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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM LXXXIX.</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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Many psalms that begin with complaint and prayer end with joy and
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praise, but this begins with joy and praise and ends with sad
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complaints and petitions; for the psalmist first recounts God's former
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favours, and then with the consideration of them aggravates the present
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grievances. It is uncertain when it was penned; only, in general, that
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it was at a time when the house of David was woefully eclipsed; some
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think it was at the time of the captivity of Babylon, when king
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Zedekiah was insulted over, and abused, by Nebuchadnezzar, and then
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they make the title to signify no more than that the psalm was set to
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the tune of a song of Ethan the son of Zerah, called Maschil; others
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suppose it to be penned by Ethan, who is mentioned in the story of
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Solomon, who, outliving that glorious prince, thus lamented the great
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disgrace done to the house of David in the next reign by the revolt of
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the ten tribes.
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I. The psalmist, in the joyful pleasant part of the psalm, gives glory
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to God, and takes comfort to himself and his friends. This he does more
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briefly, mentioning God's mercy and truth
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:1">ver. 1</A>)
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and his covenant
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:2-4">ver. 2-4</A>),
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but more largely in the following verses, wherein,
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1. He adores the glory and perfection of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:5-14">ver. 5-14</A>.
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2. He pleases himself in the happiness of those that are admitted into
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communion with him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:15-18">ver. 15-18</A>.
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3. He builds all his hope upon God's covenant with David, as a type of
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Christ,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:19-37">ver. 19-37</A>.
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II. In the melancholy part of the psalm he laments the present
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calamitous state of the prince and royal family
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:38-45">ver. 38-45</A>),
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expostulates with God upon it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:46-49">ver. 46-49</A>),
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and then concludes with prayer for redress,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:50,51">ver. 50, 51</A>.
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In singing this psalm we must have high thoughts of God, a lively faith
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in his covenant with the Redeemer, and a sympathy with the afflicted
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parts of the church.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps89_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_4"> </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>The Divine Mercy and Faithfulness.</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>Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 I will sing of the mercies
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of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy
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faithfulness to all generations.
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2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy
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faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
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3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto
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David my servant,
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4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne
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to all generations. Selah.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The psalmist has a very sad complaint to make of the deplorable
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condition of the family of David at this time, and yet he begins the
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psalm with songs of praise; for we must, in every thing, in every
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state, give thanks; thus we must glorify the Lord in the fire. We
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think, when we are in trouble, that we get ease by complaining; but we
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do more--we get joy, by praising. Let our complaints therefore be turned
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into thanksgivings; and in these verses we find that which will be
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matter of praise and thanksgiving for us in the worst of times, whether
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upon a personal or a public account,
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1. However it be, the everlasting God is good and true,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Though we may find it hard to reconcile present dark providences with
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the goodness and truth of God, yet we must abide by this principle,
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That God's mercies are inexhaustible and his truth is inviolable; and
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these must be the matter of our joy and praise: "<I>I will sing of the
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mercies of the Lord for ever,</I> sing a praising song to God's honour,
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a pleasant song for my own solace, and <I>Maschil,</I> an instructive
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song, for the edification of others." We may be for ever singing God's
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mercies, and yet the subject will not be drawn dry. We must sing of
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God's mercies as long as we live, train up others to sing of them when
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we are gone, and hope to be singing them in heaven world without end;
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and this is <I>singing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. With my
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mouth,</I> and with my pen (for by that also do we speak), <I>will I
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make known thy faithfulness to all generations,</I> assuring posterity,
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from my own observation and experience, that God is true to every word
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that he has spoken, that they may learn to <I>put their trust in
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God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:6">Ps. lxxviii. 6</A>.
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2. However it be, the everlasting covenant is firm and sure,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:2-4"><I>v.</I> 2-4</A>.
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Here we have,
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(1.) The psalmist's faith and hope: "Things now look black, and
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threaten the utter extirpation of the house of David; but <I>I have
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said,</I> and I have warrant from the word of God to say it, that
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<I>mercy shall be built up for ever.</I>" As the goodness of God's
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nature is to be the matter of our song
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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so much more the mercy that is built for us in the covenant; it is
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still increasing, like a house in the building up, and shall still
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continue our rest for ever, like a house built up. It shall be built
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up for ever; for the everlasting habitations we hope for in the new
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Jerusalem are of this building. If mercy shall be built for ever, then
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the <I>tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,</I> shall <I>be
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raised out of its ruins,</I> and <I>built up as in the days of old,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+9:11">Amos ix. 11</A>.
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<I>Therefore</I> mercy shall be built up for ever, because <I>thy
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faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.</I> Though our
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expectations are in some particular instances disappointed, yet God's
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promises are not disannulled; they are <I>established in the very
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heavens</I> (that is, in his eternal counsels); they are above the
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changes of this lower region and out of the reach of the opposition of
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hell and earth. The stability of the material heavens is an emblem of
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the truth of God's word; the heavens may be clouded by vapours arising
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out of the earth, but they cannot be touched, they cannot be changed.
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(2.) An abstract of the covenant upon which this faith and hope are
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built: <I>I have said it,</I> says the psalmist, for <I>God hath sworn
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it,</I> that the heirs of promise might be entirely satisfied of the
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immutability of his counsel. He brings in God speaking
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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owning, to the comfort of his people, "<I>I have made a covenant,</I>
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and therefore will make it good." The covenant is made with David; the
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covenant of royalty is made with him, as the father of his family, and
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with his seed through him and for his sake, representing the covenant
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of grace made with Christ as head of the church and with all believers
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as his spiritual seed. David is here called <I>God's chosen</I> and
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<I>his servant;</I> and, as God is not changeable to recede from his
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own choice, so he is not unrighteous to cast off one that served him.
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Two things encourage the psalmist to build his faith on this
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covenant:--
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[1.] The ratification of it; it was confirmed with an oath: <I>The Lord
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has sworn, and he will not repent.</I>
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[2.] The perpetuity of it; the blessings of the covenant were not only
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secured to David himself, but were entailed on his family; it was
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promised that his family should continue--<I>Thy seed will I establish
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for ever,</I> so that <I>David shall not want a son to reign</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+33:20,21">Jer. xxxiii. 20, 21</A>);
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and that it should continue a royal family--<I>I will build up thy
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throne to all generations,</I> to all the generations of time. This
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has its accomplishment only in Christ, of the seed of David, who lives
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for ever, to whom God has given the throne of his father David, and of
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the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end. Of
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this covenant the psalmist will return to speak more largely,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>,
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&c.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps89_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_14"> </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>The Divine Power and Justice; The Glory of God Celebrated.</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>5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: thy
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faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
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6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>? <I>who</I>
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among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>?
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7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
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and to be had in reverence of all <I>them that are</I> about him.
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8 O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of hosts, who <I>is</I> a strong L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> like unto thee?
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or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
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9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof
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arise, thou stillest them.
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10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou
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hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
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11 The heavens <I>are</I> thine, the earth also <I>is</I> thine: <I>as for</I>
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the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
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12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and
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Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
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13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, <I>and</I> high is
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thy right hand.
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14 Justice and judgment <I>are</I> the habitation of thy throne:
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mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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These verses are full of the praises of God. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. Where, and by whom, God is to be praised.
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1. God is praised by the angels above: <I>The heavens shall praise thy
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wonders, O Lord!</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>;
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that is, "the glorious inhabitants of the upper world continually
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celebrate thy praises." <I>Bless the Lord, you his angels,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+103:20">Ps. ciii. 20</A>.
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The works of God are wonders even to those that are best acquainted and
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most intimately conversant with them; the more God's works are known
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the more they are admired and praised. This should make us love heaven,
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and long to be there, that there we shall have nothing else to do but
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to praise God and his wonders.
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2. God is praised by the assemblies of his saints on earth (<I>praise
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waits for him in Zion</I>); and, though their praises fall so far short
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of the praises of angels, yet God is pleased to take notice of them,
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and accept of them, and reckon himself honoured by them. "Thy
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faithfulness and the truth of thy promise, that rock on which the
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church is built, shall be praised in the congregation of the saints,
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who owe their all to that faithfulness, and whose constant comfort it
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is that there is a promise, and that he is faithful who has promised."
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It is expected from God's saints on earth that they praise him; who
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should, if they do not? Let every saint praise him, but especially the
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congregation of saints; when they come together, let them join in
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praising God. The more the better; it is the more like heaven. Of the
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honour done to God by the assembly of the saints he speaks again
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints.</I>
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Saints should assemble for religious worship, that they may publicly
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own their relation to God and may stir up one another to give honour to
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him, and, in keeping up communion with God, may likewise maintain the
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communion of saints. In religious assemblies God has promised the
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presence of his grace, but we must also, in them, have an eye to his
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glorious presence, that the familiarity we are admitted to may not
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breed the least contempt; for he is terrible in his holy places, and
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therefore greatly to be feared. A holy awe of God must fall upon us,
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and fill us, in all our approaches to God, even in secret, to which
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something may very well be added by the solemnity of public assemblies.
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God must be had <I>in reverence of all that are about him,</I> that
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attend him continually as his servants or approach him upon any
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particular errand. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+10:3">Lev. x. 3</A>.
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Those only serve God acceptably who serve him with <I>reverence and
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godly fear,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:28">Heb. xii. 28</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. What it is to praise God; it is to acknowledge him to be a being of
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unparalleled perfection, such a one that there is none like him, nor
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any to be compared with him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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If there be any beings that can pretend to vie with God, surely they
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must be found among the angels; but they are all infinitely short of
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him: <I>Who in the heaven can be compared with the Lord,</I> so as to
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challenge any share of the reverence and adoration which are due to him
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only, or to set up in rivalship with him for the homage of the children
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of men? They are sons of the mighty, but which of them can be likened
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unto the Lord? Nobles are princes' peers; some parity there is between
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them. But there is none between God and the angels; they are not his
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peers. <I>To whom will you liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the
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Holy One,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:25">Isa. xl. 25</A>.
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This is insisted on again
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>Who is a strong Lord like unto thee?</I> No angel, no earthly
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potentate, whatsoever, is comparable to God, or <I>has an arm like
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him,</I> or can <I>thunder with a voice like him.</I> Thy
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<I>faithfulness is round about thee;</I> that is, "thy angels who are
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round about thee, attending thee with their praises and ready to go on
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thy errands, are all faithful." Or, rather, "In every thing thou doest,
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on all sides, thou approvest thyself faithful to thy word, above
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whatever prince or potentate was." Among men it is too often found that
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those who are most able to break their word are least careful to keep
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it; but God is both strong and faithful; he can do every thing, and yet
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will never do an unjust thing.</P>
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<P>
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III. What we ought, in our praises, to give God the glory of. Several
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things are here mentioned.
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1. The command God has of the most ungovernable creatures
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>Thou rulest the raging of the sea,</I> than which nothing is more
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frightful or threatening, nor more out of the power of man to give
|
|
check to; it can swell no higher, roll no further, beat no harder,
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|
continue no longer, nor do any more hurt, than God suffers it. "<I>When
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the waves thereof arise</I> thou canst immediately hush them asleep,
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still them, and make them quiet, and turn the storm into a calm." This
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|
coming in here as an act of omnipotence, what manner of man then was
|
|
the Lord Jesus, whom the <I>winds and seas obeyed?</I>
|
|
|
|
2. The victories God has obtained over the enemies of his church. His
|
|
ruling the raging of the sea and quelling its billows was an emblem of
|
|
this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast broken Rahab,</I> many a <I>proud enemy</I> (so it
|
|
signifies), Egypt in particular, which is sometimes called
|
|
<I>Rahab,</I> broken it in pieces, as one that is slain and utterly
|
|
unable to make head again. "The head being broken, thou hast scattered
|
|
the remainder with the arm of thy strength." God has more ways than one
|
|
to deal with his and his church's enemies. We think he should slay them
|
|
immediately, but sometimes he scatters them, that he may send them
|
|
abroad to be monuments of his justice,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+59:11">Ps. lix. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The remembrance of the breaking of Egypt in pieces is a comfort to the
|
|
church, in reference to the present power of Babylon; for God is still
|
|
the same.
|
|
|
|
3. The incontestable property he has in all the creatures of the upper
|
|
and lower world
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Men are honoured for their large possessions; but <I>the heavens are
|
|
thine, O Lord! the earth also is thine;</I> therefore we praise thee,
|
|
therefore we trust in thee, therefore we will not fear what man can do
|
|
against us. <I>The world and the fulness thereof,</I> all the riches
|
|
contained in it, all the inhabitants of it, both the tenements and the
|
|
tenants, are all thine; for <I>thou hast founded them,</I>" and the
|
|
founder may justly claim to be the owner. He specifies,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The remotest parts of the world, the north and south, the
|
|
countries that lie under the two poles, which are uninhabited and
|
|
little known: "<I>Thou hast created them,</I> and therefore knowest
|
|
them, takest care of them, and hast tributes of praise from them." The
|
|
north is said to be <I>hung over the empty place;</I> yet what fulness
|
|
there is there God is the owner of it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The highest parts of the world. He mentions the two highest hills
|
|
in Canaan--"<I>Tabor and Hermon</I>" (one lying to the west, the other
|
|
to the east); "these shall rejoice in thy name, for they are under the
|
|
care of thy providence, and they produce offerings for thy altar." The
|
|
little hills are said to rejoice in their own fruitfulness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:12">Ps. lxv. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Tabor is commonly supposed to be that high mountain in Galilee on the
|
|
top of which Christ was transfigured; and then indeed it might be said
|
|
to rejoice in that voice which was there heard, <I>This is my beloved
|
|
Son.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. The power and justice, the mercy and truth, with which he governs
|
|
the world and rules in the affairs of the children of men,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) God is able to do every thing; for his is the Lord God Almighty.
|
|
His arm, his hand, is mighty and strong, both to save his people and to
|
|
destroy his and their enemies; none can either resist the force or bear
|
|
the weight of his mighty hand. <I>High is his right hand,</I> to reach
|
|
the highest, even those that <I>set their nests among the stars</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+9:2,3,Ob+1:4">Amos ix. 2, 3; Obad. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
his <I>right hand is exalted</I> in what he has done, for in thousands
|
|
of instances he has signalized his power,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+118:16">Ps. cxviii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He never did, nor ever will do, any thing that is either unjust or
|
|
unwise; for <I>righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his
|
|
throne.</I> None of all his dictates or decrees ever varied from the
|
|
rules of equity and wisdom, nor could ever any charge God with
|
|
unrighteousness or folly. Justice and judgment are the <I>preparing</I>
|
|
of his throne (so some), the <I>establishment</I> of it, so others. The
|
|
preparations for his government in his counsels from eternity, and the
|
|
establishment of it in its consequences to eternity, are all justice
|
|
and judgment.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He always does that which is kind to his people and consonant to
|
|
the word which he has spoken: "<I>Mercy and truth shall go before thy
|
|
face,</I> to prepare thy way, as harbingers to make room for
|
|
thee--mercy in promising, truth in performing--truth in being as good
|
|
as thy word, mercy in being better." How praiseworthy are these in
|
|
great men, much more in the great God, in whom they are in
|
|
perfection!</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_18"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Blessedness of Israel Declared.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 Blessed <I>is</I> the people that know the joyful sound: they
|
|
shall walk, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, in the light of thy countenance.
|
|
16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy
|
|
righteousness shall they be exalted.
|
|
17 For thou <I>art</I> the glory of their strength: and in thy
|
|
favour our horn shall be exalted.
|
|
18 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> our defence; and the Holy One of Israel
|
|
<I>is</I> our king.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The psalmist, having largely shown the blessedness of the God of
|
|
Israel, here shows the blessedness of the Israel of God. As <I>there is
|
|
none like unto the God of Jeshurun, so, happy art thou, O Israel! there
|
|
is none like unto thee, O people!</I> especially as a type of the
|
|
gospel-Israel, consisting of all true believers, whose happiness is
|
|
here described.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Glorious discoveries are made to them, and glad tidings of good
|
|
brought to them; they hear, <I>they know, the joyful sound,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
This may allude,
|
|
|
|
1. To the shout of a victorious army, the shout of a king,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+23:21">Num. xxiii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Israel have the tokens of God's presence with them in their wars; the
|
|
sound of the <I>going in the top of the mulberry-trees</I> was indeed a
|
|
<I>joyful sound</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+5:24">2 Sam. v. 24</A>);
|
|
|
|
and they often returned making the earth ring with their songs of
|
|
triumph; these were joyful sounds. Or,
|
|
|
|
2. To the sound that was made over the sacrifices and on the solemn
|
|
feast-day,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+81:1-3">Ps. lxxxi. 1-3</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was the happiness of Israel, that they had among them the free and
|
|
open profession of God's holy religion, and abundance of joy in their
|
|
sacrifices. Or,
|
|
|
|
3. To the sound of the jubilee-trumpet; a joyful sound it was to
|
|
servants and debtors, to whom it proclaimed release. The gospel is
|
|
indeed a joyful sound, a sound of victory, of liberty, of communion
|
|
with God, and the <I>sound of abundance of rain;</I> blessed are the
|
|
people that hear it, and know it, and bid it welcome.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Special tokens of God's favour are granted them: "<I>They shall
|
|
walk, O Lord! in the light of thy countenance;</I> they shall govern
|
|
themselves by thy directions, shall be guided by the eye; and they
|
|
shall delight themselves in thy consolations. They shall have the
|
|
favour of God; they shall know that they have it, and it shall be
|
|
continual matter of joy and rejoicing to them. They shall go through
|
|
all the exercises of a holy life under the powerful influences of God's
|
|
lovingkindness, which shall make their duty pleasant to them and make
|
|
them sincere in it, aiming at this, as their end, to be accepted of the
|
|
Lord." We then walk in the light of the Lord when we fetch all our
|
|
comforts from God's favour and are very careful to keep ourselves in
|
|
his love.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. They never want matter for joy: Blessed are God's people, for in
|
|
his name, in all that whereby he has made himself known, if it be not
|
|
their own fault, <I>they shall rejoice all the day.</I> Those that
|
|
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and make God their exceeding joy, have enough
|
|
to counterbalance their grievances and silence their griefs; and
|
|
therefore their joy is full
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:4">1 John i. 4</A>)
|
|
|
|
and constant; it is their duty to rejoice evermore.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Their relation to God is their honour and dignity. They are happy,
|
|
for they are high. <I>Surely in the Lord,</I> in the Lord Christ,
|
|
<I>they have righteousness and strength,</I> and so are recommended by
|
|
him to the divine acceptance; and therefore <I>in him shall all the
|
|
seed of Israel glory,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:24,25">Isa. xlv. 24, 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
So it is here,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. "In <I>thy righteousness shall they be exalted,</I> and not in any
|
|
righteousness of their own." We are exalted out of danger, and into
|
|
honour, purely by the righteousness of Christ, which is a clothing both
|
|
for dignity and for defence.
|
|
|
|
2. "Thou art the <I>glory of their strength,</I>" that is, "thou art
|
|
their strength, and it is their glory that thou art so, and what they
|
|
glory in." <I>Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. "In thy favour, which through Christ we hope for, <I>our horn shall
|
|
be exalted.</I>" The horn denotes beauty, plenty, and power; these
|
|
those have who are made accepted in the beloved. What greater
|
|
preferment are men capable of in this world than to be God's
|
|
favourites?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. Their relation to God is their protection and safety
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>For our shield is of the Lord</I>" (so the margin) "and <I>our king
|
|
is from the Holy One of Israel.</I> If God be our ruler, he will be our
|
|
defender; and who is he than that can harm us?" It was the happiness of
|
|
Israel that God himself had the erecting of their bulwarks and the
|
|
nominating of their king (so some take it); or, rather, that he was
|
|
himself a <I>wall of fire round about them,</I> and, as a Holy One, the
|
|
author and centre of their holy religion; he was their King, and so
|
|
their glory in the midst of them. Christ is the Holy One of Israel,
|
|
that holy thing; and in nothing was that peculiar people more blessed
|
|
than in this, that <I>he</I> was born King of the Jews. Now this
|
|
account of the blessedness of God's Israel comes in here as that to
|
|
which it was hard to reconcile their present calamitous state.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_37"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>God's Covenant with David.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I
|
|
have laid help upon <I>one that is</I> mighty; I have exalted <I>one</I>
|
|
chosen out of the people.
|
|
20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I
|
|
anointed him:
|
|
21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall
|
|
strengthen him.
|
|
22 The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of
|
|
wickedness afflict him.
|
|
23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague
|
|
them that hate him.
|
|
24 But my faithfulness and my mercy <I>shall be</I> with him: and in
|
|
my name shall his horn be exalted.
|
|
25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in
|
|
the rivers.
|
|
26 He shall cry unto me, Thou <I>art</I> my father, my God, and the
|
|
rock of my salvation.
|
|
27 Also I will make him <I>my</I> firstborn, higher than the kings
|
|
of the earth.
|
|
28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant
|
|
shall stand fast with him.
|
|
29 His seed also will I make <I>to endure</I> for ever, and his
|
|
throne as the days of heaven.
|
|
30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my
|
|
judgments;
|
|
31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
|
|
32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and
|
|
their iniquity with stripes.
|
|
33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from
|
|
him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
|
|
34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is
|
|
gone out of my lips.
|
|
35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto
|
|
David.
|
|
36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun
|
|
before me.
|
|
37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and <I>as</I> a
|
|
faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The covenant God made with David and his seed was mentioned before
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
but in these verses it is enlarged upon, and pleaded with God, for
|
|
favour to the royal family, now almost sunk and ruined; yet certainly
|
|
it looks at Christ, and has its accomplishment in him much more than in
|
|
David; nay, some passages here are scarcely applicable at all to David,
|
|
but must be understood of Christ only (who is therefore called <I>David
|
|
our king,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:5">Hos. iii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
and very great and precious promises they are which are here made to
|
|
the Redeemer, which are strong foundations for the faith and hope of
|
|
the redeemed to build upon. The comforts of our redemption flow from
|
|
the covenant of redemption; all our springs are in that,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:3">Isa. lv. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
|
|
of David,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+13:34">Acts xiii. 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now here we have an account of those sure mercies. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. What assurance we have of the truth of the promise, which may
|
|
encourage us to build upon it. We are here told,
|
|
|
|
1. How it was spoken
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou didst speak in vision to thy Holy One.</I> God's promise to
|
|
David, which is especially referred to here, was spoken in vision to
|
|
Nathan the prophet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+7:12-17">2 Sam. vii. 12-17</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Then,</I> when the <I>Holy One of Israel was their king</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
he appointed David to be his viceroy. But to all the prophets, those
|
|
holy ones, he <I>spoke in vision</I> concerning Christ, and to him
|
|
himself especially, who had lain in his bosom from eternity, and was
|
|
made perfectly acquainted with the whole design of redemption,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:27">Matt. xi. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. How it was sworn to and ratified
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Once have I sworn by my holiness,</I> that darling attribute. In
|
|
swearing by his holiness, he swore by himself; for he will as soon
|
|
cease to be as be otherwise than holy. His swearing once is enough; he
|
|
needs not swear again, as David did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+20:17">1 Sam. xx. 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
for his word and oath are two immutable things. As Christ was made a
|
|
priest, so he was made a king, <I>by an oath</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:21">Heb. vii. 21</A>);
|
|
|
|
for his kingdom and priesthood are both unchangeable.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The choice made of the person to whom the promise is given,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
David was a king of God's own choosing, so is Christ, and therefore
|
|
both are called <I>God's kings,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:6">Ps. ii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
David was mighty, a man of courage and fit for business; he was chosen
|
|
out of the people, not out of the princes, but the shepherds. God found
|
|
him out, exalted him, laid help upon him, and ordered Samuel to anoint
|
|
him. But this is especially to be applied to Christ.
|
|
|
|
1. He is one that is mighty, every way qualified for the great work he
|
|
was to undertake, <I>able to save to the uttermost</I>--mighty in
|
|
strength, for he is the Son of God--mighty in love, for he is able
|
|
experimentally to compassionate those that are tempted. He is <I>the
|
|
mighty God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+9:6">Isa. ix. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He is <I>chosen out of the people,</I> one of us, bone of our bone,
|
|
that takes part with us of flesh and blood. Being ordained for men, he
|
|
is taken from among men, that his terror might not make us afraid.
|
|
|
|
3. God has found him. He is a Saviour of God's own providing; for the
|
|
salvation, from first to last, is purely the Lord's doing. <I>He has
|
|
found the ransom,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:24">Job xxxiii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
We could never have found a person fit to undertake this great work,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+5:3,4">Rev. v. 3, 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
4. God has <I>laid help upon him,</I> not only helped him, but
|
|
treasured up help in him for us, laid it as a charge upon him to help
|
|
fallen man up again, to help the chosen remnant to heaven. <I>In me is
|
|
thy help,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+13:9">Hos. xiii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
5. He has exalted him, by constituting him the prophet, priest, and
|
|
king of his church, clothing him with power, raising him from the dead,
|
|
and setting him at his own right hand. Whom God chooses and uses he
|
|
will exalt.
|
|
|
|
6. He has anointed him, has qualified him for his office, and so
|
|
confirmed him in it, by giving him the Spirit, not by measure, but
|
|
without measure, infinitely above his fellows. He is called
|
|
<I>Messiah,</I> or <I>Christ,</I> the <I>Anointed.</I>
|
|
|
|
7. In all this he designed him to be his own servant, for the
|
|
accomplishing of his eternal purpose and the advancement of the
|
|
interests of his kingdom among men.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The promises made to this chosen one, to David in the type and the
|
|
Son of David in the antitype, in which not only gracious, but glorious
|
|
things are spoken of him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. With reference to himself, as king and God's servant: and what makes
|
|
for him makes for all his loving subjects. It is here promised,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That God would stand by him and strengthen him in his undertaking
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>With him my hand</I> not only shall be, but <I>shall be
|
|
established,</I> by promise, shall be so established that he shall by
|
|
it be established and confirmed in all his offices, so that none of
|
|
them shall be undermined and overthrown, though by the man of sin they
|
|
shall all be usurped and fought against. Christ had a great deal of
|
|
hard work to do and hard usage to go through; but he that gave him
|
|
commission gave him forces sufficient for the execution of his
|
|
commission: "<I>My arm also shall strengthen him</I> to break through
|
|
and bear up under all his difficulties." No good work can miscarry in
|
|
the hand of those whom God himself undertakes to strengthen.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he should be victorious over his enemies, that they should
|
|
not encroach upon him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The son of wickedness shall not exact upon him,</I> nor afflict him.
|
|
He that at first broke the peace would set himself against him that
|
|
undertook to make peace, and do what he could to blast his design: but
|
|
he could only reach to bruise his heel; further he could not exact upon
|
|
him nor afflict him. Christ became a surety for our debt, and thereby
|
|
Satan and death thought to gain advantage against him; but he satisfied
|
|
the demands of God's justice, and then they could not exact upon him.
|
|
<I>The prince of this world cometh, but he has nothing in me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:30">John xiv. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, they not only shall not prevail against him, but they shall fall
|
|
before him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will bend down his foes before his face;</I> the prince of this
|
|
world shall be cast out, principalities and powers spoiled, and he
|
|
shall be the death of death itself, and the destruction of the grave,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+13:14">Hos. xiii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some apply this to the ruin which God brought upon the Jewish nation,
|
|
that persecuted Christ and put him to death. But all Christ's enemies,
|
|
who hate him and will not have him to reign over them, shall be brought
|
|
forth and slain before him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:27">Luke xix. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That he should be the great trustee of the covenant between God
|
|
and men, that God would be gracious and true to us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.</I> They were with
|
|
David; God continued merciful to him, and so approved himself faithful.
|
|
They were with Christ; God made good all his promises to him. But that
|
|
is not all; God's mercy to us, and his faithfulness to us, are with
|
|
Christ; he is not only pleased with him, but with us in him; and it is
|
|
in him that all the promises of God are yea and amen. So that if any
|
|
poor sinners hope for benefit by the faithfulness and mercy of God, let
|
|
them know it is with Christ; it is lodged in his hand, and to him they
|
|
must apply for it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>My mercy will I keep for him,</I> to be disposed of by him, <I>for
|
|
evermore;</I> in the channel of Christ's mediation all the streams of
|
|
divine goodness will for ever run. Therefore it is <I>the mercy of our
|
|
Lord Jesus Christ</I> which we <I>look for unto eternal life,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:21,Joh+17:2">Jude 21; John xvii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, as the mercy of God flows to us through him, so the promise of God
|
|
is, through him, firm to us: <I>My covenant shall stand fast with
|
|
him,</I> both the covenant of redemption made with him and the covenant
|
|
of grace made with us in him. The new covenant is <I>therefore</I>
|
|
always new, and firmly established, because it is lodged in the hands
|
|
of a Mediator,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+8:6">Heb. viii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The covenant stands fast, because it stands upon this basis. And this
|
|
redounds to the everlasting honour of the Lord Jesus, that to him the
|
|
great cause between God and man is entirely referred and the Father has
|
|
committed all judgment to him, that <I>all men might honour him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:22,23">John v. 22, 23</A>);
|
|
|
|
therefore it is here said, <I>In my name shall his horn be exalted;</I>
|
|
this shall be his glory, that God's <I>name is in him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:21">Exod. xxiii. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that he acts in God's name. <I>As the Father gave me commandment,
|
|
so I do.</I>
|
|
|
|
(4.) That his kingdom should be greatly enlarged
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will set his hand in the sea</I> (he shall have the dominion of
|
|
the seas, and the isles of the sea), and <I>his right hand in the
|
|
rivers,</I> the inland countries that are watered with rivers. David's
|
|
kingdom extended itself to the Great Sea, and the Red Sea, to the river
|
|
of Egypt and the river Euphrates. But it is in the kingdom of the
|
|
Messiah that this has its full accomplishment, and shall have more and
|
|
more, when <I>the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of
|
|
the Lord and of his Christ</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+11:15">Rev. xi. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
and <I>the isles shall wait for his law.</I>
|
|
|
|
(5.) That he should own God as his Father, and God would own him as his
|
|
Son, his firstborn,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is a comment upon these words in Nathan's message concerning
|
|
Solomon (for he also was a type of Christ as well as David), <I>I will
|
|
be his Father and he shall be my Son</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+7:14">2 Sam. vii. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the relation shall be owned on both sides.
|
|
|
|
[1.] <I>He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father.</I> It is probable
|
|
that Solomon did so; but we are sure Christ did so, in the days of his
|
|
flesh, when he offered up strong cries to God, and called him <I>holy
|
|
Father, righteous Father,</I> and taught us to address ourselves to him
|
|
as <I>our Father in heaven.</I> Christ, in his agony, cried unto God,
|
|
<I>Thou art my Father</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+26:39,42">Matt. xxvi. 39, 42</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>O my Father</I>), and, upon the cross, <I>Father, forgive them;
|
|
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.</I> He looked upon him
|
|
likewise as his God, and therefore he perfectly obeyed him, and
|
|
submitted to his will in his whole undertaking (he is<I>my God and your
|
|
God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+20:17">John xx. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
and as the rock of his salvation, who would bear him up and bear him
|
|
out in his undertaking, and make him more than a conqueror, even a
|
|
complete Saviour; and therefore with an undaunted resolution he
|
|
<I>endured the cross, despising the shame,</I> for he knew he should be
|
|
both justified and glorified.
|
|
|
|
[2.] <I>I will make him my firstborn.</I> I see not how this can be
|
|
applied to David; it is Christ's prerogative to be <I>the firstborn of
|
|
every creature,</I> and, as such, the <I>heir of all things,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:15,Heb+1:2,6">Col. i. 15; Heb. i. 2, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
When <I>all power was given to Christ both in heaven and in earth, and
|
|
all things were delivered unto him by the Father,</I> then god made him
|
|
his firstborn, and far higher, more great and honourable, than the
|
|
kings of the earth; for he is the King of kings, <I>angels,
|
|
authorities, and powers, being made subject to him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+3:22">1 Pet. iii. 22</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. With reference to his seed. God's covenants always took in the seed
|
|
of the covenanters; this does so
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:29,36"><I>v.</I> 29, 36</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>His seed shall endure for ever,</I> and with it his throne. Now this
|
|
will be differently understood according as we apply it to Christ or
|
|
David.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) If we apply it to David, by his seed we are to understand his
|
|
successors, Solomon and the following kings of Judah, who descended
|
|
from the loins of David. It is supposed that they might degenerate, and
|
|
not walk in the spirit and steps of their father David; in such a case
|
|
they must expect to come under divine rebukes, such as the house of
|
|
David was at this time under,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
But let this encourage them, that, though they were corrected, they
|
|
should not be abandoned or disinherited. This refers to that part of
|
|
Nathan's message
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+7:14,15">2 Sam. vii. 14, 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him,</I> but <I>my mercy shall
|
|
not depart from him.</I> Thus far David's seed and throne did endure
|
|
for ever, that, notwithstanding the wickedness of many of his
|
|
posterity, who were the scandals of his house, yet his family
|
|
continued, and continued in the imperial dignity, a very long
|
|
time,--that, as long as Judah continued a kingdom, David's posterity
|
|
were kings of it, and the royalty of that kingdom was never in any
|
|
other family, as that of the ten tribes was, in Jeroboam's first, then
|
|
in Baasha's, &c.,--and that the family of David continued a family of
|
|
distinction till that Son of David came whose throne should endure for
|
|
ever; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:27,32,2:4,11">Luke i. 27, 32; ii. 4, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
If David's posterity, in after-times, should forsake God and their duty
|
|
and revolt to the ways of sin, God would bring desolating judgments
|
|
upon them and ruin the family; and yet he would not take away his
|
|
lovingkindness from David, nor break his covenant with him; for, in the
|
|
Messiah, who should come out of his loins, all these promises shall
|
|
have their accomplishment to the full. Thus, when the Jews were
|
|
rejected, the apostle shows that God's covenant with Abraham was not
|
|
broken, because it was fulfilled in his spiritual seed, the heirs of
|
|
the righteousness of faith,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:7">Rom. xi. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) If we apply it to Christ, by his seed we are to understand his
|
|
subjects, all believers, his spiritual seed, the children which God has
|
|
given him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:13">Heb. ii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is that seed which shall be made to endure for ever, and his
|
|
throne in the midst of them, in the church in the heart, <I>as the days
|
|
of heaven.</I> To the end Christ shall have a people in the world to
|
|
serve and honour him. <I>He shall see his seed; he shall prolong his
|
|
days.</I> This holy seed shall endure for ever in a glorified state,
|
|
when time and days shall be no more; and thus Christ's throne and
|
|
kingdom shall be perpetuated: the kingdom of his grace shall continue
|
|
through all the ages of time and the kingdom of his glory to the
|
|
endless ages of eternity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] The continuance of Christ's kingdom is here made doubtful by the
|
|
sins and afflictions of his subjects; their iniquities and calamities
|
|
threaten the ruin of it. This case is here put, that we may not be
|
|
offended when it comes to be a case in fact, but that we may reconcile
|
|
it with the stability of the covenant and be assured of that
|
|
notwithstanding. <I>First,</I> It is here supposed that there will be
|
|
much amiss in the subjects of Christ's kingdom. His children may
|
|
<I>forsake God's law</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>)
|
|
|
|
by omissions, and <I>break his statutes</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>)
|
|
|
|
by commissions. There are spots which are the spots of God's children,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:5">Deut. xxxii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Many corruptions there are in the bowels of the church, as well as in
|
|
the hearts of those who are the members of it, and these corruptions
|
|
break out. <I>Secondly,</I> They are here told that they must smart for
|
|
it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will visit their transgression with a rod,</I> their transgression
|
|
sooner than that of others. <I>You only have I known, and therefore I
|
|
will punish you,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:2">Amos iii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their being related to Christ shall not excuse them from being called
|
|
to an account. But observe what affliction is to God's people.
|
|
|
|
1. It is but a rod, not an axe, not a sword; it is for correction, not
|
|
for destruction. This denotes gentleness in the affliction; it is the
|
|
rod of men, such a rod as men use in correcting their children; and it
|
|
denotes a design of good in and by the affliction, such a rod as yields
|
|
the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
|
|
|
|
2. It is a rod on the hand of God <I>(I will visit them</I>), he who is
|
|
wise, and knows what he does, gracious, and will do what is best.
|
|
|
|
3. It is a rod which they shall never feel the smart of but when there
|
|
is great need: <I>If they break my law, then I will visit their
|
|
transgression with the rod,</I> but not else. Then it is requisite that
|
|
God's honour be vindicated, and that they be humbled and reduced.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] The continuance of Christ's kingdom is made certain by the
|
|
inviolable promise and oath of God, notwithstanding all this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Nevertheless, my kindness will I not</I> totally and finally <I>take
|
|
from him. First,</I> "Notwithstanding their provocations, yet my
|
|
covenant shall not be broken." Note, Afflictions are not only
|
|
consistent with covenant-love, but to the people of God they flow from
|
|
it. Though David's seed be chastened, it does not follow that they are
|
|
disinherited; they may be cast down, but they are not cast off. God's
|
|
favour is continued to his people,
|
|
|
|
1. For Christ's sake; in him the mercy is laid up for us, and God says,
|
|
<I>I will not take it from him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>I will not lie unto David,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
We are unworthy, but he is worthy.
|
|
|
|
2. For the covenant's sake: <I>My faithfulness shall not fail,
|
|
my covenant will I not break.</I> It was supposed that they had broken
|
|
God's statutes, <I>profaned and polluted</I> them (so the word
|
|
signifies); "But," says God, "I will not break, I will not profane and
|
|
pollute, my covenant;" it is the same word. That which is said and
|
|
sworn is that God will have a church in the world as long as sun and
|
|
moon endure,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:36,37"><I>v.</I> 36, 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
The sun and moon are faithful witnesses in heaven of the wisdom, power,
|
|
and goodness of the Creator, and shall continue while time lasts, which
|
|
they are the measurers of; but the <I>seed of Christ shall be
|
|
established for ever,</I> as <I>lights of the world</I> while the world
|
|
stands, to shine in it, and, when it is at an end, they shall be
|
|
established lights shining in the firmament of the Father.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps89_40"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_41"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_42"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_43"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_44"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_45"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_46"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_47"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_48"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_49"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_50"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_51"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps89_52"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Complaints and Expostulations; David's Expostulation with God.</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>38 But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth
|
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with thine anointed.
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39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast
|
|
profaned his crown <I>by casting it</I> to the ground.
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|
40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his
|
|
strong holds to ruin.
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|
41 All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his
|
|
neighbours.
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|
42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou
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|
hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
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43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not
|
|
made him to stand in the battle.
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44 Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down
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|
to the ground.
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45 The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered
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|
him with shame. Selah.
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46 How long, L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy
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|
wrath burn like fire?
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47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all
|
|
men in vain?
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48 What man <I>is he that</I> liveth, and shall not see death? shall
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|
he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
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|
49 Lord, where <I>are</I> thy former lovingkindnesses, <I>which</I> thou
|
|
swarest unto David in thy truth?
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|
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; <I>how</I> I do
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|
bear in my bosom <I>the reproach of</I> all the mighty people;
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51 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; wherewith
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|
they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
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|
52 Blessed <I>be</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> for evermore. Amen, and Amen.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. A very melancholy complaint of the present deplorable state of
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|
David's family, which the psalmist thinks hard to be reconciled to the
|
|
covenant God made with David. "Thou saidst thou wouldst not <I>take
|
|
away thy lovingkindness, but thou hast cast off.</I>" Sometimes, it is
|
|
no easy thing to reconcile God's providences with his promises, and yet
|
|
we are sure they are reconcilable; for God's works fulfil his word and
|
|
never contradict it.
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|
1. David's house seemed to have lost its interest in God, which was the
|
|
greatest strength and beauty of it. God had been pleased with his
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|
anointed, but now he was <I>wroth with him</I>
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|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
|
|
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|
had entered into covenant with the family, but now, for aught he could
|
|
perceive, he had made void the covenant, not broken some of the
|
|
articles of it, but cancelled it,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
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|
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|
We misconstrue the rebukes of Providence if we think they make void the
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|
covenant. When the great anointed one, Christ himself, was upon the
|
|
cross, God seemed to have cast him off, and was wroth with him, and yet
|
|
did not make void his covenant with him, for that was established for
|
|
ever.
|
|
|
|
2. The honour of the house of David was lost and laid in the dust:
|
|
<I>Thou hast profaned his crown</I> (which was always looked upon as
|
|
sacred) by <I>casting it to the ground,</I> to be trampled on,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
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|
<I>Thou hast made his glory to cease</I> (so uncertain is all earthly
|
|
glory, and so soon does it wither) and <I>thou hast cast his throne
|
|
down to the ground,</I> not only dethroned the king, but put a period
|
|
to the kingdom,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:44"><I>v.</I> 44</A>.
|
|
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|
If it was penned in Rehoboam's time, it was true as to the greatest
|
|
part of the kingdom, five parts of six; if in Zedekiah's time, it was
|
|
more remarkably true of the poor remainder. Note, Thrones and crowns
|
|
are tottering things, and are often laid in the dust; but there is a
|
|
crown of glory reserved for Christ's spiritual seed which fadeth not
|
|
away.
|
|
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|
3. It was exposed and made a prey to all the neighbours, who insulted
|
|
over that ancient and honourable family
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast broken down all his hedges</I> (all those things that were
|
|
a defence to them, and particularly that hedge of protection which they
|
|
thought God's covenant and promise had made about them) and thou
|
|
<I>hast made even his strong-holds a ruin,</I> so that they were rather
|
|
a reproach to them than any shelter; and then, <I>All that pass by the
|
|
way spoil him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>)
|
|
|
|
and make an easy prey of him; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:12,13">Ps. lxxx. 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
The enemies talk insolently: <I>He is a reproach to his neighbours,</I>
|
|
who triumph in his fall from so great a degree of honour. Nay, every
|
|
one helps forward the calamity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries,</I> not only
|
|
given them power, but inclined them to turn their power this way." If
|
|
the enemies of the church lift up their hand against it, we must see
|
|
God setting up their hand; for they could have <I>no power unless it
|
|
were given them from above.</I> But, when God does permit them to do
|
|
mischief to his church, it pleases them: "<I>Thou hast made all his
|
|
enemies to rejoice;</I> and this is for thy glory, that those who hate
|
|
thee should have the pleasure to see the tears and troubles of those
|
|
that love thee."
|
|
|
|
4. It was disabled to help itself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou hast turned the edge of his sword,</I> and made it blunt, that
|
|
it cannot do execution as it has done; and (which is worse) thou hast
|
|
turned the edge of his spirit, and taken off his courage, <I>and hast
|
|
not made him to stand</I> as he used to do <I>in the battle.</I>" The
|
|
spirit of men is what the Father and former of spirits makes them; nor
|
|
can we stand with any strength or resolution further than God is
|
|
pleased to uphold us. If men's hearts fail them, it is God that
|
|
dispirits them; but it is sad with the church when those cannot stand
|
|
who should stand up for it.
|
|
|
|
5. It was upon the brink of an inglorious exit
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The days of his youth hast thou shortened;</I> it is ready to be cut
|
|
off, like a young man in the flower of his age. This seems to intimate
|
|
that the psalm was penned in Rehoboam's time, when the house of David
|
|
was but in the days of its youth, and yet waxed old and began to decay
|
|
already. Thus it was covered with shame, and it was turned very much to
|
|
its reproach that a family which, in the first and second reign, looked
|
|
so great, and made such a figure, should, in the third, dwindle and
|
|
look so little as the house of David did in Rehoboam's time. But it may
|
|
be applied to the captivity in Babylon, which, in comparison with what
|
|
was expected, was but the day of the youth of that kingdom. However,
|
|
the kings then had remarkably the <I>days of their youth shortened,</I>
|
|
for it was in the days of their youth, when they were about thirty
|
|
years old, that Jehoiachin and Zedekiah were carried captives to
|
|
Babylon.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
From all this complaint let us learn,
|
|
|
|
1. What work sin makes with families, noble royal families, with
|
|
families in which religion has been uppermost; when posterity
|
|
degenerates, it falls into disgrace, and iniquity stains their glory.
|
|
|
|
2. How apt we are to place the promised honour and happiness of the
|
|
church in something external, and to think the promise fails, and the
|
|
covenant is made void, if we be disappointed of that, a mistake which
|
|
we now are inexcusable if we fall into, since our Master has so
|
|
expressly told us that his kingdom is not of this world.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. A very pathetic expostulation with God upon this. Four things they
|
|
plead with God for mercy:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The long continuance of the trouble
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>How long, O Lord! wilt thou hide thyself? For ever?</I> That which
|
|
grieved them most was that God himself, as one displeased, did not
|
|
appear to them by his prophets to comfort them, did not appear for them
|
|
by his providences to deliver them, and that he had kept them long in
|
|
the dark; it seemed an eternal night, when God had withdrawn: <I>Thou
|
|
hidest thyself for ever.</I> Nay, God not only hid himself from them,
|
|
but seemed to set himself against them: "<I>Shall thy wrath burn like
|
|
fire?</I> How long shall it burn? Shall it never be put out? What is
|
|
hell, but the wrath of God, burning for ever? And is that the lot of
|
|
thy anointed?"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The shortness of life, and the certainty of death: "Lord, let thy
|
|
anger cease, and return thou, in mercy to us, remembering how short my
|
|
time is and how sure the period of my time. Lord, since my life is so
|
|
transitory, and will, ere long, be at an end, let it not be always so
|
|
miserable that I should rather choose no being at all than such a
|
|
being." Job pleads thus,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+10:20,21"><I>ch.</I> x. 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
And probably the psalmist here urges it in the name of the house of
|
|
David, and the present prince of that house, the <I>days of whose
|
|
youth</I> were <I>shortened,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He pleads the shortness and vanity of life
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Remember how short my time is, how transitory I am</I> (say some),
|
|
therefore unable to bear the power of thy wrath, and therefore a proper
|
|
object of thy pity. <I>Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?</I>
|
|
or, <I>Unto what vanity hast thou created all the sons of Adam!</I>
|
|
Now, this may be understood either,
|
|
|
|
[1.] As declaring a great truth. If the ancient lovingkindnesses spoken
|
|
of
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>)
|
|
|
|
be forgotten (those relating to another life), man is indeed made in
|
|
vain. Considering man as mortal, if there were not a future state on
|
|
the other side of death, we might be ready to think that man was made
|
|
in vain, and was in vain endued with the noble powers and faculties of
|
|
reason and filled with such vast designs and desires; but God would not
|
|
make man in vain; therefore, Lord, <I>remember those
|
|
lovingkindnesses.</I> Or,
|
|
|
|
[2.] As implying a strong temptation that the psalmist was in. It is
|
|
certain <I>God has not made all men,</I> nor any man, <I>in vain,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:18">Isa. xlv. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
For, <I>First,</I> If we think that God has made men in vain because so
|
|
many have short lives, and long afflictions, in this world, it is true
|
|
that God has made them so, but it is not true that <I>therefore</I>
|
|
they are made in vain. For those whose days are few and full of
|
|
trouble may yet glorify God and do some good, may keep their communion
|
|
with God and get to heaven, and then they are not made in vain.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> If we think that God has made men in vain because the
|
|
most of men neither serve him nor enjoy him, it is true that, as to
|
|
themselves, they were made in vain, better for them had they not been
|
|
born than not to be born again; but it was not owing to God that they
|
|
were made in vain; it was owing to themselves; nor are they made in
|
|
vain as to him, for he has <I>made all things for himself, even the
|
|
wicked for the day of evil,</I> and those whom he is not glorified by
|
|
he will be glorified upon.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He pleads the universality and unavoidableness of death
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:48"><I>v.</I> 48</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>What man</I>" (what <I>strong man,</I> so the word is) "<I>is he
|
|
that liveth and shall not see death?</I> The king himself, of the house
|
|
of David, is not exempted from the sentence, from the stroke. Lord,
|
|
since he is under a fatal necessity of dying, let not his whole life be
|
|
made thus miserable. <I>Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the
|
|
grave?</I> No, he shall not when his time has come. Let him not
|
|
therefore be delivered into the hand of the grave by the miseries of a
|
|
dying life, till his time shall come." We must learn here that death is
|
|
the end of all men; our eyes must shortly be closed to see death; there
|
|
is no discharge from that war, nor will any bail be taken to save us
|
|
from the prison of the grave. It concerns us therefore to make sure a
|
|
happiness on the other side of death and the grave, that, <I>when we
|
|
fail, we may be received into everlasting habitations.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The next plea is taken from the kindness God had for and the
|
|
covenant he made with his servant David
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses,</I> which thou
|
|
showedst, nay, <I>which thou swaredst, to David in thy truth?</I> Wilt
|
|
thou fail of doing what thou hast promised? Wilt thou undo what thou
|
|
hast done? Art not thou still the same? Why then may not we have the
|
|
benefit of the former sure mercies of David?" God's unchangeableness
|
|
and faithfulness assure us that God will not cast off those whom he has
|
|
chosen and covenanted with.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The last plea is taken from the insolence of the enemies and the
|
|
indignity done to God's anointed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:50,51"><I>v.</I> 50, 51</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Remember, Lord, the reproach,</I> and let it be rolled away from us
|
|
and returned upon our enemies."
|
|
|
|
(1.) They were God's servants that were reproached, and the abuses done
|
|
to them reflected upon their master, especially since it was for
|
|
serving him that they were reproached.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The reproach cast upon God's servants was a very grievous burden
|
|
to all that were concerned for the honour of God: "<I>I bear in my
|
|
bosom the reproach of all the mighty people,</I> and am even
|
|
overwhelmed with it; it is what I lay much to heart and can scarcely
|
|
keep up my spirits under the weight of."
|
|
|
|
(3.) "They are thy enemies who do thus reproach us; and wilt thou not
|
|
appear against them as such?"
|
|
|
|
(4.) <I>They have reproached the footsteps of thy anointed.</I> They
|
|
reflected upon all the steps which the king had taken in the course of
|
|
his administration, tracked him in all his motions, that they might
|
|
make invidious remarks upon every thing he had said and done. Or, if we
|
|
may apply it to Christ, the Lord's Messiah, they reproached the Jews
|
|
with his footsteps, the slowness of his coming. They have reproached
|
|
the delays of the Messiah; so Dr. Hammond. They called him, <I>He that
|
|
should come;</I> but, because he had not yet come, because he did not
|
|
now come to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, when they
|
|
had none to deliver them, they told them he would never come, they must
|
|
give over looking for him. The scoffers of the latter days do, in like
|
|
manner, reproach the footsteps of the Messiah when they ask, <I>Where
|
|
is the promise of his coming?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+3:3,4">2 Pet. iii. 3, 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
The reproaching of the footsteps of the anointed some refer to the
|
|
serpent's <I>bruising the heel of the seed of the woman,</I> or to the
|
|
sufferings of Christ's followers, who tread in his footsteps, and are
|
|
reproached for his name's sake.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The psalm concludes with praise, even after this sad complaint
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:52"><I>v.</I> 52</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Blessed be the Lord for evermore, Amen, and amen.</I> Thus he
|
|
confronts the reproaches of his enemies. The more others blaspheme God
|
|
the more we should bless him. Thus he corrects his own complaints,
|
|
chiding himself for quarrelling with God's providences and questioning
|
|
his promises; let both these sinful passions be silenced with the
|
|
praises of God. However it be, yet God is good, and we will never think
|
|
hardly of him; God is true, and we will never distrust him. Though the
|
|
glory of David's house be stained and sullied, this shall be our
|
|
comfort, that God is blessed for ever, and his glory cannot be
|
|
eclipsed. If we would have the comfort of the stability of God's
|
|
promise, we must give him the praise of it; in blessing God, we
|
|
encourage ourselves. Here is a double <I>Amen,</I> according to the
|
|
double signification. <I>Amen--so it is,</I> God is blessed for ever.
|
|
<I>Amen--be it so,</I> let God be blessed for ever. He began the psalm
|
|
with thanksgiving, before he made his complaint
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>);
|
|
|
|
and now he concludes it with a doxology. Those who give God thanks for
|
|
what he has done may give him thanks also for what he will do; God will
|
|
follow those with his mercies who, in a right manner, follow him with
|
|
their praises.</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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<HR>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
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<TR>
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<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC19088.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC19090.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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