Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/spurgeon/ps18.7

Text File | 1993-04-19 | 6KB | 115 lines

                           EXPOSITION.

        There was no great space between the cry and its answer.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but is swift to
rescue his afflicted. David has in his mind's eye the glorious
manifestations of God in Egypt, at Sinai, and on different
occasions to Joshua and the judges; and he considers that his own
case exhibits the same glory of power and goodness, and that,
therefore, he may accommodate the descriptions of former displays
of the divine majesty into his hymn of praise. "_Then the earth
shook and trembled_." Observe how the most solid and immovable
things feel the force of supplication. Prayer has shaken houses,
opened prison doors, and made stout hearts to quail. Prayer rings
the alarm bell, and the Master of the house arises to the rescue,
shaking all things beneath his tread. "_The foundations also of
the hills moved and were shaken, because of his wrath_." He who
fixed the world's pillars can make them rock in their sockets,
and can upheave the corner-stones of creation. The huge roots of
the towering mountains are torn up when the Lord bestirs himself
in anger to smite the enemies of his people. How shall puny man
be able to face it out with God when the very mountains quake
with fear? Let not the boaster dream that his present false
confidence will support him in the dread day of wrath.

              EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.

        Verse 7.--"_Then the earth shook and trembled_." The word
_gâash_ <01607> signifies, to move or shake violently: it is
employed, also, to denote the reeling and staggering of a drunken
man. #Jer 25:16|.--^John Morison, in loc.

        Verse 7.--Let no appearing impossibilities make you
question God's accomplishment of any of his gracious words.
Though you cannot see how the thing can be done, 'tis enough if
God hath said that he will do it. There can be no obstructions to
promised salvation which we need to fear. He who is the God of
this salvation and the Author of the promise will prepare his own
way for the doing of his own work, so that "every valley shall be
filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low." #Lu
3:5|. Though the valleys be so deep that we cannot see the
bottom, and the mountains so high that we cannot see the tops of
them, yet God knows how to raise the one and level the other.
#Isa 58:1|. "I that speak in righteousness (or faithfulness) am
mighty to save." If anything would keep back the kingdom of
Christ, it would be our infidelity; but he will come though he
should find no faith on the earth. See #Ro 3:3|. Cast not away
your confidence because he defers his performances. Though
providences run cross, though they move backwards and forwards,
you have a sure and faithful word to rely upon. Promises, though
they be for a time seemingly delayed, cannot be finally
frustrated. Dare not to harbour such a thought within yourselves
as #Ps 77:8|; "Doth his promise fail for evermore?" The being of
God may as well fail as the promise of God. That which does not
come in your time, will be hastened in his time, which is always
the more convenient season. Accuse him not of slowness who hath
said, "I come quickly," that is, he comes as soon as all things
are ready and ripe for his appearance. 'Tis as true that "the
Lord is not slack concerning his promise" (#2Pe 3:4|), as that he
is never guilty of breaking his promise. Wait, therefore, how
long soever he tarry; do not give over expecting: the heart of
God is not turned though his face be hid; and prayers are not
flung back, though they be not instantly answered.--^Timothy
Cruso.

        Verses 7,8.--The volcanic phenomena of Palestine open a
question of which the data are, in a scientific point of view,
too imperfect to be discussed; but there is enough in the history
and literature of the people to show that there was an agency of
this kind at work. The valley of the Jordan, both in its
desolation and vegetation, was one continued portent; and from
its crevices ramified even into the interior of Judea the
startling appearances, if not of the volcano, at least of the
earthquake. Their historical effect in the special theatres of
their operation will appear as we proceed; but their traces on
the permanent feeling of the nation must be noticed here. The
writings of the psalmists and prophets abound with indications
which escape the eye of a superficial reader. Like the soil of
their country, they actually heave and labour with the fiery
convulsions which glow beneath their surface.--^Arthur Penrhyn
Stanley.

        Verses 7-9.--While Jesus hung on the cross a
preternatural "darkness covered all the land;" and no sooner had
he yielded up his spirit, than "the vail of the temple was rent
in twain from the top even to the bottom, and the earth did
quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened; and many
bodies of the saints that slept arose, and came out of the
graves, after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and
appeared unto many."--^John Brown.

        Verses 7-9.--In the night in which the Idumaeans lay
before Jerusalem, there arose a prodigious tempest and fierce
winds, with most vehement rains, frequent lightnings, and
terrible thunderings, and great roarings of the shaken earth; and
it was manifest that the state of the universe was disordered at
the slaughter of men; so that one might guess that these were
signs of no small calamity ... At the day of Pentecost, when the
priests, by night, went into the inner temple, according to their
custom, to execute their office, they said they perceived, first
of all, a shake and a noise, and after that a sudden voice, "Let
us go hence." ... A few days after the feast of unleavened bread,
a strange and almost incredible sight was seen, which would, I
suppose, be taken for a mere fable, were it not related by such
as saw it, and did not the miseries which followed appear
answerable to the signs; for, before the sun set, were seen on
high, in the air, all over the country, chariots and armed
regiments moving swiftly in the clouds, and encompassing the
city.--^Flavius Josephus, 37-103.

                       HINTS TO PREACHERS.

        Verse 7.--The quaking of all things in the presence of an
angry God.