EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS (4)

Verse 8.—“When thou saidst, Seek ye my face,” etc. We see here thus much, that God must begin with us, before we can close with him; God must seek us, before we can seek him; God must first desire that we should draw near to him, before we for our particulars are able to draw near unto God. Thou saidst, Seek my face; and then, and not till then my heart said, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.—Thomas Horton.

Verse 8.—“When thou saidst,” etc. Now God then speaks to the heart to pray when not only he puts upon the duty by saying to the conscience, This thou oughtest to do; but God’s speaking to pray is such as his speech at first was, when he made the world, when he said, “Let there be light, and there was light:” so he says, let there be a prayer, and there is a prayer; that is, he pours upon a man a spirit of grace and supplication, a praying disposition; he puts in motives, suggests arguments and pleas to God; all which you shall find come in readily, and of themselves, and that likewise with a quickening heat and enlargement of affection, and with a lingering, and longing, and restlessness of spirit to be alone, to pour out the soul to God, and to vent and form those motions and suggestions into a prayer, till you have laid them together, and made a prayer of them. And this is a speaking to the heart. Observe such times when God doth thus, and neglect them not, then to strike whilst the iron is hot; thou hast then his ear; it is a special opportunity for that business, such a one as thou mayst never have the like. Suitors at court observe molissima fandi tempora, their times of begging when they have kings in a good mood, which they will be sure to take the advantage of; but especially if they should find that the king himself should begin of himself to speak of the business which they would have of him: and thus that phrase of Psalm x. 17, that God prepares the heart, is understood by some, that God prepares the heart, and causeth the ear to hear; that is, he fashions it and composeth it into a praying frame. And sure it is a great sign that God means to hear us when himself shall thus indite the petition.—Thomas Goodwin.

Verse 8.—“When thou saidst,” etc. And well may this be pleaded, in that God useth not so to stir up and strengthen us to seek him, but when he intendeth to be found of us. Psalm x. 17. “Thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.” Jer. xxix. 13. “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” And God maketh it an argument to himself, that if he say to any inwardly as well as outwardly, “Seek my face,” he that speaketh righteousness cannot speak thus to them, and frustrate their prayers, and so bid them seek his face in vain. Isaiah xlv. 19, “I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain; I the Lord speak right things.” If Ahasuerus bid his spouse to ask, surely he will not fail to grant her petition (Esther vii. 2); so here. And as when Christ called the blind man to come to him to tell him his grievance, it was truly said to him by them, “Be of good comfort, rise, for he calleth thee.” Mark x. 49. So it is in this case.—Thomas Cobbett.

Verse 8.—“My heart said unto thee.” The heart is between God and our obedience, as it were, an ambassador. It understands from God what God would have done, and then it lays a command upon the whole man. The heart and conscience of man is partly divine, partly human. It hath some divinity in it, especially if the man be a holy man. God speaks, and the heart speaks. God speaks to the heart, and the heart speaks to us. And ofttimes when we hear conscience speaking to us, we neglect it; and as St. Augustine said of himself, “God spake often to me, and I was ignorant of it.” When there is no command in the word that the heart directly thinks of (as indeed many profane careless men scarce have a Bible in their houses), God speaks to them thus; conscience speaks to them some broken command, that they learn against their wills. They heed it not, but David did not so. God said, “Seek ye my face;” his heart answers, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” The heart looks upward to God, and then to itself, “My heart said.” It said to thee, and then to itself. First, his heart said to God, “Lord, I have encouragement from thee. Thou hast commanded that I should seek thy face.” So his heart looked to God, and then it speaks to itself, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” It looks first to God, and then to all things that come from itself.—Richard Sibbes.

Verse 8.—There are divers things considerable of us in this answer and compliance of David’s with God’s command or invitation to him. First, it was seasonable, and in due time; presently does David make this return: “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” This is the property and disposition of every wise and prudent Christian, to close with the very first opportunities of God’s invitation. Secondly, this answer, as it was seasonable and present, so it was also full and complete; the performance was proportionable to the injunction. Ye shall have some kind of people in the world that God bids them do one thing and they will be sure to do the quite contrary; or, at least, not do as much as they should do, but do it by halves. But, now, here David makes return to God in the full extent and proportion of obedience. God said, “Seek my face,” and he answered, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” Thirdly, it was real and entire, and sincere; “My heart said.” It is one thing to say it with the mouth, and it is another thing to say it with the heart. With the mouth it is both easy and ordinary, and nothing more usual. Lord, thy face will we seek, especially in any trouble or calamity, which is incident unto us; but for the heart to say it, that is not so frequent. Fourthly, it was settled, and peremptory, “Thy face will I seek;” there is nothing shall hinder me of it, or keep me from it, but I will do it against all opposition. Lastly, this protestation of David was absolute and indefinite and unlimited; “I will seek thy face;” without prescription of time, or place, or condition; not only now, but hereafter; not only for a time, but for ever, in all seasons, in all estates, in all circumstances, still I shall keep me to this—to hold my communion with thee. Then are we Christians, indeed, when we are so immutably and irreversibly and independently upon the opinions or practices of any other person.—Condensed from Thomas Horton.

Verse 8.—God hath promised his favour, and, therefore, his people may seek his favour. Nay, he hath commanded his people to seek his favour, and therefore they should seek it. It is an unadvised folly, during the suspension of God’s favour, to unson ourselves, and unpeople ourselves, i.e., by denying the grace and spiritual relation which exist between us and God. That is not the way to gain favour; for when we have undone our relation of children we exclude ourselves from the expectation of favour. No, the wisest and surest way is to seek the renewing of God’s loving countenance, and not to be driven away from God by our unbelief.—Obadiah Sedgwick, in “The Doubting Believer,” 1653.

Verse 9.—“Hide not thy face far from me.” When I seek thy face, vouchsafe, O God, not to hide thy face from me; for to what purpose should I seek it if I cannot find it? and what hope of finding it if thou be bent to hide it?—Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 9.—“Put not thy servant away in anger.” God puts away many in anger for their supposed goodness, but not any at all for their confessed badness.—John Trapp.

Verse 9.—“Thy servant.” It is a blessed and happy thing to be God’s true “servant.” Consider what the Queen of Sheba said of Solomon’s servants (1 Kings x. 8): “Happy are these thy servants,” etc. Now Christ Jesus is greater than Solomon (Matt. xii. 42), and so a better Master. Good earthly masters will honour good servants, as Prov. xxvii. 18, “He that waiteth on his master shall be honoured;” chap. xvii. 2, “A wise servant shall have a portion, or inheritance, among the brethren.” But however some earthly masters may be Nabals and Labans, yet God will not be so: John xii. 26: “Where I am, there shall also my servant be.” “If any man serve me, him will my Father honour,” see Luke xii. 37. The watchful servants are blessed; their master will make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them, as Matt. xxv. 21, 23: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”—Thomas Pierson.

Verse 9.—“Thou hast been my help; leave me not,” etc. One act of mercy engages God to another. Men argue thus: I have showed you kindness already, therefore trouble me no more; but because God has shown mercy he is more ready still to show mercy; his mercy in election makes him justify, adopt, glorify.—Thomas Watson.

Verse 9.—“Leave me not;” rather, “dismiss me not;” “let not go thy hold of me.” This is the proper sense of the Hebrew verb נָטַשׁ, to set a thing loose, to let it go, to abandon it.—Samuel Horsley.

Verse 10.—“When my father and my mother forsake me.” As there seems to be some difficulty in supposing the Psalmist’s parents to have “deserted” him, they might perhaps be said to have “forsaken” him (as Muis conjectures), that is, to have left him behind them, as being dead.—James Merrick, M.A., 1720-1769.

Verse 10.—“When my father and my mother forsake me.” It is indeed the nature of all living creatures, though never so tender of their young ones, yet when they are grown to a ripeness of age and strength, to turn them off to shift for themselves; and even a father and a mother, as tender as they are, have yet somewhat of this common nature in them; for while their children are young they lead them by the hand, but when they are grown up they leave them to their own legs, and if they chance to fall let them rise as they can. But God even then takes his children up, for he knows of what they are made; he knows their strength must be as well supported as their weakness be assisted; he knows they must as well be taken up when they fall, as be held up when they stand.—Sir Richard Baker.

Verse 10.—“Father and Mother.” First, who are they? Properly and chiefly our natural parents, of whom we were begotten and born; to whom (under God) we owe our being and breeding. Yet here, not they only; but by synecdoche all other kinsfolks, neighbours, friends, acquaintances, or, indeed, more generally yet, all worldly comforts, stays, and helps whatsoever. 2. But, then, why these named the rathest, and the rest to be included in these? Because we promise to ourselves more help from them than from any of the other. We have a nearer relation to, and a greater interest in them than any other; and they of all other are the unlikeliest to forsake us. The very brute creatures forsake not their young ones. A hen will not desert her chickens, nor a bear endure to be robbed of her whelps. 3. But, then, thirdly, why both named—father and mother too? Partly because it can hardly be imagined that both of them should forsake their child, though one should hap to be unkind. Partly because the father’s love being commonly with more providence, the mother’s with more tenderness; both together do better express than alone either would do, the abundant love of God towards us, who is infinitely dear over us, beyond the care of the most provident father, beyond the affection of the tenderest mother. 4. But, then, fourthly, when may they be said to forsake us? When at any time they leave us destitute of such help as we stand in need of; whether it be out of choice, when they list not to help us, though they might if they would; or out of necessity, when they cannot help us, though they would if they could.—Robert Sanderson.

Verse 10.—“Then the Lord will take me up.” But dictum factum: these are but words: Are there producible any deeds to make it good? Verily, there are, and that to the very letter. When Ishmael’s mother, despairing of his life, had forsaken him, and laid him down gasping (his last, for ought she knew or could do to help it), in the wilderness, the Lord took him up; he opened a new spring of water, and opened her eyes to see it, and so the child was preserved. Genesis xxi. When Moses’ parents had also forsaken him (for they durst not stand by him any longer), and laid him down among the rushy flags, the Lord took him up too. He provided him of a saviour, the king’s own daughter, and of a nurse the child’s own mother—and so he was preserved too. Exodus ii. 6-9. Take but two examples more, out of either Testament one. David and St. Paul, both forsaken of men, both taken up of God. How was David forsaken, in Psalm cxlii. 4, when he had looked upon his right hand, and saw no man that would know him; he had no place to fly unto, and no man cared for his soul. But all the while Dominus ad dextris, there was one at his right hand (though at first he was not aware of him), ready to take him up; as it there followeth, verse 5, “I cried unto thee, O Lord; I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” And how St. Paul was forsaken; take it from himself, 2 Timothy iv. 16, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me:” a heavy case, and had been heavier had there not been one ready to take his part, at the next verse, “Nevertheless the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me,” etc. What need we any more witnesses? In ore duorum—in the mouth of two such witnesses the point is sufficiently established. But you will yet say, these two might testify what they had already found post factum. But David, in the text, pronounceth it de futuro, beforehand, and that somewhat confidently: “The Lord will take me up.” As he doth also elsewhere: “Sure I am that the Lord will avenge the poor, and maintain the cause of the helpless.” Psalm cxl. But is there any ground for that? Doubtless there is; a double ground; one in the nature, another in the promise of God. In his nature four qualities there are (we take leave so to speak, suitably to our own low apprehensions, for in the Godhead there are properly no qualities); but call them qualities or attributes, or what else you will; there are four perfections in God, opposite to those defects which in our earthly parents we have found to be the chief causes why they do so oft forsake us; which give us full assurance that he will take us up when all other succours fail us. Those are his love, his wisdom, his power, his eternity, and all in his nature. To which four, add his promise, and you have the fulness of all the assurance that can be desired.—Robert Sanderson.