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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 CVI.</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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We must give glory to God by making confession, not only of his
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goodness but our own badness, which serve as foils to each other. Our
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badness makes his goodness appear the more illustrious, as his goodness
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makes our badness the more heinous and scandalous. The foregoing psalm
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was a history of God's goodness to Israel; this is a history of their
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rebellions and provocations, and yet it begins and ends with
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Hallelujah; for even sorrow for sin must not put us out of tune for
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praising God. Some think it was penned at the time of the captivity in
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Babylon and the dispersion of the Jewish nation thereupon, because of
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that prayer in the close,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:47">ver. 47</A>.
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I rather think it was penned by David at the same time with the
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foregoing psalm, because we find the first verse and the last two
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verses in that psalm which David delivered to Asaph, at the bringing up
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of the ark to the place he had prepared for it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:1,47,48,1Ch+16:34-36">1 Chron. xvi. 34-36</A>),
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"Gather us from among the heathen;" for we may suppose that in Saul's
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time there was a great dispersion of pious Israelites, when David was
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forced to wander. In this psalm we have,
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I. The preface to the narrative, speaking honour to God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>),
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comfort to the saints
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:3">ver. 3</A>),
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and the desire of the faithful towards God's favour,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>.
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II. The narrative itself of the sins of Israel, aggravated by the
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great things God did for them, an account of which is intermixed. Their
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provocations at the Red Sea
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:6-12">ver. 6-12</A>),
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lusting
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:13-15">ver. 13-15</A>),
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mutinying
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:16-18">ver. 16-18</A>),
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worshipping the golden calf
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:19-23">ver. 19-23</A>),
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murmuring
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:24-27">ver. 24-27</A>),
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joining themselves to Baal-peor
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:28-31">ver. 28-31</A>),
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quarrelling with Moses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:32,33">ver. 32, 33</A>),
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incorporating themselves with the nations of Canaan,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:34-39">ver. 34-39</A>.
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To this is added an account how God had rebuked them for their sins,
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and yet saved them from ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:40-46">ver. 40-46</A>.
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III. The conclusion of the psalm with prayer and praise,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:47,48">ver. 47, 48</A>.
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It may be of use to us to sing this psalm, that, being put in mind by
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it of our sins, the sins of our land, and the sins of our fathers, we
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may be humbled before God and yet not despair of mercy, which even
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rebellious Israel often found with God.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps106_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_5"> </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>Praise for Divine Goodness.</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>1 Praise ye the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>. O give thanks unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; for <I>he is</I>
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good: for his mercy <I>endureth</I> for ever.
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2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>? <I>who</I> can show
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forth all his praise?
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3 Blessed <I>are</I> they that keep judgment, <I>and</I> he that doeth
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righteousness at all times.
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4 Remember me, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, with the favour <I>that thou bearest unto</I>
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thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;
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5 That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in
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the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine
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inheritance.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We are here taught,</P>
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<P>
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I. To bless God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>):
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<I>Praise you the Lord,</I> that is,
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1. Give him thanks for his goodness, the manifestation of it to us, and
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the many instances of it. <I>He is good</I> and <I>his mercy endures
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for ever;</I> let us therefore own our obligations to him and make him
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a return of our best affections and services.
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2. Give him the glory of his greatness, his <I>mighty acts,</I> proofs
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of his almighty power, wherein he has done great things, and such as
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would be opposed. <I>Who can utter these?</I> Who is worthy to do it?
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Who is able to do it? They are so many that they cannot be numbered, so
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mysterious that they cannot be described; when we have said the most we
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can of the mighty acts of the Lord, the one half is not told; still
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there is more to be said; it is a subject that cannot be exhausted. We
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must <I>show forth his praise;</I> we may show forth some of it, but
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<I>who can show forth all?</I> Not the angels themselves. This will not
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excuse us in not doing what we can, but should quicken us to do all we
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can.</P>
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<P>
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II. To bless the people of God, to call and account them happy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Those that keep judgment are blessed,</I> for they are fit to be
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employed in praising God. God's people are those whose principles are
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sound--<I>They keep judgment</I> (they adhere to the rules of wisdom and
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religion, and their practices are agreeable); they <I>do
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righteousness,</I> are just to God and to all men, and herein they are
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steady and constant; they do it <I>at all times,</I> in all manner of
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conversation, at every turn, in every instance, and herein persevering
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to the end.</P>
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<P>
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III. To bless ourselves in the favour of God, to place our happiness in
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it, and to seek it, accordingly, with all seriousness, as the psalmist
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here,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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1. He has an eye to the lovingkindness of God, as the fountain of all
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happiness: "<I>Remember me, O Lord!</I> to give me that mercy and grace
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which I stand in need of, <I>with the favour which thou bearest to thy
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people.</I>" As there are a people in the world who are in a peculiar
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manner God's people, so there is a peculiar favour which God bears to
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that people, which all gracious souls desire an interest in; and we
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need desire no more to make us happy.
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2. He has an eye to the salvation of God, the great salvation, that of
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the soul, as the foundation of happiness: <I>O visit me with thy
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salvation.</I> "Afford me (says Dr. Hammond) that pardon and that
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grace which I stand in need of, and can hope for from none but thee."
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Let that salvation be my portion for ever, and the pledges of it my
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present comfort.
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3. He has an eye to the blessedness of the righteous, as that which
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includes all good
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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"<I>That I may see the good of thy chosen</I> and be as happy as the
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saints are; and happier I do not desire to be." God's people are here
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called his <I>chosen,</I> his <I>nation,</I> his <I>inheritance;</I>
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for he has set them apart for himself, incorporated them under his own
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government, is served by them and glorified in them. The chosen people
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of God have a good which is peculiar to them, which is the matter both
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of their gladness and of their glorying, which is their pleasure, and
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their praise. God's people have reason to be a cheerful people, and to
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boast in their God all the day long; and those who have that gladness,
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that glory, need not envy any of the children of men their pleasure or
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pride. The gladness of God's nation, and the glory of his inheritance,
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are enough to satisfy any man; for they have everlasting joy and glory
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at the end of them.</P>
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<A NAME="Ps106_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_12"> </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 Sins of Israelites.</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>6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity,
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we have done wickedly.
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7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they
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remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked <I>him</I>
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at the sea, <I>even</I> at the Red sea.
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8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might
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make his mighty power to be known.
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9 He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led
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them through the depths, as through the wilderness.
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10 And he saved them from the hand of him that hated <I>them,</I>
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and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
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11 And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of
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them left.
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12 Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here begins a penitential confession of sin, which was in a special
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manner seasonable now that the church was in distress; for thus we must
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justify God in all that he brings upon us, acknowledging that
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<I>therefore</I> he has done right, because <I>we have done
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wickedly;</I> and the remembrance of former sins, notwithstanding which
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God did not cast off his people, is an encouragement to us to hope
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that, though we are justly corrected for our sins, yet we shall not be
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utterly abandoned.</P>
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<P>
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I. God's afflicted people here own themselves guilty before God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>We have sinned with our fathers,</I> that is, like our fathers,
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after the similitude of their transgression. We have added to the stock
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of hereditary guilt, and filled up the measure of our fathers'
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iniquity, <I>to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+32:14,Mt+23:32">Num. xxxii. 14; Matt. xxiii. 32</A>.
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And see how they lay a load upon themselves, as becomes penitents:
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"<I>We have committed iniquity,</I> that which is in its own nature
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sinful, and <I>we have done wickedly;</I> we have sinned with a high
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hand presumptuously." Or this is a confession, not only of their
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imitation of, but their interest in, their fathers' sins: <I>We have
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sinned with our fathers,</I> for we were in their loins and we <I>bear
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their iniquity,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:7">Lam. v. 7</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. They bewail the sins of their fathers when they were first formed into a people, which, since children often smart for, they are concerned to sorrow for, even further than to the third and fourth generation. Even we now ought to take occasion from
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the history of Israel's rebellions to lament the depravity and
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perverseness of man's nature and its unaptness to be amended by the
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most probable means. Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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1. The strange stupidity of Israel in the midst of the favours God
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bestowed upon them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>They understood not thy wonders in Egypt.</I> They saw them, but
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they did not rightly apprehend the meaning and design of them.
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<I>Blessed are those that have not seen, and yet have</I> understood.
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They thought the plagues of Egypt were intended for their deliverance,
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whereas they were intended also for their instruction and conviction,
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not only to force them out of their Egyptian slavery, but to cure them
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of their inclination to Egyptian idolatry, by evidencing the sovereign
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power and dominion of the God of Israel, above all gods, and his
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particular concern for them. We lose the benefit of providences for
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want of understanding them. And, as their understandings were dull, so
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their memories were treacherous; though one would think such
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astonishing events should never have been forgotten, yet they
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remembered them not, at least <I>they remembered not the multitude
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of</I> God's <I>mercies</I> in them. <I>Therefore</I> God is
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distrusted because his favours are not remembered.</P>
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<P>
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2. Their perverseness arising from this stupidity: <I>They provoked him
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at the sea, even at the Red Sea.</I> The provocation was, despair of
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deliverance (because the danger was great) and wishing they had been
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left in Egypt still,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+14:11,12">Exod. xiv. 11, 12</A>.
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Quarrelling with God's providence, and questioning his power, goodness,
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and faithfulness, are as great provocations to him as any whatsoever.
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The place aggravated the crime; it was <I>at the sea, at the Red
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Sea,</I> when they had newly come out of Egypt and the wonders God had
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wrought for them were fresh in their minds; yet they reproach him, as
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if all that power had no mercy in it, but he had brought them out of
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Egypt on purpose to <I>kill them in the wilderness.</I> They never lay
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at God's mercy so immediately as in their passage through the Red Sea,
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yet there they affront it, and provoke his wrath.</P>
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<P>
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3. The great salvation God wrought for them notwithstanding their
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provocations,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:8-11"><I>v.</I> 8-11</A>.
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(1.) He forced a passage for them through the sea: <I>He rebuked the
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Red Sea</I> for standing in their way and retarding their march, <I>and
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it was dried up</I> immediately; as, in the creation, <I>at God's
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rebuke the waters fled,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:7">Ps. civ. 7</A>.
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Nay, he not only prepared them a way, but, by the pillar of cloud and
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fire, he <I>led them</I> into the sea, and, by the conduct of Moses,
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led them through it as readily as <I>through the wilderness.</I> He
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encouraged them to take those steps, and subdued their fears, when
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those were their most dangerous and threatening enemies. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:12-14">Isa. lxiii. 12-14</A>.
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(2.) He interposed between them and their pursuers, and prevented them
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from cutting them off, as they designed. The Israelites were all on
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foot, and the Egyptians had all of them chariots and horses, with which
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they were likely to overtake them quickly, but God <I>saved them from
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the hand of him that hated them,</I> namely, Pharaoh, who never loved
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them, but now hated them the more for the plagues he had suffered on
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their account. <I>From the hand of</I> his <I>enemy,</I> who was just
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ready to seize them, <I>God redeemed them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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interposing himself, as it were, in the pillar of fire, between the
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persecuted and the persecutors.
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(3.) To complete the mercy, and turn the deliverance into a victory,
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the Red Sea, which was a lane to them, was a grave to the Egyptians
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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<I>The waters covered their enemies,</I> so as to slay them, but not so
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as to conceal their shame; for, the next tide, they were thrown up dead
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|
upon the shore,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+14:30">Exod. xiv. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>There was not one of them left</I> alive, to bring tidings of what
|
|
had become of the rest. And why did God do this for them? Nay, why did
|
|
he not cover them, as he did their enemies, for their unbelief and
|
|
murmuring? He tells us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
it was <I>for his name's sake.</I> Though they did not deserve this
|
|
favour, he designed it; and their undeservings should not alter his
|
|
designs, nor break his measures, nor make him withdraw his promise, or
|
|
fail in the performance of it. He did this for his own glory, <I>that
|
|
he might make his mighty power to be known,</I> not only in dividing
|
|
the sea, but in doing it notwithstanding their provocations. Moses
|
|
prays
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:17,19">Num. xiv. 17, 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Let the power of my Lord be great and pardon the iniquity of this
|
|
people.</I> The power of the God of grace in pardoning sin and sparing
|
|
sinners is as much to be admired as the power of the God of nature in
|
|
dividing the waters.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The good impression this made upon them for the present
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Then believed they his words,</I> and acknowledged that God was with
|
|
them of a truth, and had, in mercy to them, brought them out of Egypt,
|
|
and not with any design to slay them in the wilderness; then <I>they
|
|
feared the Lord and his servant Moses,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+14:31">Exod. xiv. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
Then <I>they sang his praise,</I> in that song of Moses penned on this
|
|
great occasion,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:1">Exod. xv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
See in what a gracious and merciful way God sometimes silences the
|
|
unbelief of his people, and turns their fears into praises; and so it
|
|
is written, <I>Those that erred in spirit shall come to
|
|
understanding,</I> and <I>those that murmured shall learn doctrine,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:24">Isa. xxix. 24</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_14"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ps106_15"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ps106_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_21"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ps106_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps106_31"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ps106_32"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ps106_33"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Provocation of Israel in the Wilderness.</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>13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
|
|
14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in
|
|
the desert.
|
|
15 And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their
|
|
soul.
|
|
16 They envied Moses also in the camp, <I>and</I> Aaron the saint of
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the
|
|
company of Abiram.
|
|
18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up
|
|
the wicked.
|
|
19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.
|
|
20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox
|
|
that eateth grass.
|
|
21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things
|
|
in Egypt;
|
|
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, <I>and</I> terrible things by
|
|
the Red sea.
|
|
23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses
|
|
his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his
|
|
wrath, lest he should destroy <I>them.</I>
|
|
24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his
|
|
word:
|
|
25 But murmured in their tents, <I>and</I> hearkened not unto the
|
|
voice of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow
|
|
them in the wilderness:
|
|
27 To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to
|
|
scatter them in the lands.
|
|
28 They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the
|
|
sacrifices of the dead.
|
|
29 Thus they provoked <I>him</I> to anger with their inventions: and
|
|
the plague brake in upon them.
|
|
30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and <I>so</I> the
|
|
plague was stayed.
|
|
31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all
|
|
generations for evermore.
|
|
32 They angered <I>him</I> also at the waters of strife, so that it
|
|
went ill with Moses for their sakes:
|
|
33 Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake
|
|
unadvisedly with his lips.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This is an abridgment of the history of Israel's provocations in the
|
|
wilderness, and of the wrath of God against them for those
|
|
provocations: and this abridgment is abridged by the apostle, with
|
|
application to us Christians
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:5">1 Cor. x. 5</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.); for these things were
|
|
<I>written for our admonition,</I> that we sin not like them, lest we
|
|
suffer like them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The cause of their sin was disregard to the works and word of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. They minded not what he had done for them: <I>They soon forgot his
|
|
works,</I> and lost the impressions they had made upon them. Those
|
|
that do not improve God's mercies to them, nor endeavour in some
|
|
measure to render according to the benefit done unto them, do indeed
|
|
forget them. This people soon forgot them (God took notice of this,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+32:8">Exod. xxxii. 8</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>They have turned aside quickly): They made haste, they forgot his
|
|
works</I> (so it is in the margin), which some make to be two separate
|
|
instances of their sin. <I>They made haste;</I> their expectations
|
|
anticipated God's promises; they expected to be in Canaan shortly, and
|
|
because they were not they questioned whether they should ever be there
|
|
and quarrelled with all the difficulties they met with in their way;
|
|
whereas <I>he that believeth does not make haste,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:16">Isa. xxviii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, withal, <I>they forgot his works,</I> which were the undeniable
|
|
evidences of his wisdom, power, and goodness, and denied the conclusion
|
|
as confidently as if they had never seen the premises proved. This is
|
|
mentioned again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They forgot God their Saviour;</I> that is, they forgot that he had
|
|
been their Saviour. Those that forget the works of God forget God
|
|
himself, who makes himself known by his works. They forgot what was
|
|
done but a few days before, which we may suppose they could not but
|
|
talk of, even then, when, because they did not make a good use of it,
|
|
they are said to forget it: it was what God did for them <I>in Egypt,
|
|
in the land of Ham,</I> and <I>by the Red Sea,</I> things which we at
|
|
this distance cannot, or should not, be unmindful of. They are called
|
|
<I>great things</I> (for, though the great God does nothing mean, yet
|
|
he does some things that are in a special manner great), <I>wondrous
|
|
works,</I> out of the common road of Providence, therefore observable,
|
|
therefore memorable, and <I>terrible things,</I> awful to them, and
|
|
dreadful to their enemies, and yet soon forgotten. Even miracles that
|
|
were seen passed away with them as tales that are told.
|
|
|
|
2. They minded not what God had said to them nor would they depend upon
|
|
it: <I>They waited not for his counsel,</I> did not attend his word,
|
|
though they had Moses to be his mouth to them; they took up resolves
|
|
about which they did not consult him and made demands without calling
|
|
upon him. They would be in Canaan directly, and had not patience to
|
|
tarry God's time. The delay was intolerable, and therefore the
|
|
difficulties were looked upon as insuperable. This is explained
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They believed not his word,</I> his promise that he would make them
|
|
masters of Canaan; and
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>They hearkened not to the voice of the Lord,</I> who gave them
|
|
counsel which they would not wait for, not only by Moses and Aaron, but
|
|
by Caleb and Joshua,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:6,7">Num. xiv. 6, 7</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. Those that will not wait for God's counsel shall justly be given up
|
|
to their own hearts' lusts, to walk in their own counsels.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Many of their sins are here mentioned, together with the tokens of
|
|
God's displeasure which they fell under for those sins.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They would have flesh, and yet would not believe that God could give
|
|
it to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They lusted a lust</I> (so the word is) <I>in the wilderness;</I>
|
|
there, where they had bread enough and to spare, yet nothing would
|
|
serve them but they must have flesh to eat. They were now purely at
|
|
God's finding, being supported entirely by miracles, so that this was a
|
|
reflection upon the wisdom and goodness of their Creator. They were
|
|
also, in all probability, within a step of Canaan, yet had not patience
|
|
to stay for dainties till they came thither. They had flocks and herds
|
|
of their own, but they will not kill them; God must give them flesh as
|
|
he gave them bread, or they will never give him credit, or their good
|
|
word. They did not only wish for flesh, <I>but</I> they <I>lusted
|
|
exceedingly</I> after it. A desire, even of lawful things, when it is
|
|
inordinate and violent, becomes sinful; and therefore this is called
|
|
<I>lusting after evil things</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:6">1 Cor. x. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
though the quails, as God's gift, were good things, and were so spoken
|
|
of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:40">Ps. cv. 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yet this was not all: <I>They tempted God in the desert,</I> where they
|
|
had had such experience of his goodness and power, and questioned
|
|
whether he could and would gratify them herein. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:19,20">Ps. lxxviii. 19, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now how did God show his displeasure against them for this. We are told
|
|
how
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He gave them their request,</I> but gave it them in anger, and with
|
|
a curse, for he <I>sent leanness into their soul;</I> he filled them
|
|
with uneasiness of mind, and terror of conscience, and a self-reproach,
|
|
occasioned by their bodies being sick with the surfeit, such as
|
|
sometimes drunkards experience after a great debauch. Or this is put
|
|
for that great plague with which the Lord smote them, <I>while the
|
|
flesh was yet between their teeth,</I> as we read,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:33">Num. xi. 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was the consumption of the life. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) What is asked in passion is often given in wrath.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Many that fare deliciously every day, and whose bodies are
|
|
healthful and fat, have, at the same time, leanness in their souls, no
|
|
love to God, no thankfulness, no appetite to the bread of life, and
|
|
then the soul must needs be lean. Those wretchedly forget themselves
|
|
that feast their bodies and starve their souls. <I>Then</I> God gives
|
|
the good things of this life in love, when with them he gives grace to
|
|
glorify him in the use of them; for then <I>the soul delights itself in
|
|
fatness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:2">Isa. lv. 2</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They quarrelled with the government which God had set over them both
|
|
in church and state
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They envied Moses</I> his authority <I>in the camp,</I> as
|
|
generalissimo of the armies of Israel and chief justice in all their
|
|
courts; they envied <I>Aaron</I> his power, as <I>saint of the
|
|
Lord,</I> consecrated to the office of high priest, and Korah would
|
|
needs put in for the pontificate, while Dathan and Abiram, as princes
|
|
of the tribe of Reuben, Jacob's eldest son, would claim to be chief
|
|
magistrates, by the so-much-admired right of primogeniture. Note,
|
|
Those are preparing ruin for themselves who envy those whom God has put
|
|
honour upon and usurp the dignities they were never designed for. And
|
|
justly will contempt be poured upon those who put contempt upon any of
|
|
the saints of the Lord. How did God show his displeasure for this? We
|
|
are told how, and it is enough to make us tremble
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
we have the story,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:32,35">Num. xvi. 32, 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those that flew in the face of the civil authority were punished
|
|
by <I>the earth,</I> which <I>opened and swallowed them up,</I> as not
|
|
fit to go upon God's ground, because they would not submit to God's
|
|
government.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Those that would usurp the ecclesiastical authority in things
|
|
pertaining to God suffered the vengeance of heaven, for <I>fire came
|
|
out from the Lord and consumed them,</I> and the pretending sacrificers
|
|
were themselves sacrificed to divine justice. <I>The flame burnt up the
|
|
wicked;</I> for though they vied with <I>Aaron, the saint of the
|
|
Lord,</I> for holiness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:3,5">Num. xvi. 3, 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet God adjudged them wicked, and as such cut them off, as in due time
|
|
he will destroy the man of sin, that wicked one, notwithstanding his
|
|
proud pretensions to holiness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. They made and worshipped the golden calf, and this in Horeb, where
|
|
the law was given, and where God had expressly said, <I>Thou shalt</I>
|
|
neither <I>make any graven image</I> nor <I>bow down</I> to it; they
|
|
did both: <I>They made a calf and worshipped</I> it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Herein they bade defiance to, and put an affront upon, the two
|
|
great lights which God has made to rule the moral world:--
|
|
|
|
[1.] That of human reason; for <I>they changed their glory,</I> their
|
|
God, at least the manifestation of him, which always had been in a
|
|
cloud (either a dark cloud or a bright one), without any manner of
|
|
visible similitude, <I>into the similitude of</I> Apis, one of the
|
|
Egyptian idols, <I>an ox that eateth grass,</I> than which nothing
|
|
could be more grossly and scandalously absurd,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Idolaters are perfectly besotted, and put the greatest disparagement
|
|
possible both upon God, in representing him by the image of a beast,
|
|
and upon themselves, in worshipping it when they have so done. That
|
|
which is here said to be the changing of their glory is explained by
|
|
St. Paul
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:23">Rom. i. 23</A>)
|
|
|
|
to be the <I>changing of the glory of the incorruptible God.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] That of divine revelation, which was afforded to them, not only in
|
|
the words God spoke to them, but in the works he wrought for them,
|
|
<I>wondrous works,</I> which declared aloud that the Lord Jehovah is
|
|
the only true and living God and is alone to be worshipped,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) For this God showed his displeasure by declaring the decree that
|
|
he would cut them off from being a people, as they had, as far as lay
|
|
in their power, in effect cut him off from being a God; he <I>spoke of
|
|
destroying them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
and certainly he would have done it if <I>Moses, his chosen, had not
|
|
stood before him in the breach</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
if he had not seasonably interposed to deal with God as an advocate
|
|
about the breach or ruin God was about to devote them to and
|
|
wonderfully prevailed to turn away his wrath. See here the mercy of
|
|
God, and how easily his anger is turned away, even from a provoking
|
|
people. See the power of prayer, and the interest which God's chosen
|
|
have in heaven. See a type of Christ, God's <I>chosen,</I> his
|
|
<I>elect, in whom his soul delights,</I> who <I>stood before him in the
|
|
breach</I> to <I>turn away</I> his wrath from a provoking world, and
|
|
ever lives, for this end, making intercession.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. They gave credit to the report of the evil spies concerning the land
|
|
of Canaan, in contradiction to the promise of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They despised the pleasant land.</I> Canaan was a pleasant land,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:7">Deut. viii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
They undervalued it when they thought it not worth venturing for, no,
|
|
not under the guidance of God himself, and therefore were for making a
|
|
captain and returning to Egypt again. They <I>believed not God's
|
|
word</I> concerning it, but <I>murmured in their tents,</I> basely
|
|
charging God with a design upon them in bringing them thither that they
|
|
might become a prey to the Canaanites,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:2,3">Num. xiv. 2, 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, when they were reminded of God's power and promise, they were so
|
|
far from hearkening to that voice of the Lord that they attempted to
|
|
stone those who spoke to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:10">Num. xiv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The heavenly Canaan is a pleasant land. A promise is left us of
|
|
entering into it; but there are many that despise it, that neglect and
|
|
refuse the offer of it, that prefer the wealth and pleasure of this
|
|
world before it, and grudge the pains and hazards of this life to
|
|
obtain that. This also was so displeasing to God that <I>he lifted up
|
|
his hand against them,</I> in a way of threatening, <I>to destroy them
|
|
in the wilderness;</I> nay, in a way of swearing, for he swore in his
|
|
wrath that they should not enter into his rest
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:11,Nu+14:28">Ps. xcv. 11; Num. xiv. 28</A>);
|
|
|
|
nay, and he threatened that their children also should be <I>overthrown
|
|
and scattered</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the whole nation dispersed and disinherited; but Moses prevailed
|
|
for mercy for their seed, that they might enter Canaan. Note, Those who
|
|
despise God's favours, and particularly the pleasant land, forfeit his
|
|
favours, and will be shut out for ever from the pleasant land.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. They were guilty of a great sin in the matter of Peor; and this was
|
|
the sin of the new generation, when they were within a step of Canaan
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They joined themselves to Baal-peor,</I> and so were entangled both
|
|
in idolatry and in adultery, in corporeal and in spiritual whoredom,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+25:1-3">Num. xxv. 1-3</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that did often partake of the altar of the living God now <I>ate
|
|
the sacrifices of the dead,</I> of the idols of Moab (that were dead
|
|
images, or dead men canonized or deified), or sacrifices to the
|
|
infernal deities on the behalf of their dead friends. <I>Thus they
|
|
provoked God to anger with their inventions</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
in contempt of him and his institutions, his commands, and his
|
|
threatenings. The iniquity of Peor was so great that, long after, it is
|
|
said, <I>They were not cleansed from it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+22:17">Josh. xxii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
God testified his displeasure at this,
|
|
|
|
(1.) By sending a plague among them, which in a little time swept away
|
|
24,000 of those impudent sinners.
|
|
|
|
(2.) By stirring up Phinehas to use his power as a magistrate for the
|
|
suppressing of the sin and checking the contagion of it. He stood up in
|
|
his zeal for the Lord of hosts, and executed judgment upon Zimri and
|
|
Cozbi, sinners of the first rank, genteel sinners; he put the law in
|
|
execution upon them, and this was a service so pleasing to God that
|
|
upon it <I>the plague was stayed,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
By this, and some other similar acts of public justice on that occasion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+25:4,5">Num. xxv. 4, 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
the guilt ceased to be national, and the general controversy was let
|
|
fall. When the proper officers did their duty God left it to them, and
|
|
did not any longer keep the work in his own hands by the plague. Note,
|
|
National justice prevents national judgments. But, Phinehas herein
|
|
signalizing himself, a special mark of honour was put upon him, for
|
|
what he did was <I>counted to him for righteousness to all
|
|
generations</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, in recompence of it, the priesthood was entailed on his family.
|
|
<I>He</I> shall make an atonement by offering up the sacrifices, who
|
|
had so bravely made an atonement (so some read it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>)
|
|
|
|
by offering up the sinners. Note, It is the honour of saints to be
|
|
zealous against sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. They continued their murmurings to the very last of their
|
|
wanderings; for in the fortieth year they <I>angered God at the waters
|
|
of strife</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
which refers to that story,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+20:3-5">Num. xx. 3-5</A>.
|
|
|
|
And that which aggravated it now was that <I>it went ill with Moses for
|
|
their sakes;</I> for, though he was the meekest of all the men in the
|
|
earth, yet their clamours at that time were so peevish and provoking
|
|
that they put him into a passion, and, having now grown very old and
|
|
off his guard, <I>he spoke unadvisedly with his lips</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
and not as became him on that occasion; for he said in a heat, <I>Hear
|
|
now, you rebels, must we fetch water out of this rock for you?</I> This
|
|
was Moses's infirmity, and is written for our admonition, that we may
|
|
learn, when we are in the midst of provocation, to keep our mouth as
|
|
with a bridle
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:1-3">Ps. xxxix. 1-3</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to <I>take heed to our spirits,</I> that they admit not resentments
|
|
too much; for, when the spirit is provoked, it is much ado, even for
|
|
those that have a great deal of wisdom and grace, not to <I>speak
|
|
unadvisedly.</I> But it is charged upon the people as their sin:
|
|
<I>They provoked his spirit</I> with that with which they angered God
|
|
himself. Note, We must answer not only for our own passions, but for
|
|
the provocation which by them we give to the passions of others,
|
|
especially of those who, if not greatly provoked, would be meek and
|
|
quiet. God shows his displeasure against this sin of theirs by shutting
|
|
Moses and Aaron out of Canaan for their misconduct upon this occasion,
|
|
by which,
|
|
|
|
(1.) God discovered his resentment of all such intemperate heats, even
|
|
in the dearest of his servants. If he deals thus severely with Moses
|
|
for one unadvised word, what does their sin deserve who have spoken so
|
|
many presumptuous wicked words? <I>If this was done in the green tree,
|
|
what shall be done in the dry?</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) God deprived them of the blessing of Moses's guidance and
|
|
government at a time when they most needed it, so that his death was
|
|
more a punishment to them than to himself. It is just with God to
|
|
remove those relations from us that are blessings to us, when we are
|
|
peevish and provoking to them and grieve their spirits.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ps106_48"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Provocation of Israel in the Wilderness; The Divine Compassion.</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>34 They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
commanded them:
|
|
35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
|
|
36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
|
|
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto
|
|
devils,
|
|
38 And shed innocent blood, <I>even</I> the blood of their sons and
|
|
of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of
|
|
Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
|
|
39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a
|
|
whoring with their own inventions.
|
|
40 Therefore was the wrath of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> kindled against his
|
|
people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
|
|
41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that
|
|
hated them ruled over them.
|
|
42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought
|
|
into subjection under their hand.
|
|
43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked <I>him</I> with
|
|
their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
|
|
44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard
|
|
their cry:
|
|
45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented
|
|
according to the multitude of his mercies.
|
|
46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried
|
|
them captives.
|
|
47 Save us, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God, and gather us from among the
|
|
heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, <I>and</I> to triumph in
|
|
thy praise.
|
|
48 Blessed <I>be</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel from everlasting to
|
|
everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. The narrative concludes with an account of Israel's conduct in
|
|
Canaan, which was of a piece with that in the wilderness, and God's
|
|
dealings with them, wherein, as all along, both justice and mercy
|
|
appeared.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They were very provoking to God. The miracles and mercies which
|
|
settled them in Canaan made no more deep and durable impressions upon
|
|
them than those which fetched them out of Egypt; for by the time they
|
|
were just settled in Canaan they corrupted themselves, and forsook God.
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The steps of their apostasy.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They spared the nations which God had doomed to destruction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>);
|
|
|
|
when they had got the good land God had promised them they had no zeal
|
|
against the wicked inhabitants whom the Lord commanded them to
|
|
extirpate, pretending pity; but so merciful is God that no man needs to
|
|
be in any case more compassionate than he.
|
|
|
|
[2.] When they spared them they promised themselves that,
|
|
notwithstanding this, they would not join in any dangerous affinity
|
|
with them. But the way of sin is down-hill; omissions make way for
|
|
commissions; when they neglect to <I>destroy the heathen</I> the next
|
|
news we hear is, They were <I>mingled among the heathen,</I> made
|
|
leagues with them and contracted an intimacy with them, so that they
|
|
<I>learned their works,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
That which is rotten will sooner corrupt that which is sound than be
|
|
cured or made sound by it.
|
|
|
|
[3.] When they mingled with them, and learned some of their works that
|
|
seemed innocent diversions and entertainments, yet they thought they
|
|
would never join with them in their worship; but by degrees they
|
|
learned that too
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They served their idols</I> in the same manner, and with the same
|
|
rites, that they served them; and they became <I>a snare to them.</I>
|
|
That sin drew on many more, and brought the judgments of God upon them,
|
|
which they themselves could not but be sensible of and yet knew not how
|
|
to recover themselves.
|
|
|
|
[4.] When they joined with them in some of their idolatrous services,
|
|
which they thought had least harm in them, they little thought that
|
|
ever they should be guilty of that barbarous and inhuman piece of
|
|
idolatry the sacrificing of their living children to their dead gods;
|
|
but they came to that at last
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:37,38"><I>v.</I> 37, 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
in which Satan triumphed over his worshippers, and regaled himself in
|
|
blood and slaughter: <I>They sacrificed their sons and daughters,</I>
|
|
pieces of themselves, to devils, and added murder, the most unnatural
|
|
murder, to their idolatry; one cannot think of it without horror. They
|
|
<I>shed innocent blood,</I> the most innocent, for it was infant-blood,
|
|
nay, it was the <I>blood of their sons and their daughters.</I> See the
|
|
power of the spirit that works in the children of disobedience, and see
|
|
his malice. The beginning of idolatry and superstition, like that of
|
|
strife, is as the letting forth of water, and there is no villany which
|
|
those that venture upon it can be sure they shall stop short of, for
|
|
God justly <I>gives them up to a reprobate mind,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:28">Rom. i. 28</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Their sin was, in part, their own punishment; for by it,
|
|
|
|
[1.] They wronged their country: <I>The land was polluted with
|
|
blood,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
That pleasant land, that holy land, was rendered uncomfortable to
|
|
themselves, and unfit to receive those kind tokens of God's favour and
|
|
presence in it which were designed to be its honour.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They wronged their consciences
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They went a whoring with their own inventions,</I> and so debauched
|
|
their own minds, and were <I>defiled with their own works,</I> and
|
|
rendered odious in the eyes of the holy God, and perhaps of their own
|
|
consciences.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. God brought his judgments upon them; and what else could be
|
|
expected? For his name is Jealous, and he is a jealous God.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He fell out with them for it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was angry with them: <I>The wrath of God,</I> that consuming fire,
|
|
<I>was kindled against his people;</I> for from them he took it as more
|
|
insulting and ungrateful than from the heathen that never knew him.
|
|
Nay, he was sick of them: <I>He abhorred his own inheritance,</I> which
|
|
once he had taken pleasure in; yet the change was not in him, but in
|
|
them. This is the worst thing in sin, that it makes us loathsome to
|
|
God; and the nearer any are to God in profession the more loathsome are
|
|
they if they rebel against him, like a dunghill at our door.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Their enemies then fell upon them, and, their defence having
|
|
departed, made an easy prey of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:41,42"><I>v.</I> 41, 42</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He gave them into the hands of the heathen.</I> Observe here how the
|
|
punishment answered to the sin: They <I>mingled with the heathen and
|
|
learned their works;</I> from them they willingly took the infection of
|
|
sin, and therefore God justly made use of them as the instruments of
|
|
their correction. Sinners often see themselves ruined by those by whom
|
|
they have suffered themselves to be debauched. Satan, who is a tempter,
|
|
will be a tormentor. The heathen hated them. Apostates lose all the
|
|
love on God's side, and get none on Satan's; and when those that
|
|
<I>hated them ruled over them,</I> and they were brought into
|
|
subjection under them, no marvel that they oppressed them and ruled
|
|
them with rigour; and thus God made them know the difference between
|
|
<I>his service and the service of the kings of the countries,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+12:8">2 Chron. xii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) When God granted them some relief, yet they went on in their sins,
|
|
and their troubles also were continued,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
This refers to the days of the Judges, when God often raised up
|
|
deliverers and wrought deliverances for them, and yet they relapsed to
|
|
idolatry and <I>provoked God with their counsel,</I> their idolatrous
|
|
inventions, to deliver them up to some other oppressor, so that at last
|
|
they <I>were brought</I> very <I>low for their iniquity.</I> Those that
|
|
by sin disparage themselves, and will not by repentance humble
|
|
themselves, are justly debased, and humbled, and brought low, by the
|
|
judgments of God.
|
|
|
|
(4.) At length they cried unto God, and God returned in favour to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:44-46"><I>v.</I> 44-46</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were chastened for their sins, but not destroyed, cast down, but
|
|
not cast off. God appeared for them,
|
|
|
|
[1.] As a God of mercy, who looked upon their grievances, <I>regarded
|
|
their affliction, beheld when distress was upon them</I> (so some), who
|
|
looked over their complaints, for he <I>heard their cry</I> with tender
|
|
compassion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+3:7">Exod. iii. 7</A>)
|
|
|
|
and overlooked their provocations; for though he had said, and had
|
|
reason to say it, that he would destroy them, yet he <I>repented,
|
|
according to the multitude of his mercies,</I> and reversed the
|
|
sentence. Though he is not a <I>man that he should repent,</I> so as to
|
|
change his mind, yet he is a gracious God, who pities us, and changes
|
|
his way.
|
|
|
|
[2.] As a God of truth, who <I>remembered for them his covenant,</I>
|
|
and made good every word that he had spoken; and therefore, bad as they
|
|
were, he would not break with them, because he would not break his own
|
|
promise.
|
|
|
|
[3.] As a God of power, who has all hearts in his hand, and turns them
|
|
which way soever he pleases. <I>He made them to be pitied even of those
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that carried them captives,</I> and hated them, and ruled them with
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rigour. He not only restrained the remainder of their enemies' wrath,
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that it should not utterly consume them, but he infused compassion even
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into their stony hearts, and made them relent, which was more than any
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art of man could have done with the utmost force of rhetoric. Note, God
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can change lions into lambs, and, <I>when a man's ways please the
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Lord,</I> will make even <I>his enemies to pity him</I> and <I>be at
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peace with him.</I> When God pities men shall. <I>Tranquillus Deus
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tranquillat omnia--A God at peace with us makes every thing at
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peace.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. The psalm concludes with prayer and praise.
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1. Prayer for the completing of his people's deliverance. Even when the
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Lord brought back the captivity of his people still there was occasion
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to pray, <I>Lord, turn again our captivity</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+126:1,4">Ps. cxxvi. 1, 4</A>);
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so here
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>),
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<I>Save us, O Lord our God! and gather us from among the heathen.</I>
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We may suppose that many who were forced into foreign countries, in the
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times of the Judges (as Naomi was,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:1">Ruth i. 1</A>),
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had not returned in the beginning of David's reign, Saul's time being
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discouraging, and therefore it was seasonable to pray, Lord, gather the
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dispersed Israelites <I>from among the heathen, to give thanks to thy
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holy name,</I> not only that they may have cause to give thanks and
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hearts to give thanks, that they may have opportunity to do it in the
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courts of the Lord's house, from which they were now banished, and so
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may <I>triumph in thy praise,</I> over those that had in scorn
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challenged them to <I>sing the Lord's song in a strange land.</I>
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2. Praise for the beginning and progress of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:48"><I>v.</I> 48</A>):
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<I>Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to
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everlasting.</I> He is a blessed God from eternity, and will be so to
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|
eternity, and so let him be praised by all his worshippers. Let the
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priests say this, and then <I>let all the people say, Amen,
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Hallelujah,</I> in token of their cheerful concurrence in all these
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prayers, praises, and confessions. According to this rubric, or
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directory, we find that when this psalm (or at least the closing verses
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of it) was sung all the people said <I>Amen,</I> and praised the Lord
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by saying, <I>Hallelujah.</I> By these two comprehensive words it is
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very proper, in religious assemblies, to testify their joining with
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their ministers in the prayers and praises which, as their mouth, they
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offer up to God, according to his will, saying <I>Amen</I> to the
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prayers and <I>Hallelujah</I> to the praises.</P>
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