PSALM LXXIII _The psalmist speaks of God's goodness to his people_, 1; _shows how much he was stumbled at the prosperity of the wicked,_ _and describes their state_, 2-12; _details the process of the temptation, and the pain he suffered_ _in consequence_, 13-16; _shows how he was delivered, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:2. _MY FEET WERE ALMOST GONE_] I had nearly given up my confidence. I was ready to find fault with the dispensations of providence; and thought the Judge of all the earth did not do right.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:3. _I WAS ENVIOUS AT THE FOOLISH_] I saw persons who _worshipped not_ the true God, and others who were _abandoned to_ _all vices_, in possession of every temporal comfort, while the godly were in straits, difficulties, and affliction. I began then to doubt whether there was a wise... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:4. _NO BANDS IN THEIR DEATH_] Many of the godly have sore conflicts at their death. Their enemy then thrusts sore at them that they may fall; or that their confidence in their God may be shaken. But of this the ungodly know nothing. Satan will not molest _them_; he is sure of his pre... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:6. _PRIDE COMPASSETH THEM ABOUT AS A CHAIN_] Perhaps there is an allusion here to the office which some of them bore. _Chains_ _of gold_, and _golden rings_, were ensigns of magistracy and civil power. As these chains encompassed their necks, or the rings their wrists and fingers, as... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:7. _THEIR EYES STAND OUT WITH FATNESS_] "Their countenance is changed because of fatness."-_Chaldee_. By fatness, or corpulency, the natural lines of the face are _changed_, or rather _obliterated_. The characteristic distinctions are gone; and we see little remaining besides the _hu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:8. _THEY ARE CORRUPT_] ימיקו _yamiku_, they _mock, act_ _dissolutely_. _AND SPEAK WICKEDLY_ CONCERNING _OPPRESSION_] They vindicate excessive acts of government: they push justice to its rigour. They neither show equity, lenity, nor mercy; they are cruel, and they _vindicate_ their... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:9. _SET THEIR MOUTH AGAINST THE HEAVENS_] They blaspheme God, ridicule religion, mock at Providence, and laugh at a future state. _THEIR TONGUE WALKETH THROUGH THE EARTH._] They find fault with every thing; they traduce the memory of the just in heaven, and ridicule the saints that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:10. _THEREFORE HIS PEOPLE RETURN HITHER_] There are very few verses in the Bible that have been more variously translated than this; and, like the man in the fable, they have blown the _hot_ to _cool_ it, and the _cold_ to _warm_ it. It has been translated, "Therefore God's people f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:11. _THEY SAY, HOW DOTH GOD KNOW?_] My people are so stumbled with the prosperity of the wicked, that they are ready in their temptation to say, "Surely, God cannot know these things, or he would never dispense his favours thus." Others consider these words as the saying of the _wick... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:12. _THESE_ ARE _THE UNGODLY_] The people still speak. It is the ungodly that prosper, the irreligious and profane.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:13. _I HAVE CLEANSED MY HEART_ IN _VAIN_] It is no advantage to us to worship the true God, to walk according to the law of righteousness, and keep the ordinances of the Most High.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:14. _FOR ALL THE DAY LONG HAVE I BEEN PLAGUED_] Far from enjoying worldly prosperity, we are not only _poor_, but we are _afflicted_ also; and every _succeeding day_ brings with it some new trouble.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:15. _IF I SAY, I WILL SPEAK THUS_] I have at last discovered that I have reasoned incorrectly; and that I have the uniform testimony of all thy children against me. From generation to generation they have testified that the Judge of all the earth does right; they have trusted in thee... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:16. _WHEN I THOUGHT TO KNOW THIS_] When I reviewed the history of our fathers, I saw that, though thou hadst from time to time hidden thy face because of their sins, yet thou hadst never utterly abandoned them to their adversaries; and it was not reasonable to conclude that thou woul... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:17. _UNTIL I WENT INTO THE SANCTUARY_] Until, in the use of thy ordinances, I entered into a deep consideration of thy secret counsels, and considered the future state of the righteous and the wicked; that the unequal distribution of temporal good and evil argued a future judgment; t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:18. _THOU DIDST SET THEM IN SLIPPERY PLACES_] Affluence is a slippery path; few have ever walked in it without _falling_. It is possible to be _faithful_ in the _unrighteous mammon_, but it is very _difficult_. No man should _desire riches_; for they bring with them so many cares an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:19. _ARE THEY_ BROUGHT _INTO DESOLATION_] This is often a literal fact. I have known several cases where persons, very rich, have by sudden losses been brought into desolation as in a moment; in consequence of which _they were utterly consumed in terrors_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:20. _AS A DREAM WHEN_ ONE _AWAKETH_] So their goods fled away. Their _possession_ was a _dream_-their _privation, real_. _THOU SHALT DESPISE THEIR IMAGE._] While destitute of true religion, whatever appearance they had of greatness, nobility, honour, and happiness; yet in the sight... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:21. _THUS MAY HEART WAS GRIEVED_] The different views which I got of this subject quite confounded me; I was equally astonished at their sudden overthrow and my own ignorance. I felt as if I were a _beast_ in stupidity. I permitted my mind to be wholly occupied with _sensible things_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:23. _I AM CONTINUALLY WITH THEE_] I now see that myself and my people are under thy guardian care; that we are continually upheld by thee; and while in thy _right hand_, we shall not be utterly cast down.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:24. _THOU SHALT GUIDE ME WITH THY COUNSEL_] After we have suffered awhile, receiving directions and consolations from thy good Spirit, by means of thy prophets, who are in the same captivity with ourselves; thou wilt grant us deliverance, restore us to our own land, and crown us with... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:25. _WHOM HAVE I IN HEAVEN_ BUT THEE?] The original is more emphatic: מי לי בשמים ועמך לא חפצתי בארץ _mi li bashshamayim;_ _veimmecha lo chaphatsti baarets_. "Who is there to me in the heavens? And with thee I have desired nothing in the earth." No man can say this who has not taken... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:26. _MY FLESH - FAILETH_] I shall soon die: _and my heart _- even my natural courage, will fail; and no support but what is _supernatural_ will then be available. Therefore, he adds, - _GOD_ IS _THE STRENGTH OF MY HEART_] Literally, _the rock of my_ _heart_. _AND MY PORTION_] Allus... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:27. _THEY THAT ARE FAR FROM THEE SHALL PERISH_] The term perish is generally used to signify a _coming to nothing_, being _annihilated_; and by some it is thus applied to the _finally_ _impenitent_, they shall all be _annihilated_. But where is this to be found in the Scriptures? In... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 73:28. It is _GOOD FOR ME TO DRAW NEAR_] We have already seen that those who are _far off_ shall perish; therefore, it is _ill for_ _them_. Those who _draw near_-who come in the true _spirit of_ _sacrifice_, and with the only available offering, the Lord Jesus, shall be finally saved; t... [ Continue Reading ]