He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.
Parallel Translations
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He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.
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He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
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May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Psalms 72:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hosea 6:3 Let’s acknowledge Yahweh. Let’s press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”
- Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.
- 2 Samuel 23:4 shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.’
- Psalms 65:10 You drench its furrows. You level its ridges. You soften it with showers. You bless it with a crop.
- Isaiah 14:3-5 It will happen in the day that Yahweh will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!” Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,
- Hosea 14:5-7 I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon. His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
- Proverbs 16:15 In the light of the king’s face is life. His favor is like a cloud of the spring rain.
- Proverbs 19:12 The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
- Isaiah 5:6 I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned or hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.”
- Ezekiel 34:23-26 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it. “ ‘I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 6. He shall descend as the rain upon the…
6. He shall descend as the rain upon the mown grass. This comparison may seem at first sight to be somewhat harsh; but it elegantly and appositely expresses the great advantage which is derived by all from the good and equitable constitution of a kingdom. Meadows, we know, are cut in the beginning of summer when the heat prevails; and did not the earth imbibe new moisture by the falling rain, even the very roots of the herbage would wither by reason of the barren and parched state of the soil. David, therefore, teaches us that as God defends the earth from the heat of the sun by watering it, so he in like manner provides for the welfare of his Church, and defends it under the government of the king. But this prediction has received its highest fulfillment in Christ, who, by distilling upon the Church his secret grace, renders her fruitful.
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 As this is true in all godly kings, so…
As this is true in all godly kings, so it is chiefly verified in Christ, who with his heavenly dew, maketh his Church ever to flourish.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 72:6 He shall come down like rain upon…
Psa 72:6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers [that] water the earth.
Ver. 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass] That is, he shall be very dear to us, and much delighted in. See Job 29:23, {See Trapp on "Job 29:23"}
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As showers that water the earth] This is chiefly fulfilled in Christ, who, by raining down righteousness, maketh his Church to grow and flourish.
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 Come down, to wit, by the influences of his…
Come down, to wit, by the influences of his government upon his people under him. But this phrase doth much better agree to Christ, who was yet to come, and who did come down from heaven, and brought or sent down from heaven his doctrine, which is oft compared to rain, and the sweet and powerful influences of his Spirit.
Rain upon the mown grass; which it both refresheth and improveth, or causeth to grow and flourish, and therefore was very acceptable, especially in Canaan, where rain was more scarce and more necessary than in many other places, because of the scorching heat, and the natural dryness of the soil, and the want of rivers to overflow or water the land.
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 He shall come down like rain upon the mown…
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass,.... That is, the King and King's Son, the Messiah, whose coming is compared to rain, and showers of it; see Hos 6:3; and may be understood of his incarnation; when, like rain, he came down from heaven; not by an illapse or entrance of the human nature, which before was not in him; nor by local motion of his divine Person, with which that will not agree; but by assumption of human nature into union with him, as the Son of God; which was an instance of his condescending grace: like rain, he had no father as man; see Job 38:28; but was born of a virgin, through the power of the Holy Ghost; which was very marvellous, like the dew that fell on Gideon's fleece, when the earth about it was dry; which some think is here referred to. The word used signifies also a shorn fleece of wool; and so it is rendered by the Septuagint, and those versions which follow that: or, "shorn grass", shorn by locusts, as the Targum; rather by sheep, who, as by classical writers (s), are said to sheer the grass by biting it. Or, "like rain upon the fleece" (t); and as the rain is the gift of God to persons undeserving, in consequence of a decree, Job 28:26; sometimes comes suddenly, and is very grateful and refreshing; so Christ is the free gift of God to sinners, and by a decree of his; and his coming was suddenly, into his temple, and was welcome to them that looked for him; as he still is to all sensible sinners. Or this may be interpreted of the coming of Christ into the hearts of his people, by the communications of his Spirit and grace, which, like rain, came down from heaven; are dependent on the will of God, are free grace gifts, and given in abundance; and, like rain, refresh, revive, and make fruitful. Or else this may be applied to the administration of Christ's offices; as his prophetic office, his Gospel and doctrine, being from heaven, like rain, and falling, by divine direction, sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another; and like it in its effects, softening, quickening, and fructifying; and more especially it may respect the administration of his kingly office, since he is in the context spoken of as a King and Judge, and that in the latter day; whose administrations, though just and righteous; yet not cruel and severe, but mild and gentle; his commands are not grievous, nor his yoke heavy; though he will rule the wicked with a rod of iron, he holds forth the sceptre of grace and mercy to his own people; and when his kingdom shall come in all its glory, it will be times refreshing from the presence of the Lord; and his favour will be as the cloud of the latter rain; see Act 3:19;
as showers that water the earth: signifying the same. The word is only in this place, and is used in the Talmud (u), in the plural number, for drops of water; and this sense of showers dropping on the earth is given by the Targum. Kimchi derives it from which, in the Syriac language, signifies to "cut"; and thinks the phrase is the same with the former, "as showers on the cut grass of the earth" (w). But perhaps the word rather designs the fissures and cracks of the earth through drought; and the sense is, that Christ's coming is like showers of rain upon the dry and parched ground, which are very acceptable to it.
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(s) "Tondentes gramen oves", Ovid. de Remed. Amor. l. 1. "Tondentes gramina lanigerae pecudes", Lucret. c. 2. (t) "super vellus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus. (u) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 87. 1. (w) In Sepher Shorash. rad.
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 He shall come - Christ did come down from…
He shall come - Christ did come down from heaven, and brought or sent down from heaven his doctrine, (which is often compared to rain) and the sweet and powerful influences of his spirit.
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. He shall come down like rain upon…
Verse 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass] The word גז gez, which we translate mown grass, more properly means pastured grass or pastured land; for the dew of the night is intended to restore the grass which has been eaten in the course of the day. This very idea the Chaldee has seized, and renders the place thus: "He shall descend gently, like rain upon the grass which has been eaten by the locust." But there seems to be a reference to the thick night dews which in summer fall on the pasturages, and become the means of restoring the grass consumed in the day-time by the cattle. This is finely expressed by the most accomplished of all poets and agriculturists: -
Et quantum longis carpent armenta diebus,
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Exigua tantum gelidus ros nocte reponet.
VIRG. Geor. ii., ver. 201.
"For what the day devours, the nightly dew
Shall to the morn by pearly drops renew."
DRYDEN.
Or to leave poetry, which always says too much or too little, the plain prose is: -
"And as much as the flocks crop in the long days,
So much shall the cold dew restore in one short night."
As showers that water the earth.] The influence of the doctrine and Spirit of Christ on the soul of man shall be as grateful, as refreshing, and as fructifying, as the nightly dews on the cropped fields, and the vernal showers on the cultivated lands. Without his influence all tillage is vain; without him there can neither be seed nor fruit.
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 72:6. He shall come down, &c. — To…
Psa 72:6. He shall come down, &c. — To wit, by the influences of his government upon his people, the administration of which shall be so gentle and easy, that it shall refresh and revive the hearts of his subjects, and render them a flourishing people. But this phrase much better agrees to Christ, who was yet to come, and who did come down from heaven, and brought or sent down from thence his refreshing and fertilizing doctrine, often compared to rain, and the sweet and powerful influences of his Spirit. Like rain upon the mown grass — Which it both refreshes and causes to grow and flourish, and therefore was very acceptable, especially in Canaan. where rain was more scarce, and more necessary than in many other places, because of the scorching heat, and the natural dryness of the soil, and the want of rivers to overflow or water the land.
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 He shall come down - That is, The influence…
He shall come down - That is, The influence of his reign will be like fertilising showers. The word” he” in this place might have been “it,” referring to his reign, or to the influence of his government.
Like rain upon the mown grass - The word rendered “mown grass” - גז gêz - means properly “a shearing,” and is applied in Deu 18:4, and Job 31:20, to a fleece of wool. So it is understood here by the Septuagint, by the Latin Vulgate, by the Syriac, and by Luther; and, in accordance with this, it has been supposed by some that there is an allusion to the dew that descended on the fleece spread out by Gideon, Jdg 6:37. The Chaldee Paraphrase renders it, “As the grass that has been eaten off by locusts;” where the idea would be that after locusts have passed over a field, devouring everything, when the rain descends the fields revive, and nature again puts on the appearance of life. This idea is adopted by Rosenmuller. The common interpretation, however, which refers the word to a “mowing,” that is, a “mown meadow,” is probably the correct one; and thus understood, the image is very beautiful. The reign of the Messiah would resemble the gently descending shower, under which the grass which has been mown springs up again with freshness and beauty.
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As showers that water the earth - literally, “like showers, the watering of the earth.” The original word rendered “that water” suggests the idea of distilling, or “gently” flowing.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. He shall come down like rain—Giving life to…
6. He shall come down like rain—Giving life to vegetation and beauty to the earth. See Deu_32:2. Elsewhere David uses the same figure, which fully applies only to Christ. 2Sa_23:4
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. He shall come down &c.] A condensed comparison,…
6. He shall come down &c.] A condensed comparison, for, ‘he shall be like rain coming down.’ The simile may have been suggested by the ‘last words of David,’ 2Sa_23:4 : cp. Pro_16:15; Hos_6:3; Mic_5:7.
the mown grass] The meadow which has been mown, and which needs rain to start the aftermath (Amo_7:1). The P.B.V. into a fleece of wool is an amplification of the rendering of LXX, Vulg., Symm., Jer., upon a fleece. The Heb. word means a shorn fleece or a mown meadow; probably the Ancient Versions meant fleece metaphorically of the meadow: Coverdale’s paraphrase a fleece of wool may have been prompted by the recollection of the dew on Gideon’s fleece.
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) He shall come down.—The rule of the monarch…
(6) He shall come down.—The rule of the monarch is to be beneficent as the rain refreshing the earth, and covering it with blessings as with verdure. Under a similar image, David’s last words (2Sa_23:4) describe a good government.
Mown grass.—The Hebrew word means “a shearing,” and is used of a fleece (Jdg_6:37; so here, LXX., Vulg., and Prayer Book version); of a hay crop (Amo_7:1). The reference here may be either to a “mown field,” on which a shower would cause fresh grass to sprout, or to meadow grass ready for mowing.
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 He shall come down like rain upon the mown…
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; i.e. softly and gently, bringing refreshment. (comp. Deu_32:2 Isa_55:10, Isa_55:11; and perhaps 2Sa_23:4) As showers that water the earth. The same idea as in the preceding clause. (comp. Hos_6:3)
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. He shall come down like rain upon…
Ver. 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass. Blessings upon his gentle sway! Those great conquerors who have been the scourges of mankind have fallen like the fiery hail of Sodom, transforming fruitful lands into deserts; but he with mild, benignant influence softly refreshes the weary and wounded among men, and makes them spring up into newness of life. Pastures mown with the scythe, or shorn by the teeth of cattle, present, as it were, so many bleeding stems of grass, but when the rain falls it is balm to all these wounds, and it renews the verdure and beauty of the field; fit image of the visits and benedictions of "the consolation of Israel." My soul, how well it is for thee to be brought low, and to be even as the meadows eaten bare and trodden down by cattle, for then to thee shall the Lord have respect; he shall remember thy misery, and with his own most precious love restore thee to more than thy former glory. Welcome Jesus, thou true Bien-aime, the Well beloved, thou art far more than Titus ever was--the Delight of Mankind.
As showers that water the earth. Each crystal drop of rain tells of heavenly mercy, which forgets not the parched plains: Jesus is all grace, all that he does is love, and his presence among men is joy. We need to preach him more, for no shower can so refresh the nations. Philosophic preaching mocks men as with a dust shower, but the gospel meets the case of fallen humanity, and happiness flourishes beneath its genial power. Come down, O Lord, upon my soul, and my heart shall blossom with thy praise: --
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"He shall come down as still and light
As scattered drops on genial field;
And in his time who loves the right,
Freely shall bloom, sweet peace her harvest yield."
Ver. 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, etc. This is spoken and promised of Christ, and serves to teach us that Christ coming to his church and people, by the gracious influences of his Holy Spirit, is most useful and refreshing to their souls, like showers of rain to the dry ground, or a meadow newly cut to make it spring again. Christless souls are like the dry ground; without the moisture of saving grace their hearts are hard; neither rods, mercies, nor sermons, make impression upon them. Why? They are without Christ, the fountain of grace and spiritual influences. Before the fall man's soul was like a well watered garden, beautiful, green, and fragrant; but by his apostasy from God, in Adam our first head, the springs of grace and holiness are quite dried up in his soul; and there is no curing of this drought but by the soul's union with a new head; to wit, Christ our second Adam, who has the Spirit given him without measure for the use of all his members. Now, when we are united by faith to Christ, our Head of influences, the dry land is turned into water springs; Christ "comes down as the rain" by his Spirit of regeneration, and brings the springs of grace into the soul. He is the first and immediate receptacle of the Holy Spirit, and all regenerating and sanctifying influences, and out of his fulness we must by faith receive them. And when at any time the springs of grace are interrupted in the soul by sin or unbelief, so as the ground turns dry, the plants wither, and the things which remain are ready to die, the soul hath need to look up to Jesus Christ to come down with new showers upon the thirsty ground and decayed plants.
1. As the rain is the free gift of God to the dry ground, it comes free and cheap to poor and rich, small and great, and cost them nothing: so Christ with his blessings is God's free gift to a dry and perishing world; for which we should be continually thankful.
2. As nothing can stop the falling of the rain; so nothing can hinder Christ's gracious influences, when he designs to awake, convince, or soften a hard heart. When those showers do fall on sinners, the most obstinate will must yield, and cry, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
3. As the rain is most necessary and suitable to the dry ground, and to the various plants it produces, and also to the different parts of every plant or tree-- such as the root, trunk, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit; so Christ is absolutely necessary, and his influence most suitable to all his people's souls, and to every faculty of them--the understanding, will, memory, and affections; and to all their different graces, faith, love, repentance, etc.; to root and establish them, strengthen and confirm them, quicken and increase them, cherish and preserve them.
4. As the rain comes in diverse ways and manners to the earth, sometimes with cold winds and tempests, thunders and lightnings, and at other times with calmness and warmth; so Christ comes to sinners, sometimes with sharp convictions and legal terrors, and sometimes with alluring invitations and promises.
5. O how pleasant are the effects of rain to languishing plants, to make them green and beautiful, lively and strong, fragrant and beautiful! So the effects of Christ's influences are most desirable to drooping souls, for enlightening and enlivening them, for confirming and strengthening them, for comforting and enlarging them, for appetizing and satisfying them, transforming and beautifying them. A shower from Christ would soon make the church, though withered, turn green and beautiful, and to send forth a smell as of a field that the Lord hath blessed; and likewise some drops of this shower, falling down upon the languishing graces of communicants, would soon make them vigorous and lively in showing forth their Saviour's death at his table. John Willison.
Ver. 6. There cannot be a more lively image of a flourishing condition than what is conveyed to us in these words. The grass which is forced by the heat of the sun, before the ground is well prepared by rains, is weak and languid, and of a faint complexion; but when clear shining succeeds the gentle showers of spring, the field puts forth its best strength, and is more beautifully arrayed than ever Solomon in all his glory. Thomas Sherlock. 1678.
Ver. 6. He shall come down, dry There is a fourfold descending of Christ which the Scripture mentions.
I. His incarnation, the manifestation of himself in the
flesh.
II. The abasing himself in condition; he did not only
assume human flesh, but all the natural infirmities
of our flesh.
III. The subjecting of himself to death.
IV. The distillations of his grace and spiritual
blessings upon his church. Ralph Robinson.
Ver. 6. (first clause). Some render this "like dew on the fleece." The mysterious fleece of Gideon, which on being exposed to the air, is first of all filled with the dew of heaven, while all the ground around it is quite dry, and which afterwards becomes dry while the earth is watered, pictures to us, according to the old divines, that the dew of Heaven's grace was poured out upon Judaea at the time when all the rest of the world remained in barrenness and ignorance of God; but that now, by a strange alteration, this same Judaea lies in dryness and forgetfulness of God, while on the contrary, all the other nations of the earth are inundated with the dew of heavenly grace. Pasquier Quesnel.
Ver. 6. Upon the mown grass. The Hebrew word used here hath a double signification. It signifies a shorn fleece of wool, and it signifies a meadow newly mown. This hath occasioned divers readings. Some read it, He shall come down like the rain into a fleece of wool: so the Septuagint. They that follow this reading make it an allusion unto the dew that fell upon Gideon's fleece (Jud 6:37-39), when all the land beside was dry, and, again, upon the rest of the land when the fleece was dry. Others read it according to our translation: He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass. This seems to me more agreeable to the meaning of the Holy Ghost; especially because of the clause following, which is added by way of explication: As showers that water the earth. As the showers, Mybybr Rain and showers differ only as less and more; rain signifies smaller showers, and showers signify greater rain. De 32:2. Rain falling in multitude of drops is called a shower. That water the earth. The word Pyzrz zarziph, which is here translated water, is only used in this place in all the Bible. It signifies to water by dispersion, to water by drops. The showers are dispersed in drops all over the face of the earth, in a very regular and artificial way. "God hath divided, "saith Job, "a watercourse for the overflowings of water." Job 38:25. The rain is from the cloud spouted out by drops after such a manner that every part hath its share. Ralph Robinson.
Ver. 6. The mown grass; literally, that which is shorn, whether fleece or meadow. In the former sense it occurs Jud 6:37, and so the older translators all take it, (Aq epi kouran, LXX and others epi plokon, Jerome and Vulgate, in vellus, )probably with the idea that the reign of the monarch would be accompanied by signal tokens of the divine favour and blessing, like the dew upon Gideon's fleece; in the latter sense, the word is found Am 7:1; and this is indisputably its meaning here, as the parallel shows. The mown meadow is particularly mentioned, because the roots of the grass would be most exposed to the summer heat after the crop has been gathered in, and the effect would be most striking in the shooting of the young green blade after the shower. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Ver. 6. The field, the shower, the result. This verse is easily enough handled in a variety of ways.
Psalms 72:7*
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 He shall come down like rain upon the mown…
Psa_72:6
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth.
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Rain upon the mown grass
Some men say that Christianity is not genial, that the Christian scheme exhibits God in a most unlovely aspect, that the doctrines of Christ are dark with awful mysteries, that the promises of the Christian dispensation offer but little of present benefit, that its precepts demand conduct which is too high and self-sacrificing, that its ordinances are depressing rather than elevating, and that, as a whole, Christianity promotes narrow minds and feeble judgment, morbid and morose feelings, an enslaved will, a too sensitive conscience, an unmanly bearing, and a character which is intellectually low, and unsocial, and melancholy. This charge against the religion of Jesus Christ is most unjust, and cannot be maintained; it rests not upon truth, but upon prejudice. The Gospel is a device to seek and save the lost: not to judge but to justify, not to scathe and waste, but to sanctify and save. And it is a Divine device, planned and carried out by God our Father. We see love going after the lost. Now, if this be the Christian scheme; if it be a plan of redemption designed by the grace of God, and if it be executed, so far as its general provisions are concerned, by the Son of God, and if it be revealed and applied by the Holy Ghost the Comforter; if its morality be based upon love, and if it be spread by moral and spiritual forces; if it is received by faith, if it give not the spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind; if it bring good out of evil, and be consummated in the restoration of Gods image to man, and of all saved men to the paradise regained; if it bring knowledge, and wisdom, and pardon, and purity, and patience, and love, and victory, and life; then we ask, Can this scheme be other than genial, and ought not its effect upon its disciples to be the nourishing within them of all goodness, and the production of genuine and habitual cheerfulness? Not genial? Then there is nothing genial. Soft morning light is not genial. Balmy evening air is not genial. Gentle and warm rain is not genial. Spring sunshine is not genial. The mothers bosom is not genial. There is nothing genial on this earth. I had almost said, there can be nothing genial in heaven. (S. Martin, D. D.)
Rain upon the mown grass
The psalm tells of One greater than Solomon--Christ. These words teach that God will see to it that, by some means, Christ shall be made known to all mankind.
I. Christ is of unspeakable value to men. Language is inadequate to set this preciousness forth. Our present estimate is low and feeble, even in our holiest moments. But it is a happy thing when an author illustrates his own book. Now, God has done this. Nature illustrates Grace: that is, God illustrates God; for in nature we have the best resemblances to Gods dealings in the kingdom of His Son. As the sleeping, frozen earth needs, in order to make up to beauty and fruitfulness, the sun and the rain, so the soul of man needs Christ. For what is the human spirit without the Saviour? A clod of earth hardened into stone. See the condition of those peoples who know not Christ. And remember, Christ does not merely prevent our dying: He comes with a blessed quickening upon the human spirit. The simile of the text fails, for the rain does not give life, but only quickens seeds already in the earth. But Christ acts upon the latent powers of the mind, wakes up all its faculties, makes the man worthy to be called a child of God. When Christ comes to us we become conscious of a new life.
II. And as the rain comes so does Christ come. When God gave Christ to man it was a question how He should bring Him home to human hearts. And it is a problem which ought to stir all Christian people, how to make Christ known to men. But here again nature helps us. What a beautiful paradise God has constructed, watering the hills from His chambers. There is the great ocean I more than three-fourths of the worlds surface is water. But in vain would that water lie all round the land and lave its shores. All vegetation would die if the water lay there; and so the great God has set in operation a wonderful mechanism. The sun daily, hourly, every moment, draws that water up into the air by evaporation; currents created by the sun float that vapour thousands of miles inland; and then the alternating strata of warm and cold air effects its condensation, and all over the earth it falls wherever it is needed, and waters the earth. The icy mountain peaks amongst the Alps are continual cloud factories. The invisible vapour rising one side of the mountain is condensed by the cold air of the summit, and formed into a cloud. It is ever producing clouds and sending them away over the land. And how seasonably the rain comes, and silently and freely. So Christ comes to men. (L. Hebditch.)
Rain upon the mown grass
No more tender and beautiful image than this can be found in the whole range of sacred poetry. It is full of precious significance The memories and associations which it suggests are very sweet. We all know the summer harvest of the hay-makers, whose pleasant toils seem to anticipate those of the autumn harvest of the corn. How different is the aspect of the hay-field before the grass is cut, and after it is mown and the hay removed! A meadow covered from end to end with tall ripe grass crowned with rich dark-purple heads of blossom and seed, and rippling in light and shadow like the waves of the sea, as the sun and the wind chase each other over them, is one of the most beautiful of rural sights. Myriads of wild flowers add the glory of their colour and the fragrance of their perfume to the blades of grass among which they grow. The eye is never weary of gazing upon the bright and living mosaic. But how different the aspect when the scythe has done its work. All the beauty has vanished; the fragrance that loaded the air is gone, and nothing remains but the stubble, a short, pale, sickly-yellow sward, without grace of form, beauty or colour. And this desolation of aspect is greatly aggravated during a season of drought, when the sky is as brass, and, the earth is as iron, and the pitiless sun scorches the field. But how striking the change when a shower of rain comes; if it continues, what a healing process goes on, until at last an aftermath is formed which may be even more luxuriant than was the field in its first fresh strong growth. The rain upon the mown grass is thus the harbinger of new beauties and of a richer fragrance and fulness of life. And this is especially so in the arid soil and climate of Bible lands. The grass there, when cut, seems to dry up completely, and a brown naked waste remains. But when the rain comes it seems to spring up as if by magic, and renews with wonderful rapidity its former freshness and fairness (Deu_32:2; 2Sa_23:4). Now, notwithstanding the title, the internal evidence of the psalm points to a far later date, when the Jewish kingdom was reduced to the lowest straits; when the nation was like the mown grass, shorn of their power and glory, blighted, withered and trampled under foot. But in this condition they looked for the advent of a new King who should restore them, and be to them like rain upon the mown grass. Thus, against the dark background of Jewish calamities arose the bright vision of the Messiah. But the Jews were the representatives of the human race, and therefore the image has a wider application. Through the fall all flesh became grass and his glory as the flower of the field. Everything became adverse to him who was afflicted with the great adversity of sin. But to man thus ruined the Lord Jesus Christ came to save him from his sin. How tender was the dealing of God with man. Like as He came to Adam and Eve after they had sinned, in the cool of the day--not suddenly, hastily, or angrily. And though His voice was stern there was a tone of tenderness and pity in it. And a higher life for man, a richer glory for God, is to be the aftermath which shall spring up in the wilderness through the rain of Gods grace to sinners. And throughout the whole course of our Lords life on earth, how wonderfully does He manifest the gentleness and tenderness of God. His works were these of healing and restoration, and are so still. And let the sufferer take the comfort of the text. How bare, scorched, shorn, many a life appears; all beauty, fragrance gone. But though He has mown down so much that we rejoiced in, His purpose is the aftermath which shall be more precious still. The rain of His grace comes down upon the poor, bruised, broken life, and the affliction that is not joyous but grievous afterwards yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness. (Hugh Macmillan, D. D.)
Rain on the mown grass
The text presents to us--
I. A scene where only genial and quiet influences are at work. The gentle showers water the earth. God does not rend the heavens and come down. Nor does He come in the storm; but in all gentleness.
II. A scene of transformation. See the changes of spring. So in the Church God gives revivals.
III. A scene of fertility. Life is seen in its gentleness, strength, beauty and fragrance.
IV. Of revival.
V. Renovation. Life with some of you seems bare and desolate, shorn of its glory; still its autumn may be green, and the rain may weave new garlands for the brow of age. Your circumstances are changed. Your health is gone; or your property is lost. The fleece of life has been removed, so that it is stripped and bare of its covering; but, He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass. You have had bereavements. The widow says, I have lost my husband, and am desolate and alone in the world. The mother says, I have lost my child, and my heart is smitten and withered like grass. The friend says, I have lost my companion, and henceforth my life is divested of interest. But He will come down like rain upon the mown grass. You think your heart is bare and burnt up as the field. The mower has come into your enclosure, and life has fallen before him; but God can pour out on you all quiet and blessed influences, and put new beauty upon life. (H. Bevis.)
The blessings of Christs reign
The Holy Spirit has chosen to set forth these by an instructive and beautiful simile. Divine grace resembles the rain.
I. As to the source whence it proceeds. Rain is the gift of God: a promised blessing, and its needed and seasonable showers may be sought by prayer.
II. As to the manner in which it descends.
1. Sometimes violently, it falls in torrents.
2. Sometimes gently.
3. Frequently.
4. Unexpectedly.
III. As to the benefits which it confers.
1. It presents great evils.
2. It makes the labour of the husbandman easy and successful.
3. Causes plentifulness, and--
4. Beauty.
IV. Conclusion.
1. Acknowledge with deep humility our great need of the Spirit.
2. Honour and study the Word of God as the instrument by which the Spirit delights to work out our salvation. (Anon.)
On the Nativity
I. Consider the incarnation of the Son of God as a descent or coming down.
II. The manner of this descent. It was sweet and peaceable, without trouble, without noise, scarcely to be perceived; not in the strong wind, to rend us to pieces; not in the earthquake, to shake us; not in the fire, to consume us; but in a still and small voice (1Ki_19:11-12): not as thunder, to make a noise; not as hail, to rattle on the housetops; not as the blast and mildew, to wither us; but as the rain falling sweetly on the grass, or on a fleece of wool, and as the showers which water the earth, and make it fruitful.
III. Observe the effect which this descent produceth, or the fruit which springs up upon the fall of this gracious rain.
1. Righteousness springs up, and spreads herself: Justus florebit; so some render it: The righteous shall flourish.
2. After righteousness peace shows itself, even abundance of peace.
3. Thirdly, both these are not herbs which spring up and wither in one day, but which will be green and flourish so long as the moon endureth, which is everlastingly.
IV. Observe--
1. The relation which is between these two, righteousness and peace. Where there is righteousness, there is peace; and where there is peace, there is righteousness.
2. The order: righteousness first, and then abundance of peace. Take them all three, and you shall find a kind of subordination betwixt them; for no peace without righteousness, no righteousness without this rain; but if the Son of God come down like rain, straight righteousness appears on the earth; and upon the same watering, and from the same root, shoots forth abundance of peace, and both so long as the moon endureth. (A. Farindon, B. D.)
The geniality and beneficence of Christianity
We descendants of the Puritans are in great danger of exhibiting Christianity in an ungenial aspect. We are children of witnesses who prophesied in sackcloth, and there is special danger of our making the sackcloth an essential part of the testimony. In days of persecution, Christ calls His followers to wear sackcloth, but their common raiment is to be a robe rich in its fabric, and pleasant in its colour, and beautiful in form. To be really genial we must maintain personal intercourse with Christ by the aid of the Holy Ghost. We must often speak to Him, and more often listen to Him. We must constantly be looking unto Him. Then shall we receive and reflect the bright beams of His grace, and by our whole demeanour win souls to our Saviour. To be right and true and strong is our first duty; to be attractive and cheerful and genial is our next duty; and I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. (Samuel Martin.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 May he come down like rain on the mown…
May he come down like rain on the mown grass
The king will be good, and he will do good things for his people as if he were rain doing good for freshly cut grass. (See: Simile)
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May he come
"I desire that he come"
like showers that water
"May he come down like showers that water." The king will be good, and he will do good things for his people as if he were rain doing good for the ground. (See: Ellipsis and Simile)
the righteous
The adjective "righteous" can be translated as a noun phrase. AT: "righteous people" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
in his days
Possible meanings are 1) "while the king rules" or 2) "as long as the righteous person lives" or "as long as the righteous people live."
may there be an abundance of peace
The psalmist speaks as if peace were a physical object like food. An "abundance" is when there is much of something. This can be restated to remove the abstract nouns "abundance" and "peace." AT: "may righteous people live peacefully" (See: Metaphor and Abstract Nouns)
till the moon is no more
"as long as the moon shines" or "forever" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
earth
righteous
peace
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 72:6-7 The administration of justice is refreshing like spring…
72:6-7 The administration of justice is refreshing like spring rain, enabling the godly to flourish (see Isa 45:8) like flowers. • until the moon is no more: This phrase means forever (see Ps 89:36-37).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.