Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_500_e.lzh/3_580.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-27 | 11KB | 175 lines

\\INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 15\\

\*\\<<A Psalm of David>>\\.  As in the preceding psalm, according to
Theodoret, the salvation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is foretold,
and the liberty of the captives; so in this advice is given to them,
and the life they ought to live proposed, who should share in such
benefits.

\*Ver. 1. \\Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle\\? &c.] This
question, with the following, is put by the psalmist in a view of the
sad corruption and degeneracy of mankind described in the preceding
psalm, which renders the sons of men unfit for the presence of God, and
communion with him; and it is put to the Lord himself, the founder of
Zion, who has set his King over this holy hill of his; who has enacted
laws for the good of it, and brings his people thither, making them
meet for it, and so is most proper to give the qualifications of such
as are admitted here; for by the tabernacle is meant not the human
nature of Christ, as in \\#Heb 8:2 9:11\\; as some interpret it, and
apply all the characters in the following verses to Christ; nor heaven
itself, of which the holy place made with hands in the tabernacle and
temple were a figure, \\#Heb 9:24\\; for to %sojourn% {d} or %lodge%,
as in an inn, as the word rendered abide signifies, will not suit with
that state and place which is fixed and immovable; but the church of
God on earth, called a %tabernacle%, in allusion to the tabernacle of
Moses, where God granted his presence, sacrifices were offered up with
acceptance, and the holy vessels were put; and which was mean without,
but rich and glorious within: so God affords his gracious presence in
his church, accepts the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise
offered to him there; and here are the vessels of mercy placed, which
are sanctified and meet for the master's use; and though it is mean and
despicable in its outward appearance, in the eyes of men, it is all
glorious within; see \\#So 1:6\\; and this is the tabernacle of God,
being of his building and preserving, and the place of his residence;
\*\\who shall dwell in thy holy hill\\? the same is here intended as in
the preceding clause; the allusion is to Mount Zion, whither the ark of
the Lord was brought in David's time, and on one part of which the
temple was afterwards built: and the church may be compared to this
hill, for its eminence and visibility in the world; for the holiness
which God has put upon it, and for the immovableness of it; for though

like, a tabernacle it may be carried from place to place, yet it is
like an hill that can never be removed out of the world; it is built on
a sure foundation, the Rock of ages. Now the purport of these questions
is, who is a proper person to be an inhabitant of Zion? or to be a
member of the church of God? the answer is in the following verses.

\*Ver. 2. \\He that walketh uprightly\\, &c.] Or %perfectly {e}; see
\\#Ge 17:1\\; not so as to be without sin entirely, but as not to be
chargeable with any notorious crime, and living in it; moreover,
perfection and uprightness often signify sincerity, and the phrase here
may design an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile; whose faith is
unfeigned, whose love is without dissimulation, whose hope is without
hypocrisy, and his whole conduct without fraud and deceit; likewise
such
an one may be said to walk uprightly who walks according to the truth
of the Gospel, and by faith on Christ and in Christ, as he has received
him; and such an one is fit to be a member of a Gospel church; \*\\and
worketh righteousness\\; not in order to his justification before God;
for not such an one, but he that trusts in the Lord for righteousness,
shall inherit his holy mountain, \\#Isa 57:12,13\\; but he that works
the work of fairly, and believes in the righteousness of Christ; who
looks to it and receives it; that lays hold on it and pleads it as his
justifying righteousness; he that does righteousness in this sense, is
righteous as Christ is righteous, \\#1Jo 3:7\\; and such an one is a
proper person to dwell in his house; and who also by faith does works
of righteousness, and whose life is a series and course of
righteousness, as a fruit of his faith, and in consequence of his
having laid hold on the righteousness of Christ; \*\\and speaketh the
truth in his heart\\; receives Christ who is the truth, and the Gospel
the word of truth into his heart, and makes an hearty profession of the
same before men; and both speaks according to his light in the
Scriptures of truth, whenever he speaks of divine things; and in common
conversation speaks truth from his heart to his neighbour, and does not
speak with a double heart, or say one thing with his mouth, and intend
another in his heart; see \\#Ps 12:2\\; or endeavour to deceive
persons, and impose a falsehood on them, or tell them lies; for as such
a person is not fit to dwell in a private house, or to be in a civil
society, much less is he a proper person to be in the house of God.

\*Ver. 3. \\[He that] backbiteth not with his tongue\\, &c.] Is not a
slanderer, a defamer, a tale bearer; a backbiter is one who privately,
secretly, behind a man's back speaks evil of him, devours and destroys
his credit and reputation: the word here used comes from \^lgr\^, which
signifies the %foot%, and denotes such a person who goes about from
house to house, speaking things he should not, \\#1Ti 5:13\\; and a
word from this root signifies spies; and the phrase here may point at
such persons who creep into houses, pry into the secrets of families,
and divulge them, and oftentimes represent them in a false light. Such
are ranked amongst the worst of men, and are very unfit to be in the
society of the saints, or in a church of Christ; see \\#Ro 1:30 2Co
12:20\\; \*\\nor doeth evil to his neighbour\\: to any man whatever,
good or bad, friend or foe, whether in a natural, civil, or spiritual
relation, either by words or deeds, to his person, property, or good
name; \*\\nor taketh up, a reproach against his neighbour\\; does not
raise any scandalous report on him himself, nor will he bear to hear
one from another, much less will he spread one; nor will he suffer one
to lie upon his neighbour, but will do all he can to vindicate him, and
clear his character.

\*Ver. 4. \\In whose eyes a vile person is contemned\\, &c.] A %vile%
man is a very wicked, profligate, and abandoned creature, one that is
to
every good work reprobate; and such sometimes are in high places, \\#Ps
12:8 Da 11:21\\; and are greatly caressed and esteemed by the men of
the world; but then, as they are an abomination to God, they should be
despised by his people, let them be what they will as to their riches,
honours, and wisdom among men; as Haman was by Mordecai, \\#Es 3:2\\;
and Ahab by Elisha, \\#2Ki 3:14\\; and such who keep company with, and
express a delight and pleasure in such sort of persons, ought by no
means to have a place in the house of God. Some understand this of a
good man being %despised in his own eyes%, as it may be rendered {f};
on account of his vileness, and the imperfection of his obedience, and
as expressive of his great humility, esteeming others better than
himself; and who renounces himself, and is rejected by himself, having
a very mean opinion of himself; which is the sense of the Targum, Aben
Ezra, and Kimchi; and which is no bad sense, though the former is
countenanced by what follows; \*\\but he honoureth them that fear the
Lord\\; who have the covenant grace of fear wrought in their hearts,
and serve the Lord with reverence and godly fear; that is, who are
truly religious and godly persons; these such who are fit members of
the church of Christ love heartily, esteem of highly, and honour them
by thinking and speaking well of them, and behaving with great respect
and decency to them; see \\#Ro 12:10\\; \*\\[he that] sweareth to [his
own] hurt, and changeth not\\; having taken a solemn oath, so sacred is
it with him, and such a regard has he to the name of God, by whom he
swears, that though it is to his civil loss and detriment, yet he will
not break it and depart from it, but punctually observe it: some render
it, %he that swears to his neighbour, and changeth not% {g}; he that is
just to his word, faithful to his promises, that exactly fulfils all
the obligations he lays himself under unto others; he that is honest
and upright in all his dealings. The Jewish writers interpret this
clause of a man's vowing and swearing to afflict himself by fasting,
which, though it is to the emaciating of his body, yet he strictly
observes his vow or oath; but this is foreign from the scope of the
place: it might be rendered, %he that swears to do evil, and does not
recompence or perform% {h}, it being better to break through such an
oath than to keep it; see \\#Le 5:4\\.

\*Ver. 5. \\[He that] putteth not out his money to usury\\, &c.] To the
poor, in an extravagant and exorbitant way, by which he bites, devours,
and destroys his little substance, and sadly afflicts and distresses
him; see \\#Ex 22:25\\; otherwise, to lend money on moderate interest,
and according to the laws, customs, and usages of nations, and to take
interest for it, is no more unlawful than to take interest for houses
and land; yea, it is according to the law of common justice and equity,
that if one man lends money to another to trade with, and gain by, that
he should have a proportionate share in the gain of such a trade; but
the design of this passage, and the law on which it is founded, is, to
forbid all exactions and oppressions of the poor, and all avaricious
practices, and to encourage liberality and beneficence; and such who
are covetous, and bite and oppress the poor, are not fit for church
communion; see \\#1Co 5:11 Eph 5:5\\; \*\\nor taketh reward against the
innocent\\; either to swear falsely against him, or to pass a wrong
sentence on him; see \\#1Sa 12:3\\; \*\\he that doeth these [things]
shall never be moved\\; from the tabernacle of God, and his holy hill;
he is fit to be a member of the church of God, and an inhabitant of
Zion; and he shall dwell and abide there, he shall be a pillar which
shall never go out, \\#Re 3:12\\; he shall finally persevere, through
the grace of God; he shall hold on and out unto the end: and though he
may fall through infirmity and temptation into sin, and that many
times, yet he shall not finally and totally fall, \\#2Pe 1:10\\; but
shall be as Mount Zion which can never be removed, \\#Ps 125:1,2\\; The
words should be rendered, since the accent %athnach% is on \^hla\^,
%these things%, thus; %he that doeth these things%, not only what is
mentioned in this verse, but in the foregoing, %he%, I say, %shall
never be moved%.

{d} \^wwny\^ %peregrinabitur%, Pagninus, Montanus; %diversabitur%, Muis; so
Ainsworth; %vel hospitabitur%, Cocceius.
{e} \^Mymtw\^ %perfectus%, Montanus, Gejerus,
{f} \^wynyeb hzbn\^ %qui despicit se in oculis suis%, so some in Vatablus;
%ille est despectus in propriis oculis, reprobatus%, Gussetius, p. 453.
{g} \^erhl\^ \~tw plhsion autou\~, Sept. %proximo suo%, V. L. Sic. Syr. Ar.
Aethiop.
{h} So Ainsworth.