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Psalm Eighty-three
Psalm 83
Chapter Contents
The designs of the enemies of Israel. (1-8) Earnest
prayer for their defeat. (9-18)
Commentary on Psalm 83:1-8
(Read Psalm 83:1-8)
Sometimes God seems not to be concerned at the unjust
treatment of his people. But then we may call upon him
as the psalmist here.
All wicked people are God's enemies
especially wicked persecutors. The Lord's
people are his hidden one; the world knows them not. He takes them under his
special protection. Do the enemies of the church act with one consent to
destroy it
and shall not the friends of the church be united? Wicked men wish
that there might be no religion among mankind. They would gladly see all its
restraints shaken off
and all that preach
profess
or practise it
cut off.
This they would bring to pass if it were in their power. The enemies of God's
church have always been many: this magnifies the power of the Lord in
preserving to himself a church in the world.
Commentary on Psalm 83:9-18
(Read Psalm 83:9-18)
All who oppose the kingdom of Christ may here read their
doom. God is the same still that ever he was; the same to his people
and the
same against his and their enemies. God would make their enemies like a wheel;
unsettled in all their counsels and resolves. Not only let them be driven away
as stubble
but burnt as stubble. And this will be the end of wicked men. Let
them be made to fear thy name
and perhaps that will bring them to seek thy
name. We should desire no confusion to our enemies and persecutors but what may
forward their conversion. The stormy tempest of Divine vengeance will overtake
them
unless they repent and seek the pardoning mercy of their offended Lord.
God's triumphs over his enemies
clearly prove that he is
according to his
name JEHOVAH
an almighty Being
who has all power and perfection in himself.
May we fear his wrath
and yield ourselves to be his willing servants. And let
us seek deliverance by the destruction of our fleshly lusts
which war against
the soul.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 83
Verse 3
[3] They have taken crafty counsel against thy people
and
consulted against thy hidden ones.
Hidden ones — Thy people of Israel
who are
called God's hidden or secret ones
to intimate the respect which God has to
them
as to his peculiar treasure.
Verse 6
[6] The tabernacles of Edom
and the Ishmaelites; of Moab
and the Hagarenes;
The tabernacles — The people dwelling in them.
Ishmaelites — Some of the posterity of Ishmael
called by their father's name
as others of them are supposed to be called
Hagarens from their grandmother Hagar.
Verse 7
[7] Gebal
and Ammon
and Amalek; the Philistines with the
inhabitants of Tyre;
Gebal — An Arabian people so called by ancient writers
dwelling in the southern border of Canaan
where most of the people here
mentioned had their abode.
Verse 8
[8] Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the
children of Lot. /*Selah*/.
Of Lot — Moab and Ammon.
Verse 13
[13] O my God
make them like a wheel; as the stubble before
the wind.
A wheel — Whereas they promise to themselves a sure possession
let them be like a wheel
which is very unstable
and soon removed.
Verse 14
[14] As the fire burneth a wood
and as the flame setteth the
mountains on fire;
The mountains — The woods upon the mountains
which in those hot countries
when they have once taken fire
burn with
irresistible violence.
Verse 16
[16] Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy
name
O LORD.
May seek — May own and worship thee as the only true God.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. A Psalm or
Song of Asaph. This is the last occasion upon which we shall meet with this
eloquent writer. The patriotic poet sings again of wars and dangers imminent
but it is no godless song of a thoughtless nation entering upon war with a
light heart. Asaph the seer is well aware of the serious dangers arising from
the powerful confederate nations
but his soul in faith stays itself upon
Jehovah
while as a poet preacher he excites his countrymen to prayer by means
of this sacred lyric. The Asaph who penned this song was in all probability the
person referred to in 2Ch 20:14
for the internal evidence referring the
subject of the Psalm to the times of Jehoshaphat is overwhelming. The division
in the camp of the confederate peoples in the wilderness of Tekoa not only
broke up their league
but led to a mutual slaughter
which crippled the power
of some of the nations for many years after. They thought to destroy Israel and
destroyed each other.
DIVISION. An appeal to
God in a general manner fills Ps 83:1-4; and then the psalmist enters into
details of the league
Ps 83:5-8. This leads to an earnest entreaty for the
overthrow of the enemy
Ps 83:9-15
with an expression of desire that God's
glory may be promoted thereby.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. Keep not thou silence
O God. Man is clamorous
be not
thou speechless. He rails and reviles
wilt not thou reply? On word of thine
can deliver thy people; therefore
O Lord
break thy quiet and let thy voice be
heard. Hold not thy peace
and be not still
O God. Here the appeal is
to EL.
the Mighty One. He is entreated to act and speak
because his nation
suffers and is in great jeopardy. How entirely the psalmist looks to God; he
asks not for "a leader bold and brave
"or for any form of human
force
but casts his burden upon the Lord
being well assured that his eternal
power and Godhead could meet every difficulty of the case.
Verse
2. For
lo
thine enemies make a tumult. They are by no means
sparing of their words
they are like a hungry pack of dogs
all giving tongue
at once. So sure are they of devouring thy people that they already shout over
the feast. And they that hate thee have lifted up the head. Confident of
conquest
they carry themselves proudly and exalt themselves as if their
anticipated victories were already obtained. These enemies of Israel were also
God's enemies
and are here described as such by way of adding intensity to the
argument of the intercession. The adversaries of the church are usually a noisy
and a boastful crew. Their pride is a brass which always sounds
a cymbal which
is ever tinkling.
Verse
3. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people.
Whatever we may do
our enemies use their wits and lay their heads together; in
united conclave they discourse upon the demands and plans of the campaign
using much treachery and serpentine cunning in arranging their schemes. Malice
is cold blooded enough to plot with deliberation; and pride
though it be never
wise
is often allied with craft. And consulted against thy hidden ones.
Hidden away from all harm are the Lord's chosen; their enemies think not so
but hope to smite them; they might as well attempt to destroy the angels before
the throne of God.
Verse
4. They have said
Come
and let us cut them off from being a
nation. Easier said than done. Yet it shows how thorough going are the foes
of the church. Theirs was the policy of extermination. They laid the axe at the
root of the matter. Rome has always loved this method of warfare
and hence she
has gloated over the massacre of Bartholomew
and the murders of the
Inquisition. That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. They
would blot them out of history as well as out of existence. Evil is intolerant
of good. If Israel would let Edom alone yet Edom cannot be quiet
but seeks
like its ancestor to kill the chosen of the Lord. Men would be glad to cast the
church out of the world because it rebukes them
and is thus a standing menace
to their sinful peace.
Verse
5. For they have consulted together with one consent. They
are hearty and unanimous in their designs. They seem to have but one heart
and
that a fierce one
against the chosen people and their God. They are
confederate against thee. At the Lord himself they aim through the sides of
his saints. They make a covenant
and ratify it with blood
resolutely banding
themselves together to war with the Mighty God.
Verse
6. The tabernacles of Edom. Nearest of kin
yet first in
enmity. Their sire despised the birthright
and they despise the possessors of
it. Leaving their rock built mansions for the tents of war
the Edomites
invaded the land of Israel. And the Ishmaelites. A persecuting spirit
ran in their blood
they perpetuated the old grudge between the child of the
bondwoman and the son of the freewoman. Of Moab. Born of incest
but yet
a near kinsman
the feud of Moab against Israel was very bitter. Little could
righteous Lot have dreamed that his unhallowed seed would be such unrelenting
enemies of his uncle Abraham's posterity. And the Hagarenes—perhaps
descendants of Hagar by a second husband. Whoever they may have been
they cast
their power into the wrong scale
and with all their might sought the ruin of
Israel. Children of Hagar
and all others who dwell around Mount Sinai
which
is in Arabia
are of the seed which gendereth to bondage
and hence they hate
the seed according to promise.
Verse
7. Gebal was probably a near neighbour of Edom
though there
was a Gebal in the region of Tyre and Sidon. And Ammon
and Amalek. Two
other hereditary foes of Israel
fierce and remorseless as ravening wolves. In
the roll of infamy let these names remain detestably immortalised. How thick
they stand. Their name is legion
for they are many. Alas
poor Israel
how art
thou to stand against such a Bloody League? Nor is this all. Here comes another
tribe of ancient foemen
the Philistines; who once blinded Samson
and
captured the ark of the Lord; and here are old allies become new enemies; the
builders of the temple conspiring to pull it down
even the inhabitants of
Tyre. These last were mercenaries who cared not at whose bidding they drew
sword
so long as they carved something for their own advantage. True religion
has had its quarrel with merchants and craftsmen
and because it has interfered
with their gains
they have conspired against it.
Verse
8. Assur is also joined with them. It was then a rising
power
anxious for growth
and it thus early distinguished itself for evil.
What a motley group they were; a league against Israel is always attractive
and gathers whole nations within its bonds. Herod and Pilate are friends
if
Jesus is to be crucified. Romanism and Ritualism make common cause against the
gospel. They have holpen the children of Lot. All these have come to the
aid of Moab and Ammon
which two nations were among the fiercest in the
conspiracy. There were ten to one against Israel
and yet she overcame all her
enemies. Her name is not blotted out; but many
nay
most of her adversaries
are now a name only
their power and their excellence are alike gone. Selah.
There was good reason for a pause when the nation was in such jeopardy: and yet
it needs faith to make a pause
for unbelief is always in a hurry.
Verse
9. Do unto them as unto the Midianites. Faith delights to
light upon precedents
and quote them before the Lord; in the present instance
Asaph found a very appropriate one
for the nations in both cases were very
much the same
and the plight of the Israelites very similar. Yet Midian
perished
and the psalmist trusted that Israel's present foes would meet with
the like overthrow from the hand of the Lord. As to Sisera
as to Jabin
at
the brook of Kison. The hosts were swept away by the suddenly swollen
torrent
and utterly perished; which was a second instance of divine vengeance
upon confederated enemies of Israel. When God wills it
a brook can be as
deadly as a sea. Kishon was as terrible to Jabin as was the Red Sea to Pharaoh.
How easily can the Lord smite the enemies of his people. God of Gideon and of
Barak
wilt thou not again avenge thine heritage of their bloodthirsty foes?
Verse
10. Which perished at Endor. There was the centre of the
carnage
where the heaps of the slain lay thickest. They became as dung for
the earth
manuring it with man; making the earth
like Saturn
feed on its
own children. War is cruel
butt in this case it avengements were most
just
—those who would not give Israel a place above ground are themselves
denied a hiding place under the ground; they counted God's people to be as
dung
and they became dung themselves. Asaph would have the same fate befell
other enemies of Israel; and his prayer was a prophecy
for so it happened to
them.
Verse
11. Make their nobles like Oreb
and like Zeeb. Smite the
great ones as well as the common ruck. Suffer not the ringleaders to escape. As
Oreb fell at the rock and Zeeb at the winepress
so do thou mete out vengeance
to Zion's foes wherever thou mayest overtake them. They boastfully compare
themselves to ravens and wolves; let them receive the fate which is due to such
wild beasts. Yea
all their princes as Zebah
and as Zalmunnua. These
were captured and slain by Gideon
despite their claiming to have been anointed
to the kingdom. Zebah became a sacrifice
and Zalmunna was sent to those
shadowy images from which his name is derived. The psalmist seeing these four
culprits hanging in history upon a lofty gallows
earnestly asks that others of
a like character may
for truth and righteousness' sake
share their fate.
Verse
12. Who said
Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in
possession. Viewing the temple
and also the dwellings of the tribes
as
all belonging to God
these greedy plunderers determined to push out the
inhabitants
slay them
and become themselves landlords and tenants of the
whole. These were large words and dark designs
but God could bring them all to
nothing. It is in vain for men to say "Let us take
"if God does not
give. He who robs God's house will find that he has a property reeking with a
curse; it will plague him and his seed for ever. "Will a man rob
God?" Let him try it
and he will find it hot and heavy work.
Verse
13. O my God
make them like a wheel; like a rolling thing
which cannot rest
but is made to move with every breath. Let them have no
quiet. May their minds eternally revolve and never come to peace. Blow them
away like thistle down
as the stubble before the wind. Scatter them
chase them
drive them to destruction. Every patriot prays thus against the
enemies of his country
he would be no better than a traitor if he did not.
Verse
14. As the fire burneth a wood. Long years have strewn the
ground with deep deposits of leaves; these being dried in the sun are very apt
to take fire
and when they do so the burning in terrific. The underwood and
the ferns blaze
the bushes crackle
the great trees kindle and to their very
tops are wrapped in fire
while the ground is all red as a furnace. In this
way
O Lord
mete out destruction to thy foes
and bring all of them to an end.
The flame setteth the mountains on fire. Up the hill sides the hanging
woods glow like a great sacrifice
and the forests on the mountain's crown
smoke towards heaven. Even thus
O Lord
do thou conspicuously and terribly
overthrow the enemies of thine Israel.
Verse
15. So persecute them with thy tempest
and make them afraid with
thy storm. The Lord will follow up his enemies
alarm them
and chase them
till they are put to a hopeless rout. He did this
according to the prayer of
the present Psalm
for his servant Jehoshaphat; and in like manner will he come
to the rescue of any or all of his chosen.
Verse
16. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name
O
Lord. Shame has often weaned men from their idols
and set them upon
seeking the Lord. If this was not the happy result
in the present instance
with the Lord's enemies
yet it would be so with his people who were so prone
to err. They would be humbled by his mercy
and ashamed of themselves because
of his grace; and then they would with sincerity return to the earnest worship
of Jehovah their God
who had delivered them.
Verse
17. Where no good result followed
and the men remained as fierce and
obstinate as ever
justice was invoked to carry out the capital sentence. Let
them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea
let them be put to shame
and
perish. What else could be done with them? It was better that they perished
than that Israel should be rooted up. What a terrible doom it will be to the
enemies of God to be "confounded
and troubled for ever
"to see all
their schemes and hopes defeated
and their bodies and souls full of anguish
without end: from such a shameful perishing may our souls be delivered.
Verse
18. That men may know that thou
whose name alone is JEHOVAH
art
the most high over all the earth. Hearing of the Lord's marvellous deeds in
defeating such a numerous confederacy
the very heathen would be compelled to
acknowledge the greatness of Jehovah. We read in 2Ch 20:30
that the fear of
God was on all the neighbouring kingdoms when they heard that Jehovah fought
against the enemies of Israel. Jehovah is essentially the Most High. He who is
self existent is infinitely above all creatures
all the earth is but his
footstool. The godless race of man disregards this
and yet at times the
wonderful works of the Lord compel the most unwilling to adore his majesty.
Thus has this soul stirring lyric risen from the words of complaint to those of
adoration; let us in our worship always seek to do the same. National trouble
called out the nation's poet laureate
and well did he discourse at once of her
sorrows
and prayers
and hopes. Sacred literature thus owes much to sorrow and
distress. How enriching is the hand of adversity! The following attempt to
verify the Psalm
and tune it to gospel purposes
is submitted with great
diffidence.
O
God
be thou no longer still
Thy foes are leagued against thy law;
Make bare thine arm on Zion's hill
Great Captain of our Holy War.
As
Amalek and Ishmael
Had war for ever with thy seed
So all the hosts of Rome and hell
Against the Son their armies led.
Though
they are agreed in nought beside
Against thy truth they all unite;
They rave against the Crucified
And hate the gospel's growing might.
By
Kishon's brook all Jabin's band
At thy rebuke were swept away;
O Lord
display thy mighty hand
A single stroke shall win the day.
Come
rushing wind
the stubble chase!
Come
sacred fire
the forests burn!
Come
Lord
with all thy conquering grace
Rebellious hearts to Jesus turn!
That
men may know at once that thou
Jehovah
lovest truth right well;
And that thy church shall never bow
Before the boastful gates of hell.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. "A
Song or Psalm." When the two words (Shir
Mizmor
)occur
together
the meaning seems to be
a lyric poem appointed to be sung. John
Jebb.
Title. This Psalm
according to the title
was composed by Asaph. In accordance with this
we
read
in 1Ch 20:14
that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehasiel
of the sons
of Asaph
in the midst of the assembly. This Jehasiel is probably the author of
the Psalm. Our Psalm is a true picture of the state of feeling which prevailed
throughout the people during the danger under Jehoshaphat. According to the
history of Chronicles
they praised God at that time
in the midst of their
danger
with loud voice
2Ch 20:19; and here in the title
which is an
appendage to that of Psalm 48
the Psalm is called a song of praise; and
it is such in reality
although it bears the form of a prayer
—a song
of triumph sung before the victory
—no contest
no doubt
the distress is
simply committed to God. The mention of the Amalekites among the enemies
of Israel
in Ps 83:7
renders it impossible to come down to times later than
that of Jehoshaphat. The last remains of the Amalekites were
according to 1Ch
4:43
rooted out by the Simeonites
under Hezekiah. From that time they
disappear altogether from history. Ewald's assertion that Amalek stands here
"only as a name of infamy applied to parties well known at the time
"is to be considered as a miserable shift. The Psalm must have been
composed previous to the extension of the empire of the Assyrians over Western
Asia. For the Assyrians named last
in the eighth verse
appear here in the
very extraordinary character of an ally of the sons of Lot. E. W.
Hengstenberg.
Verse
1. Keep not thou silence
O God. In Scripture there are three
reasons why the Lord keeps silence when his people are in danger
and sits
still when there is most need to give help and assistance. One is
the Lord
doth it to try their faith
as we clearly see
Mt 8:24
where it is said
that our Lord Christ was asleep: There arose a great tempest in the sea
insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his
disciples came to him
and awoke him
saying
Lord
save us: we perish. We
read more fully in Mark 4 and Luke 8
he left them
when the ship was covered
with waves
and they were rowing for their lives
their Lord was asleep
the while
and he said to them
Why are ye so fearful? how is it that you
have no faith? And he arose
and rebuked the wind
and said unto the sea
Peace
be still. And the wind ceased
and there was a great calm. Truly
the Lord will not suffer his people to be overwhelmed
that is certain
but he will suffer them to come very near
that the waves cover them
and fear and horror shall cover their souls
and all to try their faith. . .
. I find another reason in Isaiah 59
and that is
the Lord doth keep
silence in the midst of the troubles of his people
to try men's uprightness
of heart. For if God should always appear for his cause
God and his
cause should have many favourites and friends; but sometimes God leaves his
cause
and leaves his people
and leaves his gospel
and his ordinances to the
wide world
to see who will plead for it and stick to it. . . . There is a
third reason: God
as it were
keeps silence in the midst of the
greatest troubles
that he may
as it were
gather the wicked into one
faggot
into one bundle
that they may be destroyed together. There is a
great deal of ado to "gather the saints" in this world; and
truly there is some ado to gather the wicked. So God withdraws himself
from his people
yet he hath a hook within their hearts
he holds them
up secretly by his Spirit
that they shall not leave him; yet the world shall
not see but that God hath quite left them
and all their ordinances and
his gospel and everything; and there the wicked come together and
insult
whereby God may come upon them at once
and destroy them
as we
find ten nations in the Psalm. And so in Genesis God stirs up the nations
against Abraham and his posterity
and there are ten nations that God promised
to cut off before Abraham at once
the Perizzites
and the Jebusites
and the
Canaanites
etc. So God heaps them together
and burns them like
stubble. Those that burn stubble have rakes
and they gather it to
heaps
and then they fire it. This is the way of God's keeping silence
among his people
and sitting still in the midst of their miseries
thus
God gathers their enemies in heaps as stubble
that he may burn them together. Gualter
(Walter) Cradock
in "Divine Drops." 1650.
Verse
1. Keep not thou silence
etc. The Hebrew words have great
emphasis
and express the main causes of silence—closing the mouth
deafness of the ears
and a tranquility maintained to such an extent as to
reject all disquietude.
The
first clause
let not thy mouth be closed
and thy tongue cleave to the
roof of thy mouth
immovably
properly denotes
from the inherent force of the
word jqs whose root means to fix to and compact firmly
what is fastened
with lime or daubed with plaster...
The
second clause
be not thou deaf
properly pertains to the ears
as Mic
7:16
Their ears shall be deaf. The third
be not still
suggests
the course of the thoughts of the mind when it is brought to a state of clear
tranquility
all cares and commotions being laid aside. The word (Heb.) is
properly to settle
to settle down
as when the disturbed dregs of
liquor settle down and seek the bottom
whence it is applied to the mind when
freed from a great fermentation of cares and the sediments of anxieties and
bitterness
a mind serene
clear
and refined...
Let
us now see what the poet had in mind when he poured out these prayers
or what
he wished to indicate. He hinted
that the people were reduced to these earnest
entreaties
because unless God should speedily bring help to them
it might
seem that Jehovah
the God of Israel
is like the false gods
a sort of deity
either mute
or deaf
or at his ease. Hermann Venema.
Verse
1. Is the Lord silent? Then be not thou silent; but cry unto him
till he breaks the silence. Starke
in Lange's Bibelwerk.
Verse
1. The reference to tumult in the following verse gives force
to the earnest appeal in this. Amidst all the tumult of gathering foes
he
earnestly calls on God to break his silence
and to speak to them in wrath. W.
Wilson.
Verse
2. For
lo. The prayer begins with the particle lo
which has not only the force of arousing God
but also give the idea of something
present
with the view of pointing out the opportune moment for God to gird
himself for the work. Hermann Venema.
Verse
2. Thine enemies make a tumult. The whole world is but like
an army
a brigade of men (as it were) under a general;
and God is the Lord of Hosts
that is the Lord of his armies: now when
there is a tumult in an army
they complain to the officers
to the general
especially; and he must come and suppress it. Therefore
saith he
Thou Lord of
hosts
thou art general of the world; lo
there is a tumult in the
world
a mutiny. Walter Cradock.
Verse
3. Thy hidden ones. This representation of God's people is
worthy our notice. It may be taken two ways. First
As referring to their safety.
We often hide only to preserve. This is the meaning of the word in the parable
with regard to the discovery of the treasure in the field; "which
when a
man hath found
he hideth it." His aim is not to conceal but to secure;
and the cause is put for the effect. Thus God's people are hidden. He hid Noah
in the Ark
and the waters that drowned the world could not find him.
When his judgments were coming over the land
"Come
my people
"saith he
"enter thou into thy chambers
and shut thy doors about
thee: hide thee also for a little season
until the indignation be
overpast." Hence the promise
"Thou shalt hide them in the secret of
thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion
from the strife of tongues." Hence the confidence expressed by David
"In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of
his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock." The Saviour
could say
"In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me." And
"All
the saints are in his hand." They are kept by the power of God
through
faith
unto salvation. For he himself is their "refuge
"their
"hiding place." They are his hidden ones. Secondly. As
intimating their concealment. This is not absolute. But it holds in
various respects and degrees. It is true with regard to the nature of the spiritual
life. Our life
says the Apostle
is hid with Christ in God; and that he
refers to its invisibleness
rather than to its safety
is obvious from the
words following: "When he who is our life shall appear
we also
shall appear with him in glory." ...The heart of the believer only
knows his own bitterness; and a stranger intermeddleth not with his joy. The
manna on which he feeds is hidden manna. And no one knoweth the new name in the
white stone given him
but the receiver... They are sometimes hidden by persecution.
For though this does not prevent their being Christians
it hinders them from
appearing as such; especially by secluding them from their social and public
assemblies... They are sometimes hidden by the obscurity of their stations. Not
many of the wise
and mighty
and noble are called: but when they are
called they are also exhibited. They are like cities set on hills
which
cannot be hid. A little religion in high life goes a great way
and is much
talked of
because it is so often a strange thing. But God has chosen the poor
of this world; and they are often rich in faith. Yet how is their moral wealth
to be known? How few opportunities have they for religious display or exertion!
There may be the principle of benevolence
where there is no ability to give.
And the Lord seeth the heart
but men can only judge from actions. Many who are
great in the sight of the Lord are living in cottages and hovels; and are
scarcely known
unless to a few neighbours equally obscure. They are sometimes
hidden by their disposition. They are reserved
and shrink back from
notice. They are timid and self diffident. This restrains them in religious
conversation
especially as it regards their own experience. This keeps them
from making a profession of religion
and joining a Christian church. Joseph of
Arimathaea was a disciple of Jesus; but secretly
for fear of the Jews. And
Nicodemus
from the same cause
came to Jesus by night. They had difficulties
in their situations
from which others were free. They ought to have overcome
them; and so they did at last
but it was a day of small things with them at
first. Others are circumstanced and tried in a similar way: and we must be
patient towards all men. They are sometimes hidden by their infirmities.
We would not plead for sin; but grace may be found along with many
imperfections. The possessors have what is essential to religion in them; but
not everything that is ornamental
and lovely
and of good report. The same
will also apply to errors. Here
again
we are far from undervaluing
divine truth. It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. But
it is impossible for us to say how much ignorance
and how many mistakes
may
be found
even in the Israelites indeed
in whom there is no guile. William
Jay.
Verse
3. The less the world knows thee
the better for thee; thou mayest
be satisfied with this one thing—God knows them that are his: not lost
although hidden is the symbol of a Christian. Frisch
in Lange's
Bibelwerk.
Verse
4. That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
This desperate and dreadful scheme
and wretched design of theirs
took not
effect; but
on the contrary
the several nations hereafter mentioned
who were
in this conspiracy
are no more
and have not had a name in the world for many
hundreds of years; whilst the Jews are still a people and are preserved
in
order to be called and saved
as all Israel will be in the latter day
Ro
11:25. So Diocletian thought to have rooted the Christian name out of the
world; but in vain. John Gill.
Verse
5. For they have consulted together with one consent. Margin
as in Hebrew
heart. There is no division in their counsels on this
subject. They have one desire—one purpose—in regard to the
matter. Pilate and Herod were made friends together against Christ (Lu 23:12);
and the world divided and hostile in other matters
has been habitually united
in its opposition to Christ and to a pure and spiritual religion. Albert
Barnes.
Verse
5. They have consulted together with one consent
etc. To
push on this unholy war
they lay their heads together
and their horns
and
their hearts too. Fas est et ab hoste doceri. Do the enemies of the church
act with one consent to destroy it? Are the kings of the earth of one mind to
give their power and honour to the beast? And shall not the church's friends be
unanimous in serving her interests? If Herod and Pilate are made friends that
they may join in crucifying Christ
sure Paul and Barnabas
Paul and Peter
will soon be made friends
that they may join in preaching Christ. Matthew
Henry.
Verse
5. They have consulted together
etc. Though there may fall
out a private grudge betwixt such as are wicked
yet they will all agree and
unite against the saints: if two greyhounds are snarling at a bone
yet put up
a hare between them
and they will leave the bone
and follow after the hare;
so
if wicked men have private differences amongst themselves
yet if the godly
be near them
they will leave snarling at one another
and will pursue after
the godly. Thomas Watson.
Verse
5. They are confederate against thee. "They have made a
covenant
"vtyrkytyrk berith yachriths
"they have cut the
covenant sacrifice." They have slain an animal
divided him in twain
and
passed between the pieces of the victim; and have thus bound themselves to
accomplish their purpose. Adam Clarke.
Verse
6. The tabernacle of Edom
etc. The prophet having entered his suit
and complaint in general
he comes to particulars
and tells God who they are
that had done this. God might say
Who are these that conspire against me
and
against my people
and hidden ones? Lord
saith the prophet
I will tell thee
who they are... He names some ten nations that joined together against one
poor Israel. It is a thing you should observe
that when the people of God
are conspired against
God rests not in general complaints
but he will
know who they are. As I told you
He is the Lord of Hosts
the great general.
When there is mutiny the general asks
what officer
or what corporal
or what
sergeant
or who did begin the mutiny? and it is a fearful thing when the poor
persecuted saint shall bring thy name as a persecutor before the God of heaven.
When a poor saint shall go home and say
There is a confederacy in London
a
conspiracy against the saints of God; and when a poor saint shall say
such a
magistrate
such a minister
such a man in such a street
such a woman set her
husband against the saints
and against thine ordinances; it is a fearful
thing. Therefore I remember a blessed woman
if it be true that is reported of
her in the Book of Martyrs
that when the wicked abused her
and
reproached her
and oppressed her
she would say no more but this
"I will
go home and tell my Father" give over
or else I will bring your names
before God
and tell him: there was all
and that was enough; for he would
presently take it up. A man may better bear a pound of dirt on his feet
than a grain of dirt in his eye; the saints are "the apple of God's
eye." Walter Cradock.
Verse
6. Hagarenes. These people dwelt on the east of Gilead; and
were nearly destroyed in the days of Saul
being totally expelled from their
country
1Ch 5:10
but afterwards recovered some strength and consequence. Adam
Clarke.
Verses
6-8. It may be observed that these were on all sides of the land of
Israel; the Edomites
Ishmaelites
and Amalekites
were on the south; the
Moabites
Ammonites
and Hagarenes
were on the east; the Assyrians on the
north; and the Philistines
Gebalites
and Tyrians
on the west; so that Israel
was surrounded on all sides with enemies
as the Lord's people are troubled on
every side
2Ch 4:8; and so the Gog and Magog army
of which some understand
this
will encompass the camp of the saints about
and the beloved city
Re
20:9. John Gill.
Verses
6-8. The enemies of Israel
as enumerated by the psalmist
fall into
four main divisions: 1st
those most nearly connected with the Israelites
themselves by the ties of blood relationship
the descendants of Esau and
Ishmael; 2ndly
the two branches of the descendants of Lot along with their
respective Arabian auxiliaries
viz.
the Moabites
who had engaged the
assistance of the Hagarenes
and the Ammonites
who had gathered round their
standard the Giblites and Amalekites; 3rdly
the inhabitants of the coast
the
Philistines and Tyrians; 4thly
the more distant Assyrians. Of all these the
bitterest in their hostility to Israel were those who were the most nearly allied
to them in blood
—the Edomites. Their hostility was founded upon hatred. From
their conduct to the Israelites through a long course of years it would seem as
though in them were lastingly perpetuated that older hatred wherewith their
forefather Essau had hated Jacob because of Isaac's blessing. And though they
had once and again succeeded
according to the prophecy
in breaking Israel's
yoke from off their neck
yet they never could wrest away from Israel the
possession of the birthright
and with it of the promises
which their
ancestors had profanely despised; from Israel
not from Edom
was the Redeemer
of the world to spring
and in Israel were all the families of the earth to be
blessed. The Edomites may accordingly be appropriately viewed as the types of
those whom the Church of Christ has ever found her bitterest foes
the sceptics
who have refused to acknowledge that redemption through a personal Redeemer
on
which
as on a basis
the church is founded
whose intellectual pride is
offended by the humbling doctrines of Christianity
and who hate those that
hold them for their possession of blessings which they have wilfully
neglected; whose human learning has nevertheless all along been subservient on
the whole to the edification of the church
in spite of the violence with which
they have striven
and for a while
as it should sometimes appear
successfully
to gain the mastery over her by opposing her
and to exercise a
temporary dominion. Dwelling themselves in tabernacles
they cannot bear that
others
more blessed that they
should have the houses of God in possession:
"owning themselves to be astray
and unable to find the way to the truth
they are yet most importunate and imperious that others should come away from
the ancient paths
and try to join them
or at least
wander as they are
wandering." In conjunction with the Edomites
the psalmist makes mention
of the Ishmaelites. And these
as the descendants of the bondwoman
may fitly
represent those Jewish opponents of Christianity
still
perhaps
locally
if
not generally
formidable
who in their rejection of Christian doctrine have
been swayed by the same feelings of intellectual pride as the sceptics of
Christian descent; who professing to hold fast to that covenant of Mount Sinai
which gendereth to bondage
persecuted
so long as they were able
those born
after the Spirit.
In
the descendants of Lot and their Arabian auxiliaries
we have the types of a
different class of foes. The historical origin of the former marks them as the
appropriate representatives of the slaves of sinful lusts; who hate the church
not for the humbling tone of her doctrines
but for the standard of holiness
which she exacts and for which she is continually witnessing. And experience
shews how such persons are wont
in their attacks upon the church
to enlist
into their service those who are more wildly
but at the same time more
ignorantly
unholy than themselves; how in order
if possible
to uproot those
fences and safeguards of the law of holiness on which
having transgressed
them
they hate to look
they appeal to the unbridled passions of the lawless
multitude by whom the very existence of the fences had been utterly
disregarded. From the enemies of the Church who are animated by feelings of
positive hatred we pass to those who act from calculation rather than passion
and whose proceeding are all directed with a view to their own earthly
aggrandisement. The Philistines and Tyrians had engaged in the hostile
confederacy with the hope of obtaining Israelitish captives
from whom they
might reap a profit by selling them abroad as slaves. It does not appear that
they regarded the Israelites in themselves with other feelings than those of
mere selfish indifference. Both nations had tendered their service to Israel in
the days of Israel's prosperity; for the Philistines had probably furnished the
Cherethites and Pelethites of David's body guard
and the Tyrians had furnished
Solomon with materials and workmen for the building of the temple: both nations
were now seeking to enrich themselves at Israel's expense in the days of
Israel's adversity. And these then are the fitting types of all who in their
varying professions of friendliness or hostility to the Church of God are
actuated by the mere mercenary desire of lucre; favouring
and even zealously
favouring her interests
when they can procure a good recompense for their
services; unhesitatingly combining with her bitterest enemies to vilify and
despoil her
whenever the opportunity offers of increasing their worldly substance
thereby. The last class of enemies are those of whom Assyria is the type; the
worldly potentates
whether ecclesiastical or temporal
papal or imperial
who
are unscrupulously ready to employ all means for the ultimate accomplishment of
their one object
that of extending and consolidating their dominion. Such
potentates seem to represent most truly that determined and resolute
selfishness
which
to eyes that are not dazzled by the grandeur of its
proportions or the gorgeousness in which it is arrayed
must ever appear as one
of the most terrible embodiments of the enmity of the world to God. Pride of
intellect and unbelief
—unholiness and lawlessness of
life
—covetousness
—worldly ambition
—such are the characteristics of four
important classes of those by whom God's church is threatened. Joseph
Francis Thrupp.
Verse
7. Gebal.
1.
It is generally supposed to indicate the mountainous tract extending from the
Dead Sea southward to Petra
still named Jebal. But some of the best
writers identify it with No. 2
as mentioned in conjunction with Tyre.
2.
A place spoken of in connection with Tyre
Eze 27:9. Most probably the
residence of the Giblites
and therefore to the north of Palestine
Jos 13:5.
The Giblites were employed by Hiram
king of Tyre
in preparing materials for
Solomon's temple
1Ki 5:18
margin. The Greek name of this place was Byblus.
The town is called Jebeil
and has a population of about six hundred. It
is about seventeen miles north of Beyroot. The ancient ruins are very
extensive. Immense numbers of granite columns are strewn about in the village
and over the surrounding fields. These columns are mostly small
varying from
one foot to two feet in diameter. Some of the stones measure nearly twenty feet
in length. The citadel is the most remarkable ruin. The port is nearly choked
up with sand and ruins. George H. Whitney's "Hand Book of Bible
Geography." 1872
Verse
8. Assur also
etc. This determines the date of this Psalm to the
latter times of the Jewish kingdom; for the other nations here mentioned had
molested them before
but the Assyrians not till towards the end. William
Wall
1645 or 1646-1727-8.
Verse
9. Do unto them as unto the Midianites. That is
dash their heads
together
make their policies to cross one another. Walter Cradock.
Verse
9. The brook of Kison. The river Kishon traverses the plain
(of Esdraelon) and terminates in the Bay of Acre or Akka. This is the stream
regarding which it is written
after Barak and Deborah had gained their victory
over Sisera
"The river of Kishon swept them away
that ancient river
the
river Kishon. O my soul
thou hast trodden down strength." Although it is
now no insignificant stream
yet it needs heavy rains to make it really
considerable in magnitude: it is very unequal in size
and seems to be only
temporary in its character. At any rate
when Robinson passed its head waters
in midsummer
he found the channels all dry
and they had been so for a whole
year. On the other hand
in the winter the waters are often exceedingly
abundant; particularly in the northern and southern chief tributaries; so that
in 1799
at the time of the French invasion
many of the vanquished Turks
perished in the floods which swept down from Deburieh
and which inundated the
plain. It was a scene like that described in Judges 5 regarding the fate of
Sisera's hosts. Carl Ritter (1779-1859)
in "The Comparative Geography
of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula." Translated by William L. Gage.
1866.
Verse
10. They became as dung for the earth. The land was enriched or made
fertile by their flesh
their blood
and their bones. Albert Barnes.
Verse
10. They became as dung for the earth. In the year 1830
it is
estimated that more than a million bushels of "human and inhuman
bones" were imported from the continent of Europe into the port of Hull.
The neighbourhood of Leipsic
Austerlitz
Waterloo
etc.
where the principal
battles were fought some fifteen or twenty years before
were swept alike of
the bones of the hero
and the horse which he rode. Thus collected from every
quarter
they were shipped to Hull
and thence forwarded to the Yorkshire bone
grinders
who
by steam engines and powerful machinery
reduced them to a
granulary state. In this condition they were sent chiefly to Doncaster
one of
the largest agricultural markets of the country
and were there sold to the
farmers to manure their lands. The oily substance gradually evolving as the
bone calcines
makes better manure than almost any other substance—particularly
human bones. K. Arvine.
Verse
11. The word nobles is placed in antithesis with the names Oreb
and Zeeb. The word mykyrg nobles
denotes properly liberal
munificent
and beneficent men
such as princes and potentates ought
to be among men
but the names Oreb and Zeeb have the very
opposite signification
for the one signifies a raven
the other a wolf.
When into such rapacious and truculent beasts their nobles have degenerated
as
a just reward the hostile shock shall come upon them. Hermann Venema.
Verse
13. A wheel. What sort of vegetable is this whose stems our muleteers
are cutting up and chewing with so much relish? It is a wild artichoke. We can
amuse ourselves with it and its behaviour for a while
and may possibly extract
something more valuable than the insipid juice of which our men are so fond.
You observe than in growing it throws out numerous branches of equal size and
length in all directions
forming a sort of sphere or globe a foot or more in
diameter. When ripe and dry in autumn
these branches become rigid and light as
a feather
the parent stem breaks off at the ground
and the wind carries these
vegetable globes whithersoever it pleaseth. At the proper season thousands of
them come scudding over the plain rolling
leaping
bounding with vast racket
to the dismay both of the horse and his rider. Once
on the plain north of
Hamath
my horse became quite unmanageable among them. They charged down upon
us on the wings of the wind
which broke them from their moorings
and sent
them careening over the desert in countless numbers. Our excellent native
itinerant
A—-F—-
had a similar encounter with them on the eastern desert
beyond the Hauran
and his horse was so terrified that he was obliged to alight
and lead him. I have long suspected that this wild artichoke is the gulgal
which
in Ps 83:13
is rendered wheel
and in Isa 17:13
a rolling
thing. Evidently our translators knew not what to call it. The first
passage reads thus: O my God
make them like a wheel; second
Rebuke
them
and they shall flee far off
and shall be chased as the chaff of the
mountains before the wind
and like a rolling thing—gulgal—before the
whirlwind. Now
from the nature of the parallelism
the gulgal
cannot be a wheel
but something corresponding to chaff. It must also be
something that does not fly like the chaff
but in a striking manner rolls
before the wind. The signification of gulgal in Hebrew and its
equivalent in other Shemitic dialects
requires this
and this rolling
artichoke meets the case most emphatically
and especially when it rolls before
the whirlwind. In the encounter referred to north of Hamath
my eyes were half
blinded with the stubble and chaff which filled the air; but it was the
extraordinary behaviour of this rolling thing that riveted my attention.
Hundreds of these globes
all bounding like gazelles in one direction over the
desert
would suddenly wheel short round at the bidding of a counter blast
and
dash away with equal speed on their new course. An Arab proverb addresses this
"rolling thing" thus: "Ho! akkub
where do you put up
tonight?" to which it answers as it flies
"Where the wind puts
up." They also derive one of their many forms of cursing from this plant:
"May you be whirled
like the akkub
before the wind
until you are caught
in the thorns
or plunged into the sea." If this is not the wheel
of David
and the rolling thing of Isaiah
from which they also borrowed
their imprecations upon the wicked
I have seen nothing in the country to
suggest the comparison. W. M. Thomson
in "The Land and the Book."
Verse
13. Make them like a wheel. That is
cause them to fall into
such great calamities that they can find no counsel or remedy for their
misfortunes
and that they may run hither and thither like a wheel or a ball
and yet see not where they ought to stop
ot whither they ought to escape. Such
are the minds of wicked men in calamities
wherever they turn they find no
harbour wherein to rest
no certain consolation can they discover. They are
tossed with perpetual disquietude; by running hither and thither and seeking various
remedies they but weary themselves the more and plunge themselves the more
deeply in their woes. This must necessarily happen to those who seek to cure
evil with evil. Therefore Isaiah also says
the wicked are like the troubled
sea. Mollerus.
Verse
13. Like a wheel. Mortals
like cylinders
are rolled hither
and thither
oppressed with innumerable ills. Aurea Carmina.—Pythagoras
Verse
13. There is no greater evidence against error
than that it is not
constant to itself
no greater argument against these pretended great spirits
than that they cannot sit
know not where to fix
are always moving
as if the
psalmist's curse had taken hold of them
as if God had made them like a
wheel and as stubble before the wind
that can sit nowhere
rest at nothing
but turn about from one uncertainty to another. The Holy Spirit is a spirit
that will sit still
and be at peace
continue and abide. Mark Frank.
Verses
13-14. In imagery both obvious and vivid to every native of the gusty
hills and plains of Palestine
though to us comparatively unintelligible
the
psalmist describes them as driven over the uplands of Gilead like the clouds of
chaff blown from the threshing floors; chased away like the spherical masses of
dry weeds which course over the plains of Esdraelon and Philistia—flying with
the dreadful hurry and confusion of the flames
that rush and leap from tree
and hill to hill when the wooded mountains of a tropical country are by chance
ignited. William Smith
in "A Dictionary of the Bible." 1863.
Verse
14. Mountains on fire. Many of the mountains in this country are
covered with dense forests. The leaves which fall every autumn accumulate
sometimes for years
until we have a particularly dry summer
when
somehow or
other
either by accident or design
they are always set on fire
and burn
sometimes for several days. The mountains in one of the States of the
neighbouring Republic are on fire at this very moment while I am now writing
and have been burning for more than a week
and we can distinctly see the red
glare in the sky above them
although from their great distance
even the tops
of the mountains themselves from whence the flames arise are beyond the limits
of our horizon. From "Philip Musgrave: or Memoirs of a Church of
England Missionary in the North American Colonies." 1846.
Verse
14. Fire has greater force on a mountain
where the
wind is more powerful
than upon a wood situated in a valley. Honorius
Augustodunensis.
Verse
14. Humboldt saw forests on fire in South America and thus describes
them. "Several parts of the vast forests which surround the mountain
had
taken fire. Reddish flames
half enveloped in clouds of smoke
presented a very
grand spectacle. The inhabitants set fire to the forests
to improve the
pasturage
and to destroy the shrubs that choke the grass. Enormous
conflagrations
too
are often caused by the carelessness of the Indians
who
neglect
when they travel
to extinguish the fires by which they have dressed
their food."
Verse
14. Let us pray the divine aid to break this power and enmity of the
natural man; that it may yield unto the word of grace; and let the wood
hay
and stubble of all false doctrine perish before the brightness of the face of
God. Edward Walter. 1854.
Verse
18. That men may know that thou
whose name alone is JEHOVAH
etc. Early English History informs us
that some bloodthirsty persecutors were
marching on a band of Christians. The Christians
seeing them approaching
marched out towards them
and at the top of their voices
shouted
"Hallelujah
hallelujah!" (Praise Jehovah). The name of the Lord
being presented
the rage of the persecutors abated. Josephus says
that the
Great Alexander
when on his triumphal march
being met near Jerusalem by the
Jewish high priest
on whose mitre was engraved the name of Jehovah
"approached by himself and adored that name
"and was disarmed of his
hostile intent. There was significance and power in the glorious old name as
written by the Jews. But the name of Jesus is now far more mighty in the world
than was the name Jehovah in these earlier ages. "The Dictionary of
Illustrations
" 1872.
Verse
18. JEHOVAH is one of the incommunicable names of God
which
signifies his eternal essence. The Jews observe that in God's name Jehovah
the Trinity is implied. Je signifies the present tense
ho the
preterperfect tense
vah
the future. The Jews also observe that in his
name Jehovah all the Hebrew letters are literae quiescentes
that
denotes rest
implying that in God and from God is all our rest. Every gracious
soul is like Noah's dove
he can find no rest nor satisfaction but in God. God
alone is the godly man's ark of rest and safety. Jehovah is the incommunicable
name of God
and is never attributed to any but God: Thou
whose name alone
is JEHOVAH.
Verse
18. The most high. His being the High and lofty One
notes
forth the transcendancy and super excellency of his divine being in himself
and that it is utterly of another kind from creatures
and indeed that it only
is truly being. When the Psalmist says
That men may know that thou
whose
name alone in JEHOVAH art the MOST HIGH over all the earth
he thereby
argues his height from his name
that his name is alone Jehovah
and therefore
he is most high
and in that very respect. Now Jehovah is the name of his
essence
"I AM
" and he is MOST HIGH in respect of such a glorious
being as is proper alone unto him. Thomas Goodwin.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. The long silence of God
the reasons for it
and our reasons for
desiring him to end it.
Verse
3. Thy hidden ones.
1.
Hidden as to their new nature
which is an enigma to men.
2. Hidden for protection
as precious things.
3. Hidden
for solace and rest.
4. Hidden
because not yet fully revealed.
Verse
4. The immortality of the church.
Verse
5. The confederacies of evils against the saints.
Verses
13-15. The instability
restlessness and impotence of the wicked; their
horror when God deals with them in justice.
Verse
16. A prayer for the Pope and his priests.
Verse
17. The righteous fate of persecutors
and troublers.
Verse
18. The Golden Lesson: how taught
to whom
by whom
through whom?
WORK UPON THE
EIGHTY-THIRD PSALM
"Expositions
and Observations on Psalm LXXXIII.
"in "Divine Drops distilled from
the Fountain of Holy Scriptures: delivered in several Exercises before Sermons
upon Twenty and Three Texts of Scripture. By that worthy Gospel Preacher
GUALTER CRADOCK
late Preacher at All Hallows Great in London... 1650."
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》