1._O God! the heathen have come into thy inheritance. _Here the prophet, in the person of the faithful, complains that the temple was defiled, and the city destroyed. In the second and third verses, he complains that the saints were murdered indiscriminately, and that their dead bodies were cast for... [ Continue Reading ]
4_We have been a reproach to our neighbors. _Here another complaint is uttered, to excite the mercy of God. The more proudly the ungodly mock and triumph over us, the more confidently may we expect that our deliverance is near; for God will not bear with their insolence when it breaks forth so audac... [ Continue Reading ]
5_How long, O Jehovah! wilt thou be wroth for ever? _I have already observed that these two expressions, _how long _and _for ever, _when joined together, denote a lengthened and an uninterrupted continuance of calamities; and that there is no appearance, when looking to the future, of their coming t... [ Continue Reading ]
6._Pour out thy fury upon the heathen, who have not known thee. _This prayer is apparently inconsistent with the rule of charity; for, while we feel anxious about our own calamities, and desire to be delivered from them, we ought to desire that others may be relieved as well as ourselves. It would s... [ Continue Reading ]
8_Remember not against us the iniquities of former times. _The godly Jews here confirm the sentiment which they had before briefly and obscurely touched upon, namely, that they had justly deserved the chastisements which had been inflicted upon them. And they present this prayer, because they could... [ Continue Reading ]
9_Help O God of our salvation! _They again repeat in this verse, that whatever afflictions they endured were to be traced to the anger of God, and that they could have no comfort under them unless He were reconciled to them. Being deeply sensible that they had committed many transgressions, to stren... [ Continue Reading ]
10._Why should the heathen say, Where is their God? _Here the people of God, in urging his name as a plea at the throne of grace: do so in a different sense from that in which they had urged it before. He extends his compassion towards us for his own name’s sake; for, as he is merciful, and will hav... [ Continue Reading ]
11._Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee. _The people of God, I have no doubt, were in captivity when the Holy Spirit endited this prayer; and, therefore, the name of _prisoners _is applied to them all in general, because they were so shut up within the bounds of Assyria and Chaldea, tha... [ Continue Reading ]
12_And render to our neighbors sevenfold. _We have already said enough on the subject of vengeance; and here the faithful show still more clearly, that they are not so much moved by the injuries done to themselves personally, as inflamed with a holy zeal when they see the sacred name of God blasphem... [ Continue Reading ]
In the last verse, the pious Jews declare that the fruit of their deliverance will be, that _the name of God will be celebrated; _and we ought not to desire our preservation or welfare for any other end. When he freely bestows upon us all things, the design for which he does this is, that his goodne... [ Continue Reading ]