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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms CXL].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM CXL.</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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This and the four following psalms are much of a piece, and the scope
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of them the same with many that we met with in the beginning and middle
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of the book of Psalms, though with but few of late. They were penned by
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David (as it should seem) when he was persecuted by Saul; one of them
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is said to be his "prayer when he was in the cave," and it is probable
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that all the rest were penned about the same time. In this psalm,
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I. David complains of the malice of his enemies, and prays to God to
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preserve him from them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. He encourages himself in God as his God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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III. He prays for, and prophesies, the destruction of his persecutors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:8-11">ver. 8-11</A>.
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IV. He assures all God's afflicted people that their troubles would in
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due time end well
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:12,13">ver. 12, 13</A>),
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with which assurance we must comfort ourselves, and one another, in
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singing this psalm.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps140_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_7"> </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>Complaints and Petitions.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<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 Deliver me, O
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
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2 Which imagine mischiefs in <I>their</I> heart; continually are
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they gathered together <I>for</I> war.
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3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders'
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poison <I>is</I> under their lips. Selah.
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4 Keep me, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me
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from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.
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5 The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have
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spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.
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6 I said unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Thou <I>art</I> my God: hear the voice of my
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supplications, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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7 O G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast
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covered my head in the day of battle.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In <I>this,</I> as in other things, David was a type of Christ, that he
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suffered before he reigned, was humbled before he was exalted, and that
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as there were many who loved and valued him, and sought to do him
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honour, so there were many who hated and envied him, and sought to do
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him mischief, as appears by these verses, where,</P>
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<P>
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I. He gives a character of his enemies, and paints them out in their
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own colours, as dangerous men, whom he had reason to be afraid of, but
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wicked men, whom he had no reason to think the righteous God would
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countenance. There was one that seems to have been the ring-leader of
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them, whom he calls <I>the evil man</I> and <I>the man of violences</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:1,4"><I>v.</I> 1, 4</A>),
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probably he means Saul. The Chaldee paraphrast
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>)
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names both Doeg and Ahithophel; but between them there was a great
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distance of time. Violent men are evil men. But there were many
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besides this one who were confederate against David, who are here
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represented as the genuine offspring and seed of the serpent. For,
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1. They are very subtle, crafty to do mischief; they have imagined it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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have laid the scheme with all the art and cunning imaginable. They
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<I>have purposed</I> and plotted <I>to overthrow the goings</I> of a
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good man
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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to draw him into sin and trouble, to ruin him by blasting his
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reputation, crushing his interest, and taking away his life. For this
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purpose <I>they have,</I> like mighty hunters, <I>hidden a snare,</I>
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and <I>spread a net,</I> and <I>set gins</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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that their designs against him, being kept undiscovered, might be the
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more likely to take effect, and he might fall into their hands ere he
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was aware. Great persecutors have often been great politicians, which
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has indeed made them the more formidable; but <I>the Lord preserves the
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simple</I> without all those arts.
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2. They are very spiteful, as full of malice as Satan himself: <I>They
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have sharpened their tongues like a serpent,</I> that infuses his venom
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with his tongue; and there is so much malignity in all they say that
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one would think there was nothing <I>under their lips</I> but
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<I>adders' poison,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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With their calumnies, and with their counsels, they aimed to destroy
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David, but secretly, as a man is stung with a serpent, or a snake in
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the grass. And they endeavoured likewise to infuse their malice into
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others, and to make them seven times more the children of hell than
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themselves. A malignant tongue makes men like the old serpent; and
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poison in the lips is a certain sign of poison in the heart.
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3. They are confederate; they are many of them; but they are all
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<I>gathered together</I> against me <I>for war,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Those who can agree in nothing else can agree to persecute a good man.
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Herod and Pilate will unite in this, and in this they resemble Satan,
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who is not divided against himself, all the devils agreeing in
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Beelzebub.
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4. They are <I>proud</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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conceited of themselves and confident of their success; and herein also
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they resemble Satan, whose reigning ruining sin was pride. The pride of
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persecutors, though at present it be the terror, yet may be the
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encouragement, of the persecuted, for the more haughty they are the
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faster are they ripening for ruin. <I>Pride goes before
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destruction.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. He prays to God to keep him from them and from being swallowed up
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by them: "Lord, <I>deliver me, preserve me, keep me</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:1,4"><I>v.</I> 1, 4</A>);
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let them not prevail to take away my life, my reputation, my interest,
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my comfort, and to prevent my coming to the throne. <I>Keep me</I> from
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doing as they do, or as they would have me do, or as they promise
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themselves I shall do." Note, The more malice appears in our enemies
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against us the more earnest we should be in prayer to God to take us
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under his protection. In him believers may count upon a security, and
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may enjoy it and themselves with a holy serenity. Those are safe whom
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God preserves. If he be for us, who can be against us?</P>
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<P>
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III. He triumphs in God, and thereby, in effect, he triumphs over his
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persecutors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>.
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When his enemies sharpened their tongues against him, did he sharpen
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his against them? No; <I>adders' poison</I> was <I>under their
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lips,</I> but grace was poured into his lips, witness what he here said
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unto the Lord, for to him he looked, to him he directed himself, when
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he saw himself in so much danger, through the malice of his enemies:
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and it is well for us that we have a God to go to. He comforted
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himself,
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1. In his interest in God: "<I>I said, Thou art my God;</I> and, if my
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God, then my shield and mighty protector." In troublous dangerous times
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it is good to claim relation to God, and by faith to keep hold of him.
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2. In his access to God. This comforted him, that he was not only taken
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into covenant with God, but into communion with him, that he had leave
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to speak to him, and might expect an answer of peace from him, and
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could say, with a humble confidence, <I>Hear the voice of my
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supplications, O Lord!</I>
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3. In the assurance he had of help from God and happiness in him: "<I>O
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God the Lord</I>--<I>Jehovah Adonai!</I> as <I>Jehovah</I> thou art
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self-existent and self-sufficient, an infinitely perfect being; as
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<I>Adonai</I> thou art my stay and support, my ruler and governor, and
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therefore <I>the strength of my salvation,</I> my strong Saviour; nay,
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not only my Saviour, but my salvation itself, from whom, in whom, my
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salvation is; not only a strong Saviour, but the very strength of my
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salvation, on whom the stress of my hope is laid; all in all, to make
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me happy, and to preserve me to my happiness."
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4. In the experience he had had formerly of God's care of him: <I>Thou
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hast covered my head in the day of battle.</I> As he pleaded with Saul,
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that, for the service of his country, he many a time jeoparded his life
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in the high places of the field, so he pleads with God that, in those
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services, he had wonderfully protected him, and provided him a better
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helmet for the securing of his head than Goliath's was: "Lord, thou
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hast kept me <I>in the day of battle</I> with the Philistines, suffer
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me not to fall by the treacherous intrigues of false-hearted
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Israelites." God is as able to preserve his people from secret fraud as
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from open force; and the experience we have had of his power and care,
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in dangers of one kind, may encourage us to trust in him and depend
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upon him in dangers of another nature; for nothing can shorten the
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Lord's right hand.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps140_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps140_13"> </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>Shame and Confusion of Persecutors.</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>8 Grant not, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the desires of the wicked: further not his
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wicked device; <I>lest</I> they exalt themselves. Selah.
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9 <I>As for</I> the head of those that compass me about, let the
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mischief of their own lips cover them.
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10 Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the
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fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.
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11 Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil
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shall hunt the violent man to overthrow <I>him.</I>
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12 I know that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> will maintain the cause of the
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afflicted, <I>and</I> the right of the poor.
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13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the
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upright shall dwell in thy presence.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is the believing foresight David had,</P>
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<P>
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I. Of the shame and confusion of persecutors.</P>
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<P>
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1. Their disappointment. This he prays for
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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that their lusts might not be gratified, their lust of ambition, envy,
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and revenge: "<I>Grant not, O Lord! the desires of the wicked,</I> but
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frustrate them; let them not see the ruin of my interest, which they so
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earnestly wish to see; but <I>hear the voice of my supplications.</I>"
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He prays that their projects might not take effect, but be blasted:
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"<I>O further not his wicked device;</I> let not Providence favour any
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of his designs, but cross them; suffer <I>not his wicked device</I> to
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proceed, but chain his wheels, and stop him in the career of his
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pursuits." Thus we are to pray against the enemies of God's people,
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that they may not succeed in any of their enterprises. Such was David's
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prayer against Ahithophel, that God would turn his counsels into
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foolishness. The plea is, <I>lest they exalt themselves,</I> value
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themselves upon their success as if it were an evidence that God
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favoured them. Proud men, when they prosper, are made prouder, grow
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more impudent against God and insolent against his people, and
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<I>therefore,</I> "Lord, do not prosper them."</P>
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<P>
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2. Their destruction. This he prays for (as we read it); but some
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choose to read it rather as a prophecy, and the original will bear it.
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If we take it as a prayer, that proceeds from a spirit of prophecy,
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which comes all to one. He foretels the ruin,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) Of his own enemies: "<I>As for those that compass me about,</I>
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and seek my ruin,"
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[1.] "<I>The mischief of their own lips</I> shall <I>cover</I> their
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heads
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>);
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the evil they have wished to me shall come upon themselves, their
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curses shall be blown back into their own faces, and the very designs
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which they have laid against me shall turn to their own ruin,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+7:15,16">Ps. vii. 15, 16</A>.
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Let those that make mischief, by slandering, tale-bearing,
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misrepresenting their neighbours, and spreading ill-natured characters
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and stories, dread the consequence of it, and think how sad their
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condition will be when all the mischief they have been accessory to
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shall be made to return upon themselves.
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[2.] The judgments of God shall <I>fall upon them,</I> compared here to
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<I>burning coals,</I> in allusion to the destruction of Sodom; nay, as
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in the deluge the waters from above, and those from beneath, met for
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the drowning of the world, both the windows of heaven were opened and
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the fountains of the great deep were broken up, so here, to complete
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the ruin of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom, they shall not only
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have <I>burning coals</I> cast upon them from above
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+20:23,27:22">Job xx. 23; xxvii. 22</A>),
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but they themselves shall <I>be cast into the fire</I> beneath; both
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heaven and hell, the wrath of God the Judge and the rage of Satan the
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tormentor, shall concur to make them miserable. And the fire they shall
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be cast into is not a furnace of fire, out of which perhaps they might
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escape, but a <I>deep pit,</I> out of which they cannot rise. Tophet is
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said to be <I>deep and large,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:33">Isa. xxx. 33</A>.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) Of all others that are like them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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[1.] Evil speakers must expect to be shaken, for they shall never <I>be
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established in the earth.</I> What is got by fraud and falsehood, by
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calumny and unjust accusation, will not prosper, will not last. Wealth
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gotten by vanity will be diminished. Let not such men as Doeg think to
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reign long, for his doom will be theirs,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:5">Ps. ii. 5</A>.
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A lying tongue is but for a moment, but the <I>lip of truth shall be
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established for ever.</I>
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[2.] Evil doers must expect to be destroyed: <I>Evil shall hunt the
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violent man,</I> as the blood-hound hunts the murderer to discover him,
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as the lion hunts his prey to tear it to pieces. Mischievous men will
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be brought to light, and brought to ruin; the destruction appointed
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shall run them down and overthrow them. <I>Evil pursues
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sinners.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. Here is his foresight of the deliverance and comfort of the
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persecuted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+140:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
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1. God will do those justice, in delivering them, who, being wronged,
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commit themselves to him: "<I>I know that the Lord will maintain
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the</I> just and injured <I>cause of</I> his <I>afflicted</I> people,
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and will not suffer might always to prevail against right, though it be
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but <I>the right of the poor,</I> who have but little that they can
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pretend a right to." God is, and will be, the patron of oppressed
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innocence, much more of persecuted piety; those that know him cannot
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but know this.
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2. They will do him justice (if I may so speak), in ascribing the glory
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of their deliverance to him: "<I>Surely the righteous</I> (who make
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conscience of rendering to God his due, as well as to men theirs)
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<I>shall give thanks unto thy name</I> when they find their cause
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pleaded with jealousy and prosecuted with effect." The closing words,
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<I>The upright shall dwell in thy presence,</I> denote both God's
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favour to them ("Thou shalt admit them to dwell in thy presence in
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grace here, in glory hereafter, and it shall be their safety and
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happiness") and their duty to God: "They shall attend upon thee as
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servants that keep in the presence of their masters, both to do them
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honour and to receive their commands." This is true thanksgiving, even
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thanksliving; and this use we should make of all our deliverance, we
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should serve God the more closely and cheerfully.</P>
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