1_Praise Jehovah. _We have already explained this verse, for it formed the commencement of the preceding psalm. And it appears that it was not only frequently used among the Jews, but also so incorporated with other psalms, that when one part of the chorus on the one side was singing a portion of th... [ Continue Reading ]
6_In their straits they called upon Jehovah _The verbs are here in the past tense, and according to grammarians, represent a continued action. The meaning therefore is, that those who are wandering in desert places are often pinched with hunger and thirst in consequence of finding no place in which... [ Continue Reading ]
10._They who dwell in darkness _The Spirit of God makes mention here of another species of danger in which God manifestly discovers his power and grace in the protecting and delivering of men. The world, as I said, calls these vicissitudes the sport of fortune; and hardly one among a hundred can be... [ Continue Reading ]
11._Because they rebelled _In assigning the cause of their afflictions he corrects the false impressions of those persons who imagine that these happen by chance. Were they to reflect on the judgments of God, they would at once perceive that there was nothing like chance or fortune in the government... [ Continue Reading ]
17_Fools are afflicted on account of the way of their transgression. _He comes to another species of chastisement. For as he observed above, that those were given over to captivity who refused to yield obedience to God, so now he teaches that others have been visited by God with disease, as the frui... [ Continue Reading ]
20_He sendeth his word. _Again, in saying that they are delivered from destruction, the prophet shows that he is here alluding to those diseases which, in the opinion of men, are incurable, and from which few are delivered. Besides, he contrasts God’s assistance with all the remedies which are in th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And let them sacrifice _This clause is subjoined by way of explanation, the more strongly to express how God is robbed of his due, if in the matter of sacrifice his providence be not recognised. Even nature itself teaches that some kind of homage and reverence is due to God; this is acknowledged by... [ Continue Reading ]
23._They that go down to the sea in ships _Here we have another instance of God’s superintending care towards mankind pointed out to us by the prophet, exemplified in the bringing of those who are shipwrecked to the harbour, and this, too, as if he had raised them from the depth and darkness of the... [ Continue Reading ]
29._He maketh the storm a calm _A profane author, in narrating the history of such an event, would have said, that the winds were hushed, and the raging billows were calmed; but the Spirit of God, by this change of the storm into a calm, places the providence of God as presiding over all; thereby me... [ Continue Reading ]
33._He turneth rivers into a wilderness _Here then is an account of changes which it would be the height of folly to attribute to chance. Fruitful lands become unfruitful, and barren lands assume the new aspect of freshness and fruitfulness. And how happens it that one district becomes sterile, and... [ Continue Reading ]
35._He turneth the desert into a pool of water _This change, in contrast with the former, places the miraculous power of God in a more luminous position. Because, were the fields ceasing to be so productive as in former times, men of the world, as was common of old, would attribute this to the frequ... [ Continue Reading ]
39._Afterwards they are lessened _Ere I enter upon the consideration of the truths contained in this verse, I must make some brief verbal observations. Some make the word עוצר _, otser, _to signify _tyranny, _and certainly עצר _, atsar, _does signify to _bear rule. _But since it is used metaphorical... [ Continue Reading ]
42_The righteous shall see that, and shall rejoice _The prophet now draws the conclusion, that so many evident tokens of God’s superintending and overruling providence could not transpire before the righteous without attracting their notice, and that their vision being illuminated by faith, these sc... [ Continue Reading ]
43._Whosoever is wise, so as to observe these things. _We are now informed that men begin to be wise when they turn their whole attention to the contemplation of the works of God, and that all others besides are fools. For however much they may pique themselves upon their superior acuteness and subt... [ Continue Reading ]