Hints to Preachers

Verse 1.—I. My part—praying and waiting. II. God’s part—condescension and reply.

Verse 2.—I. The depth of God’s goodness to his people. It finds them often in a horrible pit and miry clay. There is a certain spider which forms a pit in sand, and lies concealed at the bottom, in order to seize upon other insects that fall into it. Thus David’s enemies tried to bring him into a pit. II. The height of his goodness. He brought me out, and set my feet upon a rock. That rock is Christ. Those feet are faith and hope. III. The breadth of his goodness established my goings, restored me to my former place in his love, showing me still to have been his during my low estate. He was the same to me, though I felt not the same to him. My goings refer both to the past and the future. IV. The strength of his goodness established my goings, making me stand firmer after every fall.—George Rogers.

Verses 2, 3.—The sinner’s position by nature, and his rescue by grace.

Verses 2, 3.—By one and the same act the Lord works our salvation, our enemies’ confusion, and the church’s edification.—J. P. Lange’s Commentary.

Verse 3.—The new song, the singer, the teacher.

Verse 4 (last clause).—I. Find out who turn aside to lies—Atheists, Papists, self-righteous, lovers of sin. II. Show their folly in turning aside from God and truth, and in turning to fallacies which lead to death. III. Show how to be preserved from the like folly, by choosing truth, truthful persons, and above all the service of God.

Verse 5.—I. There are works of God in his people and for his people. There are his works of creation, of providence, and of redemption, and also his works of grace, wrought in them by his Spirit, and around them by his providence, as well as for them by his Son. II. These are wonderful works; wonderful in their variety, their tenderness, their adaptation to their need, their co-operation with outward means and their power. III. They are the result of the divine thoughts respecting us. They come not by chance, not by men, but by the hand of God, and that hand is moved by his will, and that will by his thought respecting us. Every mercy, even the least, represents some kind thought in the mind of God respecting us. God thinks of each one of his people, and every moment. IV. They are innumerable. “They cannot be reckoned up.” Could we see all the mercies of God to us and his wonderful works wrought for us individually, they would be countless as the sands, and all these countless mercies represent countless thoughts in the mind and heart of God to each one of his people.—George Rogers.

Verse 5.—The multitude of God’s thoughts, and deeds of grace, beginning in eternity, continuing for ever; and dealing with this life, heaven, hell, sin, angels, devils, and indeed all things.

Verse 6.—Here David goes beyond himself, and speaks the language of David’s Son. This was naturally suggested by God’s wonderful works, and innumerable thoughts of love to man. I. The sacrifices that were not required. These were the sacrifices and burnt-offerings under the law. 1. When required? From Adam to the coming of Christ. 2. When not required? 3. Why required before? As types of the one method of redemption. 4. Why not now required? Because the great Antetype had come. II. The sacrifice that was required. This was the sacrifice offered on Calvary. 1. It was required by God by his justice, his wisdom, his faithfulness, his love, his honour, his glory. 2. It was required by man to give him salvation and confidence in that salvation. 3. It was required for the honour of the moral government of God throughout the universe. III. The person by whom this sacrifice was offered. “Mine ears hast thou opened.” This is the language of Christ, prospectively denoting—1. Knowledge of the sacrifice required. 2. Consecration of himself as a servant for that end.—George Rogers.

Verse 6.—“Mine ears hast thou opened.” Readiness to hear, fixity of purpose, perfection of obedience, entireness of consecration.

Verses 6-8.—The Lord gives an ear to hear his word, a mouth to confess it, a heart to love it, and power to keep it.

Verse 7.—I. The time of Christ’s coming. “Then said I.” When types were exhausted, when prophecies looked for their fulfilment, when worldly wisdom had done its utmost, when the world was almost entirely united under one empire, when the time appointed by the Father had come. II. The design of his coming. “In the volume” was written—1. The constitution of his person. 2. His teaching. 3. The manner of his life. 4. The design of his death. 5. His resurrection and ascension. 6. The kingdom he would establish. III. The voluntariness of his coming, “Lo, I come.” Though sent by the Father, he came of his own accord. “Christ Jesus came into the world.” Men do not come into the world, they are sent into it. “Lo, I come,” denotes pre-existence, pre-determination, pre-operation.—George Rogers.

Verse 8.—“To do thy will, O God.” I. The will of God is seen in the fact of salvation. It has its origin in the will of God. II. The will of God is seen in the plan of salvation. All things have proceeded, are proceeding, and will proceed according to that plan. III. It is seen in the provision of salvation, in the appointment of his own Son to become the mediator, the atoning sacrifice, the law-fulfiller, the head of the church, that his plan required. IV. It is seen in the accomplishment of salvation.

Verse 9.—Referring to our Lord; a great preacher, a great subject, a great congregation, and his great faithfulness in the work.

Verse 10 (first clause).—I. The righteousness possessed by God. II. The righteousness prescribed by God. III. The righteousness provided by God.—James Frame.

Verse 10.—I. The preacher must reveal his whole message. II. He must not conceal any part. 1. Not of the righteousness of the law or the gospel. 2. Not of the lovingkindness of grace. 3. Not of any portion of the truth. 1. To omit is to conceal. 2. To entangle with human reasonings. 3. To cover with flowers of rhetoric. 4. To give a partial representation. 5. To put one truth in the place of another. 6. To give the letter without the spirit.—G. R.

Verse 10.—The great sin of concealing what we know of God.

Verse 11.—Enrichment and preservation sought. The true riches are from God, gifts of his sovereignty, fruits of his mercy, marked with his tenderness. The best preservations are divine love and faithfulness.

Verse 12.—Compare this with verse 5. The number of our sins, and the number of his thoughts of love.

Verse 12 (second clause).—I. The soul arrested—“taken hold.” II. The soul bewildered—“cannot look up.” III. The soul’s only refuge—prayer, ver. 13.

Verse 13.—I. The language of believing prayer—deliver me, help me; looking for deliverance and help to God only. II. Of earnest prayer—make haste to help me. III. Of submissive prayer—be pleased, O Lord, if according to thy good pleasure. IV. Of consistent prayer. Help me, which implies efforts for his own deliverance, putting his own shoulder to the wheel.

Verses 11-13.—As an instance of clerical ingenuity, it may be well to mention that Canon Wordsworth has a sermon from these verses upon “The duty of making responses in public prayer.”

Verse 14.—Honi soit qui mal y pense; or, the reward of malignity.

Verse 16 (last clause).—An every-day saying. Who can use it? What does it mean? Why should they say it? Why say it continually?

Verse 17.—The humble “But,” and the believing “Yet.” The little “I am,” and the great “Thou art.” The fitting prayer.

Verse 17.—“The Lord thinketh upon me.” Admire the condescension, and then consider that this is—I. A promised blessing. II. A practical blessing—he thinks upon us to supply, protect, direct, sanctify, etc. III. A precious blessing—kind thoughts, continual, greatly good. He thinks of us as his creatures with pity, as his children with love, as his friends with pleasure. IV. A present blessing—promises, providences, visitations of grace.

Verse 17.—I. The less we think of ourselves the more God will think upon us. II. The less we put trust in ourselves the more we may trust in God for help and deliverance. III. The less delay in prayer and active efforts the sooner God will appear for us.