mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 147.xml

<div2 id="Ps.cxlviii" n="cxlviii" next="Ps.cxlix" prev="Ps.cxlvii" progress="71.24%" title="Chapter CXLVII">
<h2 id="Ps.cxlviii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.cxlviii-p0.2">PSALM CXLVII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.cxlviii-p1">This is another psalm of praise. Some think it was
penned after the return of the Jews from their captivity; but it is
so much of a piece with <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.145.1-Ps.145.21" parsed="|Ps|145|1|145|21" passage="Ps 145:1-21">Ps.
cxlv.</scripRef> that I rather think it was penned by David, and
what is said (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.2 Bible:Ps.147.13" parsed="|Ps|147|2|0|0;|Ps|147|13|0|0" passage="Ps 147:2,13">ver. 2,
13</scripRef>) may well enough be applied to the first building and
fortifying of Jerusalem in his time, and the gathering in of those
that had been out-casts in Saul's time. The Septuagint divides it
into two; and we may divide it into the first and second part, but
both of the same import. I. We are called upon to praise God,
<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.1 Bible:Ps.147.7 Bible:Ps.147.12" parsed="|Ps|147|1|0|0;|Ps|147|7|0|0;|Ps|147|12|0|0" passage="Ps 147:1,7,12">ver. 1, 7, 12</scripRef>. II. We
are furnished with matter for praise, for God is to be glorified,
1. As the God of nature, and so he is very great, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.4-Ps.147.5 Bible:Ps.147.8 Bible:Ps.147.9 Bible:Ps.147.15-Ps.147.18" parsed="|Ps|147|4|147|5;|Ps|147|8|0|0;|Ps|147|9|0|0;|Ps|147|15|147|18" passage="Ps 147:4,5,8,9,15-18">ver. 4, 5, 8, 9, 15-18</scripRef>.
2. As the God of grace, comforting his people, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.3 Bible:Ps.147.6 Bible:Ps.147.10 Bible:Ps.147.11" parsed="|Ps|147|3|0|0;|Ps|147|6|0|0;|Ps|147|10|0|0;|Ps|147|11|0|0" passage="Ps 147:3,6,10,11">ver. 3, 6, 10, 11</scripRef>. 3. As the God of
Israel, Jerusalem, and Zion, settling their civil state (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.2 Bible:Ps.147.13 Bible:Ps.147.14" parsed="|Ps|147|2|0|0;|Ps|147|13|0|0;|Ps|147|14|0|0" passage="Ps 147:2,13,14">ver. 2, 13, 14</scripRef>), and especially
settling religion among them, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.19-Ps.147.20" parsed="|Ps|147|19|147|20" passage="Ps 147:19,20">ver.
19, 20</scripRef>. It is easy, in singing this psalm, to apply it
to ourselves, both as to personal and national mercies, were it but
as easy to do so with suitable affections.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147" parsed="|Ps|147|0|0|0" passage="Ps 147" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.1-Ps.147.11" parsed="|Ps|147|1|147|11" passage="Ps 147:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.147.1-Ps.147.11">
<h4 id="Ps.cxlviii-p1.10">A Call to Praise God; Reasons for
Praise.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxlviii-p2">1 Praise ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlviii-p2.1">Lord</span>: for <i>it is</i> good to sing praises unto
our God; for <i>it is</i> pleasant; <i>and</i> praise is comely.
  2 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlviii-p2.2">Lord</span> doth build up
Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.   3
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.  
4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by
<i>their</i> names.   5 Great <i>is</i> our Lord, and of great
power: his understanding <i>is</i> infinite.   6 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlviii-p2.3">Lord</span> lifteth up the meek: he casteth the
wicked down to the ground.   7 Sing unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlviii-p2.4">Lord</span> with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the
harp unto our God:   8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds,
who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the
mountains.   9 He giveth to the beast his food, <i>and</i> to
the young ravens which cry.   10 He delighteth not in the
strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
  11 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlviii-p2.5">Lord</span> taketh pleasure
in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p3">Here, I. The duty of praise is recommended
to us. It is not without reason that we are thus called to it again
and again: <i>Praise you the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.1" parsed="|Ps|147|1|0|0" passage="Ps 147:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), and again (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.7" parsed="|Ps|147|7|0|0" passage="Ps 147:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), <i>Sing unto the Lord with
thanksgiving, sing praise upon the harp to our God</i> (let all our
praises be directed to him and centre in him), <i>for it is
good</i> to do so; it is our duty, and therefore good in itself; it
is our interest, and therefore good for us. It is acceptable to our
Creator and it answers the end of our creation. The law for it is
holy, just, and good; the practice of it will turn to a good
account. It is good, for 1. It is pleasant. Holy joy or delight are
required as the principle of it, and that is pleasant to us as men;
giving glory to God is the design and business of it, and that is
pleasant to us as saints that are devoted to his honour. Praising
God is work that is its own wages; it is heaven upon earth; it is
what we should be in as in our element. 2. It is comely; it is that
which becomes us as reasonable creatures, much more as people in
covenant with God. In giving honour to God we really do ourselves a
great deal of honour.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p4">II. God is recommended to us as the proper
object of our most exalted and enlarged praises, upon several
accounts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p5">1. The care he takes of his chosen people,
<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.2" parsed="|Ps|147|2|0|0" passage="Ps 147:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Is Jerusalem
to be raised out of small beginnings? Is it to be recovered out of
its ruins? In both cases, <i>The Lord builds up Jerusalem.</i> The
gospel-church, the Jerusalem that is from above, is of this
building. He framed the model of it in his own counsels; he founded
it by the preaching of his gospel; he adds to it daily such as
shall be saved, and so increases it. He will build it up unto
perfection, build it up as high as heaven. Are any of his people
outcasts? Have they made themselves so by their own folly? He
gathers them by giving them repentance and bringing them again into
the communion of saints. Have they been forced out by war, famine,
or persecution? He opens a door for their return; many that were
missing, and thought to be lost, are brought back, and those that
were scattered in the cloudy and dark day are gathered together
again.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p6">2. The comforts he has laid up for true
penitents, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.3" parsed="|Ps|147|3|0|0" passage="Ps 147:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
They are <i>broken in heart,</i> and wounded, humbled, and
troubled, for sin, inwardly pained at the remembrance of it, as a
man is that is sorely wounded. Their very hearts are not only
pricked, but rent, under the sense of the dishonour they have done
to God and the injury they have done to themselves by sin. To those
whom God heals with the consolations of his Spirit he speaks peace,
assures them that their sins are pardoned and that he is reconciled
to them, and so makes them easy, pours the balm of Gilead into the
bleeding wounds, and then binds them up, and makes them to rejoice.
Those who have had experience of this need not be called upon to
praise the Lord; for when he brought them <i>out of the horrible
pit,</i> and <i>set their feet upon a rock,</i> he <i>put a new
song into their mouths,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.40.2-Ps.40.3" parsed="|Ps|40|2|40|3" passage="Ps 40:2,3">Ps. xl.
2, 3</scripRef>. And for this let others praise him also.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p7">3. The sovereign dominion he has over the
lights of heaven, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.4-Ps.147.5" parsed="|Ps|147|4|147|5" passage="Ps 147:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4,
5</scripRef>. The stars are innumerable, many of them being
scarcely discernible with the naked eye, and yet he counts them,
and knows the exact number of them, for they are all the work of
his hands and the instruments of his providence. Their bulk and
power are very great; but <i>he calleth them all by their
names,</i> which shows his dominion over them and the command he
has them at, to make what use of them he pleases. They are his
servants, his soldiers; he musters them, he marshals them; they
come and go at his bidding, and all their motions are under his
direction. He mentions this as one instance of many, to show that
<i>great is our Lord and of great power</i> (he can do what he
pleases), and of <i>his understanding there is no computation,</i>
so that he can contrive every thing for the best. Man's knowledge
is soon drained, and you have his utmost length; hitherto his
wisdom can reach and no further. But God's knowledge is a depth
that can never be fathomed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p8">4. The pleasure he takes in humbling the
proud and exalting those of low degree (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.6" parsed="|Ps|147|6|0|0" passage="Ps 147:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>The Lord lifts up the
meek,</i> who abase themselves before him, and whom men trample on;
but <i>the wicked,</i> who conduct themselves insolently towards
God and scornfully towards all mankind, who lift up themselves in
pride and folly, he <i>casteth down to the ground,</i> sometimes by
very humbling providences in this world, at furthest in the day
when their faces shall be <i>filled with everlasting shame.</i> God
proves himself to be God by <i>looking on the proud and abasing
them,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.12" parsed="|Job|40|12|0|0" passage="Job 40:12">Job xl. 12</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p9">5. The provision he makes for the inferior
creatures. Though he is so great as to command the stars, he is so
good as not to forget even the fowls, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.8-Ps.147.9" parsed="|Ps|147|8|147|9" passage="Ps 147:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>. Observe in what method he
feeds man and beast. (1.) <i>He covereth the heaven with
clouds,</i> which darken the air and intercept the beams of the
sun, and yet in them he <i>prepareth</i> that <i>rain for the
earth</i> which is necessary to its fruitfulness. Clouds look
melancholy, and yet without them we could have no rain and
consequently no fruit. Thus afflictions, for the present, look
black, and dark, and unpleasant, and we are in heaviness because of
them, as sometimes when the sky is overcast it makes us dull; but
they are necessary, for from these clouds of affliction come those
showers that make the harvest to <i>yield the peaceable fruits of
righteousness</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.11" parsed="|Heb|12|11|0|0" passage="Heb 12:11">Heb. xii.
11</scripRef>), which should help to reconcile us to them. Observe
the necessary dependence which the earth has upon the heavens,
which directs us on earth to depend on God in heaven. All the rain
with which the earth is watered is of God's preparing. (2.) By the
rain which distils on the earth he <i>makes grass to grow upon the
mountains,</i> even the high mountains, which man neither takes
care of nor reaps the benefit of. The mountains, which are not
watered with the springs and rivers, as the valleys are, are yet
watered so that they are not barren. (3.) This grass he
<i>gives</i> to <i>the beast</i> for <i>his food,</i> the beast of
the mountains which runs wild, which man makes no provision for.
And even the <i>young ravens,</i> which, being forsaken by their
old ones, <i>cry,</i> are heard by him, and ways are found to feed
them, so that they are kept from perishing in the nest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p10">6. The complacency he takes in his people,
<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.10-Ps.147.11" parsed="|Ps|147|10|147|11" passage="Ps 147:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>. In
times when great things are doing, and there are great expectations
of the success of them, it concerns us to know (since the issue
proceeds from the Lord) whom, and what, God will delight to honour
and crown with victory. It is not the strength of armies, but the
strength of grace, that God is pleased to own. (1.) Not the
strength of armies—not in the cavalry, <i>for he delighteth not in
the strength of the horse,</i> the war-horse, noted for his courage
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.19" parsed="|Job|39|19|0|0" passage="Job 39:19">Job xxxix. 19</scripRef>,
&amp;c.)—nor in the infantry, for he <i>taketh no pleasure in the
legs of a man;</i> he does not mean the swiftness of them for
flight, to quit the field, but the steadiness of them for charging,
to stand the ground. If one king, making war with another king,
goes to God to pray for success, it will not avail him to plead,
"Lord, I have a gallant army, the horse and foot in good order; it
is a pity that they should suffer any disgrace;" for that is no
argument with God, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.20.7" parsed="|Ps|20|7|0|0" passage="Ps 20:7">Ps. xx.
7</scripRef>. Jehoshaphat's was much better: <i>Lord, we have no
might,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.12" parsed="|2Chr|20|12|0|0" passage="2Ch 20:12">2 Chron. xx.
12</scripRef>. But, (2.) God is pleased to own the strength of
grace. A serious and suitable regard to God is that which is, in
the sight of God, of great price in such a case. The Lord accepts
and <i>takes pleasure</i> in those that <i>fear him and that hope
in his mercy.</i> Observe, [1.] A holy fear of God and hope in God
not only may consist, but must concur. In the same heart, at the
same time, there must be both a reverence of his majesty and a
complacency in his goodness, both a believing dread of his wrath
and a believing expectation of his favour; not that we must hang in
suspense between hope and fear, but we must act under the gracious
influences of hope and fear. Our fear must save our hope from
swelling into presumption, and our hope must save our fear from
sinking into despair; thus must we take our work before us. [2.] We
must <i>hope in God's mercy,</i> his general mercy, even when we
cannot find a particular promise to stay ourselves upon. A humble
confidence in the goodness of God's nature is very pleasing to him,
as that which turns to the glory of that attribute in which he most
glories. Every man of honour loves to be trusted.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cxlviii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.12-Ps.147.20" parsed="|Ps|147|12|147|20" passage="Ps 147:12-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.147.12-Ps.147.20">
<h4 id="Ps.cxlviii-p10.6">Jerusalem and Zion Called to Praise to God;
God's Favour to Israel.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxlviii-p11">12 Praise the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlviii-p11.1">Lord</span>, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
  13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath
blessed thy children within thee.   14 He maketh peace
<i>in</i> thy borders, <i>and</i> filleth thee with the finest of
the wheat.   15 He sendeth forth his commandment <i>upon</i>
earth: his word runneth very swiftly.   16 He giveth snow like
wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.   17 He casteth
forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?  
18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind
to blow, <i>and</i> the waters flow.   19 He showeth his word
unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.   20
He hath not dealt so with any nation: and <i>as for his</i>
judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxlviii-p11.2">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p12">Jerusalem, and Zion, the holy city, the
holy hill, are here called upon to <i>praise God,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.12" parsed="|Ps|147|12|0|0" passage="Ps 147:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. For where should
praise be offered up to God but where his altar is? Where may we
expect that glory should be given to him but in the beauty of
holiness? Let the inhabitants of Jerusalem praise the Lord in their
own houses; let the priests and Levites, who attend in Zion, the
city of their solemnities, in a special manner praise the Lord.
They have more cause to do it than others, and they lie under
greater obligations to do it than others; for it is their business,
it is their profession. "<i>Praise thy God, O Zion!</i> he is
thine, and therefore thou art bound to praise him; his being thine
includes all happiness, so that thou canst never want matter for
praise." Jerusalem and Zion must praise God,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p13">I. For the prosperity and flourishing state
of their civil interests, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.13-Ps.147.14" parsed="|Ps|147|13|147|14" passage="Ps 147:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>. 1. For their common
safety. They had gates, and kept their gates barred in times of
danger; but that would not have been an effectual security to them
if God had not <i>strengthened the bars of their gates</i> and
fortified their fortifications. The most probable means we can
devise for our own preservation will not answer the end, unless God
give his blessing with them; we must therefore in the careful and
diligent use of those means, depend upon him for that blessing, and
attribute the undisturbed repose of our land more to the wall of
fire than to the wall of water round about us, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.2.5" parsed="|Zech|2|5|0|0" passage="Zec 2:5">Zech. ii. 5</scripRef>. 2. For the increase of their
people. This strengthens the bars of the gates as much as any
thing: <i>He hath blessed thy children within thee,</i> with that
first and great blessing, <i>Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the land.</i> It is a comfort to parents to see their
children blessed of the Lord (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.9" parsed="|Isa|61|9|0|0" passage="Isa 61:9">Isa.
lxi. 9</scripRef>), and a comfort to the generation that is going
off to see the rising generation numerous and hopeful, for which
blessing God must be blessed. 3. For the public tranquillity, that
they were delivered from the terrors and desolations of war: <i>He
makes peace in thy borders,</i> by putting an end to the wars that
were, and preventing the wars that were threatened and feared.
<i>He makes peace within thy borders,</i> that is, in all parts of
the country, by composing differences among neighbours, that there
may be no intestine broils and animosities, and <i>upon thy
borders,</i> that they may not be attacked by invasions from
abroad. If there be trouble any where, it is in the borders, the
marches of a country; the frontier-towns lie most exposed, so that,
if there be peace in the borders, there is a universal peace, a
mercy we can never be sufficiently thankful for. 4. For great
plenty, the common effect of peace: He <i>filleth thee with the
finest of the wheat</i>—wheat, the most valuable grain, the fat,
the finest of that, and a fulness thereof. What would they more?
Canaan abounded with the best wheat (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.14" parsed="|Deut|32|14|0|0" passage="De 32:14">Deut. xxxii. 14</scripRef>) and exported it to the
countries abroad, as appears, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.27.17" parsed="|Ezek|27|17|0|0" passage="Eze 27:17">Ezek.
xxvii. 17</scripRef>. The land of Israel was not enriched with
precious stones nor spices, but with <i>the finest of the
wheat,</i> with bread, which strengthens man's heart. This made it
the glory of all lands, and for this God was praised in Zion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p14">II. For the wonderful instances of his
power in the weather, particularly the winter-weather. He that
protects Zion and Jerusalem is that God of power from whom all the
powers of nature are derived and on whom they depend, and who
produces all the changes of the seasons, which, if they were not
common, would astonish us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p15">1. In general, whatever alterations there
are in this lower world (and it is that world that is subject to
continual changes) they are produced by the will, and power, and
providence of God (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.15" parsed="|Ps|147|15|0|0" passage="Ps 147:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>): <i>He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth,</i>
as one that has an incontestable authority to give orders, and
innumerable attendants ready to carry his orders and put them in
execution. As the world was at first made, so it is still upheld
and governed, by a word of almighty power. <i>God speaks and it is
done,</i> for all are his servants. That word takes effect, not
only surely, but speedily. <i>His word runneth very swiftly,</i>
for nothing can oppose or retard it. As the lightning, which passes
through the air in an instant, such is the word of God's
providence, and such the word of his grace, when it is sent forth
with commission, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.17.24" parsed="|Luke|17|24|0|0" passage="Lu 17:24">Luke xvii.
24</scripRef>. Angels, who carry his word and fulfil it, <i>fly
swiftly,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.9.21" parsed="|Dan|9|21|0|0" passage="Da 9:21">Dan. ix.
21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p16">2. In particular, frosts and thaws are both
of them wonderful changes, and in both we must acknowledge the word
of his power.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p17">(1.) Frosts are from God. With him are the
<i>treasures of the snow and the hail</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.22-Job.38.23" parsed="|Job|38|22|38|23" passage="Job 38:22,23">Job xxxviii. 22, 23</scripRef>), and out of these
treasures he draws as he pleases. [1.] <i>He giveth snow like
wool.</i> It is compared to wool for its whiteness (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.18" parsed="|Isa|1|18|0|0" passage="Isa 1:18">Isa. i. 18</scripRef>), and its softness; it
falls silently, and makes no more noise than the fall of a lock of
wool; it covers the earth, and keeps it warm like a fleece of wool,
and so promotes its fruitfulness. See how God can work by
contraries, and bring meat out of the eater, can warm the earth
with cold snow. [2.] <i>He scatters the hoar-frost,</i> which is
dew congealed, as the snow and hail are rain congealed. This looks
like ashes scattered upon the grass, and is sometimes prejudicial
to the products of the earth and blasts them as if it were hot
ashes, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.47" parsed="|Ps|78|47|0|0" passage="Ps 78:47">Ps. lxxviii. 47</scripRef>.
[3.] <i>He casts forth his ice like morsels,</i> which may be
understood either of large hail-stones, which are as ice in the
air, or of the ice which covers the face of the waters, and when it
is broken, though naturally it was as drops of drink, it is as
morsels of meat, or crusts of bread. [4.] When we see the frost,
and snow, and ice, we feel it in the air: <i>Who can stand before
his cold?</i> The beasts cannot; they retire into dens (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.37.8" parsed="|Job|37|8|0|0" passage="Job 37:8">Job xxxvii. 8</scripRef>); they are easily
conquered then, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.23.20" parsed="|2Sam|23|20|0|0" passage="2Sa 23:20">2 Sam. xxiii.
20</scripRef>. Men cannot, but are forced to protect themselves by
fires, or furs, or both, and all little enough where and when the
cold is in extremity. We see not the causes when we feel the
effects; and therefore we must call it <i>his cold;</i> it is of
his sending, and therefore we must bear it patiently, and be
thankful for warm houses, and clothes, and beds, to relieve us
against the rigour of the season, and must give him the glory of
his wisdom and sovereignty, his power and faithfulness, which shall
not cease any more than summer, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.8.22" parsed="|Gen|8|22|0|0" passage="Ge 8:22">Gen.
viii. 22</scripRef>. And let us also infer from it, If we cannot
stand before the cold of his frosts, how can we stand before the
heat of his wrath?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p18">(2.) Thaws are from God. When he pleases
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.18" parsed="|Ps|147|18|0|0" passage="Ps 147:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>) <i>he sends
out his word and melts them;</i> the frost, the snow, the ice, are
all dissolved quickly, in order to which he <i>causes the wind,</i>
the <i>south wind, to blow,</i> and <i>the waters,</i> which were
frozen, <i>flow</i> again as they did before. We are soon sensible
of the change, but we see not the causes of it, but must resolve it
into the will of the First Cause. And in it we must take notice not
only of the power of God, that he can so suddenly, so insensibly,
make such a great and universal alteration in the temper of the air
and the face of the earth (what cannot he do that does this every
winter, perhaps often every winter?) but also of the goodness of
God. Hard weather does not always continue; it would be sad if it
should. He does not <i>contend for ever,</i> but <i>renews the face
of the earth.</i> As he remembered Noah, and released him
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.8.1" parsed="|Gen|8|1|0|0" passage="Ge 8:1">Gen. viii. 1</scripRef>), so he
remembers the earth, and his covenant with the earth, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Song.2.11-Song.2.12" parsed="|Song|2|11|2|12" passage="So 2:11,12">Cant. ii. 11, 12</scripRef>. This thawing word
may represent the gospel of Christ, and this thawing wind the
Spirit of Christ (for the Spirit is compared to the wind, <scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:John.3.8" parsed="|John|3|8|0|0" passage="Joh 3:8">John iii. 8</scripRef>); both are sent for the
melting of frozen souls. Converting grace, like the thaw, softens
the heart that was hard, moistens it, and melts it into tears of
repentance; it warms good affections, and makes them to flow,
which, before, were chilled and stopped up. The change which the
thaw makes is universal and yet gradual; it is very evident, and
yet how it is done is unaccountable: such is the change wrought in
the conversion of a soul, when God's word and Spirit are sent to
melt it and restore it to itself.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxlviii-p19">III. For his distinguishing favour to
Israel, in giving them his word and ordinances, a much more
valuable blessing than their peace and plenty (<scripRef id="Ps.cxlviii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.14" parsed="|Ps|147|14|0|0" passage="Ps 147:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), as much as the soul is more
excellent than the body. Jacob and Israel had God's statutes and
judgments among them. They were under his peculiar government; the
municipal laws of their nation were of his framing and enacting,
and their constitution was a theocracy. They had the benefit of
divine revelation; the great things of God's law were written to
them. They had a priesthood of divine institution for all things
pertaining to God, and prophets for all extraordinary occasions. No
people besides went upon sure grounds in their religion. Now this
was, 1. A preventing mercy. They did not find out God's statutes
and judgments of themselves, but <i>God showed his word unto
Jacob,</i> and by that word he made known to them his <i>statutes
and judgments.</i> It is a great mercy to any people to have the
word of God among them; for <i>faith comes by hearing</i> and
reading that word, that faith without which it is impossible to
please God. 2. A distinguishing mercy, and upon that account the
more obliging: "<i>He hath not dealt so with every nation,</i> not
with <i>any</i> nation; and, <i>as for his judgments, they have not
known them,</i> nor are likely to know them till the Messiah shall
come and take down the partition-wall between Jew and Gentile, that
the gospel may be preached to every creature." Other nations had
plenty of outward good things; some nations were very rich, others
had pompous powerful princes and polite literature, but none were
blessed with God's statutes and judgments as Israel were. Let
<i>Israel</i> therefore <i>praise the Lord</i> in the observance of
these statutes. <i>Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself
to us, and not to the world! Even so, Father, because it seemed
good in thy eyes.</i></p>
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