Bible Commentaries

DISCOURSE: 541

GOD THE GIVES OF STRENGTH AND PEACE

Psalms 29:10-11. The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever. The Lord will give strength unto fits people: the Lord will bless his people with peace.

THIS psalm is supposed to have been written on the occasion of a thunder-storm. It represents the Deity as uttering his voice in those terrific sounds, whereby the very mountains are made to shake, yea and “skip, as it were, like a calf or a young unicorn.” That there is a transition to the Messiah, and his offices, is clear: for he is expressly declared to be King in Zion. And this declaration stands in immediate connexion with the floods and tumults by which, in appearance, he was for a season overwhelmed: “Why do the Heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion [Note: Psalms 2:1-6.].” He is also called Jehovah: as it is written: “This is the name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness [Note: Jeremiah 23:6.].” And I rather think, that, in order the more strongly to mark his divine character, the name Jehovah is here so often repeated. It is repeated no less than eighteen times in these eleven verses: and it is the same person who is spoken of throughout the whole. The same person of whom the Psalmist says, in the first three verses, “Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength: give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: the voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thundereth; the Lord is upon many waters.” Of that same person does he say in my text, “The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever. The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.” That my text refers to him, there can be no doubt: for he is “that Mighty One, upon whom the help of his people is laid;” and he is, “The Prince of Peace, from whom all their peace must flow. We may therefore proceed to consider the Lord Jesus,

I. As a God of Providence—

[”He is the Creator of all things,” and “by him all things consist:” nor does any thing occur which is not done by him. We speak of things, indeed, as accidental; but there is nothing really casual, not even “the falling of a sparrow,” or the loss of “a hair of our head.” True it is, that creatures, for the most part, execute their own will, and oftentimes with an express desire to oppose the will of God. But they are all unconscious agents in his hands, accomplishing what “his counsel has determined before to be done.” The envy of the priests, the treachery of Judas, the timidity of Pilate, the cruelty of the Roman soldiers, were all subservient to his designs, and all fulfilled his inscrutable purposes. “They, indeed, meant not so; neither did their heart think so:” they followed only the dictates of their own minds: but, in all their actions, “his counsel stood,” and he accomplished through them his own sovereign and eternal will. Behold our blessed Lord, in every change of situation, from his apprehension to the grave: who would suppose that these were successive steps to the throne of heaven, and the means ordained for the salvation of the world? Yet this was really the case; and by all these events were a multitude of conflicting prophecies fulfilled. He sat at the helm, and directed all the storm. And precisely thus he does at this time also. The occurrences of every successive day seem as if they arose without order, and passed away without effect. But He who sees all things from the beginning has ordained that a sleepless night, an opening of a book, a casting of a lot, shall all as certainly effect his ends, as any event, however great, or however manifestly connected with his designs [Note: Esther 3:7; Esther 6:1-2.]. The history of Joseph, so far as relates to the concurrence of contingent circumstances to the advancement of our welfare, is renewed at this time in many of us, whose elevation to a throne of glory is promoted by events which, to the eye of sense, would appear most calculated to counteract it. Be the storm ever so tempestuous, “He sitteth upon the flood;” and be our enemies ever so mighty, “he sitteth King for ever,” to control their efforts, and overrule them for our good.]

But let us contemplate him,

II. As a God of grace—

The Lord Jesus Christ, on his ascension to heaven, was constituted “head over all things to his Church;” and a fulness was treasured up in him, for the use of his believing people in all ages. From this fulness he is ever ready to impart unto them,

1. Strength—

[Great, exceeding great, is the work which they have to perform, as are also the trials which they have to sustain. But, through him, the weakest of his people shall be able “to do all things [Note: Philippians 4:13.],” and to suffer all things [Note: Colossians 1:11-12.], as circumstances may require. Whatever be their situation, “their strength shall be according to their day [Note: Deuteronomy 33:25.];” and, however weak they be in themselves, “his strength shall be perfected in their weakness [Note: 2 Corinthians 12:9.]:” so seasonable shall be his supplies of grace to their souls, and so sufficient for all their necessities.]

2. Peace—

[In a storm, which menaced their destruction, the disciples were alarmed. But our blessed Lord reproved them for not having a more entire affiance in him [Note: Mark 4:37-41.]. Whatever confederacies of men or devils may be against us, we should dismiss all fear, and “sanctify him in our hearts,” as all-sufficient for our protection [Note: Isaiah 8:12-14.]. It is said of all his people, “He will keep them in perfect peace, because they trust in him [Note: Isaiah 26:3.].” And well may they be in peace: for, being accepted of God, they may possess an assured peace with him [Note: Romans 5:1.], and, being upheld in his arms, they may laugh at all the assaults of their enemies: for, “if He be for them, who can be against them [Note: Romans 8:31.]?” And this peace is a “blessing” of the highest order: for, as it is the exclusive privilege of the Lord’s people [Note: Isaiah 57:1.], so is it, both in its nature and operations, more excellent than can be adequately conceived: it truly “passes all understanding [Note: Philippians 4:7.].”]

Application—

1. Give him, then, the glory due unto his name—

[We should get into the very spirit of the Psalmist, and

have our minds filled with a sense of our Saviour’s power and grace — — — Yet praise him, not by words only, but by that perfect affiance which he calls for at your hands; and which is necessary, in order that you may realize the blessings he is exalted to bestow.]

2. Let his voice control every emotion of your souls—

[If he speak by thunders and lightnings, he speaks also by his word: and if by them he displays his power, by this he reveals his grace. Notice particularly how, in the psalm before us, every thing is ascribed to his voice. And sure I am, that, if you will listen to the still small voice of his word, there is not a blessing which you can possibly need, but it shall be imparted in the richest abundance to your souls.]