Psalm 61:
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Job Proverbs
Psalm 61
Complete Concise
David, in this psalm, as in many others, begins with a sad
heart, but concludes with an air of pleasantness—begins with prayers and
tears, but ends with songs of praise. Thus the soul, by being lifted up to God,
returns to the enjoyment of itself. It should seem David was driven out and
banished when he penned this psalm, wether by Saul or Absalom is uncertain: some
think by Absalom, because he calls himself "the king" (v. 6), but that
refers to the King Messiah. David, in this psalm, resolves to persevere in his
duty, encouraged thereto both by his experience an by his expectations. I. He
will call upon God because God had protected him (v. 1-3). II. He will call upon
God because God had provided well for him (v. 4, 5). III. He will praise God
because he had an assurance of the continuance of God's favour to him (v.
6-8). So that, in singing this psalm, we may find that which is very expressive
both of our faith and of our hope, of our prayers and of our praises; and some
passages in this psalm are very peculiar.
To the chief musician upon Neginah.
A psalm of David.
Verses 1-4
In these verses we may observe,
I. David's close adherence and application to God by prayer in
the day of his distress and trouble: "Whatever comes,
I will cry unto
thee (v. 2),—not cry unto other gods, but to thee only,—not fall out
with thee because thou afflictest me, but still look unto thee, and wait upon
thee,—not speak to thee in a cold and careless manner, but cry to thee with
the greatest importunity and fervency of spirit, as one that will not let thee
go except thou bless me." This he will do, 1. Notwithstanding his distance
from the sanctuary, the house of prayer, where he used to attend as in the court
of requests:
"From the end of the earth, or of
the land, from
the most remote and obscure corner of the country,
will I cry unto thee."
Note, Wherever we are we may have liberty of access to God, and may find a way
open to the throne of grace.
Undique ad coelos tantundem est viae—Heaven is
equally accessible from all places. "Nay, because I am here in the end
of the earth, in sorrow and solitude, therefore
I will cry unto thee."
Note, That which separates us from our other comforts should drive us so much
the nearer to God, the fountain of all comfort. 2. Notwithstanding the dejection
and despondency of his spirit: "Though
my heart is overwhelmed, it
is not so sunk, so burdened, but that it may be lifted up to God in prayer; if
it is not capable of being thus raised, it is certainly too much cast down. Nay,
because my heart is ready to be overwhelmed, therefore
I will cry unto thee,
for by that means it will be supported and relived." Note, Weeping must
quicken praying, and not deaden it.
Is any afflicted? Let him pray, Jam.
5:13; Ps. 102, title.
II. The particular petition he put up to God when his heart was
overwhelmed and he was ready to sink:
Lead me to the rock that is higher than
I; that is, 1. "To the rock which is too high for me to get up to
unless thou help me to it. Lord, give me such an assurance and satisfaction of
my own safety as I can never attain to but by thy special grace working such a
faith in me." 2. "To the rock on the top of which I shall be set
further out of the reach of my troubles, and nearer the serene and quiet region,
than I can be by any power or wisdom of my own." God's power and promise
are a rock that is higher than we. This rock is Christ; those are safe that are
in him. We cannot get upon this rock unless God by his power lead us.
I will
put thee in the cleft of the rock, Ex. 33:22. We should therefore by faith
and prayer put ourselves under the divine management, that we may be taken under
the divine protection.
III. His desire and expectation of an answer of peace. He begs
in faith (v. 1):
"Hear my cry, O God! attend unto my prayer; that
is, let me have the present comfort of knowing that I am heard (Ps. 20:6), and
in due time let me have that which I pray for."
IV. The ground of this expectation, and the plea he uses to
enforce his petition (v. 3):
"Thou hast been a shelter for me; I
have found in thee a rock higher than I: therefore I trust thou wilt still lead
me to that rock." Note, Past experiences of the benefit of trusting in God,
as they should engage us still to keep close to him, so they should encourage us
to hope that it will not be in vain. "Thou hast been my
strong tower
from the enemy, and thou art as strong a ever, and thy name is as much a
refuge to the righteous as ever it was." Prov. 18:10.
V. His resolution to continue in the way of duty to God and
dependence on him, v. 4. 1. The service of God shall be his constant work and
business. All those must make it so who expect to find God their shelter and
strong tower: none but his menial servants have the benefit of his protection.
I
will abide in thy tabernacle for ever. David was now banished from the
tabernacle, which was his greatest grievance, but he is assured that God by his
providence would bring him back to his tabernacle, because he had by his grace
wrought in him such a kindness for the tabernacle as that he was resolved to
make it his perpetual residence, Ps. 27:4. He speaks of abiding in it
for
ever because that tabernacle was a type and figure of heaven, Heb. 9:8, 9,
24. Those that dwell in God's tabernacle, as it is a house of duty, during
their short
ever on earth, shall dwell in that tabernacle which is the
house of glory during an endless
ever. 2. The grace of God and the
covenant of grace shall be his constant comfort:
I will make my refuge in the
covert of his wings, as the chickens seek both warmth and safety under the
wings of the hen. Those that have found God a shelter to them ought still to
have recourse to him in all their straits. This advantage those have that abide
in God's tabernacle, that in the time of trouble he shall there hide them.
Verses 5-8
In these verses we may observe,
I. With what pleasure David looks back upon what God had done
for him formerly (v. 5):
Thou, O God! hast heard my vows, that is, 1.
"The vows themselves which I made, and with which I bound my soul: thou
hast taken notice of them; thou hast accepted them, because made in sincerity,
and been well pleased with them; thou hast been mindful of them, and put me in
mind of them." God put Jacob in mind of his vows, Gen. 31:13; 35:1. note,
God is a witness to all our vows, all our good purposes, and all our solemn
promises of new obedience. He keeps an account of them, which should be a good
reason with us, as it was with David here, why we should perform our vows, v. 8.
For he that hears the vows we made will make us hear respecting them if they be
not made good. 2. "The prayers that went along with those vows; those thou
hast graciously heard and answered," which encouraged him now to pray,
O
God! hear my cry. He that never did say to the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in
vain, will not now begin to say so. "Thou hast heard my vows, and given a
real answer to them; for
thou hast given me a heritage of those that fear thy
name." Note, (1.) There is a peculiar people in the world that fear God
name, that with a holy awe and reverence accept of and accommodate themselves to
all the discoveries he is pleased to make of himself to the children of men.
(2.) There is a heritage peculiar to that peculiar people, present comforts,
earnests of their future bliss. God himself is their inheritance, their portion
for ever. The Levites that had God for their inheritance must take up with him,
and not expect a lot like their brethren; so those that fear God have enough in
him, and therefore must not complain if they have but little of the world. (3.)
We need desire no better heritage than that of those who fear God. If God deal
with us as he uses to deal with those that love his name we need not desire to
be any better dealt with.
II. With what assurance he looks forward to the continuance of
his life (v. 6):
Thou shalt prolong the king's life. This may be
understood either, 1. Of himself. If it was penned before he came to the crown,
yet, being anointed by Samuel, and knowing what God had spoken in his holiness,
he could in faith call himself
the king, though now persecuted as an
out-law; or perhaps it was penned when Absalom sought to dethrone him, and force
him into exile. There were those that aimed to shorten his life, but he trusted
to God to prolong his life, which he did to the age of man set by Moses (namely,
seventy years), which, being spent in serving his generation according to the
will of God (Acts 13:36), might be reckoned
as many generations, because
many generations would be the better for him. His resolution was to abide in God's
tabernacle for ever (v. 4), in a way of duty; and now his hope is that he shall
abide before God for ever, in a way of comfort. Those abide to good purpose in
this world that abide before God, that serve him and walk in his fear; and those
that do so shall abide before him for ever. He speaks of himself in the third
person, because the psalm was delivered to the chief musician for the use of the
church, and he would have the people, in singing it, to be encouraged with an
assurance that, notwithstanding the malice of his enemies, their king, as they
wished, should live for ever. Or, 2. Of the Messiah, the King of whom he was a
type. It was a comfort to David to think, whatever became of him, that the years
of the Lord's Anointed would be as many generations, and that
of the
increase of his government and peace there should be no end. The Mediator
shall abide before God for ever, for he always appears in the presence of God
for us, and ever lives, making intercession; and, because he lives, we shall
live also.
III. With what importunity he begs of God to take him and keep
him always under his protection:
O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve
him! God's promises and our faith in them are not to supersede, but to
quicken and encourage prayer. David is sure that God will prolong his life, and
therefore prays that he would preserve it, not that he would prepare him a
strong lifeguard, or a well-fortified castle, but that he would prepare mercy
and truth for his preservation; that is, that God's goodness would provide for
his safety according to the promise. We need not desire to be better secured
than under the protection of God's mercy and truth. This may be applied to the
Messiah: "Let him be sent in the fulness of time, in
performance of the
truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham." Micah 7:20; Lu. 1:72, 73.
IV. With what cheerfulness he vows the grateful returns of duty
to God (v. 8):
So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever. Note, God's
preservation of us calls upon us to praise him; and
therefore we should
desire to live, that we may praise him:
Let my soul live, and it shall praise
thee. We must make praising God the work of our time, even to the last (as
long as our lives are prolonged we must continue praising God), and then it
shall be made the work of our eternity, and we shall be praising him for ever.
That
I may daily perform my vows. His praising God was itself the performance of
his vows, and it disposed his heart to the performance of his vows in other
instances. Note, 1. The vows we have made we must conscientiously perform. 2.
Praising God and paying our vows to him must be our constant daily work; every
day we must be doing something towards it, because it is all but little in
comparison with what is due, because we daily receive fresh mercies, and
because, if we think much to do it daily, we cannot expect to be doing it
eternally.
Psalm 61:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Spurgeon
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Job Proverbs
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