There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
The city and river of God
There are two remarkable events in the history of Israel, one or the other of which most probably supplied the historical basis upon which this psalm rests. One is that singular deliverance of the armies of Jehoshaphat from the attacking forces of the bordering nations, but I think rather that the more ordinary reference is the correct one, which sees JCr/ this psalm and in the two succeeding, the echoes of that supernatural deliverance of Israel in the time of Hezekiah, when “The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,” and Sennacherib and all his army were, by the blast from the breath of His nostrils, swept into swift destruction. Now, these verses are the cardinal central portion of the song. We may call them The Hymn of the defence and the deliverance of the city of God. The main turning points in them are--
I. The gladdening river--an emblem of many great and joyous truths. This river is God Himself in the outflow and self-communication of His own grace to the soul. The stream is the fountain in flow. Concerning this communication note--
1. The manner of it. In the previous verses you can hear the wild waves of the sea dashing round the base of the firm hills, sapping their strength, and toppling their crests down in the bubbling, yeasty foam. Remember how, not only in Scripture but in all poetry, the sea has been the emblem of endless unrest. Its waters, those barren, wandering fields of foam, going moaning round the world with unprofitable labour, how they have been the emblem of unbridled power; of tumult and strife, and anarchy and rebellion! Then mark how our text brings into sharpest contrast with all that hurly-burly of the tempest, and the dash and roar of the troubled waters, the gentle, quiet flow of the river, “the streams whereof make glad the city of God,” the translucent little ripples purling along beds of golden pebbles, and the enamelled meadows drinking the pure stream as it steals by them. Thus, says our psalm, not with noise, not with tumult, not with conspicuous and destructive energy, but in silent, secret, underground communications--God’s grace, God’s love, His peace, His power, His Almighty and gentle Self flow into men’s souls. The extremest power is silent.
2. Their number and variety. “The streams whereof,” that is to say, “the divisions whereof.” As Eastern rivers are broken up into canals that are led off to each man’s plot of ground. Listen to words that are a commentary upon this verse, “All these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing unto every man severally as he will.”
3. The effects of this communicated God. “The streams make glad.” They to whom this stream pours shall know no thirst; they who possess it from them it shall come. Out of him “shall flow rivers of living water.” “The least flower with a brimming cup may stand, And share its dewdrop with another near.” The city thus supplied may laugh at besieging hosts. With the deep reservoir in its central fortress, the foe may do as they list to all surface streams; its water shall be sure, and no raging thirst shall ever drive it to surrender.
II. Then notice secondly, substantially the same general thought, but modified and put in plain words--the indwelling helper. “God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved: “God shall help her, and that right early.” Or, as the latter clause had better be translated, as it is given in the margin of some of our Bibles, “God shall help her at the appearance of the morning.” There are two things then. First of all, the constant presence; and second, help at the right time. “The Lord is in the midst of her”--that is the perennial fact. “The Lord shall help her, and that right early”--that is the “grace for seasonable help.”
III. The psalm having set forth these broad grounds of confidence, goes on to tell the story of the actual deliverance which confirms them, That deliverance comes from the Conquering Voice. “He uttered His voice--the earth melted.” With what vigour these hurried sentences describe, first the wild wrath and formidable movements of the foe, and then the one sovereign word which quells them all, as well as the instantaneous weakness that dissolves the seeming solid substance when the breath of His lips smites it! How grand and lofty the thought I the simple word conquers all opposition. He speaks and it is done. “The depths are congealed in the breast of the sea!” As if you were to lay hold upon Niagara in its wildest plunge, and then with a word to freeze all its descending waters, and stiffen them into immoveableness in fetters of eternal ice. So, He utters His voice, and all meaner noises are hushed. “His voice the earth melted.” How grandly, too, these last words give the impression of immediate and utter dissolution of all opposition! All the Titanic brute forces are, at His voice, disintegrated, and lose their organization and solidity. “The hills melted like wax; The mountains flowed down at Thy presence.” The psalmist is generalizing the historical fact of the sudden and utter destruction of Sennacherib’s host into a universal law. And it is a universal law--true for us as for Hezekiah and the sons of Korah, true for all generations.
IV. The act by which we enter the city of God. “The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.” There must be personal appropriation. We must make these truths our own, grasping them by faith, and unite ourselves with the great multitude who are joined together in Him. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The security and happiness of the Church
I. What is here meant by the city of God. Two descriptive pictures are laid before us. One is a scene of wild commotion. The earth is removed from its place; the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea. The other scene stands out in marked contrast to this. A placid river runs through a sheltered valley; utterly unaffected by the elemental disturbances which surround it, and sending to every part of the city, through which it flows, its calm fertilizing streams of health and peace. The scene of tempest and commotion is the world. The scene of silent usefulness, and sheltered repose, and enjoyed and diffused blessing--the city watered by a river--is the Church of God. And how true is the picture as seen in the respective destinies of secular communities and the one spiritual community of God’s Church I The spiritual Zion has always been able to hold her own. It has been God’s stronghold, having “salvation for its walls and bulwarks,” and girt round on every side by the everlasting hills.
II. The spiritual happiness of the true church of God.
1. It is implied that, in this city of God, there is much of inward tranquillity and peacefulness. A contrast is presented between the calm which reigns in the city, and the tempest which is raging outside. It is the calm of the Divine presence. “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved”--neither by weapons turned against her, nor dangers threatening her, nor calamities and fears casting her down. But let us not lose ourselves in generalities. The tranquillity of the Church is the tranquillity of every individual member of that Church. It is the calm repose of sonship--the sense of deliverance from a bondage state; the pleasant consciousness of pardon and acceptance--all the tumult of inward guilt subsiding into a great calm. Again, it is the tranquillity of men under absolute control and guidance in relation to everything that concerns them. They are not their own, being bought with a price. But they are bought only to be under a happier service--“being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ.” Yet is this law not their yoke, but their relief. They are relieved from the embarrassment and tyranny of their own erring and mistaken choices.
2. Observe, as another feature of the spiritual happiness of the Church, the rich provision made for all her members, a provision both of grace and glory. A river is an emblem of copiousness and depth and vitality and continuance. But not by the parent river only is the city of God gladdened. It receives blessing through a multitude of tributary streams. “There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God.” Thus there is the stream of revealed truth and knowledge; the pure deep living waters of inspiration; that word of the Gospel which, beginning with Moses and the prophets, and widening as time flowed on, at length emptied all its treasures of grace and truth into that crystal sea of light, which contains the full and perfect revelation of the mind of God. And then there is the stream of holy ordinances--the Sabbath with its tranquil devotions.
3. “Make glad,” observe it is said; the expression intimating that among the inhabitants of this city of God there is true gladness and rejoicing. It is true gladness, the gladness of rational and responsible beings, the calm gladness of a relieved conscience, of an interest made sure in the great propitiation, of a conscious abiding under that light of God’s countenance which makes over to us Heaven’s best, and earth’s best too--“Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.” (D. Moore, M. A.)
The city of God
I. The city.
1. God is its founder.
2. God is its lawgiver.
3. It is a defenced city (Zechariah 2:5).
4. It is an exalted city. The character of the King raises her in the scale of importance. The Lord Jehovah has His palace within her; there He, at times, manifests the glories of His character and the splendour of His majesty. This city is also exalted by the numerous and valuable privileges she enjoys; every subject has free access to a throne of grace, there to present his suit, to make known his grievance, and to supplicate every needful favour. There is also perfect freedom in this city; no galling shackles, no dreaded fetters, are employed to enslave, but every subject of Christ enjoys the sweetest liberty in walking according to the given law of heaven. Here it is freedom to obey and liberty to serve.
II. The supply of this city.
1. The good providence of God is a stream which continually follows the Church. A thorough conviction of the superintendence of an all-wise Providence is productive of the greatest joy and satisfaction to the Christian. He rests satisfied, depending on the word of truth that “all things shall work together for good.”
2. The Holy Scriptures are a stream from the Deity, inasmuch as they are emphatically the revelation of God, and they contain matter of joy to the Christian in many respects. In this volume he finds information for the mind, the strongest motives to Christian obedience, a sacred impulse to his zeal, an increasing ardour to his affections, and new encouragement for hope.
3. The influences of the Spirit. He who hath begun a good work will carry it on.
4. Its joy “shall make glad the city of God.” The gladness of the Church comes from God, a pure spring, so that it must be pure in its nature. Indeed, He alone is the source of all the believer’s comforts, however numerous and various they may be. (D. Jones.)
The security and happiness of the Church
Note the contrasted scenes. One, of wild commotion--the sea is roaring and troubled: the other of quiet peace. A placid river runs through its sheltered valley, undisturbed and undisturbable.” The scene of tempest and change is the world: of quiet peace, the Church.
I. The security of the church. Trace its history from first to last and see how it has been preserved.
II. Its tranquillity. For therein are to be found men who are--
1. At peace with God.
2. Under the holy government of their Lord, which restrains all passion and temper.
3. In communion with God.
4. In the use of religious ordinances.
III. The supply of the church. “A river.” Think of the source, the continuance, the fulness, of this stream of heavenly truth, bright and pure.
IV. The gladness of the church.
1. It is noble and worthy of rational beings.
2. It is satisfying.
3. It is sanctifying.
4. It is benevolent.
5. It fits us for scenes where gladness is eternal. (R. Watson.)
The river of God
The fourth chapter of St. John and Psalm sixty-three show that by the river spoken of, the Holy Spirit of God is meant. Under the figure of a river the properties and excellencies of the Spirit of God, hero described as flowing through the Scriptures and the Church, are set forth.
I. A river flows from a fountain, and this river “proceeded out of the throne of God and the Lamb,” the infinite bosom of our Father and our God.
II. It is exhaustless as the fountain from whence it flows.
III. It is in places shallow, whilst in others its depths cannot be fathomed.
IV. It is accessible to all.
V. Fertility follows it.
VI. Its channel is the lord Jesus Christ.
VII. It is a highway by which great treasures are conveyed to us; and it is a great means of communication between us and heaven.
VIII. It rises to the height of its source.
IX. It rears all down before it by its force and pressure.
X. It is a defence to the city which it surrounds.
XI. It rears off all impurities.
XII. It is a gladdening spectacle. Then let us value the work of the Holy Spirit. (J. Cummins, D. D.)
The river of mercy
I. The river. This I take to be the mercy of God; His kindness to the miserable. Just, He must needs be, for He would not be merciful if He were not just. But there are manifestations of His justice in which He takes no joy. “He taketh no pleasure in the death of the sinner;” but “He delighteth in mercy.” And sometimes its exhibitions are very tender--“it droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven upon the place beneath.” And how copious its store! it is a river, not a rill that can be turned aside by any pebble in its bed; but a river that sweeps triumphantly over and through every obstacle.
II. The streams Some rivers are fed by streams; not so this one” it gives out streams but receives none, like the river of Damascus, whose branches surround the city. These streams are--
1. Pardoning mercy.
2. Purifying mercy: for it would be of little use if purity were not given as well as pardon.
3. Pacifying mercy--to keep me quiet in the midst of this unquiet world.
III. The fruit. The river is to make glad the city of God. That is, God’s Church and people; and the great purpose of the river and all its streams is--to make them glad: to bring up a smiling landscape around them, to fill their lips and hearts with praise.
IV. Its source. It is far above out of your sight. So is it, even, with earthly rivers: they do not at once reveal their source. You must travel up and up the stream, and leave plain for hillside, and still press on ere you come to the fountain head. And for this river you must ascend to the boundless lake of Divine love.
V. The channel--the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him it flows down to man.
VI. The power that brings the streams close home to us, so that we may have the blessing, is the power of the Holy Spirit. See what He has already done in the Scriptures and in the Church. (F. Tucker, B. A,)
The river through the city
I. An illustration of the gladness given by God to his church. The mercies of God, to the Jews, were like a river constantly flowing, making glad the city. The figure is suggestive. A river is a great boon to any city through which it passes so long as it keeps within its accustomed channels. It gives brightness to a city. It lends interest, makes picturesque by its bends or its tree- and reed-fringed banks. It is a means of intercourse with other places. Imagine Paris without the many-bridged Seine, or London without its ship-burdened Thames. A river may be a constant bearer of material blessings. By its ebb and flow it blesses a city in various ways. It bears away refuse, and brings back vitalizing influences. A river can make glad in that it bears the necessaries of life to a beleaguered city, which but for the roadway of water could not be reached. At the relief of Londonderry, what joy when the ships pressed past the intercepting booms and came right up to the wharves, and rolled to a famishing people and cattle the barrels of flour and bundles of fodder. Jerusalem had no such rivers as those we have been speaking of. It had a torrent sweeping by in Kedron at times. Soon it dropped down to a trickling stream which might make melody and gladness as it flowed. Suppose it had been always full and steadily flowing, it would have brought gladness. If Jerusalem had no such actual river she had another stream that blessed her, that of Divine mercy. The psalmist is speaking of spiritual things, for he refers to the Holy place of the Tabernacle of the Most High. All God was to the Jewish nation He is to His Church this day.
II. The constituents of this gladness.
1. The special relationship established.
2. The revelations vouchsafed.
3. In the intercourse main-rained.
4. In the blessings bestowed.
5. In the holy effort called forth.
6. In the praise evoked.
If God has given us reasons for joy, we ought to do all we can to increase the volume and force of the stream of joy rippling or rolling by to others. (Homiletic Magazine.)
The river of Divine grace
I. The grace of god compared to a river.
1. However large in its volume as it gets nearer the sea, every river is small in its beginnings. Thus, also, it is with the grace of God in the soul of man. The most experienced believer will testify that if he would trace back the work of grace, which has grown so steadily, to its first beginnings, the contrast is most marvellous. If he can at all identify its first commencement, he will tell you that it was some apparently trifling incident in his life--a word in season--an earnest sermon--an unaccountable thought--a sleepless night--a witty, but godly rebuke--a mother’s parting charge--a loved one’s consistent Christian influence and conduct--or a sudden check in a career of cruelty and sin.
2. It is possible for a river to be much contaminated by what is thrown into it, as it passes through populous towns; but it is impossible to change the nature of the water which is thus contaminated. Give the careful chemist a sufficient quantity of the most polluted river-water, and he can obtain from it, by filtration, distillation, and re-distillation, the pure and wholesome fluid which God has provided for us, and which He has guarded from defilement by decreeing that it shall everywhere and always have one fixed and unaltered composition, and that its constituent gases shall be so closely united that they can only be separated by a difficult and expensive process. Take the water of any river, fresh from its source, and you will readily perceive that it is pure in its nature. Need I say that it is so with the grace of God?
3. The grace of God, like a river, is perpetual in its movements. The lake may be stagnant, unless some river runs through it; the canal must be kept as free from any current as possible; but the river is always on the move. So it is with the grace of God in the soul of man. However hidden it may be, it is ever living and ever moving. Geographers tell us that the river Guadiana, in Spain, conceals itself in the earth for some fifteen miles of its course. But it is still there. In like manner, however concealed, the grace of God is at work in the heart of every believer.
4. It is peaceable in its course. “Still waters run deep.” There may not be the stillness of the stagnant lake; but there is the quiet, or even the silence of the flowing river. But we must not take this characteristic of God’s grace as a recommendation to us to shut up our cares or joys into our own souls, and never share them with others. God’s people should not be silent when there is opportunity to declare what He hath done for their souls.
5. The grace of God, like a river, is powerful in its current. It is said that the Rio de la Plata, a South American river, which is two hundred miles broad where it enters the Atlantic Ocean, is so powerful in its current, that fresh water may be taken up by vessels sailing near it for many a league from land. But what is this physical force, compared with the irresistible power of the grace of God?” Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.”
6. It is plentiful in its supply. The river runs through meadow, and garden, and country, and city, serving some useful purpose wherever it goes. Here it nourishes the cornland upon which the precious crops are springing up; and there it affords a ready means of watering the carefully-tended garden. In one place it turns a mill, to afford maintenance to an honest family and grind corn for hundreds of other families; in another place it supplies water for a canal, to convey these products of industry to the populous town or the factor’s store. Ever increasing, as it nears its destination, boats and even ships are borne upon its plentiful waters, until at last it joins the great and wide sea. Is it not so with the grace of God? Does not the figure fall far short of the fact?
II. The church of God compared to a city. A city affords security for life and property. It furnishes facilities for the transaction of business. It ensures liberty to every honest and faithful citizen: and it provides society for all who reside in it. This is precisely what the Church of God affords to its individual members--the most complete security for the believing soul, through the blood of the everlasting covenant; the only thorough liberty which the soul can experience, for “if the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”; and the highest form of human society upon earth; for the apostle says (Ephesians 2:19-20). The Church of God may be called a city, because it is a community in which law and order find their highest developments. “The love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Corinthians 5:14), is its unfailing spring of Christian obedience and activity. The Republic of France used to stamp upon its coins “Liberty, Egalite, Fraternite”; but never did any government in this world succeed in realizing such an ideal of human happiness. True liberty, true equality, true friendship and brotherhood, are to be found only in the Church of God. It is a city set on an hill that cannot be hid. It may be called “the city of God,” because it abounds with houses of God--it is “the holy place of, the tabernacles of the Most High.” Its walls are Salvation, and its gates Praise.
III. The means of grace compared to streams. Just as the faithful Israelites drank of the spiritual Rock which followed them, and “that rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4), so with us to-day. There is the Word of God, ever ready to furnish us with some refreshing stream of Divine comfort and strength. There is the throne of grace, ever open to our supplications in time of need. There is the public worship of God, where we may taste afresh the calm which comes from the assurance of sins forgiven. There is the preaching of the Gospel, which should be to us “as cold waters to a thirsty soul,” and as “good news from a far country.” There are the occasional services of the Church, by which we are studiously and solemnly reminded of the immense privileges which belong to those who are truly servants of God. And there are, particularly, two copious and important streams, which deserve to be far more reverently and extensively used and appreciated--the Sacraments of the grace of God, Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion. (J. Mitchell.)
Gihon and the river of life
The allusion in the text is probably to Gihon, a copious fountain, whose streams were so abundant that they were like a river. It made the hearts of the people glad; and if we lived under the same climate as they, and had as great a scarcity of water as Jerusalem naturally had, we should have been glad too. But oh! how does it lead us up to something higher than this! How does it lead us up to the “River of life,” “the Gospel of the grace of God,” which has gladdened the Church of God in all ages, which gladdens it now, and which will gladden it to all eternity!
I. The contrast.
1. In the certainty of supplies. Gihon might have been dried up; in times of great heat, the most abundant fountains in that country are often dried up; even Jordan, their greatest river--their only great river--is sometimes brought so low as to be reduced almost to a small stream. But when does the river of grace ever become dry?
2. Gihon’s waters were but shallow. But who can fathom the depth of this river, the love from which it springs?
3. The course of Gihon might have been diverted, might have been turned into a new channel. When Jerusalem was besieged, it is not told us whether Titus turned the current of Gihon; yet it-might have been so. But who can turn the current of God’s grace? Who can dam up that stream?
4. There is a contrast in the quality of the waters. No doubt the inhabitants of Jerusalem drank of this river, and were glad. They drank and were refreshed, and thanked God. Yet it only slaked their thirst; it did not go above that. But what is there not in the pardon of my sin? what is there not in the acceptance of my person? what is there not in the clear witness of the Spirit with my spirit that I am a child of God? If you enjoy that it shall be something more than slaking the thirst of the body.
II. The resemblance.
1. The waters of this Gihon were brought to Jerusalem by an aqueduct, and carried by conduits through the streets into the temple. It went through one of the high hills of Jerusalem. Hezekiah, therefore, must have had great difficulty. And the whole current of the Gospel must run through difficulties--what to the natural sense would appear impossibilities.
2. There is another strong line of resemblance, which is, that the Lord employs human agency. God was at no loss about Gihon; had He a mind, it would have bubbled up in the midst of Jerusalem; He wanted not the hands of men; it might have sprung forth at the base of that hill on which the temple was built. But Hezekiah’s zeal must be called forth--his loss of money, his loss of time, his patience in the midst of disappointments. The water was brought into Jerusalem, and it was brought by human agency. God delights in human agency. When that agency is laid in the dust, laid low at the foot of the Cross, He delights to make use of it. It is His glory to work by human instrumentality. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.--
The security of the Church
I. In what sense God may re said to be in the midst of the church.
1. By His Word.
2. By His ministers.
3. By His Spirit.
II. The happy consequences of his presence in reference to her final safety and her timely deliverance from present troubles.
1. How great are the privileges of true believers.
2. How necessary it is to ascertain our individual interest in these blessings.
3. How great is our encouragement to prayer. (W. Mayors, M. A.)
God shall help her and that right early.--
God our helper
I. Israel needed the divine help and trusted in God for deliverance. The Church of to-day in its growth in grace needs like deliverance, but is at times slow to confess this.
II. God makes his people sensible of their need when they forget it. He did so by Israel. He said, “I will go and return to My place till they acknowledge their offence and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me early” (1 Kings 8:38-39).
III. Such sense of need requisite to make men seek his assistance in prayer. (J. Foot, D. D.)