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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 CXXXIX.</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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Some of the Jewish doctors are of opinion that this is the most
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excellent of all the psalms of David; and a very pious devout
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meditation it is upon the doctrine of God's omniscience, which we
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should therefore have our hearts fixed upon and filled with in singing
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this psalm.
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I. This doctrine is here asserted, and fully laid down,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. It is confirmed by two arguments:--
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1. God is every where present; therefore he knows all,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:7-12">ver. 7-12</A>.
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2. He made us, therefore he knows us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:13-16">ver. 13-16</A>.
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III. Some inferences are drawn from this doctrine.
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1. It may fill us with pleasing admiration of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>.
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2. With a holy dread and detestation of sin and sinners,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:19-22">ver. 19-22</A>.
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3. With a holy satisfaction in our own integrity, concerning which we
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may appeal to God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:23,24">ver. 23, 24</A>.
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This great and self-evident truth, That God knows our hearts, and the
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hearts of all the children of men, if we did but mix faith with it and
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seriously consider it and apply it, would have a great influence upon
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our holiness and upon our comfort.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps139_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Omniscience of God.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>To the chief musician. A psalm of David.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, thou
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hast searched me, and known <I>me.</I>
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2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou
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understandest my thought afar off.
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3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted
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<I>with</I> all my ways.
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4 For <I>there is</I> not a word in my tongue, <I>but,</I> lo, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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thou knowest it altogether.
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5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand
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upon me.
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6 <I>Such</I> knowledge <I>is</I> too wonderful for me; it is high, I
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cannot <I>attain</I> unto it.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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David here lays down this great doctrine, That the God with whom we
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have to do has a perfect knowledge of us, and that all the motions and
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actions both of our inward and of our outward man are naked and open
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before him.</P>
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<P>
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I. He lays down this doctrine in the way of an address to God; he says
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it to him, acknowledging it to him, and giving him the glory of it.
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Divine truths look fully as well when they are prayed over as when they
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are preached over, and much better than when they are disputed over.
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When we speak of God to him himself we shall find ourselves concerned
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to speak with the utmost degree both of sincerity and reverence, which
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will be likely to make the impressions the deeper.</P>
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<P>
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II. He lays it down in a way of application to himself, not, "Thou hast
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known <I>all,</I>" but, "Thou hast known <I>me;</I> that is it which I
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am most concerned to believe and which it will be most profitable for
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me to consider." <I>Then</I> we know these things for our good when we
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know them <I>for ourselves,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:27">Job v. 27</A>.
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When we acknowledge, "Lord, all souls are thine," we must add, "My soul
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is thine; thou that hatest all sin hatest my sin; thou that art good to
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all, good to Israel, art good to me." So here, "<I>Thou hast searched
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me, and known me;</I> known me as thoroughly as we know that which we
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have most diligently and exactly searched into." David was a king, and
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<I>the hearts of kings are unsearchable</I> to their subjects
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:3">Prov. xxv. 3</A>),
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but they are not so to their Sovereign.</P>
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<P>
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III. He descends to particulars: "Thou knowest me wherever I am and
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whatever I am doing, me and all that belongs to me."
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1. "<I>Thou knowest</I> me and all my motions, <I>my down-sitting</I>
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to rest, <I>my up-rising</I> to work, with what temper of mind I
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compose myself when I sit down and stir up myself when I rise up, what
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my soul reposes itself in as its stay and support, what it aims at and
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reaches towards as its felicity and end. Thou knowest me when I come
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home, how I walk before my house, and when I go abroad, on what errands
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I go."
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2. "Thou knowest all my imaginations. Nothing is more close and quick
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than thought; it is always unknown to others; it is often unobserved by
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ourselves, and yet <I>thou understandest my thought afar off.</I>
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Though my thoughts be ever so foreign and distant from one another,
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thou understandest the chain of them, and canst make out their
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connexion, when so many of them slip my notice that I myself cannot."
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Or, "<I>Thou understandest them afar off,</I> even before I think them,
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and long after I have thought them and have myself forgotten them." Or,
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"<I>Thou understandest them from afar;</I> from the height of heaven
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thou seest into the depths of the heart,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+33:14">Ps. xxxiii. 14</A>.
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3. "Thou knowest me and all my designs and undertakings; <I>thou
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compassest</I> every particular <I>path; thou siftest</I> (or
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<I>winnowest</I>) <I>my path</I>" (so some), "so as thoroughly to
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distinguish between the good and evil of what I do," as by sifting we
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separate between the corn and the chaff. All our actions are ventilated
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by the judgment of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:3">Ps. xvii. 3</A>.
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God takes notice of every step we take, every right step and every
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by-step. He is <I>acquainted with all</I> our <I>ways,</I> intimately
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acquainted with them; he knows what rule we walk by, what end we walk
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towards, what company we walk with.
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4. "<I>Thou knowest</I> me in all my retirements; thou knowest <I>my
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lying down;</I> when I am withdrawn from all company, and am reflecting
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upon what has passed all day and composing myself to rest, thou knowest
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what I have in my heart and with what thought I go to bed."
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5. "Thou knowest me, and all I say
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>There is not a word in my tongue,</I> not a vain word, nor a good
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word, <I>but thou knowest it altogether,</I> knowest what it meant,
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from what thought it came, and with what design it was uttered. There
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is not a word at my tongue's end, ready to be spoken, yet checked and
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kept in, but thou knowest it." <I>When there is not a word in my
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tongue, O Lord! thou knowest all</I> (so some read it); for thoughts
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are words to God.
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6. "Thou knowest me in every part of me: <I>Thou hast beset me behind
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and before,</I> so that, go which way I will, I am under thy eye and
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cannot possibly escape it. Thou hast <I>laid thy hand upon me,</I> and
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I can not run away from thee." Wherever we are we are under the eye and
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hand of God. perhaps it is an allusion to the physician's laying his
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hand upon his patient to feel how his pulse beats or what temper he is
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in. God knows us as we know not only what we see, but what we feel and
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have our hands upon. <I>All his saints are in his hand.</I></P>
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<P>
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IV. He speaks of it with admiration
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>It is too wonderful for me; it is high.</I>
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1. "Thou hast such a knowledge of me as I have not of myself, nor can
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have. I cannot take notice of all my own thoughts, nor make such a
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judgment of myself as thou makest of me."
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2. "It is such a knowledge as I cannot comprehend, much less describe.
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That thou knowest all things I am sure, but how I cannot tell." We
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cannot by searching find out how God searches and finds out us; nor do
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we know how we are known.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps139_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps139_16"> </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>The Omniscience of 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>7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee
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from thy presence?
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8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou <I>art</I> there: if I make my
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bed in hell, behold, thou <I>art there.</I>
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9 <I>If</I> I take the wings of the morning, <I>and</I> dwell in the
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uttermost parts of the sea;
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10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall
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hold me.
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11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night
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shall be light about me.
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12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night
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shineth as the day: the darkness and the light <I>are</I> both alike
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<I>to thee.</I>
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13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my
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mother's womb.
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14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully <I>and</I> wonderfully
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made: marvellous <I>are</I> thy works; and <I>that</I> my soul knoweth
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right well.
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15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in
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secret, <I>and</I> curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
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16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in
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thy book all <I>my members</I> were written, <I>which</I> in continuance
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were fashioned, when <I>as yet there was</I> none of them.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It is of great use to us to know the certainty of the things wherein we
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have been instructed, that we may not only believe them, but be able to
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tell why we believe them, and to give a reason of the hope that is in
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us. David is sure that God perfectly knows him and all his ways,</P>
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<P>
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I. Because he is always under his eye. If God is omnipresent, he must
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needs be omniscient; but he is omnipresent; this supposes the infinite
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and immensity of his being, from which follows the ubiquity of his
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presence; heaven and earth include the whole creation, and the Creator
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fills both
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+23:24">Jer. xxiii. 24</A>);
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he not only knows both, and governs both, but he fills both. Every part
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of the creation is under God's intuition and influence. David here
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acknowledges this also with application and sees himself thus open
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before God.</P>
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<P>
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1. No flight can remove us out of God's presence: "<I>Whither shall I
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go from thy Spirit, from thy presence,</I> that is, from thy spiritual
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presence, from thyself, who art a Spirit?" <I>God is a Spirit,</I> and
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therefore it is folly to think that because we cannot see him he cannot
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see us: <I>Whither shall I flee from thy presence?</I> Not that he
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desired to go away from God; no, he desired nothing more than to be
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near him; but he only puts the case, "Suppose I should be so foolish as
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to think of getting out of thy sight, that I might shake off the awe of
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thee, suppose I should think of revolting from my obedience to thee, or
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of disowning a dependence on thee and of shifting for myself, alas!
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whither can I go?" A heathen could say, <I>Quocunque te flexeris, ibi
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Deum videbis occurrentem tibi--Whithersoever thou turnest thyself, thou
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wilt see God meeting thee.</I> Seneca. He specifies the most remote and
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distant places, and counts upon meeting God in them.
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(1.) In heaven: "<I>If I ascend</I> thither, as I hope to do shortly,
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<I>thou art there,</I> and it will be my eternal bliss to be with thee
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there." Heaven is a vast large place, replenished with an innumerable
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company, and yet there is no escaping God's eye there, in any corner,
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or in any crowd. The inhabitants of that world have as necessary a
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dependence upon God, and lie as open to his strict scrutiny, as the
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inhabitants of this.
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(2.) <I>In hell</I>--in <I>Sheol,</I> which may be understood of the
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depth of the earth, the very centre of it. Should we dig as deep as we
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can under ground, and think to hide ourselves there, we should be
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mistaken; God knows that path which the vulture's eye never saw, and to
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him the earth is all surface. Or it may be understood of the state of
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the dead. When we are removed out of the sight of all living, yet not
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out of the sight of the living God; from his eye we cannot hide
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ourselves in the grave. Or it maybe understood of the place of the
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damned: <I>If I make my bed in hell</I> (an uncomfortable place to make
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a bed in, where there is no rest day or night, yet thousands will make
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their bed for ever in those flames), <I>behold, thou art there,</I> in
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thy power and justice. God's wrath is the fire which will there burn
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everlastingly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+14:10">Rev. xiv. 10</A>.
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(3.) In the remotest corners of this world: "<I>If I take the wings of
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the morning,</I> the rays of the morning-light (called the wings of the
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sun,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+4:2">Mal. iv. 2</A>),
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than which nothing more swift, and flee upon them to <I>the uttermost
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parts of the sea,</I> or of the earth
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:12,13">Job xxxviii. 12, 13</A>),
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should I flee to the most distant and obscure islands (the <I>ultima
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Thule,</I> the <I>Terra incognita</I>), I should find thee there;
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<I>there shall thy hand lead me,</I> as far as I go, <I>and thy right
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hand hold me,</I> that I can go no further, that I cannot go out of thy
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reach." God soon arrested Jonah when <I>he fled to Tarshish from the
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presence of the Lord.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. No veil can hide us from God's eye, no, not that of the thickest
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darkness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
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"<I>If I say,</I> Yet <I>the darkness shall cover me,</I> when nothing
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else will, alas! I find myself deceived; the curtains of the evening
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will stand me in no more stead than the wings of the morning; <I>even
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the night shall be light about me.</I> That which often favours the
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escape of a pursued criminal, and the retreat of a beaten army, will do
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me no kindness in fleeing from them." When God divided between the
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light and darkness it was with a reservation of this prerogative, that
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to himself <I>the darkness and the light</I> should still be <I>both
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alike. "The darkness</I> darkeneth <I>not from thee,</I> for there is
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no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide
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themselves." No hypocritical mask or disguise, how specious soever, can
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save any person or action from appearing in a true light before God.
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Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open and
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barefaced villanies.</P>
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<P>
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II. Because he is the work of his hands. He that framed the engine
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knows all the motions of it. God made us, and therefore no doubt he
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knows us; he saw us when we were in the forming, and can we be hidden
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from him now that we are formed? This argument he insists upon
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:13-16"><I>v.</I> 13-16</A>):
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"<I>Thou hast possessed my reins;</I> thou art Master of my most secret
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thoughts and intentions, and the innermost recesses of my soul; thou
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not only knowest, but governest, them, as we do that which we have
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possession of; and the possession thou hast of my reins is a rightful
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possession, <I>for thou coveredst me in my mother's womb,</I> that is,
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|
thou madest me
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+10:11">Job x. 11</A>),
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thou madest me in secret. The soul is concealed form all about us.
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|
<I>Who knows the things of a man, save the spirit of a man?</I>"
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:11">1 Cor. ii. 11</A>.
|
|
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|
Hence we read of <I>the hidden man of the heart.</I> But it was God
|
|
himself that thus covered us, and therefore he can, when he pleases,
|
|
discover us; when he hid us from all the world he did not intend to
|
|
hide us from himself. Concerning the formation of man, of each of
|
|
us,</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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|
1. The glory of it is here given to God, entirely to him; <I>for it is
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|
he that has made us and not we ourselves. "I will praise thee,</I> the
|
|
author of my being; my parents were only the instruments of it." It was
|
|
done,
|
|
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|
(1.) Under the divine inspection: <I>My substance,</I> when hid in the
|
|
womb, nay, when it was yet but <I>in fieri--in the forming,</I> an
|
|
unshapen embryo, <I>was not hidden from thee; thy eyes did see my
|
|
substance.</I>
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|
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|
(2.) By the divine operation. As the eye of God saw us then, so his
|
|
hand wrought us; we were his work.
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|
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(3.) According to the divine model: <I>In thy book all my members were
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|
written.</I> Eternal wisdom formed the plan, and by that almighty power
|
|
raised the noble structure.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Glorious things are here said concerning it. The generation of man
|
|
is to be considered with the same pious veneration as his creation at
|
|
first. Consider it,
|
|
|
|
(1.) As a great marvel, a great miracle we might call it, but that it
|
|
is done in the ordinary course of nature. We are <I>fearfully and
|
|
wonderfully made;</I> we may justly be astonished at the admirable
|
|
contrivance of these living temples, the composition of every part, and
|
|
the harmony of all together.
|
|
|
|
(2.) As a great mystery, a mystery of nature: <I>My soul knows right
|
|
well</I> that it is marvellous, but how to describe it for any one else
|
|
I know not; for <I>I was made in secret, and curiously wrought</I> in
|
|
the womb as <I>in the lowest parts of the earth,</I> so privately, and
|
|
so far out of sight.
|
|
|
|
(3.) As a great mercy, that all our members <I>in continuance were
|
|
fashioned,</I> according as they were written in the book of God's wise
|
|
counsel, <I>when as yet there was none of them;</I> or, as some read
|
|
it, <I>and none of them was left out.</I> If any of our members had
|
|
been wanting in God's book, they would have been wanting in our bodies,
|
|
but, through his goodness, we have all our limbs and sense, the want of
|
|
any of which might have made us burdens to ourselves. See what reason
|
|
we have then to praise God for our creation, and to conclude that he
|
|
who saw our substance when it was unfashioned sees it now that it is
|
|
fashioned.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps139_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps139_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps139_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps139_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps139_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps139_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps139_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps139_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Omniscience of God.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great
|
|
is the sum of them!
|
|
18 <I>If</I> I should count them, they are more in number than the
|
|
sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
|
|
19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me
|
|
therefore, ye bloody men.
|
|
20 For they speak against thee wickedly, <I>and</I> thine enemies
|
|
take <I>thy name</I> in vain.
|
|
21 Do not I hate them, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that hate thee? and am not I
|
|
grieved with those that rise up against thee?
|
|
22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
|
|
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
|
|
thoughts:
|
|
24 And see if <I>there be any</I> wicked way in me, and lead me in
|
|
the way everlasting.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here the psalmist makes application of the doctrine of God's
|
|
omniscience, divers ways.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He acknowledges, with wonder and thankfulness, the care God had
|
|
taken of him all his days,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
God, who knew him, thought of him, and his thoughts towards him were
|
|
thoughts of love, <I>thought of good, and not of evil,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+29:11">Jer. xxix. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
God's omniscience, which might justly have watched over us to do us
|
|
hurt, has been employed for us, and has watched over us to do us good,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:28">Jer. xxxi. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
God's counsels concerning us and our welfare have been,
|
|
|
|
1. Precious to admiration: <I>How precious</I> are they! They are deep
|
|
in themselves, such as cannot possibly be fathomed and comprehended.
|
|
Providence has had a vast reach in its dispensations concerning us, and
|
|
has brought things about for our good quite beyond our contrivance and
|
|
foresight. They are dear to us; we must think of them with a great
|
|
deal of reverence, and yet with pleasure and thankfulness. Our thoughts
|
|
concerning God must be delightful to us, above any other thoughts.
|
|
|
|
2. Numerous to admiration: <I>How great is the sum of them!</I> We
|
|
cannot conceive how many God's kind counsels have been concerning us,
|
|
how many good turns he has done us, and what variety of mercies we have
|
|
received from him. <I>If</I> we would <I>count them,</I> the heads of
|
|
them, much more the particulars of them, <I>they are more in number
|
|
than the sand,</I> and yet every one great and very considerable,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+40:5">Ps. xl. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
We cannot conceive the multitude of God's compassions, which are all
|
|
new every morning.
|
|
|
|
3. Constant at all times: "<I>When I awake,</I> every morning, <I>I am
|
|
still with thee,</I> under thy eye and care, safe and easy under thy
|
|
protection." This bespeaks also the continual devout sense David had of
|
|
the eye of God upon him: <I>When I awake I am with thee,</I> in my
|
|
thoughts; and it would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the
|
|
day long if, when we awake in the morning, our first thoughts were of
|
|
him and we did then set him before us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He concludes from this doctrine that ruin will certainly be the end
|
|
of sinners. God knows all the wickedness of the wicked, and therefore
|
|
he will reckon for it: "<I>Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God!</I>
|
|
for all their wickedness is open before thee, however it may be
|
|
artfully disguised and coloured over, to hide it from the eye of the
|
|
world. However thou suffer them to prosper for a while, <I>surely thou
|
|
wilt slay</I> them at last." Now observe,
|
|
|
|
1. The reason why God will punish them, because they daringly affront
|
|
him and set him at defiance
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They speak against thee wickedly;</I> they <I>set their mouth
|
|
against the heavens</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:9">Ps. lxxiii. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
and shall be called to account for the hard speeches they have
|
|
<I>spoken against him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:15">Jude 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are his <I>enemies,</I> and declare their enmity by <I>taking his
|
|
name in vain,</I> as we show our contempt of a man if we make a by-word
|
|
of his name, and never mention him but in a way of jest and banter.
|
|
Those that profane the sacred forms of swearing or praying by using
|
|
them in an impertinent irreverent manner take God's name in vain, and
|
|
thereby show themselves enemies to him. Some make it to be a
|
|
description of hypocrites: "They speak of thee for mischief; they talk
|
|
of God, pretending to piety, but it is with some ill design, for a
|
|
cloak of maliciousness; and, being enemies to God, while they pretend
|
|
friendship, they <I>take</I> his <I>name in vain;</I> they swear
|
|
falsely."
|
|
|
|
2. The use David makes of this prospect which he has of the ruin of the
|
|
wicked.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He defies them: "<I>Depart from me, you bloody men;</I> you shall
|
|
not debauch me, for I will not admit your friendship nor have
|
|
fellowship with you; and you cannot destroy me, for, being under God's
|
|
protection, he shall force you to depart from me."
|
|
|
|
(2.) He detests them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Lord, thou knowest the heart, and canst witness for me; <I>do not I
|
|
hate those that hate thee,</I> and for that reason, because they hate
|
|
thee? I hate them because I love thee, and hate to see such affronts
|
|
and indignities put upon thy blessed name. <I>Am not I grieved with
|
|
those that rise up against thee,</I> grieved to see their rebellion and
|
|
to foresee their ruin, which it will certainly end in?" Note, Sin is
|
|
hated, and sinners are lamented, by all that fear God. "<I>I hate
|
|
them</I>" (that is, "<I>I hate the work of them that turn aside,</I>"
|
|
as he explains himself,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+101:3">Ps. ci. 3</A>)
|
|
|
|
"<I>with a</I> sincere and <I>perfect hatred; I count those</I> that
|
|
are enemies to God as enemies to me, and will not have any intimacy
|
|
with them,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+69:8">Ps. lxix. 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He appeals to God concerning his sincerity,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. He desires that as far as he was in the wrong God would discover it
|
|
to him. Those that are upright can take comfort in God's omniscience as
|
|
a witness of their uprightness, and can with a humble confidence beg of
|
|
him to search and try them, to discover them to themselves (for a good
|
|
man desires to know the worst of himself) and to discover them to
|
|
others. He that means honestly could wish he had a window in his breast
|
|
that any man may look into his heart: "Lord, I hope I am not in a
|
|
wicked way, but <I>see if there be any wicked way in me,</I> any
|
|
corrupt inclination remaining; let me see it; and root it out of me,
|
|
for I do not allow it."
|
|
|
|
2. He desires that, as far as he was in the right, he might be
|
|
forwarded in it, which he that knows the heart knows how to do
|
|
effectually: <I>Lead me in the way everlasting.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The way of godliness is an everlasting way; it is everlastingly
|
|
true and good, pleasing to God and profitable to us, and will end in
|
|
everlasting life. <I>It is the way of antiquity</I> (so some), <I>the
|
|
good old way.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) All the saints desire to be kept and led in this way, that they
|
|
may not miss it, turn out of it, nor tire in it.</P>
|
|
|
|
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