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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 XCV.</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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For the expounding of this psalm we may borrow a great deal of light
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from the apostle's discourse,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:1-4:16">Heb. iii. and iv.</A>,
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where it appears both to have been penned by David and to have been
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calculated for the days of the Messiah; for it is there said expressly
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:7">Heb. iv. 7</A>)
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that the day here spoken of
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:7">ver. 7</A>)
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is to be understood of the gospel day, in which God speaks to us by his
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Son in a voice which we are concerned to hear, and proposes to us a
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rest besides that of Canaan. In singing psalms it is intended,
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I. That we should "make melody unto the Lord;" this we are here
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excited to do, and assisted in doing, being called upon to praise God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>)
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as a great God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:3-5">ver. 3-5</A>)
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and as our gracious benefactor,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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II. That we should teach and admonish ourselves and one another; and we
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are here taught and warned to hear God's voice
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:7">ver. 7</A>),
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and not to harden our hearts, as the Israelites in the wilderness did
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:8,9">ver. 8, 9</A>),
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lest we fall under God's wrath and fall short of his rest, as they did,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:10,11">ver. 10, 11</A>.
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This psalm must be sung with a holy reverence of God's majesty and a
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dread of his justice, with a desire to please him and a fear to offend
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him.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps95_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_7a"> </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>Invitation to Praise God; Motives to Praise.</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 O come, let us sing unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: let us make a joyful noise
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to the rock of our salvation.
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2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a
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joyful noise unto him with psalms.
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3 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> a great God, and a great King above all
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gods.
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4 In his hand <I>are</I> the deep places of the earth: the strength
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of the hills <I>is</I> his also.
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5 The sea <I>is</I> his, and he made it: and his hands formed the
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dry <I>land.</I>
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6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our maker.
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7 For he <I>is</I> our God; and we <I>are</I> the people of his
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pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The psalmist here, as often elsewhere, stirs up himself and others to
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praise God; for it is a duty which ought to be performed with the most
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lively affections, and which we have great need to be excited to, being
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very often backward to it and cold in it. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. How God is to be praised.
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1. With holy joy and delight in him. The praising song must be <I>a
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joyful noise,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>
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and again
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Spiritual joy is the heart and soul of thankful praise. It is the will
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of God (such is the condescension of his grace) that when we give glory
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to him as a being infinitely perfect and blessed we should, at the same
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time, <I>rejoice in him</I> as our Father and King, and a God in
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covenant with us.
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2. With humble reverence, and a holy awe of him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>Let us worship, and bow down, and kneel before him,</I> as becomes
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those who know what an infinite distance there is between us and God,
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how much we are in danger of his wrath and in need of his mercy."
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Though <I>bodily exercise,</I> alone, <I>profits little,</I> yet
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certainly it is our duty to glorify God with our bodies by the outward
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expressions of reverence, seriousness, and humility, in the duties of
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religious worship.
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3. We must praise God with our voice; we must speak forth, sing forth,
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his praises out of the abundance of a heart filled with love, and joy,
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and thankfulness--<I>Sing to the Lord; make a noise, a joyful noise to
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him, with psalms</I>--as those who are ourselves much affected with his
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greatness and goodness, are forward to own ourselves so, are desirous
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to be more and more affected therewith, and would willingly be
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instrumental to kindle and inflame the same pious and devout affection
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in others also.
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4. We must praise God in concert, in the solemn assemblies: "<I>Come,
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let us sing;</I> let us join in singing to the Lord; not others without
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me, nor I alone, but others with me. <I>Let us come</I> together
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<I>before his presence,</I> in the courts of his house, where his
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people are wont to attend him and to expect his manifestations of
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himself." Whenever we come into God's presence we must come with
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thanksgiving that we are admitted to such a favour; and, whenever we
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have thanks to give, we must <I>come before God's presence,</I> set
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ourselves before him, and present ourselves to him in the ordinances
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which he has appointed.</P>
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<P>
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II. Why God is to be praised and what must be the matter of our praise.
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We do not want matter; it were well if we did not want a heart. We must
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praise God,</P>
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<P>
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1. Because he is <I>a great God,</I> and sovereign Lord of all,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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He is great, and therefore <I>greatly to be praised.</I> He is infinite
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and immense, and has all perfection in himself.
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(1.) He has great power: <I>He is a great King above all gods,</I>
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above all deputed deities, all magistrates, to whom he said, <I>You are
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gods</I> (he manages them all, and serves his own purposes by them, and
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to him they are all accountable), above all counterfeit deities, all
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pretenders, all usurpers; he can do that which none of them can do; he
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can, and will, famish and vanquish them all.
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(2.) He has great possessions. This lower world is here particularly
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specified. We reckon those great men who have large territories, which
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they call their own against all the world, which yet are a very
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inconsiderable part of the universe: how great then is that God whose
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<I>the whole earth is, and the fulness thereof,</I> not only under
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whose feet it is, as he has an incontestable dominion over all the
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creatures and a propriety in them, but in whose hand it is, as he has
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the actual directing and disposing of all
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>);
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even <I>the deep places of the earth,</I> which are out of our sight,
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subterraneous springs and mines, <I>are in his hand;</I> and <I>the
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height of the hills</I> which are out of our reach, whatever grows or
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feeds upon them, <I>is his also.</I> This may be taken figuratively:
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the meanest of the children of men, who are as the low places of the
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earth, are not beneath his cognizance; and the greatest, who are as the
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strength of the hills, are not above his control. Whatever strength is
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in any creature it is derived from God and employed for him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>The sea is his,</I> and all that is in it (the waves fulfil his
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word); it is his, for <I>he made it,</I> gathered its waters and fixed
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its shores; <I>the dry land,</I> though given to the children of men,
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is his too, for he still reserved the property to himself; it is his,
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for <I>his hands formed</I> it, when his word made <I>the dry land</I>
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appear. His being the Creator of all makes him, without dispute, the
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owner of all. This being a gospel psalm, we may very well suppose that
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it is the Lord Jesus whom we are here taught to praise. He <I>is a
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great God;</I> the mighty God is one of his titles, and <I>God over
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all, blessed for evermore.</I> As Mediator, he is <I>a great King above
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all gods;</I> by him kings reign; and angels, principalities, and
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powers, are subject to him; <I>by him,</I> as the eternal Word, <I>all
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things were made</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:3">John i. 3</A>),
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and it was fit he should be the restorer and reconciler of all who was
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the Creator of all,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:16,20">Col. i. 16, 20</A>.
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To him all power is given both in heaven and in earth, and into his
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hand all things are delivered. It is he that sets one foot on the sea
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and the other on the earth, as sovereign Lord of both
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+10:2">Rev. x. 2</A>),
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and therefore to him we must sing our songs of praise, and before him
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we must <I>worship and bow down.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. Because he is our God, not only has a dominion over us, as he has
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over all the creatures, but stands in special relation to us
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>He is our God,</I> and therefore it is expected we should praise
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him; who will, if we do not? What else did he make us for but that we
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should <I>be to him for a name and a praise?</I>
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(1.) He is our Creator, and the author of our being; we must <I>kneel
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before the Lord our Maker,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Idolaters kneel before gods which they themselves made; we kneel before
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a God who made us and all the world and who is therefore our rightful
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proprietor; for his we are, and not our own.
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(2.) He is our Saviour, and the author of our blessedness. He is here
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called <I>the rock of our salvation</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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not only the founder, but the very foundation, of that work of wonder,
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on whom it is built. <I>That rock is Christ;</I> to him therefore we
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must sing our songs of praises, <I>to him that sits upon the throne and
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to the Lamb.</I>
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(3.) We are therefore his, under all possible obligations: <I>We are
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the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.</I> All the
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children of men are so; they are fed and led by his Providence, which
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cares for them, and conducts them, as the shepherd the sheep. We must
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praise him, not only because he made us, but because he preserves and
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maintains us, and our breath and ways are in his hand. All the
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church's children are in a special manner so; Israel <I>are the people
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of his pasture and the sheep of his hand;</I> and therefore he demands
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their homage in a special manner. The gospel church is his flock.
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Christ is the great and good Shepherd of it. We, as Christians, are led
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by his hand into the green pastures, by him we are protected and well
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provided for, to his honour and service we are entirely devoted as a
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peculiar people, and therefore to him must be <I>glory in the
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churches</I> (whether it be in the world or no) <I>throughout all
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ages,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+3:21">Eph. iii. 21</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps95_7b"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps95_11"> </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>Warning against Hardness of Heart.</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>7--To day if ye will hear his voice,
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8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, <I>and</I> as <I>in</I>
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the day of temptation in the wilderness:
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9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
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10 Forty years long was I grieved with <I>this</I> generation, and
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said, It <I>is</I> a people that do err in their heart, and they have
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not known my ways:
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11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter
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into my rest.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The latter part of this psalm, which begins in the middle of a verse,
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is an exhortation to those who sing gospel psalms to live gospel lives,
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and to hear the voice of God's word; otherwise, how can they expect
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that he should hear the voice of their prayers and praises?
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The duty required of all those that <I>are the people of</I>
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Christ's <I>pasture and the sheep of his hand.</I> He expects that they
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<I>hear his voice,</I> for he has said, <I>My sheep hear my voice,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+10:27">John x. 27</A>.
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<I>We are his people,</I> say they. Are you so? Then <I>hear his
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voice.</I> If you call him <I>Master,</I> or <I>Lord,</I> then <I>do
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the things which he says,</I> and be his willing obedient people. Hear
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the voice of his doctrine, of his law, and, in both, of his Spirit;
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hear and heed; hear and yield. <I>Hear his voice,</I> and not the
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<I>voice of a stranger. If you will hear his voice;</I> some take it as
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a wish, <I>O that you would hear his voice!</I> that you would be so
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wise, and do so well for yourselves; like that, <I>If thou hadst
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known</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:42">Luke xix. 42</A>),
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that is, O that thou hadst known! Christ's voice must be heard
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<I>to-day;</I> this the apostle lays much stress upon, applying it to
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the gospel day. While he is speaking to you see that you attend to him,
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for this day of your opportunities will not last always; improve it,
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therefore, <I>while it is called to-day,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+3:13,15">Heb. iii. 13, 15</A>.
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Hearing the voice of Christ is the same with believing. <I>To-day,</I>
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if by faith you accept the gospel offer, well and good, but to-morrow
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it may be too late. In a matter of such vast importance nothing is more
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dangerous than delay.</P>
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<P>
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II. The sin they are warned against, as inconsistent with the believing
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obedient ear required, and that is hardness of heart. <I>If you will
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hear his voice,</I> and profit by what you hear, then do <I>not harden
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your hearts;</I> for the seed sown on the rock never brought any fruit
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to perfection. The Jews <I>therefore</I> believed not the gospel of
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Christ because <I>their hearts were hardened;</I> they were not
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convinced of the evil of sin, and of their danger by reason of sin, and
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therefore they regarded not the offer of salvation; they would not bend
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to the yoke of Christ, nor yield to his demands; and, if the sinner's
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heart be hardened, it is his own act and deed (he hardening it himself)
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and he alone shall bear the blame for ever.</P>
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<P>
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III. The example they are warned by, which is that of the Israelites in
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the wilderness.</P>
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<P>
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1. "Take heed of sinning as they did, lest you be shut out of the
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everlasting rest as they were out of Canaan." <I>Be not, as your
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fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:8">Ps. lxxxviii. 8</A>.
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Thus here, <I>Harden not your heart as</I> you did (that is, your
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ancestors) <I>in the provocation,</I> or in <I>Meribah,</I> the place
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where they quarrelled with God and Moses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+17:2-7">Exod. xvii. 2-7</A>),
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<I>and in the day of temptation in the wilderness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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So often did they provoke God by their distrusts and murmurings that
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the whole time of their continuance in the wilderness might be called a
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<I>day of temptation,</I> or <I>Massah,</I> the other name given to
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that place
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+17:7">Exod. xvii. 7</A>),
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because they tempted the Lord, saying, <I>Is the Lord among us or is he
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not?</I> This was in the wilderness, where they could not help
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themselves, but lay at God's mercy, and where God wonderfully helped
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them and gave them such sensible proofs of his power and tokens of his
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favour as never any people had before or since. Note,
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(1.) Days of temptation are days of provocation. Nothing is more
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offensive to God than disbelief of his promise and despair of the
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performance of it because of some difficulties that seem to lie in the
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way.
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(2.) The more experience we have had of the power and goodness of God
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the greater is our sin if we distrust him. What, to tempt him in the
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wilderness, where we live upon him! This is as ungrateful as it is
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absurd and unreasonable.
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(3.) Hardness of heart is at the bottom of all our distrusts of God and
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quarrels with him. That is a hard heart which receives not the
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impressions of divine discoveries and conforms not to the intentions of
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the divine will, which will not melt, which will not bend.
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(4.) The sins of others ought to be warnings to us not to tread in
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their steps. The murmurings of Israel <I>were written for our
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admonition,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:11">1 Cor. x. 11</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. Now here observe,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) The charge drawn up, in God's name, against the unbelieving
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Israelites,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
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God here, many ages after, complains of their ill conduct towards him,
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with the expressions of high resentment.
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[1.] Their sin was unbelief: they <I>tempted</I> God and <I>proved</I>
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him; they questioned whether they might take his word, and insisted
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upon further security before they would go forward to Canaan, by
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sending spies; and, when those discouraged them, they protested against
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the sufficiency of the divine power and promise, and would make a
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captain and return into Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:3,4">Num. xiv. 3, 4</A>.
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This is called <I>rebellion,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:26,32">Deut. i. 26, 32</A>.
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[2.] The aggravation of this sin was that they <I>saw God's work;</I>
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they saw what he had done for them in bringing them out of Egypt, nay,
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what he was now doing for them every day, this day, in the bread he
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rained from heaven for them and the water out of the rock that followed
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them, than which they could not have more unquestionable evidences of
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God's presence with them. With them even seeing was not believing,
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because they <I>hardened their hearts,</I> though they had seen what
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Pharaoh got by hardening his heart.
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[3.] The causes of their sin. See what God imputed it to: <I>It is a
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people that do err in their hearts, and they have not known my
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ways.</I> Men's unbelief and distrust of God, their murmurings and
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quarrels with him, are the effect of their ignorance and mistake.
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<I>First,</I> Of their ignorance: <I>They have not known my ways.</I>
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They saw his work
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>)
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and he <I>made known his acts to them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+103:7">Ps. ciii. 7</A>);
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and yet they <I>did not know his ways,</I> the ways of his providence,
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in which he walked towards them, or the ways of his commandments, in
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which he would have them to walk towards him: they did not know, they
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did not rightly understand and therefore did not approve of these.
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Note, The reason why people slight and forsake the ways of God is
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because they do not know them. <I>Secondly,</I> Of their mistake:
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<I>They do err in their heart;</I> they wander out of the way; in heart
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they turn back. Note, Sins are errors, practical errors, errors in
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heart; such there are, and as fatal as errors in the head. When the
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corrupt affections pervert the judgment, and so lead the soul out of
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the ways of duty and obedience, there is an error of the heart.
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[4.] God's resentment of their sin: <I>Forty years long was I grieved
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with this generation.</I> Not, The sins of God's professing people do
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not only anger him, but grieve him, especially their distrust of him;
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and God keeps an account how often
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:22">Num. xiv. 22</A>)
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and how long they grieve him. See the patience of God towards provoking
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sinners; he was grieved with them forty years, and yet those years
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ended in a triumphant entrance into Canaan made by the next generation.
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If our sins have grieved God, surely they should grieve us, and nothing
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in sin should grieve us so much as that.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) The sentence passed upon them for their sin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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"<I>Unto whom I swore in my wrath, If they shall enter into my
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rest,</I> then say I am changeable and untrue:" see the sentence at
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large,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:21">Num. xiv. 21</A>,
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&c. Observe,
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[1.] Whence this sentence came--from the wrath of God. He <I>swore
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solemnly in his wrath,</I> his just and holy wrath; but let not men
|
|
therefore swear profanely in their wrath, their sinful brutish wrath.
|
|
God is not subject to such passions as we are; but he is said to be
|
|
angry, very angry, at sin and sinners, to show the malignity of sin and
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|
the justice of God's government. That is certainly an evil thing which
|
|
deserves such a recompence of revenge as may be expected from a
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provoked Deity.
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[2.] What it was: <I>That they should not enter into his rest,</I> the
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rest which he had prepared and designed for them, a settlement for them
|
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and theirs, that none of those who were enrolled when they came out of
|
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Egypt should be found written in the roll of the living at their
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entering into Canaan, but Caleb and Joshua.
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[3.] How it was ratified: <I>I swore it.</I> It was not only a purpose,
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|
but a decree; the oath showed the <I>immutability of his counsel; the
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Lord swore, and will not repent.</I> It cut off the thought of any
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reserve of mercy. God's threatenings are as sure as his promises.</P>
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<P>
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Now this case of Israel may be applied to those of their posterity that
|
|
lived in David's time, when this psalm was penned; let them hear God's
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|
voice, and not harden their hearts as their fathers did, lest, if they
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|
were stiffnecked like them, God should be provoked to forbid them the
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privileges of his temple at Jerusalem, of which he had said, <I>This is
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|
my rest.</I> But it must be applied to us Christians, because so the
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|
apostle applies it. There is a spiritual and eternal rest set before
|
|
us, and promised to us, of which Canaan was a type; we are all (in
|
|
profession, at least) bound for this rest; yet many that seem to be so
|
|
come short and shall never enter into it. And what is it that puts a
|
|
bar in their door? It is sin; it is unbelief, that sin against the
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|
remedy, against our appeal. Those that, like Israel, distrust God, and
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|
his power and goodness, and prefer the garlick and onions of Egypt
|
|
before the milk and honey of Canaan, will justly be shut out from his
|
|
rest: so shall their doom be; they themselves have decided it. <I>Let
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us therefore fear,</I>
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:1">Heb. iv. 1</A>.</P>
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