A dark fact explained and illuminated.
The dark fact is human distress; the explanation is the prayer it leads to; the illumination, the answer it brings. We have here—
I. A TOO RARE PERSONAGE. "In my distress, I," etc. It is by no means every one who does this.
1. Some blaspheme—curse God in their hearts.
2. Others east off all faith—say, "There is no God." Many have done this.
3. Others harden their hearts, as Pharaoh did.
4. Others plunge deeper into sin. (Isaiah 1:5.) In the distraction which for a while they gain, they drown the sense of their misery.
5. Others turn to human aid for deliverance and solace.
6. Yet others bestir themselves to get by their own effort what help they may. The psalmist's resource does not condemn, but will often include, these two last methods, and will further their usefulness. But to turn to God in distress is as wise as it is too seldom adopted.
II. A REAL REASON FOR DISTRESS. God sends it, or lets it come, that it may lead men to turn to him: that is ever his intent. But for such distress we should scarce turn to him at all.
III. A RIGHT MANNER OF PRAYER. "I cried." It tells of earnestness, of humility, of believing trust, of self-distrust. It has all those elements which go to make up, acceptable and prevailing prayer. How little of our prayer is a crying unto God! It is decorous, reverent, formal, correct, and seeks true and worthy objects, but it lacks fervor, force, and the faith which will not let the Lord go unless he bless. No man ever yet "cried unto the Lord" and failed to find response.
IV. A READY AND REALIZED RESPONSE. "He heard me." How promptly this confession comes after the statement, "I cried"! (Cf. Caesar's "Veni, vidi, vici.") It is like that. And the psalmist knew that he was heard. The outward circumstances may not have much changed, but in his heart the light had risen, the Lord had come.
CONCLUSION. Distress of one kind or another we all must know. Let us adopt this manner of prayer, and we shall surely find the ready response.—S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
The misery made by the untruthful.
This is the first of fifteen psalms that are called "Songs of Degrees;" Revised Version, "Songs of Ascent;" literally, "Songs of Going up." The association of them with the journeying of country pilgrims to the feasts at Jerusalem is somewhat fanciful. These psalms are naturally explained as "Songs of Heart-uplifting." The key-note of them all is looking up out of some present distress, and seeking the help of God. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills;" "Unto thee lift I up mine eyes;" "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord." Two things are necessary to a "song of ascent:" some special form of present distress; a looking to God for help out of that distress. It is possible effectively to illustrate these psalms from the experiences of the returned exiles.
I. THE PSALMIST'S DISTRESS. It may be regarded as personal, and then we notice that it is a mental anxiety rather than a set of difficult circumstances. And though mental anxieties may seem to be unreal, and often are, they are our most serious and overwhelming distresses; the ones we can least effectively deal with ourselves; the ones in which God's help is most especially needed, and least frequently sought. Or the psalmist may be regarded as personifying the nation, and speaking in its name. The restored exiles were much distressed by the malicious slanders of the surrounding nationalities, whom the psalmist likens to the barbarous tribes of the Moschi, and the nomad hordes of Kedar. Here also the distress is mental; it was not outward injury, but worry caused by the slanders spread abroad concerning them. We love to be thought well of, and are distressed when reputation is damaged.
II. THE CAUSE OF THE PSALMIST'S DISTRUST. Men did not speak the truth about him. Slander has a mysterious power of growth and enlargement; and no man's reputation is safe when the gossip, the tale-bearer, and the slanderer attempt to deal with it. A man may never be afraid of the truth, nor need he fear the final triumph of his slanderers, but for a time the "lying lips" may cause him infinite misery.
III. THE RELIEF OF THE PSALMIST'S DISTRESS. He can turn to God, sure that he knows of his trouble—knows the untruthfulness of the accusations made; is more jealous of his reputation than he can be of his own; could stop the lying lips at once, if he thought it best to do so; and permits them to keep on only because thus he can work out some higher good.—R.T.