Verse 1. “Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.” We should praise God again and again. Stinted gratitude is Ingratitude. For infinite goodness there should be measureless praise. God is at hand to answer and do wonders – His Name is Near – adore we then the present Deity. We sing not of a hidden God, who sleeps and leaves the church to her fate, but of one who ever in our darkest days is most near, a very present help in trouble. Baal is on a journey, but Jehovah dwells in His church. Glory be unto the Lord, whose perpetual deeds of grace and majesty are the sure tokens of his being with us always, even unto the end of the world.
Verses 2 and 3. “When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.” This is generally believed to be the voice of God, who will, when He accepts His people, mount His judgement seat and avenge their cause in righteousness. He determines the set time, and when that arrives swift are His blows and sure are His deliverances whichever the case might be. O Lord, let thy set time for grace come; and let the appointed assize come, O Jesus, and sit thou on thy throne to judge the world in equity. “The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved,” but, “I bear up the pillars of it.” Hence, there is no real cause for fear for the Lord's people. While the pillars stand, the house will brave the storm. In the day of the Lord's appearing a general melting will take place; but in that day our covenant God will be the sure support of our confidence.
“How can I sink with such a prop
As my Eternal God,
Who bears the earth's huge pillars up,
And spreads the heavens abroad.”
“Selah,” says the psalmist – pause and consider. And here may the music pause while the sublime vision passes before our view: a world dissolved and an immutable God uplifting all his people above the terrible commotion. “Selah.”
Verse 4. “I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly ...” The Scripture hath dressed the sinner in a fool's coat. And let me tell you, better to be a fool devoid of reason, than a fool devoid of grace – for this is the devil's fool. Is he not a fool who refuses a rich portion? God offers Christ and salvation, but the sinner refuses this portion. Is he not a fool who cares for these earthly parts and neglects his spiritual parts – as if one should paint the walls of a house and let the timbers rot? Is he not a fool who will feed the devil with his soul – like that emperor who fed his lion with a pheasant? Is he not a fool who lays a snare for himself, and loves death? I said unto the fools, deal not foolishly.”
Verses 6 and 7. “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” I have often thought of many of the Lord's servants on earth, so superciliously passed by and passed over in man's catalogue of worthies. Yet with what glad and grateful surprise they will at length receive that promotion denied on earth, when their own Master shall say to them, “Friend, come up higher.” And then, as they sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, they shall have honour of them that sit at meat with them.
Verse 10. “All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.” History is replete with the stories of men who tried to set themselves up, even above the God of heaven. Pharaoh reacted to God's command to let his people go by saying, “Who is God that I should obey him?” Nebuchadnezzar endeavoured to set his throne and kingdom above Him whose throne and kingdom are for ever and ever. Herod listened to the adulations of his degenerate admirers - “It is the voice of a god and not of a man.” Coming nearer to our own time, we have read of how Adolph Hitler gazed at a picture of himself riding proudly on a white horse, a picture which bore the blasphemous title: “In the beginning was the Word.” Then, in a voice that deliberately mocked Christ, the Eternal King, he exclaimed - “I am Providence.” But, Pharaoh and his hosts are swept to destruction; Nebuchadnezzar becomes a companion of “the beasts of the fields”; Herod is devoured by worms and Hitler becomes a suicide. “All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off.” But look at the other side of the picture. “He setteth up another.” There is another King whose glory is without compare. And “in Him” the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”