\*Ver. 18. \\The Lord [is] nigh unto them that are of a broken heart\\,
&c.] Who are pressed and bore down
with afflictions, by the sorrow of heart under which
their spirits are broken, \\#Pr 15:13\\; or with a sense
of sin, and sorrow for it, for which their hearts smite
them, and they are wounded by it, and broken with
it: to these the Lord is %nigh%; not in a general way
only, as he is to all men, being God omnipresent, but
in a special manner; he comes and manifests himself
to them in a gracious way, pours in the oil and wine
of his love, and binds up their broken hearts; yea,
comes and dwells with them: he does not pass by
them and neglect them, ranch less make the breach
worse; he does not break the bruised reeds, but he
heals their breaches;
\*\\and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit\\;
not in a legal, but in an evangelical way;
who are humbled under a sense of sin, and melted
down in true repentance, under a view of the love and
grace of God; and are poor and mean in their own
eyes: to these the Lord has respect; the sacrifices of
a broken and contrite spirit are not despised by him,
but accepted through faith in Christ; and such he
saves with an everlasting salvation in him.

\*Ver. 19. \\Many [are] the afflictions of the righteous\\,
&c.] This may be understood of some one particular
righteous person, since the singular number is here
made use of; whereas the plural is always used before,
when the righteous are made mention of; and the Lord
Jesus Christ may be designed, who is eminently and
emphatically %the righteous%; he is righteous both as
God and man, and as Mediator, in the discharge of every
branch of his office; and his afflictions were many,
which he endured from men, from devils, and from
God himself: many were the afflictions of his body,
which he bore when buffeted, scourged, and crucified;
and many were the afflictions of his soul, when he
bore the sins of his people, endured the wrath of God
for them, and was forsaken by him; though none of
these were for any sins of his own, but for the sins of
others; and out of them all the Lord delivered him at
last, and set him at his own right hand; or this may
be understood of every one of the righteous; who,
though they are justified from sin, and are saved from
wrath, yet have many afflictions; which are %evils% in
themselves, as the word {m} may be rendered, and are
very troublesome and distressing; and these are great
and grievous for quality, and many and abundant for
quantity; though no more than it is the will of God
should be, and not one too many;
\*\\but the Lord delivereth him out of them all\\;
as Christ was, and all his
people will be; if not in this life, by giving respites
and intervals, as he sometimes does; yet hereafter,
when the righteous are completely delivered out of all
their trials and exercises, so as that they shall never
return more upon them. The word translated %afflictions%,
as it signifies %evils%, may be safely interpreted of
moral evils, as well as of evils of afflictions: it is the
same word that is used for moral evil in \\#Ps 34:21\\; and
then the sense is, that many are the sins committed
by righteous persons; for there are none without sin,
in many things they all offend; yet they shall not
perish by them, but they shall be delivered from them;
as, from the dominion of them by the power of grace,
and from the guilt of them by the blood of Christ,
and from condemnation for them through his righteousness;
so hereafter from the very being of them, and
all molestation and disturbance by them.

\*Ver. 20. \\He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is
broken\\.] This is literally true of Christ, in whom the
type of the passover lamb had its accomplishment, and
this passage also; see \\#Ex 12:46 Joh 19:31-36\\;
and seems better to agree with him than with any of
his members, since the bones of many of them have
been broken by one accident or another; and especially
many of the martyrs of Jesus have had all their bones
broken upon the rack or wheel; wherefore, to understand
these words of them might tend to create uneasiness
and despondency in the minds of such who
by any means have their bones broken; as if they were
not righteous persons, this promise not being fulfilled
in them: and to interpret this of the Lord's keeping
the bones of his people in the grave, and in the resurrection
putting them together again; this is no other
than what will be done to the wicked; it seems therefore
best to understand the whole of Christ; and it
looks as if this passage was had in view as fulfilled in
\\#Joh 19:36\\; since a Scripture is referred to; but if
it is interpreted of the righteous in general, it must be
with a limitation; as that their bones are all kept by
the Lord, and not one is broken without his knowledge
and will; and that they are not broken finally, but restored
again perfect and whole in the resurrection,
and so will continue to all eternity: the phrase, without
entering into particulars, may in general design
the care of Providence over the righteous; with this
compare \\#Mt 10:29,30\\.

\*Ver. 21. \\Evil shall slay the wicked\\, &c.] Meaning
either the evil they designed against the righteous
shall return and fall upon their heads, to their own
ruin; or the evil of affliction, which to them is the
evil of punishment, both here and hereafter, from
which they will have no deliverance in the end;
though the righteous have from their afflictions, being
not properly punishments, but chastisements for sin,
and are but for a time; or else the evil of sin, which
is the cause of death corporeal and eternal;
\*\\and they
that hate the righteous shall be desolate\\; or %shall be
guilty% {n}; be found so; or %shall be condemned%, or %damned%,
as the Targum renders it. All wicked men hate the
righteous, both Jesus Christ the righteous, and his
people; and that because they are righteous, and do
not run into the same excess of wickedness with them,
these will be arraigned at the day of judgment, and
will be convicted of all their hard speeches which
they have spoken against Christ and his members;
and will be pronounced guilty, and will be punished
with everlasting destruction.

\*Ver. 22. \\The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants\\,
&c.] Who are made so by his grace in the day of
his power, and are willing to serve him, and to serve
him with their minds, readily and cheerfully; and the
soul of these, which is the more noble part of them,
and is of more worth than a world, the redemption
of which is precious, and requires a great price, the
Lord redeems; not that their bodies are neglected,
and not redeemed; but this is mentioned as the principal
part, and for the whole; and this redemption is
by the Lord, who only is able to effect it, and which he
has obtained through his precious blood; and here it
seems to denote the application of it in its effects;
that is, the forgiveness of sin, justification, and sanctification,
since it respects something that is continually doing;
\*\\and none of them that trust in him shall
be desolate\\; or %be guilty% {o}, or %condemned%, or %damned%;
because they are justified from all the sins they have
been guilty of, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus; and having believed in him, they shall
not be damned, according to \\#Mr 16:16\\; and they
shall be far from being desolate, and alone, and miserable;
they shall stand at Christ's right hand, be
received into his kingdom and glory, and be for ever
with him.

{m} \^twer\^ %mala%, Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Cocceius, Gejerus,
Michaelis; so Ainsworth.
{n} \^wmvay\^ %rei fiunt%, Cocceius; %reatum habebunt%, Schmidt;
%damnabuntur%, Gejerus; %shall be condemned as guilty%, Ainsworth.
{o} \^wmvay al\^ %non rei fiunt%, Cocceius; %non punientur%, Gejerus;
%shall not be condemned as guilty%, Ainsworth.