Verse 20. “He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.” The Lord is here set forth as a doorkeeper of the house of death, and no matter how the issues of “death” present themselves to the Elect of God, the God, who is “the God of salvation,” has all the issues in hand. From spiritual death He called them by the effectual working of His power and Spirit; from “deaths abundant” He delivers them every waking hour of their temporal lives upon this earth; and in that great eternal day – even when they are “in the graves” – they shall all “hear the voice of the Son of God, and come forth … unto the resurrection of life.” Indeed, He has given us “the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.”
Verse 26. “Bless ye God in the congregations …” Our business, when assembled, must be to bless God in our congregations; and a pleasant work this is. Israel had reasons, and great reasons, to bless the Lord; but Christians have more. Thank Him for His unspeakable gift; bless Him for the means of grace; extol Him for the hopes of glory. This is an employment that fits us for heaven. The tears of a mourner in God's house were supposed to defile His altar. We may mourn for sin; but a fretful spirit – discontented and unthankful – defiles His altar still. “Bless ye God in the congregations …”
Andrew Fuller
Verse 27. “There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.” The worship of God must be attended with diligence. There are the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali; they had to travel about two-hundred miles three times a year to the place of worship – about twenty-four miles a week. Those who neglect the worship of God for little difficulties show that their heart is not in it, and when they do attend, cannot expect to profit: “they have snuffed at it.” The worship of God, too, must be undertaken in brotherly love. All the tribes must go up together. “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” It greatly concerns us to cultivate such a spirit.
Andrew Fuller
Verse 28. “Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.” As all power comes from God at first, so its continual maintenance is also of Him. We who have life should pray to have it “more abundantly;” if we have strength, we should seek to be more established. We expect God to bless His own work. He has never left any work unfinished yet, and He never will. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” and now, being reconciled to God, we may look to Him to perfect that which concerns us, seeing He never forsakes the works of His own hands.
C. H. Spurgeon
Verse 28. “… that which thou hast wrought for us.” When we see men of ability and talents, using them against the God who gave them, let us weep over such men. Better for them had they lived and died as slaves and fools, than to do the devil's service with those things that God has wrought for them.
William Gurnall
Verse 30. “Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls …” When the enemies of God rise up against His church, it is time for His church to fall down before her God and to implore His aid against those enemies. Holy prayers are more powerful than profane swords.
Thomas Wall
Verse 33. “To him that ridest upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; Lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.” The praises of the church are sung to Him, who, after His sufferings here below, reascended to take possession of His ancient throne, high above all heavens. From there, He speaks to the world by His glorious gospel – mighty and powerful, as thunder in its effects upon the hearts of men. The power of Christ's voice, when He was upon the earth, appeared by the effects which followed, when He said, “Young man, arise” – “Lazarus, come forth” – “Peace, be still.” It will yet further appear, when “all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and come forth.”
George Horne
Verse 33. “… a mighty voice.” It is a soul-shaking and awakening voice; it is a heart-melting and a heart-breaking voice; it is a quickening and an enlightening voice; it is a soul-charming and alluring voice. It draws us to Christ, engages the affections to Him, and fills the soul with unspeakable delight and pleasure.
John Gill
This Page Title – Gleanings in the Psalms (Psalm 68 Concluded) The Wicket Gate Magazine "A Continuing Witness". Internet Edition number 111 – placed on line November 2014 Wicket Gate contact address – Mr Cliff Westcombe cw@wicketgate.co.uk If you wish to be notified when each new edition goes on line please send an e-mail to the above address Magazine web address – www.wicketgate.co.uk |