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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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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 X.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The Septuagint translation joins this psalm with the ninth, and makes
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them but one; but the Hebrew makes it a distinct psalm, and the scope
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and style are certainly different. In this psalm,
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I. David complains of the wickedness of the wicked, describes the
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dreadful pitch of impiety at which they had arrived (to the great
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dishonour of God and the prejudice of his church and people), and
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notices the delay of God's appearing against them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:1-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
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II. He prays to God to appear against them for the relief of his people
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and comforts himself with hopes that he would do so in due time,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:12-18">ver. 12-18</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps10_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_11"> </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>The Character of the Wicked; The Character of Persecutors.</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>1 Why standest thou afar off, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>? <I>why</I> hidest thou
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<I>thyself</I> in times of trouble?
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2 The wicked in <I>his</I> pride doth persecute the poor: let them
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be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
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3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth
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the covetous, <I>whom</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> abhorreth.
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4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not
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seek <I>after God:</I> God <I>is</I> not in all his thoughts.
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5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments <I>are</I> far above
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out of his sight: <I>as for</I> all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
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6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for <I>I
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shall</I> never <I>be</I> in adversity.
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7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his
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tongue <I>is</I> mischief and vanity.
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8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the
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secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily
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set against the poor.
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9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in
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wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth
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him into his net.
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10 He croucheth, <I>and</I> humbleth himself, that the poor may fall
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by his strong ones.
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11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his
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face; he will never see <I>it.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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David, in these verses, discovers,</P>
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<P>
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I. A very great affection to God and his favour; for, in the time of
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trouble, that which he complains of most feelingly is God's withdrawing
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his gracious presence
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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"<I>Why standest thou afar off,</I> as one unconcerned in the
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indignities done to thy name and the injuries done to the people?"
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Note, God's withdrawings are very grievous to his people at any time,
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but especially in times of trouble. Outward deliverance is afar off and
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is hidden from us, and then we think God is afar off and we therefore
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want inward comfort; but that is our own fault; it is because we judge
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by outward appearance; we stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and
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then we complain that God stands afar off from us.</P>
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<P>
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II. A very great indignation against sin, the sins that made the times
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perilous,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+3:1">2 Tim. iii. 1</A>.
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he beholds the transgressors and is grieved, is amazed, and brings to
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his heavenly Father their evil report, not in a way of vain-glory,
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boasting before God that he was not as <I>these publicans</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+18:11">Luke xviii. 11</A>),
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much less venting any personal resentments, piques, or passions, of his
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own; but as one that laid to he art that which is offensive to God and
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all good men, and earnestly desired a reformation of manners.
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passionate and satirical invectives against bad men do more hurt than
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good; if we will speak of their badness, let it be to God in prayer,
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for he alone can make them better. This long representation of the
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wickedness of the wicked is here summed up in the first words of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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<I>The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor,</I> where two
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things are laid to their charge, pride and persecution, the former the
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cause of the latter. Proud men will have all about them to be of their
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mind, of their religion, to say as they say, to submit to their
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dominion, and acquiesce in their dictates; and those that either
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eclipse them or will not yield to them they malign and hate with an
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inveterate hatred. Tyranny, both in state and church, owes its origin
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to pride. The psalmist, having begun this description, presently
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inserts a short prayer, a prayer in a parenthesis, which is an
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advantage and no prejudice to the sense: <I>Let them be taken,</I> as
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proud people often are, <I>in the devices that they have imagined,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Let their counsels be turned headlong, and let them fall headlong by
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them. These two heads of the charge are here enlarged upon.</P>
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<P>
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1. They are proud, very proud, and extremely conceited of themselves;
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justly therefore did he wonder that God did not speedily appear against
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them, for he hates pride, and resists the proud.
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(1.) The sinner proudly glories in his power and success. He <I>boasts
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of his heart's desire,</I> boasts that he can do what he pleases (as if
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God himself could not control him) and that he has all he wished for
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and has carried his point. Ephraim said, <I>I have become rich, I have
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found me out substance,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hos+12:8">Hos. xii. 8</A>.
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"Now, Lord, is it for thy glory to suffer a sinful man thus to pretend
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to the sovereignty and felicity of a God?"
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(2.) He proudly contradicts the judgment of God, which, we are sure, is
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according to truth; for he <I>blesses the covetous, whom the Lord
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abhors.</I> See how God and men differ in their sentiments of persons:
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God abhors covetous worldlings, who make money their God and idolize
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is; he looks upon them as his enemies, and will have no communion with
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them. <I>The friendship of the world is enmity to God.</I> But proud
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persecutors bless them, and approve their sayings,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:13">Ps. xlix. 13</A>.
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They applaud those as wise whom God pronounces foolish
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:20">Luke xii. 20</A>);
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they justify those as innocent whom God condemns as deeply guilty
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before him; and they admire those as happy, in having their portion in
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this life, whom God declares, upon that account, truly miserable.
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<I>Thou, in thy lifetime, receivedst thy good things.</I>
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(3.) He proudly casts off the thoughts of God, and all dependence upon
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him and devotion to him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>The wicked, through the pride of his countenance,</I> that pride of
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his heart which appears in his very countenance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:17">Prov. vi. 17</A>),
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<I>will not seek after God,</I> nor entertain the thoughts of him.
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<I>God is not in all his thoughts,</I> not in any of them. <I>All his
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thoughts are that there is not God.</I> See here,
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[1.] The nature of impiety and irreligion; it is <I>not seeking after
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God</I> and <I>not having him in our thoughts.</I> There is no enquiry
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made after him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+35:10,Jer+2:6">Job xxxv. 10, Jer. ii. 6</A>),
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no desire towards him, no communion with him, but a secret wish to have
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no dependence upon him and not to be beholden to him. Wicked people
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will not seek after God (that is, will not call upon him); they live
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without prayer, and that is living without God. They have many
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thoughts, many projects and devices, but no eye to God in any of them,
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no submission to his will nor aim at his glory.
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[2.] The cause of this impiety and irreligion; and that is pride. Men
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will not seek after God because they think they have no need of him,
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their own hands are sufficient for them; they think it a thing below
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them to be religious, because religious people are few, and mean, and
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despised, and the restraints of religion will be a disparagement to
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them.
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(4.) He proudly makes light of God's commandments and judgments
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>His wings are always grievous;</I> he is very daring and resolute in
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his sinful courses; he will have his way, though ever so tiresome to
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himself and vexatious to others; he travails with pain in his wicked
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courses, and yet his pride makes him wilful and obstinate in them.
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God's judgments (what he commands and what he threatens for the breach
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of his commands) are <I>far above out of his sight;</I> he is not
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sensible of his duty by the law of God nor of his danger by the wrath
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and curse of God. Tell him of God's authority over him, he turns it off
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with this, that he never saw God and therefore does not know that there
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is a God, he is <I>in the height of heaven,</I> and <I>quæ supra
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nos nihil ad nos--we have nothing to do with things above us.</I> Tell
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him of God's judgments which will be executed upon those that go on
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still in their trespasses, and he will not be convinced that there is
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any reality in them; they are <I>far above out of his sight,</I> and
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therefore he thinks they are mere bugbears.
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(5.) He proudly despises all his enemies, and looks upon them with the
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utmost disdain; he puffs at those whom God is preparing to be a scourge
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and ruin to him, as if he could baffle them all, and was able to make
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his part good with them. But, as it is impolitic to despise an enemy,
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so it is impious to despise any instrument of God's wrath.
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(6.) He proudly sets trouble at defiance and is confident of the
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continuance of his own prosperity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>He hath said in his heart,</I> and pleased himself with the thought,
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<I>I shall not be moved,</I> my goods are laid up for many years, and
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<I>I shall never be in adversity;</I> like Babylon, that said, <I>I
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shall be a lady for ever,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:7,Re+18:7">Isa. xlvii. 7; Rev. xviii. 7</A>.
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Those are nearest ruin who thus set it furthest from them.</P>
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<P>
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2. They are persecutors, cruel persecutors. For the gratifying of their
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pride and covetousness, and in opposition to God and religion, they are
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very oppressive to all within their reach. Observe, concerning these
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persecutors,
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(1.) That they are very bitter and malicious
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>His mouth is full of cursing.</I> Those he cannot do a real mischief
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to, yet he will spit his venom at, and breathe out the slaughter which
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he cannot execute. Thus have God's faithful worshippers been
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anathematized and cursed, with bell, book, and candle. Where there is a
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heart full of malice there is commonly a mouth full of curses.
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(2.) They are very false and treacherous. There is mischief designed,
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but it is hidden under the tongue, not to be discerned, for <I>his
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mouth is full of deceit</I> and vanity. He has learned of the devil to
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deceive, and so to destroy; with this his hatred is covered,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+26:26">Prov. xxvi. 26</A>.
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He cares not what lies he tells, not what oaths he breaks, nor what
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arts of dissimulation he uses, to compass his ends.
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(3.) That they are very cunning and crafty in carrying on their
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designs. They have ways and means to concert what they intend, that
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they may the more effectually accomplish it. Like Esau, that cunning
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hunter, <I>he sits in the lurking places, in the secret places,</I> and
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<I>his eyes are privily set</I> to do mischief
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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not because he is ashamed of what he does (if he blushed, there were
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some hopes he would repent), not because he is afraid of the wrath of
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God, for he imagines God will never call him to an account
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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but because he is afraid lest the discovery of his designs should be
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the breaking of them. Perhaps it refers particularly to robbers and
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highwaymen, who lie in wait for honest travellers, to make a prey of
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them and what they have.
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(4.) That they are very cruel and barbarous. Their malice is against
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<I>the innocent,</I> who never provoked them--against <I>the poor,</I>
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who cannot resist them and over whom it will be no glory to triumph.
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Those are perfectly lost to all honesty and honour against whose
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mischievous designs neither innocence nor poverty will be any man's
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security. Those that have power ought to protect the innocent and
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provide for the poor; yet these will be the destroyers of those whose
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guardians they ought to be. And what do they aim at? It is to <I>catch
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the poor,</I> and <I>draw them into their net,</I> that is, get them
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into their power, not to strip them only, but to <I>murder them.</I>
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They hunt for the precious life. It is God's poor people that they are
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persecuting, against whom they bear a mortal hatred for his sake whose
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they are and whose image they bear, and therefore they lie in wait to
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murder them: <I>He lies in wait as a lion</I> that thirsts after blood,
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and feeds with pleasure upon the prey. The devil, whose agent he is, is
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compared to a roaring lion that seeks not what, but whom, he may
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devour.
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(5.) That they are base and hypocritical
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>He crouches and humbles himself,</I> as beasts of prey do, that they
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may get their prey within their reach. This intimates that the sordid
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spirits of persecutors and oppressors will stoop to any thing, though
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ever so mean, for the compassing of their wicked designs; witness the
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scandalous practices of Saul when he hunted David. It intimates,
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likewise, that they cover their malicious designs with the pretence of
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meekness and humility, and kindness to those they design the greatest
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mischief to; they seem to humble themselves to take cognizance of the
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poor, and concern themselves in their concernments, when it is in order
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to make them fall, to make a prey of them.
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(6.) That they are very impious and atheistical,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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They could not thus break through all the laws of justice and goodness
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towards man if they had not first shaken off all sense of religion, and
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risen up in rebellion against the light of its most sacred and
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self-evident principles: <I>He hath said in his heart, God has
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forgotten.</I> When his own conscience rebuked him with the
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consequences of it, and asked how he would answer it to the righteous
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Judge of heaven and earth, he turned it off with this, <I>God has
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forsaken the earth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+8:12,9:9">Ezek. viii. 12; ix. 9</A>.
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This is a blasphemous reproach,
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[1.] Upon God's omniscience and providence, as if he could not, or did
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not, see what men do in this lower world.
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[2.] Upon his holiness and the rectitude of his nature, as if, though
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he did see, yet he did not dislike, but was willing to connive at, the
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most unnatural and inhuman villanies.
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[3.] Upon his justice and the equity of his government, as if, though
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he did see and dislike the wickedness of the wicked, yet he would never
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reckon with them, nor punish them for it, either because he could not
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or durst not, or because he was not inclined to do so. Let those that
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suffer by proud oppressors hope that God will, in due time, appear for
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them; for those that are abusive to them are abusive to God Almighty
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too.</P>
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<P>
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In singing this psalm and praying it over, we should have our hearts
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much affected with a holy indignation at the wickedness of the
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oppressors, a tender compassion of the miseries of the oppressed, and a
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pious zeal for the glory and honour of God, with a firm belief that he
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will, in due time, give redress to the injured and reckon with the
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injurious.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps10_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps10_18"> </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>Prayer against Persecutors.</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>12 Arise, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the
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humble.
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13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his
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heart, Thou wilt not require <I>it.</I>
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14 Thou hast seen <I>it;</I> for thou beholdest mischief and spite,
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to requite <I>it</I> with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto
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thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
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15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil <I>man:</I> seek
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out his wickedness <I>till</I> thou find none.
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16 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> King for ever and ever: the heathen are
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perished out of his land.
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17 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt
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prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
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18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of
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the earth may no more oppress.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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David here, upon the foregoing representation of the inhumanity and
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impiety of the oppressors, grounds an address to God, wherein
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observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What he prays for.
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1. That God would himself appear
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
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"<I>Arise, O Lord! O God! lift up thy hand,</I> manifest thy presence
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and providence in the affairs of this lower world. <I>Arise, O
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Lord!</I> to the confusion of those who say that thou hidest thy face.
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Manifest thy power, exert it for the maintaining of thy own cause, lift
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up thy hand to give a fatal blow to these oppressors; let thy
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everlasting arm be made bare."
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2. That he would appear for his people: "<I>Forget not the humble, the
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|
afflicted,</I> that are poor, that are made poorer, and are poor in
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|
spirit. Their oppressors, in their presumption, say that thou hast
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forgotten them; and they, in their despair, are ready to say the same.
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Lord, make it to appear that they are both mistaken."
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3. That he would appear against their persecutors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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(1.) That he would disable them from doing any mischief: <I>Break thou
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|
the arm of the wicked,</I> take away his power, <I>that the hypocrite
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|
reign not, lest the people be ensnared,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+34:30">Job xxxiv. 30</A>.
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|
We read of oppressors whose dominion was taken away, but their lives
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|
were prolonged
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:12">Dan. vii. 12</A>),
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|
that they might have time to repent.
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|
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(2.) That he would deal with them for the mischief they had done:
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|
"<I>Seek out his wickedness;</I> let that be all brought to light which
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|
he thought should for ever lie undiscovered; let that be all brought to
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|
account which he thought should for ever go unpunished; bring it out
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|
<I>till thou find none,</I> that is, till none of his evil deeds remain
|
|
unreckoned for, none of his evil designs undefeated, and none of his
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|
partisans undestroyed."</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
II. What he pleads for the encouraging of his own faith in these
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|
petitions.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
|
|
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|
1. He pleads the great affronts which these proud oppressors put upon
|
|
God himself: "Lord, it is thy own cause that we beg thou wouldst appear
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|
in; the enemies have made it so, and therefore it is not for thy glory
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|
to let them go unpunished"
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
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|
<I>Wherefore do the wicked contemn God?</I> He does so; for he says,
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|
"<I>Thou wilt not require it;</I> thou wilt never call us to an account
|
|
for what we do," than which they could not put a greater indignity upon
|
|
the righteous God. The psalmist here speaks with astonishment,
|
|
|
|
(1.) At the wickedness of the wicked: "Why do they speak so impiously,
|
|
why so absurdly?" It is a great trouble to good men to think what
|
|
contempt is cast upon the holy God by the sin of sinners, upon his
|
|
precepts, his promises, his threatenings, his favours, his judgments;
|
|
all are despised and made light of. <I>Wherefore do the wicked thus
|
|
contemn God?</I> It is because they do not know him.
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|
|
|
(2.) At the patience and forbearance of God towards them: "Why are they
|
|
suffered thus to contemn God? Why does he not immediately vindicate
|
|
himself and take vengeance on them?" It is because the day of reckoning
|
|
is yet to come, when the measure of their iniquity is full.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He pleads the notice God took of the impiety and iniquity of these
|
|
oppressors
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Do the persecutors encourage themselves with a groundless fancy that
|
|
thou wilt never see it? Let the persecuted encourage themselves with a
|
|
well-grounded faith, not only that thou hast seen it, but that thou
|
|
doest behold it, even all the mischief that is done by the hands, and
|
|
all the spite and malice that lurk in the hearts, of these oppressors;
|
|
it is all known to thee, and observed by thee; nay, not only thou hast
|
|
seen it and dost behold it, but thou wilt requite it, wilt recompense
|
|
it into their bosoms, by thy just and avenging hand."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He pleads the dependence which the oppressed had upon him: "<I>The
|
|
poor commits himself unto thee,</I> each of them does so, I among the
|
|
rest. They rely on thee as their patron and protector, they refer
|
|
themselves to thee as their Judge, in whose determination they
|
|
acquiesce and at whose disposal they are willing to be. <I>They leave
|
|
themselves with thee</I>" (so some read it), "not prescribing, but
|
|
subscribing, to thy wisdom and will. They thus give thee honour as much
|
|
as their oppressors dishonour thee. They are thy willing subjects, and
|
|
put themselves under thy protection; therefore protect them."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He pleads the relation in which God is pleased to stand to us,
|
|
|
|
(1.) As a great God. He <I>is King for ever and ever,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is the office of a king to administer justice for the restraint
|
|
and terror of evil-doers and the protection and praise of those that do
|
|
well. To whom should the injured subjects appeal but to the sovereign?
|
|
<I>Help, my Lord, O King! Avenge me of my adversary.</I> "Lord, let all
|
|
that pay homage and tribute to thee as their King have the benefit of
|
|
thy government and find thee their refuge. Thou art an everlasting
|
|
King, which no earthly prince is, and therefore canst and wilt, by an
|
|
eternal judgment, dispense rewards and punishments in an everlasting
|
|
state, when time shall be no more; and to that judgment the poor refer
|
|
themselves."
|
|
|
|
(2.) As a good God. He is the helper of the fatherless
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
of those who have no one else to help them and have many to injure
|
|
them. He has appointed kings to <I>defend the poor and fatherless</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+82:3">Ps. lxxxii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore much more will he do so himself; for he has taken it
|
|
among the titles of his honour to be a Father to the fatherless
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+68:5">Ps. lxviii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
a helper of the helpless.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. He pleads the experience which God's church and people had had of
|
|
God's readiness to appear for them.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He had dispersed and extirpated their enemies
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>The heathen have perished out of his land;</I> the remainders of
|
|
the Canaanites, the seven devoted nations, which have long been as
|
|
thorns in the eyes and goads in the sides of Israel, are now, at
|
|
length, utterly rooted out; and this is an encouragement to us to hope
|
|
that God will, in like manner, break the arm of the oppressive
|
|
Israelites, who were, in some respects, worse than heathens."
|
|
|
|
(2.) He had heard and answered their prayers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Lord, thou hast</I> many a time <I>heard the desire of the
|
|
humble,</I> and never saidst to a distressed suppliant, <I>Seek in
|
|
vain.</I> Why may not we hope for the continuance and repetition of the
|
|
wonders, the favours, which our father told us of?"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. He pleads their expectations from God pursuant to their experience
|
|
of him: "<I>Thou hast heard,</I> therefore <I>thou will cause thy ear
|
|
to hear,</I> as,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+6:9">Ps. vi. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thou art the same, and thy power, and promise, and relation to thy
|
|
people are the same, and the work and workings of grace are the same in
|
|
them; why therefore may we not hope that he who has been will still be,
|
|
will ever be, a God hearing prayers?" But observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) In what method God hears prayer. He first prepares the heart of
|
|
his people and then gives them an answer of peace; nor may we expect
|
|
his gracious answer, but in this way; so that God's working upon us is
|
|
the best earnest of his working for us. He prepares the heart for
|
|
prayer by kindling holy desires, and strengthening our most holy faith,
|
|
fixing the thoughts and raising the affections, and then he graciously
|
|
accepts the prayer; he prepares the heart for the mercy itself that is
|
|
wanting and prayed for, makes us fit to receive it and use it well, and
|
|
then gives it in to us. The preparation of the heart is from the Lord,
|
|
and we must seek unto him for it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+16:1">Prov. xvi. 1</A>)
|
|
|
|
and take that as a leading favour.
|
|
|
|
(2.) What he will do in answer to prayer,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He will plead the cause of the persecuted, will judge the
|
|
fatherless and oppressed, will judge for them, clear up their
|
|
innocency, restore their comforts, and recompense them for all the loss
|
|
and damage they have sustained.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He will put an end to the fury of the persecutors. Hitherto they
|
|
shall come, but no further; here shall the proud waves of their malice
|
|
be stayed; an effectual course shall be taken <I>that the man of the
|
|
earth may no more oppress.</I> See how light the psalmist now makes of
|
|
the power of that proud persecutor whom he had been describing in this
|
|
psalm, and how slightly he speaks of him now that he had been
|
|
considering God's sovereignty. <I>First,</I> He is but <I>a man of the
|
|
earth,</I> a man <I>out of</I> the earth (so the word is), sprung out
|
|
of the earth, and therefore mean, and weak, and hastening to the earth
|
|
again. Why then should we be afraid of the fury of the oppressor when
|
|
he is but <I>man that shall die, a son of man that shall be as
|
|
grass?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:12">Isa. li. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that protects us is the Lord of heaven; he that persecutes us is but
|
|
a man of the earth. <I>Secondly,</I> God has him in a chain, and can
|
|
easily restrain the remainder of his wrath, so that he cannot do what
|
|
he would. When God speaks the word Satan shall by his instruments no
|
|
more deceive
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+20:3">Rev. xx. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
no more oppress.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In singing
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:12-18">these verses</A>
|
|
|
|
we must commit religion's just but injured cause to God, as those that
|
|
are heartily concerned for its honour and interests, believing that he
|
|
will, in due time, plead it with jealousy.</P>
|
|
|
|
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