Expositions on the Book of Psalms (continued)
Psatm XCIL] ON THE PSALMS. 453 what ye have heard in the Psalm: " It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord ; and to sing praises unto Thy Name, Thou Most Highest"' done them. Then shalt thou "sing unto the Name of God, the Most Highest:"' seeking the glory of God, not thine own ; His Name, not thine. For if thou seekest the Name of God, He also seeketh thy name; but if thou hast neglected the Name of God, He also doth blot out thine... . 4. " To tell of Thy mercy early in the morning, and of Thy truth in the night season"
2. This Psalm is entitled, a Psalm to be sung on the Sabbath day. Lo, this day is the Sabbath, which the Jews at this period observe by a kind of bodily rest, languid and luxurious. They abstain from labours, and give themselves up to trifles ; and though God ordained the Sabbath, they spend it in actions which God forbids. Our rest is from evil works, theirs from good ; for it is better to plough than to dance. They abstain from good, but not from trifling, works. God proclaims to us a Sabbath. What sort of Sabbath? First consider, where it is. It is in the heart, within us; for many are idle with their limbs, while they are disturbed in conscience. . . . That very joy in the tranquillity of our hope, is our Sabbath. This is the subject of praise and of song in this Psalm, how a Christian man is in the Sabbath of his own heart, that is, in the quiet, tranquillity, and serenity of his conscience, undisturbed ; hence he tells us here, whence men are wont to be disturbed, and he teaches thee to keep Sabbath in thine own heart.
(ver. 2). What is the meaning of this; that the mercy of God is to be told us in the morning, and in the night the truth of God? The morning is, when it is well with us; the night, the sadness of tribulation. What then did he say in brief? When thou art prosperous, rejoice in God, for it is His mercy. Now, perhaps thou wouldest say, If I rejoice in God, when I am prosperous, because it is His mercy; what am I to do when I am in sorrow, in tribulation? It is His mercy, when I am prosperous ; is it then His cruelty, when I am in adversity? If I praise His mercy when it is well with me, am I then to exclaim against His cruelty when it is ill? No. But when it is well, praise His mercy : when ill, praise His truth: because He scourgeth sins, He is not unjust. . . . During the night Daniel confessed the truth of God: he said in his prayer, "We have sinned, and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee: but unto us confusion of face."3 He told of the truth of God during the night-season. What is it to tell of the truth of God in the night-season? Not to accuse God, because thou sufferest aught of evil: but to attribute it to thy sins, His correction: to tell of His loving-kindness early in the morning, and of His truth in the night-season.
3. . . . Accuse thyself, and thou receivest indulgence. Besides, many do not accuse Satan, but their fate. My fate led me, saith one: when you ask him, why did you do it? why did you sin? he replies, by my evil fate. Lest he should say, I did it; he points to God as the source of his sin: with his tongue he blasphemes. He saith not this indeed openly as yet, but listen, and see that he saith this. You ask of him, what is fate: and he replies, evil stars. You ask, who made, who appointed the stars ; he can only answer, God. It follows, then, that whether he doth so directly or indirectly,' still he accuseth God, and when God punisheth sins, he maketh God the author of his own sins. It cannot be that God punishes what He hath wrought: He punisheth what thou doest, that He may set free what He hath wrought. But sometimes, setting aside everything else, they attack God directly: and when they sin, they say, God willed this; if God had not willed it, I should not have sinned. Does He warn thee for this, that not only He may not be listened to, to keep thee from sin, but even be accused because thou dost sin? What then doth this Psalm teach us? "It is a good thing to confess? unto the Lord.'"' What is to confess unto the Lord? In both cases: both in thy sins, because thou hast done them; and in thy good works, confess unto the Lord, because He hath
When thou doest this, thou dost always praise God, always confess to God, and sing unto His Name.
5. "Upon a psaltery of ten strings, with a song, and upon the harp" (ver. 3). Ye have not heard of the psaltery of ten strings for the first time: it signifies the ten commandments of the Law. But we must sing upon that psaltery, and not carry it only. For even the Jews have the Law: but they carry it: they sing not... . "And upon the harp." This means, in word and deed; "with a song," in word ; "upon the harp," in work. If thou speakest words alone, thou hast, as it were, the song only, and not the harp: if thou workest, and speakest not, thou hast the harp only. On this account both speak well and do well, if thou wouldest have the song together with the harp.
6. "For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy works ; and I will rejoice in giving
-| praise for the operations of Thy hands" (ver. 4).
1 Sive per transennam sive per cannam longam, sive per proxtmum.
3 Dan, ix. 5,7.
2 Confitert.