This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
Parallel Translations
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This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
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This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
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(34-7) This poor man cried, and the LORD heard, and saved him out of all his troubles.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Psalms 34:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 34:17-19 The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
- Psalms 3:4 I cry to Yahweh with my voice, and he answers me out of his holy hill.
- Psalms 10:17 Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,
- Psalms 66:16-20 Come and hear, all you who fear God. I will declare what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth. He was extolled with my tongue. If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened. But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor his loving kindness from me.
- 2 Samuel 22:1 David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,
- Psalms 40:17 But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.
- Genesis 48:16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
- Revelation 7:14-17 I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering.They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won’t beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 6. This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him.…
6. This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him. David here introduces all the godly speaking of himself, the more emphatically to express how much weight there is in his example to encourage them. This poor man, say they, cried; therefore God invites all the poor to cry to him. They contemplate in David what belongs to the common benefit of all the godly; for God is as willing and ready at this day to hear all the afflicted who direct their sighs, wishes, and cries, to him with the same faith, as he was at that time to hear David.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD…
Psa 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard [him], and saved him out of all his troubles.
Ver. 6. This poor man cried] Meaning himself, to whom it seemeth he pointed the finger, or laid his hand on his heart, when he said, This poor man, Hic vilis, et ovium pastor, saith Theodoret, this mean shepherd not long since; but rather, This miserable sinner, who whilome rashly ran such a hazard, and so unworthily deported himself in the presence of King Achish; this poor soul, I say, cried, but silently and secretly, as Moses did at the Red Sea, as Nehemiah did in the presence of the king of Persia.
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And the Lord] Who might better be called the poor man’s king, than was James IV, king of Scotland.
Heard him, and delivered him out of all his troubles] And the like he will do for all that, in like ease, being poor in spirit, make their humble addresses unto him. It is good to communicate unto others our experiences. See the like done, Psa 116:6 Rom 8:2 1Ti 1:15.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain i.e. David, of whom they that looked, &c., Psa…
i.e. David, of whom they that looked, &c., Psa 34:5, spake these words.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain This poor man cried,.... Singling out some one person…
This poor man cried,.... Singling out some one person from among the humble, who was remarkably delivered; it is the common case of the people of God to be poor and afflicted, and in their afflictions they cry unto the Lord to be supported under them, and delivered out of them: or this may be understood of David himself, who was poor, not with respect to outward things, but in spirit; was much afflicted, and especially greatly distressed when in the court of Achish; at which time he cried unto the Lord, as was his usual way, and that internally, as Moses did, Exo 14:15. Some think Jesus Christ is intended by this poor man, who was poor in temporals, though rich, and Lord of all; and was greatly afflicted, both in body and soul; and who, in the days of his flesh, offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, Heb 5:7;
and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles; so the Lord always heard his son Jesus Christ, and especially in the day of salvation, and delivered him out of all his troubles, both of body and soul, when he raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; and he heard David his servant, as he often did; particularly when at Gath, and made way for his escape from thence; and from whence he came safe to the cave of Adullam; and the Lord hears all his poor and afflicted ones, when they cry unto him, and in the issue saves them from all their troubles, by reason of a body of sin and death, the temptations of Satan, and the persecutions of men.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain This man - David.
This man - David.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. This poor man cried] זה עני zeh…
Verse 6. This poor man cried] זה עני zeh ani, "This afflicted man," David.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain This poor man cried - The psalmist here returns…
This poor man cried - The psalmist here returns to his own particular experience. The emphasis here is on the word “this:” “This poor, afflicted, persecuted man cried.” There is something much more touching in this than if he had merely said “I,” or “I myself” cried. The language brings before us at once his afflicted and miserable condition. The word “poor” here - עני ‛ânı̂y - does not mean “poor” in the sense of a want of wealth, but “poor” in the sense of being afflicted, crushed, forsaken, desolate. The word “miserable” would better express the idea than the word “poor.”
And the Lord heard him - That is, heard in the sense of “answered.” He regarded his cry, and saved him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain This poor man--literally, "humble," himself as a specimen of…
This poor man--literally, "humble," himself as a specimen of such.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. This poor man—That is, David, now standing forth…
6. This poor man—That is, David, now standing forth unconsciously as the representative of the humble, or “poor in spirit.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. This afflicted man (see note on Psa_9:12) called,…
6. This afflicted man (see note on Psa_9:12) called, and Jehovah heard, and saved him out of all his distresses. Cp. Psa_34:17; Psa_31:7. Does the poet point to himself, or to one here and another there who had been instances of God’s protecting care?
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) This poor man.—Better, this sufferer—i.e., either the writer,…
(6) This poor man.—Better, this sufferer—i.e., either the writer, or Israel personified.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,…
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. Almost a repetition of ver. 4, but in the third person instead of the first. The "poor man" intended is David him self, not an ideal poor man. Otherwise the demonstrative "this" (hz) would not have been employed.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 6. This poor man cried. Here he returns…
Ver. 6. This poor man cried. Here he returns to his own case. He was poor indeed, and so utterly friendless that his life was in great jeopardy; but he cried in his heart to the protector of his people and found relief. His prayer was a cry, for brevity and bitterness, for earnestness and simplicity, for artlessness and grief; it was a poor man's cry, but it was none the less powerful with heaven, for the Lord heard him, and to be heard of God is to be delivered; and so it is added that the Lord saved him out of all his troubles. At once and altogether David was clean rid of all his woes. The Lord sweeps our griefs away as men destroy a hive of hornets, or as the winds clear away the mists. Prayer can clear us of troubles as easily as the Lord made riddance of the frogs and flies of Egypt when Moses entreated him. This verse is the psalmist's own personal testimony: he being dead yet speaketh. Let the afflicted reader take heart and be of good courage.
Ver. 6. This poor man cried. The reasons of crying are 1. Want cannot blush. The pinching necessity of the saints is not tied to the law of modesty. Hunger cannot be ashamed. "I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise, "saith David Ps 55:2; and Hezekiah, "Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove" Isa 38:14. "I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation" Job 30:28. 2. Though God hear prayer only as prayer offered in Christ, not because very fervent; yet fervour is a heavenly ingredient in prayer. An arrow drawn with full strength hath a speedier issue; therefore, the prayers of the saints are expressed by crying in Scripture. "O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not" Ps 22:2. "At noon, will I pray, and cry aloud" Ps 55:17. "In my distress I cried to the Lord" Ps 18:6. "Unto thee have I cried, O Lord" Ps 88:13. "Out of the depths have I cried" Ps 130:1. "Out of the belly of hell cried I" Jon 2:2. "Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock" Ps 28:1. Yea, it goeth to somewhat more than crying: "I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard" Job 19:7. "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer" La 3:8. He who may teach us all to pray, sweet Jesus, "In the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears" Heb 5:7; he prayed with war shouts. 3. And these prayers are so prevalent, that God answereth them: This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his fears Ps 34:6. "My cry came before him, even into his ears" Ps 18:6. The cry addeth wings to the prayer, as a speedy post sent to court upon life and death: "Our fathers cried unto thee, and were delivered" Ps 22:5. "The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth" Ps 34:17. Samuel Rutherford.
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Ver. 6. --
1. The poor man's heritage, "troubles."
2. The poor man's friend.
3. The poor man's cry.
4. The poor man's salvation.
Ver. 6. The poor man's wealth.
The position of prayer in the economy of grace, or the natural history of mercy in the soul.
Psalms 34:7*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.
Psa_34:6-7
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.
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Supernatural factor in prayer
The most dangerous doctrine concerning prayer is that current philosophy of the matter which presents a half-truth only; allowing the subjective value, but denying all objective efficacy to prayer--i.e. admitting a benefit, as attached to a devout habit, but limiting the benefit to the working of natural results entirely within the suppliant. The text affirms a positive advantage in prayer. Jehovah is represented as hearing prayer and interposing to save the suppliant. And the idea is further expanded by a reference to the deliverances wrought by the Lords angel. To a Jew, the angel of the Lord was a historic reality, working supernatural signs and wonders all through that wonderful career of the chosen people of God. When such events as these can be explained by natural Causes, by self-scrutiny, self-conquest and self-culture, then prayer may be brought down to the level of natural philosophy and moral philosophy. But, until then, there must remain in this mystery a supernatural factor. The Waldenses are the Israel of the Alps, who, in their mountain fastnesses, for centuries guarded the ark of primitive faith and worship, while the terrors of the Vatican confronted them--that summit of terror which was an Olympus for its false gods, a Sinai for its thunders, and a Calvary for its blood. Read the story of the siege of La Balsille, their mountain fortress. Hemmed in by the French and Sardinian army through the summer, gaunt famine stared them in the face; the foe guarded every outlet of the valley, and their ungathered crops lay in the fields. In midwinter, driven by gnawings of hunger to visit the abandoned harvest fields, beneath the deep snows they found God had kept the grain unhurt, and part of it was gathered in good condition, a year and a half after it was sown! In the following spring a merciless cannonade broke down the breastworks behind which they hid, and the helpless band cried to the Lord. At once He who holds the winds in His fist, and rides in the clouds as a chariot, rolled over them a cloak of fog so dense that in the midst of their foes they escaped unseen! The power of prayer is the perpetual sign of the supernatural. Jonathan Edwards may be taken as an example of thousands. From the age of ten years, his prayers were astonishing both for the faith they exhibited and the results they secured. With the intellect of a cherub and the heart of a seraph, we can neither distrust his self-knowledge nor his absolute candour. His communion with God was so rapturous, that the extraordinary view of the glory of the Son of God, His pure, sweet love and grace, would overcome him so that for an hour he would be flooded with tears, weeping aloud. Prayer brought him such power as Peter at Pentecost scarcely illustrates more wonderfully. For instance, his sermon at Enfield, on Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, which, delivered without a gesture, nevertheless produced such effect that the audience leaped to their feet and clasped the pillars of the meeting-house lest they should slide into perdition. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Put Him to the test of experimental prayer and you shall need no testimony from another to establish your faith in the supernatural answers to prayer. His providence will guide your doubting steps like that glorious pillar of cloud and fire, and in that last great crisis when heart and flesh fail, and the valley and shadow of death is before you, the everlasting Arms shall be beneath you, and your refuge the Eternal God! (A. T. Pierson, D. D.)
The poor mans poverty, prayer, and preservation
I. the poor mans poverty. This poor man.
1. It was not the poverty of social dependence. David, the writer of this Psalm, was a king; governed a great nation; ruled a people of noble history; had vast resources; had numerous friends--therefore the designation of the text cannot refer to his temporal position. The fact is that our social position is no index to our real wealth or poverty. A man financially rich, may be morally poor. A man morally rich, may be financially poor.
2. It was not the poverty of intellectual weakness. David was not poor in mind. Not merely was he a king in position, but also in the empire of thought. His mind contained great ideas of God, of the soul, of life as a probation, of the future as a destiny. The lack of mental thought and energy is no aid to prayer. Converse with God requires great ideas. The language of want is simple; but it is full of meaning. Hence David was not poor in this respect.
3. It was not the poverty of spiritual indolence. David was not a moral pauper. He had not only a great soul, but it was well peopled with all that was noble and true. Faith in God was the governing influence of his soul. He loved the house of God. He delighted in the works of God. He was attached to the people of God. His religious experience was rich. His devotion was poetic. His soul was ever occupied with eternal realities. He was not poor in this respect.
4. It was the poverty of deep and true humility. He says, My soul shall make her boast in the Lord (Psa_34:2). The humble soul is always poor in faith, in spiritual aspiration, in moral service, in benevolent dispositions, in its own estimation. Herein consists His benediction--Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of God. The poverty of humility is not assumed, it is not canting, it is not self-depreciative; but it is silent, it is reverent.
II. the poor mans prayer. This poor man cried. Humiliation is a good preparation for prayer. It most feels the need of devotion. It is the most easily taught the meaning of worship. It is the most persevering in its exercise.
1. The poor mans prayer was emphatic. It was a cry. David knew what he wanted. He was decided and vigorous in the articulation of his soul-wants. God allows in prayer the required emphasis of a needy but penitent spirit. It is not presumption.
2. The poor mans prayer was earnest. It was a cry. Not a cold request. Not a calm inquiry. The more a man feels his need, the more deeply does He express it.
3. The poor mans prayer was continuous. It was the habit of his soul rather than a transient act. Prayer should not be a momentary effort of the Christian life, but the natural communion of the soul with God, as speech is the easy and constant medium of communication with men.
4. The poor mans prayer was thoughtful and reasonable. It was presented to the rightful object of devotion, in a thoughtful spirit. David did not doubt the fitness of prayer to save from trouble--
(1) Personal.
(2) Domestic.
(3) Commercial.
(4) National. Are the sceptics of our day wiser, better, happier than he?
5. The poor mans prayer was successful.
III. the poor mans preservation. And the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his trouble.
1. His preservation was associated with prayer. And the Lord heard him.
2. His preservation was secured by Divine agency.
3. His preservation was comprehensive and effectual. And saved him out of all his trouble.
Learn:
1. Humility is the best qualification for prayer, and the most likely guarantee of favourable response.
2. That God is the helper of troubled souls.
3. That men in the highest stations of life need prayer. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
A poor mans cry, and what came of it
I. the nature and the excellence of prayer.
1. It is a dealing with the Lord. The best prayer is that which comes to closest grips with the God of mercy.
2. Prayer takes various shapes.
(1) Seeking is prayer (Psa_34:4).
(2) Looking unto God is prayer (Psa_34:5). If you cannot find words, it is often a very blessed thing to sit still, and look towards the hills whence cometh our help.
(3) Tasting is a high kind of prayer (Psa_34:8), for it ventures to take what it asks for.
(4) Frequently, according to our text, prayer is best described as a cry.
3. Prayer is heard in heaven.
4. It wins answers from God. More than forty years I have tried my Masters promise at the mercy-seat, and I have never yet met with a repulse from Him. In the name of Jesus I have asked and received; save only when I have asked amiss. It is true I have had to wait, because my time was ill-judged, and Gods time was far better; but delays are not denials. Never has the Lord said to me, or to any of the seed of Jacob, Seek ye My face in vain.
II. the richness and freeness of divine grace.
1. You will see the richness and the freeness of grace, when you consider the character of the man who prayed: this poor man cried. Who was he?
(1) He was a poor man; how terribly poor I cannot tell you. There are plenty of poor men about. If you advertised for a poor man in London, you might soon find more than you could count in twelve months: the supply is unlimited, although the distinction is by no means highly coveted. No man chooses to be poor.
(2) He was also a troubled man, for the text speaks of all his troubles--a great all I warrant you.
(3) He was a mournful man; altogether broken down.
(4) He was a changed man.
(5) He was a hopeful man. Despair is dumb; where there is a cry of prayer, there is a crumb of comfort.
2. If you desire further to see the richness and freeness of grace, I beg you to remember the character of the God to whom this poor man cried. He who prayed was poor, and his prayer was poor; but he did not pray to a poor God. This poor man was powerless; but he did not cry to a feeble God. This poor man was empty; but he went to Gods fulness. He was unworthy; but he appealed to Gods mercy. Our God delighteth in mercy; He waiteth to be gracious; He takes pleasure in blessing the weary sons of men.
3. While we are thinking of the freeness and richness of this grace in the text, I would have you notice the character of the blessing. The Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. His sins were his great troubles; the Lord saved him out of them all through the atoning sacrifice. The effects of sin were another set of grievous troubles to him; the Lord saved him out of them all by the renewal of the Holy Ghost. He had troubles without and within, troubles in the family and in the world, and he felt ready to perish because of them; but the Lord delivered him out of them all.
III. the need and the usefulness of personal testimony. Testimony is a weighty thing for the persuasion and winning of men; but it must be of the right kind. It should be personal, concerning things which you yourself know: This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. Never mind if you should be charged with being egotistical. That is a blessed egoism which dares to stand out and bear bold witness for God in its own person. This poor man cried; not somebody over the water--and the Lord heard him, not a man down the next street. The more definite and specific your testimony, the better and the more convincing. I do not say that we can all tell the date of our conversion: many of us cannot. But if we can throw in such details, let us do so; for they help to make our testimony striking. Our witness should be an assured one. We must believe, and therefore speak. Do not say, I hope that I prayed; and I--I--trust that the Lord heard me. Say, I prayed, and the Lord heard me. Give your testimony cheerfully. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. Do not say it as if it were a line from the agony column; but write it as a verse of a psalm. Your testimony must have for its sole aim the glory of God. Do not wish to show yourself off as an interesting person, a man of vast experience. We cannot allow the grace of God to be buried in ungrateful silence. When He made the world the angels sang for joy, and when He saves a soul we will not be indifferent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The language of a cry
This poor man did not make a grand oration; he took to crying.
1. He was short: it was only a cry. In great pain a man will cry out; he cannot help it, even if he would. A cry is short, but it is not sweet. It is intense, and painful, and it cannot be silenced. We cry because we must cry. This poor man cried, God be merciful to me a sinner. That is not a long collect, but it collects a great deal of meaning into a few words. That was a short cry, Lord save, or I perish; and that other, Lord, help me. Save, Lord, is a notable cry, and so is Lord, remember me. Many prevailing prayers are like cries because they are brief, sharp, and uncontrollable.
2. A cry is not only brief, but bitter. A cry is a sorrowful thing; it is the language of pain. It would be hard for me to stand here and imitate a cry. No; a cry is not artificial, but a natural production: it is not from the lips, but from the soul, that a man cries. A cry, attended with a flood of tears, a bitter wail, a deep-fetched sigh--these are prayers that enter into the ears of the Most High. O penitent, the more thou sorrowest in thy prayer, the more wings thy prayer has towards God! A cry is a brief thing, and a bitter thing.
3. A cry has in it much meaning, and no music. You cannot set a cry to music. The sound grates on the ear, it rasps the heart, it startles, and it grieves the minds of those who hear it. Cries are not for musicians, but for mourners. Can you expound a childs cry? It is pain felt, a desire for relief naturally expressed, a longing forcing itself into sound; it is a plea, a prayer, a complaint, a demand. It cannot wait, it brooks no delay, it never puts off its request till to-morrow. A cry seems to say, Help me now I I cannot bear it any longer. Come, O come, to my relief! When a man cries, he never thinks of the pitch of his voice; but he cries out as he can, out of the depths of his soul. Oh, for more of such praying!
4. A cry is a simple thing. The first thing a new-born child does is to cry; and he usually does plenty of it for years after. You do not need to teach children to cry: it is the cry of Nature in distress. All children can cry; even those who are without their reasoning faculties can cry. Yea, even the beast and the bird can cry. If prayer be a cry, it is clear that it is one of the simplest acts of the mind. God loves natural expressions when we come before Him. Not that which is fine, but that which is on fire, He loves. Not that Which is dressed up, but that which leaps out of the soul just as it is born in the heart, He delights to receive. This poor man did not do anything grand, but from his soul he cried.
5. A cry is as sincere as it is simple. Prayer is not the mimicry of a cry, but the real thing. You need not ask a man or woman, when crying, Do you mean it? Could they cry else? A true cry is the product of a real pain, and the expression of a real want; and therefore it is a real thing. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Testimony to the power of prayer
One person says, I cried to the Lord, and He heard me. But, says an objector, that is a special ease. Up rises a second witness, and says, This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. Well, that is only two; and two instances may not prove a rule. Then, up rises a third, a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and in each ease it is the same story--This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. Surely he must be hardened in unbelief who refuses to believe so many witnesses. I remember the story of a lawyer, a sceptic, who attended a class-meeting where the subject was similar to our theme of this morning. He heard about a dozen tell what the Lord had done for them; and he said, as he sat there, If I had a case in court, I should like to have these good people for witnesses. I know them all, they are my neighbours, they are simple-minded people, straightforward and honest, and I know I could carry any ease if I had them on my side. Then he very candidly argued that what they all agreed upon was true. He believed them in other matters, and he could not doubt them in this, which was to them the most important of all. He tried religion for himself, and the Lord heard him; and very soon he was at the class-meeting, adding his witness to theirs. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The angel Of the Lord encampeth . . . and delivereth.--
Portrait of a good Man -
I. As Divinely affected. They that fear him. The good man is one that fears God.
II. As Divinely guarded.
1. Individually. God regards individuals, as well as nations, worlds, and systems.
2. Completely Guards the whole man, body, soul, and spirit.
3. Eternally. Through time, in death, for ever, He encampeth round about him.
III. As Divinely delivered. And delivereth them.
1. From physical evils. Infirmities, diseases, death.
2. From intellectual evils. Errors, prejudices, ignorance.
3. From social evils. The bereavements of death, the disappointments of hypo-critic friendships.
4. From spiritual evils. Impurity of heart, remorse of conscience, conflict of soul. (Homilist.)
The encamping angel
If we accept the statement in, the superscription of this psalm, it dates from one of the darkest hours in Davids life. His fortunes were never lower than when he fled from Gath, the city of Goliath, to Adullam. He never appears in a less noble light than when he feigned madness to avert the dangers which he might well dread there. How unlike the terror and self-degradation of the man who scrabbled on the doors, and let the spittle run down his beard, is the heroic and saintly constancy of this noble psalm! The Angel of the Lord here is to be taken collectively, and the meaning is that the bright harnessed hosts of these Divine messengers are, as an army of protectors, around them that fear God. But Scripture speaks also of One, who is in an eminent sense the Angel of the Lord, in whom, as in none other, God sets His Name. He is the leader of the heavenly hosts. He appeared when Abraham took the knife to slay his son, and restrained him. He speaks to Jacob at Bethel, and says, I am the God of Bethel; and many other instances there are. It is this lofty and mysterious messenger that David sees standing ready to help, as He once stood, sword-bearing by the side of Joshua. To the warrior leader, to the warrior psalmist, He appears, as their needs required, armoured and militant. The vision of the Divine presence ever takes the form which our circumstances most require. Davids then need was safety and protection. Therefore he saw the Encamping Angel; even as to Joshua the leader He appeared as the Captain of the Lords host; and as to Isaiah, in the year that the throne of Judah was emptied by the death of the earthly king, was given the vision of the Lord sitting on a throne, the King Eternal and Immortal. So to us all His grace shapes its expression according to our wants, and the same gift is Protean in its power of transformation; being to one man wisdom, to another strength, to the solitary companionship, to the sorrowful consolation, to the glad sobering, to the thinker truth, to the worker practical force,--to each his hearts desire. Learn, too, from this image, in which the psalmist appropriates to himself the experience of a past generation, how we ought to feed our confidence and enlarge our hopes by all Gods past dealings with men. David looks back to Jacob, and believes that the old fact is repeated in his own day. So every old story is true for us; though outward form may alter, inward substance remains the same. Mahanaim is still the name of every place where a man who loves God pitches his tent. Our feeble encampment may lie open to assault, and we be all unfit to guard it, but the other camp is there too, and our enemies must force their way through it before they get at us. The Lord of Hosts is with us. Only, remember, that the eye of faith alone can see that guard, and that therefore we must labour to keep our consciousness of its reality fresh and vivid. Notice, too, that final word of deliverance. This psalm is continually recurring to that idea. The word occurs four times in it, and the thought still oftener. He is quite sure that such deliverance must follow if the Angel presence be there. But he knows, too, that the encampment of the Angel of the Lord will not keep away sorrows, and trial, and sharp need. So his highest hope is not of immunity from these, but of rescue out of them. And his ground of hope is that his heavenly ally cannot let him be overcome. That He will not let him be troubled and put in peril he has found; that He will not let him be crushed he believes. Shaded and modest hopes are the brightest we can venture to cherish. But it is the least we are entitled to expect. And so the apostle, when within sight of the headsmans axe, broke into the rapture of his last words, The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to His everlasting kingdom. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The ministry of angels
Such ministry taught throughout the Bible. We know not the nature and constitution of worlds and beings unseen. We are taught (Dan_12:1) that there are guardian angels, and that there are evil angels (Eph_6:12). Their name derived from the circumstance of their being sent on various errands. The Lord frequently appeared in the form of an angel. To-day the angels take deep interest in the welfare of Gods people. Their form of ministry is changed, but not its reality (Luk_15:1-32.; Mat_18:10; Heb_1:14). And why should we not believe that God aids and defends us by means of angels, as our text declares? But it is only they who fear the Lord that enjoy this guardianship. The holy angels can have no fellowship with unholy minds. Let us not question the truth of this ministry, but gratefully accept it. (J. Slade, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.