BS 1445 .PA A3 1912
Adams, John,
The Lenten Psalms
THE SHORT COURSE SERIES
THE LENTEN PSALMS
GENERAL PREFACE
The title of the present series is a sufficient
indication of its purpose. Few preachers,
or congregations, will face the long courses
of expository lectures which characterised
the preaching of the past, but there is a
growing conviction on the part of some
that an occasional short course, of six or
eight connected studies on one definite
theme, is a necessity of their mental and
ministerial life. It is at this point the pro-
jected series would strike in. It would
suggest to those who are mapping out a
scheme of work for the future a variety of
subjects which might possibly be utilised in
this way.
The appeal, however, will not be restricted
to ministers or preachers. The various
volumes will meet the needs of laymen and
ii
General Preface
Sunday School teachers who are interested
in a scholarly but also practical exposition
of Bible history and doctrine. In the hands
of office-bearers and mission-workers the
" Short Course Series " may easily become
one of the most convenient and valuable
of Bible helps.
It need scarcely be added that while an
effort has been made to secure, as far as
possible, a general uniformity in the scope
and character of the series, the final re-
sponsibility for the special interpretations
and opinions introduced into the separate
volumes, rests entirely with the individual
contributors.
A detailed list of the authors and their
subjects will be found at the close of each
volume.
111
TTbe Sbort Course Series
EDITED BY
Rev. JOHN ADAMS, B.D.
THE
LENTEN PSALMS
BY
THE EDITOR
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1912
CONTENTS
PSALM VI FAGE
The Chastisement of Love . • l
PSALM XXXII
The Bitterness of Sin . . • J7
PSALM XXXVIII
The Divine Arrows . . . 33
PSALM LI
An Ideal Prayer . . . • • 49
PSALM C1I
The Divine Memorial . . • .67
PSALM CXXX
De Profundis . . • • 85
PSALM CXLIII
A Penitent's Anthology . . . .103
vii
Since the time of Origen, Seven Psalms have received
the name of Penitential Psalms. They were placed
together in the Roman Breviary ; and Pope Innocent
in. ordered their recitation at Lent. Indulgences
were promised to those who recited them. One
historical allusion may be cited. " In his sick
chamber at Hippo, Augustine lay dying. It was
a plain and barely furnished room in which he lay.
The Penitential Psalms, however, were by his order
written out, and placed where he could see them
from his bed. These he looked at and read in his
days of sickness, weeping often and sore. Thus,
with his eyes fixed upon the Psalms, Augustine
passed to his rest, August 28th, 430."— Prothero.
Vlll
PSALM VL
THE CHASTISEMENT OF LOVE.
No more fitting plaint could be put into
the lips of any pious sufferer than this
pathetic strain from the harp of Israel —
especially when sung to one of the minor
tunes of our time - honoured Scottish
Psalter. " Is any among you afflicted ?
Let him pray." Nay, adds Matthew Henry,
"let him sing this psalm " —
"Lord, in Thy wrath rebuke me not;
Nor in Thy hot rage chasten me.
Lord, pity me, for I am weak :
Heal me, for my bones vexed be."
Calvin, in his last painful illness, tried to
do so. He uttered no word of complaint
unworthy of a Christian man, but, raising
his eyes to heaven, he would say, in the
language of verse 3, " O Lord, how long — ? "
leaving his unfinished prayer in the sudden
silence of this arresting aposiopesis. The
3
The Lenten Psalms
deepest notes in human experience are
minor notes. Down in the human heart
are chords of music, truer, richer, and more
spontaneous than all the major and popular
melodies by which a modern civilisation
has tried to cheat us. They are like the
minor tones in external Nature —
"Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neigh-
bouring ocean
Speaks, and, in accents disconsolate, answers the
wail of the forest."
The wail of the forest, the disconsolate
accents of ocean, the monotonous chant of
the waterfall, the bleating of flocks among
the hills, and the weird-like call of the moor-
fowl among the heather — all these seem to
be pervaded with a suggestion of autumn's
sadness ; and we are made to feel that the
nearer we get back to Nature the more
appropriate become the minor tunes and
plaintive melodies of these penitential
psalms. The elegy, the wail, the dirge, are
not the lowest form of musical composition ;
and as the Hebrew Psalter is a faithful
transcript of the human heart in all its
4
The Chastisement of Love
moods, pious sufferers have continued to
come to this song-book of ancient Israel,
and have drawn from its strains of penitence
and devotion a comfort which is Divine. In
the present psalm there are three key-
words which may help to elucidate its
teaching,
I. Chastisement.
"Neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure."
The Psalmist is face to face with the truth
which has played so large a part in the
discipline of the world, that "whom the
Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom He receiveth." He does
not rail against chastisement as such. He
knows that Jehovah chastens, sometimes in
love, and smites that He may save. Every
true child of the Kingdom, therefore, may
well kiss the rod that smites him ; for
while no chastening for the present seemeth
to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness unto them which are exercised
5
The Lenten Psalms
thereby. Still there is chastening and
chastening. The Psalmist did not believe
that all Divine punishment or reproof was
intended for reformation. There might
be visitations of God in just anger — visita-
tions which could only be regarded as tokens
of the Divine alienation and wrath. And
while the devout sufferer was quite willing
to submit to the former — to the chastise-
ment of love — he does shrink appalled from
the severity of the latter, and exclaims,
like Jeremiah, " O Lord, correct me, but
with judgment : not in Thine anger, lest
Thou bring me to nothing " : or with
Christina Rossetti —
"Wilt Thou accept the heart I bring,
O gracious Lord and kind,
To ease it of a torturing sting,
And staunch and bind?
Or if Thou wilt not yet relieve,
Be not extreme to sift :
Accept a faltering will to give,
Itself Thy gift."
The resignation and shrinking contained
6
The Chastisement of Love
in a cry like this forecast the awe-inspiring
alternatives of Gethsemane. "If it be
possible, let this cup pass from Me : never-
theless not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
If a Father's hand wield the rod, I will try
to kiss the rod that smites me ; but, O Lord,
chasten me not in Thy hot displeasure, for
I could not endure the severity of the
blow.
And then, as if to suggest the reflection
that the chastisement had been carried too
far already, he spreads out his wretchedness
in the sight of God's great pity, and paints
it in all the sad colouring of the autumn.
" / am withered away " — as a flower. The
scorching winds of adversity have blown
across my garden ; the biting frosts of
hostility have nipped my foliage in the bud ;
or like a fragile flower bereft of the rain
and sunshine, I trail my faded blossoms
in the dust. Yea, "my bones are vexed."
By a slight variation in the figure, he points
to the influence of his calamity upon the
physical framework of the body. His very
bones which are the strength and stability
7
The Lenten Psalms
of the bodily frame are shaken or agitated
with terror as the result of his inward
perplexity. And "my soul also is sore
vexed." In soul, no less than in body, I
am like a bruised reed : and instead of
there being any alleviation of my suffering
the leaden hoofs of adversity would trample
me still further into the mud. Until at
last, with something like reproach in his
voice, he lifts his eyes to the infinite
Personality which seemed so callous to his
suffering, and exclaims, "And Thou, O Lord,
how long — ? " Is this an action worthy
of Thee, O Lord, to allow a poor, bruised
reed to be broken utterly, or the dying,
smouldering flax to be utterly quenched ?
Is this an attitude in keeping with Thy
manifold mercy, or a discipline at all in
harmony with the gracious chastisement of
Thy love? "O Jehovah, how long — ?"
And then his heart fails him for words,
the unfinished petition being left in the
eloquence of its incompleteness. He has
spread out his state of misery in the presence
of Divine compassion, and then with this
8
The Chastisement of Love
abrupt, half-broken cry, "How long," he
leaves it with God.
This is what all devout souls may aspire
to do. Deeply conscious of the chastening
hand of their God upon them, they may
creep up to the Divine footstool and raise
their eyes to heaven, like wounded animals
crawling up to the feet of their master and
looking up into his face with great eyes
of pain. Their suffering is a deep they may
never hope to fathom, but they can bring it
into the presence of Him who is both justice
and love, and believe that in the plenitude
of His mercy He will not only bring forth
their righteousness as the light, but cause
the flower which was trailing its blossoms
in the dust to unfold once more its petals
in the sunshine. This is the deeper meaning
of the Divine chastisement of love : it is
big with the promise of what may yet be.
2. LOVINGKINDNESS.
" O save me for Thy lovingkindness, sake."
This is the Psalmist's perfect plea
when thinking on the possible mitigation
9
The Lenten Psalms
of his pain. He falls back with confidence
on Jehovah's covenant love. For the love
of God in choosing and blessing Israel is
the theme and joy of all the sacred writers.
He delights in mercy. He is ready to
forgive. He keeps not His anger for ever.
Let Him be true, then, to His own nature !
Let His self-revelation in act be consistent
with the inner graciousness of His motive !
For, to give another turn to the Psalmist's
thought, would not the Divine loving-
kindness be deprived of a part of its
legitimate praise if the present prayer of
the singer should be left unanswered? His
physical vigour, as already noted, was
drooping and fading away like a flower.
It was being impaired by the severity of
his afflictions ; and unless it could be
delivered from the secret causes of its
decay, what hope was there that it would
be continued in the land of the living at
all? It would die, and be given over to
the gloomy abode of the dead ; and then
the days of praising God's mercy would
once and for all be ended.
10
The Chastisement of Love
H For in death there is no remembrance of Thee :
In Sheol who shall give Thee thanks?" ,
It is clearly implied in this plea, that the
Psalmist believed that Jehovah cared for
men's praise. And why not ? God is love
— -compassionate and eternal love ; and praise
on the part of man is simply the proof that
this love of God has been responded to.
Joy in men's praise, therefore, is but joy in
men's love, and joy in men's love is but
the recognition that God's love for them
has not been manifested in vain. Hence
the Psalmist prays for freedom from trial,
not as an end in itself, but as a means to
a further end — the end of celebrating the
mercy of Jehovah in the land of the living.
He longs to escape as a bird from the
darkened cage of adversity, that he may rise
and sing in the sunshine of the Divine favour.
Freedom from affliction is not everything : it
is freedom that we may praise — freedom that
we may come, as in another psalm, and say : —
" I'll bring burnt-offerings to Thy house,
To Thee my vows I'll pay,
Which my lips uttered, my mouth spake,
When trouble on me lay."
II
The Lenten Psalms
Alas, the feeling of dejection depicted in
verses 6 and 7 is sufficient evidence that this
earnest cry for freedom has not as yet been
answered. The sense of his own misery again
wins the mastery. And instead of soaring
aloft as the eagle, the strong wings of his
hope seem to be struck with paralysis, and it
flutters down into the valley below, where,
overpowered by the consciousness of its own
hapless condition, it has no reassuring
thought of the Divine nearness at all. In
these two verses the name of God is not
even mentioned, and the manifestations of
his sorrow are so excessive that we find it
difficult with our undemonstrative Western
temperaments to give him credit for the
anguish conveyed in his words. Not only
did he set his bed afloat with his unmeasured
weeping, but he melted his couch and wasted
away his eyes until they became "bleared
and dim like those of an old man." And
all this because of his enemies— all this
because of those, who, taking advantage of
God's chastening hand upon him, were
exulting in his calamity, and longing for
12
The Chastisement of Love
his utter ruin. It is a dark picture ; but
it proves to be the darkness which precedes
the dawn. With this sombre reflection, he
gathers up all that can be said of his grievous
and bitter trial, and prepares the way for
the sudden burst of sunshine with which
this penitential psalm concludes.
3. Deliverance.
" The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping."
Lux in tenebris is the one descriptive
phrase that can really do justice to the
change effected in this man's experience.
Immediately, like a flash of light, the con-
viction has come to him that the eloquence
of his tears has been heard in heaven. A
great confidence, begotten by the Spirit of
God, has visited his soul, and he knows as
by the certainty of a Divine inspiration that
his time of bitter weeping is at an end. He
uses the perfect tense — what the Hebrew
grammarians call the " perfect of certitude " ;
for while his bodily disease is not yet lifted,
and while the dark prison walls of hostility
13
The Lenten Psalms
are not yet removed, a whisper from the
eternities has visited this man's spirit, and
he knows that the hour of his Divine de-
liverance has already struck. None of his
detractors are aware of the swift advance of
the dawn, but the voice of the dawn is
already in his heart, and he can gaze at
the hilltops now being flushed with the
coming glory, and say, "The Lord hath
heard the voice of my weeping."
This song of penitence, therefore, like all
sanctified affliction, has ended in the assur-
ance of God's covenant love. It began
differently. Like a mountain stream it was
turbid and broken at the first, but gradually
it has calmed and cleared as it flowed, until
now, at the close, it loses the voice of its
weeping in the assurance of the Divine com-
passion, just as the flowing streamlet is
stilled in the fulness of the sea. It began
with the chastisement of love, and ends with
the drying of every tear ; and in view of
these facts, enemies can do nothing. He
that is for us is infinitely more than they
who may be against us. Therefore —
14
The Chastisement of Love
" Depart from mc, all ye workers of iniquity ;
For Jehovah hath heard my prayer."
Ye workers of iniquity ! Is it right for us
to speak of our detractors in that way ? and
especially to add, as in verse i o, " Let them
all be ashamed and sore vexed : let them
return and be ashamed suddenly " (A.V.).
Even to modify this grim desire by taking
the verbs as simple futures, and rendering
with the R.V. : — " All mine enemies shall
be ashamed and sore vexed," is, in no sense,
a sentiment in keeping with the spirit of
redeeming love. From this point of view,
Professor Duhm is probably correct when
he says that " for reading at a Christian
sick-bed, this psalm is not suitable." In
the school of Jesus we are taught to give
our enemies a place even in our prayers.
"Pray for them that despitefully use you
and persecute you." Hence if any one
would use the phraseology of this psalm
to-day, it must be in a very different sense
from that of the Psalmist. " Let them be
ashamed and sore vexed " — not in the sense
of destruction, but of moral reformation.
*5
The Lenten Psalms
" Let them return, and be ashamed suddenly,"
as their blinded eyes are opened to the
patience and tenderness of the Divine love ;
until bowing in submission to Him who is
the Anointed of the Father, they may pass
at last with us, from the minor melodies
of these penitential psalms to the higher
symphonies of heaven. That is the world-
wide charity as taught in the Christian
Evangel. The Lord give us grace thus to
dry our tears 1
16
PSALM XXXIL
B 17
THE BITTERNESS OF SIN.
Sin is the one element in human experience
that refuses to be ignored. Through super-
ficial views of its nature or sheer indifference
to the fact, we may come to say, like some
in the Apostolic age, that we have no sin
(i John i. 8) ; but we gain nothing by this
assertion of our ignorance or apathy. The
well-known device of the ostrich does not
save it from the weapon of the hunter, and
the mere shutting of one's eyes to the reality
of evil does not make it vanish, but delivers
us all the more surely into its power. Sin,
according to Seneca, is the " universal
insanity." It is a dark and dismal night-
shade casting a gloom over every department
of human life. Grace may change the nature
of a man, but nothing can change the nature
19
The Lenten Psalms
of sin. Enemies may be reconciled, but
enmity cannot, and sin is enmity.
Some of the details in Ps. xxxii. 5, as
given in the Hebrew, are most suggestive —
My sin I began to make known, and mine iniquity
have I not hid :
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord ;
And Thou — Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
[Selah.]
Like the entire psalm, it enumerates the
steps by which the Psalmist rose into the
blessedness of the forgiven state ; and we
may profitably analyse its teaching a little
more in detail.
1. The Nature of Sin.
The expression " sin " is the first word
in this Hebrew verse, and also the last,
the musical addition " Selah " not being
regarded as an integral part of the verse. It
is placed in this position for the sake of
emphasis ; for, unlike Ps. vi., which never
mentions the subject of sin at all, Ps.
xxxii. introduces this topic as its leading and
20
The Bitterness of Sin
characteristic note. So strongly did some
of the Masoretes feel this that they pointed
the first word with an emphatic accent.
They wished to represent to eye and ear
what was already felt to be present in reality,
that sin was the dominant idea in this psalm,
and that both melody and syntax might
jusdy be requisitioned to emphasise the
truth.
And is this not the teaching of etymology ?
In this one verse no fewer than three Hebrew
words are employed to designate moral evil.
And while etymologically they are all figura-
tive terms, transferred from the physical
sphere to the ethical, they furnish in their
combination a fairly exhaustive summary of
the Bible doctrine of sin. Probably the most
distinctive epithet is the term "transgres-
sion " or rebellion — a conception which traces
sin to its fruitful source in the will of the in-
dividual. It is not simply the thought of
lawlessness, in the sense of defection from
a prescribed law ; it is rather a voluntary act
of self-assertion in opposition to the will
of a superior. It is withdrawal from, or
21
The Lenten Psalms
rebellion against, the Lawgiver (cf. Ps. li. 4).
Beginning with this as its starting-point, the
subsequent development of moral evil is not
difficult to trace. It is iniquity. It is a
course crooked and perverse ; and, therefore,
well chosen to denote the tortuous path of
the rebel, who, instead of following the straight
route for the attainment of man's chief end,
wanders zigzag over the desert and never
reaches his destined goal. This is the precise
thought introduced by the third term, sin.
It means that the slinger has failed to hit the
mark, or the traveller to reach his destination ;
for, having begun wrong, he cannot end
right, and the forsaker is himself forsaken.
Obviously the man who could multiply these
terms in order to depict his moral malady
had no superficial views regarding its nature
and influence. The disturbing presence of
moral evil had invaded the sphere of the
conscience.
Verses 3, 4, show how cutting a lash the
conscience may become in driving home
the truth of personal guilt. Everything
seemed to go wrong. The heart was ill at
22
The Bitterness of Sin
ease. The concealment of the sin was well-
nigh unbearable. The conscience was filled
with a thousand thorns to prick and sting
him. And as conscience is the voice of
God, it never ceased to arraign him day and
night before God's judgment bar. This was
one of the ways in which the enormity of
his sin had come home to roost. Conscience
is the worm that never dies.
2. The Confession of Sin.
In verses 3, 4, as already noted, the
Psalmist was forced to admit that if he
foolishly kept silence regarding his sin, he
was constrained to cry out because of his
misery —
" When I kept silence, my bones waxed old
Through my roaring all the day long."
The cry of misery, however, is not always
the birth-throes of a deep and genuine
confession. Many a sufferer cries out in
anguish who has no intention of recognising
the hand that smites him, or of admitting
the essential justice of the visitation. Con-
23
The Lenten Psalms
fession of sin is rendered possible only when
the afflicted one is made to feel the depth of
his demerit, and begins to acknowledge to
himself or others the grievous character of
his backsliding. And this is the exact
meaning of the incipient imperfect which
is here employed by the Psalmist — " My
sin I began to make known " — the tense of
the verb graphically representing the nascent
confession in the very act of beginning. It
had not as yet assumed the form of a direct
appeal to Jehovah ; for probably we ought
to omit " unto Thee " with the Septuagint.
The man had only reached the initial stage
of his confession, as he tried to make plain
to his own heart and conscience the peculiar
heinousness of his sin. But the second
stage speedily followed. The more he
realised the presence of the foul intruder
which had usurped his inmost being, the
more he determined to drag it forth into
the open, and expose it to the searching
glance of Him who is of purer eyes than
to behold evil. " I said, I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord " — until now,
The Bitterness of Sin
as the gracious result, he bows in the felt
presence of Jehovah, a guileless and , tran-
sparent life : " Mine iniquity have I not hid."
This is the true nature of confession. It
includes the heart, the speech, and the life.
It begins with a secret resolution in the soul,
which, by and by, finds expression in a direct
appeal to Jehovah ; but the consequences
of the completed action are continued into
the present, and the Psalmist can speak of
the blessedness of the man " in whose spirit
there is no guile " (ver. 2).
Absolute sincerity, in other language, is
the mark of all true confession. There
must be no attempt to deceive either one-
self or God. " If we say that we have no
sin " we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth
is not in us. But if we confess our sins —
if we come as the blind man came, and
stand in the presence of the great Healer,
like the prepared plate in the camera ready
to receive the impress of heaven's light,
the blessing of forgiveness is not withheld
— " He is faithful and righteous to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all un-
25
The Lenten Psalms
righteousness/* Such penitents are sincere.
They have no fold in their character. They
are fervent and transparent in their prayer.
Their singleness of aim is reflected in the
urgency of their supplication. " Behold an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."
3. The Forgiveness of Sin.
"And Thou — Thou fbrgavest the iniquity of my sin."
The student will note the aoristic use of
the perfect and the emphasis impressed on
the pronoun "Thou." They combine to
enforce the truth that Jehovah was more
willing to forgive the returning penitent
than the man himself was to come and solicit
the blessing. The Psalmist was reviewing
the various steps in his confession — how
behind the transparent attitude of his present
was lying the verbal appeal which he had
addressed to Jehovah, and behind the actual
presentation of his prayer the initial resolu-
tion of the heart ; and there at the beginning
of it all, like heart answering heart in an
inner sanctuary, the Divine response was
26
The Bitterness of Sin
granted to the silent appeal, and the penitent
entered into the blessedness of the man
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin
is covered. As in the teaching of the Pearl
of Parables, the father had not waited for
the verbal confession of the prodigal son.
He beheld the lonely figure a great way
off; and before a single word had fallen
from his lips, the tears of an undying
affection were falling upon his neck. " I
said, / will confess . . . and Thou — Thou
forgavest the iniquity of my sin."
The nature of the forgiveness is fully set
forth in verses i, 2. If no fewer than three
Hebrew terms were required to describe the
sin, no fewer than three similar figures are
necessary to depict the remedy. It is at
once the lifting of a burden, the covering of
a foul stain, and the cancelling of a debt.
The burden is removed, as in Bunyan's
immortal allegory ; the stain is hidden out
of sight, as by the love that covereth a
multitude of sins ; and the debt having been
wiped out by the exercise of sovereign
mercy, is no longer reckoned against the
27
The Lenten Psalms
offender as a dreaded liability to punishment.
And as all this is described, at least in verse i,
by the use of the Hebrew participle, we have
a form of expression which is eloquent with
meaning as to the origin and continuity of
the forgiven state. The passive participle
describes the subject as having the action
continually exercised upon him. Blessed,
then, is the man who abides in this state of
forgiveness ; for both in origin and result
the two lines of development approach and
coincide. What began as aorists in the
completed acts of the past (" I said "...
" thou forgavest ") is continued as present
perfects or passive participles into the
spiritual conditions of the present ; and
the continuity of the one is reflected in the
continuity of the other, like the blue of sea
and sky in their unity.
4. The Blessedness of the Forgiven
State.
Not even the sound of the raging flood
shall be allowed to invade its sanctity. This,
28
The Bitterness of Sin
according to the brilliant emendation of
Lagarde, is the meaning of verse 6 —
" For this let everyone that is godly pray unto Thee in
the time of distress ;
The sound of the flood of mighty waters shall not
come nigh unto him."
We think of one like Jeremiah fleeing
from the men of Anathoth in chap. xii. 1-5.
Casting himself down in some remote spot
overlooking the valley of the Jordan, he
brooded, like Elijah under the juniper tree,
on the violence by which he had been assailed,
and questioned the ways and acts of Eternal
Providence. But hark ! wafted on the
night wind came the noise of a foaming
flood. The " swelling of Jordan," as in
the floods of autumn, was sweeping in
furious volume to the sea. And the far-off
boom was enough to strike even a strong
man with dismay. For was it not suggestive
of something far more ominous and forbid-
ding ? What if that distant sound should
give place to the dreaded reality ? and the
prophet, one day, had to pass through the
dark flood itself ? "If thou hast run with the
29
The Lenten Psalms
footmen and they have wearied thee, then
how wilt thou contend with the horsemen ?
And if thou hast faltered and trembled even
at the fords in summer, what wilt thou do in
the autumn spates ? "
It is only the man who is strong in the
assurance of covenant mercy, who can give
the answer of this psalm, that even the sound
of the flood of mighty waters shall not come
nigh unto him. Like the Accadian penitent
he has said, " In the waters of the raging
flood take his hand " ; and now in the rapture
of a Divine forgiveness, there is no sound to
him save one — he is compassed about with
" songs of deliverance " (ver. 7). No need
for him to stop his ears with wax, like the
Grecian sailors, that the siren voices of evil
or the sound of the raging flood should not
come nigh him ! A Divine Orpheus is on
board dispensing music in the night, and
every other strain is drowned and lost in the
rapture of that triumph song.
Nay, the man's fellowship with the Divine
is something deeper still, and the finest of
Bible imagery may well be chosen to express
30
The Bitterness of Sin
it. Not simply the reflection of sea and
sky, however beautiful they are in their
unity ; and assuredly not the relation of a
man to his beast, as so graphically depicted
in verse 9 ; but that deeper and more
spiritual communion of a father and son, as
eye meets eye, and soul looks into soul,
in an act of age-long, covenant love.
" I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which
thou shalt go,
/ will fx upon thee Mine eye."
Obviously, one may rightly speak of the
blessedness of the forgiven state. It is free
from alarms by night, encircled with song
by day, and characterised by deep, spiritual
communion while life lasts — in a word, com-
passed about by Divine mercy , as in verse 10 ;
who would not seek to rise into the fulness
of so rich an experience, and lose the bitter-
ness, if not the consciousness, of sin, in the
glad ascription of praise with which this
penitential psalm concludes —
"Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous:
And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart."
31
The Lenten Psalms
In conventional phrases, it may be, but
with a deep, spiritual fervour that redeems
and beautifies the whole, the songs that
thrilled the Psalmist's heart are now to be
caught up and chanted by the entire Church.
For in this grand " Hallelujah Chorus " oi
exultant adoration and praise, the penitence
of the pious in Israel is to be glorified.
32
PSALM XXXVIII.
33
THE DIVINE ARROWS.
" For Thine arrows stick fast in me,
And Thy hand presseth me sore" (ver. 2).
The verbs employed in this verse are two
different forms of the same Hebrew root,
meaning to descend ; cf. the rendering " lighted
on " in the margin of the R.V. In no sense,
however, does this do justice to the reflexive
force of the original. The arrows do more
than descend. They hurl themselves down
with such force that they stick fast in the
quivering flesh like living things endowed
with volition. And the animation of the
second clause is no less striking in its im-
agery. Instead of taking the term " hand "
as the subject of the verb, the Septuagint
reads it as the object, and lifts the thought
from the dire weight of the chastisement to
35
The Lenten Psalms
the personal agency of Him who inflicted
it —
"Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me."
The one who had bent his bow, and shot
his arrows from afar, was not content to
remain at a distance. He had drawn near
to his afflicted servant, and laid an oppressive
hand upon his life. The poisoned arrows
rankled in the wounds, and the pressure of
the Divine hand was heavier than he could
bear : and thus in words almost identical with
the first penitential psalm, he exclaims —
" O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath,
Neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure."
The subject-matter of the entire psalm may
be arranged as follows : —
i. The Divine Arrows.
Beginning with the element of disease in
his own person (vers. 3, 5-8, 10), he passes
to that of desertion on the part of his friends
(ver. 11), and of malice (ver. 12) or even
scorn (ver. 1 6) on the part of his foes : and
36
The Divine Arrows
the reader is left to infer that these were the
arrows that fell thick and fast around the
Psalmist, and buried their poison-dipped
barbs in his life. We may scan the realistic
imagery a little more in detail.
(i) Disease. — The malady with which he
was afflicted is depicted in the most grue-
some colours : and probably some of the
details are best understood in a symbolical
sense. But as physical suffering is con-
stantly regarded as a mark of the Divine
displeasure, there can be no question that a
considerable part of the Psalmist's descrip-
tion may be taken quite literally. It was a
loathsome, painful, and exhausting disease.
The repulsive character of the sickness is
sufficiently marked in verse 5. " My wounds
stink and are corrupt." They were as foul-
some as those of the patriarch whose ulcers
bred worms (Job vii. 5), and who sat down
on the village ash-heap to scrape himself
withal (ii. 8). So intense, indeed, was this
feeling of repulsion that the language of the
Verona MS. would not have come amiss to
the afflicted one's lips, when it bids him say
37
The Lenten Psalms
at the close of verse 20 — " They have cast
me forth . . . as a loathed corpse."
And yet, deep as this feeling of aversion
is, it is entirely eclipsed by the element of
intense suffering. He speaks of himself as
being " bent " or contorted by the violence
of the pain (ver. 6) ; as consumed by a
burning fever which inflamed and licked up
the life-blood (ver. 7) ; until faint and sore-
bruised by reason of its severity, he moaned
aloud in the disquietude of his heart, or
groaned like the roaring of a lion (ver. 8).
This is the reading of Hitzig and others,
who, by a slight change in the Hebrew
vowels, would read " a lion " instead of " my
heart." Hence as the concluding element
in the Psalmist's grievous malady, the
corruption and the pain together ended in
an exhaustion which was simply tragic in its
completeness.
"My heart throbbeth, my strength faileth me:
As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from
me.
This was the first arrow which had hurled
itself down on the afflicted Psalmist. The
38
The Divine Arrows
iron of bodily disease had been driven into
the quick.
(2) Desertion (ver. 11).
" My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague ;
And my kinsmen stand afar off."
Instead of the expression " my plague "
which recalls the ashen spot of the leper
(Lev. xiii. 3), the Septuagint reads "they
draw near " — a figure which no less forcibly
reminds us of the drawing near of Job's
three friends. They drew near the suffering
patriarch, wrestling as he was with his dark
problem ; but biased, as they were, by their
preconceived opinions, they were totally
incapable of helping him in his sorrow.
They were near in person, but leagues
asunder in sentiment ; and therefore their
empty harangues, in the way of argument,
were but " words of wind " (xvi. 3). It is
the same picture of utter desolation which is
found at Job xix. 13-22. The members of
his own family, the children on the highway,
and his own familiar friends in whom he
trusted — all despised the sorrow - stricken
39
The Lenten Psalms
patriarch, because, as they believed, he had
been deserted by Jehovah. This was the
keenest pang of all. Men were such
sycophants that they only dared to trample
on the bruised reed after they had made sure
that heaven had first set down the heel.
" Why do ye persecute me as God ? " This
was the second arrow which buried its
poisoned barb in the Psalmist's life. Like
the patriarch of Uz, he had been set at
naught both by kinsman and friend.
(3) Hostility (ver. 12).
"They also that seek after my life lay snares tor me;
And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous
things,
And imagine deceits all the day long."
The first two lines form an exact parallelism
dealing with hostility in act and hostility in
speech ; and then a third member is added,
dealing with hostility in motive, either as an
expansion of the second line in the paral-
lelism, or as the necessary explanation of
the whole. It is the former of these
40
The Divine Arrows
alternatives which is suggested by the
English punctuation, but the Hebrew
accents are in favour of the latter. Beneath
the outward hostility of violence and
calumny is found the inward plotting of
deceit. And the antagonism, as thus
depicted, is closely allied to mockery
(ver. 1 6) —
"When my foot slippeth they magnify themselves
against me."
" When men are in calamity," says Bacon,
" if we do but laugh we offend." But the
Psalmist's foes had no such scruple. They
beheld, as they conceived, the marks of
Divine disfavour resting upon his life, and
they magnified themselves against him,
rejoicing in his calamity (cf. Obad. 12).
And all this constituted the third arrow
which penetrated and stuck fast in his
quivering frame. In act, speech, and inward
motive he was assailed by the hostility of
his foes.
41
The Lenten Psalms
2. The Poison in which they were
Dipped.
" There is no health in my bones, because of my sin
(ver. 3).
This was the virulent poison in which the
arrows had been dipped. They irritated
and inflamed the wounds, because they had
aroused the sense of sin within the man's
own conscience. In other words, the
external ills that harassed and embittered his
life had constrained him to turn inward, and
down at the roots of character and conduct,
like a worm at the root of the tree, he found
the malignant presence of moral evil which
had dwarfed and impoverished the whole.
To adapt the words of the paraphrase —
" The sting was sin and conscious guilt,
'Twas this that arm'd thy dart:
The sin gave pain its strength and force
To pierce the sinner's heart."
From this as centre, the chastened thought
of the Psalmist runs out in various directions.
In verse 4, he dwells upon the magnitude of
42
The Divine Arrows
the evil. It was like a flood which went
over his head, or a heavy burden which over-
whelmed and crushed his spirit. Other
evils, compared with this, were merely pass-
ing shadows flitting across the landscape,
but this was the great eclipse shutting out
the sunshine, and making the day dark with
night. Disease, desertion, and mockery
were all directed against the Psalmist, but
what was disease to iniquity, what is de-
sertion to ungodliness, and what is ridicule
or idle scorn to the consciousness that the
man himself is not right with God !
" The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity ;
But a wounded spirit who can bear ? "
These might be the arrows that hurled
themselves down upon the man's truest
well-being, but this was the poison in which
the arrows had been dipped. And it is the
poison, and not the arrows, that inflicts the
damage ; the sin, and not the calamity, that
leaves its sting.
Hence in verses 13, 14, we have still
another turn to the Psalmist's thought. He
43
The Lenten Psalms
resolves to keep silence even in the presence
of his detractors —
" But I, as a deaf man, hear not :
And I am as a dumb man, that openeth not his mouth."
He is resigned and patient, like the ideal
Sufferer, as though he did not hear the
insults (Isa. liii. 7) ; or like a dumb man
he makes no answer as though he had no
power to rebut them. " Let him alone,"
said David, when reviled by Shimei, " it
may be that the Lord will requite me good
for his cursing of me this day. So David
and his men went by the way : and Shimei
went along on the hillside over against him,
and cursed as he went, and threw stones at
him, and cast dust" (2 Sam. xvi. 12). The
Lord hath bidden him — that was enough.
The fugitive king bowed his head to the
arrows that rained upon him. As a dumb
man he opened not his mouth.
3. The Hand that Shot them.
'* There is no soundness in my flesh, because of Thine
indignation" Tver. 3).
Not only does he look within to find the
44
The Divine Arrows
fever of moral evil inflaming and consuming
the life-blood : but he also looks above to
find in the fact of the Divine displeasure the
ever-efficient cause of his calamity. He
traces his hapless condition to the direct
agency of Jehovah. And because he does,
he discovers another reason for conducting
himself with humility before his foes. He
could afford to be silent towards men, for
Jehovah, the God of Israel, would not be
silent towards him.
"In Thee, O Lord, do I hope;
Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God" (ver. 15).
Not that this well of comfort was suggested
by the punitive side of the Divine discip-
line. The indignation depicted in the earlier
verses could only wring from him the prayer,
that mercy, and not judgment, might be
allowed to triumph at last. But there was
this other side to the Divine leading or dis-
cipline. It was chastisement, the proof of
love. Gradually the Psalmist has arisen to
this higher conception, and appealing from
the Wrath to the Love — from the Hand that
45
The Lenten Psalms
smites to the Heart that bleeds even when
it punishes, he is able to say like our own
Crashaw —
"But Thou giv'st leave (dread Lord) that we
Take shelter from Thyself in Thee :
And with the wings of Thine own dove
Fly to Thy sceptre of soft love."
It is this higher conception that leads the
way to a deep and genuine repentance. The
depth is determined by the height. Because
he has soared high, and gazed even for an
instant on the ineffable vision, he is also
constrained to dig deep and grapple with
the awful turpitude of moral evil. He is
plunged into the profound depths of self-
abasement. Consequently there is some
ground for the contention that verse 1 8 ought
to be inserted after verse 15, that after the
assurance so confidently expressed in the
latter, the resolution to acknowledge his
iniquity is at once theologically tenable and
psychologically sound.
"In Thee, O Lord, do I hope:
(Therefore) I will be sorry for my sin."
46
The Divine Arrows
But may not the converse be equally
true, that the height is determined by the
depth ? that because the man has dug
deep and laid bare the inner , recesses of
moral evil, he is able, in turn, to soar high
and rest in the assurance of God's readiness
to forgive and in His willingness to hear
his cry ? If one man looks in faith on
the One whom he has pierced and then
mourns, may it not be said of another that
he repents of his sins and believes ? Faith
and repentance have no necessary priority
in time. They are rather twin-graces of
the soul's experience, born together, reared
together, brought to maturity and perfection
side by side — the one as it develops throw-
ing light upon and intensifying the other,
until, through the agency of both, the soul
is stablished and strengthened, mellowed
and sweetened in the grace and peace of
heaven. And thus the psalm which began
with the thought of the Divine anger has
vindicated its Divine origin ; and the
Psalmist is able to conclude with an earnest
appeal to Jehovah who was the God of his
47
The Lenten Psalms
salvation (ver. 22). It was His hand that
shot the arrows, and it was His hand
alone that could heal the wounds ; or
as it is so beautifully expressed by
Newman —
" Look not to me — no grace is mine ;
But I can lift the mercy-sign,
This wouldst thou? Let it be!
Kneel down, and take the word divine
Absolvo Te."
Fides supplex is not yet transformed into
fides triumphanSy but it can draw near in
the hope that maketh not ashamed, and
say —
" Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation."
48
PSALM LL
49
AN IDEAL PRAYER.
To discuss the authorship of this psalm
may well seem to most readers a needless
waste of ingenuity. For while it may
have arisen in the personal experiences of
King David, as the traditional title
expressly affirms, the most ardent advocate
of the Davidic authorship is not precluded
from assuming that the whole psalm, at
least in its present form, could not have
originated at that early period. A later
exilic age is too clearly reflected in verses
17, 18. But if a subsequent generation
added to the poem at all, why should the
additional matter be restricted to these
two verses? May not the Church of a
later era have worked over the whole
composition, and in the light of new
aspirations and problems have made it
51
The Lenten Psalms
an ideal prayer both for the individual and
for the Church ? One fact is plain, that
now in its completed form both the
individual and the Church find in its classic
phrases an ideal expression of their own
penitence and worship ; and if these two
objects are served by the very finish of the
composition, it is no meaningless conjecture
to suppose that both the individual and
the Church have had a real share in its
production. There is no note in the
whole gamut of its devotion which a
modern congregation might not use in the
offering of public worship ; and no one
who knows anything of the spiritual
longings of the individual heart will feel
any misgiving in utilising every tone or
chord that vibrates in this timeless threnody.
Many of us, indeed, will hasten to confess
that instead of misgiving, we have
frequently found in these plaintive but
soul-subduing strains the one vehicle
possible for our own penitence and devotion.
In all ages the saints of God have come to
this Hebrew psalm, and found in it a
52
An Ideal Prayer
helpful, if not a peerless, liturgy : and as
such we may profitably summarise its
teaching under the following threefold
division : —
i. A Prayer for Forgiveness.
" According to the multitude of Thy tender mercies,
blot out my transgressions."
In its rendering for " transgressions," the
Septuagint emphasises the fact that before
the Psalmist peers into the depths of a
vitiated nature, he gazes at the noxious and
fungoid growths which had appeared above
the surface and manifested themselves in
the life. He commences with the particular
acts of sin, with which he had at once
wronged his fellows and defied his God.
Crimes of adultery and bloodguiltiness, as
in the life of the Hebrew monarch, or sins
of robbery and oppression, Sabbath profana-
tion and irreverence, which had marked the
course of a disobedient people, were of such
a nature that they could easily be differ-
entiated, and even as single actions were
only to be repudiated and condemned.
53
The Lenten Psalms
Hence in these opening verses all the
terms are employed by which moral evil
had already been stigmatised in Ps. xxxii.
It was rebellion, perversity, and a missing
of the mark, all in one. It defied God,
allowed itself to drift into crooked courses,
and like a caravan lost in the desert, never
reached its destined goal.
And what was the explanation of these
infatuated actions ? If they rose like hills
dominating the landscape, and casting a
baleful shadow over the life, what was the
deep under-bed of rock out of which they
rose, and upon which they were so firmly
and immovably based ? The Psalmist found
it in the inner depths of a vitiated nature.
" Behold I was shapen in iniquity
And in sin did my mother conceive me."
The deepest fact to him was not sins>
but sin. He had been born into a corrupt
race. The individual acts were the outcome
of a polluted source. They had been
moulded by the law of heredity.
It need scarcely be added that there was
no thought in this of defaming a mother's
54
An Ideal Prayer
honour, or of shifting the blame of a man's
own actions to the law or will of the Eternal.
Human souls which have never felt the weight
of conscious guilt may play with these
ignoble suggestions, but no one who has
felt the sting of an awakened conscience
will introduce the thought of heredity for
any such purpose. Like the Psalmist he
would rather learn the secret of his own
infatuation, and realise as he gazes into these
profound depths how absolutely helpless
a human being is when left to his own
efforts and resources. Instead of rising
into the light of the Divine favour, he can
only sink and disappear in the black mael-
strom of iniquity.
It is just at this point, however, that the
hope of the true penitent vindicates its Divine
origin. He is not thus left alone in his
helplessness. He can fall back on the
promise of covenant love, and say —
"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy
lovingkindness :
According to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot
out my transgressions."
55
The Lenten Psalms
He remembers the revealed will and char-
acter of Jehovah. He recalls the assured
fact that He is a God full of compassion
and gracious, abundant in lovingkindness
and truth : and realising that this is the
fountain-head of all blessing, he can come
in the assurance of faith, and pray, that the
dreaded record of his sin may be smeared
out of God's book, or the loathed leprosy
itself expunged out of his heart.
u Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean :
Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."
Let Jehovah Himself take the bunch of
hyssop and perform the priestly function.
Let Him sprinkle clean water upon the
spiritual leper and pronounce him clean.
Nay, let it be done thoroughly —
"Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin" (ver. 2).
In other words, whatever discipline be
required to remove the foul stains, let the
painful process be resorted to, that the end
in view may be graciously attained, and the
man himself stand in the presence of Jehovah,
56
An Ideal Prayer
a restored and guileless soul. This is the
first part of the Psalmist's ideal prayer.
Let Jehovah touch the leper and say, " I
will, be thou clean." In this large and
deeply spiritual sense, let Him bestow His
forgiveness.
2. A Prayer for Holiness.
The second stage in the Psalmist's thought
is set forth in verses 10-12. He prays
for a human spirit which is at once renewed,
sanctified, and free. And he has been led to
this wider conception because in his pre-
ceding prayer for forgiveness he had already
grasped the idea of a vitiated nature. The
whole man had been infected with the
poison, and now the whole man must share
in the remedy. In mind and will and
conscience, the spiritual leper must be
cleansed. Nay, the thought of cleansing is
no longer sufficient. The cleansing of the
leper may have been a suitable enough figure
for depicting forgiveness : but when the
Psalmist comes to this deeper conception of
57
The Lenten Psalms
inward holiness, he instinctively falls back on
the thought of a Divine creation or renewal —
M Create in me a clean heart, O God ;
And renew a right spirit within me."
This is at the basis of all true holy living :
the vitiated nature must be replaced by a
new creation (cf. Ezek. xxxvi. 26).
And the new creation must be sanctified.
The pure in heart may abide in the presence
of the Holy One of Israel, but no one else
will or can. The first fratricide could only
quail at the thought that he was to be driven
forth that day from the presence of Jehovah
(Gen. iv. 14) ; while each succeeding genera-
tion can only echo the admission —
" Evil shall not sojourn with Thee :
The arrogant shall not stand in Thy sight."
But how shall any one become pure, except
through the creative, life-giving power of
God ? And how shall any one remain pure,
save through the continued operation of the
same Divine influence ? The presence and
power of Jehovah's spirit is the. secret of
58
An Ideal Prayer
both. Hence, as in the fuller teaching of
Ezek. xxxvi. 27, the Psalmist prays —
"Cast me not away from Thy presence
And take not Thy holy spirit from me."
In other words, let my own spirit be
made new by Divine power. Let it be
fashioned into a fit temple for the deity.
Then when the inner shrine is thus made
meet for its heavenly guest, let Thy Spirit
take up its abode in the heart. A life of
holiness will at last be assured when the
Spirit of Jehovah is my inspirer and guide.
And deepest touch of all, let my renewed
spirit be free ; for this, in any adequate
interpretation of the term, is of the very
essence of holiness.
" Uphold me with a free spirit."
In the language of David Elginbrod, I
would no longer be a " kind of noble slave,"
but a free and happy child. I would obey
the innate prompting of a new nature, and
not simply the compulsion of an external
law. For when, in Henry ScougaTs phrase,
59
The Lenten Psalms
"the life of God is in the soul of man,"
there is felt the uprising of a new instinct
which spontaneously cares for the things
of God, as the heart panteth for the water-
brooks. The supernatural has become
natural. Just as one man may have a
genius for acquiring knowledge, and another
a bent or aptitude for practical affairs, Henry
Scougal had "a genius for godliness," a
natural instinct for sacrificing himself for
the good of others. Like Timothy (Phil,
ii. 20) he naturally cared for these things.
He did it spontaneously and freely. If one
had peered into the depths of his inmost
life, he would have found there an instinct
which turned to Christ, like the swallow
returning to the same old nest. Or to use
Dr. Chalmers' classic phrase, he would have
found " the expulsive power of a new
affection." And this, we repeat, is of the
very essence of the Psalmist's ideal prayer.
He prays for the spontaneity and freeness
of a new nature. The first prayer for
forgiveness was not sufficient. It had to
be supplemented by the Diviner glow and
60
An Ideal Prayer
richer life of holiness. And therefore he
prays —
" Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation :
And uphold me with a free spirit."
In this broad and deeply spiritual sense,
o-ive me a new life which is renewed, sancti-
fied, and free. Let forgiveness be followed
by holiness.
3. A Prayer for Service.
« Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation :
Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways,
And sinners shall be converted unto Thee.,,
Building on his own experience, the
Psalmist would both teach and sing. He
would teach others the "ways" or method
of the Divine government, according to
which, anything like impenitence is visited
by condign punishment, but penitence or
heartfelt contrition is welcomed and crowned
by the fulness of Divine forgiveness. And
in the present instance he is assured that
his teaching would not be in vain. Those
61
The Lenten Psalms
who had sinned would be so encouraged
by the Psalmist's example, that they would
return unto Jehovah and find in the wealth
of His covenant love the pledge of all
human blessedness. For Jehovah Himself
is the vindicator of the covenant. His
readiness to forgive is no mere clemency
on the part of one who is too indulgent to
punish evil. It is part of His eternal
righteousness (ver. 14). "If we confess
our sins, he is merciful and righteous to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness." The Psalmist's
example may be much, but Jehovah's
faithfulness to the covenant is more. The
exercise of grace, goodness, and forgiveness
is but one part of His Divine rectitude.
And therefore the Psalmist adds —
"Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O Lord,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness."
Or again, in his heart of hearts, the true
penitent would worship. After both the
teaching and the singing have lapsed into
silence, he would go in before his Maker,
62
An Ideal Prayer
and try to render unto Jehovah the homage
that was His due. And what is the nature
of that service ? Even Kipling in his
" Recessional " has tried to reproduce the
answer —
"The tumult and the shouting dies —
The Captains and the Kings depart —
Still stands Thine ancient Sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget — lest we forget ! "
The answer is that brightest jewel in Old
Testament piety — the unique, spiritual grace
of "humility/' When instructing his fellow-
men, the Psalmist could both teach and sing.
He could give expression to the full assur-
ance of his faith in a song of implicit trust.
But now, when the song is hushed, and he
has turned round to bow before the Eternal,
he has but one profound conviction lying
upon his spirit —
" The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit :
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt
not despise."
What are animal sacrifices compared with
63
The Lenten Psalms
an offering like that ? They are not worthy
of being mentioned in the same breath.
Bereft of this true spirituality which gives
meaning and value to the whole, they are
nothing better than the mere externals of
worship without the inner vitality or soul.
And yet, if Jerusalem were only restored
and purified, as the spiritual Church of God
should be, there might be a legitimate enough
place for animal sacrifices after all. And,
therefore, in that sublime liturgical addition
which now gives finish to the psalm, the
true worshipper prays —
" Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion :
Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt Thou delight in the sacrifices of right-
eousness . . .
Then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar."
In the meanwhile, the Lord demands
obedience and not sacrifice, devotion and
not ritual, humility and true contrition
rather than the formal presentation of a
merely external worship. For only then
shall the Psalmist's ideal prayer be gloriously
64
An Ideal Prayer
realised ; and penitence, holiness, and service
be rapt in the profound mysticism of love.
" Thought was not : in enjoyment it expired :
No thanks he breathed, he proffered no request :
Rapt into still communion that transcends
The imperfect offices of prayer or praise,
His mind was a thanksgiving to the power
That made him : it was blessedness and love."
This is prayer in its ideality — the rapture
and adoration of a child.
65
PSALM CIL
67
THE DIVINE MEMORIAL.
No finer tribute could be paid to a good
man's devotion than the reassuring message
addressed to Cornelius, the Roman cen-
turion, that his spiritual attitude in prayer,
and its practical result in almsgiving, had
come up before Jehovah as a sweet-smell-
ing savour, and been accepted at the Divine
footstool as the devout soldier's " memorial "
(Acts x. 4). Nevertheless, the thought of
the present psalm is deeper. The Psalmist
is thinking, not so much of the outstanding
characteristics of a man, as of the revealed will
and character of Jehovah, Israel's God. He
has His " memorial," not less than the most
devoted of His worshippers ; and both in
motive and actual realisation, that memorial
is charged with the deepest interest and
instruction for all. Hence while using the
69
The Lenten Psalms
phraseology of Lam. v. 19, the Psalmist
introduces a change which is a sufficient
indication of his standpoint. Instead of the
term " throne," he substitutes " memorial "
in verse 12, and exclaims —
"But Thou, Jehovah, sittest enthroned for ever,
And Thy memorial unto all generations."
The verse, as thus adapted, may be carried
as a lamp throughout the entire psalm, until
each thought and phrase is illumined by the
brilliance of its light.
1. The Discipline of the Individual.
This is the prevailing note in verses I— II,
though some of the expressions may be
equally well referred to the discipline of
the exilic Church : especially the appalling
figure in verse 10 —
"Thou hast taken me up, and cast me away" —
i.e. caught me up as in a whirlwind and
swept me away into this far-ofT land of
exile, where I lie broken by the storm,
a byword among the heathen ! The
70
The Divine Memorial
metaphor, as thus explained, may be
illustrated by Job xxx. 22, though, in the
latter passage the description of utter desola-
tion is carried a step further —
"Thou liftest me up to the wind . . .
And dissolvest me in the roar of the storm."
No figure, indeed, could be too over-
whelming to portray the hapless condition
of Israel in that far-off land. She had verily
been whirled away in the hurricane of God's
righteous anger, and there, by the waters of
Babylon, she had become the derision and
execration of the stranger. So we read in
verse 8 —
" Mine enemies reproach me all the day long,
They that are mad against me do curse by me."
And yet in these introductory verses
there is a deeper truth than the thought
of Israel as a church. There is the in-
dividualising of the national woes. There
is the gathering of the Church's perplexities
into the consciousness of the individual
heart. For even in exile the Church was
71
The Lenten Psalms
made up of individual Israelites ; and it is
only as the individual member, in any age,
identifies himself with the Church, and is
willing to espouse her cause and to bear her
burdens, that the set time for remembering
Zion can in any sense be accelerated or the
promise of a new era be fulfilled. Hence,
in the plaintive strains of these opening
verses, it is the personal, rather than the
national, consciousness that is struggling
for expression. The Psalmist, as an in-
dividual Israelite, has made the Church's
perplexities his own.
" I keep vigil : and am become
Like a solitary bird upon the housetop."
Indeed, the sense of his solitude and
suffering is so profound, that he practically
exhausts his store of imagery in trying to
depict his lonely and hapless condition.
Not only had he been cast into a fiery
furnace (ver. 3) whose scorching flame had
licked up his vital energy, reducing him to
exhaustion and emaciation (4, 5) ; but he
was left alone like solitude-loving birds
72
The Divine Memorial
which inhabit dark and desolate ruins (6, 7),
where his only sustenance was ashes and
tears (ver. 9), and where his days were
running their swift course like the lengthening
shadow on the sundial, while he himself
could only be compared to the parched and
withered grass (ver. 11).
It was a dark picture : and yet the
deepest touch has still to be added. It
was because of Jehovah's indignation and
wrath (ver. 10). The bitterest drop in his
cup was neither the sadness nor the solitude :
it was the fact that he was conscious of
being under the righteous displeasure of
the Lord. This was a darkness that might
be felt. Well might he liken himself to
the night-owl, uttering weird and mournful
cries among the ruins, or to the solitary,
nocturnal bird that sits upon the housetop
awake, while every one in the house below
is asleep ; for he, alas, was also surrounded
by ruins — the ruins of his shattered hopes —
and as far as he could pierce the darkness
of the night, there was only the blackness
of despair settling irrevocably upon his
73
The Lenten Psalms
spirit. The lengthening shadow on the
dial was only too prophetic of the end.
His sun ere long would dip beneath the
horizon, and he would be left alone with
the stars.
Be it so. Even if the stars could
only remind him of Jehovah's sleepless
indignation, he might nevertheless find
in that awe-inspiring conception the sur-
prising promise of a better dawn. Jehovah's
indignation was simply another form of
Jehovah's faithfulness, and faithfulness in
turn is only another name for covenant
love. Only let the distressed soul gaze
long enough at the stars that were thus
guarding his sleepless nights ; and he might
yet learn the lesson which Jeremiah learned
in the Parable of the Almond Branch
(chap. i. 1 1- 1 2) — the lesson of Jehovah's
unceasing watchfulness. The prophet
might only gaze for a moment on the
beautiful flowers of the almond tree ; but
when was there an instant in the history
of Israel that the God of their fathers was
not watching over His word to perform it ?
74
The Divine Memorial
The Divine Watcher of Israel neither
slumbers nor sleeps. And even if the
performance of that word meant, and could
only mean, the punishment of all ungodli-
ness, what then ?
"Did I meet no trials here,
No chastising by the way,
Might I not with reason fear
I should be a castaway?
Others may escape the rod,
Sunk in earthly vain delight;
But the true-born child of God,
Must not, would not, if he might."
In fine, the very depth of the Psalmist's
trial was a part of the Lord's memorial. It
was chastisement, the proof of His love.
2. The Restoration of the Church.
" Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion :
For the time to favour her, yea, the set time is
come."
This also was a part of the Divine mem-
orial ; and it was well for the Psalmist that
he had identified himself with the Church's
perplexities, for in so doing he was now
75
The Lenten Psalms
to discover that he had taken the one step
necessary for entering into the fulness of
the Church's reward. The anguish of
despair was now to be supplanted by the
rapture of a Divine expectancy. In other
words, the cause of a stricken Zion is never
espoused in vain. She always gives more
than she gets.
With the thought of chastisement, for
instance, the sufferer has been led to raise
his eyes to heaven, and immediately every-
thing is altered. The wail of penitence is
changed into a song of rapturous praise. For
enthroned on the skyline of the everlasting
hills, he beholds a vision, peerless and soul-
subduing in its sublimity, concerning which
he might have said, in the language of E. B.
Browning —
" There sittest Thou, the satisfying One,
With blood for sins, and holy perfectings
For all requirements — while the archangel, raising
Toward Thy face his full ecstatic gazing,
Forgets the rush and rapture of his wings ! M
He beholds Jehovah, the Ruler of heaven
and earth and the Disposer of human destiny,
76
The Divine Memorial
and realises in the light of that Divine un-
veiling, not simply that all is well with the
world, but in a special sense that all must
be well with the Church. For with a flash
of spiritual insight he is able to read the
two things together — Jehovah's sovereignty
over all, and that which was the basal fact
in Israel's history, the covenant relationship
inaugurated at Sinai and solemnly ratified
by blood. This is the reason why the
thought of a "throne" instinctively passed
over into the conception of a "memorial,"
and that the language of verse 12 was deliber-
ately coined to express the illuminating
change. The Psalmist was listening to the
never-to-be-forgotten teaching of Ex. iii. 15,
" This is my name for ever, and this is my
memorial unto all generations . . . Jehovah,
the God of your fathers, hath sent me unto
you."
Everything was possible in the light of
that Divine truth. It was even possible that
God's set time to remember Zion had at last
arrived. God's faithfulness to the covenant
was an essential element in that hope. He
77
The Lenten Psalms
was not unmindful of His covenant promise ;
and, therefore, the Hebrew captives could
say —
" Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion :
. . . Yea, the set time is come."
The main proof that Jehovah was about
to comfort Jerusalem was lying nearer the
hearts of the weeping captives than they
deemed. The Psalmist found it in the
yearning love of the captives themselves.
Even by the waters of Babylon they were
thinking of Zion. They had affection for
her ruins, and were moved with pity for her
dust. And it cannot be emphasised too
strongly that when good men thus begin to
lay to heart the weight of the Church's
calamity, this is the unfailing spiritual token
that Jehovah himself has already begun to
work. The stirring of love and pity in the
hearts of the exiles is a real presage of the
dawn," like the keen morning air stirring the
sleeping flowers before sunrise." Yes, even
in exile, the captives were feeling the thrill
of the homing instinct ; and, therefore, they
78
The Divine Memorial
could say, like Dr. Matheson in reference to
his own blindness, that while he was " over-
taken by the night, he was yet confident of
the morning."
" The wind grew cold, a change was in the sky,
And in deep silence did the dawn draw nigh."
And the new era, as thus anticipated, was
full of promise for the Hebrew captives. By
the use of perfect tenses they transport
themselves into the future, and paint the
story of their restoration as a fully realised
fact.
"The Lord hath built up Zion,
He hath appeared in His glory,
He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute,
And hath not despised their prayer. "
If the Israelites in Babylon were like con-
demned captives, languishing in prison, and
doomed to perish in that exile land, unless
Jehovah should speedily interpose in their
favour ; they nevertheless beheld with the eye
of faith that the interposition had been effected,
that Jehovah had intervened in their behalf,
and that now from the vantage-ground of their
79
The Lenten Psalms
own restoration the eagle-like wings of their
faith must be ready for a wider and vaster
flight. The ingathering of Israel was but
the prelude to the ingathering of the nations.
All nations were to come and bless them-
selves in Abraham's seed. This, indeed,
was the ultimate design of what they had
learned to call the Lord's memorial ; and,
therefore, as the final stage in the working out
of this fundamental conception, we have —
3. The Perfecting of the World.
" Si monumentum requiris, circumspice " —
who has not read the well-known epitaph over
the inner north doorway of St. Paul's ? No
other monument is needed. No other relic
would suffice. The completed structure, in
all its massive splendour, is the only worthy
memorial of Sir Christopher Wren. And
the teaching of the present psalm is some-
what similar. It would say, with our own
Tennyson : —
" One God, one law, one element,
And one far- off Divine event,
To which the whole creation moves."
80
The Divine Memorial
And when that august goal has been
reached, and all "the peoples are gathered
together to serve the Lord" (ver. 22), well
may a celestial voice be heard, saying, " If
you wish to see His memorial, look around."
For when at the close of the world's great
drama, the morning stars sing together, as
at the beginning, and all the sons of God
shout for joy, a glorified humanity will lift
up its eyes on the finished structure, and
confess that in all its massive grandeur no
other monument is required, that this is
His memorial to all generations— Jehovah,
the God of Israel, hath done all things well.
But how is that august goal to be reached ?
Is it by frail human effort, by the laws
and processes of external nature, or by the
intervention and might of Jehovah ? The
concluding verses of this psalm give no
uncertain answer. It is not by the exercise
of frail human effort. Thrust back once
more into the misery of his present, the
Psalmist can only complain, as in verse 23 —
11 My strength hath He weakened in the way ;
And my days hath He shortened."
F Si
The Lenten Psalms
Frail man ! What is his life but the
lengthening shadow on the sundial ? Or
the heavens and the earth ! What measure
of abiding trust can Israel repose upon them ?
Alas, they, too, shall perish and come to an
end, as if smitten by the same fatal blight
of mortality.
" Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment ;
As a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall
be changed."
But in contrast with both, read verse 27.
Turning away from man and nature alike,
the Psalmist catches hold of God's skirts
and prays —
" But Thou art He ; and Thy years shall have no
end."
He falls back on the personality and im-
mortality of Israel's God, and feels that in
these he has the promise and pledge of his
own. From of old, O Jehovah, Thou didst
say as Thine age-long memorial, " I will be
that I will be": and that is the undecaying
hope of Thy people still. They can take
refuge in the ever-widening sweep of Thy
82
The Divine Memorial
Divine purposes, and sum up all their con
fidence, as they now conclude this psalm,
saying —
"The children of Thy servants shall continue,
And their seed shall be established before Thee."
This is sinking the individual not simply
in the fortunes of the Church, but in the
greatness and glory of the Church's Head :
and as Jesus taught his disciples long after,
this is the one approved method for finding
and enjoying all. For when the individual,
the Church, and the nations lift up their eyes
amid the glories of the completed structure
it will be to confess that the sovereignty
and faithfulness of Israel's God have been,
at last, supremely vindicated ; and that now
in the rapture of an abiding trust, each child
of the kingdom may say —
" But Thou, Jehovah, sittest enthroned for erer 5
And Thy memorial unto all generations."
83
PSALM CXXX.
85
T>E TR0FUNB1S.
This great ode has won the admiration and
moved the hearts of devout men in all ages.
In his dying moments, as cited by Prothero,
the thoughts of Richard Hooker, the pride
of English theologians, dwelt on this psalm ;
while Luther, in his efforts to give the
German nation a Bible and Hymn-Book,
founded upon it his well-known hymn —
"Aus tiefer Noth schrei ich zu dir."
And who can forget the sublime symbolism
of Sir Noel Paton's wonderful creation, " De
Profundis " — the female figure, the soul,
struggling out of the mists of the valley,
with her beautiful gauze robe and butterfly
wings all frayed and stained by the mire ;
and the peerless form of the Saviour coming
87
The Lenten Psalms
round the crest of the hill, laying aside His
crook, and with tender gaze, yet tense
hands, snatching the well-nigh exhausted
Psyche from the abyss. What an incom-
parable blending of the human and Divine —
human faith and Divine faithfulness meeting
and co-operating in one supreme act of
covenant love ! And yet how limp the arms
of the human figure are, when compared
with the strong, tense grasp of the Good
Shepherd ! It is not so much faith that
saves : it is the Saviour , and, therefore, the
teaching of the whole canvas can only re-echo
the closing strain of the Psalmist —
" O Israel, hope in the Lord ;
For with the Lord there is mercy.
And He shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities."
But what are the depths out of which the
Hebrew singer directs his supplications ?
The present psalm gives no uncertain
answer. It suggests, at least, a threefold
division.
88
De Profwidis
i. The Great Deep of Sin, and its
One Profound Need — Forgiveness.
This is the burden of verses 3, 4, as read
more particularly in the light of the in-
structive Hebrew names.
" If Thou, Jah, shouldest mark iniquities,
O Adonai, who shall stand ?
But there is forgiveness with Thee,
That Thou mayst be feared."
It recalls the teaching of Hosea, the prophet
of love. Jehovah was to him not only a
King or Ruler who demanded civil justice as
between man and man, or ethical righteous-
ness as a reflection of the Divine ; He was
also a Divine Husband and Father who had
taken Israel into covenant relationship with
Himself, and who still yearned over the
unfaithful wife or over the disobedient son,
after she or he had been guilty of spiritual
apostasy. Both as Jehovah's spouse and
Jehovah's son, Israel was pledged to a life
of fidelity and service ; and, therefore, the
peculiar character of Israel's backsliding was
89
The Lenten Psalms
to be read and judged in the light of that
fact. It was at least two things in one. It
was a sin against covenant love, and a grave
dereliction of duty. She had committed
two great evils — slighted the love which a
father's God had cherished towards her,
as " Jah " ; and in so doing had failed to
render the filial service and obedience which
she owed to Him as "Adonai." And in
all this there was the proof not only of
unrighteous conduct or the breach of uni-
versal law, but of a heart not true to
Jehovah, out of sympathy with His character
and ungrateful to His love.
This is the true nature of sin as depicted
in the present psalm. The individual, no
less than the nation, had departed from
Jehovah. He had sinned against Him as
the God of love, and was now trembling at
the prospect of having to meet Him as the
God of power. But who can stand before
Him as Adonai, if He, as the God of the
covenant, be strict to mark iniquity ? No
one. Before the searching glance of Him
who is both loving-kindness and power, the
90
De Profundis
conscience-smitten Israelite can only sink
into the abyss. .
What, on the other hand, if the God or
Israel should not be extreme to sift ? The
mere possibility that there might be another
alternative is full of promise for every
sincere penitent. In the plenitude of His
mercy He might allow the inner gracious-
ness of His motive to determine the
character of His discipline, and say, "How
shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? How shall I
deliver thee, Israel ? How shall I make thee
as Admah ? How shall I set thee as Zeboim ?
Mine heart is turned within Me : My com-
passions are kindled together." Hence the
punishment, though richly deserved, would
not be the "ban" of an utter extermination :
it would be chastisement— the proof of His
love. This is the profound conception that
calms and reassures the Psalmist now. He
might quail at the prospect of facing the
sovereign might of Adonai, but what if the
covenant love of Jah should act as his Divine
reel ? Might he not appeal from the one to
the other-from the power to the love-and
91
The Lenten Psalms
say, with the author of the " Royal Crown,"
that he would fly from God to God ?
"From Thee to Thee I fly to win
A place of refuge, and within
Thy shadow from Thy anger hide
Until Thy wrath be turned aside.
Unto Thy mercy I will cling
Until Thou hearken pitying ;
Nor will I quit my hold of Thee
Until Thy blessing light on me." l
This is the Psalmist's perfect plea when
realising the depth of his own iniquity.
He can lift his eyes, like Psyche, to the
Great Shepherd of Israel and say —
" But there is forgiveness with Thee,
That Thou mayst be feared."
The sin of man may be deep, but the
forgiveness of God is deeper. The con-
sciousness of guilt may be wiped out by
the exercise of covenant love.
1 Solomon Ibn Gebirol, born in Malaga, 1021. See
Abraham's Short History of Jewish Literature^ p. 64.
92
De Profundis
2. The Closely Allied Deep op
Suffering and its One Profound
Need of Patience.
This is the supplementary thought con-
tained in verses 5, 6. When the prophet
Nathan exclaimed in the Parable of the One
Ewe Lamb, " Thou art the man " (2 Sam.
xii. 7), the royal backslider at once confessed
his sin, and was as promptly assured of the
Divine forgiveness. He might have said,
in the language of Ps. xxxii. 5 —
"I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the
Lord :
And Thou— Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."
But what of the other great deep of suffer-
ing which had come as sin's necessary and
bitter fruit? What of the personal and
family sorrows which had fallen so calami-
tously upon his life? Were these also
wiped out by the alchemy of faith, or by
the free, spontaneous outflow of Divine
forgiveness? Alas, for the answer. "Be-
cause by this deed thou hast given
great occasion to the enemies of the Lord
93
The Lenten Psalms
to blaspheme, the child also that is born
unto thee shall surely die." The sin might
be forgiven, but the sorrow and the suffer-
ing remained.
Now, in these circumstances, what is the
one supreme need of the suppliant ? Not
simply the faith that justifies, but the Spirit-
taught patience that endures. He must
learn to say, as in verses 5, 6 —
*' I wait for God, my soul doth wait,
My hope is in His word,
More than they that for morning watch,
My soul waits for the Lord."
" Ye have heard of the patience of Job,"
adds the Apostle, "and have seen the end
of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of
pity and merciful." What, in view of
both of these passages, is the true nature
of Christian patience ? Is it the mere
submission of a soul which has no power
to resist — the cold, dull stupor of a man
who is compelled to bow to the inevit-
able ? Is it not rather the spiritual attitude
of one who is thrilled by a deathless
hope — the calm resignation of a hu.nan
94
De Profundis
spirit, which, having seen the end of the
Lord, is now confident of the morning ?
Yes—
" Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright :
For there is a future for the man of peace."
Ps. xxxvii. 37 (margin).
Patient waiting upon God has a future.
It is an attitude of soul which is closely
akin to hope. It is deeply rooted in the
soil of childlike communion with Jehovah,
and will yet wave its branches and bear
its fruit in the sunshine of covenant love.
The secret of the Lord is its strength.
Having turned its face towards Adonai —
for without any descriptive verb he exclaims,
"my soul is to the Lord'''' — he is confident
that not more surely shall they who watch
for the dawn be rewarded by the glory
of the sunrise, than will Adonai, the God
of power, appear in His glory, and cause
the night of His servant's sorrow to cease.
This sets the reality of the Psalmist's
assurance of forgiveness in the strongest
possible light. Once he quailed at the
prospect of appearing before Adonai, but
95
The Lenten Psalms
now the advent of His Divine might is
his one inspiration and hope. The same
Power which might have crushed him in
his state of unforgiven sin is now to appear
in his favour and vindicate his confidence.
He can therefore trust and not be afraid,
even in the dark night of sorrow ; he can
stay his chastened spirit upon his God.
And is this not the pressing need of the
present generation ? In an age when all
the ephemeral playthings of the hour are
duly recorded in the morning papers, and
the moral energies of the race are in grave
danger of being wasted on a multiplicity of
trifles ; and when even the Church is being
tempted to accept the alluring teaching that
all human suffering is an anachronism —
that the natural human flight from pain is
really a spiritual quality which ought to be
raised to the dignity of a moral obligation ;
is there not an ever-growing necessity for
the trumpet-call of this time-honoured
psalm, emphasising, as it does, the need
of a renewed deepening of thought at the
centre, a firmer grasp of the value of Divine
96
De Profundis
discipline, and a calm, resigned waiting upon
the Lord ? The grace of God is sufficient
for all the children of sorrow, even though
the iron which has entered into the quick
is not at once removed. By prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving the afflicted
suppliant is to make known all his requests
unto God, and even if the prayer is not
answered, at least in the way so fondly
anticipated, the peace of God which passeth
all understanding shall guard his heart and
his thoughts in Christ Jesus. This is the
second way in which the God of all grace
comes to the help of His suffering people.
In the great deep of their sorrow and suffer-
ing He teaches them the patience that
endures.
3. The Great Deep of Humility and its
One Profound Need of Assurance.
" There is forgiveness with Thee, that
Thou may st be feared " ; nay, there is dis-
cipline with Thee, that Thou mayst be rever-
enced and adored. The two combined give
us the brightest jewel in Old Testament
o 97
The Lenten Psalms
piety. The fear and the adoration together
give us humility. "To this man will I
look, saith the Lord, even to him that
is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that
trembleth at My word."
But what, in essence, is this peculiarly
Christian grace ? " It is no mere modesty
or absence of pretension — a meaning which
even heathen writers might have read into
it ! — no, nor even a self-made grace in any
sense ; it is an esteeming of ourselves small,
inasmuch as we are so " (Trench). Inasmuch
as we are so ! That may not be the impres-
sion made upon us by the imperfect examples
of our fellows, but it is the conviction
produced by the felt presence of Jehovah's
power. Like Charles Lamb, we might
possibly be able to stand erect before the
greatest of our human masters, but if He
should come in, we would all kneel. This,
we repeat, is the brightest gem in Old
Testament piety. God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace to the humble.
Now, here, again, what is the humble man's
supreme need, especially when he comes to
98
De Profundis
deal with friend or fellow ? Not to allow
his humble-mindedness to paralyse his con-
fidence so that he becomes dumb with
timidity before the Church or the world ;
but to allow the fear of God to so possess
his mind and spirit, that, having eliminated
every other fear, he can say —
" O Israel, hope in the Lord ;
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him is plenteous redemption."
The humble man's need is an assurance
of salvation so deep and strong that he wil
be constrained to become an evangelist
And it is not without interest in this con
nection to recall that it was the singing of
this psalm as an anthem, at St. Paul's
Cathedral, on 24th May 1738, which stirred
the heart of John Wesley to receive thai
quickening sense of God's redeeming love
which made him one of the foremost
ministers and evangelists of his time. The
Psalmist's theme, indeed, might well make
the most timid man eloquent. Like the
Divine Spirit, whose word it is, it is a
message whose illuminating power searches
99
The Lenten Psalms
all things, yea, the deep things of God.
It searches and illumines the deep things of
His love ; for " with the Lord there is mercy "
— not only inherent in His nature, but with
Him, as His " darling attribute " (Matthew
Henry), the very essence and seal of His cove-
nant. And the deep things of His truth, for
the Psalmist had already said, " in His word
do I hope " — that word of promise and age-
long wisdom which, like Jehovah Himself, is
eternal. And chief of all, the deep things
of His redemption : "plenteous redemption "
is the arresting phrase, containing enough
for all, enough for each, enough for me.
"Who is a God like unto Thee, that
pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the trans-
gression of the remnant of His heritage ? He
retaineth not His anger for ever, because He
delighteth in mercy."
These are the deep things of God — His
character, His truth, His salvation ; and yet
the proper theme of the psalm has been
the deep things of a man — his sin, his
suffering, his humility. Out of the depths
of the one he has cried in an agony of
ioo
De Profundis
appeal to the fulness and might of the other,
" Lead me to the Rock that is higher than
I " ; and like "deep calling unto deep,"
the love of Jah has responded to the
impassioned appeal, and with all the might
of Adonai has snatched the well-nigh ex-
hausted Psyche from the abyss. And what
He has done for one, He will do for all.
" He shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities."
In each generation, then, let every rescued
soul sing —
" Plenteous redemption
Is ever found with Him,
And from all his iniquities
He Israel shall redeem."
IOI
PSALM CXLIIL
103
A PENITENT'S ANTHOLOGY.
The present psalm may be rightly de-
scribed as an afflicted man's anthology. It
is a compilation of imagery and spiritual
teaching derived from the time-honoured
records of the past. No one can read Ps.
vii. 5 or Lam. iii. 6 without recognising the
sources of verse 3 —
" The enemy hath persecuted my soul ;
He hath smitten it down to the ground :
He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those
that have been long dead."
Or, in contrast with his present dejection,
was the Psalmist desirous of recalling the
brighter memories of his past ? He had
only to turn to Ps. lxxvii. 5, 6, 11, 12 and
read, as in verse 5 —
" I remember the days of old :
I meditate on all Thy doings :
I muse on the work of Thy hands."
105
The Lenten Psalms
Or, finally, does he cast an anxious glance
into the future, and fondly cherish the hope
that in the coming years Jehovah would
guide his steps in the path of righteousness ?
He culls passages like Ps. xxvii. II, Isa. xxvi.
7, Neh. ix. 20, and exclaims, as in verse 10 —
" Teach me to do Thy will ; for Thou art my God :
Thy Spirit is good : lead me in the land of uprightness."
This reverence for the past, however,
is but one aspect of the afflicted man's
devotion. It is always illuminated and
enhanced by a homage which is Divine.
If the book of Israel's history and psalmody
is lying open upon his knee, he is reading
it in the presence of Jehovah, and allowing
the light of the eternal world to fall upon
its pages. In a word, he is breathing the
atmosphere of prayer, and supplicating the
help of the God of Israel to assist him in
his study of Divine truth. Hence, the
moment he lifts the pen to begin his
anthology, it is to write —
"Hear my prayer, O Lord: give ear to my supplications:
In Thy faithfulness answer me, and in Thy righteous-
I06
A Penitent's Anthology
The entire psalm falls into two equal
sections by the insertion of the musical term
" Selah " at the close of verse 6. In the
former part we have a pathetic description
of the afflicted man's present, while in the
latter he furnishes an equally instructive
picture of the greatness of his future hope :
and as these are the two broad divisions in
the logical evolution of the thought, we may
profitably assign a few brief paragraphs to
each.
i. The Haplessness of His Present.
It begins with a plaintive allusion to the
bitter hostility of his foes (ver. 3). Like
some distressed son of Jesse, hunted as a
partridge upon the mountains, the Psalmist
has been driven into dark and desolate
places, where, smitten to the ground
by ruthless persecution, he lies crushed
and forgotten, "as those that have been
long dead." It recalls the Erechite's
lament over the desolation of his father-
land—
107
The Lenten Psalms
" The mighty enemy has smitten me down like a single
reed.
I mourn day and night like the marshland." 1
The boom of the bittern and the multi-
plied cry of the raven were the only sounds
that answered the bitterness of his wail.
Hence he continues, as in verse 4 —
" My spirit fainteth within me :
My heart within me is appalled."
And this all the more when he reflected that
the chastisement as thus inflicted was by
no means undeserved. An awakened con-
science was only too ready to drive home the
sense of personal guilt. No doubt a son's
rebellion, like that of Absalom, or the execra-
tion of one like Shimei, was a bitter enough
experience in the life of the Hebrew
monarch ; but what was rebellion to
personal ungodliness, and what was execra-
tion or biting scorn to the consciousness
that the man himself was not right with
God ? This was an aspect of the persecu-
tion that drove the iron into the quick ;
1 Records of the Past, new series, vol. i. p. 85.
108
A Penitent's Anthology
and, therefore, the Psalmist can only pray, as
in verse 2 —
" Enter not into judgment with Thy servant :
For in Thy sight shall no man living be justified."
Consequently, in verses 5, 6, he gropes
around to find, if possible, a way of escape
from the dark prison-house of his fear. He
turns, for instance, to the brighter memories
of the past. With the torch of memory he
hies back to the contemplation of God's
mighty acts in history, that he may find in
the record of former days a possible mitiga-
tion of his sorrow.
" I remember the days of old :
I muse on the work of Thy hands."
It is not necessarily the case that " a
sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering
happier things." It may rather be the
pledge of a fresh infusion of hope. If only
the " happier things " were instinct with
God — alive with the presence and power of
Jehovah, the God of Israel — the recalling of
the events, instead of crowning sorrow with
a keener sense of loss, will only discrown it
109
The Lenten Psalms
by the implanting of a firmer trust. And
that this has been the case with the present
suppliant is plain from the strong appeal
depicted in verse 6. The God who had
wrought so wondrously in the past was the
sure refuge and stay of His people still ;
and, therefore, lifting his eyes to heaven, the
penitent exclaims —
" I spread forth my hands unto Thee ;
My soul thirsteth after Thee, as a weary land."
Omar Khayyam had no such message, as
given in stansas 72, 76 of his great poem —
"We are no other than a moving row
Of magic shadow shapes that come and go,
Round with this Sun-illumined Lantern held
In midnight by the Master of the Show.
And that inverted bowl they call the sky
Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die !
Lift not your hands to it for help — for it
As impotently rolls as you or I."
True, but it is not an it to which the
persecuted Psalmist is now directing his
supplication. It is to the God of the
covenant — that most spiritual and most
living of all personal powers, Jehovah, the
110
A Penitent's Anthology
God of Israel. Directing his prayer to Him,
the penitent is persuaded that his hands
are not stretched forth in vain ; for in all
the great crises of the past Jehovah had
come in the fulness of His covenant love,
and delivered His oppressed people from
their fears, and He would not allow their
enemies to triumph now by leaving His
afflicted servant in their hands. He would
come in the plenitude of His sovereign
mercy, and save the fainting soul that was
turned to Him in trust. For not more truly
did the weary land long for the refreshing
and life-giving rain than did the soul of the
Psalmist pant for a renewal of God's former
blessings. And this would be the unfailing
expression of his confidence now : his soul,
no less than his prayer, would be turned
towards Jehovah. He would say with
Herbert in his own quaint rhyme —
"Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
Though foolishly he lost the same,
Decaying more and more,
Till he became
Most poor :
III
The Lenten Psalms
With Thee
Let me combine
And feel this day Thy victorie ;
For if I imp my wing on Thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me.1'
This is the gracious conclusion of the
first part of the afflicted man's anthology.
He spreads out his hapless condition before
Jehovah, the God of Israel, and prays for
deliverance.
2. The Greatness of His Future Hope.
As if to ratify the conclusion already
reached in the first part, he prepares the
way for this wider conception by a reiterated
prayer for deliverance, saying, as in verse 9 —
"Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies:
I flee unto Thee to hide me."
For until he was delivered, as Israel had
been, from the hated yoke of the oppressor,
what hope was there that he would be
continued in the land of the living at all ?
His spirit would fail utterly, and he himself
would become like " those that go down into
112
A Penitent's Anthology
the pit." Hence he prays, as in verse 8,
but reading the verb "to satisfy," as in
Ps. xc. 14.
"O satisfy me in the morning with Thy mercy;
For in Thee do I trust."
Having turned his face towards the dawn,
like those who watch for the morning, he
looks, and waits, and longs for deliverance,
saying with Phinehas Fletcher —
" As a watchman waits for day,
And looks for light and looks again,
When the night grows old and gray,
To be relieved he calls amain :
So look, so wait, so long my eyes
To see my Lord, my Sun, arise."
It is on the basis of this hope that he
proceeds in verses 8$, 10-12, to offer a
threefold prayer for a brighter and nobler
future. He longs for a walk in fellowship
with Jehovah, which would be characterised
by knowledge, obedience, and love.
He prays, first, that his walk with
Jehovah may be, at least, a thing of know-
ledge.
H 113
The Lenten Psalms
" Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk ;
For I lift up my soul unto Thee."
It was with these words that Savonarola
resolved to renounce the world, and become
a monk in the Dominican monastery at
Bologna. All through his youth the hard-
featured stripling had brooded over the
wickedness and misery of the times, until,
as he informed his father after the event,
with the words of Ps. cxliii. 8 upon his
lips, he fled to the sanctuary of the cloister
to escape, if possible, the stifling atmosphere
by which he had been surrounded outside.
But alas, the monastic order itself was by
no means immaculate. For seven years he
remained at Bologna, spending his time in
prayer and penitence, and trying to find
comfort and recreation in teaching the
novices, but finding every day his heart
overwhelmed with grief, and stirred to
irrepressible indignation by beholding the
debasement and scandalous corruption of
the papal Church. Transferred at last to
Florence in 148 1, and elected Prior of
St. Mark's, he felt that a very different
114
A Penitent's Anthology
estimate of life and duty must now char-
acterise his later and maturer teaching. As
Villari has so well expressed it in his Life
and Times, it was no longer a question of
"forsaking the world, but of living in its
midst in order to purify it: it was his
business to train men, not to be good
hermits, but worthy monks, living an ex-
emplary life, and ready to shed their blood for
the salvation of souls." In other language,
his prayer for Divine knowledge had led him
farther than he deemed. It had led him
away from the hermit-like existence of the
cloister altogether, to fight a hard battle, and,
if need be, to suffer and die, in the broad
thoroughfares of the world.
All this, however, was simply to enter
into the second element of the Psalmist's
prayer, just as it had become the accepted
motto of Savonarola himself, that all
genuine knowledge of the Divine purpose
must be loyally translated into obedience.
So verse 10 —
"Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God:
Thy spirit is good ; lead me in the land of uprightness."
IJ5
The Lenten Psalms
The reformer's motto was, Tanto sa ciasenno
quanto opera — "As much as one knows, so
much one does " — and, therefore, he pur-
sued his thankless task of trying to purify
public life, and of rekindling faith in the
Church, even though all the powers that be
were arranged against him. Like Robert
Browning, he was
"One who never turned his back, but marched breast
forward,
Never doubted clouds would break,
Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong
would triumph,
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,
Sleep to wake."
And that this lesson is enforced by every
page in the history of Israel is evident to
every one who reads, as Savonarola did, the
Old Testament story. Knowledge of the
Divine will is never sufficient : it must be
knowledge that is followed by obedience.
The language of the pious in Israel must
ever be, "Lo, I come, I delight to do Thy
will, O my God." Apart from this, even
sacrifice was an abomination and worship a
116
A Penitent's Anthology
snare. And, therefore, the magnates of
Samaria, not less than Saul, the son of
Kish, must listen to the same teaching, that
obedience, and not sacrifice, was the pleasure
of the Lord ; " doing justly," and not mere
outward observance, was His delight.
But if so, they must be prepared for the
third essential element in the Psalmist's
prayer, that if knowledge has been followed
by obedience, obedience, in turn, must be
inspired and beautified by love. The
" delight " referred to by the pious in Israel
can be attained in no other way. Apart
from the life-giving breath of covenant love,
obedience, however perfect, is but the service
of a noble slave : it is not the free and
spontaneous service of a happy child. And
therefore, in verses n, 12, the Psalmist
prays —
" Quicken me, O Lord, for Thy name's sake ;
For I am Thy servant."
" Earnest love," said Savonarola, " is truly a
great might, for it can do all things. . . .
Nought can be done save by the impulse of
117
The Lenten Psalms
love." In other words, the "quickening"
referred to is the energising of the human
spirit with the life and love of Jehovah — a
Divine inbreathing which transforms work
into worship, and obedience into a pure and
holy joy. And as this Divine transformation
finds its fullest expression in the sphere of
mutual affection, the quickening desired is
simply the inflaming of human love until
it beats in unison with the Divine. " Lo, I
come : in the volume of the book it is written
of me, I delight to do Thy will, O my God."
Knowledge, obedience, love ! It is a high
ideal, and little marvel if the Psalmist
faltered as he gazed at the heights and
reflected on the fulness of his vision —
faltered, indeed, so much, that feeling him-
self thrust back once more into the hapless-
ness of his present, he paused and trembled,
lest, through the opposition of his foes, his
prayer for Divine fellowship should be
thwarted after all. And yet in the plea, "for
Thy names sake" he had taken his stand on a
rock that never could be shaken. He had
fallen back on the revealed will and character
118
A Penitent's Anthology
of Israel's God, and before that " memorial "
enemies could do nothing. Righteousness
and loving-kindness (vers, n, 12) were
woven together in one perfect plea, just as
righteousness and faithfulness (ver. 1) were
combined in the Psalmist's opening cry. So
that, despite the hostility of his foes, or
the hapless condition of his present lot, the
penitent might well come in the strength
of a perfect trust, and lay his anthology of
sorrow upon the altar. He might come
with his threefold prayer for knowledge,
obedience, and love, and conclude his earnest
supplication, as we too would close these
readings in the Penitential Psalms, with the
words —
"Quicken me, O Lord, for Thy name's sake;
For I am Thy servant."
119
APPENDIX.
Some Additional Reading.
In studying the Penitential Psalms with a
view to expository preaching, the following
easily accessible literature should be care-
fully consulted, (i) Professor Kirkpatrick's
admirable volumes on The *Boo^ of Tsalmsy
in " The Cambridge Bible for Schools and
Colleges. " For any part of the Song-Book
of Israel, these three volumes, designed for
the English reader, are simply invaluable.
Then (2) for spiritual insight and felicity
of phrase, give us Maclaren in the Ex-
positor s Bible. His volume on Colossians
may be the best thing he ever did in ex-
pounding a New Testament Epistle ; but
here, also, in many psalms he touches the
high-water mark of pulpit exposition. The
freshness of thought, no less than the grace
of diction, is sometimes superb. If the
preacher can add (3) the sanity and solidity
of Calvin, and (4) the spiritual savour and
quaintness of Matthew Henry (books that
might be more read than they are), he will
have all that he needs for the quickening
121
Appendix
of his own thought or the interest and
instruction of his hearers. (5) Historical
illustrations of the Psalms in human life are
of special value to the Christian expositor,
and as Trothero is now issued by Nelson
& Sons in the " Library of Notable Books,"
it is brought within the reach of all.
For the Hebrew student, however, the
main preparation for expository preaching
has yet to be noted. Nothing can take the
place of a first-hand acquaintance with the
text. Every hour spent over the Hebrew
and Greek words will save many hours
afterwards in wading through other courses
of expository or homiletical reading. It
may readily be accepted as an axiom in
Biblical exposition, that the study of syntax,
synonyms, and figures of speech is the great
time-saver in the subsequent preaching of
the Word. The present writer can only
repeat the conviction expressed at pp. 10- 11
of his Sermons in Accents, and illustrated in
the specimen page for a Student's Note-rBook
at p. 192, that the motto for all those who
are beginning the task of expository lectur-
ing is, " Back to the Hebrew text."
122
INDEX.
A. SCRIPTURE PASSAGES.
PAGE
PAGE
Ex. Hi. 15 .
. 77
Ps. lxvi. 13 . ,
11
Lev. xiii. 3 . .
. 39
,, lxxvii. 5-12
. 105
2 Sam. xii. 7
. 93
„ xc. 14 .
• "3
„ xvi. 12
. 44
Job ii. 8
• 37
Isa. xxvi. 7 .
. 106
„ vii. 5
• 37
„ liii. 7 .
. 44
„ xvi. 3 .
. 39
Jer. i. 11-12.
. 74
,, xix. 13-22
. 39
„ x. 24 .
6
,, xxx. 22 .
. 7i
„ xn. 1-5 .
. 29
Lam. iii. 6 .
. 105
Ezek. xxxvi. 26-27
. 58
Neh. ix. 20 .
. 106
Hos. xi. 8 .
. 9i
Luke xv. • .
. 27
Mic. vii. 18 .
. 100
Acts x. 4
. 69
Obad. 12
. 4i
Phil. ii. 20 .
. 60
Ps. vii. 5
. 105
Jas. v. 1 1
. 94
,, xxvii. II . .
. 106
1 John i. 8 .
. 19
„ xxxvii. 37
. 95
» i- 9 •
• 25
„ xl. 7-8 . .
. 116
£. QUOI
WTIONS.
Bacon . • .
. 4i
Lamb, Charles
: : g
Browning . .
. 116
Luther .
Browning, Mrs. •
. 76
Macdonald, Georg
e . 59
Bunyan . •
. 27
Newman
. . 48
Calvin . . •
3> I21
Records of the Pas
t . 108
Chalmers, Dr. .
. 60
Rossetti, Christina
6
Fletcher, Phinehas
. 113
Savonarola .
. 114-117
Gebirol, Solomon lb
i . 92
Scougal, Henry
• • 5?>
Henry, Matthew .3,
101, 121
Trench .
. . 98
Herbert
. in
Wesley, John
. 99
Hooker . .
. ^7
Wordsworth .
• ' 6J
Khayyam, Omar .
. 1 10
Wren, Sir Christo
Dher . 80
Kipling
. 63
23
Index
C. SUBJECTS.
Chastisement
Church, the .
Confession .
Confidence .
Conscience .
Covenant-love
Faith .
Forgiveness .
Holiness
Humility
Individual, the
Memory .
PAGE
5-9, 55,
78, 88, 100
52, 75-80
23-25
13-14, 99
22
9-12, 55,
77, 88, 100
47, 88
26-28
57-6i
63, 97-99
52> 7o-75
. 109
Nature, the
music of
.
4
Obedience
. .
,
I IS
Patience
,
94-97
Praise .
,
11
, 31
Prayer .
. I5,5i
-65,
69,
113-
119
Repentance
.
47
Sacrifices
. ,
64
Service
*6i
-65
Sin
19-22, 42
, 53-55,
89
-90
Suffering
. 12
37-
-41,
7
1-74. 93,
107-
112
THE
SHORT COURSE SERIES
EDITED BY
Rev. JOHN ADAMS, B.D.
This Series is designed to encourage a healthy re-
action in the direction of expository preaching.
Leading expositors in all the Churches have kindly
promised assistance; and the Series, to be issued
at the uniform price of 60 cents net per volume, will
furnish a sufficiently large variety for individual
selection.
READY IN AUTUMN 1912.
A CRY FOR JUSTICE: A Study in Amos.
By Prof. J. E. McFadyen, D.D., U. F. C. College,
Glasgow.
THE BEATITUDES.
By Rev. Robert H. Fisher, D.D., Edinburgh.
THE LENTEN PSALMS.
By the Editor.
THE EXPOSITORY VALUE OF THE REVISED
VERSION.
By Prof. G. Milligan, D.D., University of Glasgow.
THE VISIONS OF ZECHARIAH.
By Prof. James Stalker, D.D., Aberdeen.
The following other volumes are in
Preparation.
THE STORY OF JOSEPH.
By Rev. Adam C. Welch, B.D., Th.D., Glasgow.
SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF DAVID.
By Prof. H. R. Mackintosh, D.D., Edinburgh.
SOME ASPECTS OF THE PSALTER.
By Rev. Canon Vaughan, M.A., Winchester.
THE PROPHECY OF MICAH.
By Principal A. J. Tait, M.A., Ridley Hall, Cambridge.
THE MISSIONARY IDEA IN THE OLD TESTA-
MENT.
By Prof. W. G. Jordan, D.D., Kingston, Ontario.
JEHOVAH-JESUS.
By Rev. Thomas Whitelaw, D.D., Kilmarnock.
A PREFACE TO THE GOSPEL: An Exposition of
Isaiah 55.
By Rev. A. Smelije, D.D., Carluke.
READINGS IN THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE.
By Prof. W. Emery Barnes, D.D., Cambridge.
THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON.
By Principal A. E. Garvie, D.D., New College, London.
BELIEF AND LIFE: Expositions in the Fourth
Gospel.
By Principal W. B. Selbie, D.D., Mansfield College,
Oxford.
THE EMOTIONS OF JESUS.
By Prof. Robert Law, D.D., Toronto.
THE HIGHER POWERS OF THE SOUL.
By Rev. George M'Hardy, D.D., Kirkcaldy.
THE UPPER ROOM.
By Rev. D. J. Burrill, D.D., LL.D., New York.
THE "I AM'S" OF OUR LORD.
By Rev. Thomas Marjoribanks, B.D., Edinburgh.
THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS.
By Rev. A. B. Macaulay, M.A., Stirling.
THE PRAYERS OF ST. PAUL.
By Prof. W. G. Griffith Thomas, D.D., Toronto.
THE METAPHORS OF ST. PAUL.
By Rev. A. Boyd Scott, B.D., Glasgow.
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
By Rev. F. Stuart-Gardiner, B.D., Kingstown, Ire-
land.
THE REDEMPTION OF GOD.
By Prof. T. B. Kilpatrick, D.D., Toronto.
STUDIES IN THE APOCALYPSE.
By Prof. W. T. Davison, D.D., Richmond.
EXPOSITORY STUDIES.
By Prof. Arthur S. Peake, D.D., Manchester.
SOCIAL STUDIES.
By Rev. Canon Simpson, M.A., D.D., St. Paul's,
London.
OPINIONS OF WEIGHT.
"I thank you very heartily for a copy of your
'Lenten Psalms. ' Your * Short Course Series' finds
in this volume an interesting example of the kind of
book you are proposing to produce. It is brightly
written, and is full of stimulating illustration. I
think it exceedingly likely the plan may meet a mod-
ern want. The Bible as a backbone for preaching
appeals to people better than general sentiment or
edifying exhortation of a vague type."
Bishop Ryle, D.D., Dean of Westminster.
"The book is attractive in a high degree, and noth-
ing could be better calculated to stimulate expository
preaching in the Churches. One may confidently
anticipate for the Series a genuine success. "
H. R. Mackintosh, D.D., Edinburgh.
"May I express my own judgment that you are
working a very fruitful line, and that it will be most
acceptable to a great many readers."
J. H. Jowett, D.D., New York.
"I am wholly with you in this. And I wish you
great success in what you are proposing to do. Your
plan will help us all to give a scriptural breadth and
fulness to our pulpit work. For this and other rea-
sons I hail your proposal, and shall do all that I can
to further your good work."
Principal Alexander Whyte, D.D., Edinburgh.
"You have got hold of a fine idea, and your Series,
I am sure, will fulfil a most necessary ministry.
There is vast need of just such expository preaching
as you wish to encourage."
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