As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of Yahweh of Armies, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever.
Parallel Translations
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As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of Yahweh of Armies, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever.
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As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.
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(48-9) As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God — God establish it for ever. Selah
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Psalms 48:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 87:5 Yes, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one was born in her;” the Most High himself will establish her.
- Micah 4:1 But in the latter days, it will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills; and peoples will stream to it.
- Psalms 44:1-2 We have heard with our ears, God; our fathers have told us what work you did in their days, in the days of old. You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad.
- Psalms 46:5 God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.
- Psalms 48:1-2 Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the north sides, the city of the great King.
- Psalms 78:3-6 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done. For he established a covenant in Jacob, and appointed a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
- Isaiah 2:2 It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.
- Matthew 16:18 I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
- Isaiah 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 8. As we have heard, so have we seen.…
8. As we have heard, so have we seen. There are two senses in which this passage may be understood, either of which is suitable. The first is, that the sacred writer, speaking in the name of true believers, declares that the same power which God in the days of old had displayed in delivering their fathers, he now exercised towards their posterity. They had heard from the mouth of their fathers, and had learned from sacred history, how God in his great mercy and fatherly goodness had succoured his Church; but now they affirm that they can bear testimony to this not only from their having heard it spoken about, but also from having seen it, inasmuch as they had actually experienced the same mercy exercised by God towards themselves. The amount of what is stated then is, that the faithful not only had a record of the goodness and power of God in histories, but that they also felt by actual experience, yea, even saw with their eyes, what they knew before by hearsay, and the report of their fathers; and that therefore God continues unchangeably the same, confirming as he does, age after age, the examples of his grace exhibited in ancient times, by renewed and ever-recurring experiences. The other sense is somewhat more refined; and yet it is very suitable, namely, That God actually performed what he had promised to his people; as if the faithful had said, that what they had before only heard of was now exhibited before their eyes. As long as we have only the bare promises of God, his grace and salvation are as yet hidden in hope; but when these promises are actually performed, his grace and salvation are clearly manifested. If this interpretation is admitted, it contains the rich doctrine, that God does not disappoint the hope which he produces in our minds by means of his word, and that it is not His way to be more liberal in promising than faithful in performing what he has promised. When it is said, in the city, the letter ב, beth, is taken for מ, mem, or ל, lamed; that is to say, for of, or as to, or with respect to the city. The prophet does not mean to say that in Jerusalem the faithful were informed that God would succor his servants, although this was no doubt true, but that God from the beginning had been the gracious and faithful guardian of his own city, and would continue always to be so. Mention is expressly made of the city of God, because he has not promised to extend the same protecting care to all indiscriminately, but only to his chosen and peculiar people. The name Jehovah of armies is employed to express the power of God; but immediately after the faithful add, that he is their God, for the purpose of pointing to their adoption, that thus they may be emboldened to trust in him, and thus to betake themselves freely and familiarly to him. In the second Council of Nice, the good fathers who sat there wrested this passage to prove that it is not enough to teach divine truth in churches, unless there are at the same time pictures and images for confirming it. This was a piece of silliness very shameful, and unworthy of being mentioned, were it not that it is profitable for us to understand that those who purposed to infect the Church of God with such a corruption, were horribly stricken with a spirit of giddiness and stupidity.
The concluding clause of the verse distinguishes Jerusalem from all the other cities of the world, which are subject to vicissitudes, and flourish only for a time. As Jerusalem was founded by God, it continued steadfast and unmoved amidst the varied commotions and revolutions which took place in the world; and it is not to be wondered at, if he continued through successive ages to maintain the city of which he made choice, and in which it was his will that his name should be called upon for ever. It may, however, be objected, that this city was once destroyed, and the people carried into captivity. But this does not militate against the statement here made; for, before that event happened, the restoration of the city was foretold by Jeremiah 27:22; and, therefore, when it took place, God truly, and in a special manner, showed how steadfast his work was. And now, since Christ by his coming has renewed the world, whatever was spoken of that city in old time belongs to the spiritual Jerusalem, which is dispersed through all the countries of the world. Whenever, therefore, our minds are agitated and perplexed, we should call to remembrance the truth, that, whatever dangers and apprehensions may threaten us, the safety of the Church which God has established, although it may be sorely shaken, can never, however powerfully assaulted, be so weakened as to fall and be involved in ruin. The verb, which is in the future tense, will establish, may be resolved into the past tense, has established; but this will make no difference as to the sense.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To wit, of our fathers: so have we proved:…
To wit, of our fathers: so have we proved: or God hath performed his promise.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 48:8 As we have heard, so have we…
Psa 48:8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.
Ver. 8. As we have heard] viz. By the relation of our forefathers, Psa 44:1, or rather by the promises contained in the Holy Scriptures, which now we see verified and exemplified in our signal deliverances. Jerusalem’s constant protection then is here assevered and assured, per comparationem promissionis et experientim simul, et similiter eam contestantium. See the like Job 42:5. {See Trapp on "Job 42:5"}
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In the city of our God] The Church is the city of the living God, Heb 12:22, a city that breedeth men, yea, conquerors, as Herodotus (Clio) saith of Ecbatana, the metropolis of the Medes, and as Pindarus (Nemeis, Od. 2) of another place,
Yρεφαι φωτα μαχαταν δυνατος, &c.
God will establish it for ever] There shall be a Church till the world’s end, opposing all her enemies.
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 The predictions of the prophets, either 2Ch 20:14, or…
The predictions of the prophets, either 2Ch 20:14, or 2Ki 19:20, &c., have been verified by the events. Or, we have had late and fresh experiences of such wonderful works of God, as before we only heard of by the report of our fathers. From this miraculous deliverance we plainly see that God hath a singular love to it, and care of it, and therefore will defend her in all succeeding ages against all her enemies. And so God would have done, if Jerusalem had not forsaken God, and forfeited his favour and protection.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain We have here the good use and improvement which…
We have here the good use and improvement which the people of God are taught to make of his late glorious and gracious appearances for them against their enemies, that they might work for their good.
I. Let our faith in the word of God be hereby confirmed. If we compare what God has done with what he has spoken, we shall find that, as we have heard, so have we seen (Psa 48:8), and what we have seen obliges us to believe what we have heard. 1. "As we have heard done in former providences, in the days of old, so have we seen done in our own days." Note, God's latter appearances for his people against his and their enemies are consonant to his former appearances, and should put us in mind of them. 2. "As we have heard in the promise and prediction, so have we seen in the performance and accomplishment. We have heard that God is the Lord of hosts, and that Jerusalem is the city of our God, is dear to him, is his particular care; and now we have seen it; we have seen the power of our God; we have seen his goodness; we have seen his care and concern for us, that he is a wall of fire round about Jerusalem and the glory in the midst of her." Note, In the great things that God has done, and is doing, for his church, it is good to take notice of the fulfilling of the scriptures; and this would help us the better to understand both the providence itself and the scripture that is fulfilled in it.
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II. Let our hope of the stability and perpetuity of the church be hereby encouraged. "From what we have seen, compared with what we have heard, in the city of our God, we may conclude that God will establish it for ever." This was not fulfilled in Jerusalem (that city was long since destroyed, and all its glory laid in the dust), but has its accomplishment in the gospel church. We are sure that that shall be established for ever; it is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, Mat 16:18. God himself has undertaken the establishment of it; it is the Lord that has founded Zion, Isa 14:32. And what we have seen, compared with what we have heard, may encourage us to hope in that promise of God upon which the church is built.
III. Let our minds be hereby filled with good thoughts of God. "From what we have heard, and seen, and hope for, we may take occasion to think much of God's loving-kindness, whenever we meet in the midst of his temple," Psa 48:9. All the streams of mercy that flow down to us must be traced up to the fountain of God's lovingkindness. It is not owing to any merit of ours, but purely to his mercy, and the peculiar favour he bears to his people. This therefore we must think of with delight, think of frequently and fixedly. What subject can we dwell upon more noble, more pleasant, more profitable? We must have God's lovingkindness always before our eyes (Psa 26:3), especially when we attend upon him in his temple. When we enjoy the benefit of public ordinances undisturbed, when we meet in his temple and there is none to make us afraid, we should take occasion thence to think of his lovingkindness.
IV. Let us give to God the glory of the great things which he has done for us, and mention them to his honour (Psa 48:10): "According to thy name, O God! so is thy praise, not only in Jerusalem, but to the ends of the earth." By the late signal deliverance of Jerusalem God had made himself a name; that is, he had gloriously discovered his wisdom, power, and goodness, and made all the nations about sensible of it; and so was his praise; that is, some in all parts would be found giving glory to him accordingly. As far as his name goes his praise will go, at least it should go, and, at length, it shall go, when all the ends of the world shall praise him, Psa 22:27; Rev 11:15. Some, by his name, understand especially that glorious name of his, the Lord of hosts; according to that name, so is his praise; for all the creatures, even to the ends of the earth, are under his command. But his people must, in a special manner, acknowledge his justice in all he does for them. "Righteousness fills thy right hand;" that is, all the operations of thy power are consonant to the eternal rules of equity.
V. Let all the members of the church in particular take to themselves the comfort of what God does for his church in general (Psa 48:11): "Let Mount Zion rejoice, the priests and Levites that attend the sanctuary, and then let all the daughters of Judah, the country towns, and the inhabitants of them, be glad: let the women in their songs and dances, as usual on occasion of public joys, celebrate with thankfulness the great salvation which God has wrought for us." Note, When we have given God the praise we may then take the pleasure of the extraordinary deliverances of the church, and be glad because of God's judgments (that is, the operations of his providence), all which we may see wrought in wisdom (therefore called judgments) and working for the good of his church.
VI. Let us diligently observe the instances and evidences of the church's beauty, strength, and safety, and faithfully transmit our observations to those that shall come after us (Psa 48:12, Psa 48:13): Walk about Zion. Some think this refers to the ceremony of the triumph; let those who are employed in that solemnity walk round the walls (as they did, Neh 12:31), singing and praising God. In doing this let them tell the towers and mark well the bulwarks, 1. That they might magnify the late wonderful deliverance God had wrought for them. Let them observe, with wonder, that the towers and bulwarks are all in their full strength and none of them damaged, the palaces in their beauty and none of them blemished; there is not the least damage done to the city by the kings that were assembled against it (Psa 48:4): Tell this to the generation following, as a wonderful instance of God's care of his holy city, that the enemies should not only not ruin or destroy it, but not so much as hurt or deface it. 2. That they might fortify themselves against the fear of the like threatening danger another time. And so, (1.) We may understand it literally of Jerusalem, and the strong-hold of Zion. Let the daughters of Judah see the towers and bulwarks of Zion, with a pleasure equal to the terror with which the kings their enemies saw them, Psa 48:5. Jerusalem was generally looked upon as an impregnable place, as appears, Lam 4:12. All the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that an enemy should enter the gates of Jerusalem; nor could they have entered if the inhabitants had not sinned away their defence. Set your heart to her bulwarks. This intimates that the principal bulwarks of Zion were not the objects of sense, which they might set their eye upon, but the objects of faith, which they must set their hearts upon. It was well enough fortified indeed both by nature and art; but its bulwarks that were mostly to be relied upon were the special presence of God in it, the beauty of holiness he had put upon it, and the promises he had made concerning it. "Consider Jerusalem's strength, and tell it to the generations to come, that they may do nothing to weaken it, and that, if at any time it be in distress, they may not basely surrender it to the enemy as not tenable." Calvin observes here that when they are directed to transmit to posterity a particular account of the towers, and bulwarks, and palaces of Jerusalem, it is intimated that in process of time they would all be destroyed and remain no longer to be seen; for, otherwise, what need was thee to preserve the description and history of them? When the disciples were admiring the buildings of the temple their Master told them that in a little time one stone of it should not be left upon another, Mat 24:1, Mat 24:2. Therefore, (2.) This must certainly be applied to the gospel church, that Mount Zion, Heb 12:22. "Consider the towers, and bulwarks, and palaces of that, that you may be invited and encouraged to join yourselves to it and embark in it. See it founded on Christ, the rock fortified by the divine power, guarded by him that neither slumbers nor sleeps. See what precious ordinances are its palaces, what precious promises are its bulwarks; tell this to the generation following, that they may with purpose of heart espouse its interests and cleave to it."
VII. Let us triumph in God, and in the assurances we have of his everlasting lovingkindness, Psa 48:14. Tell this to the generation following; transmit this truth as a sacred deposit to your posterity, That this God, who has now done such great things for us, is our God for ever and ever; he is constant and unchangeable in his love to us and care for us. 1. If God be our God, he is ours for ever, not only through all the ages of time, but to eternity; for it is the everlasting blessedness of glorified saints that God himself will be with them and will be their God, Rev 21:3. 2. If he be our God, he will be our guide, our faithful constant guide, to show us our way and to lead us in it; he will be so, even unto death, which will be the period of our way, and will bring us to our rest. He will lead and keep us even to the last. He will be our guide above death (so some); he will so guide us as to set us above the reach of death, so that it shall not be able to do us any real hurt. He will be our guide beyond death (so others); he will conduct us safely to a happiness on the other side death, to a life in which there shall be no more death. If we take the Lord for our God, he will conduct and convey us safely to death, through death, and beyond death - down to death and up again to glory.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain According to thy name, O God, so is thy…
According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth,.... That is, as he himself is in the perfections of his nature, which are displayed in the works of his bands, throughout the whole creation; so is or ought his praise to be: or rather, as in the latter day his name will be great in all the earth, Mal 1:11; so will his praise be; and as his name will be One, Zac 14:9; he will be one Lord, there will be one faith and one baptism; his worship, word, and ordinances, will be uniformly observed and attended to; so will be his praise: all the saints will unite together in giving glory to him: he, and he alone, shall be exalted. Moreover, his Gospel is his name, Act 9:15; and that in the latter day will be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, Rev 14:6; and multitudes, both of Jews and Gentiles, will be convert ed, and from the uttermost parts of the earth will be heard songs of praise and glory unto him, Isa 24:15;
thy right hand is full of righteousness: of all spiritual blessings for his people; and particularly of the righteousness of Christ, which God accepts of, imputes unto, and liberally bestows upon them: and it is also full of punitive justice, which he inflicts on his and their enemies; his right hand teaches him terrible things, and these terrible things he does in righteousness; all his works are in righteousness, which the right hand, being the instrument of action, is a token of. Moreover, Christ is the right hand of God; he is the man of his right hand, and as dear to him as his right hand; he is the right hand of his righteousness, by which he upholds his people; and this right hand of his is full of righteousness; he does nothing else but righteousness; he is the author and donor of it to his people, and will execute righteousness upon his enemies; in righteousness he will make war with them, Rev 19:11; and which is greatly the sense of this passage, as appears by Psa 48:11.
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 Heard - The predictions of the prophets have been…
Heard - The predictions of the prophets have been verified by the events. Establish - God will defend her in all succeeding ages. And so God would have done, if Jerusalem had not forsaken him, and forfeited his protection.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. As we have heard, so have we…
Verse 8. As we have heard, so have we seen] Our fathers have declared what mighty works thou didst in their time; and we have seen the same. God has often interposed and afforded us a most miraculous defence. So it was when they were invaded by the Assyrians, Syrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians and the Greeks under Alexander.
The city of the Lord of hosts] His hosts defended the city, and it was known to be the City of the great King.
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God will establish it for ever.] This must refer to the true temple, the Christian Church, of which the Jewish Church was a type. The type perished, but the antitype remained, and will remain till time shall be no more.
Selah.] So be it; and so it will be for evermore.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 48:8-9. As we have heard, so have we…
Psa 48:8-9. As we have heard, so have we seen — The predictions of the prophets have been verified by the events. Or, we have had late and fresh experience of such wonderful works of God, as before we only heard of by the report of our fathers. God will establish it for ever — God will defend her in all succeeding ages. And so God would have done, if Jerusalem had not forsaken him, and forfeited his protection. We have thought of thy loving-kindness — It hath been the matter of our serious and deep meditation, when we have been worshipping in thy temple. For when the priests were offering incense, or sacrifices, the religious people were wont to exercise themselves in holy meditation and secret prayer to God, Luk 1:10. Or, we have silently, or patiently waited for thy loving- kindness, as דמינו חסדךְ, dim-minu chasdecha, more properly signifies, and some ancient and other interpreters render it. A consideration of the wondrous works which God has wrought for us tends to produce faith in his promises, and resignation to his will: “and he,” says Dr. Horne, “that with these dispositions waits for God’s mercies, in God’s house, shall not wait in vain.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain As we have heard, so have we seen -…
As we have heard, so have we seen - That is, What has been told us, or handed down by tradition, in regard to the strength and safety of the city - what our fathers have told us respecting its sacredness and its being under the protection of God - we have found to be true. It has been shown that God is its protector; that he dwells in the midst of it; that it is safe from the assaults of man; that it is permanent and abiding. All that had ever been said of the city in this respect had been found, in this trial when the kings assembled against it, to be true.
In the city of the Lord of hosts - The city where the Lord of hosts has taken up his abode, or which he has chosen for his dwelling-place on earth. See the notes at Isa 1:24; notes at Psa 24:10.
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In the city of our God - Of Him who has shown himself to be our God; the God of our nation.
God will establish it for ever - That is, this had been told them; this is what they had heard from their fathers; this they now saw to be verified in the divine interposition in the time of danger. They had seen that these combined armies could not take the city; that God had mercifully interposed to scatter their forces; and they inferred that it could be taken by no human power, and that God intended that it should be permanent and abiding. What is here said of Jerusalem is true in a sense more strict and absolute of the Church - that nothing can prevail against it, but that it will endure to the end of the world. See the notes at Mat 16:18.
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 present experience assures of that perpetual care which…
This present experience assures of that perpetual care which God extends to His Church.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. Experience has confirmed what tradition (cp. Psa_44:1) related…
8. Experience has confirmed what tradition (cp. Psa_44:1) related of God’s marvellous works on behalf of His people, and justifies the confidence that He will never cease to guard the city of His choice. Cp. Psa_87:5; Isa_62:7. But all such anticipations are conditional: Israel’s unfaithfulness made a literal fulfilment impossible.
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 (8) As we have heard.—The generations of a religious…
(8) As we have heard.—The generations of a religious nation are “bound each to each by natural piety.” Probably here the ancient tale of the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host recurred to the poet’s mind.
God will establish it.—Better, God will preserve her for ever, i.e., the holy city. This forms the refrain of the song, and probably should be restored between the parts of Psa_48:3.
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 As we have heard, so have we seen in…
As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God; i.e. as we have heard of former deliverances of Jerusalem from the attacks of enemies; e.g. from Shishak, (2Ch_12:2-12) from Zorah, (2Ch_14:9-13) so now we have seen with our own eyes a deliverance of the same favoured city, such as might be expected from the fact that she is "the city of the Lord of hosts, the city of our God." Having seen with our own eyes Jerusalem thus delivered, we come to the conclusion that God will establish it for ever.
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. 8. As we have heard, so have we…
Ver. 8. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. Our father's stories are reproduced before our very eyes. We heard the promise, and we have seen the fulfilment. The records of Zion, wonderful as they are, are proved to be truthful, because present facts are in perfect harmony therewith. Note how the Lord is first spoken of as Lord of hosts, a name of power and sovereignty, and then as our God, a name of covenant relation and condescension. No wonder that since the Lord bears both titles, we find him dealing with us after the precedents of his lovingkindness, and the faithfulness of his promises. God will establish it for ever. The true church can never be disestablished. That which kings establish can last for time only, that which God establishes endures to all eternity. Selah. Here is a fit place to pause, viewing the past with admiration, and the future with confidence.
None.
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Ver. 8.
1. God has ever been to his people what he now is; the same heard as seen.
2. He is now what he ever has been: the same seen as heard.
3. He will ever be what he now is. "Will establish it for ever."
Psalms 48:9*
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 As we have heard, so have we seen in…
Psa_48:8-14
As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God.
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As we have heard, so have we seen
This is seldom true. In many places we see what we have not heard, and what we have heard we do not see. But when you come into the city of the Lord of hosts, the reports about it are true, and the truth exceeds the report.
I. It is most important that we listen to true witnesses; for, else, we shall not be able to say, As we have heard, so have we seen. It is of the first importance to you all that you should hear the Word of God, and receive the truth as it is in Jesus; so that, both in the throng of life, and when you stand upon the borders of death, and in the changeless state of eternity, you may be able to say, We thank God for the Gospel which we heard; for what we heard with our ears has been verified in our lives.
II. Good hearing leads on to seeing--As we have heard, so have we seen. Some of you have heard, and heard, but have never yet seen. The man who is content with one inlet to his mind, namely, his ears, but never uses his eyes, must imagine that God has made a mistake, and has given him more senses than he needs. Surely this argues a want of sense. O taste and see that the Lord is good. You will ask how can a hearer of the Gospel become a seer of it?
1. He can do this by examining the facts which lie hears stated, and judging whether they are really so. The Scripture tells you that your heart is deceitful--see whether it be net so. It tells you that there is a natural inclination in man towards evil--study yourself, and see whether this is not the case.
2. We further see what we hear when we obey the commands and receive the blessings promised upon obedience. if we confess our sins, etc. Come unto Me, etc.
3. We also turn hearing into sight when, receiving the blessings which are promised to faith, we enter into a new life.
III. Seeing wonderfully confirms the truth of what we hear. I am sure I can appeal to those of you who have seen the Lord in His glory, so as to abhor yourselves in dust and ashes, and to those of you who have seen yourselves, so that you have been ashamed and confounded at your own ways. I say, I can appeal to you to confirm the most solemn statements of Holy Scripture. However much its denunciations may make you shudder, your inmost soul consents to the truth of them. Brighter things, however, have we heard and seen. We heard that there is a calling of God, whereby He separates His chosen from the rest of mankind. We heard, too, that if we came to Jesus as we were, He would receive us; and He did receive us. Then we heard that there was such a thing as regeneration. Ye must be born again. Many of you know the great and radical change, because you have experienced it. Further, to show you how experience supports the Word of God, we were told many times over that God hears prayer. We were reminded of the Saviours words, Ask, and it shall be given you, etc. Have you not prayed yourselves out of the dark into the sunlight; prayed yourselves out of the depths of despair up to the throne of God?
IV. When hearing turns to seeing, and is confirmed by it, then it leads to witnessing. So many are decrying the truth, that, if in your heart and conscience you have proved it true, you are bound to give to the Lord the testimony of even a stammerer. Your mouth is as God made it: use it as best you can, and speak up for His name and cause. Oh, for more of the missionary spirit, more telling out to the ends of the earth of what the Lord has done I What were the stars, if they did not shine? What were the sun, if He did not make our day? What were the rivers, if they did not water the lands? What were the sea itself, if it did not act as the pulsing heart of the world? What are Christians, if they do not shine as lights? Piety bottled up is dead. Religion put into a tin and hermetically sealed is useless.
V. Hearing, seeing, witnessing, god will give you a yet fuller assurance than you have as yet. God will establish it for ever. That is the conclusion which the saint comes to, when he has tried the truth for himself, and borne witness to the result of his trial. God will never leave His Church. God will never forfeit His word. God will never desert His Gospel. His honour is bound up in the whole enterprise that Christ undertook, He must go through with it, and He must arrive at a glorious conclusion. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
As we have heard, so have we seen
The psalmist not only rejoices because of deliverance, but because that deliverance has proved that the commonplace present is as full of God as was the miraculous past, and has turned tradition into experience. The miracles of the Exodus have been repeated before the eyes of the psalmists generation. As we have heard, so have we seen, etc. And because the present has been the repetition of the past, the future shall be the continuation of the present. God will establish it for ever.
I. The pledge of security in the name of the city. The city of the Lord of hosts--what does that great name for God mean? It means, I take it, very much the same thing as Jesus Christ praised the Roman-centurion for having groped his way to discover; that all the universe is like an embattled legion, subject to the command of one authoritative Imperator, or Emperor, the Lord of hosts. Well, then, if the city is His, who is going to take it? What about Sennacherib? He may muster his hosts as he likes, but in the morning they were all dead corpses, and Sennacherib went away back to Assyria to pray to his god. Much he made of that; for whilst he was praying his sons cut his throat; and that was the end of the worship that is given to the hosts, and not to the Lord of the hosts. But that is not all. The city is the city of our God. He is Lord of the hosts, but there is a relation more tender and blessed between us and Him than there is between them and Him, for he is Our God. And how does He come to be our God? By what He has done, and by what we have done. The relation is reciprocal; His side of it is His taking us for His and telling us that He has done so; our side of it is our taking Him for ours by faith, love and obedience, and by our hearts speech saying to Him, Thou art my God. Then we may rest secure, if the Lord of hosts is with us, etc.
II. How all the wonders of the past are repeated today. That sounds paradoxical. The age of miracles is past, say many sad hearts. We do not see as we have heard, and we sometimes begin to doubt whether we have heard aright, just because we do not see what has been told us. Well, for all that, the triumphant word of my text is true to-day, as true as it was in regard to those who saw the miracle of the dead Assyrian hosts. My life is as full of God, if I like to make it so, as ever was the life of any patriarch or prophet or apostle of them all. Earth is as much crammed with God as it used to be. Not only is the reality of this working the same, but I venture to say the manner in which He now does His great things for us is an advance on the manner in which He did them of old. It is better to have a Christ in the heart than a Christ working miracles beside us; better to be guided by the Divine Spirit that dwells in us than by the pillar of fire and cloud. It is better to be committed to the responsibility of our own judgments, and our own purified hearts, than it is to hear a voice from heaven saying to us in articulate syllables what we ought to do. And they who are, or, if they will, may be, strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, do not need to envy those of old to whose palsied limbs the hands of the Saviour gave power, or to whose blind eyes he gave sight.
III. The confidence for the future which springs from experience. It is always safe to reckon on Gods future, and to infer what it will be, from Gods past. You cannot do that with men, you can do it with Him; because He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. We get tired of helping people, and say, I have done it so often that I really cannot do it any more. God says, I have done it so often that I will not cease doing it. Mens purposes change; His do not. Mens resources get exhausted; His never. If we are trusting to Him we can boldly say, Tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. It is always safe to reckon on Gods future being of a piece with Gods past. Therefore, the city and the citizens, each one of whom has a personal relation to God, must live for ever, in order that they may possess all that God can give them. That is a plain way of putting what can be put in more graceful language, by saying that the experience of communion with God here is the best proof, to any of us, of immortal life hereafter. Because God has given us what He has given, and been to us what He has been, and done for us what He has done, it is impossible to believe that there can come an end to the relation between Him and us, and that the man who has clasped Gods hand can ever die. He shall establish it for ever. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Testimony confirmed by experience
1. The Church, like a parent of a family, gives a volume into the hands of those who join her communion, bidding them receive it as Divine, and study it as the word which can alone guide them to glory. And her members, like the children of the household, have no better reason, at first, for receiving the Bible as inspired, than because they have heard so in the city of the Lord. They yield so much of respect to the directions of their authorized teachers, or to the impressions which have been graven on them from infancy, as to give their homage to a volume which is presumed to bear so lofty a character. But then, though it may thus be on hearsay that they first receive the Bible as inspired, it is not on hearsay that they continue to receive it. We speak of those in whom the Word has wrought effectually; and we confidently affirm of them, that, though at one time they believed in the inspiration of the canonical Scriptures, because their parents taught it, or their ministers maintained it, yet now are they in possession of a personal experimental evidence, which is thoroughly conclusive on this fundamental point.
2. But there is yet a more obvious application of the words of our text. It is said of God by Solomon that He requireth that which is past. He seeks again that which is past, recalling, as it were, the proceedings, whether in judgment or mercy, of departed ages, and repeating them to the present generation. And it is on this account that there is such value in the registered experience of the believers of other days, so that the biography of the righteous is among the best treasures possessed by a church. It is, in one sense at least, a vast advantage to us that we live late in the world. We have all the benefit of the spiritual experience of many centuries, which has been bequeathed to us as a legacy of more worth than large wealth or far-spreading empire. We have not, therefore, to tread a path in which we have had but few precursors. Far as the eye can reach, the road we have to traverse is crowded with beckoning forms, as though the sepulchres gave up their host of worthies that we might be animated by the view of the victorious throng. And this is an advantage which it is hardly possible to overrate. You have only to add to this an acquaintance with the unchangeableness of God, and there seems all that can be needed to the encouragement and confidence of the righteous.
3. If there be one passage of Scripture which we venture to put into the lips of redeemed men in glory, it is our text; in tiffs instance we may be confident that the change from earth to heaven will not have made the language of the one unsuited to the other. Oh, as the shining company take the circuit of the celestial city; as they walk about Zion, and go round about her, telling the towers thereof, marking well her bulwarks, and considering her palaces; who can doubt that they say one to another, as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of our God? We heard that here the wicked cease from troubling, and now we behold the deep rich calm. We heard that here we should be with the Lord, and now we see Him face to face. We heard that here we should know, and now the ample page of universal truth is open to our inspection. We heard that here, with the crown on the head, and the harp in the hand, we should execute the will and hymn the praises of our God, and now we wear the diadem, and wake the melody. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.