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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms LXIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC19062.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM LXIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This psalm has in it as much of warmth and lively devotion as any of
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David's psalms in so little a compass. As the sweetest of Paul's
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epistles were those that bore date out of a prison, so some of the
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sweetest of David's psalms were those that were penned, as this was, in
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a wilderness. That which grieved him most in his banishment was the
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want of public ordinances; these he here longs to be restored to the
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enjoyment of; and the present want did but whet his appetite. Yet it is
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not the ordinances, but the God of the ordinances, that his heart is
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upon. And here we have,
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I. His desire towards God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. His esteem of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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III. His satisfaction in God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:5">ver. 5</A>.
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IV. His secret communion with God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:6">ver. 6</A>.
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V. His joyful dependence upon God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:7-8">ver. 7, 8</A>.
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IV. His holy triumph in God over his enemies and in the assurance of
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his own safety,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:9-11">
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ver. 9-11</A>.
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A devout and pious soul has little need of direction how to sing this
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psalm, so naturally does it speak its own genuine language; and an
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unsanctified soul, that is unacquainted and unaffected with divine
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things, is scarcely capable of singing it with understanding.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps63_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps63_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Devout Affections.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 O God, thou <I>art</I> my God; early will I seek thee: my soul
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thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
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thirsty land, where no water is;
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2 To see thy power and thy glory, so <I>as</I> I have seen thee in
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the sanctuary.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The title tells us when the psalm was penned, when David was <I>in the
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wilderness of Judah;</I> that is, <I>in the forest of Hareth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+22:5">1 Sam. xxii. 5</A>)
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or in <I>the wilderness of Ziph,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+23:15">1 Sam. xxiii. 15</A>.
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1. Even in Canaan, though a fruitful land and the people numerous, yet
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there were wildernesses, places less fruitful and less inhabited than
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other places. It will be so in the world, in the church, but not in
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heaven; there it is all city, all paradise, and no desert ground;
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<I>the wilderness</I> there <I>shall blossom as the rose.</I>
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2. The best and dearest of God's saints and servants may sometimes have
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their lot cast in a wilderness, which speaks them lonely and solitary,
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desolate and afflicted, wanting, wandering, and unsettled, and quite at
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a loss what to do with themselves.
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3. All the straits and difficulties of a wilderness must not put us out
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of tune for sacred songs; but even then it is our duty and interest to
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keep up a cheerful communion with God. There are psalms proper for a
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wilderness, and we have reason to thank God that it is the wilderness
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of Judah we are in, not the wilderness of Sin.</P>
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<P>
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David, in these verses, <I>stirs up himself to take hold on
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God,</I></P>
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<P>
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I. By a lively active faith: <I>O God! thou art my God.</I> Note, In
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all our addresses to God we must eye him as God, and our God, and this
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will be our comfort in a wilderness-state. We must acknowledge that God
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is, that we speak to one that really exists and is present with us,
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when we say, <I>O God!</I> which is a serious word; pity it should ever
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be used as a by-word. And we must own his authority over us and
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propriety in us, and our relation to him: "<I>Thou art my God,</I> mine
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by creation and therefore my rightful owner and ruler, mine by covenant
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and my own consent." We must speak it with the greatest pleasure to
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ourselves, and thankfulness to God, as those that are resolved to abide
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by it: <I>O God! thou art my God.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. By pious and devout affections, pursuant to the choice he had made
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of God and the covenant he had made with him.</P>
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<P>
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1. He resolves to seek God, and his favour and grace: <I>Thou art my
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God,</I> and therefore <I>I will seek thee;</I> for <I>should not a
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people seek unto their God?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:19">Isa. viii. 19</A>.
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We must seek him; we must covet his favour as our chief good and
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consult his glory as our highest end; we must seek acquaintance with him
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by his word and seek mercy from him by prayer. We must seek him,
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(1.) Early, with the utmost care, as those that are afraid of missing
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him; we must begin our days with him, begin every day with him:
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<I>Early will I seek thee.</I>
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(2.) Earnestly: "<I>My soul thirsteth for thee</I> and <I>my flesh
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longeth for thee</I> (that is, my whole man is affected with this
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pursuit) here <I>in a dry and thirsty land.</I>" Observe,
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[1.] His complaint in the want of God's favourable presence. He was in
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a dry and thirsty land; so he reckoned it, not so much because it was a
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wilderness as because it was at a distance from the ark, from the word
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and sacraments. This world is a <I>weary land</I> (so the word is); it
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is so to the worldly that have their portion in it--it will yield them
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no true satisfaction; it is so to the godly that have their passage
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through it--it is a valley of Baca; they can promise themselves little
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from it.
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[2.] His importunity for that presence of God: <I>My soul thirsteth,
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longeth, for thee.</I> His want quickened his desires, which were very
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intense; he thirsted as the hunted hart for the water-brooks; he would
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take up with nothing short of it. His desires were almost impatient; he
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longed, he languished, till he should be restored to the liberty of
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God's ordinances. Note, Gracious souls look down upon the world with a
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holy disdain and look up to God with a holy desire.</P>
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<P>
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2. He longs to enjoy God. What is it that he does so passionately wish
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for? What is his petition and what is his request? It is this
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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<I>To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the
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sanctuary.</I> That is,
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(1.) "To see it here in this wilderness as I have seen it in the
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tabernacle, to see it in secret as I have seen it in the solemn
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assembly." Note, When we are deprived of the benefit of public
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ordinances we should desire and endeavour to keep up the same communion
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with God in our retirements that we have had in the great congregation.
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A closet may be turned into a little sanctuary. Ezekiel had the visions
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of the Almighty in Babylon, and John in the isle of Patmos. When we are
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alone we may have the Father with us, and that is enough.
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(2.) "To see it again in the sanctuary as I have formerly seen it
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there." He longs to be brought out of the wilderness, not that he might
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see his friends again and be restored to the pleasures and gaieties of
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the court, but that he might have access to the sanctuary, not to see
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the priests there, and the ceremony of the worship, but <I>to see thy
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power and glory</I> (that is, thy glorious power, or thy powerful
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glory, which is put for all God's attributes and perfections), "that I
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may increase in my acquaintance with them and have the agreeable
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impressions of them made upon my heart"--so to <I>behold the glory of
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the Lord</I> as to <I>be changed into the same image,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+3:18">2 Cor. iii. 18</A>.
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"That I may see thy power and glory," he does not say, as I have seen
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them, but "as I have seen <I>thee.</I>" We cannot see the essence of
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God, but we see him in seeing by faith his attributes and perfections.
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These sights David here pleases himself with the remembrance of. Those
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were precious minutes which he spent in communion with God; he loved to
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think them over again; these he lamented the loss of, and longed to be
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restored to. Note, That which has been the delight and is the desire of
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gracious souls, in their attendance on solemn ordinances, is to see God
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and his power and glory in them.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps63_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps63_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps63_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps63_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Joyful Praises.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>3 Because thy lovingkindness <I>is</I> better than life, my lips
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shall praise thee.
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4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands
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in thy name.
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5 My soul shall be satisfied as <I>with</I> marrow and fatness; and
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my mouth shall praise <I>thee</I> with joyful lips:
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6 When I remember thee upon my bed, <I>and</I> meditate on thee in
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the <I>night</I> watches.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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How soon are David's complaints and prayers turned into praises and
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thanksgivings! After
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:1,2">two verses</A>
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that express his desire in seeking God, here are some that express his
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joy and satisfaction in having found him. Faithful prayers may quickly
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be turned into joyful praises, if it be not our own fault. <I>Let the
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hearts of those rejoice that seek the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:3">Ps. cv. 3</A>),
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and let them praise him for working those desires in them, and giving
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them assurance that he will satisfy them. David was now in a
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wilderness, and yet had his heart much enlarged in blessing God. Even
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in affliction we need not want matter for praise, if we have but a
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heart to it. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What David will praise God for
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Because thy lovingkindness is better than life,</I> than
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<I>lives,</I> life and all the comforts of life, life in its best
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estate, long life and prosperity. God's lovingkindness is in itself,
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and in the account of all the saints, better than life. It is our
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spiritual life, and that is better than temporal life,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+30:5">Ps. xxx. 5</A>.
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It is better, a thousand times, to die in God's favour than to live
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under his wrath. David in the wilderness finds, by comfortable
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experience, that God's lovingkindness is better than life; and
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<I>therefore</I> (says he) <I>my lips shall praise thee.</I> Note,
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Those that have their hearts refreshed with the tokens of God's favour
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ought to have them enlarged in his praises. A great deal of reason we
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have to bless God that we have better provisions and better possessions
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than the wealth of this world can afford us, and that in the service of
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God, and in communion with him, we have better employments and better
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enjoyments than we can have in the business and converse of this
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world.</P>
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<P>
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II. How he will praise God, and how long,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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He resolves to live a life of thankfulness to God and dependence on
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him. Observe,
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1. His manner of blessing God: "<I>Thus will I bless thee,</I> thus as
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I have now begun; the present devout affections shall not pass away,
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like the morning cloud, but shine more and more, like the morning sun."
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Or, "I will bless thee with the same earnestness and fervency with
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which I have prayed to thee."
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2. His continuance and perseverance therein: <I>I will bless thee while
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I live.</I> Note, Praising God must be the work of our whole lives; we
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must always retain a grateful sense of his former favours and repeat
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our thanksgivings for them. We must every day give thanks to him for
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the benefits with which we are daily loaded. We must in every thing
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give thanks, and not be put out of frame for this duty by any of the
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afflictions of this present time. Whatever days we live to see, how
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dark and cloudy soever, though the days come of which we say, <I>We
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have no pleasure in them,</I> yet still every day must be a
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thanksgiving-day, even to our dying-day. In this work we must spend our
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time because in this work we hope to spend a blessed eternity.
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3. His constant regard to God upon all occasions, which should
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accompany his praises of him: <I>I will lift up my hands in thy
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name.</I> We must have an eye to God's name (to all that by which he
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has made himself known) in all our prayers and praises, which we are
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taught to begin with,--<I>Hallowed be thy name,</I> and to conclude
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with,--<I>Thine is the glory.</I> This we must have an eye to in our
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work and warfare; we must lift up our hands to our duty and against our
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special enemies in God's name, that is, in the strength of his Spirit
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and grace,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+71:16,Zec+10:12">Ps. lxxi. 16; Zech. x. 12</A>.
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We must make all our vows in God's name; to him we must engage
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ourselves and in a dependence upon his grace. And when we lift up the
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hands that hang down, in comfort and joy, it must be in God's name;
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from him our comforts must be fetched, and to him they must be devoted.
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<I>In thee do we boast all the day long.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. With what pleasure and delight he would praise God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. With inward complacency: <I>My soul shall be satisfied as with
|
||
|
marrow and fatness,</I> not only as with bread, which is nourishing,
|
||
|
but as with marrow, which is pleasant and delicious,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+25:6">Isa. xxv. 6</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
David hopes he shall return again to the enjoyment of God's ordinances,
|
||
|
and then he shall thus be satisfied, and the more for his having been
|
||
|
for a time under restraint. Or, if not, yet in God's loving kindness,
|
||
|
and in conversing with him in solitude, he shall be thus satisfied.
|
||
|
Note, There is that in a gracious God, and in communion with him, which
|
||
|
gives abundant satisfaction to a gracious soul,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+36:8,65:4">Ps. xxxvi. 8; lxv. 4</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And there is that in a gracious soul which takes abundant satisfaction
|
||
|
in God and communion with him. The saints have a contentment with God;
|
||
|
they desire no more than his favour to make them happy: and they have a
|
||
|
transcendent complacency in God, in comparison with which all the
|
||
|
delights of sense are sapless and without relish, as puddle-water in
|
||
|
comparison with the wine of this consolation.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. With outward expressions of this satisfaction; he will praise God
|
||
|
<I>with joyful lips.</I> He will praise him,
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) Openly. His mouth and lips shall praise God. When with the heart
|
||
|
man believes and is thankful, with the mouth confession must be made of
|
||
|
both, to the glory of God; not that the performances of the mouth are
|
||
|
accepted without the heart
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:8">Matt. xv. 8</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
but out of the abundance of the heart the mouth must speak
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+45:1">Ps. xlv. 1</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
both for the exciting of our own devout affections and for the
|
||
|
edification of others.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) Cheerfully. We must praise God with joyful lips; we must address
|
||
|
ourselves to that and other duties of religion with great cheerfulness,
|
||
|
and speak forth the praises of God from a principle of holy joy.
|
||
|
Praising lips must be joyful lips.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
IV. How he would entertain himself with thoughts of God when he was
|
||
|
most retired
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
I will praise thee <I>when I remember thee upon my bed.</I> We must
|
||
|
praise God upon every remembrance of him. Now that David was shut out
|
||
|
from public ordinances he abounded the more in secret communion with
|
||
|
God, and so did something towards making up his loss. Observe here,
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. How David employed himself in thinking of God. God was in all his
|
||
|
thoughts, which is the reverse of the wicked man's character,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:4">Ps. x. 4</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The thoughts of God were ready to him: "<I>I remember thee;</I> that
|
||
|
is, when I go to think, I find thee at my right hand, present to my
|
||
|
mind." This subject should first offer itself, as that which we cannot
|
||
|
forget or overlook. And they were fixed in him: "<I>I meditate on
|
||
|
thee.</I>" Thoughts of God must not be transient thoughts, passing
|
||
|
through the mind, but abiding thoughts, dwelling in the mind.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. When David employed himself thus--<I>upon his bed</I> and in the
|
||
|
night-watches. David was now wandering and unsettled, but, wherever he
|
||
|
came, he brought his religion along with him. Upon my <I>beds</I> (so
|
||
|
some); being hunted by Saul, he seldom lay two nights together in the
|
||
|
same bed; but wherever he lay, if, as Jacob, upon the cold ground and
|
||
|
with a stone for his pillow, good thoughts of God lay down with him.
|
||
|
David was so full of business all day, shifting for his own safety,
|
||
|
that he had scarcely leisure to apply himself solemnly to religious
|
||
|
exercises, and therefore, rather than want time for them, he denied
|
||
|
himself his necessary sleep. He was now in continual peril of his life,
|
||
|
so that we may suppose care and fear many a time held his eyes waking
|
||
|
and gave him wearisome nights; but then he entertained and comforted
|
||
|
himself with thoughts of God. Sometimes we find David in tears upon his
|
||
|
bed
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+6:6">Ps. vi. 6</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
but thus he wiped away his tears. When sleep departs from our eyes
|
||
|
(through pain, or sickness of body, or any disturbance in the mind) our
|
||
|
souls, by remembering God, may be at ease, and repose themselves.
|
||
|
Perhaps an hour's pious meditation will do us more good than an hour's
|
||
|
sleep would have done. See
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+16:7,17:3,Ps+4:4,119:62">Ps. xvi. 7;
|
||
|
xvii. 3; iv. 4; cxix. 62</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There were night-watches kept in the tabernacle for praising God
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+134:1">Ps. cxxxiv. 1</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
in which, probably, David, when he had liberty, joined with the
|
||
|
Levites; and now that he could not keep place with them he kept time
|
||
|
with them, and wished himself among them.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ps63_7"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ps63_8"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ps63_9"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ps63_10"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ps63_11"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
||
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
||
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Confidence in God; David Triumphing in Hope.</I></FONT></TD>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
||
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
||
|
</TABLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of
|
||
|
thy wings will I rejoice.
|
||
|
8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth
|
||
|
me.
|
||
|
9 But those <I>that</I> seek my soul, to destroy <I>it,</I> shall go into
|
||
|
the lower parts of the earth.
|
||
|
10 They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for
|
||
|
foxes.
|
||
|
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth
|
||
|
by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall
|
||
|
be stopped.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
David, having expressed his desires towards God and his praises of him,
|
||
|
here expresses his confidence in him and his joyful expectations from
|
||
|
him
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>In the shadow of thy wings I will rejoice,</I> alluding either to
|
||
|
the wings of the cherubim stretched out over the ark of the covenant,
|
||
|
between which God is said to dwell ("I will rejoice in thy oracles, and
|
||
|
in covenant and communion with thee"), or to the wings of a fowl,
|
||
|
under which the helpless young ones have shelter, as the eagle's young
|
||
|
ones
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+19:4,De+32:11">Exod. xix. 4, Deut. xxxii. 11</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
which speaks the divine power, and the young ones of the common hen
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:37">Matt. xxiii. 37</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
which speaks more of divine tenderness. It is a phrase often used in
|
||
|
the psalms
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:8,36:7,57:1,61:4,91:4">Ps. xvii. 8;
|
||
|
xxxvi. 7; lvii. 1; lxi. 4; xci. 4</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and no where else in this sense, except
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+2:12">Ruth ii. 12</A>,
|
||
|
|
||
|
where Ruth, when she became a proselyte, is said to <I>trust under the
|
||
|
wings of the God of Israel.</I> It is our duty to <I>rejoice in the
|
||
|
shadow of God's wings,</I> which denotes our recourse to him by faith
|
||
|
and prayer, as naturally as the chickens, when they are cold or
|
||
|
frightened, run by instinct under the wings of the hen. It intimates
|
||
|
also our reliance upon him as able and ready to help us and our
|
||
|
refreshment and satisfaction in his care and protection. Having
|
||
|
committed ourselves to God, we must be easy and pleased, and quiet from
|
||
|
the fear of evil. Now let us see further,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. What were the supports and encouragements of David's confidence in
|
||
|
God. Two things were as props to that hope which the word of God was
|
||
|
the only foundation of:--</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. His former experiences of God's power in relieving him: "<I>Because
|
||
|
thou hast been my help</I> when other helps and helpers failed me,
|
||
|
therefore I will still rejoice in thy salvation, will trust in thee for
|
||
|
the future, and will do it with delight and holy joy. Thou hast been
|
||
|
not only my helper, but my help;" for we could never have helped
|
||
|
ourselves, nor could any creature have been helpful to us, but by him.
|
||
|
Here we may set up our Ebenezer, saying, <I>Hitherto the Lord has
|
||
|
helped us,</I> and must therefore resolve that we will never desert
|
||
|
him, never distrust him, nor ever droop in our walking with him.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. The present sense he had of God's grace carrying him on in these
|
||
|
pursuits
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
||
|
|
||
|
<I>My soul follows hard after thee,</I> which speaks a very earnest
|
||
|
desire and a serious vigorous endeavour to keep up communion with God;
|
||
|
if we cannot always have God in our embraces, yet we must always have
|
||
|
him in our eye, reaching forth towards him as our prize,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+3:14">Phil. iii. 14</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
To press hard after God is to follow him closely, as those that are
|
||
|
afraid of losing the sight of him, and to follow him swiftly, as those
|
||
|
that long to be with him. This David did, and he owns, to the glory of
|
||
|
God, <I>Thy right hand upholds me.</I> God upheld him,
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) Under his afflictions, that he might not sink under them.
|
||
|
<I>Underneath are the everlasting arms.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) In his devotions. God upheld him in his holy desires and pursuits,
|
||
|
that he might not grow weary in well-doing. Those that follow hard
|
||
|
after God would soon fail and faint if God's right hand did not uphold
|
||
|
them. It is he that strengthens us in the pursuit of him, quickens our
|
||
|
good affections, and comforts us while we have not yet attained what we
|
||
|
are in the pursuit of. It is by the power of God (that is his right
|
||
|
hand) that we are kept from falling. Now this was a great encouragement
|
||
|
to the psalmist to hope that he would, in due time, give him that which
|
||
|
he so earnestly desired, because he had by his grace wrought in him
|
||
|
those desires and kept them up.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. What it was that David triumphed in the hopes of.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. That his enemies should be ruined,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There were those that <I>sought his soul to destroy it,</I> not only
|
||
|
his life (which they struck at, both to prevent his coming to the crown
|
||
|
and because they envied and hated him for his wisdom, piety, and
|
||
|
usefulness), but his soul, which they sought to destroy by banishing
|
||
|
him from God's ordinances, which are the nourishment and support of the
|
||
|
soul (so doing what they could to starve it), and by sending him to
|
||
|
serve other gods, so doing what they could to poison it,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+26:19">1 Sam. xxvi. 19</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But he foresees and foretels,
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) That they shall <I>go into the lower parts of the earth,</I> to
|
||
|
the grave, to hell; their enmity to David would be their death and
|
||
|
their damnation, their ruin, their eternal ruin.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) That they shall fall by the sword, by the sword of God's wrath and
|
||
|
his justice, by the sword of man,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+19:28,29">Job xix. 28, 29</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
They shall die a violent death,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+13:10">Rev. xiii. 10</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
This was fulfilled in Saul, who fell by the sword, his own sword; David
|
||
|
foretold this, yet he would not execute it when it was in the power of
|
||
|
his hand, once and again; for precepts, not prophecies, are our rule.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(3.) That <I>they shall be a portion for foxes;</I> either their dead
|
||
|
bodies shall be a prey to ravenous beasts (Saul lay a good while
|
||
|
unburied) or their houses and estates shall be a habitation for wild
|
||
|
beasts,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+34:14">Isa. xxxiv. 14</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Such as this will be the doom of Christ's enemies, that oppose his
|
||
|
kingdom and interest in the world; <I>Bring them forth and slay them
|
||
|
before me,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:27">Luke xix. 27</A>.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. That he himself should gain his point at last
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
that he should be advanced to the throne to which he had been anointed:
|
||
|
<I>The king shall rejoice in God.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) He calls himself <I>the king,</I> because he knew himself to be so
|
||
|
in the divine purpose and designation; thus Paul, while yet in the
|
||
|
conflict, writes himself <I>more than a conqueror,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:37">Rom. viii. 37</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Believers are made kings, though they are not to have the dominion till
|
||
|
the morning of the resurrection.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) He doubts not but that though he was now sowing in tears he should
|
||
|
reap in joy. <I>The king shall rejoice.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(3.) He resolves to make God the Alpha and Omega of all his joys. He
|
||
|
shall <I>rejoice in God.</I> Now this is applicable to the glories and
|
||
|
joys of the exalted Redeemer. Messiah the Prince shall rejoice in God;
|
||
|
he has already entered into the joy set before him, and his glory will
|
||
|
be completed at his second coming. Two things would be the good effect
|
||
|
of David's advancement:--
|
||
|
|
||
|
[1.] It would be the consolation of his friends. <I>Every one that
|
||
|
swears to him</I> (that is, to David), that comes into his interest and
|
||
|
takes an oath of allegiance to him, <I>shall glory</I> in his success;
|
||
|
or <I>every one that swears by him</I> (that is, by the blessed name of
|
||
|
God, and not by any idol,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+6:13">Deut. vi. 13</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and then it means all good people, that make a sincere and open
|
||
|
profession of God's name; they shall glory in God; they shall glory in
|
||
|
David's advancement. <I>Those that fear thee will be glad when they
|
||
|
see me.</I> Those that heartily espouse the cause of Christ shall glory
|
||
|
in its victory at last. <I>If we suffer with him, we shall reign with
|
||
|
him.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
[2.] It would be the confutation of his enemies: <I>The mouth of those
|
||
|
that speak lies,</I> of Saul, and Doeg, and others that misrepresented
|
||
|
David and insulted over him, as if his cause was desperate, <I>shall
|
||
|
be</I> quite <I>stopped;</I> they shall not have one word more to say
|
||
|
against him, but will be for ever silenced and shamed. Apply this to
|
||
|
Christ's enemies, to those that speak lies to him, as all hypocrites
|
||
|
do, that tell him they love him while their hearts are not with him;
|
||
|
their mouth shall be stopped with that word, <I>I know you not whence
|
||
|
you are;</I> they shall be for ever speechless,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+22:12">Matt. xxii. 12</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The mouths of those also that speak lies against him, that <I>pervert
|
||
|
the right ways of the Lord</I> and speak ill of his holy religion, will
|
||
|
be stopped in that day when the Lord shall come to reckon for all the
|
||
|
hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Christ's
|
||
|
second coming will be the everlasting triumph of all his faithful
|
||
|
friends and followers, who may therefore now triumph in the believing
|
||
|
hopes of it.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
|
||
|
|
||
|
<HR>
|
||
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
|
||
|
<TR>
|
||
|
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
||
|
[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
|
||
|
[<A HREF="MHC19062.HTM">Previous</A>]
|
||
|
[<A HREF="MHC19064.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
|
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|
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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