Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_200.lzh/4_223.TXT

Text File | 1994-09-08 | 7KB | 128 lines

but spiritually; the first principle of spiritual life is
from the rich mercy and great love of God; his time of
love is a time of life. Here it seems to design the
lively exercise of grace, which is influenced, animated,
and quickened by the love of God, as faith, hope, and
love; or a living comfortably: without the love of
God, and a view of it, saints look upon themselves as
dead men, forgotten as they are, free among the dead,
that are remembered no more; but in the favour of
God is life; let but that be ,hewn, let the tender mer-
cies of God come in full flow into the soul, and it will
be revived, and live comfortably; and such also shall'
live eternally, as the fruit and effect of the same love
and fayour. For thy law is my delight; or delights{u};
what he exceedingly delighted in, after the inward
man, and yet could not live by it, without the mercy,
love, and grace of God; see ver. 24, 47, 70.
Ver. 78. Let the proud be ashamed, &c.] The same
persons he before speaks of as accursed, who had him
in derision, and forged a lie against him. Here he
prays that they might be ashamed of their scoffs and
Jeers, of their lies and calumnies, the evils and injuries
they had done him; that they might be brought to a
sense of them, and repentance for them; when they
would be ashamed of them in the best manner: or that
they might be disappointed of their ends, in what they
had done, and so be confounded and ashamed, as men
are when they cannot gain their point; or be brought
to shame and confusion eternally. For they dealt per-
versely with me without a cause; or, they perverted me
with falsehood{w}; that is, they endeavoured to pervert
him with lies and falsehood, and lead him out of the
right way; or they attempted, by their lies and ca-
lumnies, to make him out to be a perverse and wicked
man, and pronounced and condemned him as such,
without any foundation or just cause for it. But I will
medirate in thy precepts; he was determined, in the
strength of grace, that those ill usages should not take
off his thoughts from religious things, or divert him
from his duty to his God: none of these things moved
him; he still went on in the ways of God, in his wor-
ship and service, as Daniel did, when in like circum-
stances.
Vet. 79. Let those that fear thee turn unto me, &c.]
Whose companion he was fond of being, ver. 63. There
w.ere some good men, it seems, that turned from him,
took the part of his enemies, and sided with them
against him, which was matter of grief to him. Some
think this refers to the affair of Bath-sheba; when some
that feared the Lord, that had been familiar with him,
did not choose to keep company with him, but ab-
stained from his conversation, having so foully sinned,
and brought forth dishonour to God and on his ways.
Jarchi and Kimchi both make mention of this. Now
this grieved David; and he desires of all things that
they would turn to him again, and fayour him with
their company; who were the excellent in the earth,
in whom was all his delight. The Targum is, "turn
"to my doctrine ;" to hear it, receive it, profess it, and
abide by it. And those that have known thy testimonies;
as such as fear the Lord do: they know them, and
have a spiritual understanding of what they testify of;
they know them, and love them, and delight in them;
they know them, and own, acknowledge, and profess
them; they know them, and keep, and observe them;
and an excellent character this is.
Ver. 80. Let my heart be found in thy statutes, &c.]
Or perfect, and sincere: he desires that he might have
a sincere regard to the ways an.d worship, ordinances
and commands, of God; that he might have a cordial
affection for them, and observe them, not in ,hew and
appearance only, but heartily as to the Lord, and in
reality and truth, like an Israelite indeed, in whom
there is rio guile. That I be not ashamed; before men,
conscious of guilt; or before God, at the throne of
grace; where a believer sometimes is ashamed to
come, not having had that regard to the statutes of the
Lord he should have had, and that he might not be
ashamed before him at the last day; but have con-
fidence, having the righteousness of Christ imputed
to him, and the true grace of God implanted in him;
which engaged him to a regard to all his command
ments.
     \^k\^, CAHL--The Eleventh Part.
Vet. 81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation,
Either for temporal salvation and deliverance from
enemies; which, being promised, was expected by
him from the Lord; but not coming so soon as looked
for, his spirits began to sink and faint: or for spiritual
and eternal salvation, for a view of interest in it, for the
joys and comforts of it, and for the full possession of
is i-n heaven; and, particularly, for the promised
Messiah, the author of it, often called .the Salvation of
God, because prepared and appointed by him to be the
author of it: of him there was a promise, which gave
the Old-Testament saints reason to expect him, and
for him they waited; his coming they earnestly
wished for, but being long deferred, were sometimes
out of heart, and ready to faint, which was here David's
case. But I hope in thy word; the word of promise
concerning deliverance and salvation, especially by the
Messiah, which supported him, and kept him from
fainting; that being firm and sure, for ever settled in
heaven, and has the oath of God annexed to it, for the
confirmation of it; and God is faithful that has pro-
mised, and is also able to perform; so that his word
lays a solid foundation for faith and hope.
Ver. 82. Mine eyes fail for thy word, &c.3 Either
wi,th looking for the Messiah, the essential Word, that
was to be, and afterwards was made flesh, and dwelt
among men; or for the fulfilment of the word of pro-
mise, on which he was made to hope; but that being
deferred; and he believing in hope against hope, and
looking out continually till it was accomplished, his
eyes  grew weary, and failed him, and he was just ready
to give up all expectation of it; .see Psal. lxxvii. 8.
Saying, when wilt thou comfort me? The people of
God are sometimes very disconsolate, and need com-
forting, through the prevalence of sin, the power of
Satan's temptations, the hidings of God's face, and a
variety of afflictions; when they apply to God for com-
fort, who only can comfort them, and who has his set

{u} \^yevev\^ deliciae meae, Montanus, Tigurine versions Cocceius;
oblectationes meae, Gejerus; so Michaelis.
{w} \^ynwtwe rqv\^ mendacio me opprimere quaerunt, Tigurine version;
mendaciis, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis.