Treasury of David - Gordon College Faculty

The Treasury of David by
Charles H. Spurgeon
Vol. 2
Ps. 42-72 (Book 2)
This work is a compilation drawn, with permission, from the best on the
web for viewing Spurgeon's sermons (www.spurgeon.org ). This web
site has been graciously prepared by one of Spurgeon's most able
students and scholars Phil Johnson. -Thanks! The Treasury of David may also be purchased in various forms:
Pilgrim Publications, PO Box 66, Pasadena, TX 77501 has reprinted in
1983 ($110) the 1886 seven volume edition (Funk & Wagnalls). Hendricksen
Publishers has recently published a 3 volume version ($60; 2005; vid
www.amazon.com). Various condensations are also available.
This digital version was prepared by Ted Hildebrandt, 2007.
Table of Contents |Ch. 42 p. 3 |Ch. 63 p. 451|
|Ch. 43 p. 38 | |
|Ch. 44 p. 51 |Ch. 64 p. 474|
|Ch. 45 p. 76 | |
|Ch. 46 p. 115|Ch. 65 p. 485|
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|Ch. 47 p. 134|Ch. 66 p. 513|
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|Ch. 48 p. 147|Ch. 67 p. 547|
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|Ch. 49 p. 162|Ch. 68 p. 561|
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|Ch. 50 p. 187|Ch. 69 p. 621|
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|Ch. 51 p. 215|Ch. 70 p. 663|
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|Ch. 52 p. 254|Ch. 71 p. 670|
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|Ch. 53 p. 265|Ch. 72 p. 700|
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|Ch. 54 p. 277| |
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|Ch. 55 p. 286| |
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|Ch. 56 p. 317| |
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|Ch. 57 p. 335| |
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|Ch. 58 p. 355| |
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|Ch. 59 p. 373| |
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|Ch. 60 p. 395| |
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|Ch. 61 p. 415| |
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|Ch. 62 p. 429| |
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Psalm 42
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
Other Works
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TITLE. To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. Dedicated to
the Master of Music, this Psalm is worthy of his office; he who can sing
best can have nothing better to sing. It is called, Maschil, or an
instructive ode; and full as it is of deep experimental expressions, it is
eminently calculated to instruct those pilgrims whose road to heaven is of
the same trying kind as David's was. It is always edifying to listen to the
experience of a thoroughly gracious and much afflicted saint.
That choice band of singers, the sons of Korah, are bidden to make this
delightful Psalm one of their peculiars. They had been spared when their
father and all his company, and all the children of his associates were
swallowed up alive in their sin. Nu 27:11. They were the spared ones of
sovereign grace. Preserved, we know not why, by the distinguishing favour
of God, it may be surmised that after their remarkable election to mercy,
they became so filled with gratitude that they addicted themselves to
sacred music in order that their spared lives might be consecrated to the
glory of God. At any rate, we who have been rescued as they were from going
down into the pit, out of the mere good pleasure of Jehovah, can heartily
join in this Psalm, and indeed in all the songs which show forth the
praises of our God and the pantings of our hearts after him. Although David
is not mentioned as the author, this Psalm must be the offspring of his
pen; it is so Davidic, it smells of the son of Jesse, it bears the marks of
his style and experience in every letter. We could sooner doubt the
authorship of the second part of Pilgrim's Progress than question David's
title to be the composer of this Psalm.
SUBJECT. It is the cry of a man far removed from the outward ordinances and
worship of God, sighing for the long loved house of his God; and at the
same time it is the voice of a spiritual believer, under depressions,
longing for the renewal of the divine presence, struggling with doubts and
fears, but yet holding his ground by faith in the living God. Most of the
Lord's family have sailed on the sea which is here so graphically
described. It is probable that David's flight from Absalom may have been
the occasion for composing this Maschil.
DIVISION. The structure of the song directs us to consider it in two parts
which end with the same refrain; Ps 42:1-5 and then Ps 42:6-11.
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EXPOSITION
Verse 1. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul
after the, O God. As after a long drought the poor fainting hind longs for
the streams, or rather as the hunted hart instinctively seeks after the
river to lave its smoking flanks and to escape the dogs, even so my weary,
persecuted soul pants after the Lord my God. Debarred from public worship,
David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honour he did not covet, but the
enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul; he viewed
it not merely as the sweetest of all luxuries, but as an absolute
necessity, like water to a stag. Like the parched traveller in the
wilderness, whose skin bottle is empty, and who finds the wells dry, he
must drink or die-he must have his God or faint. His soul, his very self,
his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence. As the
hart brays so his soul prays. Give him his God and he is as content as the
poor deer which at length slakes its thirst and is perfectly happy; but
deny him his Lord, and his heart heaves, his bosom palpitates, his whole
frame is convulsed, like one who gasps for breath, or pants with long
running. Dear reader, dost thou know what this is, by personally having
felt the same? It is a sweet bitterness. The next best thing to living in
the light of the Lord's love is to be unhappy till we have it, and to pant
hourly after it-hourly, did I say? thirst is a perpetual appetite, and not
to be forgotten, and even thus continual is the heart's longing after God.
When it is as natural for us to long for God as for an animal to thirst, it
is well with our souls, however painful our feelings. We may learn from
this verse that the eagerness of our desires may be pleaded with God, and
the more so, because there are special promises for the importunate and
fervent.
Verse 2. My soul. All my nature, my inmost self. Thirsteth. Which is more
than hungering; hunger you can palliate, but thirst is awful, insatiable,
clamorous, deadly. O to have the most intense craving after the highest
good! this is no questionable mark of grace. For God. Not merely for the
temple and the ordinances, but for fellowship with God himself. None but
spiritual men can sympathise with this thirst. For the living God. Because
he lives, and gives to men the living water; therefore we, with greater
eagerness, desire him. A dead God is a mere mockery; we loathe such a
monstrous deity; but the ever living God, the perennial fountain of life
and light and love, is our soul's desire. What are gold, honour, pleasure,
but dead idols? May we never pant for these. When shall I come and appear
before God? He who loves the Lord loves also the assemblies wherein his
name is adored. Vain are all pretences to religion where the outward means
of grace have no attraction. David was never so much at home as in the
house of the Lord; he was not content with private worship; he did not
forsake the place where saints assemble, as the manner of some is. See how
pathetically he questions as to the prospect of his again uniting in the
joyous gathering! How he repeats and reiterates his desire! After his God,
his Elohim (his God to be worshipped, who had entered into covenant with
him), he pined even as the drooping flowers for the dew, or the moaning
turtle for her mate. It were well if all our resortings to public worship
were viewed as appearances before God, it would then be a sure mark of
grace to delight in them. Alas, how many appear before the minister, or
their fellow men, and think that enough! "To see the face of God" is a
nearer translation of the Hebrew; but the two ideas may be combined-he
would see his God and be seen of him: this is worth thirsting after!
Verse 3. My tears have been my meat da