalms be allowed, the temple will not be that which Solomon, or Zerubbabel, built, but that which the Man, whose name is the BRANCH, will build, even He who shall bear the glory, and shall sit, and rule, a priest upon His throne; that is, Christ Himself. (See Zechariah 6: 12-15.)
Another point must be mentioned, viz., that it is clear from many parts of these Psalms that Israel is viewed as in the land, after their having been scattered, and yet not finally delivered from the power of their oppressors. The reader should notice the recurrence of the word Israel, as showing that it is not only the presence of the two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) in the land, but that also the ten tribes have been restored; that, moreover, they now once again form but one nation (see Ezekiel 37: 18-28), and that Zion and the temple form the centre, as the seat of government and blessing, for all. Still, as already said, they are not yet finally delivered from their adversaries. They thus cry, "Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud." (Psalm 122: 3, 4; also Psalm 124.)
What we have, then, in these Songs of Degrees is the progress and experience of Israel, after their restoration, while waiting for the interposition of Jehovah to deliver them from all their enemies, and to establish them in security and blessing. It is not, therefore, Christianity or Christian experience which must be sought for in these Psalms; but, inasmuch as the principles of the divine life, or of the divine nature, in souls are the same in every dispensation, much instruction may be here gleaned by Christians. Two things are never found in the Psalms, nor, indeed, in the Old Testament — the revelation of the Father, nor, consequently, the Spirit of adoption. These are only known after Pentecost, though our blessed Lord revealed the Father when with His disciples. (John 14: 9-11.) It was not possible, however, for them to apprehend the revelation made until they had received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Unless we bear in mind this distinction, when reading the Psalms, we are apt to lose sight of the heavenly calling, and the heavenly character of Christianity.
A few words may be added concerning the structure of this interesting group of Psalms. "All are grouped," says a pious expositor, "around Psalm 127, which was written by Solomon. . . . On both sides there stands a heptad (i.e., seven) of pilgrim songs, consisting of two Psalms written by David, and five others, which have no name attached. Both sevens are divided into four and three.* Each heptad (seven) contains the name of Jehovah twenty-four times; each of the connected groups (Psalms 120-123, 124-126, 128-131, 132-134.) twelve times." Surely the facts here stated show the impress of a divine Hand, the Hand which guided and controlled those who have been thus used as vehicles both of a divine design, and of divine thoughts. To cite once again, "the unity (of these Psalms) is not one merely of form, it also refers to the thoughts," for while different servants were chosen to express them, the Author of all alike is the Spirit of God. These facts should furnish an additional incentive to the earnest and devout study of this portion of the Holy Scriptures.†
*The reader may recall that this division is also found in the New Testament, as, for example, in the seven parables of Matthew 13, in the seven churches, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, etc., of the Apocalypse.
†We append one of the latest (perhaps the latest) descriptions of the character of the "Songs of Degrees" for the consideration of the reader. "We have now reached the so-called 'Songs of Degrees,' a clearly defined series of fifteen psalms, which, with two thanksgiving psalms appended, forms the third division of the Fifth Book. These songs of degrees are rather 'songs of the ascents,' which we are surely right in interpreting in the first place by reference to those ascents of the tribes thrice a year to the feasts at Jerusalem, which are spoken of in the third psalm of this very series. (Psalm 122: 4.) But this only furnishes a clue to the inner meaning this repeated call to the city of God being in view of those 'set times' of Leviticus 23, which speak of those gracious acts of God towards His people, which for all eternity will call them round Himself in praise. The 'ascents' are, therefore, above all else, ascents of the heart to Him because of His grace; and this is in fact what these songs are — a recounting in a five-fold series the Divine ways towards Israel, by which their blessing has been accomplished, and for which their hearts will endlessly praise Him. With this the 'climbing' movement of the psalms themselves, which Delitzch adduces, after Gesenius, is in intimate sympathy — a feature which only shows how perfectly the form of these inspired songs is moulded by their spirit, while it by no means allows us to degrade them, as their materialistic interpretation would, by making the form the whole thing."
1 — Psalm 120.
A Song of Degrees.
Israel's Distress.
1 In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
AS is seen in many of the Psalms, the result of the exercises through which the soul has passed is first stated: "In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me"; and then the character of the distress is described. According to the interpretation of these Psalms already given, this distress is that through which Israel will have to pass after their restoration. He that scattered Israel will, in His infallible faithfulness, gather him (Jer. 31: 10); but there will be enemies still in existence at the commencement of the kingdom (see Jer. 51: 20-23), whereby Jehovah will test His people; and then He will manifest Himself to them as their Messiah and Deliverer, so that once again they will sing, "The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation." (Psalm 118: 14; compare Exodus 15: 2.)
Who the particular enemy alluded to here is, it may not be easy to decide. One of his characteristics is a deceitful tongue, combined with lying lips. Some have thought that it is a prophetical reference to the little horn of Daniel 8, that is, to the king of the north in the last days. A well-known writer thus says, "It does not seem to me to be the oppression of Antichrist, or the beast at Jerusalem, but to apply to those who, in the land, found themselves where the last hostile power which had pretended to favour them, and had led many to apostatize for quietness and prosperity, now showed himself as only a deceitful oppressor."* In Daniel it says of this personage, that "he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand." (Dan. 8: 24, 25.) If this be the adversary in view, the Psalm goes back to a time anterior to the restoration of all Israel; but Israel, recounting the Lord's mercies in becoming their salvation, might well identify themselves with the sorrows which Judah had first undergone in the land. The people will, at this period, be once more united; and they will consequently claim the "distress" of any portion of the nation as their own.
*Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, vol. 2.
Some difficulty has been felt concerning the mention of Mesech and Kedar as the place of sojourn (v. 5), inasmuch as they would seem to have been widely sundered. Meshech is mentioned in connection with Gog (Ezekiel 39), whereas Kedar was a descendant of Ishmael (Gen. 25: 13), and he evidently became the founder of a well-known Arab tribe. (See also Canticles 1: 5.) They are probably moral expressions, indicative of the hostility of the enemies of God's people. The Christian can in measure enter into this sorrow, for he is hated by the world, and is also the object of Satan's enmity; but he has the consolation of knowing that Christ has overcome the world (John 16: 33); and that since Satan is a defeated enemy, he will ever flee if resisted in the power of the Holy Ghost. (James 4: 7.)
It is interesting to notice that there are, in this short Psalm, the three forms of the flesh which are developed in the epistle to the Colossians. In Genesis 6 two of these are found, corruption and violence (v. 11), and Satan having been exposed as a liar and the father of lies (John 8: 44), the third form, falsehood, is added. [See Colossians 3: 5 (corruption), 8 (violence), and 9 (falsehood).] So in our Psalm we have lying, and deceit, which is moral corruption, in verse 2, and violence in verse 7.
Such were the circumstances of this pious soul who is taken up by the Spirit of Christ and made the mouthpiece — the vessel — of the sorrows of His earthly people in a later day. And thus surrounded by these various forms of evil, and having long dwelt with him that hated peace, what was his consolation? In what way was he sustained? By the assurance that Jehovah had heard his cry. He had the sense that God had heard his cry, and this pacified his alarms; for, as the apostle John has written, "If we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." (1 John 5: 15.) Hence it is that the Psalmist anticipates with certainty deliverance through divine judgment upon the enemy. "What," he cries, "shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty" — the arrows of the King, which will soon pierce through the hearts of His enemies (Psalm 45: 5), and these, combined "with coals of juniper,"* coals kindled with the fires of holiness, wherewith Jehovah will search and judge all the workers of iniquity.
*"Juniper" would seem to be a mistaken translation. It is said to be a shrub called "Genista," the roots of which were famed as making the best charcoal. The figure, therefore, will denote the intensity of the fire of judgment.
The last two verses sum up briefly, but very graphically, the whole position:
6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
What a description of the adversary of God and of His people — hating peace! It could not be otherwise, because the carnal mind — and it is here seen in its full expression — is enmity against God. The presence, therefore, of God's people, when walking before Him, must provoke the enemy's violent opposition. Hence it is the Psalmist adds, "I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war." It is thus utterly useless to attempt to conciliate the enemy; and, as for Israel in the future, so now, it must be through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom.
In conclusion, it may be noted that, while it is not the circumstances of the Christian which are here presented, the resource of God's people in all dispensations is in God Himself, and in His interposition, with delivering power, on their behalf.
2 — Psalm 121.
A Song of Degrees.
The Source of help.
IN the preceding Psalm distress and conflict mark the condition of God's people: whereas here, while the pressure is still upon them, we are permitted to see what the Lord is on their behalf in their special circumstances. The greater the sense of need, the greater the discovery of what God is for us; and hence it is that, like these saints of a future day, we are often put to the test, in order that, learning our own helplessness, we may realize that our help and succour are to be found alone in God. This will explain the connection between these two Psalms. In the last verse of the foregoing, the Psalmist cries, "I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war." What, then, is his resource? The answer is found in the first two verses of Psalm 121:
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my
help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The beauty of the connection will be more fully seen if a slight rectification is made in the rendering of the first verse. Many read as follows: "I will lift up my eyes to the hills: from whence shall my help come?" And then the second verse is taken as the answer to this question.* Adopting this change, it will be perceived that faith is in activity; for no sooner does the soul cry in its sorrow, "From whence shall my help come?" than the answer springs forth, "My help cometh from the Lord," etc. This part illustrates a principle found everywhere in the Scriptures. If God works for the succour and deliverance of His people, He acts in connection with, and in response to, their faith. For example, when Peter writes of the inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for believers, he adds, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1: 4, 5.) Truly, faith itself is produced and sustained in the soul by divine power, but none the less is it the living link between the soul and God, and that which secures His intervention, brings Him in, for our aid and deliverance. (See Mark 9: 23; Hebrews 11, etc.)
*See the Revised Version of the Old Testament, also J. N. D.'s French Bible, in which he gives the above as an alternative rendering.
It is to be remarked, as pointed out in the last paper, that God is here known as Jehovah, the covenant name of God as in relationship with Israel; and also that the words, "which made heaven and earth," are appended, for this was according to the revelation God made of Himself to His earthly people. So Jonah confessed to the mariners, "I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord (Jehovah), the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land." (Jonah 1: 9.) Of this creation, Jehovah revealed Himself to His ancient people as the Creator, although He discovered much more than this to Moses (Exodus 34: 5-7), when He announced the sovereignty of His grace and mercy as the foundation on which He could spare His guilty people after the sin of the golden calf. The Christian is in the light as God is in the light, for God is now fully revealed in and through the Lord Jesus Christ; and the believer is, moreover, in accordance with God's counsels, brought, through association with Christ, into His own place and relationship. We know God, therefore, in a far more intimate manner, inasmuch as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our God and Father. (John 20: 17; Ephesians 1: 3-5.) This difference must ever be borne in mind when reading the Old Testament Scriptures.
Passing now to verse 3, we have the divine response, through the Spirit, to the faith expressed in the second verse. Turning in the confidence of faith to Jehovah, who made heaven and earth, the soul is assured of the support and protection of its Omnipotent Keeper.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Two things are brought before us in this assurance; first, that whatever the dangers, or the slippery character of the path, the Lord will not suffer the foot of one trusting in Him to be moved, or, perhaps, to "slide"; and, secondly, that there is never a moment when the eyes of the Lord are not upon His people, when He does not maintain unceasing and constant vigilance on their behalf. The night may be never so dark round about us, but for Him the night shineth as the day, and even as Jesus saw from the mountain-top His disciples toiling in the rowing, so God withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous, but ever beholdeth them in all their circumstances of trial and sorrow. And, let it be observed, that He who thus watches over His saints is their Keeper, the One who guards, keeps safe, preserves — for such is the force of the word here used. What encouragement is thus ministered to God's tried and suffering people! And what an invitation to unwavering repose in Himself in the midst of surrounding trials and agitations!
The next verse seems to proceed from another speaker, is verse 5 resumes the address to the individual soul, though he is undoubtedly the representative of the people. Still, verse 4 appears as all emphatic endorsement of the assurance of verse 3, and, at the same time, gives it a wider application. In the structure of the Psalm, it may be a chorus breaking forth at this point, all the people uniting in the song:
4 Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
It is not, therefore, merely that Jehovah will preserve His people in their special difficulties, but He is introduced as Israel's Keeper. It is a characteristic relationship; and, consequently, additional force is given to Jehovah's not slumbering by the words "nor sleep"; that is, He is ever wakeful; He never at any moment forgets His own; and there is, therefore, no intermission in His watchful care and keeping. Nor should the shadowing forth of the unity of God's people be overlooked. He is not only the Keeper of the believer, but He is also the Keeper of Israel. There are many touching illustrations of this unity in the Old Testament, showing how even the people themselves rose sometimes almost to the level of God's thoughts, and were thus enabled to embrace their oneness as the chosen nation. Much more should this be the case with us, who have been taught the blessed truth of union with Christ, and, consequently, with all the members of His body. Not that the individual aspects of blessing are to be forgotten, but rather that we should be in communion with the mind of Christ as to all His own, who together, corporately, form His body, and will be His bride. It is when we enter into this, in the power of the Holy Ghost, that the affections of Christ for His people are reproduced in us, if but feebly, and we behold them with His own vision, as robed in, His own beauty and excellencies.
The chorus having been sung, the address to the representative individual is resumed:
5 The Lord is thy Keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The first sentence, the reiteration of the truth at the close of verse 3, is the foundation on which are built up the following pledges of security. "The Lord is thy Keeper" means nothing less than that He is an absolute and perfect Keeper, and the subsequent details are but the consequences of this, or the application of the general truth. In itself, however, it is an immense thing to know that the Lord is our Keeper. In dangers, difficulties, and trials, it would calm our fears immediately, as well as dispel our anxieties, if this assurance were held in power. That it is true, whatever our state of soul, is undeniable, but it must be remembered that faith alone can avail itself of the blessedness of being kept by God, or can turn to Him for succour at the moment of need and pressure.
After the statement that "the Lord is thy Keeper," it is said, "the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand." "Shade" may be understood, from what follows, as protection, even as we read in Isaiah, "Thou hast been . . . a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." The force of "at thy right hand" may, perhaps, be gathered from another Psalm, where we read, "Because He (Jehovah) is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." (Psalm 16: 8.) The expression would thus seem to signify that the Lord's protection is ever available, always, to use a common phrase, "at hand" for His people. This protection is manifestly spoken of in reference to what follows:
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The rays, both of the one and of the other, would be necessarily obstructed by the "shadow of the Almighty," wherewith He surrounds His people, and under which they for ever safely abide. The "sun" and the "moon" are but emblems of the evil influences of the day and the night, of which these luminaries are the respective rulers. Both the scorching rays of the glaring day and the noxious evils of the night will be powerless to affect those who repose under Jehovah's overshadowing care. How fearless, therefore, God's people may be, and would be, if they did but realize how perfectly they are guarded on every hand! These promises, it will be remembered, are for the earthly, people in their primary application, but they are also available, in even a higher sense, for the Christian. Thus the apostle could say, "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom." (2 Timothy 4: 18.)
The last two verses do but amplify the assurance contained in verse 6.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
The promise, "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil," must not, we apprehend, be taken as applicable independently of the state of soul. As before remarked, the living link between the soul and God is faith, and God works through it to bless and protect the believer. Faith can thus take up, and repose upon, this word of consolation in the darkest days, when Satan's power is demonstrated on all sides. The believer, moreover, will remember that, when the Lord presented His own before the Father, He said, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil." The apostle Paul also assures the Thessalonian saints that "the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil." (2 Thess. 3: 3.) All these scriptures show us God's care over His people, and how abhorrent the thought of evil is to Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. How solicitous we should be, therefore, to answer to His mind in this respect, and the more in that both His love and His power are engaged to keep us undefiled as we walk in His ways.
The next clause is, "He shall preserve thy soul." The word rendered "soul" is, as in Greek also, a little ambiguous. It is sometimes translated "life," and, inasmuch as preservation for blessings in Messiah's kingdom is a characteristic Jewish promise, it is possible that this is its significance in this place.
Lastly, Jehovah's overshadowing care includes the going out and the coming in of His people "from this time forth, and even for evermore," on through the thousand years, to the close of the millennial kingdom. Everything is thought of, and we are thus permitted to have a glimpse into the heart of God for His people, as expressed in the daily and unwearying watchfulness which He exercises over them for their preservation and blessing. It is well to ponder it, and to observe that the foundation of all our security lies in what God is for His people. We need to remember this at all times, for, in the wretched legality of our hearts, if we are not established in grace, we are tempted to think that something depends on ourselves. No! we are wholly cast upon God, upon what He is as revealed in Christ. "But must we not watch and pray, and the like?" Even for the power to watch and pray we are dependent on the Lord, and it is as we realize this that we repose quietly and peacefully upon Him, that faith is called forth into constant activity; and, consequently, understanding what God is for us, we can exclaim with the apostle, "If God be for us, who can be against us? . . . I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." May our eyes be ever kept upon Him from whom alone cometh our help!*
*To illustrate the difference between the Jewish believer and the Christian the following words of another are given: "We must note that the literal application of this Psalm is not now just. Christ has been reckoned among transgressors; and we have to go on not looking for absolute deliverance; yet we are to be assured that the hairs of our head are numbered. God withdraws not His eyes from the righteous; but we do not look in result to be kept for earth, as the Jew rightly will in the path of faithfulness. Yet our God and Father does watch over us with unceasing vigilance. We may be at peace under the shadow of His wings. Our instruction is, in the midst of every evil, to look only to the Lord."
3 — Psalm 122.
A Song of Degrees of David.
The House of the Lord.
TO know the Lord Himself is to be attracted to the place where He dwells. This is the connection between this and the previous Psalm. In that, in reply to the confidence of faith expressed in verse 2, came the blessed assurance that the Lord was all-sufficient for all His people's needs. Thus known in His tender grace and watchful care, the soul could now say, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord" (v. 1); for it was there He, who had become everything to the one who looked to Him, dwelt, and displayed His glory. Remark, also, that the moment the house of the Lord is mentioned, isolation ceases, and all God's people are introduced. It is, Let us go into the house of the Lord. It is the same now when the individual believer learns in any measure what the assembly is as God's habitation through the Spirit, or what it is to have the Lord Himself in the midst of those gathered unto His precious name.
The hearts of God's people being upon the Lord's house, they anticipate, in the energy of faith, their arrival within the holy city, and exclaim, "Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." (v. 2.) Their pilgrimage was not yet ended, but, in the security which faith enjoyed, they could rest in perfect confidence that, as in Psalm 84, they would go from strength to strength, and that every one of them would appear in Zion before God. In like manner, as we look onward to the many mansions of the Father's house, into which the Lord Himself will conduct us, we know, without a single doubt or fear, that no difficulty and no foe will ever prevail to hinder the attainment of our blessed goal. For the One who is already there, and who has prepared the place for us, is able to save us through all the dangers of the wilderness, because He ever lives to make intercession for us. Blessed security, founded as it is upon what Christ is for us at the right hand of God.
These two verses contain the introduction to, and the subject of, the Psalm; the next three give a description of the city which is the object of the hopes of Israel; and the last four set forth, intimate relationship between the chosen people and the house of their God, and show that the peace of Jerusalem is bound up with the people's prosperity.
We have, then, now to consider the description of the city, and in a threefold way. First, it is the form, the beauty of the city itself which excites admiration: it is builded as a city that is compact together. It is the symmetry and completeness of the city which arrest the attention; the city, that is, which will be, in the future glories of the kingdom, however the splendour of Jerusalem during David's reign may have furnished its prophetic type. The Christian will at once recall the measurements of the new Jerusalem, with which the earthly city will be in direct relationship: "And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth; and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal." This is finite perfection, represented by its being a cube, but finite perfection divinely bestowed. And of this the city in our Psalm is no indistinct shadow. And it is the contemplation of this beauty, albeit earthly, which awakens the admiration of the people, who own it is the place of the house of the Lord, and as the seat of their King.
Secondly, Jerusalem is portrayed as the gathering-point for all the people; it is the place "whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord." (v. 4.) Jerusalem, indeed, will be Israel's true centre in virtue of the house of the Lord, and hence the name of the city in that day will be Jehovah-shammah — the Lord is there. His presence there, as ever, will be the attraction for all His own. It is noteworthy, in this connection, that the tribes are called "the tribes of the Lord," for then their stiff-neckedness and rebellion will all have ceased, and they will manifestly belong to Him whose name they bear. In the Epistle to the Galatians the apostle speaks of Jerusalem above as being our mother.*
*Such is the true reading.
There is thus a striking correspondence between our present position, in view of the heavenly Jerusalem, and that of the tribes in this Psalm in their progress "out of sorrow, and through sorrow to the full blessing in Zion, which forms the crowning result, Jehovah being there." The next clause should rather be rendered: "A testimony for, or unto, Israel,"*
*See the Revised Version; and J. N. D.'s French Version gives "un témoignage à Israel."
This will mean that the universal gathering of the tribes, their common ascent to the house of the Lord, would go forth as a testimony to the whole nation. Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem itself, but of Jerusalem as the expression of the people, as the testimony in his address to her, "Arise, shine — for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."
This is surpassingly beautiful. The light of Zion is the glory of the Lord, which after long ages of desolation has broken through the clouds of her sorrow, and illumined her with the light of the presence of her God. And it is with this light she is called upon to shine; the display through her of the glory of the Lord would in this way become her testimony. (Compare 2 Cor. 4: 6.) The object of the assembling of the tribes is "to give thanks unto the name of the Lord," unto Jehovah as revealed in the midst of Israel. One of the last acts of David was the appointment of the Levites "to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even" (1 Chr. 23: 30); but at the time of which our Psalm speaks all the tribes will be united in this blessed service of thanksgiving and praise.
But not only will Jerusalem be the centre of the people's worship; it will also be the seat of the royal administration of justice, "for there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the, house of David." The Messiah is not only the promised Seed, as of Abraham, but He is also, as born into the world, the Son of David — indeed, both the root and the offspring of David, David's Son and David's Lord. The administration of the kingdom will therefore be His, as the rightful Heir to all the royal rights of David's house; and "He shall judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment. The mountains (seats of authority — subordinate thrones) shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness." (Psalm 72: 2, 3.) As also Isaiah says, His throne will be established "with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever."
In the last division of the Psalm we have the connection declared between the peace of Jerusalem and the prosperity of the people. First of all there is the invitation to pray for her peace. To do this would imply communion with Jehovah's mind, for Jerusalem is the city which He loved; "for the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it as His habitation. This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it." If, therefore, the hearts of His people are set upon the same place they cannot but pray for its peace. The Christian will understand this principle in its application to the assembly. The dearest thing on earth to the heart of Christ is the Church, that Church which He loved, and for which He gave Himself; and if we have communion with His own heart as to this, however feebly, we shall be constrained to pray for its peace and blessing.*
*For a beautiful illustration of this principle in respect of Zion, see Isaiah 62: 1, 6, 7.
Blessing, moreover, is promised for those who thus pray: "They shall prosper that love thee." Communion with the heart of Christ is the sure pathway of blessing. Christ loved, and loves the Church, and the saint to whom the Church is also dear will spiritually prosper. The prosperity here promised will be according to the position of the earthly people; but for the Christian, who is in fellowship with our blessed Lord concerning His people, it will be in spiritual progress and blessing.
The following verses, 7-9, contain the response to the exhortation. First, there is the expression of the desire that there may be peace within the walls of Jerusalem and prosperity within her palaces. From the last verse (9th) we learn that the ground of this desire is "the house of the Lord our God." Jerusalem, indeed, will derive all its importance, not so much from its being the chosen city of Messiah's kingdom, as from its containing God's dwelling-place. As we read in Isaiah, "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious." The pious heart, therefore, will desire that the whole city should share in the blessing of the habitation of God, and be in suited condition and meetness for its divine Inhabitant. The enjoyment of the presence of Him who will dwell in Zion will ensure the peace and prosperity desired.
Another ground for the longed-for peace is my brethren and companions' sake." (v. 8.) Nothing expands the heart of God's people like affection for the Lord and His dwelling-place. Whenever He is enshrined in the heart His affections, reproduced in the believer, will embrace every child of God. An exemplification of this truth is found in Revelation 22. When the Lord presents Himself as the root and offspring of David, [and] the bright and morning star, the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. The first thought is Christ Himself, and then every saint is remembered in what follows. And let him that heareth say, Come. So is it in the Psalm — peace is desired for the sake of the "tribes of the Lord." How fully some of God's people can enter into this in this day of confusion and scattering! Let us cry, then, day and night, as we think of the perils which beset us on every hand, and the damage done to souls by incessant controversies, that the Lord may come in and heal our breaches and restore peace, for the sake of our brethren and companions.
The last verse, as before remarked, does but emphatically remind us of the energetic motive for seeking the good of Jerusalem; it is "because of the house of the Lord our God." Nehemiah is a striking illustration of this spirit. When he heard of the affliction and reproach of the remnant of the people, and that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and that her gates were burned with fire, he wept, mourned, and fasted, and prayed; and thenceforward, as led of the Spirit, his heart was set upon the good of Jerusalem because of the house of the Lord his God. May this spirit of devotedness to the glory of God in His habitation be increasingly exhibited amongst His beloved people in the present day, for His name's sake!
4 — Psalms 123, 124.
Songs of Degrees.
The Cry and the Answer.
FAITH had already reached her goal in Psalm 122. Many sorrows and trials might yet lie in the pilgrim pathway, but in spirit Israel were already enjoying the consummation of their hopes. Jerusalem, in all the beauty of her restoration as their centre of gathering, inasmuch as the house of the Lord their God was there, had become a reality in their souls; and they could thus rest in the assurance that their feet would one day stand within her gates. The believer who dwells in spirit in heaven is the best qualified for his journey through the wilderness. So is it here; for having anticipated the fruition of the promises, the Psalmist now returns to the actual, circumstances of the people, and to their one resource in the midst of their adversaries.
The first verse depicts their attitude of dependence in this simple language: "Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens." All! how much is connected in the Scriptures with the lifting up the eyes or the hands to heaven! The Old Testament is full of instruction on this point; and we read of the blessed Lord Himself lifting up His eyes to heaven as He poured forth His heart's desires in John 17. (See also John 11: 41.) This action proclaims that God Himself is the confidence and succour of those that wait upon Him, that He is their only resource, and that no help is elsewhere to be found. Blessed is it for the soul that has learned this lesson. We have before seen that the last clause of verse 1 of Psalm 121 may be rendered, "From whence shall my help come?" The next verse contains the answer; and in accordance with this, the Psalm before us commences with this posture of expectation from Him who dwelleth in the heavens.
In verse 2 we have set forth the completeness and intensity of the expectation of faith: "Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that He have mercy upon us." This is supremely beautiful, telling, as it does, of unfaltering confidence, and of the perseverance of faith. These pious souls fix their eyes on the Lord their God, just as servants wait on their masters for the indication of their will by the motion of their hand. This is to be will-less in the presence of God, and to be consequently it His absolute disposal. Suffering scorn and reproach, they will not be impatient, and will not retaliate; nor will they seek any alleviation of their trouble from any human sources, but they will just quietly wait on until the Lord, in the compassion of His heart, shall interpose on their behalf. Is there no, lesson to us in our troubles from this exhibition of immovable trust in God as a known refuge? Many of us "lift up our eyes" to Him in our distresses, but we fail in waiting on until the succour comes. We do pray, tell out our griefs. but this unconquerable perseverance of faith is often lacking. Let this example afford us both guidance and encouragement.
Finally, we have the burden of their cry, together with its cause: "Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud." (vv. 3, 4.) The repetition of the cry — "Have mercy upon us". — reveals the intensity of their sorrow, while its brevity shows their confidence in Him to whom it is addressed. They are conscious that His eye is upon them, and that He knows their need and the circumstances through which they are passing, and which are producing their affliction. Two classes are named as the cause of their trouble — those that are at ease, and the proud, characters which ever morally distinguish the enemies of the people of God. For the wicked often prosper in this world, and are not in trouble as other men; they are, moreover, compassed about with pride as a garment — "they speak loftily; they set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore His people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them." Who these enemies are will be considered in connection with the following Psalm.
As the reader may perceive, the two things from which God's people suffered were scorn and contempt. Both are strong words. The first is used "specially of those who mock at those in distress," and thus treat them with every kind of contumely and ignominy; the second means "to despise openly," and consequently to heap upon those so dealt with opprobrium and disdain. And that these things were meted out to the full is clear from the words, twice repeated, "exceedingly filled." In the language already cited, "waters of a full cup" were thus wrung out to God's chosen by their enemies. But the consolation was, however feebly they may have apprehended it, that He to whom they turned in the hour of their trial had Himself experienced the same treatment from His enemies when He passed through this scene. He, therefore, not only heard their cry, but He also knew their sorrows, and He could thus sympathise with them in their afflictions, while waiting for the right moment to come in and succour them out of their distresses.
Passing now to the next Psalm, it will be at once remarked that it contains the record of the deliverance prayed for in the foregoing one. The mercy there sought has been bestowed, and Israel now, with hearts overflowing with gratitude, celebrate the intervention of their Deliverer. It is exceedingly beautiful to notice how they ascribe their salvation from the hands of their foes to the Lord alone. The first five verses set this out in very striking language:
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;
2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
Three things may be here noticed. First, it is evident that the contempt and scorning mentioned in the previous Psalm had passed over into even more violent enmity, which expressed itself in the attempt to compass the destruction of the whole people. It says, "When men rose up against us," and "when their wrath was kindled against us." Secondly, it is as unmistakable that Israel had been brought into great straits, that to all human appearances their destruction was imminent. The word "quick," that is, living, justifies this conclusion. It is a figure, as we understand it, to denote the enemy rushing with open jaws to "swallow up" Israel alive, as it were, and instantaneously. Lastly, the Lord manifestly is looked upon as interposing for the succour of His people when they were on the very eve of destruction, when the "proud waters" were flowing with apparently resistless violence to overwhelm them for ever. How often does the Lord thus wait until all human hopes have fled, until His people have accepted the sentence of death in themselves; and then He delights to intervene for their deliverance, that they may learn that when refuge fails them He is their refuge and their portion in the land of the living. "They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses."
Who, then, is the enemy who had so nearly, in his own eyes, secured the destruction of the elect nation? To help in answering this question, it must again be observed that Israel is in their land, not only the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but all the tribes, "the tribes of the Lord." The deliverance here spoken of, therefore, could not be that described by Zechariah (Zech. 12-14), when all nations were gathered against Jerusalem to battle. This intervention of the Lord was for the salvation of His people, Judah, the house of David, etc., who had returned in unbelief, and were already in the land at the time of His appearing. It is not until after these events that Israel is restored. (See Ezekiel 20: 33-44.) This makes it tolerably certain that the enemy of our Psalm is the last enemy of Israel after the establishment of the kingdom. As a well-known writer has said, "All this I apprehend refers to the last inroad of the final power of Gog, or the last condition of the Assyrian, perhaps to Daniel 8 (only that that, gives its whole character, not merely its final one); also to the filial king of the north, who comes in after the wilful king in Daniel 11."*
*Those who desire to pursue the subject with more detail may profitably study Ezekiel 38, 39.
To return now to the course of the Psalm, we find that the One who had heard the cries of His people is now praised for the mercy He had vouchsafed. After narrating their deliverance, and fully owning His hand in it, they exclaim: "Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped." (vv. 6, 7.)
It is always a sign of the Spirit's activity when the soul that has received blessing turns immediately with praise to the Blesser. Too often the mercy or blessing received satisfies the soul for a moment. Our exercise over, the end reached, unless on our guard, we are often deluded into forgetfulness of the hand which has been stretched out over us, or which has been ministering to our need. It was not so with Israel; and it is profitable to note how they rise up with thanksgiving to the source of their deliverance. They had trusted in Him, and they had not been confounded, and they magnify His name for it.
It is only a consequence of this state of heart that they estimate aright the character of their deliverance. They look back upon it in communion with their God. The snare had been woven round about them by Satan's fowlers; but the snare was broken — broken by the strong arm on which they had leaned — and they had escaped. Well might they cry, "Blessed be the Lord."
The last verse expresses not only a truth, but also their own experience, and the lesson they had learned through their sorrows, "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Such is their blessed conclusion now that they are redeemed from the hand of all their adversaries. They may have believed it before, at least in measure; now they know it, and henceforth they put their trust alone in the name of their faithful and covenant-keeping Jehovah. They rise, moreover, in the exercise of their faith, confirmed and purified as it has been through their trials, to the full height of the revelation which Jehovah had made of Himself to Israel as the One who created heaven and earth. Jehovah, therefore, as known by His people, was the Omnipotent God. Thus the apostles, with the Pentecostal company of saints, still as to their feelings largely on Jewish ground, "lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is." (Acts 4: 24.) We know Him also as our God and Father, because the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; but it is as happy for us, as for Israel, when we have come to the end of all human resources, and when we have learned that our help is alone in the name of our God.
5 — Psalm 125.
A Song of Degrees.
The Mountains round about Jerusalem.
AS following upon the deliverance of Israel from the power of the enemy described in Psalm 124, the stability of those who had found their help in the name of the Lord is declared: "They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever." Mount Zion, the seat of Messiah's glorious throne, will endure as long as the earth remains; and it is hence taken as a symbol of perpetual steadfastness. It "cannot be removed," and it "abideth for ever." So is it with those whose trust is in Jehovah. A similar thought is found in Isaiah: "Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength," or, as it is in the margin, the "Rock of Ages." Those, therefore, who trust in Him partake of the character of the foundation on which they rest, as, for example, the living stones in 1 Peter 2 derive their character from the Living Stone to which they have come. We are thus blessedly reminded that it is not our feebleness, but the Lord's strength which we have to consider; and that we may repose in unshaken confidence upon Him who cannot be moved, inasmuch as He is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.
If verse 1 gives the theme of the Psalm, the next two verses follow out the subject, and make a special application. A slight change may be made in the rendering of verse 2. Leaving out the first "so," which has been added, and changing the second into "and," it will read thus: "The mountains are round about Jerusalem, and the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even for ever." The sense remains the same, except that the change in the translation leaves the latter clause its full and unlimited force. Jehovah, as the foundation, so to speak, of His people's confidence, gives to them everlasting stability; and as "round about" them He sets them in inviolable security. The mountains round about Jerusalem are regarded as her natural defence, a wall of protection; and Jehovah is looked upon as surrounding Israel with His own omnipotent care to shield them from danger and assault. What pains the Lord takes to assure His people of their perfect safety when they are once under His sheltering care!
Next comes the special application: "For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity." (v. 3.) We call this a special application, in that we have in this verse a reason given for Jehovah's protection of His people, which is to preserve them from the power and dominion of the wicked in order that they might not be tempted into sin. By "rod" we understand "sceptre" or "rule," and by "lot" "portion" or inheritance. The meaning, therefore, is simply that never more should the righteous be brought under the sway of the wicked, as Israel had so often been in past ages through their sin. And observe the absoluteness of the statement, "The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous," and then the tenderness of Jehovah's care in His solicitude that His people might not again put forth their hands unto iniquity. A holy God loves, and must have, a holy people, and He will guard them on every hand to secure His desires on their behalf. He thus permits us to see the yearning of His heart and the object of His government, that His aims and desires may also be ours.
The next verse is a prayer founded upon the revelation of His protection and government of His people: "Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts." This is an abiding principle of God's government, and is fully stated in another Psalm: "With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; with the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward." (Psalm 18: 25-26; compare Psalm 34: 12, 16.) It is very necessary to bear in mind this distinction between grace and government; for while it is blessedly true that God's attitude of grace towards His people is unchanging, determined as it is by what Christ is before Him, He yet never fails to chasten and to mark with His displeasure those among them whose walk and conduct bring dishonour upon His name. The condition, therefore, for the enjoyment of what He is in grace, for the manifestation of His favour, is a walk in His presence, as, for example, in the case of Enoch, who walked with God and had the testimony that he pleased God.
The first clause of verse 5 illustrates, on the other side, the same principle; for it is "such as turn aside unto their crooked ways," showing that they are amongst the people of God, and yet those whom the Lord will lead forth with the workers of iniquity. The face of the Lord must be against them that do evil wherever they are found. This is a solemn consideration for God's professing people, seeing that our God is a consuming fire. The conclusion is very beautiful. As will be observed, there are but two words — peace — Israel; and some interpret, "Let peace be upon Israel," while others take it as a promise, as in our translation, "Peace shall be upon Israel." The difference is not great, for a divine desire is equivalent to a promise, and we may so regard it. The Israel specified is an Israel purified by judgment, as indicated in the previous verse, an Israel from whose midst have been purged out all such as had turned aside unto their crooked ways. It can scarcely be doubted that the apostle had this passage in his mind when he, as led of the Spirit, wrote, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, — and upon the Israel of God." (Gal. 6: 16.) Yea, God's Israel will ever have divine peace resting upon them in all the infinitude of its blessing. What a favour! And yet, great as it is, it will not compare with the peace of God which passeth all understanding, or the peace of Christ, which may now be enjoyed by every believer. This is only to say that heavenly blessings far transcend those which will be the portion of the earthly people. But whatever the dispensation, there can be no possession and enjoyment of the peculiar portion apart from a walk answering to the revelation which God has made of Himself to His people.
6 — Psalm 126.
A Song of Degrees.
Reaping in Joy.
THIS beautiful Psalm completes the first series of seven; and it celebrates in exquisite language Jehovah's sudden interposition for the rescue and deliverance of Zion from the power of the enemy. The connection is very intimate with the two foregoing Psalms. Thus in 124: 7 the remnant say, "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped." In the next the stability and security of those that trust in the Lord are declared; and now, in the Psalm before us, looking back upon what the Lord had wrought on behalf of His people, their hearts overflow with admiration and praise. The structure of the Psalm is very simple, being divided into two parts of three verses each. The first part gives their experiences in connection with Jehovah's intervention on behalf of the beloved city; the second contains a prayer for an enlarged deliverance, and the promise of the certain issue of an abundant harvest for those who sow in tears.
First, then, their thoughts are centred upon Zion, the captivity of which had been "turned again" by Jehovah's own right hand of power. It had been brought very low. As Isaiah wrote, "Thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust." (Isa. 29: 4.) And again, "The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters," that is, against Zion. The prophet Zechariah, moreover, describes the sorrow and distress of the chosen city when surrounded by her enemies, with seemingly no prospect of deliverance. But in her last extremity, when her case, to all outward appearance, will be hopeless, the Lord suddenly interposes for her succour. Hence it is that Isaiah says, speaking of the assembled nations, "God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not." (Isa. 17: 13, 14; see also Isa. 29: 3-8; and Zechariah 14.) This is the event celebrated in our Psalm; and the remnant confess that Jehovah's intervention was so unlooked for and wonderful that "we were like them that dream." They could scarcely believe it at first; for though they had been crying to the Lord for this very thing (Psalm 123, 130) the answer went so far beyond their expectation, as in the case of the saints praying for the deliverance of Peter, that they were smitten with astonishment.
But recovering themselves, when they embraced the reality and magnitude of Jehovah's succouring grace, their mouth was filled with laughter and their tongue with singing (v. 2); the uncontrollable joy of their hearts burst forth in a flood of ecstatic praise. And what wonder? It was the dawn of the summer morn they had long sighed for; and the contrast with the dark midnight through which they had passed was so overpowering that they could not but vent the emotions of their souls in songs of adoration. Even the surrounding nations, moreover, perceived that it was God's hand, and confessed that Jehovah had done great things for His people. Yea, happy Israel replies, endorsing the testimony of the heathen, "The Lord hath done great things for us; [whereof] we are glad." For once more in their history they will learn in this way that the Lord is their strength and song, and has become their salvation. (See Psalm 118: 14.)
Perceiving that Jehovah has commenced the redemption of His people from the hand of their enemies, their faith is strengthened, and they now pray for fuller blessing, "Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as streams in the south." This prayer embraces the full restoration and blessing of Israel, according to the language of Zacharias, "That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." It is the return of the latter rain after the dry and arid season, and thus "as the streams in the south." Before the rains the beds of these streams are dry and rocky, but they are filled to overflowing with the fertilizing showers of heaven in their appointed times. So, Lord, Israel cries, turn again our captivity; let the mercy vouchsafed to Zion be but the earnest of the accomplishment of all Thy promises concerning Thy people.
The answer to their prayer was assured in the purposes of God and in His people's hearts, linked by faith as they were with the faithfulness of their covenant-keeping God. Thus it is said, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Truly this elect remnant of faithful souls, faithful through grace in a day of extremest pressure and persecution (see Matt. 24: 21, 22), will "sow" in tears. As we read in Daniel, "They that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days." (Dan. 11: 33).) And again, "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried." (Dan. 12: 10.) But the seed thus steeped in their tears and sown in sorrow will germinate in its own time, spring up, and bring forth an abundant harvest, when the sower and the reaper will rejoice together.
The last verse is an affirmation of the same principle, but in an especial manner. It is no longer they that sow in tears, but "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." It is everywhere seen in Scripture that what should be true of the believer, or of the servant, is first illustrated in all its perfection in Christ. Now He, as He Himself has taught us, was the great Sower, and we are permitted to see Him weeping over the city wherein He had scattered much of His "precious seed." To the outward eye it might seem as if the seed thus sown had perished, that He had laboured in vain, and spent His strength for nought; but what does God say to His "Servant"? "It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 49: 4-6.) So in our Psalm — He shall doubtless, in all certainty, come again with rejoicing, laden with the sheaves of His fruitful harvest. For whether concerning His heavenly or His earthly people, He will see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. It is at this harvest time that He will rejoice over His people with joy, that He will rest in His love, and that He will joy over them with singing. It is of that day that the Lord has said, "Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord." (Zeph. 3: 19, 20.) In the midst of all this realized blessing it is that Israel will cry, "The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad."
7 — Psalm 127.
A Song of Degrees for Solomon.
Rest for This Beloved.
THIS is the central Psalm of the whole series, there being seven before and seven after it. Each seven, as before pointed out, contains two by David; is divided, as is so often the case with the number seven in Scripture, into four and three; and contains the name of Jehovah twenty-four times. If these interesting details of structure may not lead us aside from the divine teaching of the Psalms, we may yet admire the symmetry and exactitude of the inspired Scriptures. The title of this Psalm reads in our Bibles, "A Song of degrees for Solomon"; but it is generally accepted that "of" should be substituted for "for," and, thus, that Solomon was the writer of the Psalm. This fact lends a peculiar interest to its subject, and shows us that the king commenced to build the house in real dependence on God. The first two and the last three verses go together, though there is an intimate connection between the two divisions; for the two fundamental ideas are the house and the family, whatever may be their prophetical import.
"Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." (v. 1.) It is contended that it should be rendered a house, and not the house. If we accept the correction, the teaching will be all the more emphatic, as in the application it will include Solomon's own house, the temple which he had the privilege of building, and the house or temple which will yet be rebuilt, first by the Jews in unbelief after their restoration, and finally by the Lord Himself after the establishment of His kingdom. (See Zechariah 6: 12.)
We have, then, first of all, the general truth that all human undertakings are to no purpose unless the Lord is with us in them, guiding, controlling, and sustaining, unless, indeed, we are but carrying out His purposes and designs. It was well for Solomon to be deeply imbued with the conviction here expressed, seeing that one half of his reign (twenty years) was occupied in the erection of the house of the Lord and his own house. That he failed to remember the divine principle which he had been given to record is seen from the comment appended to the statement that he was seven years in building the Lord's house. "But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years," nearly twice seven. Alas! how often is it that we commence our own service in real dependence upon the Lord, with the full sense that we can do nothing apart from Him; and then, from one cause or another, even from delight in the work itself sometimes, we are betrayed into dependence upon our own methods or our own energies, or into losing sight of God's object through being occupied with our own.
Remark, moreover, that our own houses often come into competition with the Lord's house. Very solemn instruction is given on this head by the prophet Haggai. "Ye looked for much," he says to the restored remnant, "and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of Mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house." (Haggai 1: 9.) We need, therefore, to ponder much upon this truth, that all our "building" is utterly in vain unless it is as accomplishing the Lord's work.
The prophetic application is of great interest, and it contains much encouragement for the remnant of a future day. From other scriptures we learn that the Jews will be restored to their own land while in unbelief, and that, in the attempt to revive their national splendour, they will build the temple. (See Isaiah 66: 6; 2 Thess. 2: 4, etc.) This will be carried on before the eyes of the pious remnant, those who "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." But guided by the teaching of this Psalm, they will be comforted with the assurance that "except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it"; and they will thus be kept from being deceived by the building and the establishment of the gorgeous rites of the national temple. And surely a solemn warning is conveyed by these words to Christian builders. As Paul writes, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon." (1 Cor. 3: 10.) The one that builds in wood, hay, or stubble does but labour in vain, except, alas! to secure his suffering loss in the future or his own destruction. Truly the day will declare the character of every man's work, whether of Jewish or Christian builders, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
In the next clause the same principle is applied to human vigilance: "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Jerusalem may yet be rebuilt and fortified so strongly as to be deemed impregnable; the watchful sentries may be constantly on the alert; every possible care may be taken to guard against any — and especially any nocturnal — assaults; but the most strenuous efforts of human strength and care will be utterly futile unless the Lord keep the city. Illustration after illustration of this truth might be easily drawn from historical records, and notably from the capture of Babylon by Cyrus — all alike proclaiming the impotence of man when acting apart from God. It is a lesson needing to be written upon the hearts of God's people in all ages, that they may repose alone upon His protection and care, and thus be able to sing in the darkest hour, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
The next verse does but continue, if in another aspect, the same lesson of dependence: "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so He giveth His beloved sleep." A word or two may be first offered upon the translation of the last clause, as the meaning of the whole passage depends upon it. Many, taking sleep in its literal sense, render it, "He giveth His beloved in sleep"; but we cannot discover, in the language employed, any justification for this addition. This leads to the question whether actual sleep is intended. The manifest contrast is between securing, or obtaining, something by our own efforts, or looking for and receiving it as God's gift. Now no one would ever think of purchasing sleep in the way here described, certainly not by eating the bread of sorrows; but it is the common way of man to seek to acquire the means of ease, retirement, and enjoyment through his own painful and unwearying labours. We conclude, therefore, that sleep must be taken in the symbolical sense of rest and repose of spirit. So taken all is plain. Quiet of mind and restful enjoyment can never be attained as the fruit of our own toil. God is the giver of all repose to His beloved; and, once accepting this simple truth, they cease from all carefulness, as also from anxious labour, and are kept in perfect peace, whatever the outlook, with their minds stayed upon Him. And how blessed for the soul to enter in any measure into this, surrounded as we are with so many dangers and causes of apprehension and anxiety! In perilous days, amid trials, tribulations, and sorrows, we may ever rest upon the breast of Him who giveth His beloved sleep. Sorely tried believers, whether from temporal or spiritual difficulties, will find much blessed food for meditation here, and withal learn ever to look up to the Lord, and to remember that they are His beloved to whom He delights to minister "sleep."
The last three verses go together, and complete the subject of the Psalm. Thus we have the dwelling, taking now the house in its primary significance; then, guardian care with repose of spirit; and lastly, the family — the children. But if there be children, they also are God's gift — an heritage of (from) the Lord; and they are His gift as His recompense or reward, as the mark of His approval and blessing bestowed on those who fear Him and walk in obedience to His word, according to His promise to His earthly people. (See Deuteronomy 28: 11, and the next Psalm.) We see, therefore, that in every dispensation God will have His people learn that He is the source of all their blessings, that He is a GIVER, the God of all grace; and hence that the secret of a happy, restful life lies in realized dependence upon Himself. What anxieties and apprehensions we should be spared if this lesson were but more deeply graven upon our hearts! We then, indeed, might be careful for nothing, because we should only wait upon God, and have our expectation from Him, in the assurance that we could not obtain one single thing by our own efforts, however diligent, but that all must be received as God's gift. When we have once learned that God is a giver, we are content and happy to be receivers.
Children, moreover, are a means of defence (for enemies are still in the land, as before noticed): "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth." As an illustration we read that "the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers, and had many sons, and sons' sons, an hundred and fifty." (1 Chr. 8: 40.) This will also explain the following verse: "Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." As the gate was the place of authority and judgment, where matters in dispute were settled, and the place possibly of assault by external foes, the allusions of the Psalmist are easily comprehended. The man that "hath his quiver full of" such arrows, children, will have the means to defend his cause when unrighteously assailed, and thus will be able to present a bold front to his enemies. So we read of the Messiah in a future day, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power; from the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of Thy youth." There cannot be a doubt that this verse should be punctuated as above; and the meaning of the last clause would seem to be that the youthful followers of Messiah in the day of His power will be as numerous as the dewdrops from the womb of the morning, or, as one has paraphrased it, "Thy youthful soldiery is like the dew in its beauty." Combining the two thoughts — number and beauty — we may indeed say that when Messiah comes forth He will not be ashamed when He speaks with the enemies in the gate, as He surely will to their destruction. (See Zechariah 14: 3.)
Recalling, finally, what is said of Asher ("Let Asher be blessed with children"), and combining it with verse 6, we may surely remind ourselves that, in the preaching of the gospel for example, children are an heritage from the Lord. This will keep us free from all human methods to ensure success, from all appeals to nature and sentiment, and lead us to depend alone upon the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit, and upon the favour and blessing of God. The Lord Himself open our hearts to receive the simple instruction of this Psalm.
8 — Psalm 128.
A Song of Degrees.
Blessing out of Zion.
IF the preceding Psalm teaches that the Lord Himself is the source of all blessing and prosperity, and that without Him nothing can be accomplished or established, we have in this the character of those on whom His favour rests: "Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways." (v. 1.) The nature of the blessing thus enjoyed is afterward described.
A very wide door of blessing is thus divinely opened. It is really only restricted to those who possess the characteristics given — fearing the Lord and walking in His ways — and it will therefore correspond, for example, with the "whosoevers" of John 3: 15, 16. Doubtless pious Israelites are in view, and even the whole of Israel, if verse 1 be taken as representative; but room is also made, in the very terms employed, for the inclusion of the stranger that might sojourn in the midst of Israel; for "one ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord." (Num. 15: 15.) The heart of God thus always travelled out, in His ineffable grace, beyond His chosen people, to provide for the blessing of the "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." It is to this sovereignty of His grace that we ourselves are indebted for that wondrous place of nearness, and for the intimate relationship, into which we have been brought through the death and resurrection of Christ.
It should be also remarked that there is a governmental application in these words; that is, that God in His government of His people will make the reception and enjoyment of these blessings dependent upon their fearing Him and walking in His ways. For example, an Israelite might be restored to the land, but if he walked carelessly he would not be entitled to the promises here made. This principle — and it is a very important one — applies as much to the Christian as to the Jew; it is true, indeed, of the saints of all dispensations. For the enjoyment of the blessings of any period, there must be a walk in accordance with the revelation God has been pleased to make of Himself at that time. It is always true that God withholdeth no good thing from them that walk uprightly.
Two characteristics are given of the man who is blessed of the Lord — fearing the Lord, and walking in His ways. To avoid all misconception, let it be again pressed that these are not mere characteristics — they should be displayed in all God's people; but they are given here as indications of practical state or condition. "Fearing the Lord" describes a man who acts with a good conscience before Him; and hence it is that we read, "Happy is the man that feareth alway" (Proverbs 28: 14), the one, that is, who with holy fear seeks grace to avoid everything which would grieve the Spirit of God; and "walking in His ways" indicates the conduct consequent upon fearing the Lord, a walk which is formed and governed by the word of God. Altogether the practical state is the result of the truth held with divine power in the soul; and this is the only doorway, as already said, into the enjoyment of our true portion. As John says, this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
The blessings here described are distinctively Jewish, earthly and not heavenly blessings. Still, much instruction may be gleaned from what is promised, "For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table." (vv. 2, 3.) There was, then, to be blessing in labour, in one's own soul, and general prosperity, together with domestic and family felicity; but this may receive a little more consideration. First, the fruit of his own labour should be enjoyed. This is but the fulfilment of the promises which God made. to His people on the condition that they observed and kept His commandments (see Deut. 28: 1-12); and the contrast is seen in that same chapter, where they are warned that, if they turned aside from God's statutes and laws, others should eat the fruit of their land and all their labours. (v. 33.) And let it not be forgotten that there is a sense in which this may be true now of the children of God. If they walk in disregard of His word, have themselves as their object, God will often come in and deal with them in their circumstances. How many there are who have determined to get on in the world; and they have laboured much and long to secure their ends, when, just as their goal was in view, all the fruit of their toil suddenly disappeared! May the Holy Spirit engrave the lesson deeply upon our hearts, that God's blessing can only rest upon the labours of those who fear Him and walk in His ways.
Secondly, all such shall be happy, and it shall be well with them. When a soul is maintained in holiness before God the sense of His favour is enjoyed; and this is soon discovered to be the secret of all true happiness. It is to this the Psalmist alludes; and he adds, moreover, that it shall be well with thee. Thus Isaiah speaks, "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him" as indeed Peter teaches in his first epistle, that God's government is in favour of His people. (See 1 Peter 3: 10-13.) So the pious Israelite is here taught that, even though there might yet be sorrows and trials to pass through, God's eye was upon him, and good would be the certain issue of God's government and ways.
Lastly, blessing should rest upon his own household and family. The reader will remember that verse 3 speaks of the blessing of the earthly people; and, calling this to mind, he will detect the incomparable beauty of the illustrations drawn from the vine and the olive; for it is the fruit of the vine which is said to cheer both the heart of God and man, and the fatness of the olive is used to set forth the blessing and privileges of God's people on the earth. It is indeed an exquisite picture of a happy family, and there are many saints of the present day who will appreciate it; for what greater joy have they on earth, outside of the assembly, than to behold the concord of their families, having their children growing up around their table, no seat as yet vacant, and all giving the promise of the work of the Spirit of God in their souls? And let it be distinctly asserted that the Christian heads of households are entitled to look for the realization of the spiritual significance of this picture of domestic peace and blessing.
The last three verses, we judge, go together; that is to say, verse 4 is introductory to verses 5 and 6, rather than a summary of the first three. Its first word confirms this interpretation: "Behold," says the Psalmist, "that thus [in this manner] shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord"; and then he proceeds to explain the manner. First of all it is, "The Lord shall bless, thee out of Zion." All the blessing of Israel will in a future day be out of Zion, because it will be the seat of the Lord's earthly throne. Hence the apostle writes, "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." (Romans 11: 26.) The Psalms are full of this same truth, as, for example, in the expression, "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." (See Psalms 24, 47, 48, 87, 97-99, also Isaiah 51, 52, etc. etc.) To be blessed out of Zion would be, therefore, the consummation of all blessing for Israel, because it will be connected with the reign of Messiah, and thus be the fulfilment of the glowing predictions of the prophets. It would speak to their hearts of the establishment of the kingdom and the blessings therewith connected, for which they had so long sighed and waited in the days of their sorrow.
The next clause of the verse is in accordance with this: "And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life." If Zion is in Scripture the seat of royal grace, of the throne (for it was there David placed the ark), Jerusalem, as the expression of the nation, yet still Jerusalem, is the earthly bride, and for her as such there is a glorious future. It is in view of this that God will set watchmen and remembrancers upon her walls who will give Him no rest until He establish, and until He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Of that time it is written, "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise"; and again, "Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations." (Isaiah 60-62.) And when all this is accomplished, when Jerusalem has been restored, and reinstated in the favour of Jehovah, her blessing will continue. Israel will thus behold the good of Jerusalem "all the days of his life."
As seen in an earlier Psalm, God's people were exhorted to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and their prayer will be abundantly answered. But what should be remarked is, that we have here the true sign of a healthy piety, viz., communion with the heart of God. Jehovah's affections are set upon Jerusalem, and consequently everyone that fears Him, and that walks in His ways, will also love Jerusalem. The promise, therefore, that such an one should see the good of Jerusalem all the days of his life is a blessed response of Jehovah's heart to the desire of His people which He Himself had begotten. To understand this for ourselves we have only to substitute the Church for Jerusalem. The Church is the dearest object of the heart of Christ, for He loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; and hence, whatever activity or apparent zeal and devotedness there may be in any of us, we cannot be in communion with the heart of Christ unless the Church is also the supreme object of our affections. Let us not shrink from the searching nature of the test.
The promised blessing is still further enlarged: "Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children." The favour of God will thus rest upon the posterity of His people, as indeed He covenanted at the giving of the law — "showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments." This is the conclusion, as we understand the Psalms, of the true Israelite's blessing. As will be noticed, the word "and," after "children" is inserted. Omitting this, we read, with many others, the last clause, "Peace be upon Israel." (Compare again Galatians 6: 16.) If this be accepted, it is very beautiful, for the Psalm commences with divine blessing and closes with divine peace. What an inlet is thus opened out for us into the heart of God! And if He desires that peace should rest upon His own (see John 14: 27), we also should pray and labour to this end. Yea, "pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee"; or, as Paul writes to the saints at Corinth, "Be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."
9 — Psalm 129.
A Song of Degrees.
Israel's Retrospect.
AS has been before pointed out, Psalm 127 is the central psalm of the whole group of the Songs of Degrees. there being seven preceding and seven following. Psalm 128 is thus introductory to the last seven; and, as is often seen in the prophetic writings, it gives the final issue of God's ways with His people and of their exercises, before detailing their pathway of sorrow and distress by which they reached the goal. It presents a beautiful picture of earthly blessing consequent upon Jehovah's dwelling in Zion. In the present Psalm Israel reviews the past, and the first four verses contain the account of their sorrowful afflictions as a nation, combined with their confession of God's unchanging faithfulness:
1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
4 The Lord is righteous: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
The expression "from my youth," found in the first two verses, will refer to Israel's earliest days, the beginning of their history in the land of Egypt; and, tracing their career all down the centuries, they have to confess that many a time they had been afflicted by their enemies. The record of their sorrows and chastenings from this source is found, indeed, in almost every historical book of the Old Testament. And wherefore had they thus been afflicted? Scripture after scripture proclaims that it was because of their disobedience and rebellion, their refusal to walk in subjection to Jehovah their Redeemer. "If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then . . . I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. . . . But if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments . . . I will set My face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you," etc. (Lev. 26.)
Such is the invariable condition of enjoyed favour and blessing in all dispensations. It is equally so with Christians as with Israel; for the principles of God's government of His people are the same in all ages. If Israel therefore, has to utter this sad lamentation, it is yet the confession of their obstinate and stiff-necked forgetfulness of God's claims upon them as His redeemed people. Here, however, they recall their sorrows rather to magnify the faithfulness of God; for they add, after speaking of the afflictions they had suffered from their adversaries, "Yet they have not prevailed against me." The prophets are full of this blessed truth — that while God allowed, and indeed sent, nation after nation to overcome and chastise His rebellious people, He never wholly gave them up; but, watching over them with infinite tenderness and yearning of heart, He interposed again and again for their succour for His own name's sake. For example, we read, "The Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. And the Lord said not that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash." (2 Kings 14: 26, 27.) It was thus owing to the tender mercy of the Lord, to His covenanted faithfulness, that Israel could say, in looking back upon the oppressions of their enemies, "Yet they have not prevailed against me."
The illustration in the next verse does but intensify the character of their past sufferings. The plowers are named in verse 3, because, as the plough the earth, so the whip tears up the back. Long furrows will thus mean long stripes and wounds, A striking comment upon this description may be cited from Isaiah: "Why should ye be stricken any more? . . . from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores." (Isa. 1: 5, 6.)
But if Israel has endured these bitter sorrows under the rod of their enemies, they now confess that the Lord is righteous. In one word they justify God for all His past dealings with them, owning in this very expression that they had only received their deserts. As Nehemiah said, "Howbeit Thou art just [righteous] in all that is brought upon us; for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly," so now Israel owns that God has been righteous in all His ways; and this is surely the place of all blessing both for sinners and believers. When the awakened soul, like the dying malefactor, justifies God and condemns himself, he is on the eve of forgiveness and blessing; and when the believer under chastisement justifies God the end is reached; for he has "heard" the rod and who has appointed it. When Israel, therefore, says that the Lord is righteous it tells us that the object of God's past visitations in judgment has been attained, that His name has been magnified in His people's deliverance and blessing.
It is also possible that Israel celebrates Jehovah's righteousness, not only in His past dealings with them, but also in their present deliverance, for they add, "He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked." The same double application of God's righteousness is seen in the Epistle to the Romans: it is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, and it is exemplified in the justification of those who believe in Jesus. The "cords" of the wicked will signify the bondage under which Israel had been subjected to the wicked. The kings of the earth and the rulers of the earth are said in Psalm 2 to take counsel together against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us," that is, the bands and cords in which God held and restrained them. What Israel then proclaims is that God has emancipated them from their thraldom and servitude, and set them at liberty in their own land for His service.
The second part of the Psalm commences with verse 5, and contains the expression of Israel's desire for the confusion and defeat of the haters of Zion. To understand this it must be borne in mind that the haters of Zion are God's enemies. Zion has now (in these Psalms) become the dwelling-place of Jehovah and the seat of His throne. Hence it says in the preceding Psalm, as before noticed, "The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion"; and in Psalm 122, speaking of Jerusalem, the Psalmist says, "They shall prosper that love thee," for it was become the c