mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 16.xml

<div2 id="Ps.xvii" n="xvii" next="Ps.xviii" prev="Ps.xvi" progress="26.31%" title="Chapter XVI">
<h2 id="Ps.xvii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.xvii-p0.2">PSALM XVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.xvii-p1">This psalm has something of David in it, but much
more of Christ. It begins with such expressions of devotion as may
be applied to Christ; but concludes with such confidence of a
resurrection (and so timely a one as to prevent corruption) as must
be applied to Christ, to him only, and cannot be understood of
David, as both St. Peter and St. Paul have observed, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.24 Bible:Acts.13.36" parsed="|Acts|2|24|0|0;|Acts|13|36|0|0" passage="Ac 2:24,13:36">Acts ii. 24; xiii. 36</scripRef>. For David
died, and was buried, and saw corruption. I. David speaks of
himself as a member of Christ, and so he speaks the language of all
good Christians, professing his confidence in God ( <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.1" parsed="|Ps|16|1|0|0" passage="Ps 16:1">ver. 1</scripRef>), his consent to him (
<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.2" parsed="|Ps|16|2|0|0" passage="Ps 16:2">ver. 2</scripRef>), his affection to
the people of God ( <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.3" parsed="|Ps|16|3|0|0" passage="Ps 16:3">ver. 3</scripRef>),
his adherence to the true worship of God ( <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.4" parsed="|Ps|16|4|0|0" passage="Ps 16:4">ver. 4</scripRef>), and his entire complacency and
satisfaction in God and the interest he had in him, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.5-Ps.16.7" parsed="|Ps|16|5|16|7" passage="Ps 16:5-7">ver. 5-7</scripRef>. II. He speaks of himself
as a type of Christ, and so he speaks the language of Christ
himself, to whom all the rest of the psalm is expressly and at
large applied (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.25-Acts.2.28" parsed="|Acts|2|25|2|28" passage="Ac 2:25-28">Acts ii.
25</scripRef>, &amp;c.). David speaks concerning him (not
concerning himself), "I foresaw the Lord always before my face,"
&amp;c. And this he spoke, being a prophet, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.30-Acts.2.31" parsed="|Acts|2|30|2|31" passage="Ac 2:30,31">ver. 30, 31</scripRef>. He spoke, 1. Of the special
presence of God with the Redeemer in his services and sufferings,
<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.8" parsed="|Ps|16|8|0|0" passage="Ps 16:8">ver. 8</scripRef>. 2. Of the prospect
which the Redeemer had of his own resurrection and the glory that
should follow, which carried him cheerfully through his
undertaking, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.9-Ps.16.11" parsed="|Ps|16|9|16|11" passage="Ps 16:9-11">ver.
9-11</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.xvii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16" parsed="|Ps|16|0|0|0" passage="Ps 16" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.xvii-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.1-Ps.16.7" parsed="|Ps|16|1|16|7" passage="Ps 16:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.16.1-Ps.16.7">
<h4 id="Ps.xvii-p1.13">Believing Confidence; Consecration to
God.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.xvii-p1.14">
<p id="Ps.xvii-p2">Michtam of David.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xvii-p3">1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my
trust.   2 <i>O my soul,</i> thou hast said unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xvii-p3.1">Lord</span>, Thou <i>art</i> my Lord: my goodness
<i>extendeth</i> not to thee;   3 <i>But</i> to the saints
that <i>are</i> in the earth, and <i>to</i> the excellent, in whom
<i>is</i> all my delight.   4 Their sorrows shall be
multiplied <i>that</i> hasten <i>after</i> another <i>god:</i>
their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their
names into my lips.   5 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xvii-p3.2">Lord</span> <i>is</i> the portion of mine inheritance
and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.   6 The lines are
fallen unto me in pleasant <i>places;</i> yea, I have a goodly
heritage.   7 I will bless the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xvii-p3.3">Lord</span>, who hath given me counsel: my reins also
instruct me in the night seasons.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p4">This psalm is entitled <i>Michtam,</i>
which some translate <i>a golden</i> psalm, a very precious one,
more to be valued by us than gold, yea, than much fine gold,
because it speaks so plainly of Christ and his resurrection, who is
the true treasure hidden in the field of the Old Testament.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p5">I. David here flies to God's protection
with a cheerful believing confidence in it (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.1" parsed="|Ps|16|1|0|0" passage="Ps 16:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>Preserve me, O God!</i> from
the deaths, and especially from the sins, to which I am continually
exposed; <i>for in thee,</i> and in thee only, <i>do I put my
trust.</i>" Those that by faith commit themselves to the divine
care, and submit themselves to the divine guidance, have reason to
hope for the benefit of both. This is applicable to Christ, who
prayed, <i>Father, save me from this hour,</i> and trusted in God
that he would deliver him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p6">II. He recognizes his solemn dedication of
himself to God as his God (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.2" parsed="|Ps|16|2|0|0" passage="Ps 16:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>): "<i>O my soul! thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou
art my Lord,</i> and therefore thou mayest venture to trust him."
Note, 1. It is the duty and interest of every one of us to
acknowledge the Lord for our Lord, to subject ourselves to him, and
then to stay ourselves upon him. <i>Adonai</i> signifies <i>My
stayer,</i> the strength of my heart. 2. This must be done with our
souls: "O my soul! thou hast said it." Covenanting with God must be
heart-work; all that is within us must be employed therein and
engaged thereby. 3. Those who have avouched the Lord for their Lord
should be often putting themselves in mind of what they have done.
"Hast thou said unto the Lord, <i>Thou art my Lord?</i> Say it
again then, stand to it, abide by it, and never unsay it. Hast thou
said it? Take the comfort of it, and live up to it. He is thy Lord,
and worship thou him, and let thy eye be ever towards him."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p7">III. He devotes himself to the honour of
God in the service of the saints (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.2-Ps.16.3" parsed="|Ps|16|2|16|3" passage="Ps 16:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2, 3</scripRef>): <i>My goodness extends not
to thee, but to the saints.</i> Observe, 1. Those that have taken
the lord for their Lord must, like him, be good and do good; we do
not expect happiness without goodness. 2. Whatever good there is in
us, or is done by us, we must humbly acknowledge that it extends
not to God; so that we cannot pretend to merit any thing by it. God
has no need of our services; he is not benefited by them, nor can
they add any thing to his infinite perfection and blessedness. The
wisest, and best, and most useful, men in the world cannot be
profitable to God, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.2 Bible:Job.35.7" parsed="|Job|22|2|0|0;|Job|35|7|0|0" passage="Job 22:2,35:7">Job xxii. 2;
xxxv. 7</scripRef>. God is infinitely above us, and happy without
us, and whatever good we do it is all from him; so that we are
indebted to him, not he to us: David owns it (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.29.14" parsed="|1Chr|29|14|0|0" passage="1Ch 29:14">1 Chron. xxix. 14</scripRef>), <i>Of thy own have we
given thee.</i> 3. If God be ours, we must, for his sake, extend
our goodness to those that are his, to the saints in the earth; for
what is done to them he is pleased to take as done to himself,
having constituted them his receivers. Note, (1.) There are saints
in the earth; and saints on earth we must all be, or we shall never
be saints in heaven. Those that are renewed by the grace of God,
and devoted to the glory of God, are saints on earth. (2.) The
saints in the earth are excellent ones, great, mighty, magnificent
ones, and yet some of them so poor in the world that they need to
have David's goodness extended to them. God makes them excellent by
the grace he gives them. <i>The righteous is more excellent than
his neighbour,</i> and then he accounts them excellent. They are
precious in his sight and honourable; they are his jewels, his
peculiar treasure. Their God is their glory, and a diadem of beauty
to them. (3.) All that have taken the Lord for their God delight in
his saints as excellent ones, because they bear his image, and
because he loves them. David, though a king, was a <i>companion of
all that feared God</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.63" parsed="|Ps|119|63|0|0" passage="Ps 119:63">Ps. cxix.
63</scripRef>), even the meanest, which was a sign that his delight
was in them. (4.) It is not enough for us to delight in the saints,
but, as there is occasion, our goodness must extend to them; we
must be ready to show them the kindness they need, distribute to
their necessities, and abound in the labour of love to them. This
is applicable to Christ. The salvation he wrought out for us was no
gain to God, for our ruin would have been no loss to him; but the
goodness and benefit of it extend to us men, in whom he delighteth,
<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.31" parsed="|Prov|8|31|0|0" passage="Pr 8:31">Prov. viii. 31</scripRef>. <i>For their
sakes,</i> says he, <i>I sanctify myself,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:John.17.19" parsed="|John|17|19|0|0" passage="Joh 17:19">John xvii. 19</scripRef>. Christ delights even in the
saints on earth, notwithstanding their weaknesses and manifold
infirmities, which is a good reason why we should.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p8">IV. He disclaims the worship of all false
gods and all communion with their worshippers, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.4" parsed="|Ps|16|4|0|0" passage="Ps 16:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. Here, 1. He reads the doom of
idolaters, who hasten after another God, being mad upon their
idols, and pursuing them as eagerly as if they were afraid they
would escape from them: <i>Their sorrows shall be multiplied,</i>
both by the judgments they bring upon themselves from the true God
whom they forsake and by the disappointment they will meet with in
the false gods they embrace. Those that multiply gods multiply
griefs to themselves; for, whoever thinks one God too little, will
find two too many, and yet hundreds not enough. 2. He declares his
resolution to have no fellowship with them nor with their
unfruitful works of darkness: "<i>Their drink-offerings of blood
will I not offer,</i> not only because the gods they are offered to
are a lie, but because the offerings themselves are barbarous." At
God's altar, because the blood made atonement, the drinking of it
was most strictly prohibited, and the drink-offerings were of wine;
but the devil prescribed to his worshippers to drink of the blood
of the sacrifices, to teach them cruelty. "I will have nothing to
do" (says David) "with those bloody deities, nor so much as take
their names into my lips with any delight in them or respect to
them." Thus must we hate idols and idolatry with a perfect hatred.
Some make this also applicable to Christ and his undertaking,
showing the nature of the sacrifice he offered (it was not the
blood of bulls and goats, which was offered according to the law;
that was never named, nor did he ever make any mention of it, but
his own blood), showing also the multiplied sorrows of the
unbelieving Jews, who hastened after another king, Cæsar, and are
still hastening after another Messiah, whom they in vain look
for.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p9">V. He repeats the solemn choice he had made
of God for his portion and happiness (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.5" parsed="|Ps|16|5|0|0" passage="Ps 16:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), takes to himself the comfort of
the choice (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.6" parsed="|Ps|16|6|0|0" passage="Ps 16:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>),
and gives God the glory of it, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.7" parsed="|Ps|16|7|0|0" passage="Ps 16:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. This is very much the language of
a devout and pious soul in its gracious exercises.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p10">1. Choosing the Lord for its portion and
happiness. "Most men take the world for their chief good, and place
their felicity in the enjoyments of it; but this I say, <i>The Lord
is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup,</i> the portion I
make choice of, and will gladly take up with, how poor soever my
condition is in this world. Let me have the love and favour of God,
and be accepted of him; let me have the comfort of communion with
God, and satisfaction in the communications of his graces and
comforts; let me have an interest in his promises, and a title by
promise to everlasting life and happiness in the future state; and
I have enough, I need no more, I desire no more, to complete my
felicity." Would we do well and wisely for ourselves, we must take
God, in Christ, to be, (1.) The portion of our inheritance in the
other world. Heaven is an inheritance. God himself is the
inheritance of the saints there, whose everlasting bliss is to
enjoy him. We must take that for our inheritance, our home, our
rest, our lasting, everlasting, good, and look upon this world to
be no more ours than the country through which our road lies when
we are on a journey. (2.) The portion of our cup in this world,
with which we are nourished, and refreshed, and kept from fainting.
Those have not God for theirs who do not reckon his comforts the
most reviving cordials, acquaint themselves with them, and make use
of them as sufficient to counterbalance all the grievances of this
present time and to sweeten the most bitter cup of affliction.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p11">2. Confiding in him for the securing of
this portion: "<i>Thou maintainest my lot.</i> Thou that hast by
promise made over thy self to me, to be mine, wilt graciously make
good what thou hast promised, and never leave me to myself to
forfeit this happiness, nor leave it in the power of my enemies to
rob me of it. Nothing shall pluck me out of thy hands, nor separate
me from thy love, and the sure mercies of David." The saints and
their bliss are kept by the power of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p12">3. Rejoicing in this portion, and taking a
complacency in it (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.6" parsed="|Ps|16|6|0|0" passage="Ps 16:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>The lines have fallen to me in pleasant
places.</i> Those have reason to say so that have God for their
portion; they have a worthy portion, a goodly heritage. What can
they have better? What can they desire more? <i>Return unto thy
rest, O my soul!</i> and look no further. Note, Gracious persons,
though they still covet more of God, never covet more than God;
but, being satisfied of his loving-kindness, they are abundantly
satisfied with it, and envy not any their carnal mirth and sensual
pleasures and delights, but account themselves truly happy in what
they have, and doubt not but to be completely happy in what they
hope for. Those whose lot is cast, as David's was, in a land of
light, in a valley of vision, where God is known and worshipped,
have, upon that account, reason to say, <i>The lines have fallen to
me in pleasant places;</i> much more those who have not only the
means, but the end, not only Immanuel's land, but Immanuel's
love.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p13">4. Giving thanks to God for it, and for
grace to make this wise and happy choice (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.7" parsed="|Ps|16|7|0|0" passage="Ps 16:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): "<i>I will bless the Lord who
has given me counsel,</i> this counsel, to take him for my portion
and happiness." So ignorant and foolish are we that, if we be left
to ourselves, our hearts will follow our eyes, and we shall choose
our own delusions, and forsake our own mercies for lying vanities;
and therefore, if we have indeed taken God for our portion and
preferred spiritual and eternal blessings before those that are
sensible and temporal, we must thankfully acknowledge the power and
goodness of divine grace directing and enabling us to make that
choice. If we have the pleasure of it, let God have the praise of
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p14">5. Making a good use of it. God having
given him counsel by his word and Spirit, his own <i>reins</i> also
(his own thoughts) instructed him in the night-season; when he was
silent and solitary, and retired from the world, then his own
conscience (which is called the <i>reins,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.10" parsed="|Jer|17|10|0|0" passage="Jer 17:10">Jer. xvii. 10</scripRef>) not only reflected with
comfort upon the choice he had made, but instructed or admonished
him concerning the duties arising out of this choice, catechized
him, and engaged and quickened him to live as one that had God for
his portion, by faith to live upon him and to live to him. Those
who have God for their portion, and who will be faithful to him,
must give their own consciences leave to deal thus faithfully and
plainly with them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p15">All this may be applied to Christ, who made
the Lord his portion and was pleased with that portion, made his
Father's glory his highest end and made it his meat and drink to
seek that and to do his will, and delighted to prosecute his
undertaking, pursuant to his Father's counsel, depending upon him
to maintain his lot and to carry him through his undertaking. We
may also apply it to ourselves in singing it, renewing our choice
of God as ours, with a holy complacency and satisfaction.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.xvii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.8-Ps.16.11" parsed="|Ps|16|8|16|11" passage="Ps 16:8-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.16.8-Ps.16.11">
<h4 id="Ps.xvii-p15.2">Prophecy Relating to the Messiah; Sufferings
and Consequent Glory of Christ.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.xvii-p16">8 I have set the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xvii-p16.1">Lord</span> always before me: because <i>he is</i> at
my right hand, I shall not be moved.   9 Therefore my heart is
glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
  10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.   11 Thou wilt
show me the path of life: in thy presence <i>is</i> fulness of joy;
at thy right hand <i>there are</i> pleasures for evermore.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p17">All these verses are quoted by St. Peter in
his first sermon, after the pouring out of the Spirit on the day of
pentecost (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.25-Acts.2.28" parsed="|Acts|2|25|2|28" passage="Ac 2:25-28">Acts ii.
25-28</scripRef>); and he tells us expressly that David in them
speaks concerning Christ and particularly of his resurrection.
Something we may allow here of the workings of David's own pious
and devout affections towards God, depending upon his grace to
perfect every thing that concerned him, and looking for the blessed
hope, and happy state on the other side death, in the enjoyment of
God; but in these holy elevations towards God and heaven he was
carried by the spirit of prophecy quite beyond the consideration of
himself and his own case, to foretel the glory of the Messiah, in
such expressions as were peculiar to that, and could not be
understood of himself. The New Testament furnishes us with a key to
let us into the mystery of these lines.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p18">I. These verses must certainly be applied
to Christ; of him speaks the prophet this, as did many of the
Old-Testament prophets, who <i>testified beforehand the sufferings
of Christ and the glory that should follow</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.11" parsed="|1Pet|1|11|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:11">1 Pet. i. 11</scripRef>), and that is the subject of
this prophecy here. It is foretold (as he himself showed concerning
this, no doubt, among other prophecies in this psalm, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.24.44 Bible:Luke.24.46" parsed="|Luke|24|44|0|0;|Luke|24|46|0|0" passage="Lu 24:44,46">Luke xxiv. 44, 46</scripRef>) that <i>Christ
should suffer, and rise from the dead,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.3-1Cor.15.4" parsed="|1Cor|15|3|15|4" passage="1Co 15:3,4">1 Cor. xv. 3, 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p19">1. That he should suffer and die. This is
implied here when he says (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.8" parsed="|Ps|16|8|0|0" passage="Ps 16:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>), <i>I shall not be moved;</i> he supposed that he
should be struck at, and have a dreadful shock given him, as he had
in his agony, when his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, and he
prayed that the cup might pass from him. When he says, "<i>My flesh
shall rest,</i>" it is implied that he must put off the body, and
therefore must go through the pains of death. It is likewise
plainly intimated that his soul must go into a state of separation
from the body, and that his body, so deserted, would be in imminent
danger of seeing corruption—that he should not only die, but be
buried, and abide for some time under the power of death.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p20">2. That he should be wonderfully borne up
by the divine power in suffering and dying. (1.) That he should not
be moved, should not be driven off from his undertaking nor sink
under the weight of it, that he should not fail nor be discouraged
(<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.42.4" parsed="|Isa|42|4|0|0" passage="Isa 42:4">Isa. xlii. 4</scripRef>), but should
proceed and persevere in it, till he could say, <i>It is
finished.</i> Though the service was hard and the encounter hot,
and he trod the winepress alone, yet he was not moved, did not give
up the cause, but set his face as a flint, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.50.7-Isa.50.9" parsed="|Isa|50|7|50|9" passage="Isa 50:7-9">Isa. l. 7-9</scripRef>. <i>Here am I, let these go
their way.</i> Nay, (2.) That his heart should rejoice and his
glory be glad, that he should go on with his undertaking, not only
resolutely, but cheerfully, and with unspeakable pleasure and
satisfaction, witness that saying (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:John.17.11" parsed="|John|17|11|0|0" passage="Joh 17:11">John xvii. 11</scripRef>), <i>Now I am no more in the
world, but I come to thee,</i> and that (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:John.18.11" parsed="|John|18|11|0|0" passage="Joh 18:11">John xviii. 11</scripRef>), <i>The cup that my Father
has given me, shall I not drink it?</i> and many the like. By his
glory is meant his <i>tongue,</i> as appears, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.26" parsed="|Acts|2|26|0|0" passage="Ac 2:26">Acts ii. 26</scripRef>. For our tongue is our glory, and
never more so than when it is employed in glorifying God. Now there
were three things which bore him up and carried him on thus
cheerfully:—[1.] The respect he had to his Father's will and
glory in what he did: <i>I have set the Lord always before me.</i>
He still had an eye to his Father's commandment (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:John.10.18 Bible:John.14.31" parsed="|John|10|18|0|0;|John|14|31|0|0" passage="Joh 10:18,14:31">John x. 18, xiv. 31</scripRef>), the will of him
that sent him. He aimed at his Father's honour and the restoring of
the interests of his kingdom among men, and this kept him from
being moved by the difficulties he met with; for he always did
those things that pleased his Father. [2.] The assurance he had of
his Father's presence with him in his sufferings: <i>He is at my
right hand,</i> a present help to me, nigh at hand in the time of
need. <i>He is near that justifieth me</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.50.8" parsed="|Isa|50|8|0|0" passage="Isa 50:8">Isa. l. 8</scripRef>); he is at my right hand, to direct
and strengthen it, and hold it up, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.21" parsed="|Ps|89|21|0|0" passage="Ps 89:21">Ps.
lxxxix. 21</scripRef>. When he was in his agony an angel was sent
from heaven to strengthen him, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.9" osisRef="Bible:Luke.22.43" parsed="|Luke|22|43|0|0" passage="Lu 22:43">Luke
xxii. 43</scripRef>. To this the victories and triumphs of the
cross were all owing; it was the Lord at his right hand that
<i>struck through kings,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.110.5 Bible:Isa.42.1-Isa.42.2" parsed="|Ps|110|5|0|0;|Isa|42|1|42|2" passage="Ps 110:5,Isa 42:1,2">Ps. cx. 5; Isa. xlii. 1, 2</scripRef>. [3.]
The prospect he had of a glorious issue of his sufferings. It was
<i>for the joy set before him</i> that <i>he endured the cross,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.11" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.2" parsed="|Heb|12|2|0|0" passage="Heb 12:2">Heb. xii. 2</scripRef>. He rested in
hope, and that made his rest glorious, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.10" parsed="|Isa|11|10|0|0" passage="Isa 11:10">Isa. xi. 10</scripRef>. He knew he should be justified
in the Spirit by his resurrection, and straightway glorified. See
<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p20.13" osisRef="Bible:John.13.31-John.13.32" parsed="|John|13|31|13|32" passage="Joh 13:31,32">John xiii. 31, 32</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p21">3. That he should be brought through his
sufferings, and brought from under the power of death by a glorious
resurrection. (1.) That his soul should not be left in hell, that
is, his human spirit should not be long left, as other men's
spirits are, in a state of separation from the body, but should, in
a little time, return and be re-united to it, never to part again.
(2.) That being God's holy One in a peculiar manner, sanctified to
the work of redemption and perfectly free from sin, he should not
see corruption nor feel it. This implies that he should not only be
raised from the grave, but raised so soon that his dead body should
not so much as being to corrupt, which, in the course of nature, it
would have done if it had not been raised the third day. We, who
have so much corruption in our souls, must expect that our bodies
also will corrupt (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.24.19" parsed="|Job|24|19|0|0" passage="Job 24:19">Job xxiv.
19</scripRef>); but that holy One of God who knew no sin saw no
corruption. Under the law it was strictly ordered that those parts
of the sacrifices which were not burnt upon the altar should by no
means be kept till the third day, lest they should putrefy
(<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.7.15 Bible:Lev.7.18" parsed="|Lev|7|15|0|0;|Lev|7|18|0|0" passage="Le 7:15,18">Lev. vii. 15, 18</scripRef>), which
perhaps pointed at Christ's rising the third day, that he might not
see corruption—neither was a bone of him broken.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p22">4. That he should be abundantly recompensed
for his sufferings, with the joy set before him, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.11" parsed="|Ps|16|11|0|0" passage="Ps 16:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. He was well assured, (1.) That
he should not miss of his glory: "<i>Thou wilt show me the path of
life,</i> and lead me to that life through this darksome valley."
In confidence of this, when he gave up the ghost, he said,
<i>Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit;</i> and, a little
before, <i>Father, glorify me with thy own self.</i> (2.) That he
should be received into the presence of God, to sit at his right
hand. His being admitted into God's presence would be the
acceptance of his service and his being set at his right hand the
recompence of it. (3.) Thus, as a reward for the sorrows he
underwent for our redemption, he should have a <i>fulness of joy,
and pleasures for evermore;</i> not only the glory he had with God,
as God, before all worlds, but the joy and pleasure of a Mediator,
in seeing his seed, and the success and prosperity of his
undertaking, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.10-Isa.53.11" parsed="|Isa|53|10|53|11" passage="Isa 53:10,11">Isa. liii. 10,
11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.xvii-p23">II. Christ being the Head of the body, the
church, these verses may, for the most part, be applied to all good
Christians, who are guided and animated by the Spirit of Christ;
and, in singing them, when we have first given glory to Christ, in
whom, to our everlasting comfort, they have had their
accomplishment, we may then encourage and edify ourselves and one
another with them, and may hence learn, 1. That it is our wisdom
and duty to set the Lord always before us, and to see him
continually at our right hand, wherever we are, to eye him as our
chief good and highest end, our owner, ruler, and judge, our
gracious benefactor, our sure guide and strict observer; and, while
we do thus, we shall not be moved either from our duty or from our
comfort. Blessed Paul set the Lord before him, when, though bonds
and afflictions did await him, he could bravely say, <i>None of
these things move me,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.20.24" parsed="|Acts|20|24|0|0" passage="Ac 20:24">Acts xx.
24</scripRef>. 2. That, if our eyes be ever towards God, our hearts
and tongues may ever rejoice in him; it is our own fault if they do
not. If the heart rejoice in God, out of the abundance of that let
the mouth speak, to his glory, and the edification of others. 3.
That dying Christians, as well as a dying Christ, may cheerfully
put off the body, in a believing expectation of a joyful
resurrection: <i>My flesh also shall rest in hope.</i> Our bodies
have little rest in this world, but in the grave they shall rest as
in their beds, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.57.2" parsed="|Isa|57|2|0|0" passage="Isa 57:2">Isa. lvii.
2</scripRef>. We have little to hope for from this life, but we
shall rest in hope of a better life; we may put off the body in
that hope. Death <i>destroys the hope of man</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.19" parsed="|Job|14|19|0|0" passage="Job 14:19">Job xiv. 19</scripRef>), but not the hope of a
good Christian, <scripRef id="Ps.xvii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.14.32" parsed="|Prov|14|32|0|0" passage="Pr 14:32">Prov. xiv.
32</scripRef>. He has hope in his death, living hopes in dying
moments, hopes that the body shall not be left for ever in the
grave, but, though it see corruption for a time, it shall, at the
end of the time, be raised to immortality; Christ's resurrection is
an earnest of ours if we be his. 4. That those who live piously
with God in their eye may die comfortably with heaven in their eye.
In this world sorrow is our lot, but in heaven there is joy. All
our joys here are empty and defective, but in heaven there is a
fulness of joy. Our pleasures here are transient and momentary, and
such is the nature of them that it is not fit they should last
long; but those at God's right hand are pleasures for evermore; for
they are the pleasures of immortal souls in the immediate vision
and fruition of an eternal God.</p>
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