I. THE PSALMIST'S PRACTICE (r-7). Expression of Messiah's Faith. 1. The Prayer of Faith (I). For Preservation. Petition and Plea. 2. Th¾ Profession of Faith (2).
now worshipped as gods, 4. Let Jehovah Himself be my joy, 5. Covetousness is just the craving of a heart unsatisfied with its portion. The desired thing then becomes a god; Col. iii. 5; Phil. iii. 19, where "the belly"= the seat of craving. Be in happy possession of the heavenly portion, 5-6, see Eph. i. 3. Daily counsel comes by (a) Direct message revealed by the accepted Word; (b) Discriminating judgment resulting from-the assimilated Word, 7. Led by Jehovah and learning from Him, we shall not go astray, 7. Night is ordained of God, not for sleep alone, but as a season of quiet for meditation, 7. Note the "always," 8; for ourselves dare we change it to "some times"? The path of life (11) leads to the Source of life. The joy of heaven is to be with the Lord. The glorified One .is the crucified One; we shall see Him as He is only to find Him just what He was. Note the pilgrims (a) Preceptor, "Thou"; (b) Person, "me"; (e) Path; and (d) Prospect, "life" (11). VERSE NOTES 1. "Preserve me, 0 El (Mighty One), for in Thee have I taken refuge," c£ vii. l. 2. ff. A.V. to be preferred here. Messiah's absolute obedience before God would entitle Him to a place far different from the death of the cross. His "goodness" was for the saints, hence it was' an obedience unto death, Phil. ii. 8; cf. Matt. xiii. 44. On the two verses note that chrise s life as man was a true life of faith, cf Heb. ii. 13; xii. 2. He completed the whole course. The glory of His Godhead must not obscure for us the truth of His perfect Manhood. He is able to sympathise with us in every sinless human experience, Heb. iv. 15. 3. In grace Christ thus accounts His people; made saints by His calling (1 Cor. i. 2 ). He views also the time of perfect consummation, when the glory of His workmanship will be seen in them. 4. (b) c£ Isa. lxvi. 3; (c) "their names," i.e. of the false gods; see Exod. xxiii. 13; Hosea ii. 17; Zech. xiii. 2. The special sin of the legal dispensation, idolatry, is here denounced by Messiah. Idolatry was not unknown in the days of our Lord, esp. in "Galilee of the Gentiles" where so much of His life was spent; e.g. among the Herods and their many heathen courtiers, governors, soldiers, etc. 5. lit. "Jehovah is the measure of my portion (of food) and my cup," i.e. He is all I need to satisfy both hunger and thirst, John vi. 35. "Portion" is what belongs to a person, whether he enjoys it or not; "cup" indicates actual enjoyment. Wtth our Lord, His portion and His joy were one-Jehovah was the measure of both; He had nothing beside, He wanted nothing beside; ctr. two evils, Jer. ii. 13. The Lord was a true Levite, Deut. x. 9; xviii. 1; Num. xviii. 20. Note the inheritance is a pleasant possession, and a permanent possession {6). 6. "lines" = portions ofland measured by li.ne and distributed by lot; language
here still figurative; (b) "Yea, fair (or, lovdy) is (my) heritage to me"; see Eph. i. 18 and c£ above, verse 3. 7. C£ xxxii. 8; lxxiii. 24; see 1 Sam. xxx. 7-8; xxiii. 2, 4, 6, 9; ctr. Saul, who by slaying the priests (r Sam. xxii. 18-20) bereft himself of those through whom hemighthaveconsultedJehovah, hence r Chron. x. 13; 1 Sam. xxviii. 6-7; (b) "Yea, that in the night seasons my reins ( = inmost self) admonish (lit. bind) me," c£ Matt. v., where the Lord insists upon this secret life before God. 8. Here is "the J?ractice of the Presence of God," (b) "at my right hand," i.e. as advocate ( cxix. 31) or champion ( ex. 5 ; cxxi. 5 ). "h " h ul "' 1 "fl h " th b d eart, ere = so ; g ory, = sp1nt; es , = e o y. an IS a tripartite being, 1 Thess. v. 23. The spirit is the highest part of man, and seat of the intdligence. It distinguishes him from the lower animals and links him with God Who is Spirit, c£ Gen. ii. 7; Job xxvii. 3; xxxiii. 4. The soul is both the life principle and the seat of the emotions, whereby spirit and body are linked. The body is the organism through which the soul expresses itself. It links man with the lower creation. The spirit makes man God-conscious; the soul makes him self-conscious; the body makes him world-conscious. Both soul and spirit are said to rejoice in God, see Lu.\:e i. 46-47; Ps. xxxv. 9; Isa. lxi. 10; Hab. iii. 18, and elsewhere. Our rejoicing is to be not only emotional (soulful) but spiritually intelligent. (b) "dwell in safety," or, rest secure; for the phrase c£ Deut. xxxiii. 12, 28; Jer. xxiii. 6; "corruption" sometimes=the pit, the grave. Of David, the passage primarily means preservation from death; of Christ it certainly means preservation through death, see citations in Acts. IO. "Holy One" = Godly, or Belqved One. II. lit. "Thou wilt cause me to know ... " c£ cxliii. 8. He who descended also ascended; (b) lit. "Fulness of joys-Thy presence," c£ Heb. xii. 2; (c) "right hand" = place of approbation; c£ close of next psalm where a similar promise is for the saints .. Whatever special rewards are given, there will be approbation for all. The fruit of our work can never equal the fruit of our Lord's work, hence the common joys we shall share above will be the deepest. Note: (a) Pleasures of sin for the Wicked, Heb. xi. 25; (b) Pleasures of this life for the Wordly, Luke viii. 14; (c) Pleasures for evermore for the Wise, Ps. xvi. II.
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