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Psalm Ninety-five
Psalm 95
Chapter Contents
part. An exhortation to praise God. (1-7) A warning not
to tempt Him. (7-11)
Commentary on Psalm 95:1-7
(Read Psalm 95:1-7)
Whenever we come into God's presence
we must come with
thanksgiving. The Lord is to be praised; we do not want matter
it were well if
we did not want a heart. How great is that God
whose the whole earth is
and
the fulness thereof; who directs and disposes of all!
The Lord Jesus
whom we
are here taught to praise
is a great God; the mighty God is one of his titles
and God over all
blessed for evermore. To him all power is given
both in
heaven and earth. He is our God
and we should praise him. He is our Saviour
and the Author of our blessedness. The gospel church is his flock
Christ is
the great and good Shepherd of believers; he sought them when lost
and brought
them to his fold.
Commentary on Psalm 95:7-11
(Read Psalm 95:7-11)
Christ calls upon his people to hear his voice. You call
him Master
or Lord; then be his willing
obedient people. Hear the voice of
his doctrine
of his law
and in both
of his Spirit: hear and heed; hear and
yield. Christ's voice must be heard to-day. This day of opportunity will not
last always; improve it while it is called to-day. Hearing the voice of Christ
is the same with believing. Hardness of heart is at the bottom of all distrust
of the Lord. The sins of others ought to be warnings to us not to tread in
their steps. The murmurings of Israel were written for our admonition. God is
not subject to such passions as we are; but he is very angry at sin and
sinners. That certainly is evil
which deserves such a recompence; and his
threatenings are as sure as his promises. Let us be aware of the evils of our
hearts
which lead us to wander from the Lord. There is a rest ordained for
believers
the rest of everlasting refreshment
begun in this life
and
perfected in the life to come. This is the rest which God calls his rest.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 95
Verse 3
[3] For
the LORD is a great God
and a great King above all gods.
God's —
Above all that are called God's angels
earthly potentates
and especially the
false gods of the Heathen.
Verse 4
[4] In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is
his also.
Hand —
Under his government.
Strength —
The strongest or highest mountains.
Verse 7
[7] For
he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
To day if ye will hear his voice
Pasture —
Whom he feeds and keeps in his own pasture
or in the land which he hath
appropriated to himself.
The sheep —
Which are under his special care.
Today —
Forthwith or presently.
Verse 8
[8]
Harden not your heart
as in the provocation
and as in the day of temptation
in the wilderness:
Harden not — By
obstinate unbelief.
Provocation — In
that bold and wicked contest with God in the wilderness.
Temptation — In
the day in which you tempted me.
Verse 9
[9] When your fathers tempted me
proved me
and saw my work.
Works —
Both of mercy
and of justice.
Verse 10
[10]
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation
and said
It is a people
that do err in their heart
and they have not known my ways:
Do err —
Their hearts are insincere and bent to backsliding.
Not known —
After all my teaching and discoveries of myself to them; they did not know
nor
consider
those great things which I had wrought for them.
Verse 11
[11] Unto
whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
My rest —
Into the promised land
which is called the rest
Deuteronomy 12:9.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
TITLE. This Psalm has
no title
and all we know of its authorship is that Paul quotes it as "in
David." (Heb 4:7.) It is true that this may merely signify that it is
to be found in the collection known as David's Psalms; but if such were the
Apostle's meaning it would have been more natural for him to have written
"saying in the Psalms; "we therefore incline to the belief that David
was the actual author of this poem. It is in its original a truly Hebrew song
directed both in its exhortation and warning to the Jewish people
but we have
the warrant of the Holy Spirit in the epistle to the Hebrews for using its
appeals and entreaties when pleading with Gentile believers. It is a psalm of
invitation to worship. It has about it a ring like that or church bells
and
like the bells it sounds both merrily and solemnly
at first ringing out a
lively peal
and then dropping into a funeral knell as if tolling at the
funeral of the generation which perished in the wilderness. We will call it THE
PSALM OF THE PROVOCATION.
DIVISION. It would be
correct as to the sense to divide this psalm into an invitation and a warning
so as to commence the second part with the last clause of Ps 95:7: but upon the
whole it may be more convenient to regard Ps 95:6 as "the beating heart of
the psalm
"as Hengstenberg calls it
and make the division at the end of
Ps 95:5. Thus it will form (1) an invitation with reasons
and (2) an
invitation with warnings.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. O come
let us sing unto the LORD. Other nations sing unto
their gods
let us sing unto Jehovah. We love him
we admire him
we reverence
him
let us express our feelings with the choicest sounds
using our noblest
faculty for its noblest end. It is well thus to urge others to magnify the
Lord
but we must be careful to set a worthy example ourselves
so that we may
be able not only to cry "Come"
but also to add "let us
sing"
because we are singing ourselves. It is to be feared that very much
even of religious singing is not unto the Lord but unto the car of the
congregation: above all things we must in our service of song take care that
all we offer is with the heart's sincerest and most fervent intent directed
toward the Lord himself. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our
salvation. With holy enthusiasm let us sing
making a sound which shall indicate
our earnestness; with abounding joy let us lift up our voices
actuated by that
happy and peaceful spirit which trustful love is sure to foster. As the
children of Israel sang for joy when the smitten rock poured forth its cooling
streams
so let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. The author
of this song had in his mind's eye the rock
the tabernacle
the Red Sea
and
the mountains of Sinai
and he alludes to them all in this first part of his
hymn. God is our abiding
immutable
and mighty rock
and in him we find
deliverance and safety
therefore it becomes us to praise him with heart and
with voice from day to day; and especially should we delight to do this when we
assemble as his people for public worship.
"Come
let us to the Lord sing out
With trumpet voice and choral shout."
it
becomes us to praise him with heart and with voice from day to day; and
especially should we delight to do this when we assemble as his people for
public worship.
"Come
let us to the Lord sing out
With trumpet voice and choral shout."
it
becomes us to praise him with heart and with voice from day to day; and
especially should we delight to do this when we assemble as his people for
public worship.
"Come
let us to the Lord sing out
With trumpet voice and choral shout."
Verse
2. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Here is
probably a reference to the peculiar presence of God in the Holy of Holies
above the mercy seat
and also to the glory which shone forth out of the cloud
which rested above the tabernacle. Everywhere God is present
but there is a
peculiar presence of grace and glory into which men should never come without
the profoundest reverence. We may make bold to come before the immediate
presence of the Lord—for the voice of the Holy Ghost in this psalm invites us
and when we do draw near to him we should remember his great goodness to us and
cheerfully confess it. Our worship should have reference to the past as well as
to the future; if we do not bless the Lord for what we have already received
how can we reasonably look for more. We are permitted to bring our petitions
and therefore we are in honour bound to bring our thanksgivings. And make a
joyful noise unto him with psalms. We should shout as exultingly as those do
who triumph in war
and as solemnly as those whose utterance is a psalm. It is
not always easy to unite enthusiasm with reverence
and it is a frequent fault
to destroy one of these qualities while straining after the other. The
perfection of singing is that which unites joy with gravity
exultation with
humility
fervency with sobriety. The invitation given in the first verse (Ps
95:1) is thus repeated in the second (Ps 95:2) with the addition of directions
which indicate more fully the intent of the writer. One can imagine David in
earnest tones persuading his people to go up with him to the worship of Jehovah
with sound of harp and hymn
and holy delight. The happiness of his exhortation
is noteworthy
the noise is to be joyful; this quality he insists upon
twice. It is to be feared that this is too much overlooked in ordinary
services
people are so impressed with the idea that they ought to be serious
that they put on the aspect of misery
and quite forget that joy is as much a
characteristic of true worship as solemnity itself.
Verse
3. For the LORD is a great God
and a great King above all gods.
No doubt the surrounding nations imagined Jehovah to be a merely local deity
the god of a small nation
and therefore one of the inferior deities; the
psalmist utterly repudiates such an idea. Idolaters tolerated gods many and
lords many
giving to each a certain measure of respect; the monotheism of the
Jews was not content with this concession
it rightly claimed for Jehovah the
chief place
and the supreme power. He is great
for he is all in all; he is a
great King above all other powers and dignitaries
whether angels or princes
for they owe their existence to him; as for the idol gods
they are not worthy
to be mentioned. This verse and the following supply some of the reasons for
worship
drawn from the being
greatness
and sovereign dominion of the Lord.
Verse
4. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. He is the
God of the valleys and the hills
the caverns
and the peaks. Far down where
the miners sink their shafts
deeper yet where lie the secret oceans by which
springs are fed
and deepest of all in the unknown abyss where rage and flame
the huge central fires of earth
there Jehovah's power is felt
and all things
are under the dominion of his hand. As princes hold the mimic globe in their
hands
so does the Lord in very deed hold the earth. When Israel drank of the
crystal fount which welled up from the great deep
below the smitten rock
the
people knew that in the Lord's hands were the deep places of the earth. The
strength of the hills is his also. When Sinai was altogether on a smoke the
tribes learned that Jehovah was God of the hills as well as of the valleys.
Everywhere and at all times is this true; the Lord rules upon the high places
of the earth in lonely majesty. The vast foundations
the gigantic spurs
the
incalculable masses
the untrodden heights of the mountains are all the Lord's.
These are his fastnesses and treasure houses
where he stores the tempest and
the rain; whence also he pours the ice torrents and looses the avalanches. The
granite peaks and adamantine aiguilles are his
and his the precipices and the
beetling crags. Strength is the main thought which strikes the mind when gazing
on those vast ramparts of cliff which front the raging sea
or peer into the
azure sky
piercing the clouds
but it is to the devout mind the strength of
God; hints of Omnipotence are given by those stern rocks which brave the fury
of the elements
and like walls of brass defy the assaults of nature in her
wildest rage.
Verse
5. The sea is his. This was seen to be true at the Red Sea
when the waters saw their God
and obediently stood aside to open a pathway for
his people. It was not Edom's sea though it was red
nor Egypt's sea though it
washed her shores. The Lord on high reigned supreme over the flood
as King far
ever and ever. So is it with the broad ocean
whether known as Atlantic or
Pacific
Mediterranean or Arctic; no man can map it out and say "It is
mine"; the illimitable acreage of waters knows no other lord but God
alone. Jehovah rules the waves. Far down in vast abysses
where no eye of man
has gazed
or foot of diver has descended
he is sole proprietor; every rolling
billow and foaming wave owns him for monarch; Neptune is but a phantom
the
Lord is God of ocean. And he made it. Hence his right and sovereignty. He
scooped the unfathomed channel and poured forth the overflowing flood; seas
were not fashioned by chance
nor their shores marked out by the imaginary
finger of fate; God made the main
and every creek
and bay
and current
and
far sounding tide owns the great Maker's hand. All hail
Creator and Controller
of the sea
let those who fly in the swift ships across the wonder realm of
waters worship thee alone! And his hands formed the dry land. Whether fertile
field or sandy waste
he made all that men called terra firma
lifting
it from the floods and fencing it from the overflowing waters. "The earth
is the Lord's
and the fulness thereof." He bade the isles upraise their
heads
he levelled the vast plains
upreared the table lands
cast up the
undulating hills
and piled the massive Alps. As the potter moulds his clay
so
did Jehovah with his hands fashion the habitable parts of the earth. Come ye
then
who dwell on this fair world
and worship him who is conspicuous wherever
ye tread! Count it all as the floor of a temple where the footprints of the
present Deity are visible before your eyes if ye do but care to see. The
argument is overpowering if the heart be right; the command to adore is alike
the inference of reason and the impulse of faith.
Verse
6. Here the exhortation to worship is renewed and backed with a
motive which
to Israel of old and to Christians now
is especially powerful;
for both the Israel after the flesh and the Israel of faith may be described as
the people of his pasture
and by both he is called "our God." O
come
let us worship and bow down. The adoration is to be humble. The
"joyful noise" is to be accompanied with lowliest reverence. We are
to worship in such style that the bowing down shall indicate that we count
ourselves to be as nothing in the presence of the all glorious Lord. Let us
kneel before the Lord our maker. As suppliants must we come; joyful
but not
presumptuous; familiar as children before a father
yet reverential as
creatures before their maker. Posture is not everything
yet is it something;
prayer is heard when knees cannot bend
but it is seemly that an adoring heart
should show its awe by prostrating the body
and bending the knee.
Verse
7. For he is our God. Here is the master reason for worship.
Jehovah has entered into covenant with us
and from all the world beside has
chosen us to be his own elect. If others refuse him homage
we at least will
render it cheerfully. He is ours
and our God; ours
therefore will we love
him; our God
therefore will we worship him. Happy is that man who can
sincerely believe that this sentence is true in reference to himself. And we
are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand. As he belongs to us
so do we belong to him. "My Beloved is mine
and I am his." And we
are his as the people whom he daily feeds and protects. Our pastures are not
ours
but his; we draw all our supplies from his stores. We are his
even as
sheep belong to the shepherd
and his hand is our rule
our guidance
our
government
our succour
our source of supply. Israel was led through the
desert
and we are led through this life by "that great Shepherd of the
sheep." The hand which cleft the sea and brought water from the rock is
still with us
working equal wonders. Can we refuse to "worship and bow
down" when we clearly see that "this God is our God for ever and
ever
and will be our guide
even unto death"? But what is this warning
which follows? Alas
it was sorrowfully needed by the Lord's ancient people
and is not one whir the less required by ourselves. The favoured nation grew
deaf to their Lord's command
and proved not to be truly his sheep
of whom it
is written
"My sheep hear my voice": will this turn out to be our
character also? God forbid. To day if ye will hear his voice. Dreadful
"if." Many would not hear
they put off the claims of love
and
provoked their God." Today
"in the hour of grace
in the day of
mercy
we are tried as to whether we have an ear for the voice of our Creator.
Nothing is said of tomorrow
"he limiteth a certain day
"he presses
for immediate attention
for our own sakes he asks instantaneous obedience.
Shall we yield it? The Holy Ghost saith "Today
"will we grieve him
by delay?
Verse
8. Harden not your heart. If ye will hear
learn to fear
also. The sea and the land obey him
do not prove more obstinate than they!
"Yield
to his love who round you now
The bands of a man would east."
We
cannot soften our hearts
but we can harden them
and the consequences will be
fatal. Today is too good a day to be profaned by the hardening of our hearts
against our own mercies. While mercy reigns let not obduracy rebel. "As in
the provocations
and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness" (or
"like Meribah
like the day of Massah in the wilderness"). Be not
wilfully
wantonly
repeatedly
obstinately rebellious. Let the example of that
unhappy generation serve as a beacon to you; do not repeat the offences which
have already more than enough provoked the Lord. God remembers men's sins
and
the more memorably so when they are committed by a favoured people
against
frequent warnings
in defiance of terrible judgments
and in the midst of
superlative mercies; such sins write their record in marble. Reader
this verse
is for you
for you even if you can say
"He is our God
and we are the
people of his pasture." Do not seek to turn aside the edge of the warning;
thou hast good need of it
give good heed to it.
Verse
9. When your fathers tempted me. As far as they could do so
they tempted God to change his usual way
and to do their sinful bidding
and
though he cannot be tempted of evil
and will never yield to wicked requests
yet their intent was the same
and their guilt was none the less. God's way is
perfect
and when we would have him alter it to please us
we are guilty of
tempting him; and the fact that we do so in vain
while it magnifies the Lord's
holiness
by no means excuses our guilt. We are in most danger of tills sin in
times of need
for then it is that we are apt to fall into unbelief
and to
demand a change in those arrangements of providence which are the transcript of
perfect holiness and infinite wisdom. Not to acquiesce in the will of God is
virtually to tempt him to alter his plans to suit our imperfect views of how
the universe should be governed. Proved me. They put the Lord to needless
tests
demanding new miracles
fresh interpositions
and renewed tokens of his
presence. Do not we also peevishly require frequent signs of the Lord's love
other than those which every hour supplies? Are we not prone to demand
specialities
with the alternative secretly offered in our hearts
that if they
do not come at our bidding we will disbelieve? True
the Lord is very condescending
and frequently grants us marvellous evidences of his power
but we ought not to
require them. Steady faith is due to one who is so constantly kind. After so
many proofs of his love
we are ungrateful to wish to prove him again
unless
it be in those ways of his own appointing
in which he has said
"Prove me
now." If we were for ever testing the love of our wife or husband
and
remained unconvinced after years of faithfulness
we should wear out the utmost
human patience. Friendship only flourishes in the atmosphere of confidence
suspicion is deadly to it: shall the Lord God
true and immutable
be day after
day suspected by his own people? Will not this provoke him to anger? And saw my
work. They tested him again and again
through out forty years
though each
time his work was conclusive evidence of his faithfulness. Nothing could
convince them for long.
"They
saw his wonders wrought
And then his praise they sung;
But soon his works of power forgot
And murmured with their tongue."
"Now
they believe his word
While rocks with rivers flow;
Now with their lusts provoke the Lord
And he reduced them low."
Fickleness
is bound up in the heart of man
unbelief is our besetting sin; we must for
ever be seeing
or we waver in our believing. This is no mean offence
and will
bring with it no small punishment.
Verse
10. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation. The
impression upon the divine mind is most vivid; he sees them before him now
and
calls them "this generation." He does not leave his prophets to
upbraid the sin
but himself utters the complaint and declares that he was
grieved
nauseated
and disgusted. It is no small thing which can grieve our
long suffering God to the extent which the Hebrew word here indicates
and if
we reflect a moment we shall see the abundant provocation given; for no one who
values his veracity can endure to be suspected
mistrusted
and belied
when
there is no ground for it
but on the contrary the most overwhelming reason for
confidence. To such base treatment was the tender Shepherd of Israel exposed
not for a day or a month
but for forty years at a stretch
and that not by
here and there an unbeliever
but by a whole nation
in which only two men were
found so thoroughly believing as to be exempted from the doom which at last was
pronounced upon all the rest. Which shall we most wonder at
the cruel
insolence of man
or the tender patience of the Lord? Which shall leave the
deepest impression on our minds
the sin or the punishment? unbelief
or the
barring of the gates of Jehovah's rest against the unbelievers? And said
It is
a people that do err in their heart
and they have not known my ways.
Their heart was obstinately and constantly at fault; it was not their head
which erred
but their very heart was perverse: love
which appealed to their
affections
could not convert them. The heart is the main spring of the man
and if it be not in order
the entire nature is thrown out of gear. If sin were
only skin deep
it might be a slight matter; but since it has defiled the soul
the case is bad indeed. Taught as they were by Jehovah himself in lessons
illustrated by miracles
which came to them daily in the manual from heaven
and the water from the flinty rock
they ought to have learned something
and
it was a foul shame that they remained obstinately ignorant
and would not know
the ways of God. Wanderers in body
they were also wanderers in heart
and the
plain providential goodness of their God remained to their blinded minds as
great a maze as those twisting paths by which he led them through the
wilderness. Are we better than they? Are we not quite as apt to misinterpret
the dealings of the Lord? Have we suffered and enjoyed so many things in vain?
With many it is even so. Forty years of providential wisdom
yea
and even a
longer period of experience
have failed to teach them serenity of assurance
and firmness of reliance. There is ground for much searching of heart
concerning this. Many treat unbelief as a minor fault
they even regard it
rather as an infirmity than a crime
but the Lord thinketh not so. Faith is
Jehovah's due
especially from those who claim to be the people of his pasture
and yet more emphatically from those whose long life has been crowded with
evidences of his goodness: unbelief insults one of the dearest attributes of
Deity
it does so needlessly and without the slightest ground and in defiance
of all sufficient arguments
weighty with the eloquence of love. Let us in
reading this psalm examine ourselves
and lay these things to heart.
Verse
11. Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into
my rest. There can be no rest to an unbelieving heart. If manna and
miracles could not satisfy Israel
neither would they have been content with
the land which flowed with milk and honey. Canaan was to be the typical resting
place of God
where his ark should abide
and the ordinances of religion should
be established; the Lord had for forty years borne with the ill manners of the
generation which came out of Egypt
and it was but right that he should resolve
to have no more of them. Was it not enough that they had revolted all along
that marvellous wilderness march? Should they be allowed to make new Messahs
and Meribahs in the Promised Land itself? Jehovah would not have it so. He not
only said but swore that into his rest they should not come
and that oath
excluded every one of them; their carcases fell in the wilderness. Solemn
warning this to all who leave the way of faith for paths of petulant murmuring
and mistrust. The rebels of old could not enter in because of unbelief
"let us therefore fear
lest
a promise being left us of entering into his
rest
any of us should even seem to come short of it." One blessed
inference from this psalm must not be forgotten. It is clear that there is a
rest of God
and that some must enter into it: but "they to whom it was
first preached entered not in because of unbelief
there remaineth therefore a
rest to the people of God." The unbelievers could not enter
but "we
which have believed do enter into rest." Let us enjoy it
and praise the
Lord for it for ever. Ours is the true Sabbatic rest
it is ours to rest from
out own works as God did from his. While we do so
let us "come into his
presence with thanksgiving
and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms."
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. These six psalms
95 to 100
form
if I mistake not
one entire
prophetic poem
cited by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews
under the
title of the Introduction of the First Born into the world. Each Psalm has its
proper subject
which is some particular branch of the general argument
the
establishment of the Messiah's Kingdom. The 95th Psalm asserts Jehovah's
Godhead
and his power over all nature
and exhorts his people to serve him. In
Psalm 96th all nations are exhorted to join in his service
because he cometh
to judge all mankind
Jew and Gentile. In the 97th Psalm
Jehovah reigns over
all the world
the idols are deserted
the Just One is glorified. In the 98th
Psalm
Jehovah hath done wonders
and wrought deliverance for himself: he hath
remembered his mercy towards the house of Israel; he comes to judge the whole
world. In the 99th
Jehovah
seated between the cherubim in Zion
the visible
Church
reigns over all the world
to be praised for the justice of his
government. In the 100th Psalm
all the world is called upon to praise Jehovah
the Creator
whose mercy and truth are everlasting.—Samuel Horsley.
Whole
Psalm. This Psalm is twice quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews
as a
warning to the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem
in the writer's day
that they
should not falter in the faith
and despise God's promises
as their
forefathers had done in the wilderness
lest they should fail of entering into
his rest; see He 3:7
where verse 7 of this Psalm is introduced with the words
"As the Holy Ghost saith
Today if ye will hear his voice
"and see
He 4:7
where it is said
"Again
he limiteth a certain day
saying in
David
Today." It has by some been inferred from these words that the
writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews ascribes this Psalm to David. It may be
so. But it seems not improbable that the words "in David" mean simply
"the Book of Psalms
"the whole being named from the greater part;
and that if he had meant that David wrote the Psalm
he would have written
"David spake
"or
"the Holy Ghost spake by David
"and not
as it is written
"as it is said in David."—Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse
1. O come
let us sing unto the Lord
etc. The first verse of the
Psalm begins the invitation unto praise and exultation. It is a song of three
parts
and every part (like Jacob's part of the sheep) brings forth twins; each
a double string
as it were
in the music of this praise
finely twisted of two
parts into a kind of discordant concord
falling into a musical close through a
differing yet reconciled diapason. The first couple in this song of praise are
multitude and unity
concourse and concord: "O come"
there's
multitude and concourse; "let us
"there's unity and concord. The second
twisted pair
are tongue and heart
"let us sing
"there's the voice
and sound; and "heartily rejoice
"there's the heart and soul. The
third and last intertwisted string
or part in the musick
is might and mercy
(rock or) strength and salvation; God's strength and our salvation: "to
the strength (or rock) of our salvation."—Charles Herle (1598-1659)
in a "Sermon before the House of Lords"
entitled
"David's
Song of Three Parts".
Verse
1. Come. The word "come" contains an exhortation
exciting them to join heart and lips in praising God; just as the word is used
in Genesis
where the people
exciting and encouraging each other
say
"Come
let us make bricks; "and "Come
let us make a city and a
town; "and
in the same chapter
the Lord says
"Come
let us go
down
and there confound their tongue."—Bellarmine.
Verse
1. If it be so that one "come
let us" goes further than
twenty times go and do
how careful should such be whom God hath raised to
eminence of place that their examples be Jacob's ladders to help men to heaven
not Jeroboam's stumbling blocks to lie in their way
and make Israel to sin.—Charles
Herle.
Verse
1. There is a silent hint here at that human listlessness and
distraction of cares whereby we are more prompt to run after other things than
to devote ourselves seriously to the becoming praises and service of God. Our
foot has a greater proclivity to depart to the field
the oxen
and the
new wife
than to come to the sacred courts
Lu 14:18
seq. See Isa 2:3
"Come ye
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord."—Martin
Geier.
Verse
1. Joyful noise. The verb eyrh
signifies to make a loud
sound of any sort
either with the voice or with instruments. In the psalms
it
generally refers to the mingled din of voices and various instruments
in the
Temple service. This wide sense of the word cannot be expressed otherwise in
the English language than by a periphrasis.—Samuel Horsley.
Verse
1. The rock of our salvation. Jesus is the Rock of ages
in
which is opened a fountain for sin and uncleanness; the Rock which attends the
church in the wilderness
pouring forth the water of life
for her use and
comfort; the Rock which is our fortress against every enemy
shadowing and
refreshing a weary land.—George Horne.
Verse
2. Let us come before his presence. Hebrew
prevent his
face
be there with the first. "Let us go speedily ...I will go
also"
Zec 8:21. Let praise wait for God in Sion
Ps 65:1.—John Trapp.
Verse
2. (second clause). Let us chant aloud to him the measured
lay. twrmz
I take to be songs
in measured verse
adjusted to the bars of
a chaunt.—S. Horsley.
Verse
3. He that hath a mind to praise God
shall not want matter of
praise
as they who come before princes do
who for want of true grounds of
praise in them
do give them flattering words; for the Lord is a great God
for power and preeminence
for strength and continuance.—David Dickson.
Verse
3. The Supreme Being has three names here: la El
hwhy
Jehovah
Myhla Elohim
and we should apply none of them to false
gods. The first implies his strength; the second
his being
and essence; the third
his covenant relation to mankind.
In public worship these are the views we should entertain of the Divine Being.—Adam
Clarke.
Verse
3. Above all gods. When He is called a great God and King
above all gods
we may justly imagine that the reference is to the
angels who are wont to be introduced absolutely under this name
and to the
supreme Judges in the land
who also wear this title
as we have it in
Ps 82:1-8.—Venema.
Verse
4. In his hand. The dominion of God is founded upon his
preservation of things. "The Lord is a great King above all gods."
Why?
In
his hand are the deep places of the earth. While his hand holds
his hand hath
a dominion over them. He that holds a stone in the air exerciseth a dominion
over its natural inclination in hindering it from falling. The creature depends
wholly upon God in its preservation; as soon as that divine hand which sustains
everything were withdrawn
a languishment and swooning would be the next turn
in the creature. He is called Lord
Adonai
in regard of his
sustentation of all things by his continual influx
the word coming of Nwa
which signifies a basis or pillar that supports a building. God is the Lord of
all
as he is the sustainer of all by his power
as well as the Creator of all
by his word.—Stephen Charnock.
Verse
4.
"In
whose hand are the recesses of the earth
And the treasures of the mountains are his."
—Thomas J. Conant's Translation.
Verse
4. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. This affords
consolation to those; who for the glory of the divine name are cast into
prisons and subterraneous caves; because they know
that even there it is not
possible to be the least separated from the presence of Christ. Wherefore He
preserved Joseph when hurled by his brethren into the old pit
and when thrust
by his shameless mistress into prison; Jeremiah also when sent down into the
dungeon; Daniel among the lions
and his companions in the furnace. So all who
cleave to Him with a firm faith
he wonderfully keeps and delivers to this
day.—Solomon Gesner
1559-1605.
Verse
4. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. As an
illustration of the working and presence of the Lord in the mines amid the
bowels of the earth we have selected the following: "The natural
disposition of coal in detached portions"
says the author of an excellent
article in the Edinburgh Review
"is not simply a phenomenon of geology
but it also bears upon natural considerations. It is remarkable that this
natural disposition is that which renders the fuel most accessible and most
easily mined. Were the coal situated at its normal geological depth
that is
supposing the strata to be all horizontal and undisturbed or upheaved
it would
be far below human reach. Were it deposited continuously in one even
superficial layer
it would have been too readily
and therefore too quickly
mined
and therefore all the superior qualities would be wrought out
and only
the inferior left; but as it now lies it is broken up by geological
disturbances into separate portions
each defined and limited in area
each
sufficiently accessible to bring it within man's reach and labour
each
manageable by mechanical arrangements
and each capable of gradual excavation
without being subject to sudden exhaustion. Selfish plundering is partly
prevented by natural barriers
and we are warned against reckless waste by the
comparative thinness of coal seams
as well as by the ever augmenting
difficulty of working them at increased depths. By the separation of seams one
from another
and by varied intervals of waste sandstones and shales
such a
measured rate of winning is necessitated as precludes us from entirely robbing
posterity of the most valuable mineral fuel
while the fuel itself is preserved
from those extended fractures and crumblings and falls
which would certainly
be the consequence of largely mining the best bituminous coal
were it
aggregated into one vast mass. In fact
by an evident exercise of forethought
and benevolence in the Great Author of all our blessings
our invaluable fuel
has been stored up for us in deposits the most compendious
the most
accessible
yet the least exhaustible
and has been locally distributed into
the most convenient situations. Our coal fields are so many Bituminous
Banks
in which there is abundance for an adequate currency
but against
any sudden run upon them nature has interposed numerous checks; whole reserves
of the precious fuel are always locked up in the bank cellar under the
invincible protection of ponderous stone beds. It is a striking fact
that in
this nineteenth century
after so long an inhabitation of the earth by man
if
we take the quantities in the broad view of the whole known coal fields
so
little coal has been excavated
and that there remains an abundance for a very
remote posterity
even though our own best coal fields may be then worked
out."
But
it is not only in these inexhaustible supplies of mineral fuel that we find
proofs of divine foresight
all the other treasures of the earth rind equally
convince us of the intimate harmony between its structure and the wants of man.
Composed of a wonderful variety of earths and ores
it contains an
inexhaustible abundance of all the substances he requires for the attainment of
a higher grade of civilisation. It is for his use that iron
copper
lead
silver
tin
marble
gypsum
sulphur
rock salt
and a variety of other
minerals and metals
have been deposited in the veins and crevices
or in the
mines and quarries
of the subterranean world. It is for his benefit that
from
the decomposition of the solid rocks results that mixture of earths and
alkalies
of marl
lime
sand
or chalk
which is most favourable to
agriculture. It is for him
finally
that
filtering through the entrails of
the earth
and dissolving salutary substances on their way
the thermal springs
gush forth laden with treasures more inestimable than those the miner toils
for. Supposing man had never been destined to live
we well may ask wily all
those gifts of nature useless to all living beings but to him why those vast
coal fields
those beds of iron ore
those deposits of sulphur
those hygeian
fountains
should ever have been created? Without him there is no design
no
purpose
in their existence; with him they are wonderful sources of health or
necessary instruments of civilisation and improvement. Thus the geological
revolutions of the earth rind harmoniously point to man as to its future lord;
thus
in the life of our planet and that of its inhabitants
we everywhere find
proofs of a gigantic unity of plan
embracing unnumbered ages in its
development and progress.—G. Hartwig
in "The Harmonies of
Nature"
1866.
Verse
4. The deep places of the earth
penetralia terrae
which are
opposed to the heights of the hills
and plainly mean the deepest and most
letired parts of the terraqueous globe
which are explorable by the eye of God
and by his only.—Richard Mant.
Verse
4. The strength of the hills. The word translated
"strength" is plural in Hebrew
and seems properly to mean fatiguing
exertions
from which some derive the idea of strength
others that of extreme
height
which can only be reached by exhausting effort.—J.A. Alexander.
Verse
4. The strength of the hills is his also. The reference may
be to the wealth of the hills
obtained only by labour Gesenius
corresponding to the former—"the deep places of the earth"
explained
as referring to the mines Mendelssohn. Go where man may
with all his
toil and searching in the heights or in the depths of the earth
he cannot find
a place beyond the range of God's dominion.—A.R. Faussett.
Verse
4. Hills
The Sea
the dry land. The relation of areas of
land to areas of water exercises a great and essential influence on the
distribution of heat
variations of atmospheric pressure
directions of the
winds
and that condition of the air with respect to moisture
which is so
necessary for the health of vegetation. Nearly three fourths of the earth's
surface is covered with water
but neither the exact height of the atmosphere
nor the depth of the ocean are fully determined. Still we know that with every
addition to or subtraction from the present bulk of the waters of the ocean
the consequent variation in the form and magnitude of the land would be such
that if the change was considerable
many of the existing harmonies of things
would cease. Hence
the inference is
that the magnitude of the sea is one of
the conditions to which the structure of all organised creatures is adapted
and on which indeed they depend for wellbeing. The proportions between land and
water are exactly what the world as constituted requires; and the whole mass of
earth
sea
and air
must have been balanced with the greatest nicety before
even a crocus could stand erect. Or a snowdrop or a daffodil bend their heads
to the ground. The proportions of land and sea are adjusted to their reciprocal
functions. Nothing deduced from modern science is more certain than this.—Edwin
Sidney
in "Conversations on the Bible and Science."
Verse
5. The sea is his. When God himself makes an oration in
defence of his sovereignty
Job 38:1 his chief arguments are drawn from
creation: "The Lord is a great King above all gods. The sea is his
and he
made it." And so the apostle in his sermon to the Athenians. As he
"made the world
and all things therein
"he is styled "Lord of
heaven and earth
"Ac 17:24. His dominion also of property stands upon
this basis: Ps 84:11
"The heavens are thine
the earth also is thine: as
for the world and the fulness thereof
thou hast founded them." Upon this
title of forming Israel as a creature
or rather as a church
he demands their
services to him as their Sovereign. "O jacob and Israel
thou art my
servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant
O Israel
"Is 44:21. The
sovereignty of God naturally ariseth from the relation of all things to himself
as their entire creator
and their natural and inseparable dependence upon him
in regard of their being and wellbeing.—Stephen Charrwick.
Verse
5. He made it.
The
Earth was formed
but in the womb as yet
Of waters
embryon immature involved
Appeared not: over all the face of Earth
in ocean flowed
not idle; but
with warm
Prolific humour softening all her globe
Fermented the great mother to conceive
Satiate with genial moisture; when God said
Be gathered now
ye waters under Heaven
unto one place and let dry land appear.
Immediately
the mountains huge appear
Emergent
and their broad bare backs upheave
unto the clouds; their tops ascend the sky:
So high as heaved the tumid hills
so low
own sunk a hollow bottom broad and deep
Capacious bed of waters.—John Milton.
Verse
6. You hold it a good rule in worldly business
not to say to your
servants
"O come"
arise ye
go ye; but
Let us come
let us go
let
us arise. Now shall the children of this world be wiser in their generation
than the children of light? Do we commend this course in mundane affairs
and
neglect it in religious offices? Assuredly
if our zeal were as great to
religion
as our love is towards the world
masters would not come to church
(as many do) without their servants
and servants without their masters;
parents without their children
and children without their parents: husbands
without their wives
and wives without their husbands; but all of us would call
one to another
as Esau prophesied (chap. 2:3): "Come ye
and let us go up
to the mountain of the Lord
to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will
teach us of his ways
and we will walk in his paths
"and as David here
practised.—John Boys.
Verse
6. Let us worship and bow down. To fall upon the ground is a
gesture of worship
not only when the worshipper mourns
but when the
worshipper rejoiceth. It is said (Mt 2:10
11) that the wise men when they found
Christ
"rejoiced with exceeding great joy"
and presently
"they fell down
and worshipped him". Neither is this posture
peculiar to worship in times or upon occasions of extraordinary joy and sorrow;
for the ordinary invitation was
"O come
let us worship and bow down: let
us kneel before the Lord our maker".—Joseph Caryl.
Verse
6. "Let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord
our maker." Not before a crucifix
not before a rotten image
not before a
fair picture of a foul saint: these are not our makers; we made them
they made
not us. Our God
unto whom we must sing
in whom we must rejoice
before whom
we must worship
is a great "King above all gods": he is no god of
lead
no god of bread
no brazen god
no wooden god; we must not fall down and
worship our Lady
but our Lord; not any martyr
but our Maker not any saint
but our Saviour: "O come
let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful
noise to the rock of our salvation." Wherewith: with voice
"Let us
sing; "with soul
"Let us heartily rejoice"; with hands and
knees
"Let us worship and bow down: let us kneel"; with all that is
within us
with all that is without us; he that made all
must be worshipped
with all
especially when we "come before his presence".—John
Boys.
Verse
6. Bow down. That is
so as to touch the floor with the forehead
while the worshipper is prostrate on his hands and knees. See 2Ch 7:3.—John
Fry
1842.
Verse
6. Worship
bow down
kneel. Kimchi distinguishes the several
gestures expressed by the different words here used. The first we render
worship
signifies
according to him
the prostration of the whole body on the
ground
with the hands and legs stretched out. The second a bowing of the head
with part of the body; and the third a be drag of the knees on the ground.—Samuel
Burder.
Verse
7. We are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
See how elegantly he hath transposed the order of the words
and as it were not
given its own attribute to each word; that we may understand these very same to
be "the sheep"
who are also "the people." He
said not
the sheep of his pasture
and the people of his hand; which might be
thought more congruous
since the sheep belong to the pasture; but he said
"the
people of his pasture": the people themselves are sheep. But again
since we have sheep which we buy
not which we create; and he had said above
"Let
us fall down before our Maker"; it is rightly said
"the sheep
of his hand." No man maketh for himself sheep
he may buy them
they
may be given
he may find them
he may collect them
lastly he may steal them;
make them he cannot. But our Lord made us; therefore "the people of his
pasture
and the sheep of his hand"
are the very sheep which he hath
deigned by his grace to create unto himself.—Augustine.
Verse
7. The sheep of his hand
is a fit though figurative
expression
the shepherd that feeds
and rules
and leads the sheep
doing it
by his hand
which manages the rod and staff (Ps 23:4)
by which they are
administered. The Jewish Arabs read
the people of his feeding or
flock
and
the sheep of his guidance.—H. Hammond.
Verse
7. For we are his people whom he feeds in his pastures
and his
sheep whom he leads as by his hand. (French Version.) Here is a reason to
constrain us to praise God; it is this
—that not only has he created us
but
that he also directs us by special providence
as a shepherd governs his flock.
Jesus Christ
Divine Shepherd of our souls
who not only feeds us in his
pastures
but himself leads us with his hand
as intelligent
sheep. Loving Shepherd
who feeds us not only from the pastures of Holy Wilt
but even with his own flesh. What subjects of ceaseless adoration for a soul
penetrated by these great verities! What a fountain of tears of joy at the
sight of such prodigious mercy!—Quesnel.
Verse
7. Today if ye will hear his voice. If we put of repentance
another day
we have a day more to repent of
and a day less to repent in.—W.
Mason.
Verse
7. He that hath promised pardon on our repentance hath not promised
to preserve our lives till we repent.—Francis Quarles.
Verse
7. You cannot repent too soon
because you do not know how soon it
may be too late.—Thomas Fuller.
Verse
7. If ye will hear his voice. Oh! what an if is here!
what a reproach is here to those that hear him not! "My sheep hear my
voice
and I know them
and they follow me"; "but ye will not come to
me that ye might have life." And yet there is mercy
there is still
salvation
if ye will hear that voice. Israel heard it among the thunders of
Sinai
"which voice they that heard it entreated that the word should not
be spoken to them any more"; so terrible was the sight and sound that even
Moses said
"I exceedingly quake and fear": and yet they heard too
the Lord's still voice of love in the noiseless manna that fell around their
tents
and in the gushing waters of the rock that followed them through every
march for forty years. Yet the record of Israel's ingratitude runs side by side
with the record of God's mercies—"My people would not hearken to my voice
and Israel would none of me."—Barton Bouchier.
Verse
7. If ye will hear his voice. And yet
as S. Bernard tells
us
there is no difficulty at all in hearing it; on the contrary
the
difficulty is to stop our ears effectually against it
so clear is it in
enunciation
so constant in appeal. Yet there are many who do not hear
from
divers causes; because they are far off; because they are deaf; because they
sleep; because they turn their heads aside; because they stop their ears;
because they hurry away to avoid hearing; because they are dead; all of them
topics of various forms and degrees of unbelief.—Bernard and Hugo
Cardinalis
in Neale and Littledale.
Verse
7. If ye will hear his voice. These words seem to allude to
the preceding words
in which we are represented as the sheep of God's pasture
and are to be considered as an affectionate call of our heavenly Shepherd to
follow and obey him.—From "Lectures on the Liturgy
from the Commentary
of Peter Waldo"
1821.
Verses
7-8. It will be as difficult
nay
more difficult
to come to Christ
tomorrow
than it is today: therefore today hear his voice
and harden not
your heart. Break the ice now
and by faith venture upon your present duty
wherever it lies; do what you are now called to. You will never know how easy
the yoke of Christ is
till it is bound about your necks
nor how light his
burden is
till you have taken it up. While you judge of holiness at a
distance
as a thing without you and contrary to you
you will never like it.
Come a little nearer to it; do but take it in
actually engage in it
and you
will find religion carries meat in its mouth; it is of a reviving
nourishing
strengthening nature. It brings that along with it
that enables the soul
cheerfully to go through with it.—Thomas Cole (1627-1697) in the
"Morning Exercises."
Verse
8. Harden not your hearts. An old man
one day taking a child
on his knee
entreated him to seek God now—to pray to him
and to love
him; when the child
looking up at him
asked
"But why do not you
seek God?" The old man
deeply affected
answered
"I would
child;
but my heart is hard—my heart is hard."—Arvine's
Anecdotes.
Verse
8. Harden not your heart.—Heart is ascribed to
reasonable creatures
to signify sometimes the whole soul
and sometimes the
several faculties appertaining to the soul.
1.
It is frequently put for the whole soul
and that for the most part when it is
set alone; as where it is said
"Serve the Lord with all your heart"
1Sa 7:20.
2.
For that principal part of the soul which is called the mind or understanding.
"I gave my heart to know wisdom"
Ec 1:17. In this respect darkness
and blindness are attributed to the heart
Eph 6:18
Ro 1:21.
3.
For the will: as when heart and soul are joined together
the two essential
faculties of the soul are meant
namely
the mind and will: soul put for
the mind
heart for the will "Serve the Lord with all your heart and with
all your soul"
De 6:13.
4.
For the memory. "I have hid thy word in my heart"
saith the prophet
Ps 119:11. The memory is that faculty wherein matters are laid up and hid.
5.
For the conscience. It is said that "David's heart smote him"
that
is
his conscience
1Sa 24:5 2Sa 24:10. Thus is heart taken
1Jo 3:20-21.
6.
For the affections: as where it is said
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart
and with all thy soul
and with all thy mind"
Mt
22:37. By the mind is meant the understanding faculty; by the soul
the will; by the heart
the affections.
Here
in this text the heart is put for the whole soul
even for mind
will
and
affections. For blindness of mind
stubbornness of will
and stupidity of
affections go together.—William Gouge.
Verse
8. In Massah—in Meribah. Our translators say
in the
provocation
in the day of temptation. But the places were denominated by
names taken from the transactions that occurred in them; and the introduction
of those names gives more liveliness to the allusion. See to the same effect Ps
81:7; where the Bible translation retains the proper name.—Richard Mant.
Verse
8. Let us not fail to notice
that while it is the flock who speak
in Ps 95:1-7
it is the Shepherd who takes up their expostulating words
and urges them home himself at Ps 95:8
to the end
using the argument which by
the Holy Ghost is addressed to us also in Heb 3:7-19. There is something very
powerful in this expostulation
when connected with the circumstances that give
rise to it. In themselves
the burst of adoring love
and the full out pouring
of affection in Ps 95:1-7 are irresistibly persuasive; but when (Ps 95:8) the
voice of the Lord himself is heard (such a voice
using terms of vehement
entreaty!) we cannot imagine expostulation carried further. Unbelief alone
could resist this voice; blind
malignant unbelief alone could repel The
flock
and then the Shepherd
inviting men now to enter the fold.—Andrew
A. Bonar.
Verse
9. Your fathers tempted me. Though God cannot be tempted with
evil he may justly be said to be tempted whenever men
by being dissatisfied
with his dealings
virtually ask that he will alter those dealings
and proceed
in a way more congenial to their feelings. If you reflect a little
you will
hardly fail to perceive
that in a very strict sense
this and the like may be
called tempting God. Suppose a man to be discontented with the appointments of
providence
suppose him to murmur and to repine at what the Almighty allots him
to do or to bear; is he not to be charged with the asking God to change his
purposes? And what is this if it is not tempting God
and striving to induce
him to swerve from his plans
though every one of those plans has been settled
by Infinite Wisdom?
Or
again
if any one of us
notwithstanding the multiplied proofs of Divine
lovingkindness
doubt or question whether or not God do indeed love him
of
what is he guilty
if not of tempting the Lord
seeing that he solicits God to
the giving additional evidence
as though there was a deficiency
and
challenges him to a fresh demonstration of what he has already abundantly
displayed? This would be called tempting amongst men. If a child were to show
by his actions that he doubted or disbelieved the affection of his parents
he
would be considered as striving to extract from them new proofs
by asking them
to evince their love more
though they may already have done as much as in
wisdom and in justice they ought to do. And this is clearly tempting them
and
that too in the ordinary sense of the term. In short
unbelief of every kind
and every degree may be said to tempt God. For not to believe upon the evidence
which he has seen fit to give
is to provoke him to give more
offering our
possible assent if proof were increased as an inducement to him to go beyond
what his wisdom has prescribed. And if in this
and the like sense
God may be
tempted
what can be more truly said of the Israelites
than that they tempted
God in Massah? ...We are perhaps not accustomed to think of unbelief or
murmuring as nothing less than a tempting God
and therefore
we do not attach
to what is so common
its just degree of heinousness. It is so natural to us to
be discontented whenever God's dealings are not just what we like
to forget
what has been done for us as soon as our wishes seem thwarted
to be impatient
and fretful under every new cross
that we are scarcely conscious of committing
a sin
and much less one more than usually aggravated. Yet we cannot be
dissatisfied with God's dealings
and not be virtually guilty of tempting God.
It may seem a harsh definition of a slight and scarcely avoidable fault
but
nevertheless it is a true definition. You cannot mistrust God
and not accuse
him of want either of power or of goodness. You cannot repine
no
not even in
thought
without virtually telling him that his plans are not the best
nor his
dispensations the wisest which he might have appointed in respect of
yourselves. So that your fear
or your despondency
or your anxiety
in
circumstances of perplexity
or peril
are nothing less than the calling upon
God to depart from his fixed course—a suspicion
or rather an assertion that he
might proceed in a manner more worthy of himself
and therefore
a challenge to
him to alter his dealings if he would prove that he possesses the attributes
which he claims. You may not intend thus to accuse or to provoke God whenever
you murmur
but your murmuring does all this
and cannot fail to do it. You
cannot be dissatisfied without virtually saying that God might order things
better; you cannot say that he might order things better without virtually
demanding that he change his course of acting
and give other proofs of his
Infinite perfections.—Henry Melvill.
Verse
9. Your fathers tempted me. There are two ways of
interpreting the words which follow. As tempting God is nothing else
than yielding to a diseased and unwarrantable craving after proof of his power
we may consider the verse as connected throughout
and read
They tempted me
and proved me
although they had already seen my work. God very justly
complains
that they should insist upon new proof
after his power had been
already amply testified by undeniable evidences. There is another meaning
however
that may be given to the term "proved"
—according to
which
the meaning of the passage would run as follows:—Your fathers tempted me
in asking where God was
notwithstanding all the benefits I had done them; and
they proved me
that is
they had actual experience of what I am
inasmuch as I
did not cease to give them open proofs of my presence
and consequently they
saw my work.—John Calvin.
Verse
9. Proved me
put me to the proof of my existence
presence
and power
by requiring me to work
i.e. to act in an extraordinary
manner. And this desire
unreasonable as it was
I gratified. They not only
demanded
but they war-Mg likewise saw my work
i.e. what I could do.—J.A.
Alexander.
Verse
9. Forty years. To understand this passage we must bear in
mind the event referred to. The same year in which the people of Israel came
forth from Egypt
they were distressed for water at Rephidim
(Ex 17:1); and
the place had two names given to it
Massah and Meribah
because the people
tempted God and chided with Moses. The Lord did not swear then that they
should not enter into the land of Canaan; but this was in the following year
after the return of the spies. (Nu 14:20-38.) And God said then that they had
tempted him "ten times"; that is
during the short time since their
deliverance from Egypt. It was after ten temptations that God deprived them of
the promised land. Bearing in mind these facts
we shall be able to see the
full force of the passage. The "provocation" or contention
and
"temptation" refer clearly to the latter instance
as recorded in Nu
14:1-45 because it was then that God swore that the people should not enter
into his rest. The people's conduct was alike in both instances. To connect
"forty years" with grieved
was the work of the Punctuists
and this mistake
the Apostle corrected; and it is to be observed that he did not follow in this
instance the Septuagint
in which the words are arranged as divided by
the Masorites. Such a rendering as would correspond with the Hebrew is as
follows
—
"Today
when ye hear his voice
8.
Harden not your hearts us in the provocation
In the day of temptation in the
wilderness.
9.
When your fathers tempted me
they proved me And saw my works forty years:
10.
I was therefore offended with that generation and said
Always do they go
astray in heart
And they have not known my ways;
11.
So that I swore in my wrath
`They shall by no means enter into my rest.'"
The
meaning of the ninth verse is
that when the children of Israel tempted God
they proved him
i.e.
found out by bitter experience how great his
displeasure was
and saw his works or his dealings with them forty years. He
retained them in the wilderness during that period until the death of all who
disbelieved his word at the return of the spies; he gave them this proof of his
displeasure.—John Owen
of Thrussington
1853.
Verse
10. O the desperate presumption of man
that he should offend his
Maker forty years! O the patience and longsuffering of his Maker
that
he should allow him forty years to offend in! Sin begins in the heart
by its desires wandering and going astray after forbidden objects;
whence follows inattention to the ways of God
to his dispensations
and
our own duty. Lust in the heart
like vapour in the stomach
soon affects the
head
and clouds the understanding.—George Horne.
Verse
10. Forty Years. It is curious to know that the ancient Jews
believed that "the days of the Messiah were to be forty years." Thus
Tanchuma
F. 79
4. "Quamdiu durant anni Messiae? R. Akiba dixit
40
annos
quemadmodum Israelitae per tot annos in deserto fuerunt." It is
remarkable
that in forty years after the ascension
the whole Jewish nation
were cut off equally as they who fell in the wilderness.—John Brown
in
"An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews." 1862.
Verse
10. Was I grieved. The word is a strong wold
expressive of loathing
and disgust.—J.J.S. Perowne.
Verse
10. This generation. The word rwd
dor
signifies an
age
or the allotted term of human life; and it is here applied to the men of
an age
as if the psalmist had said
that the Israelites whom God had delivered
were incorrigible
during the whole period of their lives.—John Calvin.
Verse
10. It is a people that do err in their heart. We may observe
here
that he does not simply say
This people errs. What mortal is there that
does not err? Or where is there a multitude of mortals
exposed to no errors?
But he adds
"In their heart." Every error therefore is not
blamed here
but the error of their heart is fastened upon. It is to be noted
therefore
that there is a twofold kind of error:
1.
One is of the intellect
by which we go astray through ignorance. In this kind
of erring Paul erred when he persecuted the Church of Christ; the Sadducees
erred
not knowing the Scriptures
Mt 22:29; and to this day many in the Church
go astray
endowed with zeal for God
but destitute of a true knowledge of Him.
2.
The other kind of erring is of the heart and affections
by which men go
astray
not through ignorance
but through corruption and perversity of heart.
This error of heart is a mind averse to God
and alienated from the will and
way of God
which is elsewhere thus described in the case of this very people:
"And their heart was not right with Him."—Musculus.
Verse
10. It is a people that do err in their heart. In err in heart
may mean either to err in judgment
or in disposition
intention: for the
Hebrew bbl
and after it the Greek kardia
means either animus
judicium
or
mens
cogitatio
desiderium. I understand kardia here
as used
according to the Hebrew idiom (in which it is often pleonastic
at least it
seems so to us
)so that the phrase imports simply
They always err
i.e.
they are continually departing from the right way.—Moses Stuart.
Verse
10. Err in their heart. He had called them sheep
and now he
notes their wandering propensity
and their incapacity for being led; for the
footsteps of their Shepherd they did not know
much less follow.—C.H.S.
Verse
10. They have not known my ways; that is
they have not
regarded my ways
have not allowed of them
or loved them; for otherwise they
were not ignorant of them; they heard his words
and saw his works.—David
Dickson.
Verse
10. They have not known my ways. This ungrateful people did
not approve of God's ways—they did not enter into his designs—they did not
conform to his commands—they paid no attention to his miracles—and did not
acknowledge the benefits which they received from his hands.—Adam Clarke.
Verse
10. A people that do err in their heart
& c. These
words are not to be found in Nu 14:1-45; but the inspired Psalmist expresses
the sense of what Jehovah said on that occasion. "They do always err in
their heart"
(Heb 3:10). They are radically and habitually evil. They
have not known my ways. God's "ways" may mean either his
dispensations or his precepts. The Israelites did not rightly understand the
former
and they obstinately refused to acquire a practical knowledge—the only
truly valuable species of knowledge—of the latter. The reference is probably to
God's mode of dealing: Ro 11:33 De 4:32
8:2
29:2-4. Such a people deserved
severe punishment
and they received it. So I sware in my wrath
They shall
not enter into my rest. The original words in the Hebrew are
"If
they shall enter into my rest." This elliptical mode of expressing
oaths is common in the Old Testament: De 1:35 1Sa 3:14 Ps 89:35 Isa 62:8. This
awful oath is recorded in Nu 14:21-29: "But as truly as I live
all the
earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men which
have seen my glory
and my miracles
which I did in Egypt
and in the
wilderness
and have tempted me now these ten times
and have not hearkened to
my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers
neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: but my servant Caleb
because he had another spirit with him
and hath followed me fully
him will I
bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. (Now the
Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn you
and get you
into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. And the Lord spoke unto Moses
and unto Aaron
saying
How long shall I bear with this evil congregation
which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel
which they murmur against me. Say unto them
As truly as I live
saith the
LORD
as ye have spoken in mine ears
so will I do to you: your carcases shall
fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you
according to your
whole number
from twenty years old and upward
which have murmured against
me." The words of the oath seem here borrowed from the account in De 1:35.
There are many threatenings of God which have a tacit condition implied in
them; but when God interposes his oath
the sentence is irreversible. The curse
was not causeless
and it did come. We have an account of its actual
fulfilment
Nu 26:64-65. The "rest" from which they were excluded was
the land of Canaan. Their lives were spent in wandering. It is termed
"God's rest"
as there he was to finish his work of bringing Israel
into the land promised to their fathers
and fix the symbol of his presence in
the midst of them
—dwelling in that land in which his people were to rest from
their wanderings
and to dwell in safety under his protection. It is His
rest
as of His preparing
De 12:9. It is His rest—rest like His
rest
along with Him. We are by no means warranted to conclude that all who died in
the wilderness came short of everlasting happiness. It is to be feared many of
them
most of them
did; but the curse denounced on them went only to their
exclusion from the earthly Canaan.—John Brown.
Verses
10-11. And said. Mark the gradation
first grief or disgust with
those who erred made him say; then anger felt more heavily
against those who did not believe made him swear. The people had
been called sheep in Ps 95:7
to sheep the highest good is rest
but into this
rest they were never to come
for they had not known or delighted in the ways
in which the good Shepherd desired to lead them.—John Albert Bengel.
Verse
11. The word swearing is very significant
and seems to import
these two things. First
the certainty of the sentence here pronounced. Every
word of God both is
and must be truth; but ratified by an oath
it is truth
with an advantage. It is signed irrevocable. This fixes it like the laws of the
Medes and Persians
beyond all possibility of alteration and makes God's word
like his very nature
unchangeable. Secondly
it imports the terror of the
sentence. If the children of Israel could say
"Let not God speak to us
lest we die
what would they have said had God then sworn against them?"
It is terrible to hear an oath from the mouth but of a poor mortal
but from
the mouth of an omnipotent God
it does not only terrify
but confound. An oath
from God is truth delivered in anger; truth
as I may so speak
with a
vengeance. When God speaks
it is the creature's duty to hear; but when he
swears
to tremble.—Robert South.
Verse
11. That they should not enter into my rest. There is
something unusual and abrupt in the conclusion of this psalm
without any
cheering prospect to relieve the threatening. This may be best explained by
assuming
that it was not meant to stand alone
but to form one of a series.—J.A.
Alexander.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. An invitation to praise the Lord.
1.
A favourite method of worship—"let us sing."
2.
A fitting state of mind for singing—joyful gratitude.
3.
A fitting subject to excite both gladness and thankfulness—the rock of our
salvation.
Verse
1. The rock of our salvation. Expressive imagery. Rock of
shelter
support
indwelling
and supply—illustrate this last by the water
flowing from the rock in the wilderness.
Verse
2.
1.
What is meant by coming before his presence? Certainly not the holiness of
places
etc.
2.
What offering is most appropriate when we come into his presence?
Verse
3.
1.
The greatness of God as god. He is to be conceived of as great in goodness
power
glory
etc.
2.
His dominion over all other powers in heaven or earth.
3.
The worship which is consequently due to him.
Verses
4-5. The universality of the divine government.
1.
In all parts of the globe.
2.
In all providences.
3.
In every phase of moral condition. Or
Things deep
or high
dark or perilous
are in his hand; circumstances shifting
terrible
overwhelming as the sea
are
under his control as much as the comfortable terra firma of peace and
prosperity.
Verse
6. A true conception of God begets
1.
A disposition to worship.
2. Mutual incitement to worship.
3. Profound reverence in worship.
4. Overwhelming sense of God's presence in worship.
—C.A. Davis.
Verses
6-7. God is to be worshipped—
1.
As our Creator—"our maker."
2. As our Redeemer
"the people
" etc.
3. As our Preserver
"the sheep
" etc.
—George Rogers.
Verse
7. The entreaty of the Holy Ghost.
1.
The special voice—"the Holy Ghost saith"—
(a)
In Scripture.
(b) In the hearts of his people.
(c) In the awakened.
(d) By his deeds of grace.
2.
A special duty
"hear his voice"
instructing
commanding
inviting
promising
threatening.
3.
A special time—"today." While God speaks
after so long a time
in
the day of grace
now
in your present state.
4.
The special danger—"harden not your hearts"
by indifference
unbelief
asking for signs
presumption
worldly pleasures
etc.
Verse
7. Sinners entreated to hear God's voice. "Hear his
voice"
because—
1.
Life is short aud uncertain;
2.
You cannot properly or lawfully promise to give what is not your own;
3.
If you defer
though but till tomorrow
you must harden your hearts;
4.
There is great reason to fear that
if you defer it today
you will never
commence;
5.
After a time God ceases to strive with sinners;
6.
There is nothing irksome or disagreeable in a religious life
that you should
wish to defer its commencement.
—Edward
Payson.
Verse
7. The Difference of Times with respect to Religion.—Upon a
spiritual account there is great difference of time. To make this out
I will
shew you
1.
That sooner and later are not alike
in respect of eternity.
2.
That times of ignorance and of knowledge are not alike.
3.
That before and after voluntary commission of known iniquity
are
not alike.
4.
That before and after contracted naughty habits
are not alike.
5.
That the time of God's gracious and particular visitation and the time
when God withdraws his gracious presence and assistance
are not alike.
6.
The flourishing time of our health and strength
and the hour of sickness
weakness
and approach of death
are not alike.
7.
Now and hereafter
present and future
this world and the world to
come
are not alike.
—Benjamin
Whichcot.
Verse
7. This supposition
If ye will hear
and the consequence
inferred thereupon
harden not your hearts
doth evidently demonstrate
that a right hearing will prevent hardness of heart; especially hearing of
Christ's voice
that is
the gospel. It is the gospel that maketh and keepeth a
soft heart.—William Gouge.
Verses
8-11.
1.
Israel's fearful experiment in tempting God.
2. The awful result.
3. Let it not be tried again.
—C.A. Davis.
Verse
10. The error and the ignorance which are fatal.
Verse
11. The fatal moment of the giving up of a soul
how it may be
hastened
what are the signs of it
and what are the terrible results.
Verses
10-11. The kindling
increasing
and full force of divine anger
and its
dreadful results.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》