By J.G. Bellet
Psalm 87
This Psalm is in praise of Zion. Zion is the witness of Israel set in grace and not under law. (See Ps. 78: 65-72) This is the distinctive character of the name. Accordingly its memorial is blessedly before God, as the name of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is before Him. (Ex. 3) And this place is here declared to be the scene of His strength or of His enduring kingdom; (v. 1)--scene of His delight; (v. 2)--the scene also of His glory (v. 3).
Encouraged as it were by this, she then appears to speak her own praise, as the mother of the family of God, giving the Lord Himself as a witness to this dignity of hers (v. 4-6). And this will be so when the New Covenant comes to be dispensed in and from Zion. (See Isa. 2, Ezek. 47, Joel 3, etc.) For the New Covenant is the Sarah, or the mother. In the present dispensation, no system or place on earth can be called the mother, because the blood and the Mediator of the New Covenant are in heaven. Therefore Jerusalem the mother is still "above." (Gal. 4) But in the coming dispensation she will be in Judea, and then the Zion of this Psalm may look on the right hand and on the left, towards Egypt and Babylon, and recognize her children everywhere.
The Lord Himself appears to sanction this, closing with an expression of Zion's joy, and of His own delight in her (v. 7).
But this suggests some blessed truth. Jerusalem has destroyed herself; but in God is her help. She is stained with blood; but the blood will be cleansed. (Joel 3) She is now desolate and rejected, because she rejected Jesus; but she shall be saluted by and by, as "the habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness," and be called "the Lord is there." (Jer. 31: 23; Ezek. 48: 35) Jesus has hitherto known her as the place of His tears and weeping (Luke 19); but here it has become the place of His fresh springs and of His singers. This change in the bearing and conditions of Zion is very blessed. "This is Zion whom no man careth after," has been her reproach; "the joy of the whole earth," shall be her praise. And in all this Zion is a sample of the earth. For as yet it has been the occasion of divine grief and repentance (Gen. 6: 6-12), it shall be the scene of divine delight and glory. (Ps. 8, Ps. 24, Ps. 104: 31)
Psalm 88
We hear in this Psalm one of the cries of Him who cried to Him that was able to save Him from death. (Heb. 5: 7) It was uttered, it may be, some moment between His being seized in the garden and His cross. For then all had forsaken Him, and He Himself could not go forth (v. 8, 17, 18). The sentence of death was then eminently in Him, though all through life He had been a dying one (v. 15) or "dying daily," as the Apostle speaks. But "free among the dead" He especially was during this interval. And then for three hours of darkness, closed by the shedding of His blood or life, He was sustaining the judgment of sin from the bruising hand of a righteous God. For we observe, that through life, the sorrows of Jesus came from man because He was righteous. But at last He was under the bruising of God, because He was made sin for us. And during the three hours of darkness, He was where no kindly ray of the Divine countenance could enter, for it was sin which occupied the place, the victim who was "made sin for us," and God could only retire and leave it all in darkness.
Jesus here pleads (see also Ps. 6: 5, Ps. 30: 9, Ps. 115: 17) to be delivered from death, on the ground that the dead could not praise God, nor the grave declare Him. For God is not the God of the dead but of the living. "The living, the living, he shall praise thee," says Hezekiah, instructed of the Spirit to open his lips as one consciously in resurrection. And so Jesus cries for deliverance on this most blessed plea, that God is known not in death but in life. "I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord."
Psalm 89
This Psalm is the language of some faithful Jew, whether in Babylon of old, or among the Remnant in the latter day, who believes the promise made to David, but is grieved at its delay. Our Lord Jesus is the David, or David's seed, here spoken of. (Cp. 2 Sam. 7: 14, and Heb. 1: 5; Ps. 132: 11, and Acts 2: 30; Isa. 55: 3, and Acts 13: 34) The certainty that all shall be well in the end and for ever is strongly expressed. The mercies of the Lord are "for ever"--mercy is built up "for ever"--the seed of David is established "for ever"--and the like. This is the soul's confidence and joy in all the covenanted, promised mercies to David, His throne, and His people. In spite of all appearances, it is the believer's assurance that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." And we know that the resurrection of Christ has made David's mercies "sure." (Acts 13)
The following may serve as a brief opening of this Psalm.
1-18. The Jewish saint rejoices in Jehovah's covenant with David, reciting it shortly in verses 3, 4.
19-37. He then recites it very fully. And very rich and blessed it is; and forms what is called in other words, "the sure mercies of David," the ground of all Israel's blessing.
38-45. But with all this promised or covenanted blessing, he contrasts the present sorrows of David's house and kingdom. And we may observe that the condition in the covenant (see v. 30-32) was the ground of this sorrow; though quite in character with his present thoughts, the Jew does not allude to this.
46-51. He then expostulates and prays. "Reproached the footsteps," in verse 5 1, seems to be in reference to the scorners, because the Lord tarries. (See Malachi 2: 17; 2 Peter 3: 4)
52. He closes (we may suppose after a little pause), anticipating God's grace, with praise; thus linking the end of his holy musing with the beginning.
In this Psalm we may observe the combining of mercy and faithfulness. Precious security for the poor sinner! as we read, "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." For our mercies are covenanted mercies--pledged, promised, undertaken, sealed, and, in a great sense, purchased mercies. Precious security! And from it we may observe that discipline is not forgetfulness, but rather the token of remembrance--David's throne is for a season in the dust because of transgression, but it has not been forgotten. The enemy reproaches because of this. They proudly talk of the footsteps (verse 51), the delays, or lingerings of the anointed. They say, "Where is the promise of His coming?" But the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. The covenant is as full and fresh in God's remembrance as it was in the days of David himself. And the Lord will appear to Israel's joy, and their enemies shall be ashamed.
Let every tried believer know that discipline is not forgetfulness but remembrance. Nay, delay is not forgetfulness. "He that shall come will come" . . . "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness."
NOTE.--The third part in the Jewish division of the Psalms ends here.
