Hints to Preachers

Verse 1.—The art of tranquillity.—W. Jones.

Verses 1, 2.—A frequent temptation, and a double corrective—a sight of sinners in death and in hell.

Verse 2.—How and when the wicked perish.

Verse 3.—I. A combination descriptive of holy living. II. A combination descriptive of happy living.

Verse 3.—The believer portrayed. I. His object of trust. II. His mode of life. III. His place of abode. IV. His certainty of provision.

Verse 3 (last clause).—Read it in four ways. I. “Certainly fed,” or the certainty of supply. II. “Fed in verity,” or the sufficiency of the provision for soul and body. III. “Fed on truth,” or the spirituality of the provision. IV. “Feed on truth,” or the duty of choosing such provision.

Verse 4.—Explain the delight and the desire of the believer, and show the connection between them.

Verses 5, 6.—The higher life. I. Based on hearty resignation. II. Sustained by faith. III. Constantly unfolded by the Lord. IV. Consummated in meridian splendour.

Verse 6.—Sweet comfort for slandered saints. Where their character now is. Who shall reveal it. The gradual yet sure manner of the revelation, and the glorious conclusion.

Verse 7.—“Rest in the Lord.” What? Where? When? Why? How?

Verse 7.—Peace, patience, self-possession.

Verse 7.—Stillness in God.—Bishop Wilberforce.

Verse 7.—“Rest in the Lord.” I. Rest in the will of God, for whatever he wills is for your good, your highest good. II. Rest in the love of God, and often meditate on the words of Jesus on this point, “Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.” III. Rest in the mercy of God. IV. Rest in the word of God. V. Rest in the relation thy God fills to thee; he is the Father. VI. Rest in the Lord as he is manifested in Jesus, thy God in covenant.—James Smith.

Verse 8.—A SERMON FOR THE FRETFUL. I. Cease from present anger. It is madness, it is sin; it shuts out our prayers; it will grow into malice; it may lead to worse. II. Forsake it for the future. Repent of it, watch temper, discipline thy passion, etc. III. Avoid all kindred feelings of fretfulness, impatience, envy, etc., for they lead to evil.

Verse 9.—How the humble are the true lords of the land.

Verse 10.—I. Consider what the departed sinner has left. Possessions, joys, honours, aims, hopes, etc. II. Consider where he has gone. III. Consider whether you will share the same lot.

Verses 10, 11.—Terror to the wicked: comfort to believers.—A Farindon.

Verse 11.—The meek man’s delight, or “the harvest of a quiet eye.”

Verse 14.—Upright conversation.—I. What it excludes. The horizontal or earthly, the crooked or crafty, the slanting or sinister. II. What it includes. Motive, object, language, action. III. What it achieves. It stands like a pillar; it supports like a column; it ascends like a tower; it adorns like a monument; it illuminates like a Pharos.

Verse 15.—The self-destructive nature of evil.

Verse 16.—How to make much of a little.

Verses 16, 17.—I. The owners contrasted. II. The possessions compared. III. The preference given. IV. The reasons declared.

Verse 17 (last clause).—I. The favoured persons. II. Their evident need, “upholding.” III. Their singular blessedness, “upheld,” above trial, under trial, after trial. IV. Their august Patron.

Verse 18.—The comforts derivable from a consideration of the divine knowledge. The eternity of the righteous man’s possessions.

Verse 18.—I. The persons, “the upright.” II. The period, “their days.” These are known to God—(1) He knows them kindly and graciously; (2) He knows their number; (3) He knows the nature of them. III. The portion, “their inheritance shall be for ever.”—William Jay.

Verse 18 (last clause).—What it is. How they come by it. How long they hold it.

Verse 19.—Good words for hard times.

Verse 21.—Monetary transactions tests of character.

Verse 22.—The divine blessing the secret of happiness. The divine displeasure the essence of misery.

Verses 23, 24.—I. The divine predestination. II. The divine delight. III. The divine support.

Verse 24.—Temporary trials. I. To be expected. II. Have their limit. III. Have their results. IV. Our secret comfort under them.

What may be. What cannot be. What shall be.

Verse 25.—Memorandum of an aged observer.

Verse 26.—The righteous man’s merciful disposition, generous action, and rich reward.

Verse 26.—The benediction of the good man’s family: what it is, and what it is not.

Verse 27.—Negative, positive, remunerative.

Verse 28.—I. The Lord’s love of right. II. His faithfulness to the righteous. III. Their sure preservation thus doubly guaranteed. IV. The doom of the wicked thus certified.

Verse 29.—Canaan as a type of the righteous man’s inheritance.

Verse 30.—Our speech as a test of godliness.

Verse 31.—I. The best thing. II. In the best place. III. With the best of results.

Verses 32, 33.—Our enemies; their inveterate malice; our safeguard and justification.

Verse 34.—I. A twofold admonition: 1. “Wait on the Lord.” 2. “And keep his way;” wait and work, wait and walk, get grace and exercise it. II. A two-fold promise: 1. “He shall exalt thee to inherit the land;” God is the source of all elevation and honour. 2. “When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it;” and they will be cut off.—William Jay.

Verse 34.—Patient faith, persevering holiness, and promised exaltation.

Verse 34 (last clause).—Emotions caused in the godly by a sight of the sinner’s doom.

Verse 34 (last clause).—The wicked are often cut off—1. Even in life, from their places, and riches, and prospects. 2. At death they are cut off from all their possessions and comforts. 3. In the last day they will be cut off from “the resurrection of life.”—William Jay.

Verses 35, 36, 37.—Three memorable scenes. I. The imposing spectacle. II. The astounding disappearance. III. The delightful exit.

Verses 39, 40.—I. The doctrines of grace condensed. II. The experience of the gracious epitomised. III. The promises of grace summarised. IV. The grandest evidence of grace declared: “because they trust in him.”