Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_000_p.lzh/5_076.TXT

Text File | 1995-02-06 | 7KB | 128 lines

the hands of their enemies; to which there are several
allusions and references in it; that deliverance being
typical of salvation by Christ; the Gospel day, or the
times of the Gospel, are here meant: \*\\O Lord, I will
praise thee\\; or %confess thee%; to be my Lord, Redeemer,
and Saviour, my Husband, Head, and King; or %con-
fess to thee% {q}, my sins and transgressions, and unworthi-
ness to receive any favour from thee, and gratefully
acknowledge all the favours bestowed upon me:
\*\\though thou wast angry with me\\; as it appeared to the
church, and according to her apprehensions of things,
though not in reality, or strictly or properly speaking;
for anger is not to be ascribed to God; but it is a
speaking after the manner of men; and the Lord seems
to be angry when he hides his face from his people,
when he refuses to hear their cries, when he afflicts them,
and continues his hand upon them, and when he lets in
a sense of wrath into their consciences: \*\\thine anger is
turned away\\; he granting his gracious presence; taking
off his afflicting hand; manifesting his love, par-
ticularly his pardoning grace and mercy; peace and re-
conciliation being made by the blood of Christ, and
justice satisfied, the effects of resentment and diplea-
sure cease: \*\\and thou comfortedst me\\; by shedding abroad
his love in her heart; by discovering the free and full
forgiveness of sin; by lifting up the light of his
countenance; by an application of precious promises;
and by means of the word and ordinances, through
the influence of the blessed Spirit as a comforter; who
leads in this way for comfort to the person, blood,
righteousness, sacrifice, and fulness of Christ, and
comforts with these, by applying them, and shewing
interest in them. The Targum is, \*"and thou shalt
"say at that time, I will confess before the Lord; for
"that I have sinned before thee, thine anger is upon
"me; but when I am turned to the law, thine anger
"will turn from me, and thou wilt have mercy on
"me;"\* or rather turned to Christ, and embrace his
Gospel, which is the only way to have comfort.
\*Ver. 2. \\Behold, God [is] my salvation\\, &c.] Or Sa-
viour; that is, Christ, who is God, the great God, and
so fit to be a Saviour, and is one, was appointed by
the Father, provided in covenant, promised in the
word, sent in the fulness of time, and is become the
author of salvation, which a creature could not be;
and this the church saw her interest in, and which
was the ground of her comfort before declared; and to
which she prefixed the word %behold%, as a note of
asseveration, affirming him to be her Saviour; and of
admiration, wondering at it; and of exclusion of all
others from being concerned therein; and of attention
and direction to others, pointing him out as the only
one to look unto. \*\\I will trust, and not be afraid\\; %trust%
in Christ for salvation, be confident of enjoying it, and
look upon myself safe and secure from all wrath and
condemnation, and from every enemy; and not be
%afraid% of sin, Satan, the world, death, hell, and wrath
to come. The Targum joins this and the preceding
clause together, \*"behold, in the word of God my
"salvation I trust, and shall not be moved:"\* \*\\for the
Lord JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song\\; the author
of her spiritual strength; the %strength% of her life, and
of her heart, which maintained the one, and supported
the other; the strength of her graces, and of her duties,
by which she exercised the one, and performed the
other: and the subject matter of her %song% were his
person, and the fulness and fitness of it, his righteous-
ness, and salvation by him; this clause, and the
following one, are taken out of \\#Ex 15:2\\: \*\\he also
is become my salvation\\; salvation is wrought out by
Christ, and believers have it in him, and they know it,
and believe it, and so are already saved in him.
\*Ver. 3. \\Therefore with joy shall ye draw water\\, &c.]
These words are either an exhortation to others, as the
Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, %draw ye%; and
so likewise an encouragement to them by her example,
or a prophecy that they should do this; that is, apply
to Christ for grace, and receive it from him: for by
%water% is meant grace, which is compared to it, because
it is softening, purifying, fructifying, cooling, and re-
freshing, and extinguishes thirst; and this is to be
%drawn%, it is to be come at, though the well in which it
is be deep, and not in the reach of every one; the
bucket is faith that it is drawn with, and this is the gift
of God; and it is in the exercise of this grace, which
requires diligence, strength, and labour, that saints re-
ceive from Christ, and grace for grace; and this is
exercised in the use of means, by prayer, reading of
the Scriptures, and attendance on the word and ordi-
nances, by which faith draws hard, and receives much,
and, when it does, it is attended %with joy%: salvation itself
is received with joy, and so is the Saviour; as also a
justifying righteousness, and pardoning grace, and like-
wise every supply of grace; which joy is of a spiritual
kind, is in a way of believing, what a stranger inter-
meddles not with, and is unspeakable and full of glory:
\*\\out of the wells of salvation\\, or %fountains%; as all the three
Persons are; Jehovah the Father, as he is called %the
fountain of living water%, \\#Jer 2:13\\ so he is the fountain
of salvation; it springs from him, from his everlasting
love, his eternal purposes, his infinite wisdom, his sure
and unalterable covenant, his free grace in the mission
of his Son; and he himself is the God of grace, from
whence it all comes, and every supply of it. The
Spirit and his grace are called a %well of living water%,
\\#Joh 4:14\\ and he also is a well of salvation; it is he
that convinces men of their need of it, that brings near
this salvation to them, and shews them their interest
in it, and bears witness to it, and is the earnest and
pledge of it; and he is the author of all that grace
which makes them meet for it, and from whom are all
the supplies of it by the way. But more especially
Christ is meant, who is the %fountain of gardens, and
well of living water%, \\#So 4:15\\ in whom salvation is,
and in no other: the words may be rendered, %the wells%
or %fountains of the Saviour% {r}, yea, of Jesus; and which
are no other than the fulness of grace in him: the
phrase denotes the abundance of grace in Christ, much
of which is given out in conversion; an abundance of
it is received with the free gift of righteousness for
justification; and a large measure of it in the pardon
of sins, and in all the after supplies, through the
wilderness of this world, till the saints come to glory;
and which is vouchsafed to a great number, to all the

{q} \^Kdwa\^ %confitebor tibi%, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus.
{r} \^hewvyh ynyemm\^ %de fontibus Salvatoris%, V. L.; Vatablus.