spurgeon's comments on ..
v8 - 'trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. selah'...YE TO WHOM HIS LOVE IS REVEALED, REVEAL YOURSELVES TO HIM. His heart is set on you, lay bare your hearts to him. turn the vessel of your soul upside down in his secret presence and let your inmost thoughts, desires, sorrows, and sins be poured out like water. hide nothing from him, for you can hide nothing. to the Lord unburden your soul; let Him be your only father-confessor, for he only can absolve you when he has heard your confession. to keep our griefs to ourselves is to hoard up wretchedness. the stream will swell and rage if you dam it up: give it a clear course and it leaps along and creates no alarm. sympathy we need and if we unload our hearts at Jesus' feet, we shall obtain a sympathy as practical as it is sincere, as consolatory as it is ennobling. the writer in the westminster assembly's annotations well observes that it is the tendency of our wicked nature to bite on the bridle and hide our grief in sullenness; but the gracious soul will overcome this propensity and utter its sorrow before the Lord.
v9 - 'surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie; to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.'..here the word is 'only' again (note: it occurs also in vs. 1,2,4,5 and 6. only here is it translated 'truly'); men of low degree are only vanity, nothing more. they are many and enthusiastic, but they are not to be depended on; they are mobile as the waves of the sea, ready to be driven to and fro by any and every wind; they cry 'hosanna' today and 'crucify him' tomorrow. the instability of popular applause is a proverb; as well build a house with smoke as find comfort in the adulation of the multitude. as the first (not: actually second) son of adam was called abel or vanity, so here we are taught that all the sons of adam are abels: it were well if they were all so in character as well as in name; but alas! in this respect, too many of them are cains. 'and men of high degree are a lie'. that is worse. we gain little by putting our trust in the aristocracy, they are not one whit better than the democracy; nay, they are even worse, for we expect something from them, but get nothing. may we not trust the elite? surely reliance may be placed in the educated, the chivalrous, the intelligent? for this reason are they a lie; because they promise so much, and in the end, when relied upon, yield nothing but disappointment. how wretched is that poor man who puts his trust in princes. the more we rely upon God, the more shall we perceive the utter hollowness of every other confidence.
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