We are now among the long Psalms, as at other times we have been among the short ones. These varying lengths of the sacred poems should teach us not to lay down any law either of brevity or prolixity in either prayer or praise. Short petitions and single verses of hymns are often the best for public occasions, but there are seasons when a whole night of wrestling or an entire day of psalm singing will be none too long. The Spirit is ever free in His operations, and is not to be confined within the rules of conventional propriety. The wind bloweth as it listeth, and at one time rushes in short and rapid sweep, while at another it continues to refresh the earth hour after hour with its reviving breath.
This psalm resembles the famous sermon that Stephen preached before the Jewish Council, in Acts chapter 7, and is an historical account of God’s mighty deeds and covenant unfoldings among Israel of Old. In verses 1 to 7 there is an exhortation to call upon the name of Jehovah and to show forth His praise. In verses 8-15 we have the early beginnings of the young nation in the covenants of promise. In 16-23 we have the coming of Joseph and the family of Jacob into Egypt, while in 24-38 we have the deliverance from that land, and in 39 to the end of the psalm, the journeys through the wilderness and into Canaan at last in fulfilment of the promise that God had made.
Verse 2. “Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him; talk ye of all his wondrous works.” “Sing” – “talk.” Music and conversation are two things by which the mind of man receives much good, or a great deal of harm. They who make “the Lord” and His “wondrous works” the subjects of both, enjoy something of heaven upon the earth. And they who love the Saviour in reality and truth will always find themselves inclined to “sing unto him,” and “talk of him.”
Verse 2. “… talk ye of all his wondrous works.” That is – “Talk ye of all his miracles.” And who have so many of these to talk of as Christians! Christianity is a tissue of miracles; and every part of the work of grace on the soul is a miracle. Genuine Christian converts might talk of miracles from morning to night; and they should talk of them, and recommend to others their miracle-working God and Saviour.
Verse 4. “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face evermore.” “Evermore” is added in case some might imagine that they have performed their duty, if they have assembled twice or three times a year at the Tabernacle and observed the external rites according to the law.
Verse 6. “O ye seed of Abraham his servant …” Consider the relation ye stand in to Him. Ye are “the seed of Abraham his servant;” you are born in His house and thereby entitled to the privilege, provision and protection of His servants. But you are also bound to the duty of servants: to attend your Master, consult His honour, obey His commands and do what you can to advance His interests.
Verse 8. “He hath remembered his covenant …” As a long series of years had elapsed between the promise and the performance, the psalmist uses the word “remember” – intimating that the Divine promise does not become obsolete by length of time. Even when the world imagines that those promises are extinguished and wholly forgotten, God retains as distinct a remembrance of them as ever, that He may accomplish them in due season.
Verse 11. “Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.” Literally – the cord of your inheritance; an expression taken from the ancient method of measuring land with a line of cord. Thus, “the lines” – “the cords” – “are fallen unto me in pleasant places.” As the psalmist explains it there, “I have a goodly heritage.”
To be Continued.