Psalms 143:8

Cast forth lightning - See the note Psa 18:13-14 (note). Verse 7 Deliver me out of great waters - See the note Psa 18:16. Verse 9 I will sing a new song - A song of peculiar excellence. I will pour forth all my gratitude, and all my skill, on its composition. See on Psa 33:2 (note), and Psa 33:3 (note). Verse 10 He that giveth salvation unto kings - Monarchy, in the principle, is from God: it is that form of government which, in the course of the Divine providence, has principally prevailed; and that which, on the whole, has been most beneficial to mankind. God, therefore, has it under his peculiar protection. It is by him that kings reign; and by his special providence they are protected. Verse 12 That our sons may be as plants - God had promised to his people, being faithful, Three descriptions of Blessings, Deu 28:4. 1. The fruit of the body - sons and daughters. 2. The fruits of the ground - grass and corn in sufficient plenty. 3. Fruit of the cattle-"the increase of kine, and flocks of sheep." These are the blessings to wnich the psalmist refers here, as those in which he might at present exult and triumph: blessings actually enjoyed by his people at large; proofs of his mild and paternal government, and of the especial blessing of the Almighty. The people who there in such a state, and revolted, had no excuse: they were doubly guilty, as ungrateful both to God and man. Verse 13 That our garners, etc. - Our garners are full. These are not prayers put up by David for such blessings: but assertions, that such blessings were actually in possession. All these expressions should be understood in the present tense. Ten thousands in our streets - בחצתינו bechutsotheynu should be translated in our pens or sheep-walks; for sheep bringing forth in the streets of cities or towns is absurd. Verse 14 Our oxen may be strong to labor - We have not only an abundance of cattle; but they are of the most strong and vigorous breed. No breaking in - So well ordered is the police of the kingdom, that there are no depredations, no robbers, house-breakers, or marauding parties, in the land; no sudden incursions of neighboring tribes or banditti breaking into fields or houses, carrying away property, and taking with them the people to sell them into captivity: there is no such breaking in, and no such going out, in the nation. My enemies are either become friends, and are united with me in political interests; or are, through fear, obliged to stand aloof. Verse 15 Happy is that people - "O how happy are the people!" Such were his people; and they had not only all this secular happiness, but they had Jehovah for their God; and in him had a ceaseless fountain of strength, protection, earthly blessings, and eternal mercies! A people in such a case to rebel, must have the curse of God and man. Introduction God is praised for his unsearchable greatness, Psa 145:1, Psa 145:2; for his majesty and terrible acts, Psa 145:3, Psa 145:6; for his goodness and tender mercies to all, Psa 145:7-9; for his power and kingdom, Psa 145:10-13; for his kindness to the distressed, Psa 145:14; for his providence, Psa 145:15-17. He hears and answers prayer, Psa 145:18-20. All should praise him, Psa 145:21. This Psalm is attributed to David by the Hebrew and all the Versions. It is the last of the acrostic Psalms; and should contain twenty-two verses, as answering to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet; but the verse between the thirteenth and fourteenth, beginning with the letter נ nun, is lost out of the present Hebrew copies; but a translation of it is found in the Syriac, Septuagint, Vulgate, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. See below. It is an incomparable Psalm of praise; and the rabbins have it in such high estimation, that they assert, if a man with sincerity of heart repeat it three times a-day, he shall infallibly enjoy the blessings of the world to come. It does not appear on what particular occasion it was composed; or, indeed, whether there was any occasion but gratitude to God for his ineffable favors to mankind. Verse 1

Morning - Seasonably and speedily.

Prayers for Divine Grace. 7 Hear me speedily, O Lord : my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. 9 Deliver me, O Lord , from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. 10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. 11 Quicken me, O Lord , for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. 12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. David here tells us what he said when he stretched forth his hands unto God; he begins not only as one in earnest, but as one in haste: " Hear me speedily, and defer no longer, for my spirit faileth. I am just ready to faint; reach the cordial—quickly, quickly, or I am gone." It was not a haste of unbelief, but of vehement desire and holy love. Make haste, O God! to help me. Three things David here prays for:— I. The manifestations of God's favour towards him, that God would be well pleased with him and let him know that he was so; this he prefers before any good, Ps. iv. 6 . 1. He dreads God's frowns: "Lord, hide not thy face from me; Lord, be not angry with me, do not turn from me, as we do from one we are displeased with; Lord, let me not be left under the apprehensions of thy anger or in doubt concerning thy favour; if I have thy favour, let it not be hidden from me." Those that have the truth of grace cannot but desire the evidence of it. He pleads the wretchedness of his case if God withdrew from him: "Lord, let me not lie under thy wrath, for then I am like those that go down to the pit, that is, down to the grave (I am a dead man, weak, and pale, and ghastly; thy frowns are worse than death), or down to hell, the bottomless pit." Even those who through grace are delivered from going down to the pit may sometimes, when the terrors of the Almighty set themselves in array against them, look like those who are going to the pit. Disconsolate saints have sometimes cried out of the wrath of God, as if they had been damned sinners, Job vi. 4 ; Ps. lxxxviii. 6 . 2. He entreats God's favour ( v. 8 ): Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. He cannot but think that God has a kindness for him, that he has some kind things to say to him, some good words and comfortable words; but the present hurry of his affairs, and tumult of his spirits, drowned those pleasing whispers; and therefore he begs, "Lord, do not only speak kindly to me, but cause me to hear it, to hear joy and gladness, " Ps. li. 8 . God speaks to us by his word and by his providence, and in both we should desire and endeavour to hear his lovingkindness ( Ps. cvii. 43 ), that we may set that always before us: " Cause me to hear it in the morning, every morning; let my waking thoughts be of God's lovingkindness, that the sweet relish of that may abide upon my spirits all the day long." His plea is, " For in thee do I trust, and in thee only; I look not for comfort in any other." God's goodness is commonly wrought for those who trust in him ( Ps. xxxi. 8 ), who by faith draw it out. II. The operations of God's grace in him. Those he is as earnest for as for the tokens of God's favour to him, and so should we be. He prays, 1. That he might be enlightened with the knowledge of God's will; and this is the first work of the Spirit, in order to his other works, for God deals with men as men, as reasonable creatures. Here are three petitions to this effect:— (1.) Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. Sometimes those that are much in care to walk right are in doubt, and in the dark, which is the right way. Let them come boldly to the throne of grace, and beg of God, by his word, and Spirit, and providence, to show them the way, and prevent their missing it. A good man does not ask what is the way in which he must walk, or in which is the most pleasant walking, but what is the right way, the way in which he should walk. He pleads, " I lift up my soul unto thee, to be moulded and fashioned according to thy will." He did not only importunately, but impartially, desire to know his duty; and those that do so shall be taught. (2.) " Teach me to do thy will, not only show me what thy will is, but teach me how to do it, how to turn my hand dexterously to my duty." It is the desire and endeavour of all God's faithful servants to know and to do his will, and to stand complete in it. He pleads, " Thou art my God, and therefore my oracle, by whom I may expect to be advised—my God, and therefore my ruler, whose will I desire to do." If we do in sincerity take God for our God, we may depend upon him to teach us to do his will, as a master does his servant. (3.) Lead me into the land of uprightness, into the communion of saints, that pleasant land of the upright, or into a settled course of holy living, which will lead to heaven, that land of uprightness where holiness will be in perfection, and he that is holy shall be holy still. We should desire to be led, and kept safe, to heaven, not only because it is a land of blessedness, but because it is a land of uprightness; it is the perfection of grace. We cannot find the way that will bring us to that land unless God show us, nor go in that way unless he take us by the hand and lead us, as we lead those that are weak, or lame, or timorous, or dim-sighted; so necessary is the grace of God, not only to put us into the good way, but to keep us and carry us on in it. The plea is, " Thy Spirit is good, and able to make me good," good and willing to help those that are at a loss. Those that have the Lord for their God have his Spirit for their guide; and it is both their character and their privilege that they are led by the Spirit. 2. He prays that he might be enlivened to do his will ( v. 11 ): " Quicken me, O Lord! —quicken my devotions, that they may be lively; quicken me to my duty, and quicken me in it; and this for thy name's sake. " The best saints often find themselves dull, and dead, and slow, and therefore pray to God to quicken them. III. The appearance of God's providence for him, 1. That God would, in his own way and time, give him rest from his troubles ( v. 9 ): " Deliver me, O Lord! from my enemies, that they may not have their will against me; for I flee unto thee to hide me; I trust to thee to defend me in my trouble, and therefore to rescue me out of it." Preservations are pledges of salvation, and those shall find God their hiding-place who by faith make him such. He explains himself ( v. 11 ): " For thy righteousness-sake, bring my soul out of trouble, for thy promise-sake, nay, for thy mercy-sake" (for some by righteousness understand kindness and goodness ); "do not only deliver me from my outward trouble, but from the trouble of my soul, the trouble that threatens to overwhelm my spirit. Whatever trouble I am in, Lord, let not my heart be troubled," John xiv. 1 . 2. That he would reckon with those that were the instruments of his trouble ( v. 12 ): " Of thy mercy to me cut off my enemies, that I may be no longer in fear of them; and destroy all those, whoever they be, how numerous, how powerful, soever, who afflict my soul, and create vexation to that; for I am thy servant, and am resolved to continue such, and therefore may expect to be owned and protected in thy service." This prayer is a prophecy of the utter destruction of all the impenitent enemies of Jesus Christ and his kingdom, who will not have him to reign over them, who grieve his Spirit, and afflict his soul, by afflicting his people, in whose afflictions he is afflicted.