Psalm IV
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David.
1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness.
Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress;
Have mercy upon me and hear my prayer.
2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
3 But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: The Lord will hear when I call unto him.
4 Stand in awe and sin not:
Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, — and put your trust in the Lord.
6 There be many that say. Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart.
More than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
8 I will both lay me down in peace and sleep:
For thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
There is no solid reason for doubting the genuineness of those titles, or inscriptions, that are prefixed to many of the Psalms. They are as ancient as the text of the Psalms themselves. The ancient versions prove that they are no modern addition. If, then, we may put confidence in them, why is it that so frequently these fragmentary marks are so obscure? Every one feels their obscurity; for to this day no criticism has succeeded in satisfactorily shewing the true sense of “On Neginoth,” and similar terms. Musical instruments are almost always referred to in these terms; but these joyful instruments of holy service have been lost in the ruin of Israel’s temple. It is somewhat, however, for us to know that the times of the true David and Solomon were typified, as to their manifold streams of joy, by the “Neginoth,” “Sheminith,” and similar forms of the harp and psaltery.
The Psalm before us, describing the chief good, was one sung on Zion, in the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, on the “Neginoth,’” some stringed instrument, played upon by the stroke of the fingers, or of the musician’s plectrum. Its theme calls for a joyous instrument.
It is the first Psalm we have found inscribed,” To the Chief The chief
. musician.
Musician,” and there is an interesting propriety in this benig the first so inscribed. For, its subject being throughout Jehovah as the chief good — Israel’s true blessedness — what more fitting than to give it to be sung in the midst of all the people by Asaph, the leader of the sacred music in the days of David? (1 Chron. xvi. 5.)* May we not suppose that the “Chief Musician” occupied a high place in the typical economy? Was he not used by the Lord to represent to Israel Him who is to lead the praise of the great congregation? (Psalm xxii. 25.) When he sang such deeply melancholy Psalms as the twenty-second was the scene not fitted to bring into the minds of God’s people the idea of the suffering Saviour, passing from the unutterable groanings to the joy unspeakable?
This Psalm takes a survey of earth’s best enjoyments — the sons of men revelling in the plenty of corn and wine, the The scope of
=> r .; ’ the Psalm.
joy of harvest and of vintage. Their mirth is loud, theii mockery of less mirthful ones than themselves is keen, vanity is their pursuit, false joys their fascinations. To such a gay multitude our Psalm represents One approaching who has come from weeping in secret places. (Ver. 1.) Entering their circle, this Righteous One calls upon them to consider their ways: “0 ye sons of men,” is his cry, “how long will ye turn my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity and seek after lies?”f When will you leave broken cisterns? When will you turn from the golden calf back to the God of Israel, your glory? A pause ensues — “Selah” marks it. It is the silence of one who waits for the effect of his expostulation; but there is no response, and he lifts up his
* There are fifty-three Psalms which hears this inscription, “To the Chief Musician.” The word HiiiQ never means “Conqueror,” as some have wished to render it. It means always “standing over,” as a foreman, and is used only of the arrangements made in regard to the Levites in their courses. (See Hengstenherg, who confesses this by Hab. iii. 19.)
f It has been observed, that, for the sake of all ages, the psalmist is led by the Holy Ghost to use temas such as “^?o>-y,” a term which describes whatever man values; “lies,” which may include under it every degree and species of deception; and “vanity,” expressive of all those earthly, unsatisfying objects sought after by rich and poor.
voice again, and leaves his testimony among them: “But know the Lord hath set apart the godly for himself.” The Lord keeps the godly; each such man is like the witnesses of Revelation xi. 6: “These have power to shut heaven, and to smite the earth;” for “The Lord heareth when I call upon him.” Well then may the sons of men give ear. “Stand in awe — consider — flee to the atoning sacrifices appointed by the God of m.y righteousness” (ver. 1). Having so done stay yourselves on Him; for I testify that the experience of all who have tried this plan of happiness has been such that they can answer the question, “Who can shew us any good?” hj an upward look to Jehovah, “Lord, lift thou on us the light of thy countenance!” Yes, (says the speaker to his God, to whom he had cast his upward glance, and by whose look of love he seems riveted,) no sooner did my prayer ascend than the answer came; no sooner did I look to Him than the sun broke through the dark clouds. “Thou hast put more gladness in my heart than in the time when their corn and wine abound. I lay me down and sleep in peace; for thou, Lord, (giving me the full portion of Israel dwelling in their land of corn and wine, with its heavens dropping dew, Deut. xxxiii. 28,) mahest me to dwell in safety, all alone!”
There is an undoubted allusion in the last verse, in the niDi’? ‘^’^2b to the blessing of Moses in Deut. xxxiii. 28, where Israel’s final destiny is declared to be “dwelling “11^ ntOS, in undisturbed security alone,” and needing none to help or bless them but Jehovah. In this Psalm the godly one anticipates that blessedness as yet to be his j)ortion, and so we see him fixing his eye on the future, even while at j)resent his gladness is greater far than all earth can yield. The vanity of the sons of men is all the more clearly seen in the additional light of the coming glory, jyed by the ^^Q gau easily understand how any true child of God can use these words — they so exactly delineate his state of feeling both toward his God, and toward his fellow-men. But in no lips could they be so appropriate as in His “who spake as never man spake.” Indeed, is there not throughout a tone like that of “Wisdom,” in Proverbs i. and viii.? The party addressed is the “sons of men,” as there; and there is the same expostulatory and anxious voice, “How long, ye simple ones?” (i. 22). “Hear, for I will speak of excellent things,” (viii. 6). We might imagine every syllable of this precious Psalm used by our Master some evening, when about to leave the Temple for the day, and retiring to his wonted rest at Bethany, (ver. 8), after another fruitless expostulation with the men of Israel. And we may read it still as the very utterance of his heart, longing over man, and delighting in God. But further, not only is this the utterance of the Head, it is also the language of one of his members in full sympathy with him in holy feeling. This is a Psalm with which the righteous may make their dwellings resound, morning and evening, as they cast a sad look over a world that rejects God’s grace. They may sing it while they cling more and more every day to Jehovah, as their all-sufficient heritage, now and in the age to come. They may sing it, too, in the happy confidence of faith and hope, when the evening of this world’s day is coming, and may then fall asleep in the certainty of what shall greet their eyes on the Resurrection morning — Sleeping embosomed in his grace ‘Till morning-shadows flee.
If, therefore, we were required to state the substance of this Psalm in a few words, we should scarcely err in describing its theme as
The Godly One’s Chief Good.