Hints to Preachers

Title.—House dedication, and how to arrange it.

Whole Psalm.—In this ode we may see the workings of David’s mind before, and under, and after, the affliction. I. Before the affliction: 6. II. Under the affliction: 7—10. III. After the affliction: 11, 12.—William Jay.

Verse 1 (first clause).—God and his people exalting each other.

Verse 1 (second clause).—The happiness of being preserved so as not to be the scorn of our enemies.

Verse 1.—The disappointments of the devil.

Verse 2.—The sick man, the physician, the night-bell, the medicine, and the cure; or, a covenant God, a sick saint, a crying heart, a healing hand.

Verse 3.—Upbringing and preservation, two choice mercies; made the more illustrious by two terrible evils, “grave,” and “pit”; traced immediately to the Lord, “thou hast.”

Verse 4.—Song, a sacred service; “saints” especially called to it; divine holiness, a choice subject for it; Memory, an admirable aid in it.

Verse 5.—The anger of God in relation to his people.

Verse 5.—The night of weeping, and the morning of joy.

Verse 5.—“Life” in God’s “favour.”

Verse 5.—The transient nature of the believer’s trouble, and the permanence of his joy.

Verse 6.—The peculiar dangers of “prosperity.”

Verses 6-12.—David’s prosperity had lulled him into a state of undue security: God sent him this affliction to rouse him from it. The successive frames of his mind are here clearly marked; and must successively be considered as they are here presented to our view. I. His carnal security. II. His spiritual dereliction. III. His fervent prayers. IV. His speedy recovery. V. His grateful acknowledgments.—Charles Simeon.

Verse 7 (first clause).—Carnal security; its causes, dangers, and cures.

Verse 7 (last clause).—The gracious bemoanings of a soul in spiritual darkness.

Verse 8, in connection with verse 3, prayer the universal remedy.

Verse 9 (first clause).—Arguments with God for continued life and renewed favour.

Verse 9 (last clause).—The resurrection, a time in which the “dust” shall “praise” God, and “declare” his “truth.”

Verse 10.—Two gems of prayer; short, but full and needful.

Verse 10.—“Lord, be thou my helper.” I see many fall; I shall fall too except thou hold me up. I am weak; I am exposed to temptation. My heart is deceitful. My enemies are strong. I cannot trust in man; I dare not trust in myself. The grace I have received will not keep me without thee. “Lord, be thou my helper.” In every duty; in every conflict; in every trial; in every effort to promote the Lord’s cause; in every season of prosperity; in every hour we live, this short and inspired prayer is suitable. May it flow from our hearts, be often on our lips, and be answered in our experience. For if the Lord help us, there is no duty which we cannot perform; there is no foe which we cannot overcome; there is no difficulty which we cannot surmount.—James Smith’s Daily Remembrancer.

Verse 11.—Transformations. Sudden; complete; divine, “thou;” personal, “for me;” gracious.

Verse 11.—Holy dancing: open up the metaphor.

Verse 11.—The believer’s change of raiment: illustrate by life of Mordecai or Joseph; mention all the garbs the believer is made to wear, as a mourner, a beggar, a criminal, etc.

Verse 12.—Our “glory,” and its relation to God’s glory.

Verse 12.—The end of gracious dispensations.

Verse 12.—Silence—when sinful.

Verse 12 (last clause).—The believer’s vow, and the time for making it. See the whole Psalm.