Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc21/v23200

Text File | 1994-03-01 | 7KB | 134 lines

23200
 * The designs of the enemies of Israel. (1-8) Earnest prayer for
 their defeat. (9-18)

 #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.

23208
 #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.
23218
 * The psalmist expresses his affection to the ordinances of God.
 (1-7) His desire towards the God of the ordinances. (8-12)

 #1-7 The ordinances of God are the believer's solace in this
 evil world; in them he enjoys the presence of the living God:
 this causes him to regret his absence from them. They are to his
 soul as the nest to the bird. Yet they are only an earnest of
 the happiness of heaven; but how can men desire to enter that
 holy habitation, who complain of Divine ordinances as wearisome?
 Those are truly happy, who go forth, and go on in the exercise
 of religion, in the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, from
 whom all our sufficiency is. The pilgrims to the heavenly city
 may have to pass through many a valley of weeping, and many a
 thirsty desert; but wells of salvation shall be opened for them,
 and consolations sent for their support. Those that press
 forward in their Christian course, shall find God add grace to
 their graces. And those who grow in grace, shall be perfect in
 glory.

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 #8-12 In all our addresses to God, we must desire that he would
 look on Christ, his Anointed One, and accept us for his sake: we
 must look to Him with faith, and then God will with favour look
 upon the face of the Anointed: we, without him, dare not show
 our faces. The psalmist pleads love to God's ordinances. Let us
 account one day in God's courts better than a thousand spent
 elsewhere; and deem the meanest place in his service preferable
 to the highest earthly preferment. We are here in darkness, but
 if God be our God, he will be to us a Sun, to enlighten and
 enliven us, to guide and direct us. We are here in danger, but
 he will be to us a Shield, to secure us from the fiery darts
 that fly thick about us. Through he has not promised to give
 riches and dignities, he has promised to give grace and glory to
 all that seek them in his appointed way. And what is grace, but
 heaven begun below, in the knowledge, love, and service of God?
 What is glory, but the completion of this happiness, in being
 made like to him, and in fully enjoying him for ever? Let it be
 our care to walk uprightly, and then let us trust God to give us
 every thing that is good for us. If we cannot go to the house of
 the Lord, we may go by faith to the Lord of the house; in him we
 shall be happy, and may be easy. That man is really happy,
 whatever his outward circumstances may be, who trusts in the
 Lord of hosts, the God of Jacob.
23230
 * Prayers for the continuance of former mercies. (1-7) Trust in
 God's goodness. (8-13)

 #1-7 The sense of present afflictions should not do away the
 remembrance of former mercies. The favour of God is the fountain
 of happiness to nations, as well as to particular persons. When
 God forgives sin, he covers it; and when he covers the sin of
 his people, he covers it all. See what the pardon of sin is. In
 compassion to us, when Christ our Intercessor has stood before
 thee, thou hast turned away thine anger. When we are reconciled
 to God, then, and not till then, we may expect the comfort of
 his being reconciled to us. He shows mercy to those to whom he
 grants salvation; for salvation is of mere mercy. The Lord's
 people may expect sharp and tedious afflictions when they commit
 sin; but when they return to him with humble prayer, he will
 make them again to rejoice in him.

23237
 #8-13 Sooner or later, God will speak peace to his people. If he
 do not command outward peace, yet he will suggest inward peace;
 speaking to their hearts by his Spirit. Peace is spoken only to
 those who turn from sin. All sin is folly, especially
 backsliding; it is the greatest folly to return to sin. Surely
 God's salvation is nigh, whatever our difficulties and
 distresses are. Also, his honour is secured, that glory may
 dwell in our land. And the truth of the promises is shown by the
 Divine mercy in sending the Redeemer. The Divine justice is now
 satisfied by the great atonement. Christ, the way, truth, and
 life, sprang out of the earth when he took our nature upon him,
 and Divine justice looked upon him well pleased and satisfied.
 For his sake all good things, especially his Holy Spirit, are
 given to those who ask him. Through Christ, the pardoned sinner
 becomes fruitful in good works, and by looking to and trusting
 in the Saviour's righteousness, finds his feet set in the way of
 his steps. Righteousness is a sure guide, both in meeting God,
 and in following him
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 * The psalmist pleads his earnestness, and the mercy of God, as
 reasons why his prayer should be heard. (1-7) He renews his
 requests for help and comfort. (8-17)

 #1-7 Our poverty and wretchedness, when felt, powerfully plead
 in our behalf at the throne of grace. The best self-preservation
 is to commit ourselves to God's keeping. I am one whom thou
 favourest, hast set apart for thyself, and made partaker of
 sanctifying grace. It is a great encouragement to prayer, to
 feel that we have received the converting grace of God, have
 learned to trust in him, and to be his servants. We may expect
 comfort from God, when we keep up our communion with God. God's
 goodness appears in two things, in giving and forgiving.
 Whatever others do, let us call upon God, and commit our case to
 him; we shall not seek in vain.