mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 94.xml

<div2 id="Ps.xcv" n="xcv" next="Ps.xcvi" prev="Ps.xciv" progress="54.50%" title="Chapter XCIV">
<h2 id="Ps.xcv-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.xcv-p0.2">PSALM XCIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.xcv-p1">This psalm was penned when the church of God was
under hatches, oppressed and persecuted; and it is an appeal to
God, as the judge of heaven and earth, and an address to him, to
appear for his people against his and their enemies. Two things
this psalm speaks:—I. Conviction and terror to the persecutors
(<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.1-Ps.94.11" parsed="|Ps|94|1|94|11" passage="Ps 94:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>), showing them
their danger and folly, and arguing with them. II. Comfort and
peace to the persecuted (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.12-Ps.94.23" parsed="|Ps|94|12|94|23" passage="Ps 94:12-23">ver.
12-23</scripRef>), assuring them, both from God's promise and from
the psalmist's own experience, that their troubles would end well,
and God would, in due time, appear to their joy and the confusion
of those who set themselves against them. In singing this psalm we
must look abroad upon the pride of oppressors with a holy
indignation, and the tears of the oppressed with a holy compassion;
but, at the same time, look upwards to the righteous Judge with an
entire satisfaction, and look forward, to the end of all these
things, with a pleasing hope.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.xcv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94" parsed="|Ps|94|0|0|0" passage="Ps 94" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.xcv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.1-Ps.94.11" parsed="|Ps|94|1|94|11" passage="Ps 94:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.94.1-Ps.94.11">
<h4 id="Ps.xcv-p1.5">Appeal to God against Persecutors; The Folly
of Atheists and Oppressors.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xcv-p2">1 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p2.1">O Lord</span> God, to
whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show
thyself.   2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render
a reward to the proud.   3 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p2.2">Lord</span>, how long shall the wicked, how long shall
the wicked triumph?   4 <i>How long</i> shall they utter
<i>and</i> speak hard things? <i>and</i> all the workers of
iniquity boast themselves?   5 They break in pieces thy
people, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p2.3">O Lord</span>, and afflict thine
heritage.   6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder
the fatherless.   7 Yet they say, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p2.4">Lord</span> shall not see, neither shall the God of
Jacob regard <i>it.</i>   8 Understand, ye brutish among the
people: and <i>ye</i> fools, when will ye be wise?   9 He that
planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall
he not see?   10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he
correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, <i>shall not he know?</i>
  11 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p2.5">Lord</span> knoweth the
thoughts of man, that they <i>are</i> vanity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p3">In these verses we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p4">I. A solemn appeal to God against the cruel
oppressors of his people, <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.1-Ps.94.2" parsed="|Ps|94|1|94|2" passage="Ps 94:1,2"><i>v.</i>
1, 2</scripRef>. This speaks terror enough to them, that they have
the prayers of God's people against them, who cry day and night to
him to avenge them of their adversaries; and shall he not avenge
them speedily? <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.18.3 Bible:Luke.18.7" parsed="|Luke|18|3|0|0;|Luke|18|7|0|0" passage="Lu 18:3,7">Luke xviii. 3,
7</scripRef>. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p5">1. The titles they give to God for the
encouraging of their faith in this appeal: <i>O God! to whom
vengeance belongeth;</i> and <i>thou Judge of the earth.</i> We may
with boldness appeal to him; for, (1.) He is judge, supreme judge,
judge alone, from whom every man's judgment proceeds. He that gives
law gives sentence upon every man according to his works, by the
rule of that law. He has prepared his throne for judgment. He has
indeed appointed magistrates to be avengers under him (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.13.4" parsed="|Rom|13|4|0|0" passage="Ro 13:4">Rom. xiii. 4</scripRef>), but he is the avenger
in chief, to whom even magistrates themselves are accountable; his
throne is the last refuge (the <i>dernier ressort,</i> as the law
speaks) of oppressed innocency. He is universal judge, not of this
city or country only, but <i>judge of the earth,</i> of the whole
earth: none are exempt from his jurisdiction; nor can it be alleged
against an appeal to him in any court that it is <i>coram non
judice—before a person not judicially qualified.</i> (2.) He is
just. As he has authority to avenge wrong, so it is his nature, and
property, and honour. This also is implied in the title here given
to him and repeated with such an emphasis, <i>O God! to whom
vengeance belongs,</i> who wilt not suffer might always to prevail
against right. This is a good reason why we must not avenge
ourselves, because God has said, <i>Vengeance is mine;</i> and it
is daring presumption to usurp his prerogative and step into his
throne, <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.19" parsed="|Rom|12|19|0|0" passage="Ro 12:19">Rom. xii. 19</scripRef>. Let
this alarm those who do wrong, whether with a close hand, so as not
to be discovered, or with a high hand, so as not to be controlled,
There is a God to whom vengeance belongs, who will certainly call
them to an account; and let it encourage those who suffer wrong to
bear it with silence, committing themselves to him who judges
righteously.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p6">2. What it is they ask of God. (1.) That he
would <i>glorify himself,</i> and get honour to his own name.
Wicked persecutors thought God had withdrawn and had forsaken the
earth. "Lord," say they, "show thyself; make them know that thou
art and that thou art ready to <i>show thyself strong on the behalf
of those whose hearts are upright with thee.</i>" The enemies
thought God was conquered because his people were. "Lord," say
they, "<i>lift up thyself, be thou exalted in thy own strength.</i>
Lift up thyself, to be seen, to be feared; and suffer not thy name
to be trampled upon and run down." (2.) That he would mortify the
oppressors: <i>Render a reward to the proud;</i> that is, "Reckon
with them for all their insolence, and the injuries they have done
to thy people." These prayers are prophecies, which speak terror to
all the sons of violence. The righteous God will deal with them
according to their merits.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p7">II. A humble complaint to God of the pride
and cruelty of the oppressors, and an expostulation with him
concerning it, <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.3-Ps.94.6" parsed="|Ps|94|3|94|6" passage="Ps 94:3-6"><i>v.</i>
3-6</scripRef>. Here observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p8">1. The character of the enemies they
complain against. They are wicked; they are <i>workers of
iniquity;</i> they are bad, very bad, themselves, and therefore
they hate and persecute those whose goodness shames and condemns
them. Those are wicked indeed, and <i>workers of the worst
iniquity,</i> lost to all honour and virtue, who are cruel to the
innocent and hate the righteous.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p9">2. Their haughty barbarous carriage which
they complain of. (1.) They are insolent, and take a pleasure in
magnifying themselves. They talk high and talk big; they triumph;
they speak loud things; they boast themselves, as if their tongues
were their own and their hands too, and they were accountable to
none for what they say or do, and as if the day were their own, and
they doubted not but to carry the cause against God and religion.
Those that speak highly of themselves, that triumph and boast, are
apt to speak hardly of others; but there will come a day of
reckoning for all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have
spoken against God, his truths, and ways, and people, <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.15" parsed="|Jude|1|15|0|0" passage="Jude 1:15">Jude 15</scripRef>. (2.) They are impious, and
take a pleasure in running down God's people because they are his
(<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.5" parsed="|Ps|94|5|0|0" passage="Ps 94:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): "<i>They
break in pieces thy people, O Lord!</i> break their assemblies,
their estates, their families, their persons, in pieces, and do all
they can to afflict thy heritage, to grieve them, to crush them, to
run them down, to root them out." God's people are his heritage;
there are those that, for his sake, hate them, and seek their ruin.
This is a very good plea with God, in our intercessions for the
church: "Lord, it is thine; thou hast a property in it. It is thy
heritage; thou hast a pleasure in it, and out of it the rent of thy
glory in this world issues. And wilt thou suffer these wicked men
to trample upon it thus?" (3.) They are inhuman, and take a
pleasure in wronging those that are least able to help themselves
(<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.6" parsed="|Ps|94|6|0|0" passage="Ps 94:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>); they not only
oppress and impoverish, but <i>they slay the widow and the
stranger;</i> not only neglect the fatherless, and make a prey of
them, but murder them, because they are weak and exposed, and
sometimes lie at their mercy. Those whom they should protect from
injury they are most injurious to, perhaps because God has taken
them into his particular care. Who would think it possible that any
of the children of men should be thus barbarous?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p10">3. A modest pleading with God concerning
the continuance of the persecution: "Lord, <i>how long</i> shall
they do thus?" And again, <i>How long?</i> When shall this
wickedness of the wicked come to an end?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p11">III. A charge of atheism exhibited against
the persecutors, and an expostulation with them upon that
charge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p12">1. Their atheistical thoughts are here
discovered (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.7" parsed="|Ps|94|7|0|0" passage="Ps 94:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>):
<i>Yet they say, The Lord shall not see.</i> Though the cry of
their wickedness is very great and loud, though they rebel against
the light of nature and the dictates of their own consciences, yet
they have the confidence to say, "<i>The Lord shall not see;</i> he
will not only wink at small faults, but shut his eyes at great ones
too." Or they think they have managed it so artfully, under colour
of justice and religion perhaps, that it will not be adjudged
murder. "The God of Jacob, though his people pretend to have such
an interest in him, does not regard it either as against justice or
as against his own people; he will never call us to an account for
it." Thus they deny God's government of the world, banter his
covenant with his people, and set the judgment to come at
defiance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p13">2. They are here convicted of folly and
absurdity. He that says either that Jehovah the living God shall
not see or that the God of Jacob shall not regard the injuries done
to his people, <i>Nabal</i> is his name and folly is with him; and
yet here he is fairly reasoned with, for his conviction and
conversion, to prevent his confusion (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.8" parsed="|Ps|94|8|0|0" passage="Ps 94:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>Understand, you brutish
among the people,</i> and let reason guide you." Note, The
atheistical, though they set up for wits, and philosophers, and
politicians, yet are really the <i>brutish among the people;</i> if
they would but understand, they would believe. God, by the prophet,
speaks as if he thought the time long till men would be men, and
show themselves so by understanding and considering: "<i>You fools,
when will you be wise,</i> so wise as to know that God sees and
regards all you say and do, and to speak and act accordingly, as
those that must give account?" Note, None are so bad but means are
to be used for the reclaiming and reforming of them, none so
brutish, so foolish, but it should be tried whether they may not
yet be made wise; while there is life there is hope. To prove the
folly of those that question God's omniscience and justice the
psalmist argues,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p14">(1.) From the works of creation (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.9" parsed="|Ps|94|9|0|0" passage="Ps 94:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), the formation of human
bodies, which as it proves that there is a God, proves also that
God has infinitely and transcendently in himself all those
perfections that are in any creature. <i>He that planted the
ear</i> (and it is planted in the head, as a tree in the ground)
<i>shall he not hear?</i> No doubt he shall, more and better than
we can. <i>He that formed the eye</i> (and how curiously it is
formed above any part of the body anatomists know and let us know
by their dissections) <i>shall he not see?</i> Could he give, would
he give, that perfection to a creature which he has not in himself?
Note, [1.] The powers of nature are all derived from the God of
nature. See <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.4.11" parsed="|Exod|4|11|0|0" passage="Ex 4:11">Exod. iv. 11</scripRef>.
[2.] By the knowledge of ourselves we may be led a great way
towards the knowledge of God—if by the knowledge of our own
bodies, and the organs of sense, so as to conclude that if we can
see and hear much more can God, then certainly by the knowledge of
our own souls and their noble faculties. The gods of the heathen
had eyes and saw not, ears and heard not; our God has no eyes nor
ears, as we have, and yet we must conclude he both sees and hears,
because we have our sight and hearing from him, and are accountable
to him for our use of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p15">(2.) From the works of providence
(<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.10" parsed="|Ps|94|10|0|0" passage="Ps 94:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>He that
chastises the heathen</i> for their polytheism and idolatry,
<i>shall not he</i> much more <i>correct</i> his own people for
their atheism and profaneness? He that chastises the children of
men for oppressing and wronging one another, shall not he correct
those that profess to be his own children, and call themselves so,
and yet persecute those that are really so? Shall not we be under
his correction, under whose government the whole world is? Does he
regard as King of nations, and shall he not much more regard as the
God of Jacob? Dr. Hammond gives another very probably sense of
this: "<i>He that instructs the nations</i> (that is, gives them
his law), <i>shall not he correct,</i> that is, shall not he judge
them according to that law, and call them to an account for their
violations of it? In vain was the law given if there will not be a
judgment upon it." And it is true that the same word signifies to
chastise and to instruct, because chastisement is intended for
instruction and instruction should go along with chastisement.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p16">(3.) From the works of grace: <i>He that
teaches man knowledge, shall he not know?</i> He not only, as the
God of nature, has given the light of reason, but, as the God of
grace, has given the light of revelation, has shown man what is
true wisdom and understanding; and he that does this, shall he not
know? <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.23 Bible:Job.28.28" parsed="|Job|28|23|0|0;|Job|28|28|0|0" passage="Job 28:23,28">Job xxviii. 23,
28</scripRef>. The flowing of the streams is a certain sign of the
fulness of the fountain. If all knowledge is from God, no doubt all
knowledge is in God. From this general doctrine of God's
omniscience, the psalmist not only confutes the atheists, who said,
"<i>The Lord shall not see</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.7" parsed="|Ps|94|7|0|0" passage="Ps 94:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), he will not take cognizance of
what we do;" but awakens us all to consider that God will take
cognizance even of what we think (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.11" parsed="|Ps|94|11|0|0" passage="Ps 94:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>The Lord knows the thoughts
of man, that they are vanity.</i> [1.] He knows those thoughts in
particular, concerning God's conniving at the wickedness of the
wicked, and knows them to be vain, and laughs at the folly of those
who by such fond conceits buoy themselves up in sin. [2.] He knows
all the thoughts of the children of men, and knows them to be, for
the most part, vain, that the imaginations of the thoughts of men's
hearts are evil, only evil, and that continually. Even in good
thoughts there is a fickleness and inconstancy which may well be
called <i>vanity.</i> It concerns us to keep a strict guard upon
our thoughts, because God takes particular notice of them. Thoughts
are words to God, and vain thoughts are provocations.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.xcv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.12-Ps.94.23" parsed="|Ps|94|12|94|23" passage="Ps 94:12-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.94.12-Ps.94.23">
<h4 id="Ps.xcv-p16.5">Comfort to Suffering Saints; God the Defence
of His People.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xcv-p17">12 Blessed <i>is</i> the man whom thou
chastenest, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p17.1">O Lord</span>, and teachest him
out of thy law;   13 That thou mayest give him rest from the
days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.  
14 For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p17.2">Lord</span> will not cast off
his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.   15 But
judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in
heart shall follow it.   16 Who will rise up for me against
the evildoers? <i>or</i> who will stand up for me against the
workers of iniquity?   17 Unless the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p17.3">Lord</span> <i>had been</i> my help, my soul had almost
dwelt in silence.   18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy
mercy, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p17.4">O Lord</span>, held me up.   19
In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my
soul.   20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with
thee, which frameth mischief by a law?   21 They gather
themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn
the innocent blood.   22 But the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p17.5">Lord</span> is my defence; and my God <i>is</i> the
rock of my refuge.   23 And he shall bring upon them their own
iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness;
<i>yea,</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xcv-p17.6">Lord</span> our God shall
cut them off.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p18">The psalmist, having denounced tribulation
to those that trouble God's people, here assures those that are
troubled of rest. See <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.1.6-2Thess.1.7" parsed="|2Thess|1|6|1|7" passage="2Th 1:6,7">2 Thess. i. 6,
7</scripRef>. He speaks comfort to suffering saints from God's
promises and his own experience.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p19">I. From God's promises, which are such as
not only save them from being miserable, but secure a happiness to
them (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.12" parsed="|Ps|94|12|0|0" passage="Ps 94:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>):
<i>Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest.</i> Here he looks above
the instruments of trouble, and eyes the hand of God, which gives
it another name and puts quite another color upon it. The enemies
break in pieces God's people (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.5" parsed="|Ps|94|5|0|0" passage="Ps 94:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>); they aim at no less; but the truth of the matter is
that God by them chastens his people, as the father the son in whom
he delights, and the persecutors are only the rod he makes use of.
<i>Howbeit they mean not so, neither doth their heart think so,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.5-Isa.10.7" parsed="|Isa|10|5|10|7" passage="Isa 10:5-7">Isa. x. 5-7</scripRef>. Now it is
here promised,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p20">1. That God's people shall get good by
their sufferings. When he chastens them he will teach them, and
blessed is the man who is thus taken under a divine discipline, for
<i>none teaches like God.</i> Note, (1.) The afflictions of the
saints are fatherly chastenings, designed for their instruction,
reformation, and improvement. (2.) When the teachings of the word
and Spirit go along with the rebukes of Providence they then both
manifest men to be blessed and help to make them so; for then they
are marks of adoption and means of sanctification. When we are
chastened we must pray to be taught, and look into the law as the
best expositor of Providence. It is not the chastening itself that
does good, but the teaching that goes along with it and is the
exposition of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p21">2. That they shall see through their
sufferings (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.13" parsed="|Ps|94|13|0|0" passage="Ps 94:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>):
<i>That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity.</i>
Note, (1.) There is a rest remaining for the people of God after
the days of their adversity, which, though they may be many and
long, shall be numbered and finished in due time, and shall not
last always. He that sends the trouble will send the rest, that he
may comfort them according to the time that he has afflicted them.
(2.) God <i>therefore</i> teaches his people by their troubles,
that he may prepare them for deliverance, and so give them rest
from their troubles, that, being reformed, they may be relieved,
and that the affliction, having done its work, may be removed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p22">3. That they shall see the ruin of those
that are the instruments of their sufferings, which is the matter
of a promise, not as gratifying any passion of theirs, but as
redounding to the glory of God: <i>Until the pit is digged</i> (or
rather while the pit is digging) <i>for the wicked,</i> God is
ordering peace for them at the same time that he is ordaining his
arrows against the persecutors.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p23">4. That, though they may be cast down, yet
certainly they shall not be cast off, <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.14" parsed="|Ps|94|14|0|0" passage="Ps 94:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Let God's suffering people
assure themselves of this, that, whatever their friends do, God
will not cast them off, nor throw them out of his covenant or out
of his care; he will not forsake them, because they are his
inheritance, which he will not quit his title to nor suffer himself
to be disseised of. St. Paul comforted himself with this, <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.1" parsed="|Rom|11|1|0|0" passage="Ro 11:1">Rom. xi. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p24">5. That, bad as things are, they shall
mend, and, though they are now out of course, yet they shall return
to their due and ancient channel (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.15" parsed="|Ps|94|15|0|0" passage="Ps 94:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>Judgment shall return unto
righteousness;</i> the seeming disorders of Providence (for real
ones there never were) shall be rectified. God's judgment, that is,
his government, looks sometimes as if it were at a distance from
righteousness, while the wicked prosper, and the best men meet with
the worst usage; but it shall return to righteousness again, either
in this world or at the furthest in the judgment of the great day,
which will set all to-rights. Then <i>all the upright in heart
shall be after it;</i> they shall follow it with their praises, and
with entire satisfaction; they shall return to a prosperous and
flourishing condition, and shine forth out of obscurity; they shall
accommodate themselves to the dispensations of divine Providence,
and with suitable affections attend all its motions. <i>They shall
walk after the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.10" parsed="|Hos|11|10|0|0" passage="Ho 11:10">Hos. xi.
10</scripRef>. Dr. Hammond thinks this was most eminently fulfilled
in the destruction of Jerusalem first, and afterwards of heathen
Rome, the crucifiers of Christ and persecutors of Christians, and
the rest which the churches had thereby. <i>Then judgment returned
even to righteousness,</i> to mercy and goodness, and favour to
God's people, who then were as much countenanced as before they had
been trampled on.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p25">II. From his own experiences and
observations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p26">1. He and his friends had been oppressed by
cruel and imperious men, that had power in their hands and abused
it by abusing all good people with it. They were themselves
<i>evil-doers</i> and <i>workers of iniquity</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.16" parsed="|Ps|94|16|0|0" passage="Ps 94:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>); they abandoned
themselves to all manner of impiety and immorality, and then their
throne was a <i>throne of iniquity,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.20" parsed="|Ps|94|20|0|0" passage="Ps 94:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. Their dignity served to put a
reputation upon sin, and their authority was employed to support
it, and to bring about their wicked designs. It is a pity that ever
a throne, which should be a terror to evil-doers and a protection
and praise to those that do well, should be the seat and shelter of
iniquity. That is a throne of iniquity which by the policy of its
council <i>frames mischief,</i> and by its sovereignty enacts it
and turns it into a law. Iniquity is daring enough even when human
laws are against it, which often prove too weak to give an
effectual check to it; but how insolent, how mischievous, is it
when it is backed by a law! Iniquity is not the better, but much
the worse, for being enacted by law; nor will it excuse those that
practise it to say that they did but do as they were bidden. These
workers of iniquity, having <i>framed mischief by a law, take care
to see the law executed;</i> for <i>they gather themselves together
against the soul of the righteous,</i> who dare not <i>keep the
statutes of Omri</i> nor <i>the law of the house of Ahab;</i> and
they <i>condemn the innocent blood</i> for violating their decrees.
See an instance in Daniel's enemies; they <i>framed mischief by a
law</i> when the obtained an impious edict against prayer
(<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.7" parsed="|Dan|6|7|0|0" passage="Da 6:7">Dan. vi. 7</scripRef>), and, when
Daniel would not obey it, they <i>assembled together against</i>
him (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.11" parsed="|Ps|94|11|0|0" passage="Ps 94:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>) and
<i>condemned his innocent blood</i> to the lions. The best
benefactors of mankind have often been thus treated, under colour
of law and justice, as the worst of malefactors.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p27">2. The oppression they were under bore very
hard upon them, and oppressed their spirits too. Let not suffering
saints despair, though, when they are persecuted, they find
themselves perplexed and cast down; it was so with the psalmist
here: His <i>soul had almost dwelt in silence</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.17" parsed="|Ps|94|17|0|0" passage="Ps 94:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>); he was at his wits'
end, and knew not what to say or do; he was, in his own
apprehensions, at his life's end, ready to drop into the grave,
that land of silence. St. Paul, in a like case, <i>received a
sentence of death within himself,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.1.8-2Cor.1.9" parsed="|2Cor|1|8|1|9" passage="2Co 1:8,9">2 Cor. i. 8, 9</scripRef>. He said, "<i>My foot
slippeth</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.18" parsed="|Ps|94|18|0|0" passage="Ps 94:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>); I am going irretrievably; there is no remedy; I
must <i>fall.</i> I <i>shall one day perish by the hand of
Saul.</i> My hope fails me; I do not find such firm footing for my
faith as I have sometimes found." <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.2" parsed="|Ps|73|2|0|0" passage="Ps 73:2">Ps.
lxxiii. 2</scripRef>. He had a multitude of perplexed entangled
thoughts within him concerning the case he was in and the
construction to be made of it, and concerning the course he should
take and what was likely to be the issue of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p28">3. In this distress they sought for help,
and succour, and some relief. (1.) They looked about for it and
were disappointed (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.16" parsed="|Ps|94|16|0|0" passage="Ps 94:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>): "<i>Who will rise up for me against the
evil-doers?</i> Have I any friend who, in love to me, will appear
for me? Has justice any friend who, in a pious indignation at
unrighteousness, will plead my injured cause?" He looked, but there
was none to save, there was none to uphold. Note, When on the side
of the oppressors there is power it is no marvel if the oppressed
have no comforter, none that dare own them, or speak a good word
for them, <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.1" parsed="|Eccl|4|1|0|0" passage="Ec 4:1">Eccl. iv. 1</scripRef>. When
St. Paul was brought before Nero's throne of iniquity <i>no man
stood by him,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.4.16" parsed="|2Tim|4|16|0|0" passage="2Ti 4:16">2 Tim. iv.
16</scripRef>. (2.) They looked up for it, <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.20" parsed="|Ps|94|20|0|0" passage="Ps 94:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. They humbly expostulate with
God: "Lord, <i>shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with
thee?</i> Wilt thou countenance and support these tyrants in their
wickedness? We know thou wilt not." A throne has fellowship with
God when it is a throne of justice and answers the end of the
erecting of it; for by him kings reign, and when they reign for him
their judgments are his, and he owns them as his ministers, and
whoever resist them, or rise up against them, shall receive to
themselves damnation; but, when it becomes a <i>throne of
iniquity,</i> it has no longer fellowship with God. Far be it from
the just and holy God that he should be the patron of
unrighteousness, even in princes and those that sit in thrones,
yea, though they be the <i>thrones of the house of David.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p29">4. They found succour and relief in God,
and in him only. When other friends failed, in him they had a
faithful and powerful friend; and it is recommended to all God's
suffering saints to trust in him. (1.) God helps at a dead lift
(<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.17" parsed="|Ps|94|17|0|0" passage="Ps 94:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): "When I had
almost <i>dwelt in silence,</i> then the Lord was <i>my help,</i>
kept me alive, kept me in heart; and <i>unless I had</i> made him
<i>my help,</i> by putting my trust in him and expecting relief
from him, I could never have kept possession of my own soul; but
living by faith in him has kept my head above water, has given me
breath, and something to say." (2.) God's goodness is the great
support of sinking spirits (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.18" parsed="|Ps|94|18|0|0" passage="Ps 94:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>): "<i>When I said, My foot slips</i> into sin, into
ruin, into despair, then <i>thy mercy, O Lord! held me up,</i> kept
me from falling, and defeated the design of those who consulted to
<i>cast me down from my excellency,</i>" <scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p29.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.62.4" parsed="|Ps|62|4|0|0" passage="Ps 62:4">Ps. lxii. 4</scripRef>. We are beholden not only to God's
power, but to his pity, for spiritual supports: <i>Thy mercy,</i>
the gifts of thy mercy and my hope in thy mercy, <i>held me up.</i>
God's right hand sustains his people when they look on their right
hand and on their left and there is none to uphold; and we are then
prepared for his gracious supports when we are sensible of our own
weakness and inability to stand by our own strength, and come to
God, to acknowledge it, and to tell him how <i>our foot slips.</i>
(3.) Divine consolations are the effectual relief of troubled
spirits (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p29.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.19" parsed="|Ps|94|19|0|0" passage="Ps 94:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>):
"<i>In the multitude of my thoughts within me,</i> which are noisy
like a multitude, crowding and jostling one another like a
multitude, and very unruly and ungovernable, in the multitude of my
sorrowful, solicitous, timorous thoughts, <i>thy comforts delight
my soul;</i> and they are never more delightful than when they come
in so seasonably to silence my unquiet thoughts and keep my mind
easy." The world's comforts give but little delight to the soul
when it is hurried with melancholy thoughts; they are songs to a
heavy heart. But God's comforts will reach the soul, and not the
fancy only, and will bring with them that peace and that pleasure
which the smiles of the world cannot give and which the frowns of
the world cannot take away.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xcv-p30">5. God is, and will be, as a righteous
Judge, the patron and protector of right and the punisher and
avenger of wrong; this the psalmist had both the assurance of and
the experience of. (1.) He will give redress to the injured
(<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.22" parsed="|Ps|94|22|0|0" passage="Ps 94:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): "When none
else will, nor can, nor dare, shelter me, <i>the Lord is my
defence,</i> to preserve me from the evil of my troubles, from
sinking under them and being ruined by them; and he is <i>the rock
of my refuge,</i> in the clefts of which I may take shelter, and on
the top of which I may set my feet, to be out of the reach of
danger." God is his people's refuge, to whom they may flee, in whom
they are safe and may be secure; he is the rock of their refuge, so
strong, so firm, impregnable, immovable, as a rock: natural
fastnesses sometimes exceed artificial fortifications. (2.) He will
reckon with the injurious (<scripRef id="Ps.xcv-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.23" parsed="|Ps|94|23|0|0" passage="Ps 94:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>): <i>He shall render to them their own iniquity;</i>
he shall deal with them according to their deserts, and that very
mischief which they did and designed against God's people shall be
brought upon themselves: it follows, <i>He shall cut them off in
their wickedness.</i> A man cannot be more miserable than his own
wickedness will make him if God visit it upon him: it will cut him
in the remembrance of it; it will cut him off in the recompence of
it. This the psalm concludes with the triumphant assurance of:
<i>Yea, the Lord our God,</i> who takes our part and owns us for
his, <i>shall cut them off</i> from any fellowship with him, and so
shall make them completely miserable and their pomp and power shall
stand them in no stead.</p>
</div></div2>