mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 83.xml

<div2 id="Ps.lxxxiv" n="lxxxiv" next="Ps.lxxxv" prev="Ps.lxxxiii" progress="50.64%" title="Chapter LXXXIII">
<h2 id="Ps.lxxxiv-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.lxxxiv-p0.2">PSALM LXXXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1">This psalm is the last of those that go under the
name of Asaph. It is penned, as most of those, upon a public
account, with reference to the insults of the church's enemies, who
sought its ruin. Some think it was penned upon occasion of the
threatening descent which was made upon the land of Judah in
Jehoshaphat's time by the Moabites and Ammonites, those children of
Lot here spoken of (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.8" parsed="|Ps|83|8|0|0" passage="Ps 83:8">ver. 8</scripRef>),
who were at the head of the alliance and to whom all the other
states here mentioned were auxiliaries. We have the story <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.1" parsed="|2Chr|20|1|0|0" passage="2Ch 20:1">2 Chron. xx. 1</scripRef>, where it is said, The
children of Moab and Ammon, and others besides them, invaded the
land. Others think it was penned with reference to all the
confederacies of the neighbouring nations against Israel, from
first to last. The psalmist here makes an appeal and application,
I. To God's knowledge, by a representation of their designs and
endeavours to destroy Israel, <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.1-Ps.83.8" parsed="|Ps|83|1|83|8" passage="Ps 83:1-8">ver.
1-8</scripRef>. II. To God's justice and jealousy, both for his
church and for his own honour, by an earnest prayer for the defeat
of their attempt, that the church might be preserved, the enemies
humbled, and God glorified, <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.9-Ps.83.18" parsed="|Ps|83|9|83|18" passage="Ps 83:9-18">ver.
9-18</scripRef>. This, in the singing of it, we may apply to the
enemies of the gospel-church, all anti-christian powers and
factions, representing to God their confederacies against Christ
and his kingdom, and rejoicing in the hope that all their projects
will be baffled and the gates of hell shall not prevail against the
church.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83" parsed="|Ps|83|0|0|0" passage="Ps 83" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.1-Ps.83.8" parsed="|Ps|83|1|83|8" passage="Ps 83:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.83.1-Ps.83.8">
<h4 id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1.7">Complaints against Enemies.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p1.8">
<p id="Ps.lxxxiv-p2">A song <i>or</i> psalm of Asaph.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p3">1 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy
peace, and be not still, O God.   2 For, lo, thine enemies
make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
  3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and
consulted against thy hidden ones.   4 They have said, Come,
and let us cut them off from <i>being</i> a nation; that the name
of Israel may be no more in remembrance.   5 For they have
consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against
thee:   6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of
Moab, and the Hagarenes;   7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the
Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;   8 Assur also is
joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p4">The Israel of God were now in danger, and
fear, and great distress, and yet their prayer is called, <i>A song
or psalm;</i> for singing psalms is not unseasonable, no, not when
the harps are hung upon the willow-trees.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p5">I. The psalmist here begs of God to appear
on the behalf of his injured threatened people (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.1" parsed="|Ps|83|1|0|0" passage="Ps 83:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>Keep not thou silence, O
God!</i> but give judgment for us against those that do us an
apparent wrong." Thus Jehoshaphat prayed upon occasion of that
invasion (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.11" parsed="|2Chr|20|11|0|0" passage="2Ch 20:11">2 Chron. xx.
11</scripRef>), <i>Behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us
out of thy possession.</i> Sometimes God seems to connive at the
unjust treatment which is given to his people; he keeps silence, as
one that either did not observe it or did not concern himself in
it; he holds his peace, as if he would observe an exact neutrality,
and let them fight it out; he is still, and gives not the enemies
of his people any disturbance or opposition, but seems to sit by
<i>as a man astonished, or as a mighty man that cannot save.</i>
Then he gives us leave to call upon him, as here, "<i>Keep not thou
silence, O God!</i> Lord, speak to us by the prophets for our
encouragement against our fears" (as he did in reference to that
invasion, <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.14-2Chr.20.17" parsed="|2Chr|20|14|20|17" passage="2Ch 20:14-17">2 Chron. xx.
14</scripRef>, &amp;c.); "Lord, speak for us by the providence and
speak against our enemies; speak deliverance to us and
disappointment to them." God's speaking is his acting; for with him
saying and doing are the same thing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p6">II. He here gives an account of the grand
alliance of the neighbouring nations against Israel, which he begs
of God to break, and blast the projects of. Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p7">1. Against whom this confederacy is formed;
it is against the Israel of God, and so, in effect, against the God
of Israel. Thus the psalmist takes care to interest God in their
cause, not doubting but that, if it appeared that they were for
God, God would make it to appear that he was for them, and then
they might set all their enemies at defiance; for whom then could
be against them? "Lord," says he, "they are thy enemies, and they
hate thee." All wicked people are God's enemies (the <i>carnal mind
is enmity against God</i>), but especially wicked persecutors; they
hated the religious worshippers of God, because they hated God's
holy religion and the worship of him. This was that which made
God's people so zealous against them—that they fought against God:
<i>They are confederate against thee,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.5" parsed="|Ps|83|5|0|0" passage="Ps 83:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Were our interest only concerned,
we could the better bear it; but, when God himself is struck at, it
is time to cry, Help, Lord. <i>Keep not thou silence, O God!</i> He
proves that they are confederate against God, for they are so
against the people of God, who are near and dear to him, his son,
his first-born, his portion, and the lot of his inheritance; he may
truly be said to fight against me that endeavours to destroy my
children, to root out my family, and to ruin my estate. "Lord,"
says the psalmist, "they are thy enemies, for they consult against
thy hidden ones." Note, God's people are his hidden ones, hidden,
(1.) In respect of secresy. Their life is <i>hid with Christ in
God;</i> the <i>world knows them not;</i> if they knew them, they
would not hate them as they do. (2.) In respect of safety. God
takes them under his special protection, hides them in the hollow
of his hand; and yet, in defiance of God and his power and promise
to secure his people, they will consult to ruin them and <i>cast
them down from their excellency</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.62.4" parsed="|Ps|62|4|0|0" passage="Ps 62:4">Ps. lxii. 4</scripRef>), and to make a prey of those whom
the <i>Lord has set apart for himself,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.3" parsed="|Ps|4|3|0|0" passage="Ps 4:3">Ps. iv. 3</scripRef>. They resolve to destroy those whom
God resolves to preserve.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p8">2. How this confederacy is managed. The
devil is at the bottom of it, and therefore it is carried on, (1.)
With a great deal of heat and violence: <i>Thy enemies make a
tumult,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.2" parsed="|Ps|83|2|0|0" passage="Ps 83:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>.
<i>The heathen rage,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1" parsed="|Ps|2|1|0|0" passage="Ps 2:1">Ps. ii.
1</scripRef>. <i>The nations are angry,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.11.18" parsed="|Rev|11|18|0|0" passage="Re 11:18">Rev. xi. 18</scripRef>. They are noisy in their clamours
against the people whom they hope to run down with their loud
calumnies. This comes in as a reason why God should not keep
silence: "The enemies talk big and talk much; Lord, let them not
talk all, but do thou <i>speak to them in thy wrath,</i>" <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.5" parsed="|Ps|2|5|0|0" passage="Ps 2:5">Ps. ii. 5</scripRef>. (2.) With a great deal of
pride and insolence: <i>They have lifted up the head.</i> In
confidence of their success, they are so elevated as if they could
over-top the Most High and overpower the Almighty. (3.) With a
great deal of art and policy: They have <i>taken crafty
counsel,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.3" parsed="|Ps|83|3|0|0" passage="Ps 83:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
The subtlety of the old serpent appears in their management, and
they contrive by all possible means, though ever so base, ever so
bad, to gain their point. They are <i>profound to make
slaughter</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.2" parsed="|Hos|5|2|0|0" passage="Ho 5:2">Hos. v. 2</scripRef>), as
if they could outwit Infinite Wisdom. (4.) With a great deal of
unanimity. Whatever separate clashing interest they have among
themselves, against the people of God they <i>consult with one
consent</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.5" parsed="|Ps|83|5|0|0" passage="Ps 83:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>),
nor is <i>Satan's kingdom divided against itself.</i> To push on
this unholy war, they lay their heads together, and their horns,
and their hearts too. <i>Fas est et ab hoste doceri—Even an enemy
may instruct.</i> Do the enemies of the church act with one consent
to destroy it? Are the kings of the earth of one mind to give their
power and honour to the beast? And shall not the church's friends
be unanimous in serving her interests? If Herod and Pilate are made
friends, that they may join in crucifying Christ, surely Paul and
Barnabas, Paul and Peter, will soon be made friends, that they may
join in preaching Christ.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p9">3. What it is that is aimed at in this
confederacy. They consult not like the Gibeonites to make a league
with Israel, that they might strengthen themselves by such a
desirable alliance, which would have been their wisdom. They
consult, not only to clip the wings of Israel, to recover their new
conquests, and check the progress of their victorious arms, not
only to keep the balance even between them and Israel, and to
prevent their power from growing exorbitant; this will not serve.
It is no less than the utter ruin and extirpation of Israel that
they design (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.4" parsed="|Ps|83|4|0|0" passage="Ps 83:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>):
"<i>Come, let us cut them off from being a nation,</i> as they cut
off the seven nations of Canaan; let us leave them neither root nor
branch, but lay their country so perfectly waste <i>that the name
of Israel may be no more in remembrance,</i> no, not in history;"
for with them they would destroy their Bibles and burn all their
records. Such is the enmity of the serpent's seed against the seed
of the woman. It is the secret wish of many wicked men that the
church of God might not have a being in the world, that there might
be no such thing as religion among mankind. Having banished the
sense of it out of their own hearts, they would gladly see the
whole earth as well rid of it, all its laws and ordinances
abolished, all its restraints and obligations shaken off, and all
that preach, profess, or practise it cut off. This they would bring
it to if it were in their power; but <i>he that sits in heaven
shall laugh at them.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p10">4. Who they are that are drawn into this
confederacy. The nations that entered into this alliance are here
mentioned (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.6-Ps.83.8" parsed="|Ps|83|6|83|8" passage="Ps 83:6-8"><i>v.</i> 6-8</scripRef>);
the Edomites and Ishmaelites, both descendants from Abraham, lead
the van; for apostates from the church have been its most bitter
and spiteful enemies, witness Julian. These were allied to Israel
in blood and yet in alliance against Israel. There are no bonds of
nature so strong but the spirit of persecution has broken through
them. <i>The brother shall betray the brother to death.</i> Moab
and Ammon were the children of righteous Lot; but, as an
incestuous, so a degenerate race. The Philistines were long a thorn
in Israel's side, and very vexatious. How the inhabitants of Tyre,
who in David's time were Israel's firm allies, come in among their
enemies, I know not; but that <i>Assur</i> (that is, the Assyrian)
<i>also is joined with them</i> is not strange, or that (as the
word is) they were <i>an arm to the children of Lot.</i> See how
numerous the enemies of God's church have always been. <i>Lord, how
are those increased that trouble it!</i> God's heritage was as a
speckled bird; all <i>the birds round about were against her</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.9" parsed="|Jer|12|9|0|0" passage="Jer 12:9">Jer. xii. 9</scripRef>), which highly
magnifies the power of God in preserving to himself a church in the
world, in spite of the combined force of earth and hell.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.lxxxiv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.9-Ps.83.18" parsed="|Ps|83|9|83|18" passage="Ps 83:9-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.83.9-Ps.83.18">
<h4 id="Ps.lxxxiv-p10.4">Prophetic Imprecations.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p11">9 Do unto them as <i>unto</i> the Midianites; as
<i>to</i> Sisera, as <i>to</i> Jabin, at the brook of Kison:  
10 <i>Which</i> perished at Endor: they became <i>as</i> dung for
the earth.   11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb:
yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:   12 Who
said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
  13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before
the wind.   14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame
setteth the mountains on fire;   15 So persecute them with thy
tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.   16 Fill their
faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p11.1">Lord</span>.   17 Let them be confounded and
troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
  18 That <i>men</i> may know that thou, whose name alone
<i>is</i> JEHOVAH, <i>art</i> the most high over all the earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p12">The psalmist here, in the name of the
church, prays for the destruction of those confederate forces, and,
in God's name, foretels it; for this prayer that it might be so
amounts to a prophecy that it shall be so, and this prophecy
reaches to all the enemies of the gospel-church; whoever they be
that oppose the kingdom of Christ, here they may read their doom.
The prayer is, in short, that these enemies, who were confederate
against Israel, might be defeated in all their attempts, and that
they might prove their own ruin, and so God's Israel might be
preserved and perpetuated. Now this is here illustrated,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13">I. By some precedents. Let that be their
punishment which has been the fate of others who have formerly set
themselves against God's Israel. The defeat and discomfiture of
former combinations may be pleaded in prayer to God and improved
for the encouragement of our own faith and hope, because God is the
same still that ever he was, the same to his people and the same
against his and their enemies; with him is no variableness. 1. He
prays that their armies might be destroyed as the armies of former
enemies had been (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.9-Ps.83.10" parsed="|Ps|83|9|83|10" passage="Ps 83:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9,
10</scripRef>): <i>Do to them as to the Midianites;</i> let them be
routed by their own fears, for so the Midianites were, more than by
Gideon's 300 men. Do to them as to the army under the command of
Sisera (who was general under Jabin king of Canaan) which God
discomfited (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.4.15" parsed="|Judg|4|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 4:15">Judg. iv. 15</scripRef>)
at the brook Kishon, near to which was Endor. <i>They became as
dung on the earth;</i> their dead bodies were thrown like dung laid
in heaps, or spread, to fatten the ground; they were trodden to
dirt by Barak's small but victorious army; and this was fitly made
a precedent here, because Deborah made it so to aftertimes when it
was fresh. <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.5.31" parsed="|Judg|5|31|0|0" passage="Jdg 5:31">Judg. v. 31</scripRef>,
<i>So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord!</i> that is, So they
shall perish. 2. He prays that their leaders might be destroyed as
they had been formerly. The common people would not have been so
mischievous if their princes had not set them on, and therefore
they are particularly prayed against, <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.11-Ps.83.12" parsed="|Ps|83|11|83|12" passage="Ps 83:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. Observe, (1.) What their
malice was against the Israel of God. They said, <i>Let us take to
ourselves the houses of God in possession</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.12" parsed="|Ps|83|12|0|0" passage="Ps 83:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), the <i>pleasant places</i> of
God (so the word is), by which we may understand the land of
Canaan, which was a pleasant land and was Immanuel's land, or the
temple, which was indeed God's pleasant place (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.64.11" parsed="|Isa|64|11|0|0" passage="Isa 64:11">Isa. lxiv. 11</scripRef>), or (as Dr. Hammond suggests)
the pleasant pastures, which these Arabians, who traded in cattle,
did in a particular manner seek after. The princes and nobles aimed
to enrich themselves by this war; and their armies must be made as
dung for the earth, to serve their covetousness and their ambition.
(2.) What their lot should be. They shall be made <i>like Oreb and
Zeeb</i> (two princes of the Midianites, who, when their forces
were routed, were taken in their flight by the Ephraimites and
slain, <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Judg.7.25" parsed="|Judg|7|25|0|0" passage="Jdg 7:25">Judg. vii. 25</scripRef>), and
<i>like Zeba and Zalmunna,</i> whom Gideon himself slew, <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Judg.8.21" parsed="|Judg|8|21|0|0" passage="Jdg 8:21">Judg. viii. 21</scripRef>. "Let these enemies of
ours be made as easy a prey to us as they were to the conquerors
then." We may not prescribe to God, but we may pray to God that he
will deal with the enemies of his church in our days as he did with
those in the days of our fathers.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p14">II. He illustrates it by some similitudes,
and prays, 1. That God would <i>make them like a wheel</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.13" parsed="|Ps|83|13|0|0" passage="Ps 83:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), that they
might be in continual motion, unquiet, unsettled, and giddy in all
their counsels and resolves, that they might roll down easily and
speedily to their own ruin. Or, as some think, that they might be
broken by the judgments of God, as the corn is broken, or beaten
out, by the wheel which was then used in threshing. Thus, when a
<i>wise king scatters the wicked,</i> he is said to <i>bring the
wheel over them,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.20.26" parsed="|Prov|20|26|0|0" passage="Pr 20:26">Prov. xx.
26</scripRef>. Those that trust in God have their hearts fixed;
those that fight against him are unfixed, like a wheel. 2. That
they might be chased as <i>stubble,</i> or chaff, <i>before the</i>
fierce <i>wind.</i> "The wheel, though it continually turn round,
is fixed on its own axis; but let them have no more fixation than
the light stubble has, which the wind hurries away, and nobody
desires to save it, but is willing it should go," <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.4" parsed="|Ps|1|4|0|0" passage="Ps 1:4">Ps. i. 4</scripRef>. Thus shall <i>the wicked be
driven away in his wickedness, and chased out of the world.</i> 3.
That they might be consumed, as wood by the fire, or as briers and
thorns, as fern or furze, upon the mountains, by the flames,
<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.14" parsed="|Ps|83|14|0|0" passage="Ps 83:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. When the
stubble is driven by the wind it will rest, at last, under some
hedge, in some ditch or other; but he prays that they might not
only be driven away as stubble, but burnt up as stubble. And this
will be the end of wicked men (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.8" parsed="|Heb|6|8|0|0" passage="Heb 6:8">Heb. vi.
8</scripRef>) and particularly of all the enemies of God's church.
The application of these comparisons we have (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.15" parsed="|Ps|83|15|0|0" passage="Ps 83:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>So persecute them with thy
tempest,</i> persecute them to their utter ruin, and make <i>them
afraid with thy storm.</i> See how sinners are made miserable; the
storm of God's wrath raises terrors in their own hearts, and so
they are made completely miserable. God can deal with the proudest
and most daring sinner that has bidden defiance to his justice, and
can make him afraid as a grasshopper. It is the torment of devils
that they tremble.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lxxxiv-p15">III. He illustrates it by the good
consequences of their confusion, <scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.16-Ps.83.18" parsed="|Ps|83|16|83|18" passage="Ps 83:16-18"><i>v.</i> 16-18</scripRef>. He prays here that God,
having filled their hearts with terror, would thereby fill their
faces with shame, that they might be ashamed of their enmity to the
people of God (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.26.11" parsed="|Isa|26|11|0|0" passage="Isa 26:11">Isa. xxvi.
11</scripRef>), ashamed of their folly in acting both against
Omnipotence itself and their own true interest. They did what they
could to put God's people to shame, but the shame will at length
return upon themselves. Now, 1. The beginning of this shame might
be a means of their conversion: "Let them be broken and baffled in
their attempts, <i>that they may seek thy name, O Lord!</i> Let
them be put to a stand, that they may have both leisure and reason
to pause a little, and consider who it is that they are fighting
against and what an unequal match they are for him, and may
therefore humble and submit themselves and desire conditions of
peace. Let them be made to fear thy name, and perhaps that will
bring them to seek thy name." Note, That which we should earnestly
desire and beg of God for our enemies and persecutors is that God
would bring them to repentance, and we should desire their
abasement in order to this, no other confusion to them than what
may be a step towards their conversion. 2. If it did not prove a
means of their conversion, the perfecting of it would redound
greatly to the honour of God. If they will not be ashamed and
repent, let them be put to shame and perish; if they will not be
troubled and turned, which would soon put an end to all their
trouble, a happy end, <i>let them be troubled for ever,</i> and
never have peace: this will be for God's glory (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.18" parsed="|Ps|83|18|0|0" passage="Ps 83:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), that other men may know and
own, if they themselves will not, <i>that thou, whose name alone is
JEHOVAH</i> (that incommunicable, though not ineffable name) <i>art
the Most High over all the earth.</i> God's triumphs over his and
his church's enemies will be incontestable proofs, (1.) That he is,
according to his name JEHOVAH, a self-existent self-sufficient
Being, that has all power and perfection in himself. (2.) That he
is the most high God, sovereign Lord of all, above all gods, above
all kings, above all that exalt themselves and pretend to be high.
(3.) That he is so, not only over the land of Israel, but <i>over
all the earth,</i> even those nations of the earth that do not know
him or own him; for his kingdom rules over all. These are great and
unquestionable truths, but men will hardly be persuaded to know and
believe them; therefore the psalmist prays that the destruction of
some might be the conviction of others. The final ruin of all God's
enemies, in the great day, will be the effectual proof of this,
before angels and men, when the everlasting shame and contempt to
which sinners shall rise (<scripRef id="Ps.lxxxiv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.12.2" parsed="|Dan|12|2|0|0" passage="Da 12:2">Dan. xii.
2</scripRef>) shall redound to the everlasting honour and praise of
that God to whom vengeance belongs.</p>
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