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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM LXXIX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This psalm, if penned with any particular event in view, is with most
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probability made to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and the
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temple, and the woeful havoc made of the Jewish nation by the Chaldeans
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under Nebuchadnezzar. It is set to the same tune, as I may say, with
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the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and that weeping prophet borrows two
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verses out of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>)
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and makes use of them in his prayer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:25">Jer. x. 25</A>.
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Some think it was penned long before by the spirit of prophecy,
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prepared for the use of the church in that cloudy and dark day. Others
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think that it was penned then by the spirit of prayer, either by a
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prophet named Asaph or by some other prophet for the sons of Asaph.
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Whatever the particular occasion was, we have here,
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I. A representation of the very deplorable condition that the people of
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God were in at this time,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. A petition to God for succour and relief, that their enemies might
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be reckoned with
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:6,7,10,12">ver. 6, 7, 10, 12</A>),
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that their sins might be pardoned
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:8,9">ver. 8, 9</A>),
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and that they might be delivered,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:11">ver. 11</A>.
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III. A plea taken from the readiness of his people to praise him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:13">ver. 13</A>.
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In times of the church's peace and prosperity this psalm may, in the
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singing of it, give us occasion to bless God that we are not thus
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trampled on and insulted. But it is especially seasonable in a day of
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treading down and perplexity, for the exciting of our desires towards
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God and the encouragement of our faith in him as the church's
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patron.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps79_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Mournful Complaints.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>A psalm of Asaph.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 O God, the heathen are come into thine
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inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid
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Jerusalem on heaps.
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2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given <I>to be</I> meat
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unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the
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beasts of the earth.
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3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem;
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and <I>there was</I> none to bury <I>them.</I>
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4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and
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derision to them that are round about us.
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5 How long, L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy
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jealousy burn like fire?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a sad complaint exhibited in the court of heaven. The
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world is full of complaints, and so is the church too, for it suffers,
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not only with it, but from it, as <I>a lily among thorns.</I> God is
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complained to; whither should children go with their grievances, but to
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their father, to such a father as is able and willing to help? The
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heathen are complained of, who, being themselves aliens from the
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commonwealth of Israel, were sworn enemies to it. Though they knew not
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God, nor owned him, yet, God having them in chain, the church very
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fitly appeals to him against them; for he is King of nations, to
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overrule them, to judge among the heathen, and King of saints, to
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favour and protect them.</P>
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<P>
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I. They complain here of the anger of their enemies and the outrageous
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fury of the oppressor, exerted,</P>
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<P>
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1. Against places,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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They did all the mischief they could,
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(1.) To the holy land; they invaded that, and made inroads into it:
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"<I>The heathen have come into thy inheritance,</I> to plunder that,
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and lay it waste." Canaan was dearer to the pious Israelites as it was
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God's inheritance than as it was their own, as it was the land in which
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God was known and his name was great rather than as it was the land in
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which they were bred and born and which they and their ancestors had
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been long in possession of. Note, Injuries done to religion should
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grieve us more than even those done to common right, nay, to our own
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right. We should better bear to see our own inheritance wasted than
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God's inheritance. This psalmist had mentioned it in the foregoing
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psalm as an instance of God's great favour to Israel that he had
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<I>cast out the heathen before them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:55">Ps. lxxviii. 55</A>.
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But see what a change sin made; now the heathen are suffered to pour in
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upon them.
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(2.) To the holy city: <I>They have laid Jerusalem on heaps,</I> heaps
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of rubbish, such heaps as are raised over graves, so some. The
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inhabitants were buried in the ruins of their own houses, and their
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dwelling places became their sepulchres, their long homes.
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(3.) To the holy house. That sanctuary which God had built like high
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palaces, and which was thought to be established as the earth, was now
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laid level with the ground: <I>They holy temple have they defiled,</I>
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by entering into it and laying it waste. God's own people had defiled
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it by their sins, and therefore God suffered their enemies to defile it
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by their insolence.</P>
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<P>
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2. Against persons, against the bodies of God's people; and further
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their malice could not reach.
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(1.) They were prodigal of their blood, and killed them without mercy;
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their eye did not spare, nor did they give any quarter
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Their blood have they shed like water,</I> wherever they met with
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them, <I>round about Jerusalem,</I> in all the avenues to the city;
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whoever <I>went out or came in</I> was <I>waited for of the sword.</I>
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Abundance of human blood was shed, so that the channels of water ran
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with blood. And they shed it with no more reluctancy or regret than if
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they had spilt so much water, little thinking that every drop of it
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will be reckoned for in the day when <I>God shall make inquisition for
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blood.</I>
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(2.) They were abusive to their dead bodies. When they had killed them
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they would let none bury them. Nay, those that were buried, even the
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<I>dead bodies of God's servants, the flesh of his saints,</I> whose
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names and memories they had a particular spite at, they dug up again,
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and <I>gave them to be meat to the fowls of the heaven and to the
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beasts of the earth;</I> or, at least, they left those so exposed whom
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they slew; they hung them in chains, which was in a particular manner
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grievous to the Jews to see, because God had given them an express law
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against this, as a barbarous thing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+21:23">Deut. xxi. 23</A>.
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This inhuman usage of Christ's witnesses is foretold
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+11:9">Rev. xi. 9</A>),
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and thus even the dead bodies were witnesses against their persecutors.
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This is mentioned (says Austin, <I>De Civitate Dei, lib.</I> 1
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<I>cap.</I> 12) not as an instance of the misery of the persecuted (for
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the bodies of the saints shall rise in glory, however they became meat
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to the birds and the fowls), but of the malice of the persecutors.</P>
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<P>
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3. Against their names
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>We that survive have become a reproach to our neighbours;</I> they
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all study to abuse us and load us with contempt, and represent us as
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ridiculous, or odious, or both, upbraiding us with our sins and with
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our sufferings, or giving the lie to our relation to God and
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expectations from him; so that we have become <I>a scorn and derision
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to those that are round about us.</I>" If God's professing people
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degenerate from what themselves and their fathers were, they must
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expect to be told of it; and it is well if a just reproach will help to
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bring us to a true repentance. But it has been the lot of the
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gospel-Israel to be made unjustly a reproach and derision; the apostles
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themselves were <I>counted as the offscouring of all things.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. They wonder more at God's anger,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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This they discern in the anger of their neighbours, and this they
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complain most of: <I>How long, Lord, wilt thou be angry?</I> Shall it
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be <I>for ever?</I> This intimates that they desired no more than that
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God would be reconciled to them, that his anger might be turned away,
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and then the remainder of men's wrath would be restrained. Note, Those
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who desire God's favour as better than life cannot but dread and
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deprecate his wrath as worse than death.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps79_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps79_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Petitions for Succor and Relief; Petitions for Deliverance.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee,
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and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
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7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling
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place.
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8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender
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mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
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9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name:
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and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
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10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where <I>is</I> their God? let
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him be known among the heathen in our sight <I>by</I> the revenging of
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the blood of thy servants <I>which is</I> shed.
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11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according
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to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are
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appointed to die;
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12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom
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their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
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13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee
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thanks for ever: we will show forth thy praise to all
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generations.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The petitions here put up to God are very suitable to the present
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distresses of the church, and they have pleas to enforce them,
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interwoven with them, taken mostly from God's honour.</P>
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<P>
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I. They pray that God would so turn away his anger from them as to turn
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it upon those that persecuted and abused them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>Pour out thy wrath,</I> the full vials of it, <I>upon the
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heathen;</I> let them wring out the dregs of it, and drink them." This
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prayer is in effect a prophecy, in which the <I>wrath of God is
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revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
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men.</I> Observe here,
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1. The character of those he prays against; they are such as have not
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known God, nor called upon his name. The reason why men do not call
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upon God is because they do not know him, how able and willing he is to
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help them. Those that persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of
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prayer, are the ungodly, who live <I>without God in the world.</I>
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There are kingdoms that know not God and obey not the gospel, but
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neither their multitude nor their force united will secure them from
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his just judgments.
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2. Their crime: <I>They have devoured Jacob,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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That is crime enough in the account of him who reckons that those who
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touch his people touch the apple of his eye. They have not only
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disturbed, but devoured, Jacob, not only encroached upon his dwelling
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place, the land of Canaan, but laid it waste by plundering and
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depopulating it.
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(3.) Their condemnation: "<I>Pour out thy wrath</I> upon them; do not
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only restrain them from doing further mischief, but reckon with them
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for the mischief they have done."</P>
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<P>
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II. They pray for the pardon of sin, which they own to be the procuring
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cause of all their calamities. How unrighteous soever men were, God was
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righteous in permitting them to do what they did. They pray,
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1. That God would not <I>remember against them their former
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iniquities</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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either their own former iniquities, that now, when they were old, they
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might not be made to possess the iniquities of their youth, or the
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former iniquities of their people, the sins of their ancestors. In the
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captivity of Babylon former iniquities were brought to account; but God
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promises not again to do so
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:29,30">Jer. xxxi. 29, 30</A>),
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and so they pray, "Remember not against us our first sins," which some
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make to look as far back as the golden calf, because God said, <I>In
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the day when I visit I will visit for this sin</I> of theirs <I>upon
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them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+32:34">Exod. xxxii. 34</A>.
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If the children by repentance and reformation cut off the entail of the
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parents' sin, they may in faith pray that God will not <I>remember them
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against them.</I> When God pardons sin he blots it out and remembers it
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no more.
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2. That he would purge away the sins they had been lately guilty of, by
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the guilt of which their minds and consciences had been defiled:
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<I>Deliver us, and purge away our sins,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Then deliverances from trouble are granted in love, and are mercies
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indeed, when they are grounded upon the pardon of sin and flow from
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that; we should therefore be more earnest with God in prayer for the
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removal of our sins than for the removal of our afflictions, and the
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pardon of them is the foundation and sweetness of our deliverances.</P>
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<P>
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III. They pray that God would work deliverance for them, and bring
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their troubles to a good end and that speedily: <I>Let thy tender
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mercies speedily prevent us,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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They had no hopes but from God's mercies, his tender mercies; their
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case was so deplorable that they looked upon themselves as the proper
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objects of divine compassion, and so near to desperate that, unless
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divine mercy did speedily interpose to prevent their ruin, they were
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undone. This whets their importunity: "<I>Lord, help us; Lord, deliver
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us;</I> help us under our troubles, that we may bear them well; help us
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out of our troubles, that the spirit may not fail. Deliver us from sin,
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from sinking." Three things they plead:--
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1. The great distress they were reduced to: "<I>We are brought very
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low,</I> and, being low, shall be lost if thou help us not." The lower
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we are brought the more need we have of help from heaven and the more
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will divine power be magnified in raising us up.
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2. Their dependence upon him: "Thou art the <I>God of our
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salvation,</I> who alone canst help. <I>Salvation belongs to the
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Lord,</I> from whom we expect help; for <I>in the Lord alone is the
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salvation of his people.</I>" Those who make God the God of their
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salvation shall find him so.
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3. The interest of his own honour in their case. They plead no merit of
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theirs; they pretend to none; but, "<I>Help us for the glory of thy
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name;</I> pardon us for thy name's sake." The best encouragements in
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prayer are those that are taken from God only, and those things whereby
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he has made himself known. Two things are insinuated in this plea:--
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(1.) That God's name and honour would be greatly injured if he did not
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deliver them; for those that derided them blasphemed God, as if he were
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weak and could not help them, or had withdrawn and would not; therefore
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they plead
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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"<I>Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God?</I> He has
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forsaken them, and forgotten them; and this they get by worshipping a
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God whom they cannot see." (<I>Nil præter nubes et cœli
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|
numen adorant.</I> Juv.--<I>They adore no other divinity than the
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|
clouds and the sky.</I>) That which was their praise (that they served
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a God that is every where) was now turned to their reproach and his
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|
too, as if they served a God that is nowhere. "Lord," say they, "Make
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|
it to appear that thou art by making it to appear that thou art with us
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and for us, that when we are asked, <I>Where is your God?</I> we may be
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|
able to say, He is nigh unto us in all that which we call upon him for,
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and you see he is so by what he does for us."
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(2.) That God's name and honour would be greatly advanced if he did
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deliver them; his mercy would be glorified in delivering those that
|
|
were so miserable and helpless. By making bare his everlasting arm on
|
|
their behalf he would make unto himself an everlasting name; and their
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|
deliverance would be a type and figure of the great salvation, which in
|
|
the fulness of time Messiah the Prince would work out, to the glory of
|
|
God's name.</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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IV. They pray that God would avenge them on their adversaries,
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|
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1. For their cruelty and barbarity
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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"Let the avenging of our blood" (according to the ancient law,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:6">Gen. ix. 6</A>)
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|
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"be known among the heathen; let them be made sensible that what
|
|
judgments are brought upon them are punishments of the wrong they have
|
|
done to us; let this be in our sight, and by this means <I>let God be
|
|
known among the heathen</I> as <I>the God to whom vengeance belongs</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+94:1">Ps. xciv. 1</A>)
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and the God that espouses his people's cause." Those that have
|
|
intoxicated themselves with the blood of the saints shall have <I>blood
|
|
given them to drink,</I> for they are worthy.
|
|
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|
2. For their insolence and scorn
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
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|
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|
"<I>Render to them their reproach.</I> The indignities which by word
|
|
and deed they have done to the people of God himself and his name let
|
|
them be repaid to them with interest." The reproach wherewith men have
|
|
reproached us only we must leave it to God whether he will render to
|
|
them or no, and must pray that he would for give them; but the reproach
|
|
wherewith they have blasphemed God himself we may in faith pray that
|
|
God would render seven-fold into their bosoms, so as to strike at their
|
|
hearts, to humble them, and bring them to repentance. This prayer is a
|
|
prophecy, of the same import with that of Enoch, that God will convince
|
|
sinners of all their hard speeches which they have spoken against him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:15">Jude 15</A>)
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|
and will return them into their own bosoms by everlasting terrors at
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|
the remembrance of them.</P>
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<P>
|
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V. They pray that God would find out a way for the rescue of his poor
|
|
prisoners, especially the condemned prisoners,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
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|
|
The case of their brethren who had fallen into the hands of the enemy
|
|
was very sad; they were kept close prisoners, and, because they durst
|
|
not be heard to bemoan themselves, they vented their griefs in deep and
|
|
silent sighs. All their breathing was sighing, and so was their
|
|
praying. They were appointed to die, as sheep for the slaughter, and
|
|
had received the sentence of death within themselves. This deplorable
|
|
case the psalmist recommends,
|
|
|
|
1. To the divine pity: "<I>Let their sighs come up before thee,</I> and
|
|
be thou pleased to take cognizance of their moans."
|
|
|
|
2. To the divine power: "<I>According to the greatness of thy arm,</I>
|
|
which no creature can contest with, <I>preserve thou those that are
|
|
appointed to die</I> from the death to which they are appointed." Man's
|
|
extremity is God's opportunity to appear for his people. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+1:8-10">2 Cor. i. 8-10</A>.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> They promise the returns of praise for the answers of
|
|
prayer
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>So we will give thee thanks for ever.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How they please themselves with their relation to God. "Though we
|
|
are oppressed and brought low, yet we are the sheep of thy pasture, not
|
|
disowned and cast off by thee for all this: <I>We are thine; save
|
|
us.</I>"
|
|
|
|
2. How they promise themselves an opportunity of praising God for their
|
|
deliverance, which they <I>therefore</I> desired, and would bid
|
|
welcome, because it would furnish them with matter for thanksgiving and
|
|
put their hearts in tune for that excellent work, the work of heaven.
|
|
|
|
3. How they oblige themselves not only to give God thanks at present,
|
|
but to <I>show forth his praise unto all generations,</I> that is, to
|
|
do all they could both to perpetuate the remembrance of God's favours
|
|
to them and to engage their posterity to keep up the work of praise.
|
|
|
|
4. How they plead this with God: "Lord, appear for us against our
|
|
enemies; for, if they get the better, they will <I>blaspheme thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
but, if we be delivered, we will praise thee. Lord, we are that people
|
|
of thine which thou hast <I>formed for thyself, to show forth thy
|
|
praise;</I> if we be cut off, whence shall that rent, that tribute, be
|
|
raised?" Note, Those lives that are entirely devoted to God's praise
|
|
are assuredly taken under his protection.</P>
|
|
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