mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 106.xml

<div2 id="Ps.cvii" n="cvii" next="Ps.cviii" prev="Ps.cvi" progress="58.53%" title="Chapter CVI">
<h2 id="Ps.cvii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.cvii-p0.2">PSALM CVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.cvii-p1">We must give glory to God by making confession,
not only of his goodness but our own badness, which serve as foils
to each other. Our badness makes his goodness appear the more
illustrious, as his goodness makes our badness the more heinous and
scandalous. The foregoing psalm was a history of God's goodness to
Israel; this is a history of their rebellions and provocations, and
yet it begins and ends with Hallelujah; for even sorrow for sin
must not put us out of tune for praising God. Some think it was
penned at the time of the captivity in Babylon and the dispersion
of the Jewish nation thereupon, because of that prayer in the
close, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.47" parsed="|Ps|106|47|0|0" passage="Ps 106:47">ver. 47</scripRef>. I rather
think it was penned by David at the same time with the foregoing
psalm, because we find the first verse and the last two verses in
that psalm which David delivered to Asaph, at the bringing up of
the ark to the place he had prepared for it (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.1 Bible:Ps.106.47 Bible:Ps.106.48 Bible:1Chr.16.34-1Chr.16.36" parsed="|Ps|106|1|0|0;|Ps|106|47|0|0;|Ps|106|48|0|0;|1Chr|16|34|16|36" passage="Ps 106:1,47,48,1Ch 16:34-36">1 Chron. xvi. 34-36</scripRef>),
"Gather us from among the heathen;" for we may suppose that in
Saul's time there was a great dispersion of pious Israelites, when
David was forced to wander. In this psalm we have, I. The preface
to the narrative, speaking honour to God (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.1-Ps.106.2" parsed="|Ps|106|1|106|2" passage="Ps 106:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>), comfort to the saints
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.3" parsed="|Ps|106|3|0|0" passage="Ps 106:3">ver. 3</scripRef>), and the desire of
the faithful towards God's favour, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.4-Ps.106.5" parsed="|Ps|106|4|106|5" passage="Ps 106:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>. II. The narrative itself of the
sins of Israel, aggravated by the great things God did for them, an
account of which is intermixed. Their provocations at the Red Sea
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.6-Ps.106.12" parsed="|Ps|106|6|106|12" passage="Ps 106:6-12">ver. 6-12</scripRef>), lusting
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.13-Ps.106.15" parsed="|Ps|106|13|106|15" passage="Ps 106:13-15">ver. 13-15</scripRef>), mutinying
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.16-Ps.106.18" parsed="|Ps|106|16|106|18" passage="Ps 106:16-18">ver. 16-18</scripRef>),
worshipping the golden calf (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.19-Ps.106.23" parsed="|Ps|106|19|106|23" passage="Ps 106:19-23">ver.
19-23</scripRef>), murmuring (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.24-Ps.106.27" parsed="|Ps|106|24|106|27" passage="Ps 106:24-27">ver.
24-27</scripRef>), joining themselves to Baal-peor (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.28-Ps.106.31" parsed="|Ps|106|28|106|31" passage="Ps 106:28-31">ver. 28-31</scripRef>), quarrelling with
Moses (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.32-Ps.106.33" parsed="|Ps|106|32|106|33" passage="Ps 106:32,33">ver. 32, 33</scripRef>),
incorporating themselves with the nations of Canaan, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.34-Ps.106.39" parsed="|Ps|106|34|106|39" passage="Ps 106:34-39">ver. 34-39</scripRef>. To this is added an
account how God had rebuked them for their sins, and yet saved them
from ruin, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.40-Ps.106.46" parsed="|Ps|106|40|106|46" passage="Ps 106:40-46">ver. 40-46</scripRef>.
III. The conclusion of the psalm with prayer and praise, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.47-Ps.106.48" parsed="|Ps|106|47|106|48" passage="Ps 106:47,48">ver. 47, 48</scripRef>. It may be of use to
us to sing this psalm, that, being put in mind by it of our sins,
the sins of our land, and the sins of our fathers, we may be
humbled before God and yet not despair of mercy, which even
rebellious Israel often found with God.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.cvii-p1.16" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106" parsed="|Ps|106|0|0|0" passage="Ps 106" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.cvii-p1.17" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.1-Ps.106.5" parsed="|Ps|106|1|106|5" passage="Ps 106:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.106.1-Ps.106.5">
<h4 id="Ps.cvii-p1.18">Praise for Divine Goodness.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cvii-p2">1 Praise ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p2.1">Lord</span>. O give thanks unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p2.2">Lord</span>; for <i>he is</i> good: for his mercy
<i>endureth</i> for ever.   2 Who can utter the mighty acts of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p2.3">Lord</span>? <i>who</i> can show forth
all his praise?   3 Blessed <i>are</i> they that keep
judgment, <i>and</i> he that doeth righteousness at all times.
  4 Remember me, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p2.4">O Lord</span>, with
the favour <i>that thou bearest unto</i> thy people: O visit me
with thy salvation;   5 That I may see the good of thy chosen,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory
with thine inheritance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p3">We are here taught,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p4">I. To bless God (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.1-Ps.106.2" parsed="|Ps|106|1|106|2" passage="Ps 106:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>): <i>Praise you the
Lord,</i> that is, 1. Give him thanks for his goodness, the
manifestation of it to us, and the many instances of it. <i>He is
good</i> and <i>his mercy endures for ever;</i> let us therefore
own our obligations to him and make him a return of our best
affections and services. 2. Give him the glory of his greatness,
his <i>mighty acts,</i> proofs of his almighty power, wherein he
has done great things, and such as would be opposed. <i>Who can
utter these?</i> Who is worthy to do it? Who is able to do it? They
are so many that they cannot be numbered, so mysterious that they
cannot be described; when we have said the most we can of the
mighty acts of the Lord, the one half is not told; still there is
more to be said; it is a subject that cannot be exhausted. We must
<i>show forth his praise;</i> we may show forth some of it, but
<i>who can show forth all?</i> Not the angels themselves. This will
not excuse us in not doing what we can, but should quicken us to do
all we can.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p5">II. To bless the people of God, to call and
account them happy (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.3" parsed="|Ps|106|3|0|0" passage="Ps 106:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): <i>Those that keep judgment are blessed,</i> for
they are fit to be employed in praising God. God's people are those
whose principles are sound—<i>They keep judgment</i> (they adhere
to the rules of wisdom and religion, and their practices are
agreeable); they <i>do righteousness,</i> are just to God and to
all men, and herein they are steady and constant; they do it <i>at
all times,</i> in all manner of conversation, at every turn, in
every instance, and herein persevering to the end.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p6">III. To bless ourselves in the favour of
God, to place our happiness in it, and to seek it, accordingly,
with all seriousness, as the psalmist here, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.4-Ps.106.5" parsed="|Ps|106|4|106|5" passage="Ps 106:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>. 1. He has an eye to the
lovingkindness of God, as the fountain of all happiness:
"<i>Remember me, O Lord!</i> to give me that mercy and grace which
I stand in need of, <i>with the favour which thou bearest to thy
people.</i>" As there are a people in the world who are in a
peculiar manner God's people, so there is a peculiar favour which
God bears to that people, which all gracious souls desire an
interest in; and we need desire no more to make us happy. 2. He has
an eye to the salvation of God, the great salvation, that of the
soul, as the foundation of happiness: <i>O visit me with thy
salvation.</i> "Afford me (says Dr. Hammond) that pardon and that
grace which I stand in need of, and can hope for from none but
thee." Let that salvation be my portion for ever, and the pledges
of it my present comfort. 3. He has an eye to the blessedness of
the righteous, as that which includes all good (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.5" parsed="|Ps|106|5|0|0" passage="Ps 106:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): "<i>That I may see the good of
thy chosen</i> and be as happy as the saints are; and happier I do
not desire to be." God's people are here called his <i>chosen,</i>
his <i>nation,</i> his <i>inheritance;</i> for he has set them
apart for himself, incorporated them under his own government, is
served by them and glorified in them. The chosen people of God have
a good which is peculiar to them, which is the matter both of their
gladness and of their glorying, which is their pleasure, and their
praise. God's people have reason to be a cheerful people, and to
boast in their God all the day long; and those who have that
gladness, that glory, need not envy any of the children of men
their pleasure or pride. The gladness of God's nation, and the
glory of his inheritance, are enough to satisfy any man; for they
have everlasting joy and glory at the end of them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cvii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.6-Ps.106.12" parsed="|Ps|106|6|106|12" passage="Ps 106:6-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.106.6-Ps.106.12">
<h4 id="Ps.cvii-p6.4">The Sins of Israelites.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cvii-p7">6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have
committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.   7 Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the
multitude of thy mercies; but provoked <i>him</i> at the sea,
<i>even</i> at the Red sea.   8 Nevertheless he saved them for
his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.
  9 He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he
led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.   10
And he saved them from the hand of him that hated <i>them,</i> and
redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.   11 And the waters
covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.   12
Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p8">Here begins a penitential confession of
sin, which was in a special manner seasonable now that the church
was in distress; for thus we must justify God in all that he brings
upon us, acknowledging that <i>therefore</i> he has done right,
because <i>we have done wickedly;</i> and the remembrance of former
sins, notwithstanding which God did not cast off his people, is an
encouragement to us to hope that, though we are justly corrected
for our sins, yet we shall not be utterly abandoned.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p9">I. God's afflicted people here own
themselves guilty before God (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.6" parsed="|Ps|106|6|0|0" passage="Ps 106:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): "<i>We have sinned with our
fathers,</i> that is, like our fathers, after the similitude of
their transgression. We have added to the stock of hereditary
guilt, and filled up the measure of our fathers' iniquity, <i>to
augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord,</i>" <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.32.14 Bible:Matt.23.32" parsed="|Num|32|14|0|0;|Matt|23|32|0|0" passage="Nu 32:14,Mt 23:32">Num. xxxii. 14; Matt. xxiii. 32</scripRef>. And
see how they lay a load upon themselves, as becomes penitents:
"<i>We have committed iniquity,</i> that which is in its own nature
sinful, and <i>we have done wickedly;</i> we have sinned with a
high hand presumptuously." Or this is a confession, not only of
their imitation of, but their interest in, their fathers' sins:
<i>We have sinned with our fathers,</i> for we were in their loins
and we <i>bear their iniquity,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.5.7" parsed="|Lam|5|7|0|0" passage="La 5:7">Lam.
v. 7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p10">II. They bewail the sins of their fathers
when they were first formed into a people, which, since children
often smart for, they are concerned to sorrow for, even further
than to the third and fourth generation. Even we now ought to take
occasion from the history of Israel's rebellions to lament the
depravity and perverseness of man's nature and its unaptness to be
amended by the most probable means. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p11">1. The strange stupidity of Israel in the
midst of the favours God bestowed upon them (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.7" parsed="|Ps|106|7|0|0" passage="Ps 106:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>They understood not thy
wonders in Egypt.</i> They saw them, but they did not rightly
apprehend the meaning and design of them. <i>Blessed are those that
have not seen, and yet have</i> understood. They thought the
plagues of Egypt were intended for their deliverance, whereas they
were intended also for their instruction and conviction, not only
to force them out of their Egyptian slavery, but to cure them of
their inclination to Egyptian idolatry, by evidencing the sovereign
power and dominion of the God of Israel, above all gods, and his
particular concern for them. We lose the benefit of providences for
want of understanding them. And, as their understandings were dull,
so their memories were treacherous; though one would think such
astonishing events should never have been forgotten, yet they
remembered them not, at least <i>they remembered not the multitude
of</i> God's <i>mercies</i> in them. <i>Therefore</i> God is
distrusted because his favours are not remembered.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p12">2. Their perverseness arising from this
stupidity: <i>They provoked him at the sea, even at the Red
Sea.</i> The provocation was, despair of deliverance (because the
danger was great) and wishing they had been left in Egypt still,
<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.14.11-Exod.14.12" parsed="|Exod|14|11|14|12" passage="Ex 14:11,12">Exod. xiv. 11, 12</scripRef>.
Quarrelling with God's providence, and questioning his power,
goodness, and faithfulness, are as great provocations to him as any
whatsoever. The place aggravated the crime; it was <i>at the sea,
at the Red Sea,</i> when they had newly come out of Egypt and the
wonders God had wrought for them were fresh in their minds; yet
they reproach him, as if all that power had no mercy in it, but he
had brought them out of Egypt on purpose to <i>kill them in the
wilderness.</i> They never lay at God's mercy so immediately as in
their passage through the Red Sea, yet there they affront it, and
provoke his wrath.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p13">3. The great salvation God wrought for them
notwithstanding their provocations, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.8-Ps.106.11" parsed="|Ps|106|8|106|11" passage="Ps 106:8-11"><i>v.</i> 8-11</scripRef>. (1.) He forced a passage
for them through the sea: <i>He rebuked the Red Sea</i> for
standing in their way and retarding their march, <i>and it was
dried up</i> immediately; as, in the creation, <i>at God's rebuke
the waters fled,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.7" parsed="|Ps|104|7|0|0" passage="Ps 104:7">Ps. civ.
7</scripRef>. Nay, he not only prepared them a way, but, by the
pillar of cloud and fire, he <i>led them</i> into the sea, and, by
the conduct of Moses, led them through it as readily as <i>through
the wilderness.</i> He encouraged them to take those steps, and
subdued their fears, when those were their most dangerous and
threatening enemies. See <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.12-Isa.63.14" parsed="|Isa|63|12|63|14" passage="Isa 63:12-14">Isa.
lxiii. 12-14</scripRef>. (2.) He interposed between them and their
pursuers, and prevented them from cutting them off, as they
designed. The Israelites were all on foot, and the Egyptians had
all of them chariots and horses, with which they were likely to
overtake them quickly, but God <i>saved them from the hand of him
that hated them,</i> namely, Pharaoh, who never loved them, but now
hated them the more for the plagues he had suffered on their
account. <i>From the hand of</i> his <i>enemy,</i> who was just
ready to seize them, <i>God redeemed them</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.10" parsed="|Ps|106|10|0|0" passage="Ps 106:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), interposing himself, as it
were, in the pillar of fire, between the persecuted and the
persecutors. (3.) To complete the mercy, and turn the deliverance
into a victory, the Red Sea, which was a lane to them, was a grave
to the Egyptians (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.11" parsed="|Ps|106|11|0|0" passage="Ps 106:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): <i>The waters covered their enemies,</i> so as to
slay them, but not so as to conceal their shame; for, the next
tide, they were thrown up dead upon the shore, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.14.30" parsed="|Exod|14|30|0|0" passage="Ex 14:30">Exod. xiv. 30</scripRef>. <i>There was not one of them
left</i> alive, to bring tidings of what had become of the rest.
And why did God do this for them? Nay, why did he not cover them,
as he did their enemies, for their unbelief and murmuring? He tells
us (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.8" parsed="|Ps|106|8|0|0" passage="Ps 106:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): it was
<i>for his name's sake.</i> Though they did not deserve this
favour, he designed it; and their undeservings should not alter his
designs, nor break his measures, nor make him withdraw his promise,
or fail in the performance of it. He did this for his own glory,
<i>that he might make his mighty power to be known,</i> not only in
dividing the sea, but in doing it notwithstanding their
provocations. Moses prays (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Num.14.17 Bible:Num.14.19" parsed="|Num|14|17|0|0;|Num|14|19|0|0" passage="Nu 14:17,19">Num.
xiv. 17, 19</scripRef>), <i>Let the power of my Lord be great and
pardon the iniquity of this people.</i> The power of the God of
grace in pardoning sin and sparing sinners is as much to be admired
as the power of the God of nature in dividing the waters.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p14">4. The good impression this made upon them
for the present (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.12" parsed="|Ps|106|12|0|0" passage="Ps 106:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): <i>Then believed they his words,</i> and
acknowledged that God was with them of a truth, and had, in mercy
to them, brought them out of Egypt, and not with any design to slay
them in the wilderness; then <i>they feared the Lord and his
servant Moses,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.14.31" parsed="|Exod|14|31|0|0" passage="Ex 14:31">Exod. xiv.
31</scripRef>. Then <i>they sang his praise,</i> in that song of
Moses penned on this great occasion, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.1" parsed="|Exod|15|1|0|0" passage="Ex 15:1">Exod. xv. 1</scripRef>. See in what a gracious and
merciful way God sometimes silences the unbelief of his people, and
turns their fears into praises; and so it is written, <i>Those that
erred in spirit shall come to understanding,</i> and <i>those that
murmured shall learn doctrine,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.24" parsed="|Isa|29|24|0|0" passage="Isa 29:24">Isa. xxix. 24</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cvii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.13-Ps.106.33" parsed="|Ps|106|13|106|33" passage="Ps 106:13-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.106.13-Ps.106.33">
<h4 id="Ps.cvii-p14.6">Provocation of Israel in the
Wilderness.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cvii-p15">13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not
for his counsel:   14 But lusted exceedingly in the
wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.   15 And he gave
them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.   16
They envied Moses also in the camp, <i>and</i> Aaron the saint of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p15.1">Lord</span>.   17 The earth opened
and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.  
18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the
wicked.   19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the
molten image.   20 Thus they changed their glory into the
similitude of an ox that eateth grass.   21 They forgat God
their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;   22
Wondrous works in the land of Ham, <i>and</i> terrible things by
the Red sea.   23 Therefore he said that he would destroy
them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to
turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy <i>them.</i>   24
Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
  25 But murmured in their tents, <i>and</i> hearkened not
unto the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p15.2">Lord</span>.  
26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them
in the wilderness:   27 To overthrow their seed also among the
nations, and to scatter them in the lands.   28 They joined
themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
  29 Thus they provoked <i>him</i> to anger with their
inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.   30 Then stood
up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and <i>so</i> the plague was
stayed.   31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness
unto all generations for evermore.   32 They angered
<i>him</i> also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with
Moses for their sakes:   33 Because they provoked his spirit,
so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p16">This is an abridgment of the history of
Israel's provocations in the wilderness, and of the wrath of God
against them for those provocations: and this abridgment is
abridged by the apostle, with application to us Christians
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.5" parsed="|1Cor|10|5|0|0" passage="1Co 10:5">1 Cor. x. 5</scripRef>, &amp;c.); for
these things were <i>written for our admonition,</i> that we sin
not like them, lest we suffer like them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p17">I. The cause of their sin was disregard to
the works and word of God, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.13" parsed="|Ps|106|13|0|0" passage="Ps 106:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. 1. They minded not what he had done for them:
<i>They soon forgot his works,</i> and lost the impressions they
had made upon them. Those that do not improve God's mercies to
them, nor endeavour in some measure to render according to the
benefit done unto them, do indeed forget them. This people soon
forgot them (God took notice of this, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.32.8" parsed="|Exod|32|8|0|0" passage="Ex 32:8">Exod. xxxii. 8</scripRef>, <i>They have turned aside
quickly): They made haste, they forgot his works</i> (so it is in
the margin), which some make to be two separate instances of their
sin. <i>They made haste;</i> their expectations anticipated God's
promises; they expected to be in Canaan shortly, and because they
were not they questioned whether they should ever be there and
quarrelled with all the difficulties they met with in their way;
whereas <i>he that believeth does not make haste,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.28.16" parsed="|Isa|28|16|0|0" passage="Isa 28:16">Isa. xxviii. 16</scripRef>. And, withal,
<i>they forgot his works,</i> which were the undeniable evidences
of his wisdom, power, and goodness, and denied the conclusion as
confidently as if they had never seen the premises proved. This is
mentioned again (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.21-Ps.106.22" parsed="|Ps|106|21|106|22" passage="Ps 106:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21,
22</scripRef>): <i>They forgot God their Saviour;</i> that is, they
forgot that he had been their Saviour. Those that forget the works
of God forget God himself, who makes himself known by his works.
They forgot what was done but a few days before, which we may
suppose they could not but talk of, even then, when, because they
did not make a good use of it, they are said to forget it: it was
what God did for them <i>in Egypt, in the land of Ham,</i> and
<i>by the Red Sea,</i> things which we at this distance cannot, or
should not, be unmindful of. They are called <i>great things</i>
(for, though the great God does nothing mean, yet he does some
things that are in a special manner great), <i>wondrous works,</i>
out of the common road of Providence, therefore observable,
therefore memorable, and <i>terrible things,</i> awful to them, and
dreadful to their enemies, and yet soon forgotten. Even miracles
that were seen passed away with them as tales that are told. 2.
They minded not what God had said to them nor would they depend
upon it: <i>They waited not for his counsel,</i> did not attend his
word, though they had Moses to be his mouth to them; they took up
resolves about which they did not consult him and made demands
without calling upon him. They would be in Canaan directly, and had
not patience to tarry God's time. The delay was intolerable, and
therefore the difficulties were looked upon as insuperable. This is
explained (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.24" parsed="|Ps|106|24|0|0" passage="Ps 106:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>):
<i>They believed not his word,</i> his promise that he would make
them masters of Canaan; and (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.25" parsed="|Ps|106|25|0|0" passage="Ps 106:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>), <i>They hearkened not to the
voice of the Lord,</i> who gave them counsel which they would not
wait for, not only by Moses and Aaron, but by Caleb and Joshua,
<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p17.7" osisRef="Bible:Num.14.6-Num.14.7" parsed="|Num|14|6|14|7" passage="Nu 14:6,7">Num. xiv. 6, 7</scripRef>, &amp;c.
Those that will not wait for God's counsel shall justly be given up
to their own hearts' lusts, to walk in their own counsels.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p18">II. Many of their sins are here mentioned,
together with the tokens of God's displeasure which they fell under
for those sins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p19">1. They would have flesh, and yet would not
believe that God could give it to them (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.14" parsed="|Ps|106|14|0|0" passage="Ps 106:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>They lusted a lust</i> (so
the word is) <i>in the wilderness;</i> there, where they had bread
enough and to spare, yet nothing would serve them but they must
have flesh to eat. They were now purely at God's finding, being
supported entirely by miracles, so that this was a reflection upon
the wisdom and goodness of their Creator. They were also, in all
probability, within a step of Canaan, yet had not patience to stay
for dainties till they came thither. They had flocks and herds of
their own, but they will not kill them; God must give them flesh as
he gave them bread, or they will never give him credit, or their
good word. They did not only wish for flesh, <i>but</i> they
<i>lusted exceedingly</i> after it. A desire, even of lawful
things, when it is inordinate and violent, becomes sinful; and
therefore this is called <i>lusting after evil things</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.6" parsed="|1Cor|10|6|0|0" passage="1Co 10:6">1 Cor. x. 6</scripRef>), though the
quails, as God's gift, were good things, and were so spoken of,
<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.40" parsed="|Ps|105|40|0|0" passage="Ps 105:40">Ps. cv. 40</scripRef>. Yet this was
not all: <i>They tempted God in the desert,</i> where they had had
such experience of his goodness and power, and questioned whether
he could and would gratify them herein. See <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.19-Ps.78.20" parsed="|Ps|78|19|78|20" passage="Ps 78:19,20">Ps. lxxviii. 19, 20</scripRef>. Now how did God show
his displeasure against them for this. We are told how (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.15" parsed="|Ps|106|15|0|0" passage="Ps 106:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>He gave them their
request,</i> but gave it them in anger, and with a curse, for he
<i>sent leanness into their soul;</i> he filled them with
uneasiness of mind, and terror of conscience, and a self-reproach,
occasioned by their bodies being sick with the surfeit, such as
sometimes drunkards experience after a great debauch. Or this is
put for that great plague with which the Lord smote them, <i>while
the flesh was yet between their teeth,</i> as we read, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.11.33" parsed="|Num|11|33|0|0" passage="Nu 11:33">Num. xi. 33</scripRef>. It was the consumption
of the life. Note, (1.) What is asked in passion is often given in
wrath. (2.) Many that fare deliciously every day, and whose bodies
are healthful and fat, have, at the same time, leanness in their
souls, no love to God, no thankfulness, no appetite to the bread of
life, and then the soul must needs be lean. Those wretchedly forget
themselves that feast their bodies and starve their souls.
<i>Then</i> God gives the good things of this life in love, when
with them he gives grace to glorify him in the use of them; for
then <i>the soul delights itself in fatness,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.2" parsed="|Isa|55|2|0|0" passage="Isa 55:2">Isa. lv. 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p20">2. They quarrelled with the government
which God had set over them both in church and state (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.16" parsed="|Ps|106|16|0|0" passage="Ps 106:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>They envied
Moses</i> his authority <i>in the camp,</i> as generalissimo of the
armies of Israel and chief justice in all their courts; they envied
<i>Aaron</i> his power, as <i>saint of the Lord,</i> consecrated to
the office of high priest, and Korah would needs put in for the
pontificate, while Dathan and Abiram, as princes of the tribe of
Reuben, Jacob's eldest son, would claim to be chief magistrates, by
the so-much-admired right of primogeniture. Note, Those are
preparing ruin for themselves who envy those whom God has put
honour upon and usurp the dignities they were never designed for.
And justly will contempt be poured upon those who put contempt upon
any of the saints of the Lord. How did God show his displeasure for
this? We are told how, and it is enough to make us tremble
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.17-Ps.106.18" parsed="|Ps|106|17|106|18" passage="Ps 106:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>); we
have the story, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.16.32 Bible:Num.16.35" parsed="|Num|16|32|0|0;|Num|16|35|0|0" passage="Nu 16:32,35">Num. xvi. 32,
35</scripRef>. (1.) Those that flew in the face of the civil
authority were punished by <i>the earth,</i> which <i>opened and
swallowed them up,</i> as not fit to go upon God's ground, because
they would not submit to God's government. (2.) Those that would
usurp the ecclesiastical authority in things pertaining to God
suffered the vengeance of heaven, for <i>fire came out from the
Lord and consumed them,</i> and the pretending sacrificers were
themselves sacrificed to divine justice. <i>The flame burnt up the
wicked;</i> for though they vied with <i>Aaron, the saint of the
Lord,</i> for holiness (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Num.16.3 Bible:Num.16.5" parsed="|Num|16|3|0|0;|Num|16|5|0|0" passage="Nu 16:3,5">Num. xvi. 3,
5</scripRef>), yet God adjudged them wicked, and as such cut them
off, as in due time he will destroy the man of sin, that wicked
one, notwithstanding his proud pretensions to holiness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p21">3. They made and worshipped the golden
calf, and this in Horeb, where the law was given, and where God had
expressly said, <i>Thou shalt</i> neither <i>make any graven
image</i> nor <i>bow down</i> to it; they did both: <i>They made a
calf and worshipped</i> it, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.19" parsed="|Ps|106|19|0|0" passage="Ps 106:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p22">(1.) Herein they bade defiance to, and put
an affront upon, the two great lights which God has made to rule
the moral world:—[1.] That of human reason; for <i>they changed
their glory,</i> their God, at least the manifestation of him,
which always had been in a cloud (either a dark cloud or a bright
one), without any manner of visible similitude, <i>into the
similitude of</i> Apis, one of the Egyptian idols, <i>an ox that
eateth grass,</i> than which nothing could be more grossly and
scandalously absurd, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.20" parsed="|Ps|106|20|0|0" passage="Ps 106:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>. Idolaters are perfectly besotted, and put the
greatest disparagement possible both upon God, in representing him
by the image of a beast, and upon themselves, in worshipping it
when they have so done. That which is here said to be the changing
of their glory is explained by St. Paul (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.23" parsed="|Rom|1|23|0|0" passage="Ro 1:23">Rom. i. 23</scripRef>) to be the <i>changing of the glory
of the incorruptible God.</i> [2.] That of divine revelation, which
was afforded to them, not only in the words God spoke to them, but
in the works he wrought for them, <i>wondrous works,</i> which
declared aloud that the Lord Jehovah is the only true and living
God and is alone to be worshipped, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.21-Ps.106.22" parsed="|Ps|106|21|106|22" passage="Ps 106:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p23">(2.) For this God showed his displeasure by
declaring the decree that he would cut them off from being a
people, as they had, as far as lay in their power, in effect cut
him off from being a God; he <i>spoke of destroying them</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.23" parsed="|Ps|106|23|0|0" passage="Ps 106:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), and
certainly he would have done it if <i>Moses, his chosen, had not
stood before him in the breach</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.23" parsed="|Ps|106|23|0|0" passage="Ps 106:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), if he had not seasonably
interposed to deal with God as an advocate about the breach or ruin
God was about to devote them to and wonderfully prevailed to turn
away his wrath. See here the mercy of God, and how easily his anger
is turned away, even from a provoking people. See the power of
prayer, and the interest which God's chosen have in heaven. See a
type of Christ, God's <i>chosen,</i> his <i>elect, in whom his soul
delights,</i> who <i>stood before him in the breach</i> to <i>turn
away</i> his wrath from a provoking world, and ever lives, for this
end, making intercession.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p24">4. They gave credit to the report of the
evil spies concerning the land of Canaan, in contradiction to the
promise of God (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.24" parsed="|Ps|106|24|0|0" passage="Ps 106:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>): <i>They despised the pleasant land.</i> Canaan was
a pleasant land, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.7" parsed="|Deut|8|7|0|0" passage="De 8:7">Deut. viii.
7</scripRef>. They undervalued it when they thought it not worth
venturing for, no, not under the guidance of God himself, and
therefore were for making a captain and returning to Egypt again.
They <i>believed not God's word</i> concerning it, but <i>murmured
in their tents,</i> basely charging God with a design upon them in
bringing them thither that they might become a prey to the
Canaanites, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.14.2-Num.14.3" parsed="|Num|14|2|14|3" passage="Nu 14:2,3">Num. xiv. 2,
3</scripRef>. And, when they were reminded of God's power and
promise, they were so far from hearkening to that voice of the Lord
that they attempted to stone those who spoke to them, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Num.14.10" parsed="|Num|14|10|0|0" passage="Nu 14:10">Num. xiv. 10</scripRef>. The heavenly Canaan is
a pleasant land. A promise is left us of entering into it; but
there are many that despise it, that neglect and refuse the offer
of it, that prefer the wealth and pleasure of this world before it,
and grudge the pains and hazards of this life to obtain that. This
also was so displeasing to God that <i>he lifted up his hand
against them,</i> in a way of threatening, <i>to destroy them in
the wilderness;</i> nay, in a way of swearing, for he swore in his
wrath that they should not enter into his rest (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.95.11 Bible:Num.14.28" parsed="|Ps|95|11|0|0;|Num|14|28|0|0" passage="Ps 95:11,Nu 14:28">Ps. xcv. 11; Num. xiv. 28</scripRef>); nay, and
he threatened that their children also should be <i>overthrown and
scattered</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p24.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.26-Ps.106.27" parsed="|Ps|106|26|106|27" passage="Ps 106:26,27"><i>v.</i> 26,
27</scripRef>), and the whole nation dispersed and disinherited;
but Moses prevailed for mercy for their seed, that they might enter
Canaan. Note, Those who despise God's favours, and particularly the
pleasant land, forfeit his favours, and will be shut out for ever
from the pleasant land.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p25">5. They were guilty of a great sin in the
matter of Peor; and this was the sin of the new generation, when
they were within a step of Canaan (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.28" parsed="|Ps|106|28|0|0" passage="Ps 106:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): <i>They joined themselves to
Baal-peor,</i> and so were entangled both in idolatry and in
adultery, in corporeal and in spiritual whoredom, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.25.1-Num.25.3" parsed="|Num|25|1|25|3" passage="Nu 25:1-3">Num. xxv. 1-3</scripRef>. Those that did often
partake of the altar of the living God now <i>ate the sacrifices of
the dead,</i> of the idols of Moab (that were dead images, or dead
men canonized or deified), or sacrifices to the infernal deities on
the behalf of their dead friends. <i>Thus they provoked God to
anger with their inventions</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.29" parsed="|Ps|106|29|0|0" passage="Ps 106:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), in contempt of him and his
institutions, his commands, and his threatenings. The iniquity of
Peor was so great that, long after, it is said, <i>They were not
cleansed from it,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.22.17" parsed="|Josh|22|17|0|0" passage="Jos 22:17">Josh. xxii.
17</scripRef>. God testified his displeasure at this, (1.) By
sending a plague among them, which in a little time swept away
24,000 of those impudent sinners. (2.) By stirring up Phinehas to
use his power as a magistrate for the suppressing of the sin and
checking the contagion of it. He stood up in his zeal for the Lord
of hosts, and executed judgment upon Zimri and Cozbi, sinners of
the first rank, genteel sinners; he put the law in execution upon
them, and this was a service so pleasing to God that upon it <i>the
plague was stayed,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.30" parsed="|Ps|106|30|0|0" passage="Ps 106:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>. By this, and some other similar acts of public
justice on that occasion (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p25.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.25.4-Num.25.5" parsed="|Num|25|4|25|5" passage="Nu 25:4,5">Num. xxv.
4, 5</scripRef>), the guilt ceased to be national, and the general
controversy was let fall. When the proper officers did their duty
God left it to them, and did not any longer keep the work in his
own hands by the plague. Note, National justice prevents national
judgments. But, Phinehas herein signalizing himself, a special mark
of honour was put upon him, for what he did was <i>counted to him
for righteousness to all generations</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p25.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.31" parsed="|Ps|106|31|0|0" passage="Ps 106:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>), and, in recompence of it, the
priesthood was entailed on his family. <i>He</i> shall make an
atonement by offering up the sacrifices, who had so bravely made an
atonement (so some read it, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p25.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.30" parsed="|Ps|106|30|0|0" passage="Ps 106:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>) by offering up the sinners. Note, It is the honour
of saints to be zealous against sin.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p26">6. They continued their murmurings to the
very last of their wanderings; for in the fortieth year they
<i>angered God at the waters of strife</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.32" parsed="|Ps|106|32|0|0" passage="Ps 106:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>), which refers to that story,
<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.20.3-Num.20.5" parsed="|Num|20|3|20|5" passage="Nu 20:3-5">Num. xx. 3-5</scripRef>. And that
which aggravated it now was that <i>it went ill with Moses for
their sakes;</i> for, though he was the meekest of all the men in
the earth, yet their clamours at that time were so peevish and
provoking that they put him into a passion, and, having now grown
very old and off his guard, <i>he spoke unadvisedly with his
lips</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.33" parsed="|Ps|106|33|0|0" passage="Ps 106:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>),
and not as became him on that occasion; for he said in a heat,
<i>Hear now, you rebels, must we fetch water out of this rock for
you?</i> This was Moses's infirmity, and is written for our
admonition, that we may learn, when we are in the midst of
provocation, to keep our mouth as with a bridle (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.39.1-Ps.39.3" parsed="|Ps|39|1|39|3" passage="Ps 39:1-3">Ps. xxxix. 1-3</scripRef>), and to <i>take heed to our
spirits,</i> that they admit not resentments too much; for, when
the spirit is provoked, it is much ado, even for those that have a
great deal of wisdom and grace, not to <i>speak unadvisedly.</i>
But it is charged upon the people as their sin: <i>They provoked
his spirit</i> with that with which they angered God himself. Note,
We must answer not only for our own passions, but for the
provocation which by them we give to the passions of others,
especially of those who, if not greatly provoked, would be meek and
quiet. God shows his displeasure against this sin of theirs by
shutting Moses and Aaron out of Canaan for their misconduct upon
this occasion, by which, (1.) God discovered his resentment of all
such intemperate heats, even in the dearest of his servants. If he
deals thus severely with Moses for one unadvised word, what does
their sin deserve who have spoken so many presumptuous wicked
words? <i>If this was done in the green tree, what shall be done in
the dry?</i> (2.) God deprived them of the blessing of Moses's
guidance and government at a time when they most needed it, so that
his death was more a punishment to them than to himself. It is just
with God to remove those relations from us that are blessings to
us, when we are peevish and provoking to them and grieve their
spirits.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cvii-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.34-Ps.106.48" parsed="|Ps|106|34|106|48" passage="Ps 106:34-48" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.106.34-Ps.106.48">
<h4 id="Ps.cvii-p26.6">Provocation of Israel in the Wilderness; The
Divine Compassion.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cvii-p27">34 They did not destroy the nations, concerning
whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p27.1">Lord</span> commanded them:  
35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
  36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto
them.   37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters
unto devils,   38 And shed innocent blood, <i>even</i> the
blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed
unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
  39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a
whoring with their own inventions.   40 Therefore was the
wrath of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p27.2">Lord</span> kindled against
his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.  
41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that
hated them ruled over them.   42 Their enemies also oppressed
them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
  43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked
<i>him</i> with their counsel, and were brought low for their
iniquity.   44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when
he heard their cry:   45 And he remembered for them his
covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
  46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried
them captives.   47 Save us, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p27.3">O
Lord</span> our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give
thanks unto thy holy name, <i>and</i> to triumph in thy praise.
  48 Blessed <i>be</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p27.4">Lord</span>
God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the
people say, Amen. Praise ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvii-p27.5">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p28">Here, I. The narrative concludes with an
account of Israel's conduct in Canaan, which was of a piece with
that in the wilderness, and God's dealings with them, wherein, as
all along, both justice and mercy appeared.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p29">1. They were very provoking to God. The
miracles and mercies which settled them in Canaan made no more deep
and durable impressions upon them than those which fetched them out
of Egypt; for by the time they were just settled in Canaan they
corrupted themselves, and forsook God. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p30">(1.) The steps of their apostasy. [1.] They
spared the nations which God had doomed to destruction (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.34" parsed="|Ps|106|34|0|0" passage="Ps 106:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>); when they had got the
good land God had promised them they had no zeal against the wicked
inhabitants whom the Lord commanded them to extirpate, pretending
pity; but so merciful is God that no man needs to be in any case
more compassionate than he. [2.] When they spared them they
promised themselves that, notwithstanding this, they would not join
in any dangerous affinity with them. But the way of sin is
down-hill; omissions make way for commissions; when they neglect to
<i>destroy the heathen</i> the next news we hear is, They were
<i>mingled among the heathen,</i> made leagues with them and
contracted an intimacy with them, so that they <i>learned their
works,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.35" parsed="|Ps|106|35|0|0" passage="Ps 106:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>.
That which is rotten will sooner corrupt that which is sound than
be cured or made sound by it. [3.] When they mingled with them, and
learned some of their works that seemed innocent diversions and
entertainments, yet they thought they would never join with them in
their worship; but by degrees they learned that too (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p30.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.36" parsed="|Ps|106|36|0|0" passage="Ps 106:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>): <i>They served their
idols</i> in the same manner, and with the same rites, that they
served them; and they became <i>a snare to them.</i> That sin drew
on many more, and brought the judgments of God upon them, which
they themselves could not but be sensible of and yet knew not how
to recover themselves. [4.] When they joined with them in some of
their idolatrous services, which they thought had least harm in
them, they little thought that ever they should be guilty of that
barbarous and inhuman piece of idolatry the sacrificing of their
living children to their dead gods; but they came to that at last
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p30.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.37-Ps.106.38" parsed="|Ps|106|37|106|38" passage="Ps 106:37,38"><i>v.</i> 37, 38</scripRef>), in
which Satan triumphed over his worshippers, and regaled himself in
blood and slaughter: <i>They sacrificed their sons and
daughters,</i> pieces of themselves, to devils, and added murder,
the most unnatural murder, to their idolatry; one cannot think of
it without horror. They <i>shed innocent blood,</i> the most
innocent, for it was infant-blood, nay, it was the <i>blood of
their sons and their daughters.</i> See the power of the spirit
that works in the children of disobedience, and see his malice. The
beginning of idolatry and superstition, like that of strife, is as
the letting forth of water, and there is no villany which those
that venture upon it can be sure they shall stop short of, for God
justly <i>gives them up to a reprobate mind,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p30.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.28" parsed="|Rom|1|28|0|0" passage="Ro 1:28">Rom. i. 28</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p31">(2.) Their sin was, in part, their own
punishment; for by it, [1.] They wronged their country: <i>The land
was polluted with blood,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p31.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.38" parsed="|Ps|106|38|0|0" passage="Ps 106:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>. That pleasant land, that holy
land, was rendered uncomfortable to themselves, and unfit to
receive those kind tokens of God's favour and presence in it which
were designed to be its honour. [2.] They wronged their consciences
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p31.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.39" parsed="|Ps|106|39|0|0" passage="Ps 106:39"><i>v.</i> 39</scripRef>): <i>They
went a whoring with their own inventions,</i> and so debauched
their own minds, and were <i>defiled with their own works,</i> and
rendered odious in the eyes of the holy God, and perhaps of their
own consciences.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p32">2. God brought his judgments upon them; and
what else could be expected? For his name is Jealous, and he is a
jealous God. (1.) He fell out with them for it, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p32.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.40" parsed="|Ps|106|40|0|0" passage="Ps 106:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>. He was angry with them: <i>The
wrath of God,</i> that consuming fire, <i>was kindled against his
people;</i> for from them he took it as more insulting and
ungrateful than from the heathen that never knew him. Nay, he was
sick of them: <i>He abhorred his own inheritance,</i> which once he
had taken pleasure in; yet the change was not in him, but in them.
This is the worst thing in sin, that it makes us loathsome to God;
and the nearer any are to God in profession the more loathsome are
they if they rebel against him, like a dunghill at our door. (2.)
Their enemies then fell upon them, and, their defence having
departed, made an easy prey of them (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p32.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.41-Ps.106.42" parsed="|Ps|106|41|106|42" passage="Ps 106:41,42"><i>v.</i> 41, 42</scripRef>): <i>He gave them into
the hands of the heathen.</i> Observe here how the punishment
answered to the sin: They <i>mingled with the heathen and learned
their works;</i> from them they willingly took the infection of
sin, and therefore God justly made use of them as the instruments
of their correction. Sinners often see themselves ruined by those
by whom they have suffered themselves to be debauched. Satan, who
is a tempter, will be a tormentor. The heathen hated them.
Apostates lose all the love on God's side, and get none on Satan's;
and when those that <i>hated them ruled over them,</i> and they
were brought into subjection under them, no marvel that they
oppressed them and ruled them with rigour; and thus God made them
know the difference between <i>his service and the service of the
kings of the countries,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p32.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.12.8" parsed="|2Chr|12|8|0|0" passage="2Ch 12:8">2 Chron.
xii. 8</scripRef>. (3.) When God granted them some relief, yet they
went on in their sins, and their troubles also were continued,
<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p32.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.43" parsed="|Ps|106|43|0|0" passage="Ps 106:43"><i>v.</i> 43</scripRef>. This refers
to the days of the Judges, when God often raised up deliverers and
wrought deliverances for them, and yet they relapsed to idolatry
and <i>provoked God with their counsel,</i> their idolatrous
inventions, to deliver them up to some other oppressor, so that at
last they <i>were brought</i> very <i>low for their iniquity.</i>
Those that by sin disparage themselves, and will not by repentance
humble themselves, are justly debased, and humbled, and brought
low, by the judgments of God. (4.) At length they cried unto God,
and God returned in favour to them, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p32.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.44-Ps.106.46" parsed="|Ps|106|44|106|46" passage="Ps 106:44-46"><i>v.</i> 44-46</scripRef>. They were chastened for
their sins, but not destroyed, cast down, but not cast off. God
appeared for them, [1.] As a God of mercy, who looked upon their
grievances, <i>regarded their affliction, beheld when distress was
upon them</i> (so some), who looked over their complaints, for he
<i>heard their cry</i> with tender compassion (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p32.6" osisRef="Bible:Exod.3.7" parsed="|Exod|3|7|0|0" passage="Ex 3:7">Exod. iii. 7</scripRef>) and overlooked their
provocations; for though he had said, and had reason to say it,
that he would destroy them, yet he <i>repented, according to the
multitude of his mercies,</i> and reversed the sentence. Though he
is not a <i>man that he should repent,</i> so as to change his
mind, yet he is a gracious God, who pities us, and changes his way.
[2.] As a God of truth, who <i>remembered for them his
covenant,</i> and made good every word that he had spoken; and
therefore, bad as they were, he would not break with them, because
he would not break his own promise. [3.] As a God of power, who has
all hearts in his hand, and turns them which way soever he pleases.
<i>He made them to be pitied even of those that carried them
captives,</i> and hated them, and ruled them with rigour. He not
only restrained the remainder of their enemies' wrath, that it
should not utterly consume them, but he infused compassion even
into their stony hearts, and made them relent, which was more than
any art of man could have done with the utmost force of rhetoric.
Note, God can change lions into lambs, and, <i>when a man's ways
please the Lord,</i> will make even <i>his enemies to pity him</i>
and <i>be at peace with him.</i> When God pities men shall.
<i>Tranquillus Deus tranquillat omnia—A God at peace with us makes
every thing at peace.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvii-p33">II. The psalm concludes with prayer and
praise. 1. Prayer for the completing of his people's deliverance.
Even when the Lord brought back the captivity of his people still
there was occasion to pray, <i>Lord, turn again our captivity</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p33.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.126.1 Bible:Ps.126.4" parsed="|Ps|126|1|0|0;|Ps|126|4|0|0" passage="Ps 126:1,4">Ps. cxxvi. 1, 4</scripRef>); so
here (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p33.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.47" parsed="|Ps|106|47|0|0" passage="Ps 106:47"><i>v.</i> 47</scripRef>),
<i>Save us, O Lord our God! and gather us from among the
heathen.</i> We may suppose that many who were forced into foreign
countries, in the times of the Judges (as Naomi was, <scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p33.3" osisRef="Bible:Ruth.1.1" parsed="|Ruth|1|1|0|0" passage="Ru 1:1">Ruth i. 1</scripRef>), had not returned in the
beginning of David's reign, Saul's time being discouraging, and
therefore it was seasonable to pray, Lord, gather the dispersed
Israelites <i>from among the heathen, to give thanks to thy holy
name,</i> not only that they may have cause to give thanks and
hearts to give thanks, that they may have opportunity to do it in
the courts of the Lord's house, from which they were now banished,
and so may <i>triumph in thy praise,</i> over those that had in
scorn challenged them to <i>sing the Lord's song in a strange
land.</i> 2. Praise for the beginning and progress of it (<scripRef id="Ps.cvii-p33.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.48" parsed="|Ps|106|48|0|0" passage="Ps 106:48"><i>v.</i> 48</scripRef>): <i>Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.</i> He is a
blessed God from eternity, and will be so to eternity, and so let
him be praised by all his worshippers. Let the priests say this,
and then <i>let all the people say, Amen, Hallelujah,</i> in token
of their cheerful concurrence in all these prayers, praises, and
confessions. According to this rubric, or directory, we find that
when this psalm (or at least the closing verses of it) was sung all
the people said <i>Amen,</i> and praised the Lord by saying,
<i>Hallelujah.</i> By these two comprehensive words it is very
proper, in religious assemblies, to testify their joining with
their ministers in the prayers and praises which, as their mouth,
they offer up to God, according to his will, saying <i>Amen</i> to
the prayers and <i>Hallelujah</i> to the praises.</p>
</div></div2>