Psalm 22:29

Verse 29. All they that go down to the dust; either those who stand quivering on the brink of the grave, or those who occupy the humble, sequestered walks of life. As the great and opulent of the earth are intended in the first clause, it is not by any means unnatural to suppose that the image of going "down to the dust", is designed to represent the poor and mean of mankind, who are unable to support themselves, and to provide for their multiplied necessities. If the grave be alluded to, as is thought by many eminent divines, the beautiful sentiment of the verse will be, that multitudes of dying sinners shall be brought to worship Jehovah, and that those who cannot save or deliver themselves shall seek that shelter which none can find but those who approach the mercyseat. "Rich and poor", as Bishop Horne observes, "are invited" -- that is, to "worship God;" "and the hour is coming when all the race of Adam, as many as sleep in the `dust' of the earth, unable to raise themselves from thence, quickened and called forth by the voice of the Son of Man, must bow the knee to King Messiah." John Morison.

Verse 29. To be brought to the dust, is, at first, a circumlocution or description of death: Shall the dust praise thee, shall it declare thy truth? Psalms 30:9 . That is, shall I praise thee when I am among the dead? "What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit?" Not that profit, sure, I cannot bring thee in the tribute of praise when my life's gone out. Secondly, to be brought to the dust is a description of any low and poor condition. All they that be fat upon the earth (that is, the great and mighty), "shall eat and worship" "all they that go down to the dust" (that is, the mean and base), shall bow before him. As if he had said, rich and poor, high and low, the king and the beggar, have alike need of salvation by Jesus Christ, and must submit unto him, that they may be saved, for, as it there follows, none can keep alive his own soul. The captivity of the Jews in Babylon is expressed under those notions of death, and of dwelling in the dust ( Isaiah 26:19 ); to show how low, that no power but his who can raise the dead, could work their deliverance. Joseph Caryl.

Verse 29. None can keep alive his own soul. And yet we look back to our conversion, and its agonies of earnestness, its feelings of deep, helpless dependence -- of Christ's being absolutely our daily, hourly need -- supplier -- as a past something -- a stage of spiritual life which is over. And we are satisfied to have it so. The Spirit of God moved over our deadness, and breathed into us the breath of life. My soul became a living soul. But was this enough? God's word says, No. "None can keep alive his own soul." My heart says, No. Truth must ever answer to truth. I cannot (ah! have I not tried, and failed?) I cannot keep alive my own soul. We cannot live upon ourselves. Our physical life is kept up by supply from without -- air, food, warmth. So must the spiritual life. Jesus gives, Jesus feeds us day by day, else must the life fade out and die. "None can keep alive his own soul." It is not enough to be made alive. I must be fed, and guided, and taught, and kept in life. Mother, who hast brought a living babe into the world, is your work done? Will you not nurse it, and feed it, and care for it, that it may be kept alive? Lord, I am this babe. I live indeed, for I can crave and cry. Leave me not, O my Saviour. Forsake not the work of thine own hands. In thee I live. Hold me, carry me, feed me, let me abide in thee. "For thy kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul." In our work for God, we need to remember this. Is not the conversion, the arousing of sinners, the great, and with many, the sole aim in working for God? Should it be so? Let us think of this other work. Let us help to keep alive. Perhaps it is less distinguished, as it may be less distinguished to feed a starving child than to rescue a drowning man. But let us walk less by sight, more by faith. Let us not indeed neglect to call to life those who are spiritually dead. But Oh! let us watch for the more hidden needs of the living -- the fading, starving, fainting souls, which yet can walk and speak, and cover their want and sorrow. Let us be fellow workers with God in all his work. And with a deep heart feeling of the need of constant life supplies from above, let us try how often, how freely, we may be made the channels of those streams of the "water of life", -- for "none can keep alive his own soul." Mary B. M. Duncan, in "Bible Hours." 1856.

Verse 29. Having considered the vastness and glory of the prospect, our Lord next contemplates the reality and minuteness of its accomplishment. He sets before his mind individual cases and particular facts. He appears to look upon this picture of the future as we do upon a grand historical painting of the past. It seems natural to gaze with silent admiration on the picture as a whole, then to fix the attention on particular groups, and testify our sense of the general excellence, by expatiating on the truth and beauty of the several parts. John Stevenson.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 29. Grace for the rich, grace for the poor, but all lost without it.

Verse 29. (last clause). A weighty text upon the vanity of self confidence.