1 A Psalme of Asaph. The mightie God, euen the Lord hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sunne, vnto the going downe thereof.
2 Out of Sion the perfection of beautie, God hath shined.
3 Our God shall come, and shall not keepe silence: a fire shall deuoure before him, and it shalbe very tempestuous round about him.
4 He shall call to the heauens from aboue, and to the earth, that hee may iudge his people.
5 Gather my Saints together vnto mee: those that haue made a couenant with me, by sacrifice.
6 And the heauens shall declare his righteousnes; for God is iudge himselfe. Selah.
7 Heare, O my people, and I will speake, O Israel, and I will testifie against thee; I am God, euen thy God.
8 I will not reproue thee for thy sacrifices, or thy burnt offerings, to haue bene continually before me.
9 I will take no bullocke out of thy house, nor hee goates out of thy folds.
10 For euery beast of the forrest is mine, and the cattell vpon a thousand hilles.
11 I know all the foules of the mountaines: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine, and the fulnesse thereof.
13 Will I eate the flesh of bulles, or drinke the blood of goats?
14 Offer vnto God thankesgiuing, and pay thy vowes vnto the most high.
15 And call vpon mee in the day of trouble; I will deliuer thee, and thou shalt glorifie me.
16 But vnto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to doe, to declare my Statutes, or that thou shouldest take my Couenant in thy mouth?
17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behinde thee.
18 When thou sawest a thiefe, then thou consentedst with him, and hast bene partaker with adulterers.
19 Thou giuest thy mouth to euill, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine owne mothers sonne.
21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence: thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy selfe: but I will reproue thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I teare you in pieces, and there be none to deliuer.
23 Who so offereth praise, glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conuersation aright, will I shew the saluation of God.
The glory of God. (1-6) Sacrifices to be changed for prayers. (7-15) Sincere obedience required. (16-23)
1-6 This psalm is a psalm of instruction. It tells of the coming of Christ and the day of judgment, in which God will call men to account; and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of judgement. All the children of men are concerned to know the right way of worshipping the Lord, in spirit and in truth. In the great day, our God shall come, and make those hear his judgement who would not hearken to his law. Happy are those who come into the covenant of grace, by faith in the Redeemer's atoning sacrifice, and show the sincerity of their love by fruits of righteousness. When God rejects the services of those who rest in outside performances, he will graciously accept those who seek him aright. It is only by sacrifice, by Christ, the great Sacrifice, from whom the sacrifices of the law derived what value they had, that we can be accepted of God. True and righteous are his judgments; even sinners' own consciences will be forced to acknowledge the righteousness of God.
7-15 To obey is better than sacrifice, and to love God and our neighbour better than all burnt-offerings. We are here warned not to rest in these performances. And let us beware of resting in any form. God demands the heart, and how can human inventions please him, when repentance, faith, and holiness are neglected? In the day of distress we must apply to the Lord by fervent prayer. Our troubles, though we see them coming from God's hand, must drive us to him, not drive us from him. We must acknowledge him in all our ways, depend upon his wisdom, power, and goodness, and refer ourselves wholly to him, and so give him glory. Thus must we keep up communion with God; meeting him with prayers under trials, and with praises in deliverances. A believing supplicant shall not only be graciously answered as to his petition, and so have cause for praising God, but shall also have grace to praise him.
16-23 Hypocrisy is wickedness, which God will judge. And it is too common, for those who declare the Lord's statutes to others, to live in disobedience to them themselves. This delusion arises from the abuse of God's long-suffering, and a wilful mistake of his character and the intention of his gospel. The sins of sinners will be fully proved on them in the judgment of the great day. The day is coming when God will set their sins in order, sins of childhood and youth, of riper age and old age, to their everlasting shame and terror. Let those hitherto forgetful of God, given up to wickedness, or in any way negligent of salvation, consider their urgent danger. The patience of the Lord is very great. It is the more wonderful, because sinners make such ill use of it; but if they turn not, they shall be made to see their error when it is too late. Those that forget God, forget themselves; and it will never be right with them till they consider. Man's chief end is to glorify God: whoso offers praise, glorifies him, and his spiritual sacrifices shall be accepted. We must praise God, sacrifice praise, put it into the hands of the Priest, our Lord Jesus, who is also the altar: we must be fervent in spirit, praising the Lord. Let us thankfully accept God's mercy, and endeavour to glorify him in word and deed.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.