Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_600_e.lzh/3_697.TXT

Text File | 1995-02-03 | 7KB | 132 lines

\*Ver. 9. \\I have preached righteousness in the great
congregation\\, &c.] Not the righteousness which the
law requires men to do; but the righteousness which
Christ himself wrought out, for the justification of
them that believe; this he was a preacher, as well as
the author of, and is part of the glad tidings he was
anointed to preach, \\#Isa 41:1\\; and the word {n} here used
signifies, for the most part, the publishing of good
tidings; and this our Lord did publicly, before all the
people, in the synagogues of the Jews, and in the temple,
whither the people in great numbers resorted;
especially at the three great festivals in the year; the
feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, when
all the males were obliged to appear, and made up a
great congregation indeed; see \\#Joh 2:23 5:1,14 8:2 18:20\\;
\*\\lo, I have not refrained my
lips, O Lord, thou knowest\\; Christ appeals to his divine
Father, the searcher of hearts, and trier of reins, for
the truth of this; that he had not laid any restraint
upon his lips, nor kept back any thing in his ministry
that was profitable; but had taught the way of God in
great integrity and sincerity; had opened his mouth, and
spoke freely and fully, and used great plainness of speech.

\*Ver. 10. \\I have not not hid thy righteousness within my
heart\\, &c.] Meaning not the essential righteousness
of God, though that was abundantly declared in the
wounds, sufferings, and death of Christ; and which
was the end indeed of his being a propitiation for sin,
\\#Ro 3:25,26\\; but his own righteousness, as before,
which he wrought out, and brought in; and which is
called the righteousness of God his father, because it is
approved of by him, and accepted with him, and which
he imputes to all his people;
\*\\I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation\\:
trial is, the %faithfulness% of
God in executing all his purposes, counsels, and decrees,
which are said to be faithfulness and truth; and
in fulfilling his covenant and promises, relating to the
redemption and salvation of men by Christ; and in the
mission of Christ into this world on that account; and
in the accomplishment of all the prophecies of the Old
Testament concerning him; and in making good all
the particular promises of support, help, and strength,
made to the Messiah himself: and by his %salvation% is
meant, that which is of God the Father's appointing,
continuing, and settling, in the council and convenant
of grace; which he sent his Son to be the author of,
and which he has obtained; and is the great doctrine
of the Gospel preached by himself, and his faithful
ministers, \\#Lu 19:9,10 Mr 16:16\\;
\*\\I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the
great\\ \\congregation\\; or %in the great congregation%, as the
Targum. By the %loving kindness% of God is designed both
his love to Christ, which was before the foundation of
the world, and continued in his lowest state of humiliation,
and which our Lord was far from concealing,
but gave openly instances of it, \\#Joh 17:24
10:17 5:20-23\\; and this love to his people; and
which he declared to be the same with that which he
is loved with, and instances in the gift of himself to
them by his father, as the great evidence of it, \\#Joh
17:23 3:16\\; and by %truth% is intended the
Gospel in general, which came by Christ, was preached
by him, which he bore witness to, to do which was
one end of his coming into the world; and this was not
concealed by him, who is truth itself; but was fully
and plainly declared by him, as it had not been before,
\\#Joh 1:17 18:37\\.

\*Ver. 11. \\Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from
me, O Lord\\, &c.] this is a petition of Christ to his
Father, when in the midst of his sorrows and sufferings,
before related; and particularly when he hid his
face from him, and withheld the discoveries of his
tender and affectionate love;
\*\\let thy loving kindness
and thy truth continually preserve me\\; as he had promised;
of which promise some notice is given, \\#Isa
49:8\\, in the fulfilment of which the loving kindness,
truth, and faithfulness of God, would appear. Some
read these words as expressive of faith in these things,
%thou wilt not withhold%, &c. %thy loving kindness and thy
truth shall continually preserve me% {o}.

\*Ver. 12. \\For innumerable evils have compassed me
about\\, &c.] Like floods of water all around him; see
\\#Ps 18:4,5 Jon 2:5\\; these are the evils of punishment
inflicted on him, as the surety and Saviour
of his people; such as the sorrows and griefs he bore
all his days; the cruel mockings and scourges he endured;
his being buffeted and spit upon; his head
crowned with thorns, and his hands and feet pierced
with nails; insulted by men and devils; crucified between
two thieves, and so died the shameful and painful death of the cross;
\*\\mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me\\; not any committed by him; he was conceived,
born, and lived without sin, knew none, nor
did he any; but the sins of his people, which were imputed
to him, laid upon him, and which he voluntarily
took and bore; and which he reckoned as his own and
was responsible for them; these, when he hung upon
the cross, came upon him from all quarters, and he
bore them in his own body upon the tree;
\*\\so that I
am not able to look up\\; or %cannot see% {p}; either the end
of these iniquities, they being so numerous, as is after
related; or he could not bear to look upon them, they
were so filthy and nauseous, and he so pure and holy;
or he could not behold his father's countenance, which
these sins that were upon him separated him from,
and caused to be hid from him; or, like one pressed
down with the guilt of sin, as the poor publican was,
could not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, \\#Lu 18:13\\;
\*\\they are more than the hairs of mine head\\;
as they must needs be, since they were the iniquities
of all the elect of God, of the whole general assembly
ad church of the firstborn, written in heaven, \\#Isa 53:6\\;
\*\\therefore my heart faileth me\\; as man; see
\\#Ps 22:14\\; though being supported by his divine
nature, and by his divine Father and eternal Spirit, he
failed not, nor was he discouraged, \\#Isa 42:4\\; this is
said to show the truth of the human nature, the greatness
of men's sins, the strictness of divine justice,
and what strength was necessary to accomplish man's salvation.

{n} \^ytrvb\^ \~euhggelisamhn\~ Sept. %evangelizavi%, Schmidt, Michaelis; %I
have preached the glad tidings of justice%, Ainsworth.
{o} \^alkt al\^ %non cohibebis%, Gejerus, Michaelis; \^ynwruy\^  %custodient
me%, Vatablus, Gejerus, Michaelis.
{p} \^ytlky al twarl\^ %non potai videre%, Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus;
%cernere%, Cocceius; %intueri%, Gejerus.