Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/spurgeon/ps15.5

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                           EXPOSITION.

        "_He that putteth not out his money to usury_." Usury was
and is hateful both to God and man. That a lender should share
with the borrower in gains made by his money is most fitting and
proper; but that the man of property should eat up the poor
wretch who unfortunately obtained a loan of him is abominable.
Those who grind poor tradesmen, needy widows, and such like, by
charging them interest at intolerable rates, will find that their
gold and their silver are cankered. The man who shall ascend into
the hill of the Lord must shake off this sin as Paul shook the
viper into the fire. "_Nor taketh reward against the innocent_."
Bribery is a sin both in the giver and the receiver. It was
frequently practised in Eastern courts of justice; that form of
it is now under our excellent judges almost an unheard-of thing;
yet the sin survives in various forms, which the reader needs not
that we should mention; and under every shape it is loathsome to
the true man of God. He remembers that Jesus instead of taking
reward against the innocent died for the guilty.

        "_He that doeth these things shall never be moved_." No
storm shall tear him from his foundations, drag him from his
anchorage, or uproot him from his place. Like the Lord Jesus,
whose dominion is everlasting, the true Christian shall never
lose his crown. He shall not only be _on_ Zion, but _like_ Zion,
fixed and firm. He shall dwell in the tabernacle of the Most
High, and neither death nor judgment shall remove him from his
place of privilege and blessedness.

        Let us betake ourselves to prayer and self-examination,
for this Psalm is as fire for the gold, and as a furnace for
silver. Can we endure its testing power?

              EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.

        Verse 5.--The Puritanic divines are almost all of them
against the taking of any interest upon money, and go the length
of saying that one penny per cent, per annum will shut a man out
of heaven if persisted in. It appeared to me to be useless to
quote opinions in which I cannot agree, especially as this would
occupy space better employed. The demanding of excessive and
grinding interest is a sin to be detested; the taking of the
usual and current interest in a commercial country is not
contrary to the law of love. The Jews were not engaged in
commerce, and to lend money even at the lowest interest to their
fellow farmers in times of poverty would have been usurious; but
they might lend to strangers, who would usually be occupied in
commerce, because in the commercial world, money is a fruitful
thing, and the lender has a right to a part of its products; a
loan to enable a non-trader to live over a season of want is
quite another matter.--^C. H. S.

        Verse 5.--"_He that putteth not out his money to usury_."
By usury is generally understood the gain of anything above the
principal, or that which was lent, exacted only in consideration
of the loan, whether it be in money, corn, wares, or the like. It
is most commonly taken for an unlawful profit which a person
makes of his money or goods. The Hebrew word for usury signifies
biting. The law of God prohibits rigorous imposing conditions of
gain for the loan of money or goods, and exacting them without
respect to the condition of the borrower, whether he gain or
lose; whether poverty occasioned his borrowing, or a visible
prospect of gain by employing the borrowed goods. It is said in
#Ex 22:25,26|, "If thou lend money to any of my people that is
poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an _usurer_, neither
shalt thou lay upon him _usury_," etc. And in #Lev 25:35,36,37|,
"If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee,
then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a
sojourner, that he may live with thee: take thou no _usury_ of
him," etc. This law forbids the taking _usury_ from a brother
that was poor, an Israelite reduced to poverty, or from a
proselyte; but in #De 23:20|, God seems to tolerate _usury_
towards strangers; "Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon
_usury_." By _strangers_, in this passage, some understand the
Gentiles in general, or all such as were not Jews, excepting
proselytes. Others think that by _strangers_ are meant the
Canaanites, and the other people that were devoted to slavery and
subjection; of these the Hebrews were permitted to exact _usury_,
but not of such _strangers_ with whom they had no quarrel, and
against whom the Lord had not denounced his judgments. The
Hebrews were plainly commanded in #Ex 22:25|, etc., not to
receive _usury_ for money from any that borrowed from necessity,
as in that case in #Neh 5:5,7|. And such provision the law made
for the preserving of estates to their families by the year of
jubilee; for a people that had little concern in trade, could not
be supposed to borrow money but out of necessity: but they were
allowed to lend upon _usury_ to strangers, whom yet they must not
oppress. This law, therefore, in the strictness of it, seems to
have been peculiar to the Jewish state; but in the equity of it,
it obligeth us to show mercy to those we have advantage against,
and to be content to share with those we lend to in loss, as well
as profit, if Providence cross them. And upon this condition, a
valuable commentator says, "It seems as lawful for me to receive
interest for money, which another takes pains with, improves, but
runs the hazard of in trade, as it is to receive rent for my
land, which another takes pains with, improves, but runs the
hazard of in husbandry."--^Alexander Cruden, 1701-1770.

        Verse 5.--"_He that putteth not out his money to usury_."
"_If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee_."
#Ex 22:25|. Rather, according to the letter of the original, "_If
thou lend money to my people, even to a poor man with thee_." The
Israelites were a people but little engaged in commerce, and
therefore could not in general be supposed to borrow money but
from sheer necessity; and of that necessity the lender was not to
take advantage by usurious exactions. The law is not to be
understood as a prohibition of interest at any rate whatever, but
of excessive interest or usury. The clause, "Thou shalt not be to
him as an usurer," is equivalent to saying, "Thou shalt not
domineer and lord it over him rigorously and cruelly." That this
class of men were peculiarly prone to be extortionate and
oppressive in their dealings with debtors would seem to be
implied by the etymology of the original term for _usury_
(_neshek_ <05393>), which comes from a root signifying to bite
_nâshak_ <05391>; and in #Ne 5:2-5|, we have a remarkable case of
the bitter and grinding effects resulting from the exercise of
the creditor's rights over the debtor. A large portion of the
people had not only mortgaged their lands, vineyards and houses,
but had actually sold their sons and daughters into bondage, to
satisfy the claims of their grasping creditors. In this emergency
Nehemiah espoused the cause of the poor, and compelled the rich,
against whom he called the people together, to remit the whole of
their dues; and, moreover, exacted from them an oath that they
would never afterwards oppress their poor brethren for the
payment of those debts. This was not because every part of those
proceedings had been contrary to the letter of the Mosaic law,
but because it was a flagrant breach of equity under the
circumstances. It was taking a cruel and barbarous advantage of
the necessities of their brethren, at which God was highly
indignant, and which his servants properly rebuked. From this law
the Hebrew canonists have gathered a general rule, that "Whoso
exacteth of a poor man, and knoweth that he hath not aught to pay
with, he transgresseth against this prohibition, Thou shalt not
be to him as an exacting creditor." (Maimonides, in Ainsworth.)
We nowhere learn from the institutes delivered by Moses that the
simple taking of interest, especially from the neighbouring
nations (#De 23:19,20|), was forbidden to the Israelites; but the
divine law would give no countenance to the griping and
extortionate practices to which miserly money-lenders are always
prone. The deserving and industrious poor might sometimes be
reduced to such straits, that pecuniary accommodations might be
very desirable to them; and towards such God would inculcate a
mild, kind, and forbearing spirit, and the precept is enforced by
the relation which they sustained to him: _q.d._, "Remember that
you are lending to _my_ people, _my_ poor; and therefore take no
advantage of their necessities. Trust me against the fear of
loss, and treat them kindly and generously."--^George Bush, in
"Notes on the Book of Exodus," 1856.

        Verse 5.--"_He that putteth not out his money to usury_."
With respect to the first clause, as David seems to condemn all
kinds of usury in general, and without exception, the very name
has been everywhere held in detestation. But crafty men have
invented specious names under which to conceal the vice; and
thinking by this artifice to escape, they have plundered with
greater excess than if they had lent on usury avowedly and
openly. God, however, will not be dealt with and imposed upon by
sophistry and false pretences. He looks upon the thing as it
really is. There is no worse species of usury than an unjust way
of making bargains, where equity is disregarded on both sides.
Let us, then, remember that all bargains, in which the one party
unrighteously strives to make gain by the loss of the other
party, whatever name may be given to them, are here condemned. It
may be asked, whether all kinds of usury are to be put into this
denunciation, and regarded as alike unlawful? If we condemn all
without distinction, there is a danger lest many, seeing
themselves brought into such a strait as to find that sin must be
incurred, in whatever way they can turn themselves, may be
rendered bolder by despair, and may rush headlong into all kinds
of usury without choice or discrimination. On the other hand,
whenever we concede that something may be lawfully done in this
way, many will give themselves loose reins, thinking that liberty
to exercise usury, without control or moderation, has been
granted them. In the first place, therefore, I would, above all
things, counsel my readers to beware of ingeniously contriving
deceitful pretexts by which to take advantage of their fellow
men, and let them not imagine that anything can be lawful to them
which is grievous and hurtful to others. ... It is not without
cause that God has in #Le 25:35,36|, forbidden usury, adding this
reason: "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay
with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a
stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. Take thou
no usury of him, or increase." We see that the end for which the
law was framed was that man should not cruelly oppress the poor,
who ought rather to receive sympathy and compassion. This was,
indeed, a part of the judicial law which God appointed for the
Jews in particular; but it is a common principle of justice,
which extends to all nations, and to all ages, that we should
keep ourselves from plundering and devouring the poor who are in
distress and want. Whence it follows, that the gain which he who
lends his money upon interest acquires, without doing injury to
any one, is not to be included under the head of unlawful usury.
The Hebrew word _neshek_ <05393>, which David employs, being
derived from another word which signifies _to bite_, sufficiently
shows that usuries are condemned in so far as they involve in
them, or lead to, a license of robbing or plundering our fellow
men. Ezekiel, indeed (chapters #Eze 18:17; 22:12|), seems to
condemn the taking of any interest whatever upon money lent; but
he, doubtless, has an eye to the unjust and crafty arts of
gaining by which the rich devoured the poor people. In short,
provided we had engraven on our hearts the rule of equity which
Christ prescribes in #Mt 7:12|, "Therefore, all things whatsoever
ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," it
would not be necessary to enter into lengthened disputes
concerning usury.--^John Calvin, in loc.

        Verse 5 (first clause).--The Mosaic law forbids the
lending of money for interest to an Israelite. #Ex 22:25; Le
25:37; De 23:19; Pr 28:8; Eze 18:8|. In several of the passages
referred to, it is expressly supposed that money is lent only to
the poor, a supposition which has its ground in the simple
relations of the Mosaic times, in which lending, for the purpose
of speculation and gain, had no existence. Such lending ought
only to be a work of brotherly love; and it is a great violation
of that if any one, instead of helping his neighbour, takes
advantage of his need to bring him into still greater straits.
The Mosaic regulation in question has, accordingly, its import
also for New Testament times. With the interest-lending of
capitalists, who borrow for speculation, it has nothing to do.
This belongs to a quite different matter, as is implied even by
the name _neshek_ <05393>, _a mordendo_, according to which only
such usury can be meant as plagues and impoverishes a neighbour.
By unseasonable comparison with our modes of speech, many would
expound, "His money he puts not to interest."--^E. W.
Hengstenberg.

        Verse 5 (first clause).--The worm called in Latin
_teredo_, whereof Pliny hath reported something in his story,
breeding in wood, to the touch is soft, yet it hath such teeth as
endeavoureth and consumeth the hard timber. So the usurer is a
soft beast at first to handle, but in continuance of time the
hardness of his teeth will eat thee up, both flesh and bone, if
thou beware not. He pleadeth love, but not for thy sake, but for
his own; for as the ivy colleth and claspeth the oak as a lover,
but thereby it groweth up and overtoppeth the oak, and sucketh
out the juice and sap thereof, that it cannot thrive nor prosper;
so the usurer colleth, embraceth, and claspeth in arms the
borrower, that thereby himself may grow richer, and suck all
wealth, goods, and riches from him, that he never thriveth or
prospereth after. The pleasure the usurer showeth is like the
playing of the cat with the silly mouse: the cat playeth with the
mouse, but the play of the cat is the death of the mouse. The
usurer pleasureth the borrower; but the pleasure of the usurer is
the undoing of the borrower. The fox through craft slideth and
tumbleth, and maketh much pastime till he come to the prey, then
he devoureth: the usurer maketh many fair speeches, giveth out
many fair promises, pretendeth very great kindness, until he have
got thee within his compass, then he crusheth and cruciateth
thee. The usurer preyeth upon the poor, he waxeth rich of the
penury of his brother, he clotheth himself with the coat of the
naked, he gathereth riches of the indigency and want of his
neighbour; he feedeth himself of the bread of the hungry, and
devoureth his poor brother, as the great beasts do the smaller;
than which, saith Ambrose, there is no greater inhumanity and
cruelty, no greater wretchedness and iniquity, as Chrysostom in
many places, and Basil upon this Psalm, have well
observed.--^Richard Turnbull.

        Verse 5.--The rich make the poor to fill them; for
_usurers_ feed upon the poor, even as great fishes devour the
small. Therefore, he which said, Let there not be a beggar in
Israel (#De 15:4|), said too, Let there not be an usurer in
Israel. For if there be usurers in Israel there will be beggars
in Israel; for usurers make beggars, even as lawyers make
quarrellers. ... It is a miserable occupation to live by sin, and
a great comfort to a man when he looketh upon his gold and
silver, and his heart telleth him, All this is well gotten; and
when he lieth upon his death-bed, and must leave all to his
children, he can say unto them, I leave you mine own; but the
usurer cannot say, I leave you mine own, but I leave you other
men's; therefore the usurer can never die in peace, because if he
die before he maketh restitution, he dieth in his sin.--^Henry
Smith.

        Verse 5.--Biting _usurers_ were so abhorred in the
primitive church, that as they condemned the usurer himself, so
they made the scribes, who wrote the bonds, and also the
witnesses, incapable of any benefit; and that no testament or
latter will, written by such should be valid. The house of the
usurer was called _domus Satanae_, the house of the devil; and
they ordained that no man should eat or drink with such usurers,
nor fetch fire from them; and after they were dead that they
should not be buried in Christian burial. The conclusion of this
is (#Eze 18:13|), this sin is matched with theft; and verse #Eze
18:11|, with adultery; and verse #Eze 18:12|, with violence; it
is the daughter of oppression and sister to idolatry, and he that
doth these things shall not _dwell in God's holy hill_. Albeit,
these worldings think themselves more honest than thieves and
adulterers, yet the Lord maketh their case all alike.--^John
Weemse, 1636.

        Verse 5.--"Taketh reward against the innocent."--I am
sure this is _scala inferni_, the right way to hell, to be
covetous, to take bribes, and pervert justice. If a judge should
ask me the way to hell, I should show him this way: First, let
him be a covetous man; let his heart be poisoned with
covetousness. Then let him go a little further and take bribes;
and, lastly, pervert judgments. Lo, here is the mother, and the
daughter, and the daughter's daughter. Avarice is the mother; she
brings forth bribe-taking, and bribe-taking perverting of
judgment. There lacks a fourth thing to make up the mess, which,
so help me God, if I were judge, should be _hangum tuum_, a
Tyburn tippet to take with him; an it were the judge of the
King's Bench, my Lord Judge of England, yea, an it were my Lord
Chancellor himself, to Tyburn with him.--^Hugh Latimer.

        Verse 5.--"_Taketh reward against the innocent_." I come
to corrupt lawyers and advocates, who so often _take rewards
against the innocent_, as they do take upon them the defence of
such causes as they in their own conscience are persuaded to be
evil and unjust. Which being so common a fault among lawyers, as
that very few which plead causes, either in civil or
ecclesiastical courts, do seem to make any conscience thereof, to
whom all is fish that cometh to their nets; therefore all lawyers
are to be exhorted to apply this note unto themselves.--^George
Downame.

        Verse 5.--"_He that doeth_." 'Tis not said he that
_professes_ this or that, or he that _believes_ thus and thus, or
he that is of such or such an _opinion_ or _way of worship_, or
he that sets up _new lights_, and pretends the _Spirit_ for his
immediate guide; 'tis not he that _hears_ much or _talks_ much of
religion; no, nor he that _preaches_ and _prays_ much, nor he
that _thinks_ much of these things, and _means well_; but 'tis he
that "_doeth these things_"--that is actually employed about
them--that is the religious and truly godly man. 'Tis not, I say,
a formal _professor_, a confidant _solifidian_, a wild
_opinionist_, a high flown _perfectist_; it is not a constant
_hearer_, or a mighty _talker_, or a laborious _teacher_, or a
_gifted brother_, or a simple _well-wisher_ must pass; but 'tis
the honest and sincere _doer_ of these things, that will abide
the test and stand the trial; when all other flashy pretences
shall, in those searching flames, be burnt and consumed like "hay
and stubble," as the apostle expresses it. To wear Christ's
livery and to do him no service is but to mock a gracious Master;
to own him in our _profession_ and deny him in our _practice_,
is, with Judas, to betray him with a kiss of homage; with the
rude soldiers to bow the knee before him, and, in the meantime,
to beat his sacred head with his reeden sceptre, and with Pilate
to crown him with thorns, to crucify the Lord and write over his
head, "King of the Jews:" in a word, to grieve him with our
honours, and wound him with our acknowledgments. A Christian
profession without a life answerable, will be so far from saving
any one, that 'twill highly aggravate his condemnation; when a
dissembled friendship at the great day of discoveries shall be
looked upon as the worst of enmities. A mere outside formality of
worship, is at best but Prometheus' sacrifice, a skeleton of
bones and a religious cheat. ... The harmless humour of _meaning
well_ is not enough to approve a man's spiritual state, to acquit
obligations, or to ascertain his expectations. For he that bids
us "eschew evil" does immediately subjoin that we must "follow"
and "hold fast that which is good." It will be no good account
not to have done evil, unless we make it appear that we have been
doing good too; since the non-commission of great sins will not
excuse our omission of great duties. In the busy commonwealth of
bees, the drone without a sting, as she has no weapon for
mischief, so, wanting a tool for employ, is deservedly cashiered
the hive.--^Condensed from Adam Littleton, D.D., 1627-1694.

        Verse 5.--"_He that doeth these things, shall never be
moved_." Mark how the prophet saith not, he that readeth these
things, or he that heareth these things, but he that _doth_ them,
shall never be removed. For were it enough to read or hear these
precepts, then should an infinite number of vain and wicked
persons enter into, and continue in the church, which
notwithstanding have no place therein; for there are very few, or
none at all, which have not read, or at least have not heard
these things, yet they will not do them. Neither doth he say, he
that talketh of these things, but he that _doth_ them; for many
now in these days can talk gloriously of uprightness, justice,
truth, in whom notwithstanding, there is neither upright
dealings, nor sound righteousness, nor unfeigned truth to be
found. Many can say that slander is sin, injury is iniquity, to
receive false reports is uncharitable, that it becometh not the
saints to flatter the wicked, that to break promise and falsify
their oaths is unseemly, to give upon usury is oppression, to
receive bribes against the innocent is extreme cruelty; yet
themselves backbite and hurt their neighbour, they themselves
believe every tale that is brought them, they flatter and fawn
upon the wicked for advantage, they swear and forswear for
commodity, they oppress through usury, and receive gifts of
bribery against the innocent; and so in word they speak of these
things, but _do them not_ indeed. ... Neither doth David say he
that preacheth these, "_shall never be removed_," for then not
only many other wicked persons, which can speak of, yea many
ungodly men which can also preach of virtue, should have the
place in the Lord's tabernacle, and rest upon his holy hill; but
also among others, even Balaam the covetous prophet, should have
a sure place in God's tabernacle; for he could say, 'If Balak
would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go
beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more" (#Nu
22:18|); yet he took rewards; yet he was carried away with
covetousness, as much as in him lay, to work the destruction of
Israel, the innocent people of the Lord.--^Richard Turnbull.

        Verse 5.--"_Shall never be moved_." Moved he may be for a
time, but not removed for ever. His soul is bound up in the
bundle of life, near unto the throne of glory; when the souls of
the wicked are restless as a stone in the midst of a sling, saith
the Targum in #1Sa 25|.--^John Trapp.

        Verse 5 (last clause).--The holy soul is the love of God,
the joy of angels; her eyes dare look upon the glorious Judge
whom she knows to be her Saviour. Her heart is courageous; she
dares stand the thunder; and when guilty minds creep into
corners, she is confident in him that he will defend her. She
challengeth the whole world to accuse her of injustice, and fears
not the subornation of false witnesses, because she knows the
testimony of her own conscience. Her language is free and bold,
without the guiltiness of broken stops. Her forehead is clear and
smooth, as the brow of heaven. Her knees are ever bent to the
throne of grace; her feet travelling towards Jerusalem; her hands
weaving the web of righteousness. Good men bless her; good angels
guard her; the Son of God doth kiss her; and when all the world
shall be turned to a burning pile, she shall be brought safe to
the mountain of joy, and set in a throne of blessedness for
ever.--^Thomas Adams.

                       HINTS TO PREACHERS.

        Verse 5.--The evidences and privileges of godly men.

        Verse 5 (last clause).--The fixedness and safety of the
godly.