like a new creation. In captivity they were like the valley of dry bones. In their restoration they would be a living army. Ver. 19, 20.-" For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary, from heaven did the Lord behold the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death." Or as in margin the children of death. As of old He looked down upon His people in Egyptian bondage (Exod. iii. 7), and heard their cry, now He looks down upon them in Babylon and hears their cries, (Psalm lxxix, 11.) Ver. 21, 22.-" To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem," &c. In the Prayer Book it is rendered that they may declare. Here two effects are stated as resulting from the restoration, -God's praise would be sung in Zion, and heathen nations would be gathered into it. (Psalms xxii, 27; lxvii, 32; Isa. xlv, 14; lx, 4.) Ver. 23, 24.-"He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. I said, O my God take me not away in the midst of my days. Thy years are throughout all generations." Here the writer seems to lament, because he was so far gone in life, so far exhausted in strength, as not to participate as he would desire in the joy of the restoration. And yet he prays that his life may be continued until the event arrives. Ver. 25-26.-"Of old hast Thou laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of Thine hands," &c. The Psalmist looks backward; the heavens and the earth, dating from so great antiquity, are God's work: therefore He was before them. In the next verse he looks forward: these primeval heavens and earth, as they had a beginning so will they have an end: their present condition will give place to another they will be changed: there will be a new heaven and a new earth: but in the midst of this change God abides for ever. (Isa. li. 6: lxv. 17: lxvi. 22.) Ver. 27.-" But Thou art the same." Who? The Eternal Creator whom the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews recognised in Jesus Christ. (See Heb. i. 10, 12.) Ver. 28." The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before Thee." "This," says Dr. Alexander, "might be translated as a prayer, Let the sons of Thy servants continue, or be established." HOMILETICS :-We may gather up from this psalm two classes of thought, thoughts of complaint and thoughts of comfort. The first class will be found in the first eleven verses, the second class in the remainder of the psalm. I. Thoughts of COMPLAINT. The patriotic poet, whether Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, or David, is the subject of some great affliction, and under the influence of this affliction he thinks deeply and intensely. First: Here are thoughts concerning his bodily sufferings. He refers (1) To the physical anguish of his life. "For my days are consumed like smoke and my bones are burned as an hearth." His sufferings were like the fire, causing his life to run into "smoke," and his "bones" to be charred as on a "hearth." To what depths of anguish the human body is capable of being subjected! Take Job as an example. "When I lie down I say when shall I arise, and the night be gone and I am full of tossings to and fro until the dawn of day. My skin is broken and become loathsome," &c. Our physical sufferings argue our moral fall and depravity. He refers (2) To the terrible brevity of his life. "My days are like a shadow that declineth and I am withered like grass." Human imagination cannot conceive a more striking figure to express the insubstantiality and brevity of life than that of а "shadow." A shadow, what is it? It is nothing, and grows longer and longer until it is lost in midnight. Men are but shadows, moving under the Sun. They are withered like grass." Not like the cedars of Lebanon, or the oaks of Bashan that flourish for centuries, but like the grass that springs up under the sun in the morning, and in the evening lies withered and dead. Secondly: Here are thoughts concerning his mental sufferings. Listen to the utterances running through the passage 66 expressive of his mental distress. "I am in trouble." My heart is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread. By the reason of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican," &c., &c. His mental anguish destroyed his appetite for food, made his bones "cleave" to his "skin," and to mingle his drink with tears. Such is the connexion between the mind and the body that a suffering mind will soon bring the body to decay and death. One dark thought has often struck down a stalwart frame. Thirdly: Here are thoughts concerning his social sufferings. "Mine enemies reproach me all the day, and they that are mad against me are sworn against me." We have social natures, and the coldness, the calumny, the envy and jealousy of our fellow men cannot fail to strike anguish into the heart. Man, alas! is the devil of man. Fourthly Here are thoughts concerning his religious sufferings. "Because of Thine indignation and Thy wrath for Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down." That which gave bitterness and anguish to all his sufferings was the sense of the Divine. displeasure brought upon him in consequence of his sins. Moral suffering is the soul of all suffering. "A wounded spirit who can bear?" Such are some of the thoughts of complaint we have here, a complaint concerning suffering bodily, mental, social, and religious. We pass on now to notice II. Thoughts of COMFORT. These thoughts refer to God. First-To His existence amidst all the changes of earth. "But Thou O Lord shalt endure for ever, and Thy remembrance to all generations." Amidst the revolutions of empires, the successions of generations, the sweep of milleniums, He remains, remains as an immoveable rock midst all the surging seas of change. Is not this a consolatory thought for the suffering saint? These thoughts refer-Secondly: To His anticipated interposition on behalf of mankind. "Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to save her, yea the set time is come," &c. (ver. 13-18.) The verses suggest the following remarks concerning His future interposition on behalf of mankind. (1). It is fixed. "A set time." With God there is a time for everything: a time to create and a time to destroy, a time to build up and a time to pull down, &c. (2). It is conditional. "For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof." The captives in Babylon were now rousing themselves and beginning in earnest to look to God for help. God works with man and by man. "For all these things will I be enquired of," &c. "Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened," &c. (3). It is glorious. 66 The heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory." When He comes to work on behalf of a suffering world, people that know Him not, even the kings of the earth will honor and worship Him. (4). It is prayer answering. "For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary: from heaven did the Lord behold the earth." He will interpose in answer to the importunate and persevering prayers of His people. Is not the fact that God will interpose for mankind a consolatory thought? (5). It is always rememberable. "This shall be written for a generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord." These thoughts refer--Thirdly: To His past kindness towards the suffering. "For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary," &c. (ver. 19, 22.) He "looked down" upon His suffering people in Egypt, heard their groans and delivered them and upon His suffering people in Babylon and restored them to their country. This He ever does. He looks down from heaven on His suffering people, hears their cries and He will interpose on their behalf. These thoughts refer-Fourthly: To His unchangeableness amidst all the mutations of the universe. (1). Men change but He remains the same. "He weakeneth my strength in the way: He shorteneth my days. I said O my God take me not away in the midst of my days. Thy years are throughout all generations." (2). The universe changes, but He remains the same. "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish but Thou shalt endure." From this passage the following truths may be inferred. (1). That the universe had an origin and is destined to have a dissolution. (a). It had an origin. "Of old hast Thou laid," &c. This account of the origin of the universe contradicts atheistic eternalists and sceptical evolutionists. (b) .It will have a dissolu tion. “It shall perish." Dissolution in fact is a law of the organised universe. (2). That both the origin and dissolution of the universe are attributable to One Personality. "Of old hast Thou laid." The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews applies this to Christ, therefore to him Christ was Eternal God. One Being created all, one Being will dissolve all. (3). That this One Personality remains unalterable from the origin to the dissolution of the universe. "Thou art the same."* * For a further amplification of these points see Homilist Vol. iii. Page 321. |