Psalm 73:24; Psalm 31:3; Psalm 27:1-4
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel.
For thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): The Septuagint interpreters add to this title, “before he was anointed.” David was anointed three times, first when a youth in his father’s house; but this psalm could not be written before that time, because he had not then any experience of war, nor could be in any immediate apprehension of it; he was anointed a second time, after the death of Saul, at Hebron by the men of Judah; before that time he had been harassed by Saul, and distressed by the Amalekites, and was driven from the public worship of God.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): If one may judge from the matter of the song, the writer was pursued by enemies, was shut out from the house of the Lord, and parted from father and mother, Psalm 27:10; and was subject to slander, Psalm 27:12. Do not all these meet in the time when Doeg, the Edomite, spake against him to Saul?
THE EDITOR: Indeed, that matches the context of Psalm 27. When Doeg told Saul that Ahimelech the high priest had inquired of God for David, he was a slanderous false witness. At Nob, instead of David seeking God’s counsel, he had chosen flight, and an arm of flesh for defense, taking the “sword of Goliath” which was wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod, the means by which Ahimelech inquired of God, 1 Samuel 21:7-10.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): To behold this in its just light, we must look back.
THE EDITOR: Before that incident, there is no other mention of David inquiring of God. Yet, inquiring of the Lord was the “one thing” that Saul feared most, because he knew David would receive right answers from God on what to do. To prevent that, Saul ordered Doeg to kill all the priests, 1 Samuel 22:9-19. Nevertheless, God turned Saul’s paranoia and murderous rage to David’s blessing, by causing Ahimelech’s son Abiathar to escape—he fled to David with an ephod in his hand; only then did David began to inquire of the Lord. See 1 Samuel 22:20 to 23:9.
CHARLES SIMEON: This, to him whose trials were so great and manifold, was an unspeakable privilege. The extreme arduousness of his affairs also rendered it most desirable to him to spread all his difficulties before the Lord, and to ask counsel of Him for His direction. True, in private, he could carry his affairs to the Lord, and implore help from Him: but, as the public ordinances were of God’s special appointment, and as the high-priest was the established medium of access to Him, and of communications from Him, David delighted more particularly to wait upon God there.
C. H. SPURGEON: “But,” say you, “we cannot always be in the church or the meeting-house.” No; and even if you were, you might not be in God’s house any the more for that; but to be like a child at home with God wherever you may be, to live in Him, and with Him, wherever you are, this is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of your life…It is my one desire always to be “No more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home”—at home with my God all the days of my life, that I may behold His unutterable beauty—and that I may inquire in His temple what is His will, and what are the exceeding great and precious promises which He has made to me in His Word.
CHARLES SIMEON: Nor have we less the advantage of David in relation to the things which we would ask of God: for we are able to inquire more explicitly and distinctly of our God than he could.
THE EDITOR: We may always inquire of God through Jesus Christ, our heavenly High Priest. But can you remember ever hearing a sermon on inquiring of God? Perhaps not, because inquiry is not something we do naturally, and even after grace enlightens us, believers often fail in it; we rely on our own thinking, or other people’s advice. Inquiring of God is “one thing” that believers can learn only by grace and personal experience.
WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): What is the reason why many, in the greatness of their folly, forever go astray? They do not trust in the Lord with all their heart, but lean to their own understandings. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil,” Proverbs 3:5-7.
JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): Those who yield up themselves to Him, “He will guide with His eye,” Psalm 32:8.
THE EDITOR: Trace David’s life through First Samuel regarding inquiring of God—see his successes, and his failures to consult God, and how God faithfully restores David to seeking His counsel. In Second Samuel, see that horizontal thread line with those lessons repeated in David’s life, as we also must relearn them. Those who have ears to hear, and prayerful studious hearts, may do so to their profit.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): What it is David desires—that he might have the satisfaction of being instructed in his duty; for this he would inquire in God’s temple. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): To inquire—or diligently to seek God’s face and favour; or His mind and will.
MATTHEW HENRY: Those that resolve to follow God’s directions may in faith pray for it.
MARY WINSLOW (1774-1854): Beware of forming plans in your mind, and then coming to ask counsel of God.
C. H. SPURGEON: We make up our mind what we are going to do, and then we go down on our knees, and say, “Lord, show me what I ought to do;” then we follow out our intention and say, “I asked God’s direction.” My dear friend, you did ask it—but you did not follow it; you followed your own. You like God’s direction if it points the way you wish to go; but if God’s direction leads contrary to what you considered your own interest, it might have been a very long while before you had carried it out.
STEPHEN CHARNOCK (1628-1680): We make an idol of our own wills.
THE EDITOR: See that folly displayed in Judges 20, particularly in verses 14-28. If God’s counsel is not really sought, but only His stamp of approval on our own prior arrangements, God may answer us suitably in judgment. But to a true inquiry, we shall see the “beauty of the Lord,” in our lives, as David did in his life—God’s attributes of grace, mercy, wisdom, and long-suffering patience will be seen in His faithful guidance and loving care for us; and His providential answers display the beauty of His sovereign power in perfect timings and marvellous dispositions.
ANDREW GRAY (1805-1861): The “beauty of the Lord.” It never deceives. It never fades. It never loses its power. And it never disappoints.
JOHN GILL: Seek the face of the Lord, to consult Him in matters of difficulty; to search after the knowledge of divine things, and to ask for His blessings of grace, for which He will be inquired of by His people, to bestow them.
