The Treasury of David
by
Charles H.
Spurgeon
Vol. 1
Ps. 1-41 (Book I)
This work is a compilation drawn, with permission, from the best on the
web for viewing Spurgeon’s sermons (www.spurgeon.org ). This web
site has been graciously prepared by one of Spurgeon’s most able
students and scholars Phil Johnson. –Thanks!
The Treasury of David may also be purchased in various forms:
Pilgrim Publications,
1983 ($110) the 1886 seven volume edition (Funk & Wagnalls). Hendricksen
Publishers has recently published a 3 volume version ($60; 2005; vid
www.amazon.com). Various condensations
are also available.
This digital version was
prepared by Ted Hildebrandt, 2007.
Table of Contents
|
Preface
p. 3 |
Ch. 22 p.
528 |
Preface
3
Preface
My
Preface shall at least possess the virtue of brevity, as I find it difficult to
impart
to it any other.
The delightful study of the Psalms
has yielded me boundless profit and
ever-growing
pleasure; common gratitude constrains me to communicate to
others
a portion of the benefit, with the prayer that it may induce them to search
further
for themselves. That I have nothing better of my own to offer upon this
peerless
book is to me matter of deepest regret; that I have anything whatever
to
present is subject for devout gratitude to the Lord of grace. I have done my
best,
but, conscious of many defects, I heartily wish I could have done far
better.
The Exposition here given is my own.
I consulted a few authors before
penning
it, to aid me in interpretation and arouse my thoughts; but, still I can
claim
originality for my comments, at least so I honestly think. Whether they
are
better or worse for that, I know not; at least I know I have sought heavenly
guidance
while writing them, and therefore I look for a blessing on the printing
of
them.
The collection of quotations was an
after-thought. In fact, matter grew
upon
me which I thought too good to throw away. It seemed to me that it might
prove
serviceable to others, if I reserved portions of my reading upon the
various
Psalms; those reserves soon acquired considerable bulk, so much so
that
even in this volume only specimens are given and not the bulk.
One
thing the reader will please clearly to understand, and I beg him to
bear
it in mind; I am far from endorsing all I have quoted. I am neither
responsible
for the scholarship or orthodoxy of the writers. The names are
given
that each author may bear his own burden; and a variety of writers have
been
quoted that the thoughts of many minds might be before the reader. Still I
trust
nothing evil has been admitted; if it be so it is an oversight.
The
research expended on this volume would have occupied far too much
of
my time, had not my friend and amanuensis Mr. John L. Keys, most
diligently
aided me in investigations at the
Library,
and other treasuries of theological lore. With his help I have ransacked
books
by the hundred, often without finding a memorable line as a reward, but
at
other times with the most satisfactory result. Readers little know how great
labour
the finding of but one pertinent extract may involve; labour certainly I
have
not spared: my earnest prayer is that some measure of good may come of
it
to my brethren in the ministry and to the church at large.
Preface
4
The Hints to the Village Preacher are
very simple, and an apology is due to
my
ministerial readers for inserting them, but I humbly hope they may render
assistance
to those for whom alone they are designed, viz., lay preachers whose
time
is much occupied, and whose attainments are slender.
Should
this first volume meet with the approbation of the judicious, I shall
hope
by God's grace to continue the work as rapidly as I can consistently with
the
research demanded and my incessant pastoral duties. Another volume will
follow
in all probability in twelve months' time, if life be spared and strength be
given.
It may be added, that although the
comments were the work of my health,
the
rest of the volume is the product of my sickness. When protracted illness
and
weakness laid me aside from daily preaching, I resorted to my pen as an
available
means of doing good. I would have preached had I been able, but as
my
Master denied me the privilege of thus serving him, I gladly availed myself
of
the other method of bearing testimony for his name. O that he may give me
fruit
in this field also, and his shall be all the praise.
Psalm 1
5
Psalm 1
Exposition
Explanatory
Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints
to the Village Preacher
Other
Works
TITLE. This
Psalm may be regarded as THE PREFACE PSALM, having in it a notification of the
contents
of the entire
Book. It is the psalmists's desire to teach us the way to blessedness, and to
warn us of the sure
destruction
of sinners. This, then, is the matter of the first Psalm, which may be looked
upon, in some
respects, as
the text upon which the whole of the Psalms make up a divine sermon.
DIVISION.
This Psalm consists of two parts: in the first (from verse 1 to the end of the
3rd) David sets out
wherein the
felicity and blessedness of a godly man consisteth, what his exercises are, and
what blessings
he shall
receive from the Lord. In the second part (from verse 4 to the end) he
contrasts the state and
character of
the ungodly, reveals the future, and describes, in telling language, his
ultimate doom.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. "BLESSED"—see how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction,
even
as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount! The word
translated
"blessed" is a very expressive one. The original word is plural, and
it
is
a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we
may
learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom
God
hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall
enjoy.
We might read it, "Oh, the blessednesses!" and we may well regard it (as
Ainsworth
does) as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity. May the
like
benediction rest on us!
Here the gracious man is described
both negatively (verse 1) and positively
(verse
2). He is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He
takes
wiser counsel, and walks in the commandments of the Lord his God. To
him
the ways of piety are paths of peace and pleasantness. His footsteps are
ordered
by the Word of God, and not by the cunning and wicked devices of
carnal
men. It is a rich sign of inward grace when the outward walk is changed,
and
when ungodliness is put far from our actions. Note next, he standeth not in
the
way of sinners. His company is of a choicer sort than it was. Although a
sinner
himself, he is now a blood-washed sinner, quickened by the Holy Spirit,
and
renewed in heart. Standing by the rich grace of God in the congregation of
the
righteous, he dares not herd with the multitude that do evil. Again it is said,
"nor
sitteth in the seat of the scornful." He finds no rest in the atheist's
scoffings.
Let others make a mock of sin, of eternity, of hell and heaven, and of
the
Eternal God; this man has learned better philosophy than that of the infidel,
Psalm 1
6
and
has too much sense of God's presence to endure to hear His name
blasphemed.
The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but it is very near to the
gate
of hell; let us flee from it, for it shall soon be empty, and destruction shall
swallow
up the man who sits therein. Mark the gradation in the first verse:
He walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor SITTETH in the SEAT of SCORNFUL.
When men are living in sin they go
from bad to worse. At first they merely
walk
in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God—the evil is
rather
practical than habitual—but after that, they become habituated to evil,
and
they stand in the way of open sinners who wilfully violate God's
commandments;
and if let alone, they go one step further, and become
themselves
pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the
seat
of the scornful. They have taken their degree in vice, and as true Doctors
of
Damnation they are installed, and are looked up to by others as Masters in
Belial.
But the blessed man, the man to whom all the blessings of God belong,
can
hold no communion with such characters as these. He keeps himself pure
from
these lepers; he puts away evil things from him as garments spotted by the
flesh;
he comes out from among the wicked, and goes without the camp,
bearing
the reproach of Christ. O for grace to be thus separate from sinners.
And now mark his positive character.
"His delight is in the law of the
Lord."
He is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in it, and
he
delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in
it,
to
read it by day, and think upon it by night. He takes a text and carries it with
him
all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he
museth
upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out
of
the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with
promises
out of the same book. "The law of the Lord" is the daily bread of the
true
believer. And yet, in David's day, how small was the volume of inspiration,
for
they had scarcely anything save the first five books of Moses! How much
more,
then, should we prize the whole written Word which it is our privilege to
have
in all our houses! But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this angel from
heaven!
We are not all Berean searchers of the Scriptures. How few among us
can
lay claim to the benediction of the text! Perhaps some of you can claim a
sort
of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but
let
me ask you—Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God's Word?
Do
you make it the man of your right hand—your best companion and hourly
guide?
If not, this blessing belongeth not to you.
Verse
3. "And he shall be like a tree planted"—not a wild tree, but "a
tree
planted,"
chosen, considered as property, cultivated and secured from the last
terrible
uprooting, for "every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted,
Psalm 1
7
shall
be rooted up:" Matthew 15:13. "By the rivers of water;" so that
even if
one
river should fail, he hath another. The rivers of pardon and the rivers of
grace,
the rivers of the promise and the rivers of communion with Christ, are
never-failing
sources of supply. He is "like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that
bringeth forth his fruit in his season;" not unseasonable graces, like
untimely
figs, which are never full-flavored. But the man who delights in God's
Word,
being taught by it, bringeth forth patience in the time of suffering, faith
in
the day of trial, and holy joy in the hour of prosperity. Fruitfulness is an
essential
quality of a gracious man, and that fruitfulness should be seasonable.
"His
leaf also shall not wither;" his faintest word shall be everlasting; his
little
deeds
of love shall be had in remembrance. Not simply shall his fruit be
preserved,
but his leaf also. He shall neither lose his beauty nor his fruitfulness.
"And
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Blessed is the man who hath such a
promise
as this. But we must not always estimate the fulfillment of a promise
by
our own eye-sight. How often, my brethren, if we judge by feeble sense,
may
we come to the mournful conclusion of Jacob, "All these things are against
me!"
For though we know our interest in the promise, yet we are so tried and
troubled,
that sight sees the very reverse of what that promise foretells. But to
the
eye of faith this word is sure, and by it we perceive that our works are
prospered,
even when everything seems to go against us. It is not outward
prosperity
which the Christian most desires and values; it is soul prosperity
which
he longs for. We often, like Jehoshaphat, make ships to go to Tarshish
for
gold, but they are broken at Ezion-geber; but even here there is a true
prospering,
for it is often for the soul's health that we would be poor, bereaved,
and
persecuted. Our worst things are often our best things. As there is a curse
wrapped
up in the wicked man's mercies, so there is a blessing concealed in the
righteous
man's crosses, losses, and sorrows. The trials of the saint are a divine
husbandry,
by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit.
Verse
4. We have now come to the second head of the Psalm. In this verse the
contrast
of the ill estate of the wicked is employed to heighten the coloring of
that
fair and pleasant picture which precedes it. The more forcible translation of
the
Vulgate and of the Septuagint version is— "Not so the ungodly, not
so."
And
we are hereby to understand that whatever good thing is said of the
righteous
is not true in the case of the ungodly. Oh! how terrible is it to have a
double
negative put upon the promises! and yet this is just the condition of the
ungodly.
Mark the use of the term "ungodly," for, as we have seen in the
opening
of the Psalm, these are the beginners in evil, and are the least offensive
of
sinners. Oh! if such is the sad state of those who quietly continue in their
morality,
and neglect their God, what must be the condition of open sinners and
shameless
infidels? The first sentence is a negative description of the ungodly,
Psalm 1 8
and
the second is the positive picture. Here is their character — "they are
like
chaff,"
intrinsically worthless, dead, unserviceable, without substance, and
easily
carried away. Here, also, mark their doom, — "the wind driveth away;"
death
shall hurry them with its terrible blast into the fire in which they shall be
utterly
consumed.
Verse
5. They shall stand there to be judged, but not to be acquitted. Fear shall
lay
hold upon them there; they shall not stand their ground; they shall flee
away;
they shall not stand in their own defence; for they shall blush and be
covered
with eternal contempt.
Well may the saints long for heaven,
for no evil men shall dwell there, "nor
sinners
in the congregation of the righteous." All our congregations upon earth
are
mixed. Every Church hath one devil in it. The tares grow in the same
furrows
as the wheat. There is no floor which is as yet thoroughly purged from
chaff.
Sinners mix with saints, as dross mingles with gold. God's precious
diamonds
still lie in the same field with pebbles. Righteous Lots are this side
heaven
continually vexed by the men of
general
assembly and church of the firstborn" above, there shall by no means
be
admitted a single unrenewed soul. Sinners cannot live in heaven. They
would
be out of their element. Sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the
wicked
in
even
if he could be allowed to enter; but such a privilege shall never be granted
to
the man who perseveres in his iniquities. May God grant that we may have a
name
and a place in his courts above!
Verse
6. Or, as the Hebrew hath it yet more fully, "The Lord is knowing the
way
of the righteous." He is constantly looking on their way, and though it
may
be
often in mist and darkness, yet the Lord knoweth it. If it be in the clouds and
tempest
of affliction, he understandeth it. He numbereth the hairs of our head;
he
will not suffer any evil to befall us. "He knoweth the way that I take:
when
He
hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10.) "But the way
of the
ungodly
shall perish." Not only shall they perish themselves, but their way shall
perish
too. The righteous carves his name upon the rock, but the wicked writes
his
remembrance in the sand. The righteous man ploughs the furrows of earth,
and
sows a harvest here, which shall never be fully reaped till he enters the
enjoyments
of eternity; but as for the wicked, he ploughs the sea, and though
there
may seem to be a shining trail behind his keel, yet the waves shall pass
over
it, and the place that knew him shall know him no more for ever. The very
"way"
of the ungodly shall perish. If it exist in remembrance, it shall be in the
remembrance
of the bad; for the Lord will cause the name of the wicked to rot,
to
become a stench in the nostrils of the good, and to be only known to the
Psalm 1
9
wicked
themselves by its putridity.
May the Lord cleanse our hearts and
our ways, that we may escape the
doom
of the ungodly, and enjoy the blessedness of the righteous!
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT
SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. As the book of the
Canticles is called the Song of Songs by a
Hebraism,
it being the most excellent, so this Psalm may not unfitly be entitled,
the
Psalm of Psalms, for it contains in it the very pith and quintessence of
Christianity.
What Jerome saith on
this
Psalm; it is short as to the composure, but full of length and strength as to
the
matter. This Psalm carries blessedness in the frontpiece; it begins where we
all
hope to end: it may well be called a Christian's Guide, for it discovers the
quicksands
where the wicked sink down in perdition, and the firm ground on
which
the saints tread to glory.—Thomas Watson's Saints Spiritual Delight,
1660.
This whole Psalm offers itself to be
drawn into these two opposite
propositions:
a godly man is blessed, a wicked man is miserable; which seem to
stand
as two challenges, made by the prophet: one, that he will maintain a
godly
man against all comers, to be the only Jason for winning the golden
fleece
of blessedness; the other, that albeit the ungodly make a show in the
world
of being happy, yet they of all men are most miserable.—Sir Richard
Baker,
1640
I have been induced to embrace the
opinion of some among the ancient
interpreters
(Augustine, Jerome, etc.), who conceive that the first Psalm is
intended
to be descriptive of the character and reward of the JUST ONE, i. e.
the
Lord Jesus.—John Fry, B.A., 1842
Verse
1. The psalmist saith more to the point about true happiness in this short
Psalm
than any one of the philosophers, or all of them put together; they did but
beat
the bush, God hath here put the bird into our hand. John Trapp, 1660
Verse
1. Where the word blessed is hung out as a sign, we may be sure that we
shall
find a godly man within. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
1. The seat of the drunkard is the seat of the scornful. Matthew Henry,
1662-1714
Verse
1. "Walketh NOT .... NOR standeth .... NOR sitteth, " etc. Negative
precepts
are
in some cases more absolute and peremptory than affirmatives; for to say,
"that
hath walketh in the counsel of the godly," might not be sufficient; for,
he
might
walk in the counsel of the godly, and yet walk in the counsel of the
Psalm 1
10
ungodly
too; not both indeed at once, but both at several times; where now, this
negative
clears him at all times. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
1. The word (Heb) haish is emphatic, that man; that one among a
thousand
who lives for the accomplishment of the end for which God created
him.
Adam Clarke, 1844
Verse
1. "That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly." Mark certain
circumstances
of their differing characters and conduct. I. The ungodly man has
his
counsel. II. The sinner has his way; and III. The scorner has his seat. The
ungodly
man is unconcerned about religion; he is neither zealous for his own
salvation
nor for that of others; and he counsels and advises those with whom
he
converses to adopt his plan, and not trouble themselves about praying,
reading,
repentance, etc., etc.; "there is no need for such things; live an honest
life,
make no fuss about religion, and you will fare well enough at last." Now
"blessed
is the man who walks not in this man's counsel," who does not come
into
his measures, nor act according to his plan.
The sinner has his particular way of
transgressing; one is a drunkard,
another
dishonest, another unclean. Few are given to every species of vice.
There
are many covetous men who abhor drunkenness, many drunkards who
abhor
covetousness; and so of others. Each has his easily besetting sin;
therefore,
says the prophet, "Let the wicked forsake HIS WAY." (Isaiah 55:7)
Now,
blessed is he who stands not is such a man's WAY.
The
scorner has brought, in reference to himself, all religion and moral
feeling
to an end. He has sat down—is utterly confirmed in impiety, and makes
a
mock at sin. His conscience is seared, and he is a believer in all unbelief.
Now,
blessed is the man who sits not down in his SEAT. Adam Clarke.
Verse
1. In the Hebrew, the word "blessed" is a plural noun, ashrey
(blessednesses),
that is, all blessednesses are the portion of that man who has
not
gone away, etc.; as though it were said, "All things are well with that
man
who,"
etc. Why do you hold any dispute? Why draw vain conclusions? If a man
has
found that pearl of great price, to love the law of God and to be separate
from
the ungodly, all blessednesses belong to that man; but, if he does not find
this
jewel, he will seek for all blessednesses but will never find one! For as all
things
are pure unto the pure, so all things are lovely unto the loving, all things
good
unto the good; and, universally, such as thou art thyself, such is God
himself
unto thee, though he is not a creature. He is perverse unto the perverse,
and
holy unto the holy. Hence nothing can be good or saving unto him who is
evil:
nothing sweet unto him unto whom the law of God is not sweet. The word
"counsel"
is without doubt here to be received as signifying decrees and
doctrines,
seeing that no society of men exists without being formed and
Psalm 1
11
preserved
by decrees and laws. David, however, by this term strikes at the pride
and
reprobate temerity of the ungodly. First, because they will not humble
themselves
so far as to walk in the law of the Lord, but rule themselves by their
own
counsel. And then he calls it their "counsel," because it is their
prudence,
and
the way that seems to them to be without error. For this is the destruction
of
the ungodly—their being prudent in their own eyes and in their own esteem,
and
clothing their errors in the garb of prudence and of the right way. For if
they
came to men in the open garb of error, it would not be so distinguishing a
mark
of blessedness not to walk with them. But David does not here say, "in
the
folly of the ungodly," or "in the error of the ungodly;" and
therefore he
admonishes
us to guard with all diligence against the appearance of what is
right,
that the devil transformed into an angel of light do not seduce us by his
craftiness.
And he contrasts the counsel of the wicked with the law of the Lord,
that
we may learn to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, who are always
ready
to give counsel to all, to teach all, and to offer assistance unto all, when
they
are of all men least qualified to do so. The term "stood"
descriptively
represents
their obstinacy, and stiff-neckedness, wherein they harden
themselves
and make their excuses in words of malice, having become
incorrigible
in their ungodliness. For "to stand," in the figurative manner of
Scripture
expression, signifies to be firm and fixed: as in Romans 14:4, "To his
own
master he standeth or falleth: yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to
make
him stand." Hence the word "column" is by the Hebrew derived
from
their
verb "to stand," as is the word statue among the Latins. For this is
the very
self-excuse
and self-hardening of the ungodly—their appearing to themselves
to
live rightly, and to shine in the eternal show of works above all others. With
respect
to the term "seat," to sit in the seat, is to teach, to act the
instructor and
teacher;
as in Matthew 23:2, "The scribes sit in Moses' chair." They sit in
the
seat
of pestilence, who fill the church with the opinions of philosophers, with
the
traditions of men, and with the counsels of their own brain, and oppress
miserable
consciences, setting aside, all the while, the word of God, by which
alone
the soul is fed, lives, and is preserved. Martin Luther, 1536-1546.
Verse
1. "The scornful." Peccator cum in profundum venerit contemnet—when
a
wicked man comes to the depth and worst of sin, he despiseth. Then the
Hebrew
will despise Moses (Exodus 2:14), "Who made thee a prince and a
judge
over us?" Then Ahab will quarrel with Micaiah (1 Kings 22:18), because
he
doth not prophecy good unto him. Every child in
Kings
2:23), and be bold to call him "bald pate." Here is an original drop
of
venom
swollen to a main ocean of poison: as one drop of some serpents'
poison,
lighting on the hand, gets into the veins, and so spreads itself over all
the
body till it hath stifled the vital spirits. God shall "laugh you to
scorn,"
Psalm 1
12