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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms XL].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<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 XL.</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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It should seem David penned this psalm upon occasion of his
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deliverance, by the power and goodness of God, from some great and
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pressing trouble, by which he was in danger of being overwhelmed;
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probably it was some trouble of mind arising from a sense of sin and of
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God's displeasure against him for it; whatever it was, the same Spirit
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that indited his praises for that deliverance was in him, at the same
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time, a Spirit of prophecy, testifying of the sufferings of Christ and
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the glory that should follow; or, ere he was aware, he was led to speak
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of his undertaking, and the discharge of his undertaking, in words that
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must be applied to Christ only; and therefore how far the praises that
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here go before that illustrious prophecy, and the prayers that follow,
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may safely and profitably be applied to him it will be worth while to
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consider. In this psalm,
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I. David records God's favour to him in delivering him out of his deep
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distress, with thankfulness to his praise,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40+1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. Thence he takes occasion to speak of the work of our redemption by
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Christ,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40+6-10">ver. 6-10</A>.
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III. That gives him encouragement to pray to God for mercy and grace
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both for himself and for his friends,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40+11-17">ver. 11-17</A>.
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If, in singing this psalm, we mix faith with the prophecy of Christ,
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and join in sincerity with the praises and prayers here offered up, we
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make melody wit our hearts to the Lord.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps40_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps40_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps40_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps40_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps40_5"> </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 Benefit of Confidence in 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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<CENTER>
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<P>To the chief musician. A psalm of David.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 I waited patiently for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>;
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and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
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2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry
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clay, and set my feet upon a rock, <I>and</I> established my goings.
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3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, <I>even</I> praise unto
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our God: many shall see <I>it,</I> and fear, and shall trust in the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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4 Blessed <I>is</I> that man that maketh the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> his trust, and
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respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
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5 Many, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> my God, <I>are</I> thy wonderful works <I>which</I> thou
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hast done, and thy thoughts <I>which are</I> to us-ward: they cannot
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be reckoned up in order unto thee: <I>if</I> I would declare and speak
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<I>of them,</I> they are more than can be numbered.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. The great distress and trouble that the psalmist had been in. He had
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been plunged into a horrible pit and into miry clay
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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out of which he could not work himself, and in which he found himself
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sinking yet further. He says nothing here either of the sickness of his
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body or the insults of his enemies, and therefore we have reason to
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think it was some inward disquiet and perplexity of spirit that was now
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his greatest grievance. Despondency of spirit under the sense of Gods
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withdrawings, and prevailing doubts and fears about the eternal state,
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are indeed a horrible pit and miry clay, and have been so to many a
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dear child of God.</P>
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<P>
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II. His humble attendance upon God and his believing expectations from
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him in those depths: <I>I waited patiently for the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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<I>Waiting, I waited.</I> He expected relief from no other than from God;
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the same hand that tears must heal, that smites must bind up
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:1">Hos. vi. 1</A>),
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or it will never be done. From God he expected relief, and he was big
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with expectation, not doubting but it would come in due time. There is
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power enough in God to help the weakest, and grace enough in God to
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help the unworthiest, of all his people that trust in him. But he
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waited patiently, which intimates that the relief did not come quickly;
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yet he doubted not but it would come, and resolved to continue
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believing, and hoping, and praying, till it did come. Those whose
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expectation is from God may wait with assurance, but must wait with
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patience. Now this is very applicable to Christ. His agony, both in the
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garden and on the cross, was the same continued, and it was a horrible
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pit and miry clay. Then was his soul troubled and exceedingly
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sorrowful; but then he prayed, <I>Father, glorify thy name; Father,
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save me;</I> then he kept hold of his relation to his Father, "My God,
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my God," and thus waited patiently for him.</P>
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<P>
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III. His comfortable experience of God's goodness to him in his
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distress, which he records for the honour of God and his own and
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others' encouragement.</P>
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<P>
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1. God answered his prayers: <I>He inclined unto me and heard my
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cry.</I> Those that wait patiently for God, though they may wait long,
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do not wait in vain. Our Lord Jesus was <I>heard in that he feared,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+5:7">Heb. v. 7</A>.
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Nay, he was sure that the Father heard him always.</P>
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<P>
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2. He silenced his fears, and stilled the tumult of his spirits, and
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gave him a settled peace of conscience
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"He <I>brought me up out of that horrible pit</I> of despondency and
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despair, scattered the clouds, and shone brightly upon my soul, with
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the assurances of his favour; and not only so, but <I>set my feet upon
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a rock and established my goings.</I>" Those that have been under the
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prevalency of a religious melancholy, and by the grace of God have been
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relieved, may apply this very feelingly to themselves; they are brought
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up out of a horrible pit.
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(1.) The mercy is completed by the setting of their feet upon a rock,
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where they find firm footing, are as much elevated with the hopes of
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heaven as they were before cast down with the fears of hell. Christ is
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the rock on which a poor soul may stand fast, and on whose meditation
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alone between us and God we can build any solid hopes or satisfaction.
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(2.) It is continued in the establishment of their goings. Where God
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has given a stedfast hope he expects there should be a steady regular
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conversation; and, if that be the blessed fruit of it, we have reason
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to acknowledge, with abundance of thankfulness, the riches and power of
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his grace.</P>
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<P>
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3. He filled him with joy, as well as peace, in believing: "<I>He has
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put a new song in my mouth;</I> he has given me cause to rejoice and a
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heart to rejoice." He was brought, as it were, into a new world, and
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that filled his mouth with a new song, <I>even praise to our God;</I>
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for to his praise and glory must all our songs be sung. Fresh mercies,
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especially such as we never before received, call for new songs. This
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is applicable to our Lord Jesus in his reception to paradise, his
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resurrection from the grave, and his exaltation to the joy and glory
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set before him; he was brought out of the horrible pit, set upon a
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rock, and had a new song put into his mouth.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The good improvement that should be made of this instance of God's
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goodness to David.</P>
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<P>
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1. David's experience would be an encouragement to many to hope in God,
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and, for that end, he leaves it here upon record: <I>Many shall see,
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and fear, and trust in the Lord.</I> They shall fear the Lord and his
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justice, which brought David, and the Son of David, into that horrible
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pit, and shall say, <I>If this be done to the green tree, what shall be
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done to the dry?</I> They shall fear the Lord and his goodness, in
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filling the mouth of David, and the Son of David, with new songs of joy
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and praise. There is a holy reverent fear of God, which is not only
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consistent with, but the foundation of, our hope in him. They shall not
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fear him and shun him, but fear him and trust in him in their greatest
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straits, not doubting but to find him as able and ready to help as
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David did in his distress. God's dealings with our Lord Jesus are our
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great encouragement to trust in God; when it pleased the Lord to bruise
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him, and put him to grief for our sins, he demanded our debt from him;
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and when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
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hand, he made it to appear that he had accepted the payment he made and
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was satisfied with it; and what greater encouragement can we have to
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fear and worship God and to<I>trust in him?.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:25,5:1,2">Rom. iv. 25; v. 1, 2</A>.
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The psalmist invites others to make God their hope, as he did, by
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pronouncing those happy that do so
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>Blessed is the man that makes the Lord his trust,</I> and him only
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(that has great and good thoughts of him, and is entirely devoted to
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him), <I>and respects not the proud,</I> does not do as those do that
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trust in themselves, nor depends upon those who proudly encourage
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others to trust in them; for both the one and the other turn aside to
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lies, as indeed all those do that turn aside from God." This is
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applicable, particularly, to our faith in Christ. Blessed are those
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that trust in him, and in his righteousness alone, and respect not the
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proud Pharisees, that set up their own righteousness in competition
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with that, that will not be governed by their dictates, nor turn aside
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to lies, with the unbelieving Jews, who <I>submit not to the
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righteousness of God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:3">Rom. x. 3</A>.
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Blessed are those that escape this temptation.</P>
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<P>
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2. The joyful sense he had of this mercy led him to observe, with
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thankfulness, the many other favours he had received from God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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When God puts new songs into our mouth we must not forget our former
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songs, but repeat them: "<I>Many, O Lord my God! are thy wonderful
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works which thou hast done,</I> both for me and others; this is but one
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of many." Many are the benefits with which we are daily loaded both by
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the providence and by the grace of God.
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(1.) They are his works, not only the gifts of his bounty, but the
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operations of his power. He works for us, he works in us, and thus he
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favours us with matter, not only for thanks, but for praise.
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(2.) They are his wonderful works, the contrivance of them admirable,
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his condescension to us in bestowing them upon us admirable; eternity
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itself will be short enough to be spent in the admiration of them.
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(3.) All his wonderful works are the product of his thoughts to
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us-ward. He does all <I>according to the counsel of his own will</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+1:11">Eph. i. 11</A>),
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the purposes of his grace <I>which he purposed in himself,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+3:11">Eph. iii. 11</A>.
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They are the projects of infinite wisdom, the designs of everlasting
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love
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:7,Jer+31:3">1 Cor. ii. 7, Jer. xxxi. 3</A>),
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<I>thoughts of good and not of evil,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+29:11">Jer. xxix. 11</A>.
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His gifts and callings will <I>therefore</I> be without repentance,
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because they are not sudden resolves, but the result of his thoughts,
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his many thoughts, to us-ward.
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(4.) They are innumerable; they cannot be methodized or <I>reckoned up
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in order.</I> There is an order in all God's works, but there are so
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many that present themselves to our view at once that we know not where
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to begin nor which to name next; the order of them, and their natural
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references and dependencies, and how the links of the golden chain are
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joined, are a mystery to us, and what we shall not be able to account
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for till the veil be rent and the mystery of God finished. Nor can they
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be counted, not the very heads of them. When we have said the most we
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can of the wonders of divine love to us we must conclude with an <I>et
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cætera--and such like,</I> and adore the depth, despairing to
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find the bottom.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps40_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps40_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps40_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps40_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps40_10"> </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>Insufficiency of the Legal Sacrifices; The Efficacy of Christ's Sacrifice.</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>6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast
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thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not
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required.
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7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book <I>it is</I>
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written of me,
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8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law <I>is</I> within
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my heart.
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9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo,
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I have not refrained my lips, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, thou knowest.
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10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have
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declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed
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thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The psalmist, being struck with amazement at the wonderful works that
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God had done for his people, is strangely carried out here to foretel
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that work of wonder which excels all the rest and is the foundation and
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fountain of all, that of our redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ. God's
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thoughts, which were to us-ward concerning that work, were the most
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curious, the most copious, the most gracious, and therefore to be most
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admired. This paragraph is quoted by the apostle
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:5-7">Heb. x. 5</A>,
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&c.) and applied to Christ and his undertaking for us. As in the
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institutions, so in the devotions, of the Old Testament saints were
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aware of; and, when the apostle would show us the Redeemer's voluntary
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undertaking of his work, he does not fetch his account out of the book
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of God's secret counsels, which belong not to us, but from the things
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revealed. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The utter insufficiency of the legal sacrifices to atone for sin in
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order to our peace with God and our happiness in him: <I>Sacrifice and
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offering thou didst not desire;</I> thou wouldst not have the Redeemer
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to offer them. Something he must have to offer, but not these
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+8:3">Heb. viii. 3</A>);
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therefore he must not be of the house of Aaron,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:14">Heb. vii. 14</A>.
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Or, In the days of the Messiah burnt-offering and sin-offering will be
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no longer required, but all those ceremonial institutions will be
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abolished. But that is not all: even while the law concerning them was
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in full force it might be said, God did not desire them, nor accept
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them, for their own sake. They could not take away the guilt of sin by
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satisfying God's justice. The life of a sheep, which is so much
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inferior in value to that of a man
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:12">Matt. xii. 12</A>),
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could not pretend to be an equivalent, much less an expedient to
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preserve the honour of God's government and laws and repair the injury
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done to that honour by the sin of man. They could not take away the
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terror of sin by pacifying the conscience, nor the power of sin by
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sanctifying the nature; it was impossible,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+9:9,10:1-4">Heb. ix. 9; x. 1-4</A>.
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What there was in them that was valuable resulted from their reference
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to Jesus Christ, of whom they were types--shadows indeed, but shadows
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of good things to come, and trials of the faith and obedience of God's
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people, of their obedience of God's people, of their obedience to the
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law and their faith in the gospel. But the substance must come, which
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is Christ, who must bring that glory to God and that grace to man which
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it was impossible those sacrifices should ever do.</P>
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|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The designation of our Lord Jesus to the work and office of
|
|
Mediator: <I>My ears hast thou opened.</I> God the Father disposed him
|
|
to the undertaking
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:5,6">Isa. l. 5, 6</A>)
|
|
|
|
and then obliged him to go through with it. <I>My ear hast thou
|
|
digged.</I> It is supposed to allude to the law and custom of binding
|
|
servants to serve for ever by boring their ear to the doorpost; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+21:6">Exod. xxi. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Our Lord Jesus was so in love with his undertaking that he would not go
|
|
out free from it, and therefore engaged to persevere for ever in it;
|
|
and for this reason <I>he is able to save us to the uttermost,</I>
|
|
because he has engaged to serve his Father to the uttermost, who
|
|
upholds him in it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+42:1">Isa. xlii. 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. His own voluntary consent to this undertaking: "<I>Then said I,
|
|
Lo, I come;</I> then, when sacrifice and offering would not do, rather
|
|
than the work should be undone; I said, Lo, I come, to enter the lists
|
|
with the powers of darkness, and to advance the interests of God's
|
|
glory and kingdom." This intimates three things:--
|
|
|
|
1. That he freely offered himself to this service, to which he was
|
|
under no obligation at all prior to his own voluntary engagement. It
|
|
was no sooner proposed to him than, with the greatest cheerfulness, he
|
|
consented to it, and was wonderfully well pleased with the undertaking.
|
|
Had he not been perfectly voluntary in it, he could not have been a
|
|
surety, he could not have been a sacrifice; for it is by this will
|
|
(this <I>animus offerentis--mind of the offerer</I>) that we are
|
|
sanctified,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:10">Heb. x. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. That he firmly obliged himself to it: "I come; I promise to come in
|
|
the fulness of time." And therefore the apostle says, "It was when he
|
|
came into the world that he had an actual regard to this promise, by
|
|
which he had <I>engaged his heart to approach unto God.</I>" He thus
|
|
entered into bonds, not only to show the greatness of his love, but
|
|
because he was to have the honour of his undertaking before he had
|
|
fully performed it. Though the price was not paid, it was secured to
|
|
be paid, so that he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
|
|
world.
|
|
|
|
3. That he frankly owned himself engaged: He said, <I>Lo, I come,</I>
|
|
said it all along to the Old Testament saints, who therefore knew him
|
|
by the title of <B><I>ho erchomenos</I></B>--<I>He that should
|
|
come.</I> This word was the foundation on which they built their faith
|
|
and hope, and which they looked and longed for the accomplishment
|
|
of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The reason why he came, in pursuance of his undertaking--because
|
|
<I>in the volume of the book it was written of him,</I>
|
|
|
|
1. In the close rolls of the divine decree and counsel; there it was
|
|
written that his ear was opened, and he said, <I>Lo, I come;</I> there
|
|
the covenant of redemption was recorded, the counsel of redemption was
|
|
recorded, the counsel of peace between the Father and the Son; and to
|
|
that he had an eye in all he did, the commandment he received of his
|
|
Father.
|
|
|
|
2. In the letters patent of the Old Testament. Moses and all the
|
|
prophets testified of him; in all the volumes of that book something or
|
|
other was written of him, which he had an eye to, that all might be
|
|
accomplished,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+19:28">John xix. 28</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The pleasure he took in his undertaking. Having freely offered
|
|
himself to it, he did not fail, nor was discouraged, but proceeded with
|
|
all possible satisfaction to himself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I delight to do thy will, O my God!</I> It was to Christ his me at
|
|
and drink to go on with the work appointed to him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:34">John iv. 34</A>);
|
|
|
|
and the reason here given is, <I>Thy law is within my heart;</I> it is
|
|
written there, it rules there. It is meant of the law concerning the
|
|
work and office of the Mediator, what he was to do and suffer; this law
|
|
was dear to him and had an influence upon him in his whole undertaking.
|
|
Note, When the law of God is written in our hearts our duty will be our
|
|
delight.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. The publication of the gospel to the children of men, even <I>in
|
|
the great congregation,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The same that as a priest wrought out redemption for us, as a prophet,
|
|
by his own preaching first, then by his apostles, and still by his word
|
|
and Spirit, makes it know to us. The <I>great salvation began to be
|
|
spoken by the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:3">Heb. ii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is the gospel of Christ that is preached to all nations. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What it is that is preached: It is <I>righteousness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
God's righteousness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
the everlasting righteousness which Christ has brought in
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:24">Dan. ix. 24</A>);
|
|
|
|
compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:16,17">Rom. i. 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is God's <I>faithfulness</I> to his promise, and the salvation which
|
|
had long been looked for. It is God's <I>lovingkindness</I> and his
|
|
<I>truth,</I> his mercy according to his word. Note, In the work of our
|
|
redemption we ought to take notice how brightly all the divine
|
|
attributions shine, and give to God the praise of each of them.
|
|
|
|
2. To whom it is preached--<I>to the great congregation,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>
|
|
|
|
and again
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
When Christ was here on earth he preached to multitudes, thousands at a
|
|
time. The gospel was preached both to Jews and Gentiles, to great
|
|
congregations of both. Solemn religious assemblies are a divine
|
|
institution, and in them the glory of God, in the face of Christ, ought
|
|
to be both praised to the glory of God and preached for the edification
|
|
of men.
|
|
|
|
3. How it is preached--freely and openly: <I>I have not refrained my
|
|
lips; I have not hid it; I have not concealed it.</I> This intimates
|
|
that whoever undertook to preach the gospel of Christ would be in great
|
|
temptation to hide it and conceal it, because it must be preached with
|
|
great contention and in the face of great opposition; but Christ
|
|
himself, and those whom he called to that work, set their faces <I>as a
|
|
flint</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:7">Isa. l. 7</A>)
|
|
|
|
and were wonderfully carried on in it. It is well for us that they were
|
|
so, for by this means our eyes come to see this joyful light and our
|
|
ears to hear this joyful sound, which otherwise we might for ever have
|
|
perished in ignorance of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps40_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps40_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps40_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps40_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps40_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps40_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps40_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Encouragement in Prayer.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: let
|
|
thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.
|
|
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine
|
|
iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look
|
|
up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart
|
|
faileth me.
|
|
13 Be pleased, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, to deliver me: O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, make haste to
|
|
help me.
|
|
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after
|
|
my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to
|
|
shame that wish me evil.
|
|
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say
|
|
unto me, Aha, aha.
|
|
16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee:
|
|
let such as love thy salvation say continually, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> be
|
|
magnified.
|
|
17 But I <I>am</I> poor and needy; <I>yet</I> the Lord thinketh upon me:
|
|
thou <I>art</I> my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The psalmist, having meditated upon the work of redemption, and spoken
|
|
of it in the person of the Messiah, now comes to make improvement of
|
|
the doctrine of his mediation between us and God, and therefore speaks
|
|
in his own person. Christ having done his Father's will, and finished
|
|
his work, and given orders for the preaching of the gospel to every
|
|
creature, we are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace, for
|
|
mercy and grace.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. This may encourage us to pray for the mercy of God, and to put
|
|
ourselves under the protection of that mercy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Lord, thou hast not spared thy Son, nor withheld him; <I>withhold not
|
|
thou thy tender mercies</I> then, which thou hast laid up for us in
|
|
him; for wilt thou not <I>with him also freely give us all things?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:32">Rom. viii. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.</I>"
|
|
The best saints are in continual danger, and see themselves undone if
|
|
they be not continually preserved by the grace of God; and the
|
|
everlasting lovingkindness and truth of God are what we have to depend
|
|
upon for our preservation to the heavenly kingdom,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+61:7">Ps. lxi. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. This may encourage us in reference to the guilt of sin, that Jesus
|
|
Christ has done that towards our discharge from it which sacrifice and
|
|
offering could not do. See here,
|
|
|
|
1. The frightful sight he had of sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was it that made the discovery he was now favoured with of a
|
|
Redeemer very welcome to him. He saw his iniquities to be evils, the
|
|
worst of evils; he saw that they <I>compassed him about;</I> in all the
|
|
reviews of his life, and his reflections upon each step of it, still he
|
|
discovered something amiss. The threatening consequences of his sin
|
|
surrounded him. Look which way he would, he saw some mischief or other
|
|
waiting for him, which he was conscious to himself his sins had
|
|
deserved. He saw them taking hold of him, arresting him, as the bailiff
|
|
does the poor debtor; he saw them to be innumerable and <I>more than
|
|
the hairs of his head.</I> Convinced awakened consciences are
|
|
apprehensive of danger from the numberless number of the sins of
|
|
infirmity which seem small as hairs, but, being numerous, are very
|
|
dangerous. <I>Who can understand his errors?</I> God numbers our hairs
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:30">Matt. x. 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
which yet we cannot number; so he keeps an account of our sins, which
|
|
we keep no account of. The sight of sin so oppressed him that he could
|
|
not hold up his head--<I>I am not able to look up;</I> much less could
|
|
he keep up his heart--<I>therefore my heart fails me.</I> Note, The
|
|
sight of our sins in their own colours would drive us to distraction,
|
|
if we had not at the same time some sight of a Saviour.
|
|
|
|
2. The careful recourse he had to God under the sense of sin
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
seeing himself brought by his sins to the very brink of ruin, eternal
|
|
ruin, with what a holy passion does he cry out, "<I>Be pleased, O Lord!
|
|
to deliver me</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
O save me from the wrath to come, and the present terrors I am in
|
|
through the apprehensions of that wrath! I am undone, I die, I perish,
|
|
without speedy relief. In a case of this nature, where the bliss of an
|
|
immortal soul is concerned, delays are dangerous; therefore, <I>O Lord!
|
|
make haste to help me.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. This may encourage us to hope for victory over our spiritual
|
|
enemies that seek after our souls to destroy them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
the roaring lion that goes about continually seeking to devour. If
|
|
Christ has triumphed over them, we through him, shall be more than
|
|
conquerors. In the belief of this we may pray, with humble boldness,
|
|
<I>Let them be ashamed and confounded together,</I> and <I>driven
|
|
backward,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Let them be desolate,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Both the conversion of a sinner and the glorification of a saint are
|
|
great disappointments to Satan, who does his utmost, with all his power
|
|
and subtlety, to hinder both. Now, our Lord Jesus having undertaken to
|
|
bring about the salvation of all his chosen, we may in faith pray that,
|
|
in both these ways, that great adversary may be confounded. When a
|
|
child of God is brought into that horrible pit, and the miry clay,
|
|
Satan cries <I>Aha! aha!</I> thinking he has gained his point; but he
|
|
shall rage when he sees the brand plucked out of the fire, and shall be
|
|
<I>desolate, for a reward of his shame. The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan!
|
|
The accuser of the brethren is cast out.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. This may encourage all that seek God, and love his salvation, to
|
|
rejoice in him and to praise him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
See here,
|
|
|
|
1. The character of good people. Conformably to the laws of natural
|
|
religion, they seek God, desire his favour, and in all their exigencies
|
|
apply to him, as a people should seek unto their God; and conformably
|
|
to the laws of revealed religion they <I>love his salvation,</I> that
|
|
great salvation of which the prophets enquired and searched diligently,
|
|
which the Redeemer undertook to work out when he said, <I>Lo, I
|
|
come.</I> All that shall be saved love the salvation not only as a
|
|
salvation from hell, but a salvation from sin.
|
|
|
|
2. The happiness secured to good people by this prophetic prayer. Those
|
|
that seek God shall <I>rejoice and be glad in him,</I> and with good
|
|
reason, for he will not only be found of them but will be their
|
|
bountiful rewarder. Those that love his salvation shall be filled with
|
|
the joy of his salvation, and shall <I>say continually, The Lord be
|
|
magnified;</I> and thus they shall have a heaven upon earth. Blessed
|
|
are those that are thus still praising God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. This may encourage the saints, in distress and affliction, to trust
|
|
in God and comfort themselves in him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
David himself was one of these: <I>I am poor and needy</I> (a king,
|
|
perhaps now on the throne, and yet, being troubled in spirit, he calls
|
|
himself <I>poor and needy,</I> in want and distress, lost and undone
|
|
without a Saviour), <I>yet the Lord thinketh upon me</I> in and through
|
|
the Mediator, by whom we are made accepted. Men forget the poor and
|
|
needy, and seldom think of them; but God's thoughts, towards them
|
|
(which he had spoken of
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
|
|
|
|
are their support and comfort. They may assure themselves that God is
|
|
their help under their troubles, and will be, in due time, their
|
|
deliverer out of their troubles, and will make no long tarrying; for
|
|
<I>the vision is for an appointed time,</I> and therefore, <I>though it
|
|
tarry,</I> we may <I>wait for it,</I> for it shall come; <I>it will
|
|
come, it will not tarry.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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