_Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion: and unto Thee shall the vow be performed._ A HARVEST HYMN This is a psalm of thanksgiving for plentiful rain, falling at the critical time in a year of drought and ensuring a plentiful harvest. To an agricultural people this was a memorable mercy. I. The a... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come._ GOD’S HEARING OF PRAYER What avails prayer if it be not heard? But the text comforts us by the title it ascribes to God, and by the effect that the belief of it shall have upon all flesh. God in Christ is the hearer of prayer. I. Where... [ Continue Reading ]
_Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them away._ SIN OVERCOMING AND OVERCOME There is an intended contrast in these two clauses, between man’s impotence and God’s power in the face of the fact of sin. The first clause might be translated, “iniquities are too s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts._ WORSHIP This psalm includes a thanksgiving for God’s bounties in Providence, for the beauties of spring, and the natural supply of man’s wants; but the privileges of the sanctuary are here... [ Continue Reading ]
_By terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou answer us, O God of our salvation._ GOD’S TERRIBLE THINGS Now, it is here we are to ponder such things, and to seek a solution of these mysteries. We have all had to do with them at one time or another. Holy men of old have known them (Isaiah 26:8; Ps... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which by His strength setteth fast the mountains: being girded with power._ GOD AS HE APPEARS IN MATERIAL NATURE I. God in material nature working. 1. Settling (Psalms 65:6). He keeps all things in their place. There is a principle of dissolution in every part of nature. All things that are sett... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people._ GOD’S PROVIDENCE DISPLAYED IN THE SUPPRESSION OF POPULAR TUMULTS I. The body of the people, like the body of waters, is never absolutely at rest; and when it is most so, it is always disposed to become... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice._ GOD’S FAVOURS The psalmist recognized a close relation between nature and nature’s God. He saw all the beauty and blessedness of nature as divine. I. The incomparableness of God’s favours. The matchless phenomena of the dawn and s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it._ THE DIVINE VISITATIONS I. God’s visit to the earth in his providence. It is to this visit that our text immediately refers: “Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it.” It was not to cast fire upon it that the Lord came. It would not have been strange had... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou waterest the regions thereof abundantly: Thou settlest the furrows thereof: Thou makest it soft with showers: Thou blessest the springing thereof._ SPRING THOUGHTS 1. Spring follows winter and ushers in summer according to an appointed order. This fact teaches the continuous control and gove... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness: and Thy paths drop fatness._ THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER Nothing can be more right than that Christian people should publicly render thanksgiving to the God of the harvest. And let there be thankofferings likewise. I. Crowning mercies calling for crowning gr... [ Continue Reading ]