Psalms commentary - Free sermon outlines, Bible study and

4) Do we consider submission to the Lord to be a form of bondage or of freedom? Do
we find the Lord’s yoke to be heavy or light? Do we find the Lord’s commandments to
be burdensome or helpful?
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QUOTES FOR REFLECTION:
Kidner: “The final beatitude … leaves no doubt of the grace that inspires the call of
verses 10ff. What fear and pride interpret as bondage (3) is in fact security and bliss.
And there is no refuge from Him: only in Him.”
Perowne: “The king who sits on David’s throne has become glorified and transfigured
in the light of the Promise. The picture is half ideal, half actual. It concerns itself with
the present, but with that only so far as it is typical of greater things to come. The true
King, who to the Prophet’s mind is to fulfil all his largest hopes, has taken the place of
the visible and earthly king. The nations are not merely those who are now mustering
for the battle, but whatsoever opposeth and exalteth itself against Jehovah and His
Anointed.”
Leupold: Titles it “The Ultimate Victory of the Lord’s Anointed.” Structure:
“The first strophe describes the bitter opposition of the enemies of the Lord’s anointed.
The second describes the calm assurance of the Lord Himself in the face of this
opposition. The third presents the glorious divine ordinance appointed for the Lord’s
anointed. The last consists of an exhortation to the rebels to submit discreetly to Him
who is their Lord.”
Murphy: “This Psalm is Messianic, for it speaks of an Anointed One who transcends all
earthly sovereigns; catholic, for it calls the Gentiles into the Church; evangelical, for it
announces happiness to all who trust in the Lord; and monitory, for it warns the rebels
to make a timely submission. It celebrates the kingly office of the Messiah. The first
and second Psalms form a pair. The former gives prominence to the moral son of God,
the latter to the proper Son of God; the one signalizes the law as set forth in the spiritual
life of the new man, the other celebrates the gospel in the person of the Messiah, who
secures the happiness of all who trust in Him.”
Spurgeon: “However mad the resolution to revolt from God, it is one in which man has
persevered ever since his creation, and he continues in it to this very day. The glorious
reign of Jesus in the latter day will not be consummated, until a terrible struggle has
convulsed the nations. His coming will be as a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap, and
the day thereof shall burn as an oven. Earth loves not her rightful monarch, but clings
to the usurper’s sway: the terrible conflicts of the last days will illustrate both the
world’s love of sin and Jehovah’s power to give the kingdom to his only Begotten. To
a graceless neck the yoke of Christ is intolerable, but to the saved sinner it is easy and
light. We may judge ourselves by this, do we love that yoke, or do we wish to cast it
from us?”