mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 105.xml

<div2 id="Ps.cvi" n="cvi" next="Ps.cvii" prev="Ps.cv" progress="57.96%" title="Chapter CV">
<h2 id="Ps.cvi-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.cvi-p0.2">PSALM CV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.cvi-p1">Some of the psalms of praise are very short,
others very long, to teach us that, in our devotions, we should be
more observant how our hearts work than how the time passes and
neither overstretch ourselves by coveting to be long nor over-stint
ourselves by coveting to be short, but either the one or the other
as we find in our hearts to pray. This is a long psalm; the general
scope is the same with most of the psalms, to set forth the glory
of God, but the subject-matter is particular. Every time we come to
the throne of grace we may, if we please, furnish ourselves out of
the word of God (out of the history of the New Testament, as this
out of the history of the Old) with new songs, with fresh
thoughts—so copious, so various, so inexhaustible is the subject.
In the foregoing psalm we are taught to praise God for his wondrous
works of common providence with reference to the world in general.
In this we are directed to praise him for his special favours to
his church. We find the <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.1-Ps.105.11 Bible:1Chr.16.8-1Chr.16.18" parsed="|Ps|105|1|105|11;|1Chr|16|8|16|18" passage="Ps 105:1-11,1Ch 16:8-18">first eleven verses</scripRef> of this
psalm in the beginning of that psalm which David delivered to Asaph
to be used (as it should seem) in the daily service of the
sanctuary when the ark was fixed in the place he had prepared for
it, by which it appears both who penned it and when and upon what
occasion it was penned, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.16.7-1Chr.16.36" parsed="|1Chr|16|7|16|36" passage="1Ch 16:7-36">1 Chron.
xvi. 7</scripRef>, &amp;c. David by it designed to instruct his
people in the obligations they lay under to adhere faithfully to
their holy religion. Here is the preface (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.1-Ps.105.7" parsed="|Ps|105|1|105|7" passage="Ps 105:1-7">ver. 1-7</scripRef>) and the history itself in several
articles. I. God's covenant with the patriarchs, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.8-Ps.105.11" parsed="|Ps|105|8|105|11" passage="Ps 105:8-11">ver. 8-11</scripRef>. II. His care of them while they
were strangers, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.12-Ps.105.15" parsed="|Ps|105|12|105|15" passage="Ps 105:12-15">ver.
12-15</scripRef>. III. His raising up Joseph to be the shepherd and
stone of Israel, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.16-Ps.105.22" parsed="|Ps|105|16|105|22" passage="Ps 105:16-22">ver.
16-22</scripRef>. IV. The increase of Israel in Egypt and their
deliverance out of Egypt, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.23-Ps.105.38" parsed="|Ps|105|23|105|38" passage="Ps 105:23-38">ver.
23-38</scripRef>. V. The care he took of them in the wilderness and
their settlement in Canaan, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.39-Ps.105.45" parsed="|Ps|105|39|105|45" passage="Ps 105:39-45">ver.
39-45</scripRef>. In singing this we must give to God the glory of
his wisdom and power, his goodness and faithfulness, must look upon
ourselves as concerned in the affairs of the Old-Testament church,
both because to it were committed the oracles of God, which are our
treasure, and because out of it Christ arose, and these things
happened to it for ensamples.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.cvi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105" parsed="|Ps|105|0|0|0" passage="Ps 105" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.cvi-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.1-Ps.105.7" parsed="|Ps|105|1|105|7" passage="Ps 105:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.105.1-Ps.105.7">
<h4 id="Ps.cvi-p1.11">An Invitation to Praise.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cvi-p2">1 O give thanks unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvi-p2.1">Lord</span>; call upon his name: make known his deeds
among the people.   2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him:
talk ye of all his wondrous works.   3 Glory ye in his holy
name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvi-p2.2">Lord</span>.   4 Seek the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvi-p2.3">Lord</span>, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
  5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his
wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;   6 O ye seed of
Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.   7 He
<i>is</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvi-p2.4">Lord</span> our God: his
judgments <i>are</i> in all the earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p3">Our devotion is here warmly excited; and we
are stirred up, that we may stir up ourselves to praise God.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p4">I. The duties to which we are here called,
and they are many, but the tendency of them all is to give unto God
the glory due unto his name. 1. We must <i>give thanks to him,</i>
as one who has always been our bountiful benefactor and requires
only that we give him thanks for his favours—poor returns for rich
receivings. 2. <i>Call upon his name,</i> as one whom you depend
upon for further favours. Praying for further mercies is accepted
as an acknowledgment of former mercies. <i>Because he has inclined
his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him.</i> 3. <i>Make
known his deeds</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.1" parsed="|Ps|105|1|0|0" passage="Ps 105:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>), that others may join with you in praising him.
<i>Talk of all his wondrous works</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.2" parsed="|Ps|105|2|0|0" passage="Ps 105:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), as we talk of things that we
are full of, and much affected with, and desire to fill others
with. God's wondrous works ought to be the subject of our familiar
discourses with our families and friends, and we should talk of
them <i>as we sit in the house and as we go by the way</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.6.7" parsed="|Deut|6|7|0|0" passage="De 6:7">Deut. vi. 7</scripRef>), not merely for
entertainment, but for the exciting of devotion and the encouraging
of our own and others' faith and hope in God. Even sacred things
may be the matter of common talk, provided it be with due
reverence. 4. <i>Sing psalms</i> to God's honour, as those that
rejoice in him, and desire to testify that joy for the
encouragement of others and to transmit it to posterity, as
memorable things anciently were handed down by songs, when writing
was scarce. 5. <i>Glory in his holy name;</i> let those that are
disposed to glory not boast of their own accomplishments and
achievements, but of their acquaintance with God and their relation
to him, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.9.23-Jer.9.24" parsed="|Jer|9|23|9|24" passage="Jer 9:23,24">Jer. ix. 23, 24</scripRef>.
<i>Praise you his holy name,</i> so some; but it comes all to one,
for in glorying in him we give glory to him. 6. <i>Seek him;</i>
place your happiness in him, and then pursue that happiness in all
the ways that he has appointed. <i>Seek the Lord and his
strength,</i> that is, the <i>ark of his strength;</i> seek him in
the sanctuary, in the way wherein he has appointed us to seek him.
<i>Seek his strength,</i> that is, his grace, the strength of his
Spirit to work in you that which is good, which we cannot do but by
strength derived from him, for which he will be enquired of.
<i>Seek the Lord and be strengthened;</i> so divers ancient
versions read it. Those that would be <i>strengthened in the inward
man</i> must fetch in strength from God by faith and prayer. Seek
<i>his strength,</i> and then <i>seek his face;</i> for by his
strength, we hope to prevail with him for his favour, as Jacob did,
<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.12.3" parsed="|Hos|12|3|0|0" passage="Ho 12:3">Hos. xii. 3</scripRef>. "<i>Seek his
face evermore;</i> seek to have his favour to eternity, and
therefore continue seeking it to the end of the time of your
probation. Seek it while you live in this world, and you shall have
it while you live in the other world, and even there shall be for
ever seeking it in an infinite progression, and yet be for ever
satisfied in it." 7. <i>Let the hearts of those rejoice that do
seek him</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.3" parsed="|Ps|105|3|0|0" passage="Ps 105:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>);
for they have chosen well, are well fixed, and well employed, and
they may be sure that their labour will not be in vain, for he will
not only be found, but he will be found the <i>rewarder of those
that diligently seek him.</i> If those have reason to rejoice that
<i>seek the Lord,</i> much more those that have <i>found
him.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p5">II. Some arguments to quicken us to these
duties. 1. "Consider both what he has said and what he has done to
engage us for ever to him. You will see yourselves under all
possible obligations to give thanks to him, and call upon his name,
if you remember the wonders which should make deep and durable
impressions upon you,—the wonders of his providence which he has
<i>wrought for you</i> and those who are gone before you, the
<i>marvellous works that he has done,</i> which will be had in
everlasting remembrance with the thoughtful and with the
grateful,—the wonders of his law, which he has written to you, and
entrusted you with, <i>the judgments of his mouth,</i> as well as
the judgments of his hand," <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.5" parsed="|Ps|105|5|0|0" passage="Ps 105:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. 2. "Consider the relation you stand in to him
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.6" parsed="|Ps|105|6|0|0" passage="Ps 105:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>You are
the seed of Abraham his servant;</i> you are born in his house, and
being thereby entitled to the privilege of his servants, protection
and provision, you are also bound to do the duty of servants, to
attend your Master, consult his honour, obey his commands, and do
what you can to advance his interests. You are <i>the children of
Jacob his chosen,</i> and are <i>chosen</i> and <i>beloved</i> for
the fathers' sake, and therefore ought to tread in the steps of
those whose honours you inherit. You are the children of godly
parents; do no degenerate. You are God's church upon earth, and, if
you do not praise him, who should?" 3. Consider your interest in
him: <i>He is the Lord our God,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.7" parsed="|Ps|105|7|0|0" passage="Ps 105:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. We depend upon him, are devoted
to him, and from him our expectation is. <i>Should not a people
seek unto their God</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.19" parsed="|Isa|8|19|0|0" passage="Isa 8:19">Isa. viii.
19</scripRef>) and praise their God? <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.4" parsed="|Dan|5|4|0|0" passage="Da 5:4">Dan. v. 4</scripRef>. He is <i>Jehovah our God.</i> He
that is our God is self-existent and self-sufficient, has an
irresistible power and incontestable sovereignty: <i>His judgments
are in all the earth;</i> he governs the whole world in wisdom, and
gives law to all nations, even to those that know him not. The
earth is full of the proofs of his power.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cvi-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.8-Ps.105.24" parsed="|Ps|105|8|105|24" passage="Ps 105:8-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.105.8-Ps.105.24">
<h4 id="Ps.cvi-p5.7">The Divine Promise to the Patriarchs;
Providences Concerning the Patriarchs.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cvi-p6">8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the
word <i>which</i> he commanded to a thousand generations.   9
Which <i>covenant</i> he made with Abraham, and his oath unto
Isaac;   10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,
<i>and</i> to Israel <i>for</i> an everlasting covenant:   11
Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your
inheritance:   12 When they were <i>but</i> a few men in
number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.   13 When they
went from one nation to another, from <i>one</i> kingdom to another
people;   14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he
reproved kings for their sakes;   15 <i>Saying,</i> Touch not
mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.   16 Moreover he
called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of
bread.   17 He sent a man before them, <i>even</i> Joseph,
<i>who</i> was sold for a servant:   18 Whose feet they hurt
with fetters: he was laid in iron:   19 Until the time that
his word came: the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvi-p6.1">Lord</span>
tried him.   20 The king sent and loosed him; <i>even</i> the
ruler of the people, and let him go free.   21 He made him
lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:   22 To
bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
  23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the
land of Ham.   24 And he increased his people greatly; and
made them stronger than their enemies.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p7">We are here taught, in praising God, to
look a great way back, and to give him the glory of what he did for
his church in former ages, especially when it was in the founding
and forming, which those in its latter ages enjoy the benefit of
and therefore should give thanks for. Doubtless we may fetch as
proper matter for praise from the histories of the gospels, and the
acts of the apostles, which relate the birth of the Christian
church, as the psalmist here does from the histories of Genesis and
Exodus, which relate the birth of the Jewish church; and our
histories greatly outshine theirs. Two things are here made the
subject of praise:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p8">I. God's promise to the patriarchs, that
great promise that he would give to their seed the land of Canaan
for an inheritance, which was a type of the promise of eternal life
made in Christ to all believers. In all the marvellous works which
God did for Israel <i>he remembered his covenant</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.8" parsed="|Ps|105|8|0|0" passage="Ps 105:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>) and he will remember it
<i>for ever;</i> it is <i>the word which he commanded to a thousand
generations.</i> See here the power of the promise; it is the word
which he commanded and which will take effect. See the perpetuity
of the promise; it is commanded <i>to a thousand generations,</i>
and the entail of it shall not be cut off. In the parallel place it
is expressed as our duty (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.16.15" parsed="|1Chr|16|15|0|0" passage="1Ch 16:15">1 Chron.
xvi. 15</scripRef>), <i>Be you mindful always of his covenant.</i>
God will not forget it and therefore we must not. The promise is
here called a <i>covenant,</i> because there was something required
on man's part as the condition of the promise. Observe, 1. The
persons with whom this covenant was made—with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, grandfather, father, and son, all eminent believers,
<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.8-Heb.11.9" parsed="|Heb|11|8|11|9" passage="Heb 11:8,9">Heb. xi. 8, 9</scripRef>. 2. The
ratifications of the covenant; it was made sure by all that is
sacred. Is that sure which is sworn to? It is his oath to Isaac and
to Abraham. See to whom God <i>swore by himself,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.13-Heb.6.14" parsed="|Heb|6|13|6|14" passage="Heb 6:13,14">Heb. vi. 13, 14</scripRef>. Is that sure
which has passed <i>into a law?</i> He <i>confirmed the same for a
law,</i> a law never to be repealed. Is that sure which is reduced
to a mutual contract and stipulation? This is confirmed <i>for an
everlasting covenant,</i> inviolable. 3. The covenant itself:
<i>Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.11" parsed="|Ps|105|11|0|0" passage="Ps 105:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. The patriarchs had a right to
it, not by providence, but by promise; and their seed should be put
in possession of it, not by the common ways of settling nations,
but by miracles; God will give it to them himself, as it were with
his own hand; it shall be given to them as their lot which God
assigns them and measures out to them, as <i>the lot of their
inheritance,</i> a sure title, by virtue of their birth; it shall
come to them by descent, not by purchase, by the favour of God, and
not any merit of their own. Heaven is the inheritance we have
obtained, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Eph.1.11" parsed="|Eph|1|11|0|0" passage="Eph 1:11">Eph. i. 11</scripRef>. And
<i>this is the promise which God has promised us</i> (as Canaan was
the promise he promised them), <i>even eternal life,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:1John.2.25 Bible:Titus.1.2" parsed="|1John|2|25|0|0;|Titus|1|2|0|0" passage="1Jo 2:25,Tit 1:2">1 John ii. 25; Tit. i. 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p9">II. His providences concerning the
patriarchs while they were waiting for the accomplishment of this
promise, which represent to us the care God takes of his people in
this world, while they are yet on this side the heavenly Canaan;
for these things <i>happened unto them for examples</i> and
encouragements to all the heirs of promise, that live by faith as
they did.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p10">1. They were wonderfully protected and
sheltered, and (as the Jewish masters express it) <i>gathered under
the wings of the divine Majesty.</i> This is accounted for,
<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.12-Ps.105.15" parsed="|Ps|105|12|105|15" passage="Ps 105:12-15"><i>v.</i> 12-15</scripRef>. Here
we may observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p11">(1.) How they were exposed to injuries from
men. To the three renowned patriarchs, Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, God's promises were very rich; again and again he told them
he would be their God; but his performances in this world were so
little proportionable that, if he had not <i>prepared for them a
city</i> in the other world, he would have been <i>ashamed to be
called their God</i> (see <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.16" parsed="|Heb|11|16|0|0" passage="Heb 11:16">Heb. xi.
16</scripRef>), because he was always generous; and yet even in
this world he was not wanting to them, but that he might appear, to
do uncommon things for them, he exercised them with uncommon
trials. [1.] They were few, very few. Abraham was called alone
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.2" parsed="|Isa|51|2|0|0" passage="Isa 51:2">Isa. li. 2</scripRef>); he had but
two sons, and one of them he cast out; Isaac had but two, and one
of them was forced for many years to flee from his country; Jacob
had more, but some of them, instead of being a defence to him,
exposed him, when (as he himself pleads, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.34.30" parsed="|Gen|34|30|0|0" passage="Ge 34:30">Gen. xxxiv. 30</scripRef>) he was but few in number, and
therefore might easily be destroyed by the natives, he and his
house. God's chosen are but a little flock, few, very few, and yet
upheld. [2.] They were strangers, and therefore were the most
likely to be abused and to meet with strange usage, and the less
able to help themselves. Their religion made them to be looked upon
as strangers (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.4.4" parsed="|1Pet|4|4|0|0" passage="1Pe 4:4">1 Pet. iv. 4</scripRef>)
and to be hooted at as <i>speckled birds,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.9" parsed="|Jer|12|9|0|0" passage="Jer 12:9">Jer. xii. 9</scripRef>. Though the whole land was theirs
by promise, yet they were so far from producing and pleading their
grant that they <i>confessed themselves strangers in it,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.13" parsed="|Heb|11|13|0|0" passage="Heb 11:13">Heb. xi. 13</scripRef>. [3.] They
were unsettled (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.13" parsed="|Ps|105|13|0|0" passage="Ps 105:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>They went from one nation to another,</i> from
one part of that land to another (for it was then in the holding
and occupation of divers nations, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.12.8 Bible:Gen.13.3 Bible:Gen.13.18" parsed="|Gen|12|8|0|0;|Gen|13|3|0|0;|Gen|13|18|0|0" passage="Ge 12:8,13:3,18">Gen. xii. 8; xiii. 3, 18</scripRef>); nay,
<i>from one kingdom to another people,</i> from Canaan to Egypt,
from Egypt to the land of the Philistines, which could not but
weaken and expose them; yet they were forced to it by famine. Note,
Though frequent removals are neither desirable nor commendable, yet
sometimes there is a just and necessary occasion for them, and they
may be the lot of some of the best men.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p12">(2.) How they were guarded by the special
providence of God, the wisdom and power of which were the more
magnified by their being so many ways exposed, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.14-Ps.105.15" parsed="|Ps|105|14|105|15" passage="Ps 105:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. They were not able to
help themselves and yet, [1.] No men were suffered to wrong them,
but even those that hated them, and would gladly have done them a
mischief, had their hands tied, and could not do what they would.
This may refer to <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.35.5" parsed="|Gen|35|5|0|0" passage="Ge 35:5">Gen. xxxv.
5</scripRef>, where we find that <i>the terror of God</i> (an
unaccountable restraint) <i>was upon the cities that were round
about them,</i> so that, though provoked, <i>they did not pursue
after the sons of Jacob.</i> [2.] Even crowned heads, that did
offer to wrong them, were not only checked and chidden for it, but
controlled and baffled: <i>He reproved kings for their sakes</i> in
dreams and visions, <i>saying, "Touch not my anointed;</i> it is at
your peril if you do, nay, it shall not be in your power to do it;
<i>do my prophets no harm.</i>" Pharaoh king of Egypt was plagued
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.12.17" parsed="|Gen|12|17|0|0" passage="Ge 12:17">Gen. xii. 17</scripRef>) and
Abimelech king of Gerar was sharply rebuked (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.20.6" parsed="|Gen|20|6|0|0" passage="Ge 20:6">Gen. xx. 6</scripRef>) for doing wrong to Abraham. Note,
<i>First,</i> Even kings themselves are liable to God's rebukes if
they do wrong. <i>Secondly,</i> God's prophets are his anointed,
for they have the unction <i>of the Spirit,</i> that <i>oil of
gladness,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:1John.2.27" parsed="|1John|2|27|0|0" passage="1Jo 2:27">1 John ii.
27</scripRef>. <i>Thirdly,</i> Those that offer to touch God's
prophets, with design to harm them, may expect to hear of it one
way or other. God is jealous for his prophets; whoso <i>touches
them touches the apple of his eye. Fourthly,</i> Even those that
<i>touch the prophets,</i> nay that <i>kill the prophets</i> (as
many did), cannot <i>do them any harm,</i> any real harm.
<i>Lastly,</i> God's anointed prophets are dearer to him than
anointed kings themselves. Jeroboam's hand was withered when it was
stretched out against a prophet.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p13">2. They were wonderfully provided for and
supplied. And here also, (1.) They were reduced to great extremity.
Even in Canaan, the land of promise, <i>he called for a famine,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.16" parsed="|Ps|105|16|0|0" passage="Ps 105:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. Note, All
judgments are at God's call, and no place is exempt from their
visitation and jurisdiction when God sends them forth with
commission. To try the faith of the patriarchs, God <i>broke the
whole staff of bread,</i> even in that good land, that they might
plainly see God designed them a better country than that was. (2.)
God graciously took care for their relief. It was in obedience to
his precept, and in dependence upon his promise, that they were now
sojourners in Canaan, and therefore he could not in honour suffer
any evil to befal them or any good thing to be wanting to them. As
he restrained one Pharaoh from doing them wrong, so he raised up
another to do them a kindness, by preferring and entrusting Joseph,
of whose story we have here an abstract. He was to be the shepherd
and stone of Israel and to save that holy <i>seed alive,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.24 Bible:Gen.50.20" parsed="|Gen|49|24|0|0;|Gen|50|20|0|0" passage="Ge 49:24,50:20">Gen. xlix. 24; l. 20</scripRef>.
In order to this, [1.] He was humbled, greatly humbled (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.17-Ps.105.18" parsed="|Ps|105|17|105|18" passage="Ps 105:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>): <i>God sent a
man before them, even Joseph.</i> Many years before the famine
began, he was sent before them, to nourish them in the famine; so
vast are the foresights and forecasts of Providence, and so long
its reaches. But in what character did <i>he</i> go to Egypt who
was to provide for the reception of the church there? He went not
in quality of an ambassador, no, nor so much as a factor or
commissary; but <i>he was sold</i> thither <i>for a servant,</i> a
slave for term of life, without any prospect of being ever set at
liberty. This was low enough, and, one would think, set him far
enough from any probability of being great. And yet he was brought
lower; he was made a prisoner (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.18" parsed="|Ps|105|18|0|0" passage="Ps 105:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>His feet they hurt with
fetters.</i> Being unjustly charged with a crime no less heinous
than a rape upon his mistress, <i>the iron entered into his
soul,</i> that is, was very painful to him; and the false
accusation which was the cause of his imprisonment did in a special
manner grieve him, and went to his heart; yet all this was the way
to his preferment. [2.] He was exalted, highly exalted. He
continued a prisoner, neither tried nor bailed, <i>until the
time</i> appointed of God for his release (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.19" parsed="|Ps|105|19|0|0" passage="Ps 105:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), when <i>his word came,</i>
that is, his interpretations of the dreams came to pass, and the
report thereof came to Pharaoh's ears by the chief butler. And then
<i>the word of the Lord cleared him;</i> that is, the power God
gave him to foretel things to come rolled away the reproach his
mistress had loaded him with; for it could not be thought that God
would give such a power to so bad a man as he was represented to
be. <i>God's word tried him,</i> tried his faith and patience, and
then it came in power to give command for his release. There is a
time set when God's word will come for the comfort of all that
trust in it, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.3" parsed="|Hab|2|3|0|0" passage="Hab 2:3">Hab. ii. 3</scripRef>.
<i>At the end it shall speak, and not lie.</i> God gave the word,
and then <i>the king sent and loosed him;</i> for the king's heart
is in the hand of the Lord. Pharaoh, finding him to be a favourite
of Heaven, <i>First,</i> Discharged him from his imprisonment
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.20" parsed="|Ps|105|20|0|0" passage="Ps 105:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): He <i>let
him go free.</i> God has often, by wonderful turns of providence,
pleaded the cause of oppressed innocency. <i>Secondly,</i> He
advanced him to the highest posts of honour, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.21-Ps.105.22" parsed="|Ps|105|21|105|22" passage="Ps 105:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>. He made him lord high
chamberlain of his household (<i>he made him lord of his
house</i>); nay, he put him into the office of lord-treasurer,
<i>the ruler of all his substance.</i> He made him prime-minister
of state, lord-president of his council, to <i>command his princes
at his pleasure</i> and <i>teach them wisdom,</i> and general of
his forces. <i>According to thy word shall all my people be
ruled,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.9" osisRef="Bible:Gen.41.40 Bible:Gen.41.43 Bible:Gen.41.44" parsed="|Gen|41|40|0|0;|Gen|41|43|0|0;|Gen|41|44|0|0" passage="Ge 41:40,43,44">Gen. xli. 40, 43,
44</scripRef>. He made him lord chief justice, to judge even his
senators and punish those that were disobedient. In all this Joseph
was designed to be, 1. A father to the church that then was, to
save the house of Israel from perishing by the famine. He was made
great, that he might <i>do good, especially</i> in <i>the household
of faith.</i> 2. A figure of Christ that was to come, who, because
he humbled himself and took upon him the form of a servant, was
highly exalted, and has all judgment committed to him. Joseph being
thus sent before, and put into a capacity of maintaining all his
father's house, <i>Israel also came into Egypt</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.23" parsed="|Ps|105|23|0|0" passage="Ps 105:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), where he and all his
were very honourably and comfortably provided for many years. Thus
the New-Testament church has a place provided for her even in the
wilderness, where <i>she is nourished for a time, times, and half a
time,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p13.11" osisRef="Bible:Rev.12.14" parsed="|Rev|12|14|0|0" passage="Re 12:14">Rev. xii. 14</scripRef>.
Verily she shall be fed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p14">3. They were wonderfully multiplied,
according to the promise made to Abraham that his seed should be as
the sand of the sea for multitude, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.24" parsed="|Ps|105|24|0|0" passage="Ps 105:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. In Egypt <i>he increased his
people greatly;</i> they multiplied like fishes, so that in a
little time they became <i>stronger than their enemies</i> and
formidable to them. Pharaoh took notice of it. <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.1.9" parsed="|Exod|1|9|0|0" passage="Ex 1:9">Exod. i. 9</scripRef>, <i>The children of Israel are more
and mightier than we.</i> When God pleases <i>a little one shall
become a thousand;</i> and God's promises, though they work slowly,
work surely.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cvi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.25-Ps.105.45" parsed="|Ps|105|25|105|45" passage="Ps 105:25-45" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.105.25-Ps.105.45">
<h4 id="Ps.cvi-p14.4">Israel's Deliverance Out of
Egypt.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cvi-p15">25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to
deal subtilly with his servants.   26 He sent Moses his
servant; <i>and</i> Aaron whom he had chosen.   27 They showed
his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.   28 He
sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his
word.   29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their
fish.   30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the
chambers of their kings.   31 He spake, and there came divers
sorts of flies, <i>and</i> lice in all their coasts.   32 He
gave them hail for rain, <i>and</i> flaming fire in their land.
  33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake
the trees of their coasts.   34 He spake, and the locusts
came, and caterpillars, and that without number,   35 And did
eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their
ground.   36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
the chief of all their strength.   37 He brought them forth
also with silver and gold: and <i>there was</i> not one feeble
<i>person</i> among their tribes.   38 Egypt was glad when
they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.   39 He
spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
  40 <i>The people</i> asked, and he brought quails, and
satisfied them with the bread of heaven.   41 He opened the
rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places
<i>like</i> a river.   42 For he remembered his holy promise,
<i>and</i> Abraham his servant.   43 And he brought forth his
people with joy, <i>and</i> his chosen with gladness:   44 And
gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour
of the people;   45 That they might observe his statutes, and
keep his laws. Praise ye the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cvi-p15.1">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p16">After the history of the patriarchs follows
here the history of the people of Israel, when they grew into a
nation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p17">I. Their affliction in Egypt (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.25" parsed="|Ps|105|25|0|0" passage="Ps 105:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>): <i>He turned</i> the
<i>heart</i> of the Egyptians, who had protected them, <i>to
hate</i> them and <i>deal subtilely</i> with them. God's goodness
to his people exasperated the Egyptians against them; and, though
their old antipathy to the Hebrews (which we read of <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.43.32 Bible:Gen.46.34" parsed="|Gen|43|32|0|0;|Gen|46|34|0|0" passage="Ge 43:32,46:34">Gen. xliii. 32; xlvi. 34</scripRef>) was
laid asleep for a while, yet now it revived with more violence than
ever: formerly they hated them because they despised them, now
because they feared them. They <i>dealt subtilely</i> with them,
set all their politics on work to find out ways and means to weaken
them, and waste them, and prevent their growth; they made their
burdens heavy and their lives bitter, and slew their male children
as soon as they were born. Malice is crafty to destroy: Satan has
the serpent's subtlety, with his venom. It was God that turned the
hearts of the Egyptians against them; for every creature is that to
us that he makes it to be, a friend or an enemy. Though God is not
the author of the sins of men, yet he serves his own purposes by
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p18">II. Their deliverance out of Egypt, that
work of wonder, which, that it might never be forgotten, is put
into the preface to the ten commandments. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p19">1. The instruments employed in that
deliverance (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.26" parsed="|Ps|105|26|0|0" passage="Ps 105:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>): <i>He sent Moses his servant</i> on this errand and
joined Aaron in commission with him. Moses was designed to be their
lawgiver and chief magistrate, Aaron to be their chief priest; and
therefore, that they might respect them the more and submit to them
the more cheerfully, God made use of them as their deliverers.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p20">2. The means of accomplishing that
deliverance; these were the plagues of Egypt. Moses and Aaron
observed their orders, in summoning them just as God appointed
them, and <i>they rebelled not against his word</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.28" parsed="|Ps|105|28|0|0" passage="Ps 105:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>) as Jonah did, who,
when he was sent to denounce God's judgments against Nineveh, went
to Tarshish. Moses and Aaron were not moved, either with a foolish
fear of Pharaoh's wrath or a foolish pity of Egypt's misery, to
relax or retard any of the plagues which God ordered them to
inflict on the Egyptians, but stretched forth their hand to inflict
them as God appointed. Those that are instructed to execute
judgment will find their remissness construed as a rebellion
against God's word. The plagues of Egypt are here called God's
<i>signs, and his wonders</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.27" parsed="|Ps|105|27|0|0" passage="Ps 105:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>); they were not only proofs of
his power, but tokens of his wrath, and to be looked upon with
admiration and holy awe. <i>They showed the words of his signs</i>
(so it is in the original), for every plague had an exposition
going along with it; they were not, as the common works of creation
and providence, silent signs, but speaking ones, and they spoke
aloud. They are all or most of them here specified, though not in
the order in which they were inflicted. (1.) The plague of
darkness, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.28" parsed="|Ps|105|28|0|0" passage="Ps 105:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>.
This was one of the last, though here mentioned first. God <i>sent
darkness,</i> and, coming with commission, it came with efficacy;
his command <i>made it dark. And</i> then <i>they</i> (that is, the
people of Israel) <i>rebelled not against God's word,</i> namely, a
command which some think was given them to circumcise all among
them that had not been circumcised, in doing which the three days'
darkness would be a protection to them. The old translation follows
the LXX., and reads it, <i>They were not obedient to his word,</i>
which may be applied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who,
notwithstanding the terror of this plague, <i>would not let the
people go;</i> but there is no ground for it in the Hebrew. (2.)
The turning of the river Nilus (which they idolized) <i>into
blood,</i> and all their other waters, which <i>slew their fish</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.29" parsed="|Ps|105|29|0|0" passage="Ps 105:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), and so
they were deprived, not only of their drink, but of the daintiest
of their meat, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Num.11.5" parsed="|Num|11|5|0|0" passage="Nu 11:5">Num. xi. 5</scripRef>.
(3.) The frogs, shoals of which their land brought forth, which
poured in upon them, not only in such numbers, but with such fury,
that they could not keep them out of the <i>chambers of their
kings</i> and great men, whose hearts had been full of vermin, more
nauseous and more noxious-contempt of, and enmity to, both God and
his Israel. (4.) Flies of divers sorts swarmed in their air, and
lice in their clothes, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.31" parsed="|Ps|105|31|0|0" passage="Ps 105:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>; <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.8.17 Bible:Exod.8.24" parsed="|Exod|8|17|0|0;|Exod|8|24|0|0" passage="Ex 8:17,24">Exod. viii. 17,
24</scripRef>. Note, God can make use of the meanest, and weakest,
and most despicable animals, for the punishing and humbling of
proud oppressors, to whom the impotency of the instrument cannot
but be a great mortification, as well as an undeniable conviction
of the divine omnipotence. (5.) Hail-stones shattered their trees,
even the strongest timber-trees in <i>their coasts,</i> and killed
their vines, and their other fruit-trees, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.32-Ps.105.33" parsed="|Ps|105|32|105|33" passage="Ps 105:32,33"><i>v.</i> 32, 33</scripRef>. Instead of rain to
cherish their trees, he gave them hail to crush them, and with it
thunder and lightning, to such a degree that the <i>fire ran along
upon the ground,</i> as if it had been a stream of kindled
brimstone, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.9" osisRef="Bible:Exod.9.23" parsed="|Exod|9|23|0|0" passage="Ex 9:23">Exod. ix. 23</scripRef>.
(6.) <i>Locusts and caterpillars</i> destroyed <i>all the</i> herbs
which were made for the service of man and ate the bread out of
their mouths, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.34-Ps.105.35" parsed="|Ps|105|34|105|35" passage="Ps 105:34,35"><i>v.</i> 34,
35</scripRef>. See what variety of judgments God has, wherewith to
plague proud oppressors, that will not let his people go. God did
not bring the same plague twice, but, when there was occasion for
another, it was still a new one; for he has many arrows in his
quiver. Locusts and caterpillars are God's armies; and, how weak
soever they are singly, he can raise such numbers of them as to
make them formidable, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.11" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.4 Bible:Joel.1.6" parsed="|Joel|1|4|0|0;|Joel|1|6|0|0" passage="Joe 1:4,6">Joel i. 4,
6</scripRef>. (7.) Having mentioned all the plagues but those of
the murrain and boils, he concludes with that which gave the
conquering stroke, and that was the death of <i>the first-born,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p20.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.36" parsed="|Ps|105|36|0|0" passage="Ps 105:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>. In the dead
of the night the joys and hopes of their families, <i>the chief of
their strength</i> and flower of their land, were all struck dead
by the destroying angel. They would not release God's first-born,
and therefore God seized theirs by way of reprisal, and thereby
forced them to dismiss his too, when it was too late to retrieve
their own; for <i>when God judges he will overcome,</i> and those
will certainly sit down losers at last that contend with him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p21">3. The mercies that accompanied this
deliverance. In their bondage, (1.) They had been impoverished, and
yet they came out rich and wealthy. God not only brought them
forth, but he <i>brought them forth with silver and gold,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.37" parsed="|Ps|105|37|0|0" passage="Ps 105:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>. God
empowered them to ask and collect the contributions of their
neighbours (which were indeed but part of payment for the service
they had done them) and inclined the Egyptians to furnish them with
what they asked. Their wealth was his, and therefore he might,
their hearts were in his hand, and therefore he could, give it to
the Israelites. (2.) Their lives had been made bitter to them, and
their bodies and spirits broken by their bondage; and yet, when God
brought them forth, <i>there was not one feeble person,</i> none
sick, none so much as sickly, <i>among their tribes.</i> They went
out that very night that the plague swept away all the first-born
of Egypt, and yet they went out all in good health, and brought not
with them any of the diseases of Egypt. Surely never was the like,
that among so many thousands there was not one sick! So false was
the representation which the enemies of the Jews, in after-ages,
gave of this matter, that they were all sick of a leprosy, or some
loathsome disease, and that therefore the Egyptians thrust them out
of their land. (3.) They had been trampled upon and insulted over;
and yet they were brought out with honour (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.38" parsed="|Ps|105|38|0|0" passage="Ps 105:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>): <i>Egypt was glad when they
departed;</i> for God had so wonderfully owned them, and pleaded
their cause, that <i>the fear of Israel fell upon them,</i> and
they owned themselves baffled and overcome. God can and will make
his church <i>a burdensome stone</i> to all that <i>heave at it</i>
and seek to displace it, so that those shall think themselves happy
that get out of its way, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.3" parsed="|Zech|12|3|0|0" passage="Zec 12:3">Zech. xii.
3</scripRef>. <i>When God judges, he will overcome.</i> (4.) They
had spent their days in sorrow and in sighing, by reason of their
bondage; but now he brought them forth <i>with joy and
gladness,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.43" parsed="|Ps|105|43|0|0" passage="Ps 105:43"><i>v.</i>
43</scripRef>. When Egypt's cry for grief was loud, their
first-born being all slain, Israel's shouts for joy were as loud,
both when they looked back upon the land of slavery out of which
they were rescued and when they looked forward to the pleasant land
to which they were hastening. God now put a new song into their
mouth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p22">4. The special care God took of them in the
wilderness. (1.) For their shelter. Besides the canopy of heaven,
he provided them another heavenly canopy: He <i>spread a cloud for
a covering</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.39" parsed="|Ps|105|39|0|0" passage="Ps 105:39"><i>v.</i>
39</scripRef>), which was to them not only a screen and umbrella,
but a cloth of state. A cloud was often God's pavilion (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.11" parsed="|Ps|18|11|0|0" passage="Ps 18:11">Ps. xviii. 11</scripRef>) and now it was
Israel's; for they also were his hidden ones. (2.) For their
guidance and refreshment in the dark. He appointed a pillar of
<i>fire to give light in the night,</i> that they might never be at
a loss. Note, God graciously provides against all the grievances of
his people, and furnishes them with convenient succours for every
condition, for day and night, till they come to heaven, where it
will be all day to eternity. (3.) He fed them both with necessaries
and dainties. Sometimes he furnished their tables with wild fowl
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.40" parsed="|Ps|105|40|0|0" passage="Ps 105:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>): <i>The
people asked, and he brought quails;</i> and, when they were not
thus feasted, yet they were abundantly satisfied <i>with the bread
of heaven.</i> Those are curious and covetous indeed who will not
be so satisfied. Man did eat angels' food, and that constantly and
on free-cost. And, as every bit they ate had miracle in it, so had
every drop they drank: <i>He opened the rock, and the waters gushed
out,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.41" parsed="|Ps|105|41|0|0" passage="Ps 105:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>.
Common providence fetches waters from heaven, and bread out of the
earth; but for Israel the divine power brings bread from the clouds
and water from the rocks: so far is the God of nature from being
tied to the laws and courses of nature. The water did not only gush
out once, but it ran <i>like a river,</i> plentifully and
constantly, and attended their camp in all their removes; hence
they are said to have the <i>rock follow them</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.4" parsed="|1Cor|10|4|0|0" passage="1Co 10:4">1 Cor. x. 4</scripRef>), and, which increased
the miracle, this <i>river of God</i> (so it might be truly called)
<i>ran in dry places,</i> and yet was not drunk in and lost, as one
would have expected it to be, by the sands of the desert of Arabia.
To this that promise alludes, <i>I will give rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.43.19-Isa.43.20" parsed="|Isa|43|19|43|20" passage="Isa 43:19,20">Isa. xliii. 19, 20</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p23">5. Their entrance, at length, into Canaan
(<scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.44" parsed="|Ps|105|44|0|0" passage="Ps 105:44"><i>v.</i> 44</scripRef>): <i>He gave
them the lands of the heathen,</i> put them in possession of that
which they had long been put in hopes of; and what the Canaanites
had taken pains for God's Israel had the enjoyment of: <i>They
inherited the labour of the people;</i> and the wealth of the
sinner is laid up for the just. The Egyptians had long inherited
their labours, and now they inherited the labours of the
Canaanites. Thus sometimes one enemy of the church is made to pay
another's scores.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cvi-p24">6. The reasons why God did all this for
them. (1.) Because he would himself perform the promises of the
word, <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.42" parsed="|Ps|105|42|0|0" passage="Ps 105:42"><i>v.</i> 42</scripRef>. They
were unworthy and unthankful, yet he did those great things in
their favour <i>because he remembered the word of his holiness</i>
(that is, his covenant) <i>with Abraham his servant,</i> and he
would not suffer one iota or tittle of that to fall to the ground.
See <scripRef id="Ps.cvi-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.8" parsed="|Deut|7|8|0|0" passage="De 7:8">Deut. vii. 8</scripRef>. (2.)
Because he would have them to perform the precepts of the word, to
bind them to which was the greatest kindness he could put upon
them. He put them in possession of Canaan, not that they might live
in plenty and pleasure, in ease and honour, and might make a figure
among the nations, but <i>that they might observe his statutes and
keep his laws,</i>—that, being formed into a people, they might be
under God's immediate government, and revealed religion might be
the basis of their national constitution,—that, having a good land
given them, they might out of the profits of it bring sacrifices to
God's altar,—and that, God having thus done them good, they might
the more cheerfully receive his law, concluding that also designed
for their good, and might be sensible of their obligations in
gratitude to live in obedience to him. We are <i>therefore</i>
made, maintained, and redeemed, that we may live in obedience to
the will of God; and the hallelujah with which the psalm concludes
may be taken both as a thankful acknowledgment of God's favours and
as a cheerful concurrence with this great intention of them. Has
God done so much for us, and yet does he expect so little from us?
<i>Praise you the Lord.</i></p>
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