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Psalm Seventy-six
Psalm 76
Chapter Contents
The psalmist speaks of God's power. (1-6) All have to
fear and to trust in him. (7-12)
Commentary on Psalm 76:1-6
(Read Psalm 76:1-6)
Happy people are those who have their land filled with
the knowledge of God! happy persons that have their hearts filled with that
knowledge! It is the glory and happiness of a people to have God among them by
his ordinances. Wherein the enemies of the church deal proudly, it will appear
that God is above them. See the power of God's rebukes. With pleasure may
Christians apply this to the advantages bestowed by the Redeemer.
Commentary on Psalm 76:7-12
(Read Psalm 76:7-12)
God's people are the meek of the earth, the quiet in the
land, that suffer wrong, but do none. The righteous God seems to keep silence
long, yet, sooner or later, he will make judgment to be heard. We live in an
angry, provoking world; we often feel much, and are apt to fear more, from the
wrath of man. What will not turn to his praise, shall not be suffered to break
out. He can set bounds to the wrath of man, as he does to the raging sea;
hitherto it shall come, and no further. Let all submit to God. Our prayers and
praises, and especially our hearts, are the presents we should bring to the
Lord. His name is glorious, and he is the proper object of our fear. He shall
cut off the spirit of princes; he shall slip it off easily, as we slip off a
flower from the stalk, or a bunch of grapes from the vine; so the word
signifies. He can dispirit the most daring: since there is no contending with
God, it is our wisdom, as it is our duty, to submit to him. Let us seek his
favour as our portion, and commit all our concerns to him.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 76
Verse 2
[2] In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place
in Zion.
Salem — In Jerusalem, which was anciently called Salem.
Zion — Largely so called, as it includes Moriah, an adjoining
hill.
Verse 3
[3] There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and
the sword, and the battle. /*Selah*/.
There — At Jerusalem.
Sword — Both offensive and defensive weapons.
Battle — All the power of the army, which was put in
battle-array.
Verse 4
[4] Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains
of prey.
Thou — O God.
Than — The greatest kings and empires of the earth, which in
prophetic writings are often compared to mountains. And they are called
mountains of prey, because they generally were established by tyranny, and
maintained by preying upon their own subjects, or other kingdoms.
Verse 5
[5] The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their
sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
Sleep — Even a perpetual sleep.
Verse 6
[6] At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and
horse are cast into a dead sleep.
Chariot — The men who rode upon, and fought from chariots and
horses.
Verse 8
[8] Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the
earth feared, and was still,
Thou — Didst execute judgment upon thine enemies, by an angel
from heaven: which is said to be heard, either because it was accompanied with
thunders and earthquakes, or because the fame of it was quickly spread abroad.
Feared — The rest of the world were afraid to disturb Israel.
Verse 10
[10] Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder
of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Surely — The furious attempts of thine enemies, shall cause thy
people and others to praise thee for thy admirable wisdom, power, and
faithfulness.
Verse 11
[11] Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be
round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
Vow — A sacrifice of thanksgiving for this wonderful
deliverance.
Let all — All the neighboring nations submit to the God of
Israel.
Verse 12
[12] He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible
to the kings of the earth.
Cut off — As men do their grapes in time of vintage; so the
Hebrew verb implies.
The spirit — Their breath and life, as he did
in the Assyrian army.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
TITLE. To the
Chief Musician on Neginoth. The Precentor is here instructed to perform
this song to the music of stringed instruments. The master of the harpers was
called for his most skilful minstrelsy, and truly the song is worthy of the
sweetest sounds that strings can yield. A Psalm or Song of Asaph. The
style and matter indicate the same hand as that which wrote the preceding; and
it is an admirable arrangement which placed the two in juxtaposition. Faith in
the 75th Psalm sung of victories to come, and here it sings of triumphs
achieved. The present Psalm is a most jubilant war song, a paean to the King of
kings, the hymn of a theocratic nation to its divine ruler. We have no need to
mark divisions in a song where the unity is so well preserved.
Verse
1. In Judah is God known. If unknown in all the world beside,
he has so revealed himself to his people by his deeds of grace, that he is no
unknown God to them. His name is great in Israel. To be known, in the Lord's
case, is to be honoured: those who know his name admire the greatness of it.
Although Judah and Israel were unhappily divided politically, yet the godly of
both nations were agreed concerning Jehovah their God; and truly whatever
schisms may mar the visible church, the saints always "appear as one"
in magnifying the Lord their God. Dark is the outer world, but within the
favoured circle Jehovah is revealed, and is the adoration of all who behold
him. The world knows him not, and therefore blasphemes him, but his church is
full of ardour to proclaim his fame unto the ends of the earth.
Verse
2. In Salem also is his tabernacle. In the peaceful city he
dwells, and the peace is perpetuated, because there his sacred tent is pitched.
The church of God is the place where the Lord abides and he is to her the Lord
and giver of peace. And his dwelling place in Zion. Upon the chosen hill was
the palace of Israel's Lord. It is the glory of the church that the Redeemer
inhabits her by his Holy Spirit. Vain are the assaults of the enemy, for they
attack not us alone, but the Lord himself. Immanuel, God with us, finds a home
among his people, who then shall work us ill?
Verse
3. There brake he the arrows of the bow. Without leaving his
tranquil abode, he sent forth his word and snapped the arrows of his enemies
before they could shoot them. The idea is sublime, and marks the ease,
completeness, and rapidity of the divine action. The shield, and the sword, and
the battle. Every weapon, offensive and defensive, the Lord dashed in pieces;
death bearing bolts and life preserving armour were alike of no avail when the
Breaker sent forth his word of power. In the spiritual conflicts of this and every
age, the like will be seen; no weapon that is formed against the church shall
prosper, and every tongue that rises against her in judgment, she shall
condemn. Selah. It is meet that we should dwell on so soul stirring a theme,
and give the Lord our grateful adoration,—hence a pause is inserted.
Verse
4. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of
prey. Far more is Jehovah to be extolled than all the invading powers which
sought to oppress his people, though they were for power and greatness
comparable to mountains. Assyria had pillaged the nations till it had become
rich with mountains of spoil, this was talked of among men as glory, but the
psalmist despised such renown, and declares that the Lord was far more
illustrious. What are the honours of war but brags of murder? What the fame of
conquerors but the reek of manslaughter? But the Lord is glorious in holiness,
and his terrible deeds are done in justice for the defence of the weak and the
deliverance of the enslaved. Mere power may be glorious, but it is not
excellent: when we behold the mighty acts of the Lord, we see a perfect
blending of the two qualities.
Verse
5. The stouthearted are spoiled. They came to spoil, and lo!
they are spoiled themselves. Their stout hearts are cold in death, the angel of
the pestilence has dried up their life blood, their very heart is taken from
them. They have slept their sleep. Their last sleep—the sleep of death. And
none of the men of might have found their hands. Their arms are palsied, they
cannot lift a finger, for the rigour of death has stiffened them. What a scene
was that when Sennacherib's host was utterly destroyed in one night. The hands
which were furious to pull down Jerusalem, could not even be raised from the
sod, the most valiant warriors were as weak as the palsied cripples at the
temple gate, yea, their eyes they could not open, a deep sleep sealed their
vision in everlasting darkness. O God, how terrible art thou! Thus shalt thou
fight for us, and in the hour of peril overthrow the enemies of thy gospel.
Therefore in thee will we trust and not be afraid.
Verse
6. At thy rebuke. A word accomplished all, there was no need
of a single blow. O God of Jacob. God of thy wrestling people, who again like
their father supplant their enemy; God of the covenant and the promise, thou
hast in this gracious character fought for thine elect nation. Both the chariot
and horse are cast into a dead sleep. They will neither neigh nor rattle again;
still are the trampings of the horses and the crash of the cars; the calvary no
more creates its din. The Israelites always had a special fear of horses and
scythed chariots; and, therefore, the sudden stillness of the entire force of
the enemy in this department is made the theme of special rejoicing. The horses
were stretched on the ground, and the chariots stood still, as if the whole
camp had fallen asleep. Thus can the Lord send a judicial sleep over the
enemies of the church, a premonition of the second death, and this he can do
when they are in the zenith of power; and, as they imagine, in the very act of
blotting out the remembrance of his people. The world's Rabshakahs can write
terrible letters, but the Lord answers not with pen and ink, but with rebukes,
which bear death in every syllable.
Verse
7. Thou, even thou, art to be feared. Not Sennacherib, nor
Nisroch his god, but Jehovah alone, who with a silent rebuke had withered all
the monarch's host.
"Fear
him, ye saints, and then ye shall
Have nothing else to fear."
The
fear of man is a snare, but the fear of God is a great virtue, and has great
power for good over the human mind. God is to be feared profoundly,
continually, and alone. Let all worship be to him only. And who may stand in
thy sight when once thou art angry? Who indeed? The angels fell when their
rebellion provoked his justice; Adam lost his place in Paradise in the same
manner; Pharaoh and other proud monarchs passed away at his frown; neither is
there in earth or hell any who can abide the terror of his wrath. How blest are
they who are sheltered in the atonement of Jesus, and hence have no cause to
fear the righteous anger of the Judge of all the earth.
Verse
8. Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven. So
complete an overthrow was evidently a judgment from heaven; those who saw it
not, yet heard the report of it, and said, "This is the finger of
God." Man will not hear God's voice if he can help it, but God takes care
to cause it to be heard. The echoes of that judgment executed on the haughty
Assyrian are heard still, and will ring on down all the ages, to the praise of
divine justice. The earth feared and was still. All nations trembled at the
tidings, and sat in humbled awe. Repose followed the former turmoils of war,
when the oppressor's power was broken, and God was reverenced for having given
quiet to the peoples. How readily can Jehovah command an audience! It may be
that in the latter days he will, by some such miracles of power in the realms
of grace, constrain all earth's inhabitants to attend to the gospel, and submit
to the reign of his all glorious Son. So be it, good Lord.
Verse
9. When God arose to judgment. Men were hushed when he
ascended the judgment seat and actively carried out the decrees of justice.
When God is still the people are in tumult; when he arises they are still as a
stone. To save all the meek of the earth. The Ruler of men has a special eye
towards the poor and despised; he makes it his first point to right all their
wrongs. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." They
have little enough of it now, but their avenger is strong and he will surely
save them. He who saves his people is the same God who overthrows their
enemies; he is as omnipotent to save as to destroy. Glory be unto his name.
Selah. Here pause, and let devout contemplation adore the God of Jacob.
Verse
10. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee. It shall not
only be overcome but rendered subservient to thy glory. Man with his breath of
threatening is but blowing the trumpet of the Lord's eternal fame. Furious winds
often drive vessels the more swiftly into port. The devil blows the fire and
melts the iron, and then the Lord fashions it for his own purposes. Let men and
devils rage as they may, they cannot do otherwise than subserve the divine
purposes. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Malice is tethered and
cannot break its bounds. The fire which cannot be utilised shall be damped.
Some read it "thou shalt gird, "as if the Lord girded on the wrath of
man as a sword to be used for his own designs, and certainly men of the world
are often a sword in the hand of God, to scourge others. The verse clearly
teaches that even the most rampant evil is under the control of the Lord, and
will in the end be overruled for his praise.
Verse
11. Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God. Well may we do so in
memory of such mercies and judgments. To vow or not is a matter of choice, but
to discharge our vows is our bounden duty. He who would defraud God, his own
God, is a wretch indeed. He keeps his promises, let not his people fail in
theirs. He is their faithful God and deserves to have a faithful people. Let
all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
Let surrounding nations submit to the only living God, let his own people with
alacrity present their offerings, and let his priests and Levites be leaders in
the sacred sacrifice. He who deserves to be praised as our God does, should not
have mere verbal homage, but substantial tribute. Dread Sovereign, behold I
give myself to thee.
Verse
12. He shall cut off the spirit of princes. Their courage,
skill, and life are in his hands, and he can remove them as a gardener cuts off
a slip from a plant. None are great in his hand. Caesars and Napoleons fall
under his power as the boughs of the tree beneath the woodman's axe. He is
terrible to the kings of the earth. While they are terrible to others, he is
terrible to them. If they oppose themselves to his people, he will make short
work of them; they shall perish before the terror of his arm, "for the Lord
is a man of war, the Lord is his name." Rejoice before him all ye who
adore the God of Jacob.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalm 75 than this, which
is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments
(vid.) iv. 1, a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God
of Jacob, Ps 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Ps 75:9
76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship.
In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalm 75 prepares the way for the
divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalm 76 celebrates as having taken
place. Franz Delitzsch.
Verse
1. In Judah is God known. God is truly and savingly known
only in and through his Son; God indeed is obscurely and darkly known in his works,
as a God of power; in his providence, as a God of authority, wisdom, and order;
in his common mercies, as a God of bounty; and in his punishments and
judgments, as a God of justice; but in Christ opened and preached in the
gospel, God is known with a clear, a comfortable, and saving knowledge, as a
father of grace and singular mercy and lovingkindness. In Judah (saith
the psalmist) is God known: his name is great in Israel. In Judah, in
his church, where his word and ordinances are, where Christ is preached and the
mystery of man's salvation is opened, there God is known truly without
error, perspicuously without obscurities, and savingly without
uncertainties; there he is known as a King in his courts, for the glory
and beauty which he there manifests; as a teacher in his school, for the
wisdom and knowledge which he there dispenses; as a dweller in his
house, for the holy orders he there prescribes, and gracious rule and dominion
he there erects and beareth in the souls of his servants; as a bridegroom
in the banqueting house, for the spiritual dainties he there maketh, for the
clear and open manifestation of himself, and love and comforts he there
ministereth to his spiritual friends and guests; and his name is great in
Israel; his power, wisdom, truth, love, and goodness is much magnified and
very glorious in their apprehensions who know him in Christ Jesus. Alexander
Grosse.
Verse
1. His name. By the name of God here, God himself is
understood; for in so many good effects as God uttereth himself towards his
kirk, so many names he giveth to himself whereby he may be praised of
her. As for example, when he promises unto his kirk freely grace and mercy, his
kirk giveth him a name, and calleth him merciful. When he keepeth his
promise, and uttereth himself a faithful God to his kirk, his kirk giveth him a
name, and calleth him a true God. When he delivereth his kirk out of
danger, and sheweth him a mighty God, and terrible against his enemies, the
kirk giveth him a name, and calleth him a potent God, and so forth in
the rest of his effects: so that by the name of God is understood here
God himself, as God maketh himself to be known in his wonderful works. Robert
Bruce.
Verse
1. His name is great in Israel. Properly the great name in
Israel, that is, the church, is the name of Jesus, which is great, first, by
its efficacy: for it signifies Saviour. There is no other name under heaven by
which we must be saved. Secondly, it is great in dignity: for it is the name
that is above every name... Thirdly, it is great in the breadth if its range,
Ps 8:1: How excellent is thy name in all the earth. Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse
2. In Salem also is his tabernacle. It is not without meaning
that Jerusalem has the appellation of Salem; for it is thereby
insinuated that the tabernacle of God, notwithstanding the assault of
foes, in the very heart of the tumults of war remained in peace. How
much more now that the invaders had been overthrown, would prosperity be
enjoyed? Hermann Venema.
Verse
2. In Salem also is his tabernacle. God the Holy Ghost is a
spirit of peace, he is the comforter; he seals up peace (2Co 1:22). This
blessed dove brings the olive branch of peace in his mouth: now a peaceable
disposition evidences something of God in a man, therefore God loves to dwell
there. "In Salem is God's tabernacle:" Salem signifies peace; God
dwells in a peaceable spirit. Thomas Watson.
Verse
2. In Salem also is his tabernacle, etc. All the old
versions, as well as the two English ones, have missed one especial force of
this passage. There is no direct reference in words to any human habitation,
but to the lair of the Lion of Judah. The word wkm does not only mean his
tabernacle, but his covert, and is so translated in another place
(Jer 25:38): "He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion; "and the
vaguer word wtgwem which succeeds may well be translated by "den, "or
some equivalent phrase. Ps 10:9. Simon De Muis.
Verses
2-3. The care of Salem, or Zion, lies at the bottom of all God's
powerful acting and workings among the sons of men. Every mighty work of God
throughout the world may be prefaced with these two verses. The whole course of
affairs in the world in steered by Providence in reference to the good of
Salem. John Owen.
Verse
3. There. Observe how it is said, There he brake,
namely, in his temple, his habitation there. For unto that his temple doth the
coherence in the verse afore carry it, for that was last in mention, and with
the greatest emphasis. In the story we read how that Sennacherib's overthrow
was from Hezekiah's prayer in the temple; for upon Sennacherib's letter, and
Hezekiah's hearsay of the blasphemy, he took himself thither, went instantly
into the temple, and began his prayer thus: "O thou God of Israel, that dwellest
between the cherubims." He invocates him under that style of his dwelling
in the holiest, and so hearing prayers there. Thus you have it recorded both in
Isaiah and in 2Ki 19:15. And how suitably, in answer hereunto, it is said here
in the Psalm, that God gave forth sentence presently out of his tabernacle,
yea, and that so suddenly too, as that the very execution is said to be done
there, that is, from thence. And yet again, in the eighth verse of the Psalm,
it is said to be a sentence from heaven too; Thou didst cause judgment
(so called because it was the sentence of God as a judge) to be heard from
heaven. Thus Hezekiah prayed, and thus God heard; and both as in the
temple. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse
3. There. These men, to wit the King of Asshur and his
accomplices, came to cast out God out of his dwelling place; but he stood to
the defence of his own house, and showed them that he would not remove for
their pleasure. Robert Bruce.
Verse
4. God was not known in Babylon, in Egypt, in other nations, his
tabernacle and dwelling place was not amongst them, therefore they were not
glorious. But see what is in the fourth verse, Thou art more glorious and
excellent than the mountains of prey; thou Judah, thou Israel, thou Salem,
thou Zion, that hast spiritual mercies and blessings, art more glorious than
they, whatever their glory be. Have the nations abroad goodly towers? thou hast
the temple; have they stately cities? thou hast Jerusalem, the city of God;
have they wise men? thou hast the prophets; have they gods of gold, silver, and
stones; thou hast the true living God, Jehovah, to be thy God; have they human
laws that are good? thou hast divine laws that excel; have they temporal
excellencies? thou hast spiritual; have they the glory of the world? thou hast
the glory of heaven. William Greenhill.
Verse
4. The mountains of prey. Why are they called the mountains of
prey? There is a reference to the lairs of the lions in the
mountains, whence they rush forth upon those who come that way, and tear them
in pieces. In the same way the dwelling place of God was represented above
under the title of a tabernacle or lair. Moreover, this is a mystic epithet of
the mountains of Judah, by which it is hinted that the enemies who
venture to approach that lair are wont to be torn in sunder: a terrible example
of which had just been shown in the case of the Assyrian, there overthrown,
torn, and spoiled. Compare Isa 31:4. Hermann Venema.
Verse
5. The stouthearted are spoiled. There is indicated in these
words that consternation of mind which deprives of judgment and power. The
valiant are spoiled of their heart: that is, they who at other times were
wise and courageous have now lost their heart, and have been
reduced to foolishness and stupidity. Hermann Venema.
Verse
5. The stouthearted are spoiled. After the breaking of their
weapons their spoliation is recorded, for that follows the slaughter of foes.
Nor is mention made of that without reason. They had come to spoil, therefore
are they deservedly spoiled. Musculus.
Verse
5. The stouthearted are spoiled. Some translate it, They
are spoiled of their stout heart. The stouthearted, the strong, are
spoiled. The strong man may be spoiled by a stronger; that's a good sense, but
it is more elegantly rendered, they are spoiled of their stout heart;
that is, the Lord takes their heart out of their bosom. Daring men, who fear
nothing, are turned into Magor-missabibs—fear round about; their stout
hearts are taken from them, and they are so far from being a terror to other
men, that they run from the shadow of a man; their courage is down; they cannot
give a child a confident look, much less look dangers or enemies in the face. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse
5. (last clause). The strength and power of a man is in his
hands; if they be gone, all his hope is gone. If a man's sword be taken from
him, he will do what he can with his hands; but if his hands be gone, he may go
to sleep for any disturbance he will work. For men not to find their hands, is
not to have that power for the execution of their designs which formerly they
had. John Owen.
Verse
5. (last clause). As we say of a man that goes lamely or
lazily, "he cannot find his feet; "so of a man that acts lamely or
lazily, or of a soldier that fights faintly and cowardly, he cannot find his
hands. Joseph Caryl.
Verses
5-6.
For
the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever were still!
And
there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride:
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock breaking surf.
And
there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
—George Gordon, Lord Byron.
Verse
6. Cast into a deep sleep. It is observable that the verb
here used is the same as is used in the narrative of the act of Jael, and of
the death of the proud enemy of Israel, Sisera, cast into a deep sleep,
by God's power, working by the hand of a woman. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
7. Thou, even thou, art to be feared. The emphasis in the
word thou, redoubled, implies as much as if he had said, Not
principalities, not powers, not hell, not death, nor anything for themselves,
but thou, O Lord, alone art to be feared. Arguments and reasons to confirm it
are two, here laid down in the text: the first is drawn from God's anger, who
hath decreed, and accordingly executes vengeance upon all the proud. The second
is drawn from his power; not princes, not armies, not men, not angels, are able
to endure the breath of his fury; for, Who may stand in thy sight when once
thou art angry?... The anger of God is a terrible, unspeakable,
unsupportable, intolerable, burden. Every word in the text hath a special
emphasis to prove this. Who may stand? Who? Shall angels? They are but
like refracted beams or rays, if God should hide his face, they would cease to
shine. Shall man? His glory and pomp, like the colours in the rainbow, vanish
away, when God puts forth in anger the brightness of his face. Shall devils? If
he speak the word, they are tumbled down from heaven like lightning. Stand
in thy sight. Stand. What! a reed against a cedar, a thistle in Lebanon
against a cedar in Lebanon; a feather against a flame; a grasshopper against an
Almighty, a head of glass against a rod of brass? When once thou art angry.
Angry. By sending out his wrath, that it wounds like arrows; angry, in
pouring it out, that it drowns like water; angry, in kindling of it, that it
burns like fire; a consuming fire, but you tell me such a fire may be quenched;
an unquenchable fire, but since that may cease to burn, when it lacks matter,
it is in one word an everlasting fire, that never goes out. That, that's it;
such anger as is never fully shown, but in punishment of reprobates; in no
punishment, but that in hell; in none in hell, but that eternal. John
Cragge's "Cabinet of Spiritual Jewells." 1657.
Verse
9. God arose to judgment. This great judgment was wrought
upon the enemies when God rose: it was not done when God sat; for the
whole time when he sat his enemies were aloft, stirring their time, raging in
murder, oppression, and blood... He bringeth in God here after the manner of
earthly judges, after the custom of our judges; for first they sit down, they
try, seek out, and advise, and after consideration they resolve, and after resolution
they rise up, give forth judgment, and pronounce the sentence; even so the
prophet bringeth in God after the same manner; sitting, and after sitting,
rising and pronouncing the sentence. Robert Bruce.
Verse
9. To save all the meek. We see from this passage what care
God takes of the afflicted. When he is angry with the ungodly, he is angry with
them chiefly because they have oppressed the poor and the innocent. Although he
detests all iniquity, yet he is most indignant with that which is committed
against the needy and guiltless. So in Psalm 12, "For the oppression of
the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord."
So in this verse, when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the
earth. Musculus.
Verse
9. Is not this the day when the Saviour comes to reign? the day when
the results of things shall best be seen; the day when every saint with
anointed eye shall see that events all tended to the glory of God; the day when
they shall sing better far than now.
"Surely
the wrath of man praiseth thee.
Thou girdest thyself with the remnant of wrath."
—Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse
10. Surly the wrath of man shall praise thee. Persecutions
tend to correct the failings of good men, and to exercise and illustrate their
several graces and virtues. By these, good men are usually made much better and
more approved, while they tend to exercise our patience, to quicken our
devotion, to evidence out zeal and Christian fortitude, and to show to the
whole world what love we bear to the truth, and how much we are willing to
undergo for the honour of God. Till they have suffered something for it, truth
is too apt to grow cheap and be less prized many times, even by those that are
good men in the main; whereas we are apt on the contrary, never to value it at
a higher rate, or to be more zealous for it, or to make better use of it, than
when it is opposed and persecuted. What more truly beneficial therefore, or
tending to the divine glory, than for God, who useth to bring good out of evil,
to make use also of the opposers of his truth, to rouse up his servants whom he
sees growing more remiss and negligent than they should be, and to suffer such
temptations to assault them, by which their drowsy minds may be spurred on into
a greater love and zeal for the truth, and a deeper sense of the divine benefit
in it, and in general, excited to the more diligent performance of their duty. Richard
Pearson. 1684.
Verse
10. The wrath of man shall praise thee. In the Septuagint it
is, The wrath of man shall keep holy day to thee, shall increase a
festival for thee. God many times gets up in the world on Satan's shoulders.
When matters are ravelled and disordered, he can find out the right end of the
thread, and how to disentangle us again; and when we have spoiled a business,
he can dispose it for good, and make an advantage of those things which seem to
obscure the glory of his name. Thomas Manton.
Verse
10. The wrath of man shall praise thee. The wrath of wicked
men against the people of God is very tributary to his praise.
1.
It puts them upon many subtle devices and cunning stratagems, in frustrating of
which the wisdom of God and his care of his Church is very much illustrated.
2.
The wrath of wicked men impels them to many violent and forcible attempts upon
the people of God to destroy them, and so gives him occasion to manifest his
power in their defence.
3.
It makes them sometimes fit to be his instruments in correcting his people, and
so he vindicates himself from the suspicion of being a patron to sin in them
that are nearest to him, and makes them that hate holiness promote it in his
people, and them that intend them the greatest hurt, to do them the greatest
good.
4.
It administers occasion to him for the manifestation of the power of his grace
in upholding the spirits of his people and the being of his church in despite
of all that enemies can do against them.
5.
It serves very much to adorn God's most signal undertakings for his people in
the world.
6.
It serves to manifest the glory of God's justice upon his people's enemies in
the day when he rises up to avenge himself upon them, when he shall stand over
them, lashing them with scorpions, and at every blow mind their former
cruelties. Here, take that for your inhuman rage against my people at such a
place, and that for your barbarous usage of them at such a time. Now see how
good it is to be imprisoned, beaten, tortured, burnt, and sawn asunder. Thus
the enemies themselves are often constrained to acknowledge with Adoni Bezek
the righteous hand of God upon them in the day of inquisition. Condensed
from John Warren's Sermon before Parliament. 1656.
Verse
10. The wrath of man. Wrath is anger accented unto the highest
pitch, or blown up into a flame. The wrath of man, (in the original it
is The wrath of Adam, or the wrath of clay, weak, impotent man) shall
praise thee, i.e., it shall turn to the praise and glory of God through his
overruling providence, though quite otherwise intended. God will bring honour
to himself, and serve his own holy and wise designs out of it... This
expression, the wrath of man, imports the weakness and impotence of it;
it is but the wrath of Adam, or of red clay. How contemptibly
doth the Spirit of God speak of man, and of the power of man, in Scripture?
"Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to
be accounted of?" The wrath of man, when it is lengthened out to its
utmost boundaries, can only go to the length of killing the body, or in the
breaking the sheath of clay in which the soul lodges, and then it can do no
more. Ebenezer Erskine.
Verse
10. Shall praise thee. God turns the wrath of man to the
praise of his adorable sovereignty. Never have the Lord's people had such awful
impressions of the sovereignty of God, as when they have been in the furnace of
man's wrath, then they become dumb with silence. When the Chaldean and Sabean
robbers are let loose to plunder and spoil the substance of Job, he is made to
view adorable sovereignty in it, saying, "The Lord gave, the Lord hath
taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord." It is in such a case as this
that God says to his own people, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will
be exalted among the heathen." What work of God about the church is
advanced by the wrath of men?
1.
His discovering work; for by the wind of man's wrath he separates
between the precious and the vile, betwixt the chaff and the wheat. In the day
of the church's prosperity and quiet, hypocrites and true believers are mingled
together, like the chaff and the wheat in the barn floor: but the Lord, like
the husbandman, opens the door of his barn, and puts the wind of man's wrath
through it, that the world may know which is which. O, sirs, much chaff is cast
up already, both among ministers and professors; but it is like the wind and
sieve may cast up much more yet ere all be done.
2.
God's purging work is advanced among his own children by the wrath of
men: there is much of the dross of corruption cleaves to the Lord's people
while in the wilderness. Now, the Lord heats the furnace of man's wrath, and
casts his people into it, that when he has tried them, he may bring them forth
as gold.
3.
God's uniting work is hereby advanced. In a time of peace and external
tranquillity the sheep of Christ scatter and divide among themselves; but God
lets loose the dogs upon them, and then the flock runs together; or like pieces
of metal cast into the fire, they run together in a lump.
4.
God's enlarging work, or his work of spreading the gospel, is sometimes
advanced by the wrath of man. Ac 8:1-5. The gospel, like the chamomile, the
more it is trodden upon, the more it spreads. Ebenezer Erskine.
Verse
10. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. The remainder of
wrath, i.e. what is left behind of the wrath of men, when God has glorified
himself thereby. Even after God has defeated the purposes of wicked men, and
made them contribute to his glory, yet there is abundance of wrath remaining.
But what becomes of that wrath that is left? God shall restrain it. The
word signifies to gird up. However God may see fit to slacken the bridle
of his providence, and suffer wicked men to vent their wrath and enmity, as far
as it shall contribute to his glory; yet the super abounding and the remainder
of his wrath that is not for his glory and his people's profit, God will gird
it up, that they shall not get it vented... If any wrath of man remain beyond
what shall bring in a revenue of praise unto God, he will restrain it,
and bind it up like the waters of a mill: he will suffer as much of the current
of water to run upon the wheel, as serves to carry it about and grind his corn,
but the remainder of the water he sets it off another way: so God will let out
as much of the current of man's wrath as shall serve the ends of his glory and
our good, but the remainder of the stream and current he will restrain,
and turn another way. In Isaiah 28 we are told that God will not be aye
"threshing his corn, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise
it with his horsemen. This cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is
wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." All this comfort is sure
and certain, there is not the least peradventure about it, that the flame of
man's wrath shall praise the Lord, and the superfluous fire shall be quenched,
or hemmed in; for here we have God's parole of honour for it: Surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Ebenezer Erskine.
Verse
10. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. twmh Chemoth,
"wrath, "in the plural number, seems to be put in opposition to chamoth,
the single wrath of man in the former part of the verse; to shew there
is more wrath which God is to restrain, than merely that of man. There is also
more pride which needs a like restraint; namely, that of the first Lucifer,
who sinned, and, as is thought, fell by aspiring to ascend, and to be like the
Most High. There are finally, other counsels also, as well as other wrath
and pride, besides human, which God confounds. There is a wisdom that
descendeth not from above (no, nor grows on earth) but is devilish, Jas 3:15.
And both wrath, pride, and wisdom, of devils as well as men,
shall God restrain, when he pleases not to turn them to his praise. Let
there be hellish plots, yet our God shall confound them. From "A Sermon
preached"... before the Queen... By Edward (Wetenhall) Lord Bishop of
Corke and Rosse. 1691.
Verse
10. Thou shalt restrain. This, in the Hebrew, is expressed in
one word, rygxt, which imports the girding or binding of it on every side, that
it shall by no means break out, but shall be kept in, as a dog in a chain, as a
lion in his den, how violent soever. Cornelius Burges, in "Another
Sermon preached to the Honourable House of Commons... November the fifth,
1641."
Verse
11. Round about him. A description of his people, as the
twelve tribes pitched round about the tabernacle, Nu 2:2; and the twenty-four
elders were round about God's throne, Re 4:4. So the Chaldee expounds it;—Ye
that dwell about his sanctuary. Henry Ainsworth.
Verse
12. Cut off. He deals with princes as men deal with a vine. An
axe is too strong for a cluster of grapes, or a sprig of a vine; it easily cuts
them off: so God by a judgment easily cuts off the spirit of princes; they are
not able to stand against the least judgments of God: when he puts strength
into worms, or any other creature they fall. William Greenhill, in a Sermon,
entitled, "The Axe at the Root."
Verse
12. The Lord cuts off the spirit of princes; the word is, he
slips off, as one should slip off a flower between one's fingers, or as one
should slip off a bunch of grapes from a vine, so soon is it done. How great
uncertainty have many great ones, by their miserable experience, found in their
outward glory and worldly felicity! What a change hath a little time made in all
their honours, riches, and delights! That victorious emperor Henry the Fourth,
who had fought fifty-two pitched battles, fell to that poverty before he died,
that he was forced to petition to be a prebend in the church of Spier, to
maintain him in his old age. And Procopius reports of King Gillimer, who was a
potent king of the Vandals, who was so low brought, as to intreat his friends
to send him a sponge, a loaf of bread, and a harp; a sponge to dry up his
tears, a loaf of bread to maintain his life, and a harp to solace himself in
his misery. Philip de Comines reports of a Duke of Exeter, who though he had
married Edward the Fourth's sister, yet he saw him in the Low Countries begging
barefoot. Bellisarius, the chief man living in his time, having his eyes put
out, was led at last in a string, crying, "give a halfpenny to
Bellisarius." Jeremiah Burroughs.
Verse
1. Reverence for God's name proportionate to true knowledge of it.
Verse
2. The peculiar relation of God to his church.
Verse
2. (first clause). A peaceful church the tabernacle of God.
The benefits peace confers, the evils of strife, the causes of dissension, and
the means of promoting unity.
Verse
3. Christian glories, or the victories vouchsafed to the church over
heathenism, heresy, persecution, etc.
Verse
3.
1.
Where enemies are conquered; "There; "not on the battlefield so much
as in the house of God; as Amalek by Moses on the Mount; Sennacherib by
Hezekiah in the Sanctuary.
2.
How there?
(a)
By faith.
(b)
By prayer. "The weapons of our warfare, "etc.
Verse
4. The Lord, our portion, compared with the treasures of empires.
Verse
4.
1.
What the world is, compared with the church: Mountains of prey.
(a)
Cruelty instead of love.
(b) Violence instead of peace.
2.
What the church is compared with the world.
(a)
More glorious, because more excellent.
(b)
More excellent, because more glorious. Both are more real and
abiding. G. R.
Verse
5. They have slept their sleep. Divers kinds of deaths or
sleeps for the various classes of men.
Verse
7. The anger of God. A very suggestive subject.
Verses
8-9.
1.
The characters described: the meek of the earth.
2.
The need implied.
(a)
To be vindicated.
(b) To be saved.
3.
The divine interposition on their behalf: Thou didst cause, etc. When
God arose, etc.
4.
The effect of their deliverance: The earth feared, etc. G. R.
Verse
10.
1.
Evil permitted for good: the wrath, etc.
2. Restrained for good: The remainder, etc.
Or,
1.
Ruled.
2. Overruled. G. R.
Verse
11.
1.
To whom vows may be made. Not to man, but God.
2.
What vows should be thus made.
(a)
Of self dedication.
(b) Of self service.
(c) Of self sacrifice.
3.
How kept: Vow and pay. (a) From duty.
(b) From fear of his displeasure. G. R.
Verse
11. The propriety, obligation, pleasure, and profit of presenting
gifts unto the Lord.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》