Hints to Preachers

Verse 1.—“O Lord, our Lord.”—Personal appropriation of the Lord as ours. The privilege of holding such a portion.

“How excellent,” etc. The excellence of the name and nature of God in all places, and under all circumstances.

Sermon or lecture upon the glory of God in creation and providence.

“In all the earth.” The universal revelation of God in nature and its excellency.

“Thy glory above the heavens.” The incomprehensible and infinite glory of God.

“Above the heavens.” The glory of God outsoaring the intellect of angels, and the splendour of heaven.

Verse 2.—Infant piety, its possibility, potency, “strength,” and influence, “that thou mightest still,” etc.

The strength of the gospel not the result of eloquence or wisdom in the speaker.

Great results from small causes when the Lord ordains to work.

Great things which can be said and claimed by babes in grace.

The stilling of the powers of evil by the testimony of feeble believers.

The stilling of the Great Enemy by the conquests of grace.

Verse 4.—Man’s insignificance. God’s mindfulness of man. Divine visits. The question, “What is man?” Each of these themes may suffice for a discourse, or they may be handled in one sermon.

Verse 5.—Man’s relation to the angels.

The position which Jesus assumed for our sakes.

Manhood’s crown—the glory of our nature in the person of the Lord Jesus.

Verses 5, 6, 7, 8.—The universal providential dominion of our Lord Jesus.

Verse 6.—Man’s rights and responsibilities towards the lower animals.

Verse 6.—Man’s dominion over the lower animals, and how he should exercise it.

Verse 6 (second clause).—The proper place for all worldly things, “under his feet.”

Verse 9.—The wanderer in many climes enjoying the sweetness of his Lord’s name in every condition.