Expositions on the Book of Psalms (continued)
Psatm CIV.] ON THE
PSALMS. 519 art turned to thine own dust, thy breath hath been taken away; no longer dost thou boast thyself, no longer extol thyself, no longer justify thyself; thou seest that thou art made of dust, and when the Lord turneth away His face, thou hast fallen back into thine own dust. Pray, therefore, confess thy dust and thy weakness.
bling. Hear another Psalm: " Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling." ® If we must rejoice with trembling, God beholdeth us, there cometh an earthquake ; when God looketh upon us, let our hearts tremble; then will God rest there. Hear Him in another passage: " Upon whom shall My Spirit rest? Even on him that is lowly and quiet, and who trembleth at My Word.''7
42. And see what followeth : " Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit,! and they shall be made" (ver. 30). Thou shalt take away their spirit, and send forth Thine own: Thou shalt take away their spirit: they shall have no spirit of their own. Are they then forsaken? "Blessed are the poor in spirit :''? but they are not forsaken. 'They refused to have a spirit of their own: they shall have the Spirit of God. Such were our Lord's words to the future martyrs:3 "It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Attribute not your courage to yourselves. If it is yours, He saith, and not Mine, it is obstinacy, not courage. "For we are His workmanship," saith the Apostle, ' created unto good works."+ From His Spirit we have received grace, that we may live unto righteousness : for it is He that justifieth the ungodly.5 "Thou shalt take away their spirit, and they shall fail; Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be made: and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth:'"' that is, with new men, confessing themselves to have been justified, not righteous of their own power, so that the grace of God is in them. What then? When He hath taken away our spirit, we shall be turned again to our dust, beholding to our edification our weakness, that when we receive His Spirit we may be refreshed. See what followeth: '"'Be the glory of the Lord for ever" (ver. 31). Not thine, not mine, not his, or his; not for a season, but " for ever." 'The Lord shall rejoice in His works." Not in thine, as if they were thine: because if thy works are evil, it is through thy iniquity ; if good, it is through the grace of God. "The Lord shall rejoice in His works."
"Who looketh on the earth, and maketh it tremble ; who toucheth the hills, and they shall smoke" (ver. 32). The hills were proud, and boastful of themselves, God had not touched them: He toucheth them, and they shall smoke. What meaneth the smoking of the hills? That they pray unto the Lord. Behold great hills, proud hills, vast hills, prayed not to God: they wished themselves to be entreated, and entreated net Him who was above them. For what powerful, arrogant, proud man is there upon the earth, who deigneth humbly to entreat God? I speak of the ungodly, not of the " cedars of Libanus, which the Lord hath planted." Every ungodly man, unhappy soul, knoweth not how to entreat God, while he wisheth himself to be entreated by men. He isa hill; it is needful that God touch him, that he may smoke: when he hath begun to smoke, he will offer prayers unto God, as it were the sacrifice of his heart. He smoketh unto God, he then beateth his breast : he beginneth to weep, for smoke doth elicit tears.
44. "I will sing unto the Lord in my life"' (ver. 33). What will sing? Everything that is willing. Let us sing unto the Lord in our life. Our life at present is only hope ; ourlife will be eternity hereafter : the life of mortal life, is the hope of an everlasting life. 'I will praise my God while I have my being." Since I am in Him for ever and ever, while I have my being,I will praise my God. Let us not imagine that, when we have commenced praising God in that state, we shall have any other work: our whole life will be for the praises of God. If we become weary of Him whom we praise, we may also become weary of praising. If He is ever loved, He is ever praised by us.
43. " Who looketh on the earth, and maketh it tremble; who toucheth the hills, and they shall smoke " (ver. 32). O earth, thou wast exulting in thy good, to thyself thou didst ascribe thy fulness and opulence; behold, the Lord looketh on thee, and causeth thee to tremble. May He look on thee, and make thee tremble : for the trembling of humility is better than the confidence of pride. . . . For it is God, he saith, which worketh in you. For this reason then with trembling, because God worketh in you. Because He gave, because what thou hast cometh not from thee, thou shalt work with fear and trembling, for if thou fearest not Him, He will take away what He gave. Work, therefore, with trem-
45. " Let my discourse be pleasing to Him: my joy shall be in the Lord" (ver. 34). What is the discourse of man unto God, save the confession of sins? Confess unto God what thou art, and thou hast discoursed with Him. _ Discourse unto Him, do good works, and discourse. "Wash you, make you clean," saith Isaiah.® What is it to discourse unto God? Unfold thyself to him who knoweth thee, that He may unfold Himself to thee who knowest not Him. Behold, it is thy discourse that pleaseth the Lord , the offering of thy humility, the tribulation of
I Or, ' breath." 3 Matt. x. 20, 4 Eph. ii. 10. 2 Matt. v. 3. 5 Rom. iv. 5. |
© Ps. ii rr. 7 Isa. Ixvi. 2. 8 Isa. i. 16,