Expositions of the Psalms. BY C. H. SPURGEON. PSALM I. TITLE.-This Psalm is in some measure to be regarded as THE PREFACE PSALM, having in it a notification of the contents of the entire Book. It is the Psalmist's desire to teach us the way to blessedness, and to warn us of the sure destruction of sinners. This, then, is the matter of the first Psalm, which may be looked upon, in some respects, as the text upon which the whole of the Psalms make up a divine sermon. DIVISION.—This Psalm consists of two parts: in the first (from verse 1 to the end of the 3rd) David sets out wherein the felicity and blessedness of a godly man consisteth, what his exercises are, and what blessings he shall receive from the Lord. In the second part (from verse 4 to the end) he contrasts the state and character of the ungodly, reveals the future, and describes, in telling language, his ultimate doom. EXPOSITION. BLES LESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. "BLESSED,”—See how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction, even as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount. The word translated "blessed" is a very expressive one. The original word is plural, and it is a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom God hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, "O the blessednesses!" and we may well regard it (as Ainsworth does) as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity. May the like benediction rest on us! Here the gracious man is described both negatively (verse 1) and positively (verse 2). He is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He takes wiser counsel, and walks in the commandments of the Lord his God. To him the ways of piety are paths of peace and pleasantness. His footsteps are ordered by the Word of God, and not by the cunning and wicked devices of carnal men. It is a rich sign of inward grace when the outward walk is changed, and when ungodliness is put far from our actions. Note next, he standeth not in the way of sinners. His company is of a choicer sort than it was. Although a sinner himself, he is now a blood-washed sinner, quickened by the Holy Spirit, and renewed in heart. Standing by the rich grace of God in the congregation of the righteous, he dares not herd with the multitude that do evil. Again it is said, 66 nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." He finds no rest in the atheist's scoffings. Let others make a mock of sin, of eternity, of hell and heaven, and of the Eternal God; this man has learned better philosophy than that of the infidel, and has too much sense of God's presence to endure to hear his name blasphemed. The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but it is very near to the gate of hell; let us flee from it, for it shall soon be empty, and destruction shall swallow up the man who sits therein. Mark the gradation in the first verse: He walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor SITTETH When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. At first they merely walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God-the evil is rather practical than habitual-but after that, they become habituated to evil, and they stand in the way of open sinners who wilfully violate God's commandments; and if let alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the seat of the scornful. They have taken their degree in vice, and as true Doctors of Damnation they are installed, and are looked up to by others as Masters in Belial. But the blessed man, the man to whom all the blessings of God belong, can hold no communion with such characters as these. He keeps himself pure from these lepers; he puts away evil things from him as garments spotted by the flesh; he comes out from among the wicked, and goes without the camp, bearing the reproach of Christ. O for grace to be thus separate from sinners. And now mark his positive character. "His delight is in the law of the Lord.” He is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it by night. He takes a text and carries it with him all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he museth upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with promises out of the same book. "The law of the Lord" is the daily bread of the true believer. And yet, in David's day, how small was the volume of inspiration, for they had scarcely anything save the first five books of Moses! How much more, then, should we prize the whole written Word which it is our privilege to have in all our houses! But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this angel from heaven! We are not all Berean searchers of the Scriptures. How few among us can lay claim to the benediction of the text! Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you-Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God's Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand-your best companion and hourly guide? If not, this blessing belongeth not to you. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 66 "And he shall be like a tree planted;" not a wild tree, but "a tree planted,' chosen, considered as property, cultivated and secured from the last terrible uprooting, for "every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up" Matthew xv. 13. By the rivers of water;" so that even if one river should fail, he hath another. The rivers of pardon and the rivers of grace, the rivers of the promise and the rivers of communion with Christ, are neverfailing sources of supply. He is "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;" not unseasonable graces, like untimely figs, which are never full-flavoured. But the man who delights in God's Word, being taught by it, bringeth forth patience in the time of suffering, faith in the day of trial, and holy joy in the hour of prosperity. Fruitfulness is an essential quality of a gracious man, and that fruitfulness should be seasonable. "His leaf also shall not wither;" his faintest word shall be everlasting; his little deeds of love shall be had in remembrance. Not simply shall his fruit be preserved, but his leaf also. He shall neither lose his beauty nor his fruitfulness. "And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Blessed is the man who hath such a promise as this. But we must not always estimate the fulfilment of a promise by our own eye-sight. How often, my brethren, if we judge by feeble sense, may we come to the mournful conclusion of Jacob, "All these things are against me!" For though we know our interest in the promise, yet are we so tried and troubled, that sight sees the very reverse of what that promise foretells. But to the eye of faith this word is sure, and by it we perceive that our works are prospered, even when everything seems to go against us. It is not outward prosperity which the Christian most desires and values; it is soul prosperity which he longs for. We often, like Jehoshaphat, make ships to go to Tarshish for gold, but they are broken at Ezion-geber; but even here there is a true prospering, for it is often for the soul's health that we should be poor, bereaved, and persecuted. Our worst things are often our best things. As there is a curse wrapped up in the wicked man's mercies, so there is a blessing concealed in the righteous man's crosses losses, and sorrows. The trials of the saint are a divine husbandry, by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. We have now come to the second head of the Psalm. In this verse the contrast of the ill estate of the wicked is employed to heighten the colouring of that fair and pleasant picture which precedes it. The more forcible translation of the Vulgate and of the Septuagint version is-" Not so the ungodly, not so." And we are hereby to understand that whatever good thing is said of the righteous is not true in the case of the ungodly. Oh! how terrible is it to have a double negative put upon the promises! and yet this is just the condition of the ungodly. Mark the use of the term "ungodly," for, as we have seen in the opening of the Psalm, these are the beginners in evil, and are the least offensive of sinners. Oh! if such is the sad state of those who quietly continue in their morality, and neglect their God, what must be the condition of open sinners and shameless infidels ? The first sentence is a negative description of the ungodly, and the second is the positive picture. Here is their character" they are like chaff," intrinsically worthless, dead, unserviceable, without substance, and easily carried away. Here, also, mark their doom,- "the wind driveth away;" death shall hurry them with its terrible blast into the fire in which they shall be utterly consumed. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. They shall stand there to be judged, but not to be acquitted. Fear shall lay hold upon them there; they shall not stand their ground; they shall flee away; they shall not stand in their own defence; for they shall blush and be covered with eternal contempt. Well may the saints long for heaven, for no evil men shall dwell there, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." All our congregations upon earth are mixed. Every Church hath one devil in it. The tares grow in the same furrows as the wheat. There is no floor which is as yet thoroughly purged from chaff. Sinners mix with saints, as dross mingles with gold. God's precious diamonds still lie in the same field with pebbles. Righteous Lots are this side heaven continually vexed by the men of Sodom. Let us rejoice then, that in "the general assembly and church of the firstborn" above, there shall by no means be admitted a single unrenewed soul. Sinners cannot live in heaven. They would be out of their element. Sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the wicked in Paradise. Heaven would be an intolerable hell to an impenitent man, even if he could be allowed to enter; but such a privilege shall never be granted to the man who perseveres in his iniquities. May God grant that we may have a name and a place in his courts above! 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Or, as the Hebrew hath it yet more fully, "The Lord is knowing the way of the righteous." He is constantly looking on their way, and though it may be often in mist and darkness, yet the Lord knoweth it. If it be in the clouds and tempest of affliction, he understandeth it. He numbereth the hairs of our head; he will not suffer any evil to befall us. "He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job xxiii. 10.) "But the way of the ungodly shall perish." Not only shall they perish themselves, but their way shall perish too. The righteous carves his name upon the rock, but the wicked writes his remembrance in the sand. The righteous man ploughs the furrows of earth, and sows a harvest here, which shall never be fully reaped till he enters the enjoyments of eternity; but as for the wicked, he ploughs the sea, and though there may seem to be a shining trail behind his keel, yet the waves shall pass over it, and the place that knew him shall know him no more for ever. The very "way" of the ungodly shall perish. If it exist in remembrance, it shall be in the remembrance of the bad; for the Lord will cause the name of the wicked to rot, to become a stench in the nostrils of the good, and to be only known to the wicked themselves by its putridity. May the Lord cleanse our hearts and our ways, that we may escape the doom of the ungodly, and enjoy the blessedness of the righteous! EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Verse 1.-The Psalmist saith more to the point about true happiness in this short Psalm than any one of the philosophers, or all of them put together: they did but beat the bush, God hath here put the bird into our hand.—Trapp. Where the word blessed is hung out as a sign, we may be sure that we shall find a godly man within.-Baker. The seat of the drunkard is the seat of the scornful.-Matthew Henry. The godly man will read the Word by day, that men, seeing his good works, may glorify his Father who is in heaven; he will do it in the night, that he may not be seen of men: by day, to show that he is not one of those who dread the light; by night, to show that he is one who can shine in the shade: by day, for that is the time for working-work whilst it is day; by night, lest his Master should come as a thief, and find him idle.-Sir Richard Baker. Meditation chews the cud, and gets the sweetness and nutritive virtue of the Word into the heart and life: this is the way the godly bring forth much fruit.-Ashworth. The naturalists observe that to uphold and accommodate bodily life, there are divers sorts of faculties communicated, and these among the rest; 1. An attractive faculty, to assume and draw in the food; 2. A retentive faculty, to retain it when taken in ; 3. An assimilating faculty, to concoct the nourishment; 4. An augmenting faculty, for drawing to perfection. Meditation is all these. It helps judgment, wisdom and faith to ponder, discern, and credit the things which reading and hearing supply and furnish. It assists the memory to lock up the jewels of divine truth in her sure treasury. It has a digesting power, and turns spiritual truth into spiritual nourishment; and lastly, it helps the renewed heart to grow upward and increase its power to know the things which are freely given to us of God.-Condensed from Ranew. Verse 3.—This is an allusion to the eastern method of cultivation, by which rivulets of water are made to flow between the rows of trees, and thus, by artificial means, the trees receive a constant supply of moisture. "His leaf also shall not wither." The Lord's trees are all evergreens. No winter's cold can destroy their verdure. Verse 3-A critical journal has shown that instead of "Whatsoever it doeth shall prosper," the rendering should be, “Whatsoever it produceth shall come to maturity." This makes the figure entire, and is sanctioned by some MSS. and ancient versions. Verse 3, (last clause).-Outward prosperity, if it follow close walking with God, is very sweet; as the cypher, when it follows a figure, adds to the number, though it be nothing in itself.-Trapp. Verse 4.-" Driveth away," or tosseth away; the Chaldee translateth for "wind,” "whirlwind."-Ainsworth. This shows the vehement tempest of death, which sweeps away the soul of the ungodly. Verse 5.-The Irish air will sooner brook a toad, or a snake, than heaven a sinner.-Trapp. 66 Verse 6. The righteous." They that endeavour righteous living in themselves and have Christ's righteousness imputed to them.-Wilcocks. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER. Verse 1-May furnish an excellent text upon "Progress in Sin," or "The Purity of the Christian," or "The Blessedness of the Righteous." Upon the last subiect speak of the believer as BLESSED-1. By God; 2. In Christ; 3. With all blessings; 4. In all circumstances; 5. Through time and eternity; 6. To the highest degree. Verse 1-Teaches a godly man to beware, (1) of the opinions, (2) of the practical life, and (3) of the company and association of sinful men. Show how meditation upon the Word will assist us in keeping aloof from these three evils. Verse 2.-THE WORD OF GOD. 1. The believer's delight in it. 2. The believer's acquaintance with it. We long to be in the company of those we love. " virtues to be exhibited at Verse 3.-Influence of religion upon prosperity.-Blair. The nature of true prosperity.--"Fruit in his season: certain seasons. Patience in affliction; gratitude in prosperity; zeal in opportunity. "His leaf also shall not wither:" the blessing of retaining an unwithered profession. Verses 3, 4.-See No. 280 of the "New Park Street Pulpit."-"The Chaff Driven Away." Verse 5.-"The congregation of the righteous" viewed as the Church of the firstborn above. This may furnish a noble topic. Verse 6, (first sentence).—A sweet encouragement to the tried people of God. The knowledge here meant. 1. Its character. It is a knowledge of observation and approbation. 2. Its source.—It is caused by ominiscience and infinite love. 3. Its results. Support, deliverance, acceptance, and glory at last. 66 A Christian Chymistry. RGUMENTS are the pillars of the temple of truth; illustrations are the windows to let in light." Sermons made all of illustrations would be unsubstantial glass-houses, and would effect nothing beyond the forcing of weak minds into an unhealthy growth. Sermons without metaphors are dark vaults, in which men must grope after the jewels of truth with little hope of finding them. A judicious use of comparisons will make a discourse captivating to the careless, instructive to the enquiring, suggestive to the thoughtful, and pleasant to all. It is not, however, the very easiest matter to find good and telling emblems. A few gifted brethren may be able to say,— "My brain, methinks, is like an hour-glass, but the many are not blessed with any miraculous fecundity of metaphor, and must collect with diligence those flowers which their own soil does not spontaneously or abundantly yield to them. It is our duty to help each other in these matters of common interest, and therefore we resolve to have one paper every month of illustrations for the use of those who are called to teach. Coleridge enquires, "Why are not more gems from our great authors scattered over the country?" And then he observes, "Great books are not in everybody's reach; and though it is better to know them thoroughly than to know them only here and there, yet it is a good work to give a little to those who have neither time nor means to get more. Let every book-worm, when in any fragrant scarce old tome he discovers a sentence, a story, an illustration that does his heart good, hasten to give it." The advice is good; we intend to be obedient to it. In the course of our book-hunting we have stumbled upon a copy of an extremely rare book, entitled, "Christian Chymistrie, extracting the honey of instruction from variety of objects, being an handfull of observations, historical, occasional, and out of Scripture, with applications, Theological and Moral. By Caleb Trenchfield, sometime Minister of the Church at Chipsted, in Surrey." It is dated 1662. In the dedication the author puts a humble estimate upon his work. "I here |