threatenings of wrath and vengeance, in case of dis-
obedience to Iris law: and against our judges that
.judged us; kings, and inferior governors, that ruled
over them, who perverted justice, and did not execute
righteous judgment; and against them the I. ord per-
formed what he threatened: by bringing ttpon us a gr.eat
evil; the desolation of the whole land, the destrucuon
of Jerusalem; the death of many by the sword, famine,
and pestilence, and the captivity of' the rest; all which
was a great punishment considered in itself, but, when
compared with their offences, was less than they de-
served: for under the whole heaven hath not been done
as hath been dose upon Jerusalem; its walls broken
down, its houses burnt with fire, even the palaces of
the king and nobles, and the temple of the Lord itself;
and all its inhabitants destroyed, dispersed, or carried
captive; see Lain. i. 12. Ezek. v. 9, 10.
Ver. 13. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this
evil is come upon us, &c.] As it is there threatened it
should, and as it is there foretold it_would come upon
them, so it has; even the self-same things, in the same
manner, and with the same circumstances, as there
foretold; which is a proof of the omniscience, omni-
potence, and faithfulness of God, and an evidence of
the truth of divine revelation; see Lee. xxvi. Deut.
xxviii: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our
God; during the seventy-years captivity, they might
have prayed, and doubtless did, in a lifeless, formal
manner; but not sincerely and heartily, in faith and
with fervency, under a sense of sin, with confession of
it, and true repentance for it, and so as to forsake it,
as follows: that we might turn from our iniquities; for
since they did not pray against sin, and entreat the
Lord to enable them to turn from it, and .forsake it,
but continued in a course of disobedience, their prayer
was not reckoned prayer: and understand thy truth;
either the truth and faithfulness of God, in fulfilling
both his promises and his threatenlugs; or his law,
which is truth, as Jacchiades interpets it; for, had they
prayed aright, they would have had an understanding
given them of divine truths, both with respect to doc-
trine and practice; of which they were ignorant, as
prayerless persons usually are.
Ver. 14. Therfore hath the I.ord watched upon the
evil, and brought it upon us, &c.] The evil of punish-
ment; he watched the fit and proper time to bring it
upon them; indeed, he watches over the evil of sin, to
bring upon men the evil of chastisement or punish-
ment, Job xiv. 16. but the latter is here meant; see
Jer. xxxi. 28. and xliv. 27- the word used has the sig-
nification of hastening; and so Jarchi and Sandlab ex-
plain it, he hath hastened n: the ahnond-tree, as the
latter observes, has its name from hence, because it
prevents other trees, and is quicker in putting out its
blossom than they, Jet. i. 11, 19. and so this may denote
the purity of the Lord; his displicency at sin; his
strict justice in pun4shing it; and Iris diligence and
activity in executing judgment for it, which slumbers
not, as some imagine:for the Lord our God is righte-
ous in all his works which he doeth ; the prophet is all
along careful to clear God from any imputation of in-
justice in any. of his works, even in his strange work,
punitive justice; though he watches over the evil to
bring it, yet he is righteous in so doing; no charge of
unrighteousness is to be exhibited against him on this
account :for we obeyed not his voice; neither in his word,
nor in his providences; neither by Iris prophets, nor by
his judgments; and being guilty of the evil of fault, 'it
was but just they should bear the evil of puuishtnent.
Ver. 15. And now, 0 Lord our God, &c.] TIm
Lord of the whole earth in general, the sovereign Ruler
of the universe, and the God of Israel in a special and
peculiar manner; which is used to encourage faith in
prayer, and carries in it a tacit argument or plea with
God to be heard, in what he was about to say in behalf
of Israel; and to which purpose also is the following
description of God, from an ancient benelit he had
granted to that people: that hast brought thy people
forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty/ hand ;
which though it may be considered as an aggravation
of their sin, that after this they should behave so wick-
edly, as to be carried captive for their sins, out of the
land they were brought into; yet it seems to be men-
tioned to put the Lord in mind of his former favours
to them, and of his promise that he would bring them
out of Babylon, as he had brought them out of Egypt,
Jer. xvi. 14, 15, and xxiii. 7, 8: and hast gotten thee
renown, as at this day; by the many wonders wrought
in Egypt, and at the Red sea, when Israel was brought
from thence; as particularly by slaying the first-born
of Egypt, dividing the waters of the sea, and destroy-
ing the Egyptians in it, as Sandish observes; the
mory and fame of which continned to that day, and
will continue throughout all ages: and the prophet
suggests, that he would also get a name or renown in
the world, and among his people, should he deliver
them from their present captivity; but for this they
had nothing to plead but his promise and mercy; for,
as for them, they were obliged to confess themselves
sinners, and unworthy of such a layout: we have
sinned, we have done wickedly ; the prophet knows not
how to leave off confessing sin; there had been so
much committed, and there was so much need of con-
fessing it.
Ver. 16. 0 Lord, accordin,g to all thy righteoushesse
&c.] Or righteousnessesi; which he had been used to
exercise in the world, in all ages of it; either
punishing wicked men according to their deserts, to
which respect may be had here; since turning away
wrath from his people would issue in turning it upon
their enemies, which would be in righteous judgment
Or in fulfilling his promises; and so it signifies his
faithfulness, of which there had been so many in-
stances in times past, and gave encouragement to
believe the performance of those not yet accomplished:
or this may be understood of his goodness ,and kind-
ness, which is sometimes meant by his righteousness
see Psal. xxxi. 1. and cxtiii. 1. and so. the Septuagint
and Arabic versions render it, in all thy mercy; and
Jacchiades paraphrases the words thus, "0 Lord, ac-
"cording to all the multitude of thy righteousness,
"and of thy kindness, which thou dost in the world

{h} \^dwqvy\^ "festinavit", Paguinus, Vatablus.
{i} \^Kytwqdu\^ "justitias tuas", Vatablus, Calvin, Gejerus, Cocceius, Mi-
chaelis.