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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms CXXX].</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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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 CXXX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This psalm relates not to any temporal concern, either personal or
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public, but it is wholly taken up with the affairs of the soul. It is
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reckoned one of the seven penitential psalms, which have sometimes been
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made use of by penitents, upon their admission into the church; and, in
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singing it, we are all concerned to apply it to ourselves. The psalmist
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here expresses,
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I. His desire towards God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. His repentance before God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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III. His attendance upon God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:5,6">ver. 5, 6</A>.
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IV. His expectations from God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:7,8">ver. 7, 8</A>.
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And, as in water face answers to face, so does the heart of one humble
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penitent to another.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps130_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps130_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps130_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps130_4"> </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>God's Regard to His Church.</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>A song of degrees.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Out of the depths have I cried unto
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thee, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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2 Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice
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of my supplications.
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3 If thou, L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall
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stand?
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4 But <I>there is</I> forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
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feared.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses we are taught,</P>
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<P>
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I. Whatever condition we are in, though ever so deplorable, to continue
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calling upon God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The best men may sometimes be in <I>the depths,</I> in great trouble
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and affliction, and utterly at a loss what to do, in the depths of
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distress and almost in the depths of despair, the spirit low and dark,
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sinking and drooping, cast down and disquieted. But, in the greatest
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depths, it is our privilege that we may cry unto God and be heard. A
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prayer may reach the heights of heaven, though not out of the depths of
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hell, yet out of the depths of the greatest trouble we can be in in
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this world, Jeremiah's out of the dungeon, Daniel's out of the den, and
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Jonah's out of the fish's belly. It is our duty and interest to cry
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unto God, for that is the likeliest way both to prevent our sinking
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lower and to recover us out of the <I>horrible pit and miry clay,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:1,2">Ps. xl. 1, 2</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. While we continue calling upon God to assure ourselves of an answer
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of peace from him; for this is that which David in faith prays for
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Lord, hear my voice,</I> my complaint and prayer, and <I>let thy
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ears be attentive</I> to the voice both of my afflictions and <I>of my
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supplications.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. We are taught to humble ourselves before the justice of God as
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guilty in his sight, and unable to answer him for one of a thousand of
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our offences
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord! who shall
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stand?</I> His calling God <I>Lord</I> twice, in so few words,
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<I>Jah</I> and <I>Adonai,</I> is very emphatic, and intimates a very
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awful sense of God's glorious majesty and a dread of his wrath. Let us
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learn here,
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1. To acknowledge our iniquities, that we cannot justify ourselves
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before God, or plead Not guilty. There is that which is remarkable in
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our iniquities and is liable to be animadverted upon.
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2. To own the power and justice of God, which are such that, if he
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were extreme to mark what we do amiss, there would be no hopes of
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coming off. His eye can discover enough in the best man to ground a
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condemnation upon; and, if he proceed against us, we have no way to
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help ourselves, we cannot stand, but shall certainly be cast. If God
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deal with us in strict justice, we are undone; if he make remarks upon
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our iniquities, he will find them to be many and great, greatly
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aggravated and very provoking; and then, if he should proceed
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accordingly, he would shut us out from all hope of his favour and shut
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us up under his wrath; and what could we do to help ourselves? We could
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not make our escape, nor resist not bear up under his avenging hand.
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3. Let us admire God's patience and forbearance; we should be undone
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if he were to mark iniquities, and he knows it, and therefore bears
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with us. <I>It is of his mercy that we are not consumed</I> by his
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wrath.</P>
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<P>
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IV. We are taught to cast ourselves upon the pardoning mercy of God,
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and to comfort ourselves with that when we see ourselves obnoxious to
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his justice,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Here is,
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1. God's grace discovered, and pleaded with him, by a penitent sinner:
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<I>But there is forgiveness with thee.</I> It is our unspeakable
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comfort, in all our approaches to God, that there is forgiveness with
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him, for that is what we need. He has put himself into a capacity to
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pardon sin; he has declared himself gracious and merciful, and ready to
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forgive,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+34:6,7">Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7</A>.
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He has promised to forgive the sins of those that do repent. Never any
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that dealt with him found him implacable, but easy to be entreated, and
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swift to show mercy. With us there is iniquity, and therefore it is
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well for us that with him there is forgiveness. <I>There is a
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propitiation with thee,</I> so some read it. Jesus Christ is the great
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propitiation, the ransom which God has found; he is ever with him, as
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advocate for us, and through him we hope to obtain forgiveness.
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2. Our duty designed in that discovery, and inferred from it:
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"<I>There is forgiveness with thee,</I> not that thou mayest be made
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bold with and presumed upon, but <I>that thou mayest be feared</I>--in
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general, that thou mayest be worshipped and served by the children of
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men, who, being sinners, could have no dealings with God, if he were
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not a Master that could pass by a great many faults." But this
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encourages us to come into his service that we shall not be turned off
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for every misdemeanour; no, nor for any, if we truly repent. This does
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in a special manner invite those who have sinned to repent, and return
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to the fear of God, that he is gracious and merciful, and will receive
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them upon their repentance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+2:13,Mt+3:2">Joel ii. 13; Matt. iii. 2</A>.
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And, particularly, we are to have a holy awe and reverence of God's
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pardoning mercy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:5">Hos. iii. 5</A>,
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<I>They shall fear the Lord, and his goodness</I>); and <I>then</I> we
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may expect the benefit of the forgiveness that is with God when we make
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it the object of our holy fear.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps130_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps130_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps130_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps130_8"> </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>Encouragement to Trust in and Depend upon God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 I wait for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I
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hope.
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6 My soul <I>waiteth</I> for the Lord more than they that watch for
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the morning: <I>I say, more than</I> they that watch for the morning.
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7 Let Israel hope in the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: for with the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>there is</I>
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mercy, and with him <I>is</I> plenteous redemption.
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8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here, I. The psalmist engages himself to trust in God and to wait for
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him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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Observe,
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1. His dependence upon God, expressed in a climax, it being a a song of
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degrees, or ascents: "<I>I wait for the Lord;</I> from him I expect
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relief and comfort, believing it will come, longing till it does come,
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but patiently bearing the delay of it, and resolving to look for it
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from no other hand. <I>My soul doth wait;</I> I wait for him in
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sincerity, and not in profession only. I am an expectant, and it is
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<I>for the Lord</I> that <I>my soul waits,</I> for the gifts of his
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grace and the operations of his power."
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2. The ground of that dependence: <I>In his word do I hope.</I> We must
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hope for that only which he has promised in his word, and not for the
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creatures of our own fancy and imagination; we must hope for it because
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he has promised it, and not from any opinion of our own merit.
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3. The degree of that dependence--"<I>more than those that watch for
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the morning,</I> who are,
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(1.) Well-assured that the morning will come; and so am I that God will
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return in mercy to me, according to his promise; for God's covenant is
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more firm than the ordinances of day and night, for they shall come to
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an end, but that is everlasting."
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(2.) Very desirous that it would come. Sentinels that keep guard upon
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the walls, those that watch with sick people, and travellers that are
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abroad upon their journey, long before day wish to see the dawning of
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the day; but more earnestly does this good man long for the tokens of
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God's favour and the visits of his grace, and more readily will he be
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aware of his first appearances than they are of day. Dr. Hammond reads
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it thus, <I>My soul hastens to the Lord, from the guards in the
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morning, the guards in the morning,</I> and gives this sense of it, "To
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thee I daily betake myself, early in the morning, addressing my
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prayers, and my very soul, before thee, at the time that the priests
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offer their morning sacrifice."</P>
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<P>
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II. He encourages all the people of God in like manner to depend upon
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him and trust in him: <I>Let Israel hope in the Lord</I> and <I>wait
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for</I> him; not only the body of the people, but every good man, who
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<I>surnames himself by the name of Israel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:5">Isa. xliv. 5</A>.
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Let all that devote themselves to God cheerfully stay themselves upon
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him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>),
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for two reasons:--
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1. Because the light of nature discovers to us that <I>there is mercy
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with him,</I> that the God of Israel is a merciful God and <I>the
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Father of mercies. Mercy is with</I> him; not only inherent in his
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nature, but it is his delight, it is his darling attribute; it is with
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him in all his works, in all his counsels.
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2. Because the light of the gospel discovers to us that <I>there is
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redemption with him,</I> contrived by him, and to be wrought out <I>in
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the fulness of time;</I> it was in the beginning hidden in God. See
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here,
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(1.) The nature of this redemption; it is redemption from sin, from all
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sin, and therefore can be no other than that eternal redemption which
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Jesus Christ became the author of; for it is he <I>that saves his
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people from their sins</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:21">Matt. i. 21</A>),
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that <I>redeems them from all iniquity</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Tit+2:14">Tit. ii. 14</A>),
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and <I>turns away ungodliness from Jacob,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:26">Rom. xi. 26</A>.
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It is he that redeems us both from the condemning and from the
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commanding power of sin.
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(2.) The riches of this redemption; it <I>is plenteous redemption;</I>
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there is an all-sufficient fulness of merit and grace in the Redeemer,
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enough for all, enough for each; enough for me, says the believer.
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Redemption from sin includes redemption from all other evils, and
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therefore is a plenteous redemption.
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(3.) The persons to whom the benefits of this redemption belong: <I>He
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shall redeem Israel,</I> Israel according to the spirit, all those who
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are in covenant with God, as Israel was, and who are <I>Israelites
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indeed, in whom is no guile.</I></P>
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[<A HREF="MHC19131.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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