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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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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 XXXIX.</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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David seems to have been in a great strait when he penned this psalm,
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and, upon some account or other, very uneasy; for it is with some
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difficulty that he conquers his passion, and composes his spirit
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himself to take that good counsel which he had given to others
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:1-40">xxxvii.</A>)
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to rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, without fretting; for
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it is easier to give the good advice than to give the good example of
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quietness under affliction. What was the particular trouble which gave
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occasion for the conflict David was now in does not appear. Perhaps it
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was the death of some dear friend or relation that was the trial of his
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patience, and that suggested to him these meditations of morality; and
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at the same time, it should seem too, he himself was weak and ill, and
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under some prevailing distemper. His enemies likewise were seeking
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advantages against him, and watched for his halting, that they might
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have something to reproach him for. Thus aggrieved,
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I. He relates the struggle that was in his breast between grace and
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corruption, between passion and patience,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39+1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. He meditates upon the doctrine of man's frailty and mortality, and
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prays to God to instruct him in it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39+4-6">ver. 4-6</A>.
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III. He applies to God for the pardon of his sons, the removal of his
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afflictions, and the lengthening out of his life till he was ready for
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death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39+7-13">ver. 7-13</A>.
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This is a funeral psalm, and very proper for the occasion; in singing
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it we should get our hearts duly affected with the brevity,
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uncertainty, and calamitous state of human life; and those on whose
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comforts God has, by death, made breaches, will find this psalm of
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great use to them, in order to their obtaining what we ought much to
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aim at under such an affliction, which is to get it sanctified to us
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for our spiritual benefit and to get our hearts reconciled to the holy
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will of God in it.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps39_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_6"> </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 Reflections; Brevity and Vanity of Life.</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>To the chief musician, <I>even</I> to Jeduthun. A psalm of David.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with
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my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked
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is before me.
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2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, <I>even</I> from good;
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and my sorrow was stirred.
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3 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire
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burned: <I>then</I> spake I with my tongue,
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4 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days,
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what it <I>is; that</I> I may know how frail I <I>am.</I>
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5 Behold, thou hast made my days <I>as</I> a handbreadth; and mine
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age <I>is</I> as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best
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state <I>is</I> altogether vanity. Selah.
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6 Surely every man walketh in a vain show: surely they are
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disquieted in vain: he heapeth up <I>riches,</I> and knoweth not who
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shall gather them.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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David here recollects, and leaves upon record, the workings of his
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heart under his afflictions; and it is good for us to do so, that what
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was thought amiss may be amended, and what was well thought of may be
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improved the next time.</P>
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<P>
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I. He remembered the covenants he had made with God to walk
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circumspectly, and to be very cautious both of what he did and what he
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said. When at any time we are tempted to sin, and are in danger of
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falling into it, we must call to mind the solemn vows we have made
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against sin, against the particular sin we are upon the brink of. God
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can, and will, remind us of them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+20:20">Jer. ii. 20</A>,
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<I>Thou saidst, I will not transgress</I>), and therefore we ought to
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remind ourselves of them. So David did here.</P>
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<P>
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1. He remembers that he had resolved, in general, to be very cautious
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and circumspect in his walking
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>I said, I will take heed to my ways;</I> and it was well said, and
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what he would never unsay and therefore must never gainsay. Note,
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(1.) It is the great concern of every one of us to take heed to our
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ways, that is, to walk circumspectly, while others walk at all
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adventures.
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(2.) We ought stedfastly to resolve that we will take heed to our ways,
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and frequently to renew that resolution. Fast bind, fast find.
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(3.) Having resolved to take heed to our ways, we must, upon all
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occasions, remind ourselves of that resolution, for it is a covenant
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never to be forgotten, but which we must be always mindful of.</P>
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<P>
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2. He remembers that he had in particular covenanted against
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tongue-sins--that he would not sin with his tongue, that he would not
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speak amiss, either to offend God or <I>offend the generation of the
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righteous,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:15">Ps. lxxiii. 15</A>.
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It is not so easy as we could wish not to sin
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in thought; but, if an evil thought should arise in his mind, he would
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lay his hand upon his mouth, and suppress it, that it should go no
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further: and this is so great an attainment that, <I>if any offend not
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in word, the same is a perfect man;</I> and so needful a one that of
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him who <I>seems to be religious, but bridles not his tongue,</I> it is
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declared <I>His religion is vain.</I> David had resolved,
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(1.) That he would at all times watch against tongue-sins: "<I>I will
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keep a bridle,</I> or muzzle, <I>upon my mouth.</I>" He would keep a
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bridle upon it, as upon the head; watchfulness in the act and exercise
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is the hand upon the bridle. He would keep a muzzle upon it, as upon an
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unruly dog that is fierce and does mischief; by particular stedfast
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resolution corruption is restrained from breaking out at the lips, and
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so is muzzled.
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(2.) That he would double his guard against them when there was most
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danger of scandal--<I>when the wicked is before me.</I> When he was in
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company with the wicked he would take heed of saying any thing that
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might harden them or give occasion to them to blaspheme. If good men
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fall into bad company, they must take heed what they say. Or, <I>when
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the wicked is before me,</I> in my thoughts. When he was contemplating
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the pride and power, the prosperity and flourishing estate, of
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evil-doers, he was tempted to speak amiss; and therefore then he would
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take special care what he said. Note, The stronger the temptation to a
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sin is the stronger the resolution must be against it.</P>
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<P>
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II. Pursuant to these covenants he made a shift with much ado to bridle
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his tongue
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>I was dumb with silence; I held my peace even from good.</I> His
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silence was commendable; and the greater the provocation was the more
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praiseworthy was his silence. Watchfulness and resolution, in the
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strength of God's grace, will do more towards the bridling of the
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tongue than we can imagine, though it be an unruly evil. But what shall
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we say of his keeping silence <I>even from good?</I> Was it his wisdom
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that he refrained from good discourse when the wicked were before him,
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because he would not cast pearls before swine? I rather think it was
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his weakness; because he might not say any thing, he would say nothing,
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but ran into an extreme, which was a reproach to the law, for that
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prescribes a mean between extremes. The same law which forbids all
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corrupt communication requires <I>that which is good and to the use of
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edifying,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+4:29">Eph. iv. 29</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. The less he spoke the more he thought and the more warmly. Binding
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the distempered part did but draw the humour to it: <I>My sorrow was
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stirred, my heart was hot within me,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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He could bridle his tongue, but he could not keep his passion under;
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though he suppressed the smoke, that was as a fire in his bones, and,
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while he was musing upon his afflictions and upon the prosperity of the
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wicked, the fire burned. Note, Those that are of a fretful discontented
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spirit ought not to pore much, for, while they suffer their thoughts to
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dwell upon the causes of the calamity, the fire of their discontent is
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fed with fuel and burns the more furiously. Impatience is a sin that
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has its ill cause within ourselves, and that is musing, and its ill
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effects upon ourselves, and that is no less than burning. If therefore
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we would prevent the mischief of ungoverned passions, we must redress
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the grievance of ungoverned thoughts.</P>
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<P>
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IV. When he did speak, at last, it was to the purpose: <I>At the last I
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spoke with my tongue.</I> Some make what he said to be the breach of
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his good purpose, and conclude that, in what he said, he sinned with
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his tongue; and so they make what follows to be a passionate wish
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<I>that he might die,</I> like Elijah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+19:4">1 Kings xix. 4</A>)
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and Job,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+6:8,9"><I>ch.</I> vi. 8, 9</A>.
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But I rather take it to be, not the breach of his good purpose, but the
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reformation of his mistake in carrying it too far; he had kept silence
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from good, but now he would so keep silence no longer. He had nothing
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to say to the wicked that were before him, for to them he knew not how
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to place his words, but, after long musing, the first word he said was
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a prayer, and a devout meditation upon a subject which it will be good
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for us all to think much of.</P>
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<P>
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1. He prays to God to make him sensible of the shortness and
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uncertainty of life and the near approach of death
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>Lord, make me to know my end and the measure of my days.</I> He does
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not mean, "Lord, let me know how long I shall live and when I shall
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die." We could not, in faith, pray such a prayer; for God has nowhere
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promised to let us know, but has, in wisdom, locked up that knowledge
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among the secret things which belong not to us, nor would it be good
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for us to know it. But, <I>Lord, make me to know my end,</I> means,
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"Lord, give me wisdom and grace to consider it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:29">Deut. xxxii. 29</A>)
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and to improve what I know concerning it." <I>The living know that they
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shall die</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:5">Eccl. ix. 5</A>),
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but few care for thinking of death; we have therefore need to pray that
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God by his grace would conquer that aversion which is in our corrupt
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hearts to the thoughts of death. "Lord, make me to consider,"
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(1.) "What death is. It is my end, the end of my life, and all the
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employments and enjoyments of life. It is the end of all men,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:2">Eccl. vii. 2</A>.
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It is a final period to our state of probation and preparation, and an
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awful entrance upon a state of recompence and retribution. To the
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wicked man it is the end of all joys; to a godly man it is the end of
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all griefs. "Lord, give me to know my end, to be better acquainted with
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death, to make it more familiar to me
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+17:14">Job xvii. 14</A>),
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and to be more affected with the greatness of the change. Lord, give me
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to consider what a serious thing it is to die."
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(2.) "How near it is. Lord, give me to consider the measure of my
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days, that they are measured in the counsel of God" (the end is a fixed
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end, so the word signifies; <I>my days are determined,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:5">Job xiv. 5</A>)
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"and that the measure is but short: My days will soon be numbered and
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finished." When we look upon death as a thing at a distance we are
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tempted to adjourn the necessary preparations for it; but, when we
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consider how short life is, we shall see ourselves concerned to do what
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our hand finds to do, not only with all our might, but with all
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possible expedition.
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(3.) That it is continually working in us: "Lord, give me to consider
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how frail I am, how scanty the stock of life is, and how faint the
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spirits which are as the oil to keep that lamp burning." We find by
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daily experience that the earthly house of this tabernacle is
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mouldering and going to decay: "Lord, make us to consider this, that we
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may secure mansions in the house not made with hands."</P>
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<P>
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2. He meditates upon the brevity and vanity of life, pleading them with
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God for relief under the burdens of life, as Job often, and pleading
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them with himself for his quickening to the business of life.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) Man's life on earth is short and of no continuance, and that is a
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reason why we should sit loose to it and prepare for the end of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand-breadth,</I> the breadth of
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four fingers, a certain dimension, a small one, and the measure whereof
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we have always about us, always before our eyes. We need no rod, no
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pole, no measuring line, wherewith to take the dimension of our days,
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nor any skill in arithmetic wherewith to compute the number of them.
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No; we have the standard of them at our fingers' end, and there is no
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multiplication of it; it is but one hand-breadth in all. Our time is
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short, and God has made it so; for <I>the number of our months is with
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him.</I> It is short, and he knows it to be so: It <I>is as nothing
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before thee.</I> he remembers <I>how short our time is,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:47">Ps. lxxix. 47</A>.
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<I>It is nothing in comparison with thee;</I> so some. All time is
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nothing to God's eternity, much less our share of time.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) Man's life on earth is vain and of no value, and therefore it is
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folly to be fond of it and wisdom to make sure of a better life. Adam
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is Abel--<I>man is vanity,</I> in his present state. He is not what he
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seems to be, has not what he promised himself. He and all his comforts
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lie at a continual uncertainty; and if there were not another life
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after this, all things considered, he were made in vain. He is vanity;
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he is mortal, he is mutable. Observe,
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[1.] How emphatically this truth is expressed here. <I>First, Every man
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is vanity,</I> without exception; high and low, rich and poor, all meet
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in this. <I>Secondly,</I> He is <I>so at his best estate,</I> when he
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is young, and strong, and healthful, in wealth and honour, and the
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height of prosperity; when he is most easy, and merry, and secure, and
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thinks his mountain stands strong. <I>Thirdly,</I> He is <I>altogether
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vanity,</I> as vain as you can imagine. <I>All man is all vanity</I>
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(so it may be read); every thing about him is uncertain; nothing is
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substantial and durable but what relates to the new man. <I>Fourthly,
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Verily</I> he is so. This is a truth of undoubted certainty, but which
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we are very unwilling to believe and need to have solemnly attested to
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us, as indeed it is by frequent instances. <I>Fifthly, Selah</I> is
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annexed, as a note commanding observation. "Stop here, and pause
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awhile, that you may take time to consider and apply this truth, that
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every man is vanity." We ourselves are so.
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[2.] For the proof of the vanity of man, as mortal, he here mentions
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three things, and shows the vanity of each of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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<I>First,</I> The vanity of our joys and honours: <I>Surely every man
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walks</I> (even when he walks in state, when he walks in pleasure) in a
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shadow, in an image, <I>in a vain show.</I> When he makes a figure his
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fashion passes away, and his great pomp is but great fancy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+25:23">Acts xxv. 23</A>.
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It is but a show, and therefore a vain show, like the rainbow, the
|
|
gaudy colours of which must needs vanish and disappear quickly when the
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substratum is but a cloud, a vapour; such is life
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:14">Jam. iv. 14</A>),
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and therefore such are all the gaieties of it. <I>Secondly,</I> The
|
|
vanity of our griefs and fears. <I>Surely they are disquieted in
|
|
vain.</I> Our disquietudes are often groundless (we vex ourselves
|
|
without any just cause, and the occasions of our trouble are often the
|
|
creatures of our own fancy and imagination), and they are always
|
|
fruitless; we disquiet ourselves in vain, for we cannot, with all our
|
|
disquietment, alter the nature of things nor the counsel of God; things
|
|
will be as they are when we have disquieted ourselves ever so much
|
|
about them. <I>Thirdly,</I> The vanity of our cares and toils. Man
|
|
takes a great deal of pains to <I>heap up riches,</I> and they are but
|
|
like heaps of manure in the furrows of the field, good for nothing
|
|
unless they be spread. But, when he has filled his treasures with his
|
|
trash, he <I>knows not who shall gather them,</I> nor to whom they
|
|
shall descend when he is gone; for he shall not take them away with
|
|
him. He asks not, <I>For whom do I labour?</I> and that is his folly,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:8">Eccl. iv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, if he did ask, he could not tell whether he should be a wise man
|
|
or a fool, a friend or a foe,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:19">Eccl. ii. 19</A>.
|
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<I>This is vanity.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Ps39_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps39_13"> </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>Confidence in God; David Pleading with God.</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>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope <I>is</I> in thee.
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|
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the
|
|
reproach of the foolish.
|
|
9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst <I>it.</I>
|
|
10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of
|
|
thine hand.
|
|
11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou
|
|
makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man
|
|
<I>is</I> vanity. Selah.
|
|
12 Hear my prayer, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and give ear unto my cry; hold not
|
|
thy peace at my tears: for I <I>am</I> a stranger with thee, <I>and</I> a
|
|
sojourner, as all my fathers <I>were.</I>
|
|
13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence,
|
|
and be no more.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The psalmist, having meditated on the shortness and uncertainty of
|
|
life, and the vanity and vexation of spirit that attend all the
|
|
comforts of life, here, in these verses, turns his eyes and heart
|
|
heaven-ward. When there is no solid satisfaction to be had in the
|
|
creature it is to be found in God, and in communion with him; and to
|
|
him we should be driven by our disappointments in the world. David here
|
|
expresses,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. His dependence on God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Seeing all is vanity, and man himself is so,
|
|
|
|
1. He despairs of a happiness in the things of the world, and disclaims
|
|
all expectations from it: "<I>Now, Lord, what wait I for?</I> Even
|
|
nothing from the things of sense and time; I have nothing to wish for,
|
|
nothing to hope for, from this earth." Note, The consideration of the
|
|
vanity and frailty of human life should deaden our desires to the
|
|
things of this world and lower our expectations from it. "If the world
|
|
be such a thing as this, God deliver me from having, or seeking, my
|
|
portion in it." We cannot reckon upon constant health and prosperity,
|
|
nor upon comfort in any relation; for it is all as uncertain as our
|
|
continuance here. "Though I have sometimes foolishly promised myself
|
|
this and the other from the world, I am now of another mind."
|
|
|
|
2. He takes hold of happiness and satisfaction in God: <I>My hope is in
|
|
thee.</I> Note, When creature-confidences fail, it is our comfort that
|
|
we have a God to go to, a God to trust to, and we should thereby be
|
|
quickened to take so much the faster hold of him by faith.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. His submission to God, and his cheerful acquiescence in his holy
|
|
will,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
If our hope be in God for a happiness in the other world, we may well
|
|
afford to reconcile ourselves to all the dispensations of his
|
|
providence concerning us in this world: "<I>I was dumb; I opened not my
|
|
mouth</I> in a way of complaint and murmuring." He now again recovered
|
|
that serenity and sedateness of mind which were disturbed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Whatever comforts he is deprived of, whatever crosses he is burdened
|
|
with, he will be easy. "<I>Because thou didst it;</I> it did not come
|
|
to pass by chance, but according to thy appointment." We may here see,
|
|
|
|
1. A good God doing all, and ordering all events concerning us. Of
|
|
every event we may say, "This is the finger of God; it is the Lord's
|
|
doing," whoever were the instruments.
|
|
|
|
2. A good man, for that reason, saying nothing against it. He is dumb,
|
|
he has nothing to object, no question to ask, no dispute to raise upon
|
|
it. All that God does is well done.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. His desire towards God, and the prayers he puts up to him. <I>Is
|
|
any afflicted? let him pray,</I> as David here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. For the pardoning of his sin and the preventing of his shame,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Before he prays
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Remove thy stroke from me,</I> he prays
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>Deliver me from all my offences,</I> from the guilt I have
|
|
contracted, the punishment I have deserved, and the power of corruption
|
|
by which I have been enslaved." When God forgives our sins he delivers
|
|
us from them, he delivers us from them all. He pleads, <I>Make me not a
|
|
reproach to the foolish.</I> Wicked people are foolish people; and they
|
|
then show their folly most when they think to show their wit, by
|
|
scoffing at God's people. When David prays that God would pardon his
|
|
sins, and not make him a reproach, it is to be taken as a prayer for
|
|
peace of conscience ("Lord, leave me not to the power of melancholy,
|
|
which the foolish will laugh at me for"), and as a prayer for grace,
|
|
that God would never leave him to himself, so far as to do any thing
|
|
that might make him a reproach to bad men. Note, This is a good reason
|
|
why we should both watch and pray against sin, because the credit of
|
|
our profession is nearly concerned in the preservation of our
|
|
integrity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. For the removal of his affliction, that he might speedily be eased
|
|
of his present burdens
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Remove thy stroke away from me.</I> Note, When we are under the
|
|
correcting hand of God our eye must be to God himself, and not to any
|
|
other, for relief. He only that inflicts the stroke can remove it; and
|
|
we may then in faith, and with satisfaction, pray that our afflictions
|
|
may be removed, when our sins are pardoned
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+38:17">Isa. xxxviii. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
and when, as here, the affliction is sanctified and has done its work,
|
|
and we are humbled under the hand of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He pleads the great extremity he was reduced to by his affliction,
|
|
which made him the proper object of God's compassion: <I>I am consumed
|
|
by the blow of thy hand.</I> His sickness prevailed to such a degree
|
|
that his spirits failed, his strength was wasted, and his body
|
|
emaciated. "The blow, or conflict, of thy hand has brought me even to
|
|
the gates of death." Note, The strongest, and boldest, and best of men
|
|
cannot bear up under, much less make head against, the power of God's
|
|
wrath. It was not his case only, but any man will find himself an
|
|
unequal match for the Almighty,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
When God, at any time, contends with us, when with rebukes he corrects
|
|
us,
|
|
|
|
[1.] We cannot impeach the equity of his controversy, but must
|
|
acknowledge that he is righteous in it; for, whenever he corrects man,
|
|
it is for iniquity. Our ways and our doings procure the trouble to
|
|
ourselves, and we are beaten with a rod of our own making. It is the
|
|
yoke of our transgressions, though it be <I>bound with his hand,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+1:14">Lam. i. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] We cannot oppose the effects of his controversy, but he will be
|
|
too hard for us. As we have nothing to move in arrest of his judgment,
|
|
so we have no way of escaping the execution. God's rebukes make man's
|
|
<I>beauty to consume away like a moth;</I> we often see, we sometimes
|
|
feel, how much the body is weakened and decayed by sickness in a little
|
|
time; the countenance is changed; where are the ruddy cheek and lip,
|
|
the sprightly eye, the lively look, the smiling face? It is the reverse
|
|
of all this that presents itself to view. What a poor thing is beauty;
|
|
and what fools are those that are proud of it, or in love with it, when
|
|
it will certainly, and may quickly, be consumed thus! Some make the
|
|
moth to represent man, who is as easily crushed as a moth with the
|
|
touch of a finger,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+4:19">Job iv. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Others make it to represent the divine rebukes, which silently and
|
|
insensibly waste and consume us, as the moth does the garment. All this
|
|
abundantly proves what he had said before, that surely every man is
|
|
vanity, weak and helpless; so he will be found when God comes to
|
|
contend with him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He pleads the good impressions made upon him by his affliction. He
|
|
hoped that the end was accomplished for which it was sent, and that
|
|
therefore it would be removed in mercy; and unless an affliction has
|
|
done its work, though it may be removed, it is not removed in mercy.
|
|
|
|
[1.] It had set him a weeping, and he hoped God would take notice of
|
|
that. When the Lord God called to mourning, he answered the call and
|
|
accommodated himself to the dispensation, and therefore could, in
|
|
faith, pray, <I>Lord, hold not thy peace at my tears,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that does not willingly afflict and grieve the children of men, much
|
|
less his own children, will not hold his peace at their tears, but will
|
|
either speak deliverance for them (and, if he speak, it is done) or in
|
|
the mean time speak comfort to them and make them to hear joy and
|
|
gladness.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It had set him a praying; and afflictions are sent to stir up
|
|
prayer. If they have that effect, and when we are afflicted we pray
|
|
more, and pray better, than before, we may hope that God will hear our
|
|
prayer and give ear to our cry; for the prayer which by his providence
|
|
he gives occasion for, and which by his Spirit of grace he indites,
|
|
shall not return void.
|
|
|
|
[3.] It had helped to wean him from the world and to take his
|
|
affections off from it. Now he began, more than ever, to look upon
|
|
himself as <I>a stranger and sojourner</I> here, like all his fathers,
|
|
not at home in this world, but travelling through it to another, to a
|
|
better, and would never reckon himself at home till he came to heaven.
|
|
He pleads it with God: "Lord, take cognizance of me, and of my wants
|
|
and burdens, for I am a stranger here, and therefore meet with strange
|
|
usage; I am slighted and oppressed as a stranger; and whence should I
|
|
expect relief but from thee, from that other country to which I
|
|
belong?"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He prays for a reprieve yet a little longer
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>O spare me,</I> ease me, raise me up from this illness that I may
|
|
recover strength both in body and mind, that I may get into a more calm
|
|
and composed frame of spirit, and may be better prepared for another
|
|
world, <I>before I go hence</I> by death, <I>and</I> shall <I>be no
|
|
more</I> in this world." Some make this to be a passionate wish that
|
|
God would send him help quickly or it would be too late, like that,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+10:20,21">Job x. 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
But I rather take it as a pious prayer that God would continue him here
|
|
till by his grace he had made him fit to go hence, and that he might
|
|
finish the work of life before his life was finished. <I>Let my soul
|
|
live, and it shall praise thee.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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