Psalm CXXXVIII

1 I WILL praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise

unto thee.

2 I will worship toward thy holy temple,

And praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst me,
And strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the

words of thy mouth.

5 Yea, thy shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the

Lord.

6 Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the I0WI3’: But the proud he knoweth afar off.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me:

Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemio.’!, And thy right hand shall save me.

8 The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me:

Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

David’s harp again sounds, from this Psahn onward to Psalm cxlv., where praises of every kind, and probably proceeding from various singers, close the Book.

The theme is the promise made to David (Psa. lxxxix. 26, and 2 Sam. vii. 28, which is in effect the same as Isa. Iv. 3),” The sure mercies of David. It is the definite promise of a Saviour who is to descend from David’s loins, that furnishes the subject. And is not this substantially the same as the first ‘promise, the great promise of a Deliverer, the promise of the Seed of the woman? Let one read over the seventh chapter of 2 Samuel, as it came from David’s full heart, and he has found the key-note of the Psalm; and then let us realise what was wrapt up in the promise of a Saviour in its fulness, and we will join in every clause of the Psalm. Our Master would feel all at home in every verse.

In verses 1-3 he sings to this effect — No god, no pretended god, in any country, or any age, ever gave utterance to such a thought as I am now to sing of — “before the gods I will sing,” and I worship toward thy holy temple as I sing, praising thee for such a matchless display of mercy and truth! (Comp. John i. 14.)

‘•’ For thou hast magnified, above all thy name, thy loord, In the day when I called, and thou didst ansirer (When) thoti didst make me brave in my soul iciih might.’” (Ver. 2, 3.)

In that day when the Lord brought to him the word, or promise, of which he speaks (the word concerning the future Son), he did an act of grace that might be said to cast into the shade even all the other displays of grace God had given. “All thy name” is used here as equivalent to “all that hitherto has made thee known and famous in our eyes.” This is the sense of “name” in such places as 2 Sam. vii. 9, and 23, a passage closely allied to this; as also viii. 13, xxiii. 18. In short, it is like as if one had said of Abishai (1 Chron. xi. 20),” You had a name among the three, but that last exploit of yours

Jehovah’s great promise. 421

has i-aised you above all your previous name;” or take Jer. xxxii. 20 — “Thou hast made thee a name” by thy wonders m Egypt, but this promise to David is “above all that name of thine.”

In verses 4, 5, he sings to this effect — No king ever heard news like this that thou art making known. When they liear it,

“They loill sing in the wails of the Lord!” (Ver. 5.)

They ..will sing II “upon,” as if to say they will enter on these ways (Hengst.); or rather, at or over, because of hearing such an account of Jehovah’s dealings with men.

In verses 6, 7, he sings to this effect — Unparalleled grace! The Lofty One has stooped down to shew mercy to one so low as I, to the family of Jesse — yea, to the fallen family of man —

“The Lord is exalted; and (yet) he looks upon the mean! While the proud he knoweth afar ojf.” (Comp. Luke i. 51, 52.)

This gracious Jehovah removes all my fears, whatever shall betide; for he will help me. And in the person of our Master, he has given his saints a pledge of the fulfilment of verse 7, for the Master “walked in the midst of trouble,” as did the three youths in the fiery furnace, and yet was “revived” — brought back to the enjoyment of favour and peace; brought back from the sepulchre to the “fulness of joy.”

In verse 8 he sings to this effect — Lord, leave me not till thou hast brought me into glory. Confidence of getting leads him to ask boldly, as in 2 ISam. vii. 27, and what he asks is, that he may be kept till glory come. For by “the works of thy hand” is meant the undertaking God has commenced. Every saint has this same confidence, remembering that it is written, “He that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” (Phil, i. 6). Our Lord, the Son of David, as well as David’s Lord, would often, in the days of his flesh, use this appeal, and sing in man’s behalf this glorious Psalm; and shall we not take it up, now that “the Word” lias been fully developed, and developed in such astounding magnificence of grace? It suits us as much as it did David, or any other; for it is

Ilea I’tf elf praue for Jehovah’s Great Proiiilac.