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Psalm Eighty-five
Psalm 85
Chapter Contents
Prayers for the continuance of former mercies. (1-7)
Trust in God's goodness. (8-13)
Commentary on Psalm 85:1-7
(Read Psalm 85:1-7)
The sense of present afflictions should not do away the
remembrance of former mercies. The favour of God is the fountain of happiness
to nations, as well as to particular persons. When God forgives sin, he covers
it; and when he covers the sin of his people, he covers it all. See what the
pardon of sin is. In compassion to us, when Christ our Intercessor has stood
before thee, thou hast turned away thine anger. When we are reconciled to God,
then, and not till then, we may expect the comfort of his being reconciled to
us. He shows mercy to those to whom he grants salvation; for salvation is of
mere mercy. The Lord's people may expect sharp and tedious afflictions when
they commit sin; but when they return to him with humble prayer, he will make
them again to rejoice in him.
Commentary on Psalm 85:8-13
(Read Psalm 85:8-13)
Sooner or later, God will speak peace to his people. If
he do not command outward peace, yet he will suggest inward peace; speaking to
their hearts by his Spirit. Peace is spoken only to those who turn from sin.
All sin is folly, especially backsliding; it is the greatest folly to return to
sin. Surely God's salvation is nigh, whatever our difficulties and distresses
are. Also, his honour is secured, that glory may dwell in our land. And the
truth of the promises is shown by the Divine mercy in sending the Redeemer. The
Divine justice is now satisfied by the great atonement. Christ, the way, truth,
and life, sprang out of the earth when he took our nature upon him, and Divine
justice looked upon him well pleased and satisfied. For his sake all good
things, especially his Holy Spirit, are given to those who ask him. Through
Christ, the pardoned sinner becomes fruitful in good works, and by looking to
and trusting in the Saviour's righteousness, finds his feet set in the way of
his steps. Righteousness is a sure guide, both in meeting God, and in following
him
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 85
Verse 1
[1] LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast
brought back the captivity of Jacob.
Captivity — The captives.
Verse 4
[4] Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger
toward us to cease.
Turn us — Restore us to our former tranquillity, and free us
from the troubles which we yet groan under.
Verse 6
[6] Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may
rejoice in thee?
Revive us — Give us a second reviving in
bringing home the rest of our brethren, and in restraining our enemies.
Verse 8
[8] I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will
speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to
folly.
Will hear — Diligently observe.
Will speak — What answer God will give to my
prayers.
Peace — He will give an answer of peace.
Saints — Not to all that are called God's people, but only to
those who are truly such.
Verse 9
[9] Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that
glory may dwell in our land.
His salvation — That compleat salvation for which
all the Israel of God wait; even the redemption by the Messiah; of which not
only Christian, but even Jewish writers understand this place; and to which the
following passages properly belong. And the psalmist might well say this
salvation was nigh, because the seventy weeks determined by Daniel were begun.
Glory — The glorious presence of God, and the God of glory
himself, even Christ, who is the brightness of his father's glory.
Verse 10
[10] Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and
peace have kissed each other.
Kissed — That great work of redemption by Christ, shall clearly
manifest God's mercy in redeeming his people Israel, and in the conversion of
the Gentiles; his truth in fulfilling that great promise of sending his son,
his righteousness in punishing sin, on his son, and in conferring righteousness
upon guilty and lost creatures; and his peace or reconciliation to sinners, and
that peace of conscience which attends upon it.
Verse 11
[11] Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness
shall look down from heaven.
Truth — Truth among men.
Righteousness — And God's justice shall be
satisfied: he shall look down upon sinful men with a smiling countenance.
Verse 13
[13] Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in
the way of his steps.
Before him — As his harbinger. He shall fulfil
all righteousness, he shall satisfy the righteousness of God, and shall advance
righteousness and holiness among men.
Set us — Shall cause us to walk in those righteous ways wherein
he walketh.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. To the Chief
Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. There is no need to repeat our
observations upon a title which is of so frequent occurrence; the reader is
referred to notes placed in the headings of preceding psalms. Yet it may not be
out of place to quote Ne 12:46. In the days of David and Asaph of old there
were chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God.
OBJECT
AND OCCASION. It is the prayer of a patriot for his afflicted country, in which
he pleads the Lord's former mercies, and by faith foresees brighter days. We
believe that David wrote it, but many question that assertion. Certain
interpreters appear to grudge the psalmist David the authorship of any of the
psalms, and refer the sacred songs by wholesale to the times of Hezekiah,
Josiah, the Captivity, and the Maccabees. It is remarkable that, as a rule, the
more sceptical a writer is, the more resolute is he to have done with David;
while the purely evangelic annotators are for the most part content to leave
the royal poet in the chair of authorship. The charms of a new theory also
operate greatly upon writers who would have nothing at all to say if they did
not invent a novel hypothesis, and twist the language of the psalm in order to
justify it. The present psalm has of course been referred to the Captivity, the
critics could not resist the temptation to do that, though, for our part we see
no need to do so: it is true a captivity is mentioned in Ps 85:1, but that does
not necessitate the nation's having been carried away into exile, since Job's
captivity was turned, and yet he had never left his native land: moreover, the
text speaks of the captivity of Jacob as brought back, but had it
referred to the Babylonian emigration, it would have spoken of Judah; for Jacob
or Israel, as such, did not return. The first verse in speaking of "the
land" proves that the author was not an exile. Our own belief is that
David penned this national hymn when the land was oppressed by the Philistines,
and in the spirit of prophecy he foretold the peaceful years of his own reign
and the repose of the rule of Solomon, the psalm having all along an inner
sense of which Jesus and his salvation are the key. The presence of Jesus the
Saviour reconciles earth and heaven, and secures to us the golden age, the
balmy days of universal peace.
DIVISION. In Ps 85:1-4
the poet sings of the Lord's former mercies and begs him to remember his
people; from Ps 85:5-7 he pleads the cause of afflicted Israel; and then,
having listened to the sacred oracle in Ps 85:8, he publishes joyfully the
tidings of future good, Ps 85:9-13.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land. The self
existent, all sufficient JEHOVAH is addressed: by that name he revealed himself
to Moses when his people were in bondage, by that name he is here pleaded with.
It is wise to dwell upon that view of the divine character which arouses the
sweetest memories of his love. Sweeter still is that dear name of "Our
Father, "with which Christians have learned to commence their prayers. The
psalmist speaks of Canaan as the Lord's land, for he chose it for his people,
conveyed it to them by covenant, conquered it by his power, and dwelt in it in
mercy; it was meet therefore that he should smile upon a land so peculiarly his
own. It is most wise to plead the Lord's union of interest with ourselves, to
lash our little boat as it were close to his great barque, and experience a
sacred community in the tossings of the storm. It is our land that is
devastated, but O Jehovah, it is also thy land. The psalmist dwells upon
the Lord's favour to the chosen land, which he had shewed in a thousand ways.
God's past doings are prophetic of what he will do; hence the encouraging
argument—"Thou hast been favourable unto thy land, "therefore deal
graciously with it again. Many a time had foes been baffled, pestilence stayed,
famine averted, and deliverance vouchsafed, because of the Lord's favour; that
same favourable regard is therefore again invoked. With an immutable God this
is powerful reasoning; it is because he changes not that we are not consumed,
and know we never shall be if he has once been favourable to us. From this
example of prayer let us learn how to order our cause before God. It is clear
that Israel was not in exile, or the prayer before us would not have referred
to the land but to the nation. Thou hast brought back the captivity of
Jacob. When down trodden and oppressed through their sins, the Ever merciful
One had looked upon them, changed their sad condition, chased away the
invaders, and given to his people rest: this he had done not once, nor twice, but
times without number. Many a time have we also been brought into soul captivity
by our backslidings, but we have not been left therein; the God who brought
Jacob back from Padanaram to his father's house, has restored us to the
enjoyment of holy fellowship;—will he not do the like again? Let us appeal to
him with Jacob like wrestlings, beseeching him to be favourable, or sovereignly
gracious to us notwithstanding all our provocations of his love. Let declining
churches remember their former history, and with holy confidence plead with the
Lord to turn their captivity yet again.
Verse
2. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people. Often and
often had he done this, pausing to pardon even when his sword was bared to
punish. Who is a pardoning God like thee, O Jehovah? Who is so slow to anger,
so ready for forgive? Every believer in Jesus enjoys the blessing of pardoned
sin, and he should regard this priceless boon as the pledge of all other
needful mercies. He should plead it with God—"Lord, hast thou pardoned me,
and wilt thou let me perish for lack of grace, or fall into mine enemies' hands
for want of help. Thou wilt not thus leave thy work unfinished." Thou hast
covered all their sin. All of it, every spot, and wrinkle, the veil of love has
covered all. Sin has been divinely put out of sight. Hiding it beneath the
propitiatory, covering it with the sea of the atonement, blotting it out,
making it to cease to be, the Lord has put it so completely away that even his
omniscient eye sees it no more. What a miracle is this! To cover up the sun
would be easy work compared with the covering up of sin. Not without a covering
atonement is sin removed, but by means of the great sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus, it is most effectually put away by one act, for ever. What a covering
does his blood afford!
Verse
3. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath. Having removed the
sin, the anger is removed also. How often did the longsuffering of God take
away from Israel the punishments which had been justly laid upon them! How
often also has the Lord's chastising hand been removed from us when our
waywardness called for heavier strokes! Thou hast turned thyself from the
fierceness of thine anger. Even when judgments had been most severe, the Lord
had in mercy stayed his hand. In mid volley he had restrained his thunder. When
ready to destroy, he had averted his face from his purpose of judgment and
allowed mercy to interpose. The book of Judges is full of illustrations of
this, and the psalmist does well to quote them while he interceded. Is not our
experience equally studded with instances in which judgment has been stayed and
tenderness has ruled? What a difference between the fierce anger which is
feared and deprecated here, and the speaking of peace which is foretold in
verse 8. There are many changes in Christian experience, and therefore we must
not despair when we are undergoing the drearier portion of the spiritual life,
for soon, very soon, it may be transformed into gladness.
"The
Lord can clear the darkest skies,
Can give us day for night.
Make drops of sacred sorrow rise
To rivers of delight."
Verse
4. Turn us, O God of our salvation. This was the main
business. Could the erring tribes be rendered penitent all would be well. It is
not that God needs turning from his anger so much as that we need turning from
our sin; here is the hinge of the whole matter. Our trials frequently arise out
of our sins, they will not go till the sins go. We need to be turned from our
sins, but only God can turn us: God the Saviour must put his hand to the work:
it is indeed a main part of our salvation. Conversion is the dawn of salvation.
To turn a heart to God is as difficult as to make the world revolve upon its
axis. Yet when a man learns to pray for conversion there is hope for him, he
who turns to prayer is beginning to turn from sin. It is a very blessed sight
to see a whole people turn unto their God; may the Lord so send forth his
converting grace on our land that we may live to see the people flocking to the
loving worship of God as the doves to their cotes. And cause thine anger toward
us to cease. Make an end of it. Let it no longer burn. When sinners cease to
rebel, the Lord ceases to be angry with them; when they return to him he
returns to them; yea, he is first in the reconciliation, and turns them when
otherwise they would never turn of themselves. May all those who are now
enduring the hidings of Jehovah's face seek with deep earnestness to be turned
anew unto the Lord, for so shall all their despondencies come to an end. Thus
the sweet singer asks for his nation priceless blessings, and quotes the best
of arguments. Because the God of Israel has been so rich in favour in bygone
years, therefore he is entreated to reform and restore his backsliding nation.
Verse
5. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? See how the psalmist
makes bold to plead. We are in time as yet and not in eternity, and does not
time come to an end, and therefore thy wrath! Wilt thou be angry always as if
it were eternity? Is there no boundary to thine indignation? Will thy wrath
never have done? And if for ever angry, yet wilt thou be angry with us, thy
favoured people, the seed of Abraham, thy friend? That our enemies should be
always wroth is natural, but wilt thou, our God, be always incensed
against us? Every word is an argument. Men is distress never waste words. Wilt
thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Shall sons suffer for their
father's faults, and punishment become an entailed inheritance? O merciful God,
hast thou a mind to spin out thine anger, and make it as long as the ages?
Cease thou, as thou hast ceased aforetime, and let grace reign as it has done
in days of yore. When we are under spiritual desertion we may beg in the like
manner that the days of tribulation may be shortened, lest our spirit should
utterly fail beneath the trial.
Verse
6. Wilt thou not revive us again? Hope here grows almost
confident. She feels sure that the Lord will return in all his power to save.
We are dead or dying, faint and feeble, God alone can revive us, he has in
other times refreshed his people, he is still the same, he will repeat his
love. Will he not? Why should he not? We appeal to him—Wilt thou not? That thy
people may rejoice in thee. Thou lovest to see thy children happy with that
best of happiness which centres in thyself, therefore revive us, for revival
will bring us the utmost joy. The words before us teach us that gratitude has
an eye to the giver, even beyond the gift—thy people may rejoice in thee.
Those who were revived would rejoice not only in the new life but in the Lord
who was the author of it. Joy in the Lord is the ripest fruit of grace, all
revivals and renewals lead up to it. By our possession of it we may estimate
our spiritual condition, it is a sure gauge of inward prosperity. A genuine revival
without joy in the Lord is as impossible as spring without flowers, or daydawn
without light. If, either in our own souls or in the hearts of others, we see
declension, it becomes us to be much in the use of this prayer, and if on the
other hand we are enjoying visitations of the Spirit and bedewings of grace,
let us abound in holy joy and make it our constant delight to joy in God.
Verse
7. Shew us thy mercy, O LORD. Reveal it to our poor half
blinded eyes. We cannot see it or believe it by reason of our long woes, but
thou canst make it plain to us. Others have beheld it, Lord shew it to us. We
have seen thine anger, Lord let us see thy mercy. Thy prophets have told us of
it, but O Lord, do thou thyself display it in this our hour of need. And grant
us thy salvation. This includes deliverance from the sin as well as the
chastisement, it reaches from the depth of their misery to the height of divine
love. God's salvation is perfect in kind, comprehensive in extent, and eminent
in degree; grant us this, O Lord, and we have all. Having offered earnest
intercession for the afflicted but penitent nation, the sacred poet in the true
spirit of faith awaits a response from the sacred oracle. He pauses in joyful
confidence, and then in ecstatic triumph he give utterance to his hopes in the
richest form of song.
Verse
8. I will hear what God the LORD will speak. When we believe
that God hears us, it is but natural that we should be eager to hear him. Only
from him can come the word which can speak peace to troubled spirits; the
voices of men are feeble in such a case, a plaister far too narrow for the
sore; but God's voice is power, he speaks and it is done, and hence when we
hear him our distress is ended. Happy is the suppliant who has grace to lie
patiently at the Lord's door, and wait until his love shall act according to
its old wont and chase all sorrow far away. For he will speak peace unto his
people, and to his saints. Even though for a while his voice is stern with
merited rebuke, he will not always chide, the Great Father will reassume his
natural tone of gentleness and pity. The speaking of peace is the peculiar
prerogative of the Lord Jehovah, and deep, lasting, ay, eternal, is the peace
he thus creates. Yet not to all does the divine word bring peace, but only to
his own people, whom he means to make saints, and those whom he has already
made so. But let them not turn again to folly. For if they do so, his rod will
fall upon them again, and their peace will be invaded. Those who would enjoy
communion with God must be jealous of themselves, and avoid all that would
grieve the Holy Spirit; not only the grosser sins, but even the follies of life
must be guarded against by those who are favoured with the delights of
conscious fellowship. We serve a jealous God, and must needs therefore be
incessantly vigilant against evil. Backsliders should study this verse with the
utmost care, it will console them and yet warn them, draw the back to their
allegiance, and at the same time inspire them with a wholesome fear of going
further astray. To turn again to folly is worse than being foolish for once; it
argues wilfulness and obstinacy, and it involves the soul in sevenfold sin.
There is no fool like the man who will be a fool cost him what it may.
Verse
9. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him. Faith
knows that a saving God is always near at hand, but only (for such is
the true rendering) to those who fear the Lord, and worship him with holy awe.
In the gospel dispensation this truth is conspicuously illustrated. If to
seeking sinners salvation is nigh, it is assuredly very nigh to those who have
once enjoyed it, and have lost its present enjoyment by their folly; they have
but to turn unto the Lord and they shall enjoy it again. We have not to go
about by a long round of personal mortifications or spiritual preparations, we
may come to the Lord, through Jesus Christ, just as we did at the first, and he
will again receive us into his loving embrace. Whether it be a nation under
adversity, or a single individual under chastisement, the sweet truth before us
is rich with encouragement to repentance, and renewed holiness. That glory may
dwell in our land. The object of the return of grace will be a permanent
establishment of a better state of things, so that gloriously devout worship
shall be rendered to God continuously, and a glorious measure of prosperity
shall be enjoyed in consequence. Israel was glorious whenever she was
faithful—her dishonour always followed her disloyalty; believers also live
glorious lives when they walk obediently, and they only lose the true glory of
their religion when they fall from their steadfastness. In these two verses we
have, beneath the veil of the letter, an intimation of the coming of THE WORD
OF GOD to the nations in times of deep apostacy and trouble, when faithful
hearts would be looking and longing for the promise which had so long tarried.
By his coming salvation is brought near, and glory, even the glory of the
presence of the Lord, tabernacles among men. Of this the succeeding verses
speak without obscurity.
Verse
10. Mercy and truth are met together. In answer to prayer, the
exulting psalmist sees the attributes of God confederating to bless the once
afflicted nation. Mercy comes hand in hand with Truth to fulfil the faithful
promise of their gracious God; the people recognise at once the grace and the
veracity of Jehovah, he is to them neither a tyrant nor a deceiver.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. The Lord whose just severity
inflicted the smart, now in pity sends peace to bind up the wound. The people
being now made willing to forsake their sins, and to follow after
righteousness, find peace granted to them at once. "The war drum throbbed
no longer, and the battle flags were furled; " for idolatry was forsaken,
and Jehovah was adored. This appears to be the immediate and primary meaning of
these verses; but the inner sense is Christ Jesus, the reconciling Word. In
him, the attributes of God unite in glad unanimity in the salvation of guilty
men, they meet and embrace in such a manner as else were inconceivable either
to our just fears or to our enlightened hopes. God is as true as if he had
fulfilled every letter of his threatenings, as righteous as if he had never
spoken peace to a sinner's conscience; his love in undiminished splendour
shines forth, but no other of his ever blessed characteristics is eclipsed
thereby. It is the custom of modern thinkers(?) to make sport of this
representation of the result of our Lord's substitutionary atonement; but had
they ever been themselves made to feel the weight of sin upon a spiritually
awakened conscience, they would cease from their vain ridicule. Their doctrine
of atonement has well been described by Dr. Duncan as the admission "that
the Lord Jesus Christ did something or other, which somehow or other, was in
some way or other connected with man's salvation." This is their
substitute for substitution. Our facts are infinitely superior to their dreams,
and yet they sneer. It is but natural that natural men should do so. We cannot
expect animals to set much store by the discoveries of science, neither can we
hope to see unspiritual men rightly estimate the solution of spiritual
problems—they are far above and out of their sight. Meanwhile it remains for
those who rejoice in the great reconciliation to continue both to wonder and
adore.
Verse
11. Truth shall spring out of the earth. Promises which lie
unfulfilled, like buried seeds, shall spring up and yield harvests of joy; and
men renewed by grace shall learn to be true to one another and their God, and
abhor the falsehood which they loved before. And righteousness shall look down
from heaven, as if it threw up the windows and leaned out to gaze upon a
penitent people, whom it could not have looked upon before without an
indignation which would have been fatal to them. This is a delicious scene.
Earth yielding flowers of truth, and heaven shining with stars of holiness; the
spheres echoing to each other, or being mirrors of each other's beauties.
"Earth carpeted with truth and canopied with righteousness, "shall be
a nether heaven. When God looks down in grace, man sends his heart upward in
obedience. The person of our adorable Lord Jesus Christ explains this verse
most sweetly. In Him truth is found in our humanity, and his deity brings
divine righteousness among us. His Spirit's work even now creates a hallowed
harmony between his church below, and the sovereign righteousness above; and in
the latter day, earth shall be universally adorned with every precious virtue,
and heaven shall hold intimate intercourse with it. There is a world of meaning
in these verses, only needing meditation to draw it out. Reader, "the well
is deep, "but if thou hast the Spirit, it cannot be said, that "thou
hast nothing to draw with."
Verse
12. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good. Being himself
pure goodness, he will readily return from his wrath, and deal out good things
to his repenting people. Our evil brings evil upon us, but when we are brought
back to follow that which is good, the Lord abundantly enriches us with good
things. Material good will always be bestowed where it can be enjoyed in
consistency with spiritual good. And our land shall yield her increase. The
curse of barrenness will fly with the curse of sin. When the people yielded
what was due to God, the soil would recompense their husbandry. See at this day
what sin has done for Palestine, making her gardens a wilderness; her wastes
are the scars of her iniquities: nothing but repentance and divine forgiveness
will reclaim her desolations. The whole world also shall be bright with the
same blessing in the days yet to come,—
"Freed
from the curse, the grateful garden gives
Its fruit in goodly revenue. Nor frost,
Nor blight, nor mildew fall, nor cankerworm,
Nor caterpillar, mar one ripening hope.
The clouds drop fatness. The very elements
Are subject to the prayerful will of those
Whose pleasure is in unison with God's."
Verse
13. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way
of his steps. God's march of right will leave a track wherein his people
will joyfully follow. He who smote in justice will also bless in justice, and
in both will make his righteousness manifest, so as to affect the hearts and
lives of all his people. Such are the blessings of our Lord's first advent, and
such shall be yet more conspicuously the result of his second coming. Even so,
come Lord Jesus.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. This beautiful psalm, like some others, has come down to us
without name or date; the production of some unknown poetic genius, touched,
purified, and exalted by the fire of celestial inspiration; a precious relic of
that golden age, when the Hebrew music was instinct with a spirit such as never
breathed on Greece or Rome. It is interesting to reflect on the anonymous
origin of some of the psalms; to remember how largely the church of God is
indebted to some nameless worthies who wrote for us hymns and spiritual songs,
full of richer strains than were ever poured forth by the most illustrious of
pagan name. These holy men are passed away, they have left no record of their
history; but they have bequeathed legacies of rich, varied, and inspired
sentiments, which will render the church debtors to them to the end of time. John
Stoughton. 1852.
Whole
Psalm. This Psalm may be thus divided: Ps 85:1-3, express the thanks of
the people for their return from captivity; Ps 85:4-6, their prayer for their
own reformation; in Ps 85:7, they pray for the coming of Messiah;
Ps 85:8 contains the words of the High priest, with God's
Gracious answer; which answer is followed by the grateful acclamation of
the people, to the end of the Psalm. To prepare for this interpretation,
let us observe, how very strangely the words are expressed at present—I will
hear what God the Lord will say: FOR he shall speak peace unto his people.
But surely, God could not be consulted, because it was unnecessary; nor
could the High priest possibly say, that he would ask of God, because he
knew what God would answer; especially, as we have now a question to God
proposed, and yet no answer from God given at all. Under these
difficulties we are happily relieved; since it appears, on satisfactory
authorities, that, instead of the particle rendered for, the word here
originally signified in or by me, which slight variation removes
the obscurity, and restores that very light which has long been wanted. The people
having prayed for the speedy arrival of their great salvation; the High
priest says, (as it should be here expressed), I will hear what the
Almighty sayeth.—Jehovah, BY ME sayeth, PEACE unto his people, even unto his
saints: but let them not turn again to folly. Whereupon, as the Jews
understood peace to comprehend every blessing, and of course their
greatest blessing, they at once acknowledged the certainty of this
salvation, the glory of their land—they proclaim it as nigh at
hand—and then, in rapture truly prophetical, they see this glory as actually
arrived, as already dwelling in Judea—they behold God in fulfilling most
strictly what he had promised most graciously—they see therefore the mercy
of God, and the truth of God met together—they see that scheme
perfected, in which the righteousness (i.e. the justice) of God
harmonizes with the peace (i.e. the happiness) of man; so that
righteousness and peace salute each other with the tenderest affection.
In short, they see TRUTH flourishing out of the earth; i.e. they see him,
who is the way, the truth, and the life, born here on earth;
and they even see the righteousness, or justice of God, looking down
from heaven, as being well pleased. Ps 85:12 is at present translated so
unhappily, that it is quite despoiled of all its genuine glory. For, could the
prophet, after all the rapturous things said before, coldly say here, that God would
give what was good and that Judea should have a plentiful
harvest? No: consistency and good sense forbid it; and truth confirms their
protest against it. The words here express the reasons of all the preceding
energies, and properly signify—Yea, Jehovah granteth THE BLESSING; and
our land granteth HER OFFSPRING. And what can be the blessing—what,
amidst these sublime images, can be Judea's offspring—but HE, and HE
only, who was the blessing of all lands in general, and the glory of
Judea in particular? And what says the verse following? Righteousness
goeth before HIM—certainly, not before the fruit of the earth—but
certainly before that illustrious person, even the MESSIAH. Righteousness
goeth before HIM, and directeth his goings in the way. As to the word
rendered the blessing, and applied to the redemption; the same word is
so used by Jeremiah, thus: Behold, the days come, that I will perform that
good thing (the blessing) which I have promised... at that time will I cause to
grow up unto David the Branch of righteousness (Jer 33:14-15). And as to
the Messiah being here described, partly as springing up from the earth; so
says Isaiah: "In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and
glorious; and the fruits of the earth shall be excellent and
comely." But this evangelical prophet, in another place, has the very same
complication of images with that found in the psalm before us. For Isaiah also
has the heavens, with their righteousness; and the earth,
with its salvation: "Drop down, ye heavens from above, and
let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them
bring forth salvation." But, "let them bring forth"—who,
or what can be here meant by them, but the heavens and the earth?
It is heaven and earth which are here represented as bringing forth, and
introducing the Saviour of the world. For what else can be here meant as brought
forth by them? What, but HE alone; who, deriving his divine
nature from heaven, and his human from the earth was (what no other
being ever was) both GOD and MAN. Benjamin Kennicott.
Verse
1. Thy land. The land of Jehovah the poet calls it, in order
to point out the close relation of God to it, and to the people thereof, and so
confirm the favour of God towards it. For this land God has chosen as
the dwelling place of his people, true religion, and his own presence; this
also in his own time He himself had trodden in the person of his Son, and in it
He first gathered and founded his Church. Venema.
Verse
1. The captivity of Jacob. All true believers are the sons of
Jacob, and the seed of Abraham; as well as the believing Gentiles, who are the
sons of Jacob according to the Spirit, as the believing Jews the sons of Jacob
according to the flesh; and the Church of these true Jacobins and Israelites is
the land of the Lord, and the captivity here mentioned is bondage under
sin. In this captivity Satan is the gaoler, the flesh is our prison, ungodly
lusts are the manacles, a bad conscience the tormentor, all of them against us;
only Christ is Emmanuel, God with us; he turneth away the captivity of
Jacob in forgiving all his offences, and in covering all his sins. Abraham
Wright.
Verse
2. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity. nvs tsn, nasatha avon,
Thou hast borne, or carried away, the iniquity. An allusion to the
ceremony of the scapegoat. Adam Clarke.
Verse
2. Thou hast covered all their sin. When God is said to
cover sin, he does so, not as one would cover a sore with a plaster,
thereby merely hiding it only; but he covers it with a plaster that effectually
cures and removes it altogether. Bellarmine.
Verse
2. Selah. Rabbi Kimchi regards it as a sign to elevate the
voice. The authors of the Septuagint translation appear to have regarded it as
a musical or rythmical note. Herder regarded it as indicating a change of note;
Mathewson as a musical note, equivalent, perhaps, to the word repeat.
According to Luther and others, it means silence. Gesenius explains it
to mean, "Let the instruments play and the singers stop." Wocher
regards it as equivalent to sursum corda—up, my soul! Sommer, after
examining all the seventy four passages in which the word occurs, recognises in
every case "an actual appeal or summons to Jehovah." They are calls
for aid and prayers to be heard, expressed either with entire directness, or if
not in the imperative, "Hear, Jehovah!" or Awake, Jehovah! and the
like, still earnest addresses to God that he would remember and hear, &c.
The word itself he regards as indicating a blast of the trumpets by the
priests. Selah, itself, he thinks an abridged expression, used for Higgaion
Selah—Higgaion indicating the sound of the stringed instruments and Selah a
vigorous blast of trumpets. From the "Bibliotheca Sacra, "quoted
by Plumer.
Verse
3. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath. Or gathered it;
sin occasions wrath, and the people of God are as deserving of it as others;
but the Lord has gathered it up, and poured it forth upon his Son, and their
Surety; hence nothing of this kind shall ever fall upon them, either here or
hereafter; and it is taken away from them, so as to have no sense,
apprehension, or conscience of it, which before the law had wrought in them,
when pardon is applied unto them, which is what is here meant. John Gill.
Verse
3. Thou hast turned thyself. Here are six hasts
drawing in the next turn, Ps 85:4. God hath, and therefore God will is a
strong medium of hope, if not a demonstration of Scripture logic. See 2Co 1:10.
John Trapp.
Verse
4. Cause thine anger toward us to cease. The phrase, break
thine indignation towards us, (that is, wherewith thou art angry with us,
in order that it may cease of itself,)comprehends the abolition of the signs
and the effects of anger. The word drk, for this is the root to be taken,
properly denotes a breaking by means of notches and gaps,
as when the edge of anything is broken by many notches and gaps, and it
is made utterly worn and useless. Indignation, so long as it is vigorous
and spreads its effects, has an edge, which smites and pierces; but it
is considered blunt and broken, when it ceases to exert itself, and produces
evils no longer, this they affirm of the anger of God. Venema.
Verse
6. Wilt thou not revive us again? The Hebrew is, Wilt thou
not return and revive us? We translate the verb return by the adverb
again: Wilt thou not revive us again? Thou hast given us many revives:
when we were as dead men, and like carcases rotting in the grave, thou
didst revive us, wilt thou not revive us once more, and act over those
powerfully merciful works and strong salvations once more, or again? Joseph
Caryl.
Verse
6. That thy people may rejoice in thee. Bernard in his 15th
Sermon on Canticles says Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, joy in
the heart. Is any among us sad? Let Jesus enter the heart, and thence spring to
the countenance, and behold, before the rising brightness of his name, every
cloud is scattered, serenity returns. Origen in his 10th Hom on Genesis, has
the remark, Abraham rejoiced not in present things, neither in the riches of
the words, nor deeds of time. But do you wish to hear, whence he drew his joy?
Listen to the Lord speaking to the Jews, Joh 8:56: Your father, Abraham
rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad: hope heaped up his
joys. Le Blanc.
Verse
6. That thy people may rejoice in thee. When God changeth the
cheer of his people, their joy should not be in the gift, but in the Giver. David
Dickson.
Verse
6. It is the most natural thing, the most delightful thing, for the
people of God to rejoice in God. God is the fountain of joy, and whom should he
fill with it but his people? And whom should his people breathe it into again
but him? This posture God delights to have them in; this posture they delight
to be in; but this cannot be in that estate of death and captivity wherein God
for a long season shutteth them up. "The living, the living shall praise
thee, "but alas, the dead cannot. John Pennington, 1656.
Verse
6. Truly sin kills. Men are dead in trespasses and sins, dead in
law, dead in their affections, dead in a loss of comfortable communion with
God. Probably the greatest practical heresy of each age is a low idea of our
undone condition under the guilt and dominion of sin. While this prevails we
shall be slow to cry for reviving or quickening. What sinners and
churches need is quickening by the Holy Ghost. William S. Plumer.
Verses
6-7. Wilt thou not revive us, by the first and spiritual resurrection,
and so thy people, quickened from a life of sin to a life of grace, will
rejoice in thee, not in themselves, presuming nothing on their own power. And
in order that these things may be fulfilled in us, Shew us, O Lord, thy
mercy, that is, Christ, through whom thou hast pitied the human race, shew
him to us after this exile that we may see him face to face. Richardus
Hampolus.
Verse
7. Thy mercy. It is not merely of the Lord's mercies that we
are not consumed, but all is mercy, from first to last,—mercy that met us by
the way,—mercy that looked upon us in our misery,—mercy that washed us from our
sins in his own blood,—mercy that covered our nakedness and clad us in his own
robe of righteousness,—mercy that led and guided us by the way,—and mercy that
will never leave nor forsake us till mercy has wrought its perfect work in the
eternal salvation of our souls through Jesus Christ. Barton Bouchier.
Verse
8. I will hear, etc. The true attitude for a sinner to take
in the presence of divine revelation, is that of a listener. To enter
the place of a doer before you have occupied that of a listener,
is to reverse God's order, and throw everything into confusion. Adam tried this
plan, and found it a failure. He tried "works." He "sewed fig
leaves together, "but it was no use. He could not even satisfy his own
conscience, or remove his guilty fear. He had to listen to the voice of God—to
hearken to divine revelation. "Things New and Old." 1859.
Verse
8. I will hear, etc. The eye as a mere organ of sense must
give place to the ear. Therefore it is wittily observed, that our Saviour
commanding the abscession of the offending hand, foot, and eye, (Mr 9:43-47), yet
never spake of the ear. If thy hand, thy foot, or thine eye, cause thee to
offend, deprive thyself of them; but part not with thine ear, for that is an
organ to derive unto thy soul's salvation. As Christ says there, a man may
enter into heaven, lamed in his feet, as Mephibosheth, blind in his sight, as
Barzillai, maimed in his hand, as the dry handed man in the gospel; but if
there be not an ear to hear of the way, there will be no foot to enter into
heaven. If God be not first in the ear, he is neither sanctifiedly in the
mouth, nor comfortably in the heart. The Jews had eyes to see Christ's
miracles, but because they had no ears to hear his wisdom, therefore they had
no feet to enter into his kingdom. The way into the house is by the door, not
by the window: the eye is but the window of the heart, the ear is the door. Now
Christ stands knocking at the door, not at the window. Re 3:20. And he will not
come in at the window, but at the door. "He that entereth in by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep." Joh 10:2. He comes now in by his oracles,
now by his miracles. "To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his
voice, "Joh 10:3. The way to open and let him in is by the door; to hear
his voice. There was a man in the gospel blind and deaf; blind eyes is ill; but
deaf ears, worse. It is bad to have the eyes seeled (Seel, to close up:
a term in falconry), but worse to have the ears sealed up. Open your ears
therefore to this heavenly voice. Bernard hath this description of a good ear:
Which willingly hears what is taught, wisely understands what it heareth, and
obediently practises what it understandeth. O give me such an ear, and I will
hang on it jewels of gold, ornaments of praise. Thomas Adams.
Verse
8. I will hear, etc. My text carries in it a poetical
allusion to the consulting of the cloud of glory, which was between the
cherubims, and to the receiving answer from it, upon all critical occasions.
David turned his thoughts from all the other views he might have, to this, I
will hear what God the Lord will speak and that so he might depend wholly
on the assurances that he should receive of God's favour, upon the repentance
and prayers of the people; and in consideration of God's covenant with them, he
knew the answer would be peace; which being the form of salutation in
those ages, among friends, imported as entire reconciliation. So that by speaking
peace is to be understood as assurance of God's love and favour to his
people, and to his saints: that is, to the people that was sanctified,
and dedicated to the service of God by so many federal rites. Gilbert
Burnet, 1643-1714/5.
Verse
8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak. Carnal men speak
peace to themselves on account of some supposed goodness in themselves. And
unsound professors steal peace from God's promises, such as Isa 55:7 Ho 14:4.
But an upright heart will not be satisfied without hearing God speak peace to
his heart by his Spirit. And for this he will pray, and wait, and hearken, and
when God speaks peace, there comes such sweetness with it, and such discovery
of his love, as lays a powerful influence on the soul not to turn again to
folly. This peace is an humbling, melting peace, which brings humiliation to
the soul as well as joy; but this never happens when men speak peace to themselves.
John Berridge, 1716-1793.
Verse
8. I will hear what God the LORD will speak, etc. His prayer
being finished, and he having spoke, he now stands and listens, as you used to
do when you expect an echo, what echo he should have, what answer would be returned
from heaven, whether his prayer had already come: I will hear what the Lord
will speak; or, as some read it, I will hear what the Lord doth speak:
for sometimes there is a present echo, a speedy answer returned to a man's
heart, even ere the prayer is half finished. He will speak peace. When
the child of God wants peace, he can have no peace till God speaks it... Let
God's people be in never so great distress, yet it is an easy thing for God to
give peace to them. Mark the expression here used: it is but speaking
peace, that is, it is as easy for him to give peace as it is for you to speak a
word; it is no more to him. Then our comfort is, that as he only must do it, so
he easily can do it, even with a word. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse
8. He will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints,
etc. The voice of the Lord is comfortable, and his words are sweet to those
that fear him. It is a plain sign that all is not well with us, when the voice
of God doth cast us into fear, when we are afraid to hear the word preached,
when just reproofs of our sins are unwelcome to us, and anger us, and make us
think the less of our minister that chideth and threateneth us. A good life and
a well governed conversation doth not fear the voice of God; the word of God is
the light which God hath set up in his church, to guide her feet in the ways of
peace. They that do evil hate the light, and will not come near it, lest their
works should be reproved; the children of the light resort to it, and call upon
God: "Search my veins and my heart, and see if there be any way of
wickedness in me." Edward Marbury.
Verse
8. To his people and to his saints. He will give prosperity
to the people in general; and to his saints—his followers, in
particular. Adam Clarke.
Verse
8. To his saints. It is remarkable that we have the suffrage
of a celebrated Jewish writer, Kimchi, to understand the word rendered saints
in this place, of the godly among the Gentiles, as distinguished from the
Lord's people, the Jews. John Fry.
Verse
8. He will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but
let them not return again to folly. This imports that if his saints turn
again to folly, which by woeful experience we find too frequently done, God
may change his voice, and turn his peace, formerly spoken, into a
warlike defiance to their conscience. Thomas Fuller.
Verse
8. But let them not turn again to folly. If God did not in
the end speak peace, they would indeed return to folly. For his end of speaking
peace is, that they might not return to folly: Ps 125:3, "The rod of the
wicked shall not always be upon the righteous, lest they put forth their hand
to iniquity; "therefore, at the last verse, "peace shall be upon
Israel." As it is a rule in physic still to maintain nature, and therefore
when that shall be in hazard to be destroyed, they leave giving purging physic,
and give cordials; so doth God with his people: though with purging physic he
often brings their spirits very weak and low, yet he will uphold and maintain
their spirits, so as they shall not fail and be extinguished, but then he will
give cordials to raise them up again. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse
8. It is hard to know, in spiritual exercises, whether is be more
difficult to attain some good frame, or to keep and maintain it when it is
attained; whether more seriousness is required for making peace with God, or
for keeping of it when made; whether more diligence should be in preparing for
a communion, or more watchfulness after it: sure both are required; and it was
our blessed Lord's word, Mt 26:41, after the first celebration of his supper,
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." Here that saying
holds eminently: "Non minor est virtus, quam quaerere, parta
tueri:" no less virtue and valour is requisite to maintain, than to
make a purchase or conquest. In the words there are,
1.
A great mercy promised from the Lord to his people, viz., He will speak
peace to them.
2.
A special caveat and advertisement given them, pointing at their hazard: But
let them not turn again to folly: that is, let not his people and saints to
whom he hath spoken peace, return to sin; let them beware of bourding
(Bourding—jesting), and dallying with God's mercy, and of turning his grace
into wantonness, of cooling in their affections to him, of slipping back to
their old way, and of embracing their old lovers and idols: for that is folly,
even in folio, to speak so. James Durham, in "The Unsearchable Riches
of Christ."
Verse
9. That glory may dwell in our land. What land the true
church of Christ, the saints and they that fear God, do dwell in; there doth glory
dwell: there God, there Christ by his Spirit bringing righteousness and
salvation to such a society, is glorious; and for his presence the people are
glorious; and the land glorious above all other lands whatsoever. David
Dickson.
Verse
10. Mercy and truth; righteousness and peace. Note, four
virtues stand out prominently in the incarnation; namely, mercy, truth,
righteousness and peace, or love producing peace. These were like four steps of
the throne of Christ, or four princes standing near and accompanying Him.
1.
On the right hand, is mercy presenting the olive.
2.
On the left, truth holding the white lily.
3.
Before Him walks justice bearing the balance.
4.
Peace follows Him, having a cornucopiae full of flowers, and scattering
the flowers around. Le Blanc.
Verse
10. Mercy and truth; righteousness and peace. These four
divine attributes parted at the fall of Adam, and met again at the birth of
Christ. Mercy was ever inclined to save man, and Peace could not be his
enemy; but Truth extracted the performance of God's threat,—"The soul that
sinneth, it shall die; "and Righteousness could not but give to every one
his due, Jehovah must be true in all his ways, and righteous in all his works.
Now there is no religion on earth, except the Christian, which can satisfy the
demands of all these claimants, and restore an union between them; which can
show how God's word can be true, and his work just, and the sinner,
notwithstanding, find mercy, and obtain peace. George Horne.
Verse
10. This is a remarkable text, and much has been said on it; but
there is a beauty in it which, I think, has not been noticed. Mercy and peace
are on one side; truth and righteousness on the other. Truth
requires righteousness; mercy calls for peace. They meet together
on the way; one going to make inquisition for sin, the other to plead for
reconciliation. Having met, their differences on certain considerations, not
here particularly mentioned, are adjusted; and their mutual claims blended
together in one common interest; on which peace and righteousness
immediately embrace. Thus, righteousness is given to truth, and peace
is given to mercy. Now, where did these meet? In Christ Jesus. When
were they reconciled? When he poured out his life on Calvary. Adam Clarke.
Verse
10. Mercy and truth are met together.
1.
They meet together in God; for all the paths of the Lord are mercy
and truth, Ps 25:9; mercy in making, and truth in keeping his
promise to his people. Paul saith, Jesus Christ was a minister of the
circumcision to the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the
fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. Ro 15:8.
God promised his Son unto the Jews, and he gave him in the fulness of time to
be both a light to the Gentiles, and glory to his people Israel; herein shewing
his mercy more principally to the Gentiles, his truth unto the
Jews, and so his mercy and truth embraced each other so that he made both
people but one, to wit, one flock, in one sheepfold, under one shepherd. If we
take truth and righteousness for God's justice in punishing, mercy
and peace for his graciousness in pardoning; yet as they meet together in
all his ways unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For as the
mercies of the wicked are full of cruelty, so the very judgments of God upon
his servants are full of mercy. In his wrath he remembers pity; punishing a
little, that he may pardon a great deal; destroying the flesh only to save the
spirit, 1Co 5:5. Misericordiae est aliquando subtrahere misericordiam.
It was good for Joseph that he was a captive; good for Naaman that he was a
leper; good for Bartimaeus that he was blind, and for David that he was in
trouble. Bradford thanked God more of his prison, than of any parlour or
pleasure. All things are for the best unto the faithful, and so God's mercy
and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other,
his mercy being just, and his justice being merciful; but God in giving his
only Son unto the world, more abundantly shewed his mercy and justice
kissing one another. His justice that every soul that sins should
die; but his mercy desires not the death of a sinner. Eze 33:11...
2.
Righteousness and peace meet together in man; so Augustine expounds it:
an unjust man is full of quarrels, like Ishmael, "every man's hand is
against him, and his hand against every man; "but he who is righteous, and
giveth every man his due, shall have peace, so much as is possible with all
men, especially with his own self and soul. Righteousness and peace are so
near, so dear, that thou canst not have the one without the other.
3.
Righteousness and peace meet in Christ, God's man; for by these two,
some divines understand the Old Testament and the New. The Law doth exact justice,
requiring of a malefactor "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand,
foot for foot; "but the Gospel is full of mercy and peace,
saying unto the sinner, who truly repenteth him of his sins, and unfeignedly
believes the word of promise, "Son, be of good comfort, thy sins are
forgiven thee; ""Daughter be of good cheer, thy faith hath made thee
whole; ""Go thy way, they belief hath saved thee; ""Behold,
thou art now made whole, sin no more." These two testaments meet together
in Christ, as in their proper centre, they kissed each other on this
(Christmas) day, because the gospel performed what the law promised. John
Boys.
Verse
10. When our Lord spake that parable of the prodigal son, and
represented the Father as seeing his child afar off in his misery, and how he
had compassion on him, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him, one cannot
but feel what a touching and tender illustration he has given of this most
exquisite passage of his own word: Mercy and truth are met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Barton Bouchier.
Verses
10-11. Mercy and Peace if they had met, or Truth and Righteousness,
either of the two, it had not been strange. But for these that seem to be in
opposition to do it, that makes this meeting marvellous in our eyes. Will you
stay a little and take a view of the parties? Four they are. These four,
1.
Mercy, and
2.
Truth,
3.
Righteousness, and
4.
Peace. Which quaternion at the first sight divides itself into two and two.
Mercy and Peace, they two pair well; they be collectanae, as Bernard
saith of them in one place, `bed fellows, 'sleep together; collectanae,
as in another place, `sucked one milk, one breast' both. And as these two, so
the other two; Truth and Righteousness seem to be of one complexion and
disposition, and commonly take part together. Of these Mercy seems to favour
us; and Peace no enemy to us or to any (seeing we must speak of them as of
persons); mild and gentle persons both. For Righteousness I know not well what
to say: gestat gladium, (bears the sword), and I fear non frustra
(not in vain). Nor of Truth, who is vera and severa, `severe' too
otherwhile. These I doubt are not like affected. The reason of my doubt. One of
them, Righteousness, it is told here for great news, that she but "looked
down hitherwards from heaven." Before then she would not have done that. A
great sign it is of heart burning, when one will not do so much as look at
another—not endure his sight. We cannot promise ourselves much of her. No, nor
of Truth. One was so bold in a place to say, omnis homo mendax (Ro 3:4),
and feared no challenge for it. By that it seems all stands not well with her
neither. So then two for us, two against us. For their order. Mercy is first,
and Peace last. With both ends we shall do well enough. God send us to do but
so with the midst! Yet this is not amiss that they which favour us less are in
the midst; hemmed in on both sides, closed about with those that wish us well;
and they between us and them. On the one side, Mercy before; on the other,
Peace behind another; that in this double meeting Mercy sorts not herself, goes
not to Righteousness; nor Righteousness to her, but to Peace. A kind of cross
meeting, as it were, there is—the better hope of accord. Mercy and
Righteousness have no symbolizing quality at all, no hope of them; but Truth
with Mercy hath. There is truth as well in the promise of Mercy as in the
threat of justice. Lancelot Andrewes.
Verse
11. Truth shall spring. The literal sense is, that the
promises which for a long time are not fulfilled, and seem like seeds or roots
hidden and concealed under ground, when they shall be fulfilled, shall be
considered to spring up, to grow, etc. Lorinus.
Verse
11. Spring. The Metaphor is taken from flowers and trees. In
the Greek the expression is aneile, that is, has sprung like the
morning, for anatllw and anatolh are properly said of the rising of the sun and
moon. Le Blanc.
Verse
11. Shall look down. This looking down, pqsg rendered
generally parakuptw in the Greek, implies such a look as in 1Pe 1:12, angels
give into the things of salvation, and such a look as the disciples gave into
the sepulchre. It is really the Righteous One who is resting over them
in complacent love, not as in Ps 14:2 53:2, but fulfilling Ps 102:19-20. Andrew
A. Bonar.
Verse
12. It has sometimes been objected that the Christian doctrine of a
Millennium cannot be true, for the earth could not support the teeming millions
that would naturally be found upon it, if wars and vice should cease to waste
its population. But omitting other and pertinent answers that have been given,
we find one here that covers the whole ground, the earth shall yield her
increase. Now and then the season is unusually propitious, and we have a
specimen of what God can do when he chooses. He can without any miracle make it
many times more fruitful than it has ever been. William S. Plumer.
Verse
13. Righteousness shall go before him, etc. The meaning of
this difficult verse may probably be as follows:—Righteousness shall go before
Him (Jehovah), and shall make his footsteps a pathway for his servants to walk
in.—Ernest Hawkins.
Verse
13. Shall set us in the way of his steps. It is reported in
the Bohemian History, that St. Wenceslaus, their king, one winter night going
to his devotions, in a remote church, barefooted in the snow and sharpness of
unequal and pointed ice, his servant Podavivus, who waited upon his master's
piety, and endeavoured to imitate his affections, began to faint through the
violence of the snow and cold; till the king commanded him to follow him, and
set his feet in the same footsteps, which his feet should mark for him: the
servant did so, and either fancied a cure, or found one; for he followed his
prince, helped forward with shame and zeal to his imitation, and by the forming
footsteps for him in the snow. In the same manner does the blessed Jesus; for,
since our way is troublesome, obscure, full of objections and danger, apt to be
mistaken, and to affright our industry, he commands us to mark his footsteps, to
tread where his feet have stood, and not only invite us forward by the argument
of his example, but he hath trodden down much of the difficulty, and made the
way easier and fit for our feet. For he knows our infirmities, and himself hath
felt their experience in all things but in the neighbourhoods of sin; and
therefore he hath proportioned a way and a path to our strength and capacities,
and like Jacob, hath marched softly and in evenness with the children and the
cattle, to entertain us by the comforts of his company, and the influence of a
perpetual guide. Jeremy Taylor.
Verse
13. (last clause). The sinner who feels his need of salvation,
is set—in the way of his steps; as Bartimaeus sat by the way side
begging, by which way Jesus walked; and when he came where he was, heard his
prayer, and restored him his sight. Adam Clarke.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. There is,
1.
Captivity.
(a)
Of the people of God.
(b) Although they are the people of God.
(c) Because they are the people of God. You only have I known, etc.
2.
Restoration from Captivity: Thou hast brought back, etc.
(a)
The fact.
(b)
The Author: Thou: by thine own power; in thine own manner; at thine own
time.
3.
The cause of the Restoration; the favour of God: Thou hast been favourable.
(a)
On account of favour past: "Thou hast."
(b) On account of favour in reserve.
Verse
2.
1.
The subjects of forgiveness: Thy people.
(a)
By choice.
(b) By redemption.
(c) By effectual calling.
2.
The time of forgiveness: Thou hast forgiven, etc.
3.
The method of forgiveness.
(a)
Forgiven. Hebrew, borne, same word as in Le 16:22: "The goat shall bear
upon him all their iniquities."
(b)
Covered; as the mercy seat covered the law that had been broken. IV. The extent
of forgiveness: all their sin.
Verse
3.
1.
The language of penitence. It is implied here that the wrath was,
(a)
Great:
(b)
Just thy wrath.
2.
The language of faith.
(a)
In the grace of pardon: Thou hast turned away wrath. We could not, by
anything we could do or suffer.
(b)
In the method of pardon: Turned away. Turned it from us to our Surety.
3.
The language of praise: Thou hast—thou hast.
Verse
4.
1.
In what salvation consists.
(a)
In the removal of God's enmity from us.
(b) In the removal of our enmity to him.
2.
By whom it is accomplished. By the God of salvation.
(a)
He causes his anger toward us to cease, and
(b) Our anger toward him.
3.
How is it obtained? By prayer: "Turn us, "etc.
Verse
6.
1.
Revivals imply decline.
(a)
That there is grace to be revived.
(b) That this grace has declined.
2.
Revivals are from God: Wilt not thou, etc.: they cannot be got up by
men.
3.
Revivals are frequently needed: Wilt not thou revive us again.
4.
Revivals are in answer to prayer: Wilt thou not, etc.
5.
Revivals are occasions for great joy.
(a)
To the saints.
(b) In God.
Verse
7.
1.
Salvation is God's work: Thy salvation.
(a)
The plan is his.
(b) The provision is his.
(c) The condition is his.
(d) The application is his.
(e) The consummation is his.
2.
Salvation is God's gift.
(a)
Of his mercy: Show us thy mercy.
(b) Of his grace: Grant us, etc.
3.
Salvation is God's answer to prayer.
(a)
It is the first object of prayer.
(b) It includes every other.
Verse
8.
1.
We should look for an answer to prayer. Having spoken to God, we should hear
what he has to say to us in reply.
(a)
In his word.
(b) In his providence.
(c) By his Spirit in our own souls.
2.
We should look for an answer of peace: He will speak peace.
3.
We should avoid whatever might deprive us of that peace: But let them not
turn, etc. G. R.
Verse
8. Thomas Goodwin has three sermons upon this verse, (First
clause), entitled The Return of Prayers. (Second clause).—Tidings of
Peace. (Last clause)—The Folly of Relapsing after Peace spoken.
Verse
8. (last clause). They should not turn again to folly,
1.
Because it will be a greater aggravation in sinning. It is made the aggravation
of Solomon's sin (1Ki 11:9), that "God had appeared to him twice."
2.
The second reason is intimated in the word folly: as if the Lord should
have said, Set aside the unkindness and wrong you do to me, yet therein you
befool yourselves; you will have the worst of it. T. Goodwin.
Verse
10.
1.
The attributes displayed in man's salvation.
(a)
Mercy in the promise.
(b) Truth in its fulfilment.
(c) Righteousness in the manner of its fulfilment.
(d) Peace in its results.
2.
These attributes harmonized in man's salvation.
(a)
How? Met together—kissed each other.
(b)
Why? Each on its own account. All on each others' account.
(c)
Where? Met and kissed—(1.) In the covenant. (2.) At the incarnation. (3.) At
the cross. (4.) At the conversion of every sinner. (5.) At the completion of
the saints in heaven. G. R.
Verse
10. The Pulpit, vol. 28, 1836, contains a sermon by R. W. Sibthorpe,
in which the preacher,
1.
Considers the harmony of the divine perfections in the redemption of a sinner.
2.
The wisdom of the divine dealings in the calling and guidance of the
believer; so that mercy, truth, etc., each becomes in turn conspicuous in our experience.
3.
The completeness of the divine image in the sanctified soul, so that the
perfected saint abounds in mercy and truth, is filled with peace, and is
conformed to his righteous Lord.
Verse
12.
1.
All spiritual good is from God: The Lord will give, etc.
(a)
Is repentance a good thing? The Lord will give repentance.
(b) Is pardon? The Lord, etc.
(c) Is faith?
(d) Is justification?
(e) Is regeneration?
(f) Is growth in grace?
(g) Is preservation unto the end?
(h) Is eternal glory? The Lord will give, etc.
2.
All temporal good is from God. Our land, etc.
(a)
In a lawful manner our land.
(b)
In the use of appointed means: Shall yield her increase, etc.
(c)
In dependence upon the divine blessing. "Who giveth fruitful seasons,
"etc. Spiritual good is not less given in the use of appointed means. G.
R.
Verse
12. The fertility of our spheres of labour the gift of God.
Verse
13.
1.
The righteousness by which we are justified long precedes our justification:
this righteousness is gone before, etc.
2.
Our justification by that righteousness precedes our sanctification.
3.
The righteousness of sanctification invariably follows that of justification. G.
R.
WORK UPON THE
EIGHTY-FIFTH PSALM
In
an old quarto volume of 788 pages, containing Expositions of several passages
of Scripture, is a short Exposition of this Psalm (pp. 452-64) entitled "A
Taste of the Breathings, Pantings, Waitings, and Hopes of Israel after the true
Saviour, and his effectual Redemption." There is no Author's name, but
some previous owner has written "John Pennington" on the title
page: date 1656.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》