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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM LXXVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This psalm, according to the method of many other psalms, begins with
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sorrowful complaints but ends with comfortable encouragements. The
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complaints seem to be of personal grievances, but the encouragements
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relate to the public concerns of the church, so that it is not certain
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whether it was penned upon a personal or a public account. If they were
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private troubles that he was groaning under, it teaches us that what
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God has wrought for his church in general may be improved for the
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comfort of particular believers; if it was some public calamity that he
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is here lamenting, his speaking of it so feelingly, as if it had been
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some particular trouble of his own, shows how much we should lay to
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heart the interests of the church of God and make them ours. One of the
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rabbin says, This psalm is spoken in the dialect of the captives; and
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therefore some think it was penned in the captivity in Babylon.
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I. The psalmist complains here of the deep impressions which his
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troubles made upon his spirits, and the temptation he was in to despair
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of relief,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>.
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II. He encourages himself to hope that it would be well at last, by the
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remembrance of God's former appearances for the help of his people, of
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which he gives several instances,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:11-20">ver. 11-20</A>.
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In singing this psalm we must take shame to ourselves for all our
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sinful distrusts of God, and of his providence and promise, and give to
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him the glory of his power and goodness by a thankful commemoration of
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what he has done for us formerly and a cheerful dependence on him for
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the future.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps77_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Prevailing Melancholy; Mournful Supplications.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>To the chief musician, to Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 I cried unto God with my voice, <I>even</I> unto God with
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my voice; and he gave ear unto me.
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2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in
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the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
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3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my
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spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
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4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot
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speak.
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5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient
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times.
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6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with
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mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
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7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no
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more?
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8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth <I>his</I> promise fail for
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evermore?
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9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up
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his tender mercies? Selah.
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10 And I said, This <I>is</I> my infirmity: <I>but I will remember</I>
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the years of the right hand of the most High.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the lively portraiture of a good man under prevailing
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melancholy, fallen into and sinking in that horrible pit and that miry
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clay, but struggling to get out. Drooping saints, that are of a
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sorrowful spirit, may here as in a glass see their own faces. The
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conflict which the psalmist had with his griefs and fears seems to have
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been over when he penned this record of it; for he says
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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<I>I cried unto God, and he gave ear unto me,</I> which, while the
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struggle lasted, he had not the comfortable sense of, as he had
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afterwards; but he inserts it in the beginning of his narrative as an
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intimation that his trouble did not end in despair; for God heard him,
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and, at length, he knew that he heard him. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. His melancholy prayers. Being afflicted, he prayed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+5:13">Jam. v. 13</A>),
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and, being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>My voice was unto God, and I cried, even with my voice unto God.</I>
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He was full of complaints, loud complaints, but he directed them to
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God, and turned them all into prayers, vocal prayers, very earnest and
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importunate. Thus he gave vent to his grief and gained some ease; and
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thus he took the right way in order to relief
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.</I> Note, Days of
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trouble must be days of prayer, days of inward trouble especially, when
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God seems to have withdrawn from us; we must seek him and seek till we
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find him. In the day of his trouble he did not seek for the diversion
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of business or recreation, to shake off his trouble that way, but he
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sought God, and his favour and grace. Those that are under trouble of
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mind must not think to drink it away, or laugh it away, but must pray
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it away. <I>My hand was stretched out in the night and ceased not;</I>
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so Dr. Hammond reads the following words, as speaking the incessant
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importunity of his prayers. Compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+143:5,6">Ps. cxliii. 5, 6</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. His melancholy grief. Grief may then be called melancholy indeed,
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1. When it admits of no intermission; such was his: <I>My sore,</I> or
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wound, <I>ran in the night,</I> and bled inwardly, and it ceased not,
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no, not in the time appointed for rest and sleep.
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2. When it admits of no consolation; and that also as his case: <I>My
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soul refused to be comforted;</I> he had no mind to hearken to those
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that would be his comforters. <I>As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that
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sings songs to a heavy heart,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:20">Prov. xxv. 20</A>.
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Nor had he any mind to think of those things that would be his
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comforts; he put them far from him, as one that indulged himself in
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sorrow. Those that are in sorrow, upon any account, do not only
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prejudice themselves, but affront God, if they refuse to be
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comforted.</P>
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<P>
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III. His melancholy musings. He pored so much upon the trouble,
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whatever it was, personal or public, that,
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1. The methods that should have relieved him did but increase his
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grief,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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(1.) One would have thought that the remembrance of God would comfort
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him, but it did not: <I>I remembered God and was troubled,</I> as poor
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Job
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+23:15"><I>ch.</I> xxiii. 15</A>);
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<I>I am troubled at his presence; when I consider I am afraid of
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him.</I> When he remembered God his thoughts fastened only upon his
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justice, and wrath, and dreadful majesty, and thus God himself became a
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terror to him.
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(2.) One would have thought that pouring out his soul before God would
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give him ease, but it did not; he <I>complained, and</I> yet his
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<I>spirit was overwhelmed,</I> and sank under the load.
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2. The means of his present relief were denied him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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He could not enjoy sleep, which, if it be quiet and refreshing, is a
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parenthesis to our griefs and cares: "<I>Thou holdest my eyes
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waking</I> with thy terrors, which make me full of <I>tossings to and
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fro until the dawning of the day.</I>" He could not speak, by reason of
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the disorder of his thoughts, the tumult of his spirits, and the
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confusion his mind was in: He <I>kept silence even from good</I> while
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<I>his heart was hot within him;</I> he was <I>ready to burst like a
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new bottle</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+32:19">Job xxxii. 19</A>),
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and yet so troubled that he could not speak and refresh himself. Grief
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never preys so much upon the spirits as when it is thus smothered and
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pent up.</P>
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<P>
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IV. His melancholy reflections
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>):
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"<I>I have considered the days of old,</I> and compared them with the
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present days; and our former prosperity does but aggravate our present
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calamities: for we see not the wonders that our fathers told us off."
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Melancholy people are apt to pore altogether upon the days of old and
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the years of ancient times, and to magnify them, for the justifying of
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their own uneasiness and discontent at the present posture of affairs.
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But <I>say not thou</I> that <I>the former days were better than
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these,</I> because it is more than thou knowest whether they were or
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no,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:10">Eccl. vii. 10</A>.
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Neither let the remembrance of the comforts we have lost make us
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unthankful for those that are left, or impatient under our crosses.
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Particularly, he <I>called to remembrance his song in the night,</I>
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the comforts with which he had supported himself in his former sorrows
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and entertained himself in his former solitude. These songs he
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remembered, and tried if he could not sing them over again; but he was
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out of tune for them, and the remembrance of them did but <I>pour out
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his soul in him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:4">Ps. xliii. 4</A>.
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See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+35:10">Job xxxv. 10</A>.</P>
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<P>
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V. His melancholy fears and apprehensions: "<I>I communed with my own
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heart,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Come, my soul, what will be the issue of these things? What can I
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think of them and what can I expect they will come to at last? I
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<I>made diligent search</I> into the causes of my trouble, enquiring
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wherefore God contended with me and what would be the consequences of
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it. And thus I began to reason, <I>Will the Lord cast off for ever,</I>
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as he does for the present? He is not now favourable; and <I>will he be
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favourable no more? His mercy</I> is now gone; <I>and is it clean gone
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for ever? His promise</I> now fails; and <I>does it fail for
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evermore?</I> God is not now gracious; but <I>has he forgotten to be
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gracious?</I> His <I>tender mercies</I> have been withheld, perhaps in
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wisdom; but <I>are they shut up,</I> shut up <I>in anger?</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:7-9"><I>v.</I> 7-9</A>.
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This is the language of a disconsolate deserted soul, walking in
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darkness and having no light, a case not uncommon even with those that
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<I>fear the Lord and obey the voice of his servant,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:10">Isa. l. 10</A>.
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He may here be looked upon,
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1. As groaning under a sore trouble. God hid his face from him, and
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withdrew the usual tokens of his favour. Note, Spiritual trouble is of
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all trouble most grievous to a gracious soul; nothing wounds and
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pierces it like the apprehensions of God's being angry, the suspending
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of his favour and the superseding of his promise; this wounds the
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spirit; and who can bear that?
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2. As grappling with a strong temptation. Note, God's own people, in a
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cloudy and dark day, may be tempted to make desperate conclusions about
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their own spiritual state and the condition of God's church and kingdom
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in the world, and, as to both, to give up all for gone. We may be
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tempted to think that God has abandoned us and cast us off, that the
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covenant of grace fails us, and that the tender mercy of our God shall
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be for ever withheld from us. But we must not give way to such
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suggestions as these. If fear and melancholy ask such peevish
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questions, let faith answer them from the Scripture: <I>Will the Lord
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cast off for ever?</I> God forbid,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:1">Rom. xi. 1</A>.
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No; <I>the Lord will not cast off his people,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+94:14">Ps. xciv. 14</A>.
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<I>Will he be favourable no more?</I> Yes, he will; <I>for, though he
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cause grief, yet will he have compassion,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:32">Lam. iii. 32</A>.
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<I>Is his mercy clean gone for ever?</I> No; his <I>mercy endures for
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ever;</I> as it is <I>from everlasting,</I> it is <I>to
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everlasting,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+103:17">Ps. ciii. 17</A>.
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<I>Doth his promise fail for evermore?</I> No; <I>it is impossible for
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God to lie,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:18">Heb. vi. 18</A>.
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<I>Hath God forgotten to be gracious?</I> No; <I>he cannot deny
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himself,</I> and his own name which he hath proclaimed <I>gracious and
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merciful,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+34:6">Exod. xxxiv. 6</A>.
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<I>Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies?</I> No; they are <I>new
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every morning</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:23">Lam. iii. 23</A>);
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and therefore, <I>How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+11:8,9">Hos. xi. 8, 9</A>.
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Thus was he going on with his dark and dismal apprehensions when, on a
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sudden, he first checked himself with that word, <I>Selah,</I> "Stop
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there; go no further; let us hear no more of these unbelieving
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surmises;" and he then chid himself
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>I said, This is my infirmity.</I> He is soon aware that it is not
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well said, and therefore, "<I>Why art thou cast down, O my soul? I
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said, This is my affliction</I>" (so some understand it); "This is the
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calamity that falls to my lot and I must make the best of it; every one
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has his affliction, his trouble in the flesh; and this is mine, the
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cross I must take up." Or, rather, "This is my sin; it is my iniquity,
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the plague of my own heart." These doubts and fears proceed from the
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want and weakness of faith and the corruption of a distempered mind.
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note,
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(1.) We all know that concerning ourselves of which we must say,
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"<I>This is our infirmity,</I> a sin that most easily besets us."
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(2.) Despondency of spirit, and distrust of God, under affliction, are
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too often the infirmities of good people, and, as such, are to be
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reflected upon by us with sorrow and shame, as by the psalmist here:
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<I>This is my infirmity.</I> When at any time it is working in us we
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must thus suppress the rising of it, and not suffer the evil spirit to
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speak. We must argue down the insurrections of unbelief, as the
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psalmist here: <I>But I will remember the years of the right hand of
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the Most High.</I> He had been considering the <I>years of ancient
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times</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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the blessings formerly enjoyed, the remembrance of which did only add
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to his grief; but now he considered them as <I>the years of the right
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hand of the Most High,</I> that those blessings of ancient times came
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from the Ancient of days, from the power and sovereign disposal of his
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right hand who is <I>over all, God, blessed for ever,</I> and this
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satisfied him; for may not the Most High with his right hand make what
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|
changes he pleases?</P>
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<A NAME="Ps77_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps77_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Acknowledgments of the Divine Majesty, of God's Wonders Wrought for Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 I will remember the works of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: surely I will
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remember thy wonders of old.
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12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy
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doings.
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13 Thy way, O God, <I>is</I> in the sanctuary: who <I>is so</I> great a
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God as <I>our</I> God?
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14 Thou <I>art</I> the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared
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thy strength among the people.
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15 Thou hast with <I>thine</I> arm redeemed thy people, the sons of
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Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
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16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were
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afraid: the depths also were troubled.
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17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound:
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thine arrows also went abroad.
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18 The voice of thy thunder <I>was</I> in the heaven: the lightnings
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lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
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19 Thy way <I>is</I> in the sea, and thy path in the great waters,
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and thy footsteps are not known.
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20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses
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and Aaron.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The psalmist here recovers himself out of the great distress and plague
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he was in, and silences his own fears of God's casting off his people
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by the remembrance of the great things he had done for them formerly,
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which though he had in vain tried to quiet himself with
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>)
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yet he tried again, and, upon this second trial, found it not in vain.
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It is good to persevere in the proper means for the strengthening of
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faith, though they do not prove effectual at first: "<I>I will
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remember, surely I will,</I> what God has done for his people of old,
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till I can thence infer a happy issue of the present dark
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dispensation,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
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Note,
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1. The works of the Lord, for his people, have been wondrous works.
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2. They are recorded for us, that they may be remembered by us.
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3. That we may have benefit by the remembrance of them we must
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meditate upon them, and dwell upon them in our thoughts, and must talk
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of them, that we may inform ourselves and others further concerning
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them.
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4. The due remembrance of the works of God will be a powerful antidote
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against distrust of his promise and goodness; for he is God and changes
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not. If he begin, he will finish his work and bring forth the
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top-stone.</P>
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<P>
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Two things, in general, satisfied him very much:</P>
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<P>
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I. That <I>God's way is in the sanctuary,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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It is <I>in holiness,</I> so some. When we cannot solve the particular
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difficulties that may arise in our constructions of the divine
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providence, this we are sure of, in general, that God is holy in all
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his works, that they are all worthy of himself and consonant to the
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eternal purity and rectitude of his nature. He has holy ends in all he
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does, and will be sanctified in every dispensation of his providence.
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His way is according to his promise, which he has spoken in his
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holiness and made known in the sanctuary. What he has done is according
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to what he has said and may be interpreted by it; and from what he has
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said we may easily gather that he will not cast off his people for
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ever. God's way is for the sanctuary, and for the benefit of it. All he
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does is intended for the good of his church.</P>
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<P>
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II. That God's <I>way is in the sea.</I> Though God is holy, just, and
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good, in all he does, yet we cannot give an account of the reasons of
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his proceedings, nor make any certain judgment of his designs: <I>His
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path is in the great waters and his footsteps are not known,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
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God's ways are like the deep waters which cannot be fathomed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+36:6">Ps. xxxvi. 6</A>),
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like the way of a ship in the sea, which cannot be tracked,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:18,19">Prov. xxx. 18, 19</A>.
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God's proceedings are always to be acquiesced in, but cannot always be
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accounted for. He specifies some particulars, for which he goes as far
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back as the infancy of the Jewish church, and from which he gathers,
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1. That there is no God to be compared with the God of Israel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
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<I>Who is so great a God as our God?</I> Let us first give to God the
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glory of the great things he has done for his people, and acknowledge
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him, therein, great above all comparison; and then we may take to
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ourselves the comfort of what he has done and encourage ourselves with
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it.
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2. That he is a God of almighty power
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
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"<I>Thou art the God that</I> alone <I>doest wonders,</I> above the
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power of any creature; <I>thou hast</I> visibly, and beyond any
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contradiction, <I>declared thy strength among the people.</I>" What God
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has done for his church has been a standing declaration of his almighty
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power, for therein he has made bare his everlasting arm.
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(1.) God brought Israel out of Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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This was the beginning of mercy to them, and was yearly to be
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commemorated among them in the passover: <I>"Thou hast with thy
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arm,</I> stretched out in so many miracles, <I>redeemed thy people</I>
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out of the hand of the Egyptians." Though they were delivered by power,
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yet they are said to be redeemed, as if it had been done by price,
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|
because it was typical of the great redemption, which was to be wrought
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out, in the fulness of time, both by price and power. Those that were
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redeemed are here called not only <I>the sons of Jacob,</I> to whom the
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promise was made, but <I>of Joseph</I> also, who had a most firm and
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lively belief of the performance of it; for, when he was dying, he made
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mention of the departing of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and
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gave commandment concerning his bones.
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(2.) He divided the Red Sea before them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
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<I>The waters</I> gave way, and a lane was made through that crowd
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instantly, as if they had seen God himself at the head of the armies of
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Israel, and had retired for fear of him. Not only the surface of the
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waters, but <I>the depths, were troubled,</I> and opened to the right
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and to the left, in obedience to his word of command.
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(3.) He destroyed the Egyptians
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
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<I>The clouds poured out water</I> upon them, while the pillar of fire,
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like an umbrella over the camp of Israel, sheltered it from the shower,
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in which, as in the deluge, the waters that were above the firmament
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|
concurred with those that were beneath the firmament to destroy the
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rebels. Then <I>the skies sent out a sound; thy arrows also went
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abroad,</I> which is explained
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
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<I>The voice of thy thunder was heard in the heaven</I> (that was the
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sound which the skies sent forth); <I>the lightnings lightened the
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world</I>--those were the arrows which went abroad, by which the host
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of the Egyptians was discomfited, with so much terror that <I>the
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earth</I> of the adjacent coast <I>trembled and shook.</I> Thus God's
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way was in the sea, for the destruction of his enemies, as well as for
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the salvation of his people; and yet when the waters returned to their
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place <I>his footsteps were not known</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>);
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there was no mark set upon the place, as there was, afterwards, in
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Jordan,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+4:9">Josh. iv. 9</A>.
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We do not read in the story of Israel's passing through the Red Sea
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that there were thunders and lightning, and an earthquake; yet there
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|
might be, and Josephus says there were, such displays of the divine
|
|
terror upon that occasion. But it may refer to the thunders,
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lightnings, and earth quakes, that were at Mount Sinai when the law was
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given.
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(4.) He took his people Israel under his own guidance and protection
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
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<I>Thou leddest thy people like a clock.</I> They being weak and
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helpless, and apt to wander like a flock of sheep, and lying exposed to
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|
the beasts of prey, God went before them with all the care and
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|
tenderness of a shepherd, that they might not fail. The pillar of cloud
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|
and fire led them; yet that is not here taken notice of, but the agency
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|
of Moses and Aaron, by whose hand God led them; they could not do it
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|
without God, but God did it with and by them. Moses was their governor,
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Aaron their high priest; they were guides, overseers, and rulers to
|
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Israel, and by them God led them. The right and happy administration of
|
|
the two great ordinances of magistracy and ministry is, though not so
|
|
great a miracle, yet as great a mercy to any people as the pillar of
|
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cloud and fire was to Israel in the wilderness.</P>
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<P>
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The psalm concludes abruptly, and does not apply those ancient
|
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instances of God's power to the present distresses of the church, as
|
|
one might have expected. But as soon as the good man began to meditate
|
|
on these things he found he had gained his point; his very entrance
|
|
upon this matter <I>gave him light</I> and joy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:130">Ps. cxix. 130</A>);
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his fears suddenly and strangely vanished, so that he needed to go no
|
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further; he <I>went his way, and did eat,</I> and <I>his countenance
|
|
was no more sad,</I> like Hannah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:18">1 Sam. i. 18</A>.</P>
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