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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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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 XLIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<P>
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This psalm, it is likely, was penned upon the same occasion with the
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former, and, having no title, may be looked upon as an appendix to it;
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the malady presently returning, he had immediate recourse to the same
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remedy, because he had entered it in his book, with a "probatum est--it
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has been proved," upon it. The
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:2,Ps+42:9">second verse</A>
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of this psalm is almost the very same with the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:2,Ps+42:9">ninth verse</A>
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of the foregoing psalm, as the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:5,Ps+42:11">fifth</A>
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of this is exactly the same with the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:5,Ps+42:11">eleventh</A>
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of that. Christ himself, who had the Spirit without measure, when there
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was occasion prayed a second and third time "saying the same words,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+26:44">Matt. xxvi. 44</A>.
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In this psalm.
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I. David appeals to God concerning the injuries that were done him by
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his enemies,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. He prays to God to restore to him the free enjoyment of public
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ordinances again, and promises to make a good improvement of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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III. He endeavours to still the tumult of his own spirit with a lively
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hope and confidence in God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:5">ver. 5</A>),
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and if, in singing this psalm, we labour after these, we sing with
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grace in our hearts.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps43_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps43_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps43_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps43_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps43_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>Appeals and Petitions.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly
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nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
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2 For thou <I>art</I> the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me
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off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
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3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let
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them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
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4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding
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joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
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5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou
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disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him,
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<I>who is</I> the health of my countenance, and my God.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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David here makes application to God, by faith and prayer, as his judge,
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his strength, his guide, his joy, his hope, with suitable affections
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and expressions.</P>
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<P>
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I. As his Judge, his righteous Judge, who he knew would judge him, and
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who (being conscious of his own integrity) he knew would judge for him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>Judge me, O God! and plead my cause.</I> There were those that
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impeached him; against them he is defendant, and from their courts,
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where he stood unjustly convicted and condemned, he appeals to the
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court of heaven, the supreme judicature, praying to have their judgment
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given against him reversed and his innocency cleared. There were those
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that had injured him; against them he is plaintiff, and exhibits his
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complaint to him who is the avenger of wrong, praying for justice for
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himself and upon them. Observe,
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1. Who his enemies were with whom he had this struggle. Here was a
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sinful body of men, whom he calls an <I>ungodly</I> or <I>unmerciful
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nation.</I> Those that are unmerciful make it appear that they are
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ungodly; for, those that have any fear or love of their master will
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have compassion on their fellow-servants. And here was one bad man the
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head of them, a deceitful and unjust man, most probably Saul, who not
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only showed no kindness to David, but dealt most perfidiously and
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dishonestly with him. If Absalom was the man he meant, his character
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was no better. As long as there are such bad men out of hell, and
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nations of them, it is not strange that good men, who are yet out of
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heaven, meet with hard and base treatment. Some think that David, by
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the spirit of prophecy, calculated this psalm for the use of the Jews
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in their captivity in Babylon, and that the Chaldeans are the ungodly
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nation here meant; to them it was very applicable, but only as other
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similar scriptures, none of which are of private interpretation. God
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might design it for their use, whether David did or no.
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2. What is his prayer with reference to them: <I>Judge me.</I> As to
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the quarrel God had with him for sin, he prays, "<I>Enter not into
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judgment with me,</I> for then I shall be condemned;" but, as to the
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quarrel his enemies had with him he prays, "Lord, <I>judge me,</I> for
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I know that I shall be justified; <I>plead my cause against them,</I>
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take my part, and in thy providence appear on my behalf." He that has
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an honest cause may expect that God will plead it. "Plead my cause so
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as to deliver me from them, that they may not have their will against
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me." We must reckon our cause sufficiently pleaded if we be delivered,
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though our enemies be not destroyed.</P>
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<P>
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II. As his strength, his all-sufficient strength; so he eyes God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>Thou art the God of my strength, my God, my strength,</I> from whom
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all my strength is derived, in whom I strengthen myself, who hast often
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strengthened me, and without whom I am weak as water and utterly unable
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either to do or suffer any thing for thee." David now went mourning,
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destitute of spiritual joys, yet he found God to be the God of his
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strength. If we cannot comfort ourselves in God, we may stay ourselves
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upon him, and may have spiritual supports when we want spiritual
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delights. David here pleads this with God: "Thou art the God on whom I
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depend as my strength; why then dost thou cast me off?" This was a
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mistake; for God never cast off any that trusted in him, whatever
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melancholy apprehensions they may have had of their own state. "Thou
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art the God of my strength; why then is my enemy too strong for me, and
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why go I mourning because of his oppressive power?" It is hard to
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reconcile the mighty force of the church's enemies with the almighty
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power of the church's God; but the day will reconcile them when all his
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enemies shall become his footstool.</P>
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<P>
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III. As his guide, his faithful guide
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Lead me, bring me to thy holy hill.</I> He prays,
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1. That God by his providence would bring him back from his banishment,
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and open a way for him again to the free enjoyment of the privileges of
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God's sanctuary. His heart is upon <I>the holy hill and the
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tabernacles,</I> not upon his family-comforts, his court-preferments,
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or his diversions; he could bear the want of these, but he is impatient
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to see God's tabernacles again; nothing so amiable in his eyes as
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those; thither he would gladly be brought back. In order to this he
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prays, "<I>Send out thy light and thy truth;</I> let me have this as a
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fruit of thy favour, which is light, and the performance of thy
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promise, which is truth." We need desire no more to make us happy than
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the good that flows from God's favour and is included in his promise.
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That mercy, that truth, is enough, is all; and, when we see these in
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God's providences, we see ourselves under a very safe conduct. Note,
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Those whom God leads he leads to his holy hill, and to his tabernacles;
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those therefore who pretend to be led by the Spirit, and yet turn their
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backs upon instituted ordinances, certainly deceive themselves.
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2. That God by his grace would bring him into communion with himself,
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and prepare him for the vision and fruition of himself in the other
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world. Some of the Jewish writers by the <I>light</I> and <I>truth</I>
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here understand Messiah the Prince and Elias his forerunner: these have
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come, in answer to the prayers of the Old Testament; but we are still
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to pray for God's light and truth, the Spirit of light and truth, who
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supplies the want of Christ's bodily presence, to lead us into the
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mystery of godliness and to guide us in the way to heaven. When God
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sends his light and truth into our hearts, these will guide us to the
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upper world in all our devotions as well as in all our aims and
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expectations; and, if we conscientiously follow that light and that
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truth, they will certainly bring us to the holy hill above.</P>
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<P>
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IV. As his joy, his exceeding joy. If God guide him to his tabernacles,
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if he restore him to his former liberties, he knows very well what he
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has to do: <I>Then will I go unto the altar of God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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He will get as near as he can unto God, his exceeding joy. Note,
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1. Those that come to the tabernacles should come to the altar; those
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that come to ordinances should qualify themselves to come, and then
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come to special ordinances, to those that are most affecting and most
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binding. The nearer we come, the closer we cleave, to God, the better.
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2. Those that come to the altar of God must see to it that therein they
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come unto God, and draw near to him with the heart, with a true heart:
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we come in vain to holy ordinances if we do not in them come to the
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holy God.
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3. Those that come unto God must come to him as their exceeding joy,
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not only as their future bliss, but as their present joy, and that not
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a common, but an exceeding joy, far exceeding all the joys of sense and
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time. The phrase, in the original, is very emphatic--<I>unto God the
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gladness of my joy,</I> or of my triumph. Whatever we rejoice or
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triumph in God must be the joy of it; all our joy in it must terminate
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in him, and must pass through the gift to the giver.
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4. When we come to God as our exceeding joy our comforts in him must be
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the matter of our praises to him as God, and our God: <I>Upon the harp
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will I praise thee, O God! my God.</I> David excelled at the harp
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+16:16,18">1 Sam. xvi. 16, 18</A>),
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and with that in which he excelled he would praise God; for God is to
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be praised with the best we have; it is fit he should be, for he is the
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best.</P>
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<P>
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V. As his hope, his never-failing hope,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Here, as before, David quarrels with himself for his dejections and
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despondencies, and owns he did ill to yield to them, and that he had no
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reason to do so: <I>Why art thou cast down, O my soul?</I> He then
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quiets himself in the believing expectation he had of giving glory to
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God (<I>Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him</I>) and of enjoying
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glory with God: <I>He is the health of my countenance and my God.</I>
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That is what we cannot too much insist upon, for it is what we must
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live and die by.</P>
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<!-- (End Body) -->
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC19044.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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