Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings (part 2 of 2)

Verse 25.—“My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation,” etc. The joy and gratitude of our adorable Lord rise to such a height at this great deliverance, his heart so overflows with fresh and blessed consciousness of his heavenly Father’s nearness, that he again pours forth the expression of his praise. By its repetition, he teaches us that this is not a temporary burst of gratitude, but an abiding determination, a full and settled resolution.—John Stevenson.

Verse 25.—“In the great congregation.” Saints are fittest witnesses of sacred duties. That which, in Psa. cxvi. 14, is implied under this particle of restraint, “his,” in “the presence of all his people,” is in Psa. xxii. 25, more expressly noted by a more apparent description, thus: “I will pay my vows before them that fear him.” None but true saints do truly fear God. 1. This property of God’s people, that they fear the Lord, showeth that they will make the best use of such sacred, solemn duties performed in their presence. They will glorify God for this your zeal; they will join their spirits with your spirit in this open performance of duty; they will become followers of you, and learn of you to vow and pay unto the Lord, and that openly, publicly. 2. As for others, they are no better than such hogs and dogs as are not meet to have such precious pearls and holy things cast before them, lest they trample them under their feet.—William Gouge.

Verse 26.—“The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him; your heart shall live for ever.” A spiritual banquet is prepared in the church for the “meek” and lowly in heart. The death of Christ was the sacrifice for sin; his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed. The poor in spirit feed on this provision, in their hearts by faith, and are satisfied, and thus, whilst they “seek” the Lord, they “praise” him also, and their “hearts” (or souls), are preserved unto eternal life.—“Practical Illustrations of the Book of Psalms,” 1836.

Verse 26.—“The meek.” Bonaventure engraved this sweet saying of our Lord, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,” in his study. O that this saying was engraved upon all your foreheads, and upon all your hearts!—Charles Bradbury.

Verse 26.—“They shall praise the Lord that seek him; your heart shall live for ever.” Now, I would fain know the man that ever went about to form such laws as should bind the hearts of men, or prepare such rewards as should reach the souls and consciences of men! Truly, if any mortal man should make a law that his subjects should love him with all their hearts and souls, and not dare, upon peril of his greatest indignation, to entertain a traitorous thought against his royal person, but presently confess it to him, or else he would be avenged on him, he would deserve to be more laughed at for his pride and folly, than Xerxes for casting his fetters into the Hellespont, to chain the waves into his obedience; or Caligula, that threatened the air, if it durst rain when he was at his pastimes, who durst not himself so much as look into the air when it thundered. Certainly a madhouse would be more fit for such a person than a throne, who should so far forfeit his reason, as to think that the thoughts and hearts of men were within his jurisdiction.—William Gurnall.

Verse 26.—“Your heart,” that is, not your outward man, but the hidden man of the heart (Ezek. xxxvi. 26); the new man which is created after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness, “shall live for ever.” The life which animates it is the life of the Spirit of God.—John Stevenson.

Verse 27.—“All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.” This passage is a prediction of the conversion of the Gentiles. It furnishes us with two interesting ideas; the nature of true conversion—and the extent of it under the reign of the Messiah. 1. The NATURE of true conversion:—It is to “remember”—to “turn to the Lord”—and to “worship before him.” This is a plain and simple process. Perhaps the first religious exercise of mind of which we are conscious is reflection. A state of unregeneracy is a state of forgetfulness. God is forgotten. Sinners have lost all just sense of his glory, authority, mercy, and judgment; living as if there were no God, or as if they thought there was none. But if ever we are brought to be the subjects of true conversion, we shall be brought to remember these things. This divine change is fitly expressed by the case of the prodigal, who is said to have come to himself, or to his right mind. But further, true conversion consists not only in remembering but in “turning to the Lord.” This part of the passage is expressive of a cordial relinquishment of our idols, whatever they have been, and an acquiescence in the gospel way of salvation by Christ alone. Once more, true conversion to Christ will be accompanied with the “worship” of him. Worship, as a religious exercise, is the homage of the heart, presented to God according to his revealed will.... 2. The EXTENT of conversion under the kingdom or reign of the Messiah: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.” It was fit that the accession of the Gentiles should be reserved for the gospel day, that it might grace the triumph of Christ over his enemies, and appear to be what it is, “the travail of his soul.” This great and good work, begun in the apostles’ days, must go on, and “must increase,” till “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn,” and “all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.” Conversion work has been individual; God has gathered sinners one by one. Thus it is at present with us; but it will not be thus always. People will flock to Zion as doves to their windows. Further, conversion work has hitherto been circumscribed within certain parts of the world. But the time will come when “all the kindreds of the earth” shall worship. These hopes are not the flight of an ardent imagination; they are founded on the true sayings of God. Finally, while we are concerned for the world, let us not forget our own souls. So the whole world be saved and we lost, what will it avail us?—Condensed from Andrew Fuller.

Verse 27.—“All the ends of the world shall REMEMBER”—this is a remarkable expression. It implies that man has forgotten God. It represents all the successive generations of the world as but one, and then it exhibits that one generation, as if it had been once in paradise, suddenly remembering the Lord whom it had known there, but had long forgotten.... The converted nations, we learn by this verse, will not only obtain remembrance of their past loss, but will also be filled with the knowledge of present duty.—John Stevenson.

Verse 27.—“All the nations of the world” (יִוְכְּרוּ jizkeru, the same Hebrew root with אַוְכִּיר azkir) “shall remember;” why? what is that? or what shall they remember? Even this: they shall turn to the Lord, and worship him, in his name, in his ordinances; as is explained in the words following of the verse: “And all the families of the nations” (וְיִשְׁתַּחֲזוּ jishtachavu, “shall bow” down themselves, or) “worship before thee,” etc. And so in Psalm lxxxvi. 9, “All nations whom thou hast made shall come” (וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ vejishtachavu) “and they shall worship before thee;” and how shall they do so? Even by recording, remembering, and making mention of the glory of thy name; as in the words following (וִיבַבְּרוּ לִשְׁמֶךָ vicabbedu lishmecha,) “and shall glorify thy name.”—William Strong’s “Saints’ Communion with God,” 1656.

Verses 27, 28.—The one undeviating object of the Son all through was, the glory of the Father: he came to do his will, and he fulfilled it with all the unvarying intensity of the most heavenly affection. What, then, will not be the exuberant joy of his heart, when in his glorious kingdom, he shall see the Father beyond all measure glorified?... The praise and honour and blessing which will be yielded to the Father in that day through him, so that God shall be all in all, will make him feel he underwent not a sorrow too much for such a precious consummation.... Every note of thanksgiving which ascends to the Father, whether from the fowls of the air, or the beasts of the field, or the fishes of the sea, or the hills, or the mountains, or the trees of the forest, or the rivers of the valleys—all shall gladden his heart, as sweet in the ears of God, for the sake of him who redeemed even them from the curse, and restored to them a harmony more musical than burst from them on the birthday of their creation. And man! renewed and regenerated man! for whose soul the blood was spilt, and for the redemption of whose body death was overcome, how shall the chorus of his thanksgiving, in its intelligent and articulate hallelujahs, be the incense which that Saviour shall still love to present unto the Father, a sweet-smelling savour through himself, who, that he might sanctify his people by his own blood, suffered without the camp. How are the channels choked up or impaired in this evil world, wherein the praises and glory of our God should flow as a river! How will Christ then witness, to the delight of his soul, all cleared and restored! No chill upon the heart, no stammering in the tongue, in his Father’s praises! No understanding dull, or eye feeble, in the apprehension of his glory! No hand unready, or foot stumbling, in the fulfilling of his commandments. God, the glory of his creatures: his glory their service and their love; and all this the reward to Jesus of once suffering himself.—C. J. Goodhart, M.A., in “Bloomsbury Lent Lectures,” 1848.

Verse 29.—“And they shall bow that go down into the dust; their soul liveth not;” that is, whose soul liveth not, by an Hebraism; it being meant, that he who is of most desperate condition, being without hope of life and salvation, his sins are so notorious, shall “eat” also of this feast, and be turned to God to “worship” and serve him; being thus plucked out of the jaws of death and everlasting destruction, as it were, being before this very hour ready to seize upon him. The new translation, “None can keep alive his own soul,” as it agreeth not with the Hebrew, so it makes the sense more perplexed. By “him that goeth down to the dust, whose soul liveth not,” some understand the most miserably poor, who have nothing to feed upon, whereby their life may be preserved, yet shall feed also of this feast as well as the rich, and praise God. Ainsworth is for either spiritually poor and miserable, because most wicked, or worldly poor; and there is an exposition of Basil’s, understanding by the rich, the rich in faith and grace, touching which, or the rich properly so called, he is indifferent. But because it is said, “The fat of the earth,” I prefer the former, and that the close of the verse may best answer to the first part; the latter by “those that are going to the dust,” understand the miserably poor. So that there is a commonplace of comfort for all, both richest, and poorest, if they be subjects of God’s kingdom of grace: their souls shall be alike fed by him and saved.—John Mayer.

Verse 29.—“All they that go down to the dust;” either those who stand quivering on the brink of the grave, or those who occupy the humble, sequestered walks of life. As the great and opulent of the earth are intended in the first clause, it is not by any means unnatural to suppose that the image of going “down to the dust,” is designed to represent the poor and mean of mankind, who are unable to support themselves, and to provide for their multiplied necessities. If the grave be alluded to, as is thought by many eminent divines, the beautiful sentiment of the verse will be, that multitudes of dying sinners shall be brought to worship Jehovah, and that those who cannot save or deliver themselves shall seek that shelter which none can find but those who approach the mercy-seat. “Rich and poor,” as Bishop Horne observes, “are invited”—that is, to “worship God;” “and the hour is coming when all the race of Adam, as many as sleep in the ‘dust’ of the earth, unable to raise themselves from thence, quickened and called forth by the voice of the Son of Man, must bow the knee to King Messiah.”—John Morison.

Verse 29.—To be brought to the dust, is, first, a circumlocution or description of death: “Shall the dust praise thee, shall it declare thy truth?” Psalm xxx. 9. That is shall I praise thee when I am among the dead? “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit?” Not that profit, sure, I cannot bring thee in the tribute of praise when my life’s gone out. Secondly, to be brought to the dust is a description of any low and poor condition. “All they that be fat upon earth” (that is, the great and mighty), “shall eat and worship” “all they that go down to the dust” (that is, the mean and base), “shall bow before him.” As if he had said, rich and poor, high and low, the king and the beggar, have alike need of salvation by Jesus Christ, and must submit unto him, that they may be saved, for, as it there follows, “none can keep alive his own soul.” The captivity of the Jews in Babylon is expressed under those notions of death, and of dwelling in the dust (Isaiah xxvi. 19); to show how low, that no power but his who can raise the dead, could work their deliverance.—Joseph Caryl.

Verse 29.—“None can keep alive his own soul.” And yet we look back to our conversion, and its agonies of earnestness, its feelings of deep, helpless dependence—of Christ’s being absolutely our daily, hourly need—supplier—as a past something—a stage of spiritual life which is over. And we are satisfied to have it so. The Spirit of God moved over our deadness, and breathed into us the breath of life. My soul became a living soul. But was this enough? God’s word says, No. “None can keep alive his own soul.” My heart says, No. Truth must ever answer to truth. I cannot (ah! have I not tried, and failed?) I cannot keep alive my own soul. We cannot live upon ourselves. Our physical life is kept up by supply from without—air, food, warmth. So must the spiritual life. Jesus gives, Jesus feeds us day by day, else must the life fade out and die. “None can keep alive his own soul.” It is not enough to be made alive. I must be fed, and guided, and taught, and kept in life. Mother, who hast brought a living babe into the world, is your work done? Will you not nurse it, and feed it, and care for it, that it may be kept alive? Lord, I am this babe. I live indeed, for I can crave and cry. Leave me not, O my Saviour. Forsake not the work of thine own hands. In thee I live. Hold me, carry me, feed me, let me abide in thee. “For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.” In our work for God, we need to remember this. Is not the conversion, the arousing of sinners, the great, and with many, the sole aim in working for God? Should it be so? Let us think of this other work. Let us help to keep alive. Perhaps it is less distinguished, as it may be less distinguished to feed a starving child than to rescue a drowning man. But let us walk less by sight, more by faith. Let us not indeed neglect to call to life those who are spiritually dead. But oh! let us watch for the more hidden needs of the living—the fading, starving, fainting souls, which yet can walk and speak, and cover their want and sorrow. Let us be fellow-workers with God in all his work. And with a deep heart-feeling of the need of constant life supplies from above, let us try how often, how freely, we may be made the channels of those streams of the “water of life,”—for “none can keep alive his own soul.”—Mary B. M. Duncan, in “Bible Hours,” 1866.

Verse 29.—Having considered the vastness and glory of the prospect, our Lord next contemplates the reality and minuteness of its accomplishment. He sets before his mind individual cases and particular facts. He appears to look upon this picture of the future as we do upon a grand historical painting of the past. It seems natural to gaze with silent admiration on the picture as a whole, then to fix the attention on particular groups, and testify our sense of the general excellence, by expatiating on the truth and beauty of the several parts.—John Stevenson.

Verse 30.—“A seed shall serve him.” This figurative expression signifies Christ and his people, who yield true obedience to God—they are called by this name in a spiritual and figurative, but most appropriate sense. The idea is taken from the operations of the husbandman who carefully reserves every year a portion of his grain for seed. Though it be small, compared with all the produce of his harvest, yet he prizes it very highly and estimates it by the value of that crop which it may yield in the succeeding autumn. Nor does he look only to the quantity, he pays particular regard to the quality of the seed. He reserves only the best, nay, he will put away his own if spoiled, that he may procure better. The very smallest quantity of really good seed, is, to him, an object of great desire, and if by grievous failure of crops, he should not be able to procure more than a single grain, yet would he accept it thankfully, preserve it carefully, and plant it in the most favourable soil. Such is the source from which the metaphor is taken.—John Stevenson.

Verse 31.—“And shall declare his righteousness.” The occupation of the seed is to “declare,” to testify from their own experience, from their own knowledge and convictions, that grand subject, theme, or lesson, which they have learned.... They will declare the righteousness of God the Holy Ghost in his convictions of sin, in his reproofs of conscience, in his forsaking of the impenitent, and in his abiding with the believer. And in a special manner, they will declare the righteousness of God the Son, during his human life, in his sufferings, and death, as man’s surety, by which he “magnified the law, and made it honourable” (Isa. xlii. 21), and on account of which they are able to address him by this name, “The Lord our Righteousness.” (Jer. xxiii. 6.)—John Stevenson.

Verse 31.—“A people that shall be born.” What is this? What people is there that is not born? According to my apprehensions I think this is said for this reason—because the people of other kings are formed by laws, by customs, and by manners; by which, however, you can never move a man to true righteousness: it is only a fable of righteousness, and a mere theatrical scene or representation. For even the law of Moses could form the people of the Jews unto nothing but unto hypocrisy. But the people of this King are not formed by laws to make up an external appearance, but they are begotten by water and by the Spirit unto a new creature of truth.—Martin Luther.