277 lines
21 KiB
XML
277 lines
21 KiB
XML
<div2 id="Ps.xxxi" n="xxxi" next="Ps.xxxii" prev="Ps.xxx" progress="31.05%" title="Chapter XXX">
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<h2 id="Ps.xxxi-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
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<h3 id="Ps.xxxi-p0.2">PSALM XXX.</h3>
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<p class="intro" id="Ps.xxxi-p1">This is a psalm of thanksgiving for the great
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deliverances which God had wrought for David, penned upon occasion
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of the dedicating of his house of cedar, and sung in that pious
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solemnity, though there is not any thing in it that has particular
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reference to that occasion. Some collect from divers passages in
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the psalm itself that it was penned upon his recovery from a
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dangerous fit of sickness, which might happen to be about the time
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of the dedication of his house. I. He here praises God for the
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deliverances he had wrought for him, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.1-Ps.30.3" parsed="|Ps|30|1|30|3" passage="Ps 30:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. He calls upon others to praise
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him too, and encourages them to trust in him, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.4-Ps.30.5" parsed="|Ps|30|4|30|5" passage="Ps 30:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>. III. He blames himself for his
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former security, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.7" parsed="|Ps|30|6|30|7" passage="Ps 30:6,7">ver. 6,
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7</scripRef>. IV. He recollects the prayers and complaints he had
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made in his distress, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.8-Ps.30.10" parsed="|Ps|30|8|30|10" passage="Ps 30:8-10">ver.
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8-10</scripRef>. With them he stirs up himself to be very thankful
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to God for the present comfortable change, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.11-Ps.30.12" parsed="|Ps|30|11|30|12" passage="Ps 30:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>. In singing this psalm we
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ought to remember with thankfulness any like deliverances wrought
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for us, for which we must stir up our selves to praise him and by
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which we must be engaged to depend upon him.</p>
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<scripCom id="Ps.xxxi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30" parsed="|Ps|30|0|0|0" passage="Ps 30" type="Commentary"/>
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<scripCom id="Ps.xxxi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.1-Ps.30.5" parsed="|Ps|30|1|30|5" passage="Ps 30:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.30.1-Ps.30.5">
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<h4 id="Ps.xxxi-p1.8">Thanksgiving and Praise.</h4>
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<div class="Center" id="Ps.xxxi-p1.9">
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<p id="Ps.xxxi-p2">A psalm <i>and</i> song <i>at</i> the dedication of the house of
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David.</p>
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</div>
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<p class="passage" id="Ps.xxxi-p3">1 I will extol thee, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p3.1">O
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Lord</span>; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes
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to rejoice over me. 2 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p3.2">O Lord</span>
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my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p3.3">O Lord</span>, thou hast brought up my soul from
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the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to
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the pit. 4 Sing unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p3.4">Lord</span>, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the
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remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger <i>endureth
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but</i> a moment; in his favour <i>is</i> life: weeping may endure
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for a night, but joy <i>cometh</i> in the morning.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p4">It was the laudable practice of the pious
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Jews, and, though not expressly appointed, yet allowed and
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accepted, when they had built a new house, to <i>dedicate it to
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God,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.20.5" parsed="|Deut|20|5|0|0" passage="De 20:5">Deut. xx. 5</scripRef>. David
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did so when his house was built, and he took possession of it
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(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.5.11" parsed="|2Sam|5|11|0|0" passage="2Sa 5:11">2 Sam. v. 11</scripRef>); for royal
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palaces do as much need God's protection, and are as much bound to
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be at his service, as ordinary houses. Note, The houses we dwell in
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should, at our first entrance upon them, be dedicated to God, as
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little sanctuaries. We must solemnly commit ourselves, our
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families, and all our family affairs, to God's guidance and care,
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must pray for his presence and blessing, must devote ourselves and
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all ours to his glory, and must resolve both that we put away
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iniquity far from our tabernacles and that we and our houses will
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serve the Lord both in the duties of family worship and in all
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instances of gospel obedience. Some conjecture that this psalm was
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sung at the re-dedication of David's house, after he had been
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driven out of it by Absalom, who had defiled it with his incest,
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and that it is a thanksgiving for the crushing of that dangerous
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rebellion. In these verses,</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p5">I. David does himself give God thanks for
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the great deliverances he had wrought for him (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.1" parsed="|Ps|30|1|0|0" passage="Ps 30:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>I will extol thee, O
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Lord!</i> I will exalt thy name, will praise thee as one high and
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lifted up, I will do what I can to advance the interest of thy
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kingdom among men. I will extol thee, for thou hast lifted me up,
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not only up out of the pit in which I was sinking, but up to the
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throne of Israel." He <i>raiseth up the poor out of the dust.</i>
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In consideration of the great things God has done to exalt us, both
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by his providence and by his grace, we are bound, in gratitude, to
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do all we can to extol his name, though the most we can do is but
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little. Three thing magnify David's deliverance:—1. That it was
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the defeat of his enemies. They were not suffered to triumph over
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him, as they would have done (though it is a barbarous thing) if he
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had died of this sickness or perished in this distress: see
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<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.41.11" parsed="|Ps|41|11|0|0" passage="Ps 41:11">Ps. xli. 11</scripRef>. 2. That it was
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an answer to his prayers (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.2" parsed="|Ps|30|2|0|0" passage="Ps 30:2"><i>v.</i>
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2</scripRef>): <i>I cried unto thee.</i> All the expressions of the
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sense we have of our troubles should be directed to God, and every
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cry be a cry to him; and giving way, in this manner, to our grief,
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will ease a burdened spirit. "<i>I cried to thee, and thou hast</i>
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not only heard me, but <i>healed me,</i> healed the distempered
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body, healed the disturbed and disquieted mind, healed the
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disordered distracted affairs of the kingdom." This is what God
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glories in, <i>I am the Lord that healeth thee</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.26" parsed="|Exod|15|26|0|0" passage="Ex 15:26">Exod. xv. 26</scripRef>), and we must give him
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the glory of it. 3. That it was the saving of his life; for he was
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brought to the last extremity, dropping into the grave, and ready
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<i>to go down into the pit,</i> and yet rescued and kept alive,
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<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.3" parsed="|Ps|30|3|0|0" passage="Ps 30:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. The more
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imminent our dangers have been, the more eminent our deliverances
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have been, the more comfortable are they to ourselves and the more
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illustrious proofs of the power and goodness of God. A life from
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the dead ought to be spent in extolling the God of our life.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p6">II. He calls upon others to join with him
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in praise, not only for the particular favours God has bestowed
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upon him, but for the general tokens of his good-will to all his
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saints (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.4" parsed="|Ps|30|4|0|0" passage="Ps 30:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>):
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<i>Sing unto the Lord, O you saints of his!</i> All that are truly
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saints he owns for his. There is a remnant of such in this world,
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and from them it is expected that they sing unto him; for they are
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created and sanctified, made and made saints, that they may be to
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him for a name and a praise. His saints in heaven sing to him; why
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should not those on earth be doing the same work, as well as they
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can, in concert with them? 1. They believe him to be a God of
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unspotted purity; and therefore let them sing to him; "Let them
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<i>give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness;</i> let them
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praise his holy name, for holiness is his memorial throughout all
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generations." God is a holy God; his holiness is his glory; that is
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the attribute which the holy angels, in their praises, fasten most
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upon, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.3 Bible:Rev.4.8" parsed="|Isa|6|3|0|0;|Rev|4|8|0|0" passage="Isa 6:3,Re 4:8">Isa. vi. 3; Rev. iv.
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8</scripRef>. We ought to be much in the mention and remembrance of
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God's holiness. It is a matter of joy to the saints that God is a
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holy God; for then they hope he will make them holy, more holy.
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None of all God's perfections carries in it more terror to the
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wicked, nor more comfort to the godly, than his holiness. It is a
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good sign that we are in some measure partakers of his holiness if
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we can heartily rejoice and give thanks at the remembrance of it.
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2. They have experienced him to be a God gracious and merciful; and
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therefore let them sing to him. (1.) We have found his frowns very
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short. Though we have deserved that they should be everlasting, and
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that he should be angry with us till he had consumed us, and should
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never be reconciled, yet <i>his anger endureth but for a
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moment,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.5" parsed="|Ps|30|5|0|0" passage="Ps 30:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>.
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When we offend him he is angry; but, as he is slow to anger and not
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soon provoked, so when he is angry, upon our repentance and
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humiliation his anger is soon turned away and he is willing to be
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at peace with us. If he hide his face from his own children, and
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suspend the wonted tokens of his favour, it is but <i>in a little
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wrath,</i> and <i>for a small moment;</i> but he will <i>gather
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them with everlasting kindness,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.7-Isa.54.8" parsed="|Isa|54|7|54|8" passage="Isa 54:7,8">Isa. liv. 7, 8</scripRef>. If <i>weeping endureth for
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a night,</i> and it be a wearisome night, yet as sure as the light
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of the morning returns after the darkness of the night, so sure
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will joy and comfort return in a short time, in due time, to the
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people of God; for the covenant of grace is as firm as the covenant
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of the day. This word has often been fulfilled to us in the letter.
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Weeping has endured for a night, but the grief has been soon over
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and the grievance gone. Observe, As long as God's anger continues
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so long the saints' weeping continues; but, if that be but for a
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moment, the affliction is but for a moment, and when the light of
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God's countenance is restored the affliction is easily pronounced
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light and momentary. (2.) We have found his smiles very sweet;
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<i>In his favour is life,</i> that is, all good. The return of his
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favour to an afflicted soul is as life from the dead; nothing can
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be more reviving. Our happiness is bound up in God's favour; if we
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have that, we have enough, whatever else we want. It is the life of
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the soul, it is spiritual life, the earnest of life eternal.</p>
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</div><scripCom id="Ps.xxxi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.12" parsed="|Ps|30|6|30|12" passage="Ps 30:6-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.12">
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<h4 id="Ps.xxxi-p6.6">Prayer and Praise.</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="Ps.xxxi-p7">6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be
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moved. 7 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.1">Lord</span>, by thy favour
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thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy
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face, <i>and</i> I was troubled. 8 I cried to thee, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.2">O Lord</span>; and unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.3">Lord</span> I made supplication. 9 What profit
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<i>is there</i> in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the
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dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10 Hear, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.4">O Lord</span>, and have mercy upon me: <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.5">Lord</span>, be thou my helper. 11 Thou
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hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my
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sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12 To the end that
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<i>my</i> glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.xxxi-p7.6">. O Lord</span> my God, I will give thanks unto
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thee for ever.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p8">We have, in these verses, an account of
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three several states that David was in successively, and of the
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workings of his heart towards God in each of those states—what he
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said and did, and how his heart stood affected; in the first of
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these we may see what we are too apt to be, and in the other two
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what we should be.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p9">I. He had long enjoyed prosperity, and then
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he grew secure and over-confident of the continuance of it
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(<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.6-Ps.30.7" parsed="|Ps|30|6|30|7" passage="Ps 30:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>): "<i>In
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my prosperity,</i> when I was in health of body and God had
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<i>given me rest from all my enemies, I said I shall never be
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moved;</i> I never thought either of having my body distempered or
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my government disturbed, not had any apprehensions of danger upon
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any account." Such complete victories had he obtained over those
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that opposed him, and such a confirmed interest had he in the
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hearts of his people, such a firmness of mind and such a strong
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constitution of body, that he thought his prosperity fixed like a
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mountain; yet this he ascribes, not to his own wisdom or fortitude,
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but to the divine goodness. <i>Thou, through thy favour, hast made
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my mountain to stand strong,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.7" parsed="|Ps|30|7|0|0" passage="Ps 30:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. He does not look upon it as his
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<i>heaven</i> (as worldly people do, who make their prosperity
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their felicity), only his <i>mountain;</i> it is earth still, only
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raised a little higher than the common level. This he thought, by
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the favour of God, would be perpetuated to him, imagining perhaps
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that, having had so many troubles in the beginning of his days, he
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had had his whole share and should have none in his latter end, or
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that God, who had given him such tokens of his favour, would never
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frown upon him. Note, 1. We are very apt to dream, when things are
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well with us, that they will always be so, and never otherwise.
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<i>To-morrow shall be as this day.</i> As if we should think, when
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the weather is once fair, that it will be ever fair; whereas
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nothing is more certain than that it will change. 2. When we see
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ourselves deceived in our expectations, it becomes us to reflect,
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with shame, upon our security, as our folly, as David does here,
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that we may be wiser another time and may rejoice in our prosperity
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as though we rejoiced not, because the fashion of it passes
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away.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p10">II. On a sudden he fell into trouble, and
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then he prayed to God, and pleaded earnestly for relief and
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succour.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p11">1. His mountain was shaken and he with it;
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it proved, when he grew secure, that he was least safe: "<i>Thou
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didst hide thy face and I was troubled,</i> in mind, body, or
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estate." In every change of his condition he still kept his eye
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upon God, and, as he ascribed his prosperity to God's favour, so in
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his adversity he observed the hiding of God's face, to be the cause
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of it. If God hide his face, a good man is certainly troubled,
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though no other calamity befal him; when the sun sets night
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certainly follows, and the moon and all the stars cannot make
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day.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p12">2. When his mountain was shaken he lifted
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up his eyes above the hills. Prayer is a salve for every sore; he
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made use of it accordingly. <i>Is any afflicted?</i> Is any
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troubled? <i>Let him pray.</i> Though God hid his face from him,
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yet he prayed. If God, in wisdom and justice, turn from us, yet it
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will be in us the greatest folly and injustice imaginable if we
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turn from him. No; let us learn to pray in the dark (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.8" parsed="|Ps|30|8|0|0" passage="Ps 30:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>I cried to thee, O
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Lord!</i> It seems God's withdrawings made his prayers the more
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vehement. We are here told, for it seems he kept account of it,</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p13">(1.) What he pleaded, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.9" parsed="|Ps|30|9|0|0" passage="Ps 30:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. [1.] That God would be no gainer
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by his death: <i>What profit is there in my blood?</i> implying
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that he would willingly die if he could thereby do any real service
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to God or his country (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.17" parsed="|Phil|2|17|0|0" passage="Php 2:17">Phil. ii.
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17</scripRef>), but he saw not what good could be done by his dying
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in the bed of sickness, as might be if he had died in the bed of
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honour. "Lord," says he, "wilt thou sell one of thy own <i>people
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for nought and not increase thy wealth by the price?</i>" <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.12" parsed="|Ps|44|12|0|0" passage="Ps 44:12">Ps. xliv. 12</scripRef>. Nay [2.] That, in his
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honour, God would seem to be a loser by his death: <i>Shall the
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dust praise thee?</i> The sanctified spirit, which returns to God,
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shall praise him, shall be still praising him; but the dust, which
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returns to the earth, shall not praise him, nor declare his truth.
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The services of God's house cannot be performed by the dust; it
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cannot praise him; there is none of that device or working in the
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grave, for it is the land of silence. The promises of God's
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covenant cannot be performed to the dust. "Lord," says David, "if I
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die now, what will become of the promise made to me? Who shall
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declare the truth of that?" The best pleas in prayer are those that
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are taken from God's honour; and then we ask aright for life when
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we have that in view, that we may live and praise him.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p14">(2.) What he prayed for, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.10" parsed="|Ps|30|10|0|0" passage="Ps 30:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. He prayed for mercy to pardon
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(<i>Have mercy upon me</i>), and for grace to help in time of
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need—<i>Lord, be thou my helper.</i> On these two errands we also
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may come boldly to the throne of grace, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.4.16" parsed="|Heb|4|16|0|0" passage="Heb 4:16">Heb. iv. 16</scripRef>.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="Ps.xxxi-p15">III. In due time God delivered him out of
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his troubles and restored him to his former prosperity. His prayers
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were answered and his <i>mourning was turned into dancing,</i>
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<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.11" parsed="|Ps|30|11|0|0" passage="Ps 30:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. God's anger
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now endured but for a moment, and David's weeping but for a night.
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The sackcloth with which, in a humble compliance with the divine
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Providence, he had clad himself, was loosed; his griefs were
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balanced; his fears were silenced; his comforts returned; and he
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was girded with gladness: joy was made his ornament, was made his
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strength, and seemed to cleave to him, as the girdle cleaves to the
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loins of a man. As David's plunge into trouble from the height of
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prosperity, and then when he least expected it, teaches us to
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rejoice as though we rejoiced not, because we know not how near
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trouble may be, so his sudden return to a prosperous condition
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teaches us to weep as though we wept not, because we know not how
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soon the storm may become a calm and the formidable blast may
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become a favourable gale. But what temper of mind was he in upon
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this happy change of the face of his affairs? What does he say now?
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He tells us, <scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.12" parsed="|Ps|30|12|0|0" passage="Ps 30:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>.
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1. His complaints were turned into praises. He looked upon it that
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God girded him with gladness to the end that he might be the
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<i>sweet psalmist of Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.xxxi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.23.1" parsed="|2Sam|23|1|0|0" passage="2Sa 23:1">2
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||
Sam. xxiii. 1</scripRef>), that his <i>glory might sing praise to
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||
God,</i> that is, his tongue (for our tongue is our glory, and
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||
never more so than when it is employed in praising God) or his
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||
soul, for that is our glory above the beasts, that must be employed
|
||
in blessing the Lord, and with that we must make melody to him in
|
||
singing psalms. Those that are kept from being silent in the pit
|
||
must not be silent in the land of the living, but fervent, and
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||
constant, and public, in praising God. 2. These praises were likely
|
||
to be everlasting: <i>I will give thanks unto thee for ever.</i>
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||
This bespeaks a gracious resolution that he would persevere to the
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||
end in praising God and a gracious hope that he should never want
|
||
fresh matter for praise and that he should shortly be where this
|
||
would be the everlasting work. <i>Blessed are those that dwell in
|
||
God's house; they will be still praising him.</i> Thus must we
|
||
learn to accommodate ourselves to the various providences of God
|
||
that concern us, to want and to abound, to sing of mercy and
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||
judgment, and to sing unto God for both.</p>
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||
</div></div2> |