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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms LIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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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 LIII.</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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God speaks once, yea, twice, and it were well if man would even then
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perceive it; God, in this psalm, speaks twice, for this is the same
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almost verbatim with the fourteenth psalm. The scope of it is to
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convince us of our sins, to set us a blushing and trembling because of
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them; and this is what we are with so much difficulty brought to that
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there is need of line upon line to this purport. The word, as a
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convincing word, is compared to a hammer, the strokes whereof must be
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frequently repeated. God, by the psalmist here,
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I. Shows us how bad we are,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:1">ver. 1</A>.
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II. Proves it upon us by his own certain knowledge,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>.
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III. He speaks terror to persecutors, the worst of sinners,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>.
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IV. He speaks encouragement to God's persecuted people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:6">ver. 6</A>.
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Some little variation there is between
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:1-7,53:1-6">Ps. 14 and this</A>,
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but none considerable, only between
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:5,6,53:5">ver. 5, 6</A>,
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there, and
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:5,6,53:5">ver. 5</A>
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here; some expressions there used are here left out, concerning the
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shame which the wicked put upon God's people, and instead of that, is
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here foretold the shame which God would put upon the wicked, which
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alteration, with some others, he made by divine direction when he
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delivered it the second time to the chief musician. In singing it we
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ought to lament the corruption of the human nature, and the wretched
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degeneracy of the world we live in, yet rejoicing in hope of the great
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salvation.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps53_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps53_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps53_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps53_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps53_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps53_6"> </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>Human Depravity.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>To the chief musician upon Mahalath, Maschil. <I>A psalm</I> of David.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The fool hath said in his heart, <I>There is</I> no God.
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Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: <I>there is</I>
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none that doeth good.
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2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see
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if there were <I>any</I> that did understand, that did seek God.
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3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become
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filthy; <I>there is</I> none that doeth good, no, not one.
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4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my
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people <I>as</I> they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
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5 There were they in great fear, <I>where</I> no fear was: for God
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hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth <I>against</I> thee:
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thou hast put <I>them</I> to shame, because God hath despised them.
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6 Oh that the salvation of Israel <I>were come</I> out of Zion! When
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God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall
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rejoice, <I>and</I> Israel shall be glad.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This psalm was opened before, and therefore we shall here only observe,
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in short, some things concerning sin, in order to the increasing of our
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sorrow for it and hatred of it.
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1. The fact of sin. Is that proved? Can the charge be made out? Yes,
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God is a witness to it, an unexceptionable witness: from the place of
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his holiness he looks on the children of men, and sees how little good
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there is among them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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All the sinfulness of their hearts and lives in naked and open before
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him.
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2. The fault of sin. Is there any harm in it? Yes, it is iniquity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:1,4"><I>v.</I> 1, 4</A>);
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it is an unrighteous thing; it is that which there is no good in
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:1,3"><I>v.</I> 1, 3</A>);
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it is an evil thing; it is the worst of evils; it is that which makes
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this world such an evil world as it is; it is going back from God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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3. The fountain of sin. How comes it that men are so bad? Surely it is
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because <I>there is no fear of God before their eyes:</I> they <I>say
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in their hearts, "There is no God</I> at all to call us to an account,
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none that we need to stand in awe of." Men's bad practices flow from
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their bad principles; if they profess to know God, yet in works,
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because in thoughts, they deny him.
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4. The folly of sin. He is a fool (in the account of God, whose
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judgment we are sure is right) that harbours such corrupt thoughts.
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Atheists, whether in opinion or practice, are the greatest fools in the
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world. Those that do not seek God do not understand; they are like
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brute-beasts that have no understanding; for man is distinguished from
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the brutes, not so much by the powers of reason as by a capacity for
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religion. <I>The workers of iniquity,</I> whatever they pretend to,
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<I>have no knowledge;</I> those may truly be said to know nothing that
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do not know God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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5. The filthiness of sin. Sinners are corrupt
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>);
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their nature is vitiated and spoiled, and the more noble the nature is
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the more vile it is when it is depraved, as that of the angels.
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<I>Corruptio optimi est pessima--The best things, when corrupted,
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become the worst.</I> Their iniquity is abominable; it is odious to the
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holy God, and it renders them so; whereas otherwise he <I>hates nothing
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that he has made.</I> It makes men filthy, altogether filthy. Wilful
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sinners are offensive in the nostrils of the God of heaven and of the
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holy angels. What decency soever proud sinners pretend to, it is
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certain that wickedness is the greatest defilement in the world.
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6. The fruit of sin. See to what a degree of barbarity it brings men at
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last; when men's hearts are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin
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see their cruelty to their brethren, that are bone of their
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bone--because they will not <I>run with them to the same excess of
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riot,</I> they <I>eat them up as they eat bread;</I> as if they had not
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only become beasts, but beasts of prey. And see their contempt of God
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at the same time. <I>They have not called upon</I> him, but scorn to be
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beholden to him.
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7. The fear and shame that attend sin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>There were those in great fear</I> who had made God their enemy;
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their own guilty consciences frightened them, and filled them with
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horror, though otherwise there was no apparent cause of fear. <I>The
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wicked flees when none pursues.</I> See the ground of this fear; it is
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because God has formerly <I>scattered the bones of those that encamped
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against</I> his people, not only broken their power and dispersed their
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forces, but slain them, and reduced their bodies to dry bones, like
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those <I>scattered at the grave's mouth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+141:7">Ps. cxli. 7</A>.
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Such will be the fate of those that lay siege to the <I>camp of the
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saints and the beloved city,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+20:9">Rev. xx. 9</A>.
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The apprehensions of this cannot but put those into frights that eat up
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God's people. This enables the virgin, the daughter of Zion, to put
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them to shame, and expose them, <I>because God has despised them,</I>
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to laugh at them, because he that sits in heaven laughs at them. We
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need not look upon those enemies with fear whom God looks upon with
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contempt. If he despises them, we may.
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8. The faith of the saints, and their hope and power touching the cure
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of this great evil,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+53:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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There will come a Saviour, a great salvation, a salvation from sin. Oh
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that it might be hastened! for it will bring in glorious and joyful
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times. There were those in the Old-Testament times that looked and
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hoped, that prayed and waited, for this redemption.
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(1.) God will, in due time, save his church from the sinful malice of
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its enemies, which will bring joy to Jacob and Israel, that have long
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been in a mournful melancholy state. Such salvations were often
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wrought, and all typical of the everlasting triumphs of the glorious
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church.
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(2.) He will save all believers from their own iniquities, that they
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may not be led captive by them, which will be everlasting matter of joy
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to them. From this work the Redeemer had his name--<I>Jesus,</I> for
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<I>he shall save his people from their sins,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:21">Matt. i. 21</A>.</P>
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