Defer not to the end of the world, as with all who believe on Me, My
separation
from sinners.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v1
Since your Head hath risen, all ye other members hope for that, which ye see in the Head : all ye other members hope for that, which ye have believed in the Head.
It is a true and ancient proverb, Where the head is, there are the other members.
Christ hath ascended into heaven, whither we are about to follow.
He hath not remained in hell, He hath risen again, He dieth no more: when we too shall have risen again, we shall die no more.
Having then these promises, Sing to the Lord, O ye saints of His; and make confession of the remembrance of His holiness.
What is, Make confession of the remembrance?
For ye had forgotten Him, but He hath not forgotten you.
15. Ver. 5. For in His indignation is wrath, and life in Gen' 2.
Who was never sick, the Word God, the Word the Divinity?
No, but He bore the death of flesh, He bore thy wound,
being about to heal thee of thy wound. And the flesh was healed. When ? When He rose again. Listen to the Apostle, see the true healing: Death, saith he, hath been swallowed up in Victory. O death, where is thy sting ? l Cor. O death, where is thy struggle ? Therefore that exaltation 05. ' '<<.
In the day that ye shall eat, ye shall surely die. They touched, they died, having been dismissed from Paradise, for in His indignation is wrath : but not without hope, for there is life in His will. What is in His will ? Not in our strength, not
in our merits : but because He willed He hath saved us not because we were worthy. For of what the sinner
Q2
His will. Wrath in indignation against the sinner :
it, is
;
228 God's light rising and setting. Three days of the world.
Psalm worthy, but of punishment ? He hath given life. And if He ExpIf hath given life to the ungodly, what doth He reserve for the
faithful ?
16. In the evening weeping will tarry. Fear not, for that
he had said to us, Sing'; and here is groaning: in singing exultation, in prayer groaning. Groan for things present, sing for things to come ; pray for what is here, sing for what is hoped. In the evening weeping will tarry. What is, In the evening weeping will tarry? It is evening, when the sun
sets. The sun hath set on man, that is, That Light of
Righteousness, the presence of God. Hence when Adam Gen. 3, was expelled, what is said in the book of Genesis ? When God walked in Paradise, He walked in the evening. The sinner had now hid himself in the wood, he was unwilling to see the Face of God, at Which he had been wont to rejoice. The Sun of Righteousness had set on him, he did not rejoice at the presence of God. Thence began all this mortal life. In the evening weeping will tarry. Ye will long be in
weeping, race of man ; for ye will be born of Adam: and so ithascome topass: wetooareofAdam,andasmanyas have begotten children, and shall beget them, are of Adam, of whom they too themselves were born. In the evening weeping will tarry; and exultation in the morning. When That Light shall have begun to rise on the faithful, which had set on sinners. For therefore too did the Lord Jesus Christ rise from the tomb in the morning, that what He hath dedicated in the foundation, the same He might promise to
the house. In our Lord it was evening, when He was buried ; and morning when He rose again on the third day : thou too wast buried in the evening in Paradise, and hast risen again on the third day. How on the third day ? thou consider the course of the world, there is one day before the Law, another under the Law, a third under grace.
What on that third day thy Head shewed, the same is on the third day of the world shewn in thee. When ? In the morning we must hope, we must rejoice ; but now we must endure, and groan. I
17. Ver. 6. But
moved/or ever. In what abundance, hath man said, I shall
said in my abundance,
? Oxf. Mm. add ' both here is exultation. '
shall not be
I
If
God withdrew from man's pride, returns to him humbled. 229
not be moved for ever? We understand, Brethren, the Vek. character of man in his humiliation. Who hath abundance ft, O-- here? Not one. What is man's abundance? Care, calamity.
But the rich have abundance ? The more they have, the
more they want: they are wasted by longings, torn by desires, racked by fears, waste away with sorrow : where is their abundance? There was abundance, when man was settled in Paradise, when nothing was wanting to him, when
he enjoyed God; but he said,
shall not be moved
I Ishall not be moved
How did he say,
heard with satisfaction the words, Eat, and ye shall be as Gen. 3,
gods : whereas God said, In the day that ye eat thereof, ye ^ 2 17.
Inib. 3,4.
18. But since the Lord had said truly, that He would take away from the proud, what He had given to the humble, when He created him ; the Psalmist proceeds, and says, (ver. 7. ) O Lord, in Thy will Thou hast afforded strength unto my beauty: that is, since I was not good and strong of myself, but was both fair and strong of Thee, to my beauty Tbou hadst afforded strength, of Thine own will, wherewith Thou hadst made me. And that Thou mightest shew me, that I was thisIfrom Thy will, Tliou lurnedst away Thy Face from
shall surely die; and the devil, Ye shall not surely die. believing then him who thus persuaded him, he said, /shall not be moved for ever.
for for
ever. ever ? When he
became troubled. He turned away then His Face from him, whom He sent forth out of Paradise. Placed now
me, and
here, let him cry out and say, To Thee, O Lord, will I
cry, pray. In Paradise thou didst not cry out, but didst praise ; thou didst not weep, but didst rejoice : having been put without, weep now, and cry. He draweth
and to my God will I
nigh to him troubled, Who deserted him when proud. For God James
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.
Foundation HIimself. (Ver. 9. ) What profit is there in My
down to corruption ? What then doth He pray for ? That He may rise again. For if I shall go down, saith He, to corruption, if My Flesh shall be so corrupted, as other men's, so as to rise at the last, to what purpose have I shed My Blood ? For if I rise not now, 1 shall shew forth
'
To Thee, 0 Lord, will I
19. What follows now is in the Person of the Lord, of our
blood, whilst
go
(Ver. 8. ) cry, and unto my God will Ipray.
230 Christ, clothed in sackcloth ofmortality, did away sin.
Psalm to none, I shall gain none: but that I may shew forth to any Exp. lf. Thy marvels, Thy praises, life eternal, let My Flesh rise again, let It not go into corruption. For if It shall go so, as other men's, what profit is there in My Blood ? Shall dust
confess unto Thee, or shew forth Thy truth? Confession is twofold, either of sin, or of praise. When it is ill with us, let us in tribulation confess our sins ; when it is well with us, let us in the exultation of righteousness confess praise unto God : but without confession let us never be.
20. Ver. 10. The Lord hath heard, and had mercy on Me. How? Remember the dedication of the house. He hath heard, and had mercy. The Lord hath become My Helper.
21. Listen now to the resurrection itself! (Ver. 11. ) Thou hast turned My mourning into joy to Me, Thou hast rent off My sackcloth, and girded Me with gladness. What is sackcloth ? Mortality. Sackcloth is made of goats and kids,
Mat. 25,and goats and kids are set among sinners. The Lord took 'namerofrom our condition1 the sackcloth only, He assumed not
that of which sackcloth is the desert. That of which sack cloth is the desert, is sin : the sackcloth is mortality. For thee He assumed mortality, Who had no desert of death. For he hath desert of death, who sins ; but He Who sinned not, deserved not the sackcloth. In another place He Him- self saith, But when they troIubled Me, I clothed Myself with
hair-cloth. What is this,
I opposed to My persecutors that, which I have from the hair-cloth. That they might think Him a man, He hid Himself from the eyes of the persecutors, because the perse- cutors were not worthy to see Him, clothed* with hair-
' but as cloth. Therefore, Thou hast put off My sackcloth, and
Ps. 35,
2Ben.
clothed Myself with hair-cloth?
clothed. '
girded Me with gladness.
I 22. Ver. 12. That My glory should sing unto Thee, and
should not be As it is in the Head, so in the pricked.
body. What should not be pricked? should die no more. For He was pricked, when He hung on the Cross, He was smitten with spear. Our Head therefore saith, that should not be pricked, should die no more. But we, what do we say because of the dedication of the house That our conscience should not prick us with the goads of our sins. For all will be remitted, and we shall then be free.
?
I
I
a
is, /
1
His Redeemed, freed from sin, shall confess in praise. 231
That My glory, saith He, should sing to Thee, not My Ver. humiliation. If our's, Christ's too, for we are the body of------ Christ. How? Because although Christ sitteth in heaven,
/
meat. He is both there, and here : there in Himself, here 35.
He will say to some,
was an
hungred,
and
ye gave Me Mat. 28,
in us. What thIen doth He say ? That My glory should sing
to Thee, and
sigheth unto Thee, my glory shall sing to Thee. Now at
should not be humiliation pricked. My
I will
the end: O Lord, my God,
What is, / will confess unto Thee for ever? I will praise Thee for ever, for we have said that there is a confession in praises also, and not only in sins. Confess then now what thou hast done against God, and thou shalt confess what God shall have done to thee. What hast thou done ? Sins. What hath God done? On confessing thine iniquity He remitteth thy sins, that afterwards confessing unto Him His praises for ever thou shouldest not be pricked with sin.
To the end, a Psalm of David himself, an ecstasy.
1. To the end a Psalm of David Himself, the Mediator strong of hand in persecutions. For the word ecstasy, which is added to the title, signifies a transport of the mind, which is produced either by a panic, or by some revelation. But in this Psalm the panic of the people of God troubled by the persecution of all the heathen, and by the failing of faith throughout the world, is principally seen. But first the Mediator Himself speaks : then the People redeemed by His Blood gives thanks : at last in trouble it speaks at length, which is what belongs to the ecstasy; but the Person of the Prophet himself is twice interposed, near the end, and at the end. I
2. Ver. 1. In Thee, O Lord, have
trusted, let Me not be
confess
unto Thee
for ever.
PSALM XXXI.
FIRST EXPOSITION.
Lat. XXX.
232 Christ asks immediate Resurrection. Release from fear.
Psalm put to confusion for ever. In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted, Exp. I. let Me never be confounded, whilst they shall insult Me as -- one like other men. In Thy righteousness rescue Me, and deliver Me. And in Thy righteousness rescue Me from the
pit of death, and deliver Me out of their company.
3. Ver. 2. Bend down Thine ear unto Me. Hear Me in My humiliation, nigh at hand unto Me. Make haste to deliver Me.
Defer not to the end of the world, as with all who believe on Me, My separation from sinners. Be unto
Me a God Who protecteth Me. Be unto Me God, and Protector. And a house of refuge, that Thou mayest save Me. And as a house, wherein taking refuge I may be saved.
4. Ver. 3. For Thou art My strength, and My refuge. For Thou art unto Me My strength to bear My persecutors, and My refuge to escape them. And for Thy Name's sake
Thou shalt be My guide, and shalt nourish Me. And that by Me Thou mayest be known to all the Gentiles, I will in all things follow Thy will ; and, by assembling, by degrees, Saints unto Me, Thou shalt fulfil My body, and My perfect stature.
5. Ver. 4. Thou shalt bring Me out of this trap, which they have hidden for Me. Thou shalt bring Me out of these snares, which they have hidden for Me. For Thou art My
6. Ver. 5. Into Thy hands
Protector. IcommendMy Spirit. To
Thy power I commend My Spirit, soon to receive It back. Thou hast redeemed Me, O Lord God of truth. Let the people too, redeemed by the Passion of their Lord, and joyful in the glorifying of their Head, say, Thou hast redeemed me,
O Lord God of truth.
7. Ver. 6. Thou hatesl them that hold to vanity uselessly.
Thou hatest tIhem that hold to the false happiness of the world. But have trusted in the Lord.
/ will be glad, and in rejoice
8. Ver. 7.
Rom. 8, which doth not deceive me. For 77iou hast regarded My
humiliation: whereiti Thou hast subjected me to vanity in hope. Thou hast saved my soul from necessities. Thou hast saved my soul from the necessities of fear, that with a free love it may serve Thee.
Thy mercy:
The Church brought low in persecutions, yet delivered. 233
9. Ver. 8. And hast not shut me up into the hands of the Ver. enemy. And hast not shut me up, that I should have no ----- opening for recovering unto liberty, and be given over for ever
into the power of the devil, ensnaring me with the desire of
this life, and terrifying me with death. Thou hast set my feet in a large room. The resurrection of my Lord being known, and mine own being promised me, my love, having
been brought out of the straits of fear, walks abroad in con
tinuance, into the expanse of liberty. I 10. Ver. 9. Have mercy on me, O Lord,for
am troubled. But what is this unlooked for cruelty of the persecutors, striking such dread into me ? Have mercy on me, O Lord. For I am now no more alarmed for death, but for torments and tortures. Mine eye hath been disordered by anger.
1 had mine eye upon Thee, that Thou shouldest not abandon me : Thou art angry, and hast disordered it. My soul, and my belly. By the same anger my soul hath been disturbed, and my memory, whereby I retained what my God hath suffered for me, and what He hath promised me.
11. Ver. 10. For my life hath failed in pain. For my life is to confess Thee, but it failed in pain, when the enemy had said, Let them be tortured until they deny Him. And my years in groanings. The time that I pass in this world is not taken away from me by death, but abides, and is spent
. in groanings. My strength hath been weakened by want. 1 want the health of this body, and racking pains come on
I want the dissolution of the body, and death forbears
me :
to come: and in this want my confidence hath been weakened. And my bones have been disturbed. And my stedfastness hath been disturIbed.
have been made a reproach above all mine
12. Ver. 11.
enemies. All the wicked are my enemies ; and nevertheless they for their wickednesses are tortured only till they confess: I then have overpassed their reproach, I, whose confession
death doth not follow, but racking pains follow upon it. And to my neighbours too much. This hath seemed too much to them, who were already drawing near to know Thee, and to hold the faith that I hold. And a fear to mine
And into my very acquaintance I struck fear by the example of my dreadful tribulation. They that did
acquaintance.
234 Cruel devices, and punishment, of persecutors.
Psalm see me, fled without from me. Because they did not under- ExpXl stand my inward and invisible hope, they fled from me into
things outward and visible.
I
the heart. And they have forgotten me, as if I were dead from
14. Ver. 13. For I
dwelling by in a circuit. For I have heard many rebuking me, in the pilgrimage of this world near me, following the circuit of time, and refusing to return with me to the eternal country.
Whilst they were assembling themselves together against me, they conspired that they might take my soul. That my soul, which should by death easily escape from their power, might consent unto them, they imagined a device, whereby they would not suffer me even to die.
Lord;
said, Thou art my God. For Thou hast not changed, that
Thou shouldest not save, Who dost correct.
16. Ver. 15. In Thy hands are my lots. In Thy power
are my lots. For I see no desert, for which out of the universal ungodliness of the human race Thou hast elected me particularly to salvation. And though there be with Thee some just and secret order in my election, yet 1, from
John 19, whom this is hid, have attained by lot unto my Lord's vesture. Deliver me from the hands of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
17. Ver. 16. Make Thy Face to shine upon Thy servant. Make it known to men, who do not think that I belong unto Thee, that Thy Face is bent upon me, and that I serve Thee. Save me in Thy mercy. I
18. Ver. 17. O Lord, let me not be confounded, for
called upon Thee. O Lord, let me not be put to shame by those who insult me, for that I have called upon Thee. Let the ungodly be ashamed, and be brought down to hell. Let them rather who call upon stones be ashamed, and made
1 umbristo dwell with darkness1.
tor. 19. Ver. 18. Let the deceitful lips be made dumb. In
13. Ver. 12.
have been forgotten, as one dead
from
/
have become as a lost vessel. I have seemed
their hearts.
to myself to be lost to all the Lord's service, living in this world, and gaining none, when all were afraid to join them selves unto me.
15. Ver. 14. But I
have in TItee, O hoped
I
have
have heard the rebuking
of
many
have
The Church's marvellous deliverance in God. 235
making known to the peoples Thy mysteries wrought in me, Vrr. strike with dumb amazement the lips of them that invent 19~22. falsehood of me. Which speak iniquity against the Righteous,
in pride and contempt. Which speak iniquity against Christ,
in their pride and contempt of Him as a crucified man.
20. Ver. 19. How great is the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord. Here the Prophet exclaims, having sight of all this,
and admiring how manifoldly plenteous is Thy sweetness, O Lord. Which Thou hast hid for them that fear Thee. Even those, whom Thou correctest, Thou lovest much : but lest they should go on negligently from relaxed security, Thou hidest from them the sweetness of Thy love, for whom it is profitable to fear Thee. Thou hast perfected it for them that hope in Thee. But Thou hast perfected this sweetness for them that hope in Thee. For Thou dost not withdraw from them what they look for perseveringly even unto the end. In sight ofthe sons of men. For it does not escape the notice of the sons of men, who now live no more after Adam, but after the Son of Man. Thou wilt hide them in the hidden
place of Thy Countenance : which seat Thou shalt preserve for everlasting in the hidden place of the knowledge of Thee for them that hope in Thee. From the troubling of men. So that now they suffer no more trouble from men.
21. Ver. 20. Thou will protect them in Thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues. But here meanwhile whilst evil tongues murmur against them, saying, Who hath known this? or, Who hath come thence? Thou wilt protect them in the tabernacle, that of faith in those things, which the Lord wrought and endured for us in time.
22. Ver. 21. Blessed be the Lord; for He hath made His mercy marvellous, in the city of compassing. Blessed be the Lord, for after the correction of the sharpest persecutions He hath made His mercy marvellous to all throughout the world, in the circuit of human society.
/ said in my ecstasy. Whence that people again speaking saith, 1 said in my /fear, when the heathen
23. Ver. 22.
have been cast
from the sight of Thine eyes. For if Thou hadst regard to me, Thou wouldest not suffer me to endure these things.
were raging horribly against me.
Therefore Thou heardest, O Lord, the voice of my prayer,
forth
1 nimis
l Pet. '
heardest, O Lord, the voice of my prayer, when I raised it high 1 out of tribulation.
24. Ver. 23. Love the Lord, all ye His saints. The Prophet again exhorts, having sight of these things, and saith, Love the Lord, all ye His saints ; for the Lord will require truth. Since if the righteous shall scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear? --And He will repay them that do exceeding proudly. And He will repay them who even when conquered are not converted, because they are very proud.
25. Ver. 24. Quit you like men, and let your heart be strengthened : working good without fainting, that ye may reap in due season. All ye who trust in the Lord : that is, ye who duly fear and worship Him, trust ye in the Lord.
PSALM XXXI. SECOND EXPOSITION.
SERMON T.
236 GIod, when called on, shews His care. Christ the End.
cried unto Thee. Therefore putting a limit to Exp il correction, and shewing that I have part in Thy care, Thou
Psalm when
Rom.
1. Let us investigate, as we best can, the hidden things of this Psalm, which we have just sung, and let us offer to your ears and minds a discourse framed upon it. Its title is, To the end, a psalm of David himself, an ecstasy. What, to the end, we know, we know Christ. For the Apostle saith, For Christ the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. An end, not consuming, but a
perfecting. For we use the word end in double sense either as that by which brought to pass that what was is not, or by which brought to pass that what had been commenced perfected. To the end, therefore, to Christ.
2. psalm to David, an ecstasy. The word ecstasy
A
is
is,
is ;
it is
is
if is
it
a
' '
is,
' Ecstasy' said either offear or of rapture.
15. Ver. 5. For in His indignation is wrath, and life in Gen' 2.
Who was never sick, the Word God, the Word the Divinity?
No, but He bore the death of flesh, He bore thy wound,
being about to heal thee of thy wound. And the flesh was healed. When ? When He rose again. Listen to the Apostle, see the true healing: Death, saith he, hath been swallowed up in Victory. O death, where is thy sting ? l Cor. O death, where is thy struggle ? Therefore that exaltation 05. ' '<<.
In the day that ye shall eat, ye shall surely die. They touched, they died, having been dismissed from Paradise, for in His indignation is wrath : but not without hope, for there is life in His will. What is in His will ? Not in our strength, not
in our merits : but because He willed He hath saved us not because we were worthy. For of what the sinner
Q2
His will. Wrath in indignation against the sinner :
it, is
;
228 God's light rising and setting. Three days of the world.
Psalm worthy, but of punishment ? He hath given life. And if He ExpIf hath given life to the ungodly, what doth He reserve for the
faithful ?
16. In the evening weeping will tarry. Fear not, for that
he had said to us, Sing'; and here is groaning: in singing exultation, in prayer groaning. Groan for things present, sing for things to come ; pray for what is here, sing for what is hoped. In the evening weeping will tarry. What is, In the evening weeping will tarry? It is evening, when the sun
sets. The sun hath set on man, that is, That Light of
Righteousness, the presence of God. Hence when Adam Gen. 3, was expelled, what is said in the book of Genesis ? When God walked in Paradise, He walked in the evening. The sinner had now hid himself in the wood, he was unwilling to see the Face of God, at Which he had been wont to rejoice. The Sun of Righteousness had set on him, he did not rejoice at the presence of God. Thence began all this mortal life. In the evening weeping will tarry. Ye will long be in
weeping, race of man ; for ye will be born of Adam: and so ithascome topass: wetooareofAdam,andasmanyas have begotten children, and shall beget them, are of Adam, of whom they too themselves were born. In the evening weeping will tarry; and exultation in the morning. When That Light shall have begun to rise on the faithful, which had set on sinners. For therefore too did the Lord Jesus Christ rise from the tomb in the morning, that what He hath dedicated in the foundation, the same He might promise to
the house. In our Lord it was evening, when He was buried ; and morning when He rose again on the third day : thou too wast buried in the evening in Paradise, and hast risen again on the third day. How on the third day ? thou consider the course of the world, there is one day before the Law, another under the Law, a third under grace.
What on that third day thy Head shewed, the same is on the third day of the world shewn in thee. When ? In the morning we must hope, we must rejoice ; but now we must endure, and groan. I
17. Ver. 6. But
moved/or ever. In what abundance, hath man said, I shall
said in my abundance,
? Oxf. Mm. add ' both here is exultation. '
shall not be
I
If
God withdrew from man's pride, returns to him humbled. 229
not be moved for ever? We understand, Brethren, the Vek. character of man in his humiliation. Who hath abundance ft, O-- here? Not one. What is man's abundance? Care, calamity.
But the rich have abundance ? The more they have, the
more they want: they are wasted by longings, torn by desires, racked by fears, waste away with sorrow : where is their abundance? There was abundance, when man was settled in Paradise, when nothing was wanting to him, when
he enjoyed God; but he said,
shall not be moved
I Ishall not be moved
How did he say,
heard with satisfaction the words, Eat, and ye shall be as Gen. 3,
gods : whereas God said, In the day that ye eat thereof, ye ^ 2 17.
Inib. 3,4.
18. But since the Lord had said truly, that He would take away from the proud, what He had given to the humble, when He created him ; the Psalmist proceeds, and says, (ver. 7. ) O Lord, in Thy will Thou hast afforded strength unto my beauty: that is, since I was not good and strong of myself, but was both fair and strong of Thee, to my beauty Tbou hadst afforded strength, of Thine own will, wherewith Thou hadst made me. And that Thou mightest shew me, that I was thisIfrom Thy will, Tliou lurnedst away Thy Face from
shall surely die; and the devil, Ye shall not surely die. believing then him who thus persuaded him, he said, /shall not be moved for ever.
for for
ever. ever ? When he
became troubled. He turned away then His Face from him, whom He sent forth out of Paradise. Placed now
me, and
here, let him cry out and say, To Thee, O Lord, will I
cry, pray. In Paradise thou didst not cry out, but didst praise ; thou didst not weep, but didst rejoice : having been put without, weep now, and cry. He draweth
and to my God will I
nigh to him troubled, Who deserted him when proud. For God James
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.
Foundation HIimself. (Ver. 9. ) What profit is there in My
down to corruption ? What then doth He pray for ? That He may rise again. For if I shall go down, saith He, to corruption, if My Flesh shall be so corrupted, as other men's, so as to rise at the last, to what purpose have I shed My Blood ? For if I rise not now, 1 shall shew forth
'
To Thee, 0 Lord, will I
19. What follows now is in the Person of the Lord, of our
blood, whilst
go
(Ver. 8. ) cry, and unto my God will Ipray.
230 Christ, clothed in sackcloth ofmortality, did away sin.
Psalm to none, I shall gain none: but that I may shew forth to any Exp. lf. Thy marvels, Thy praises, life eternal, let My Flesh rise again, let It not go into corruption. For if It shall go so, as other men's, what profit is there in My Blood ? Shall dust
confess unto Thee, or shew forth Thy truth? Confession is twofold, either of sin, or of praise. When it is ill with us, let us in tribulation confess our sins ; when it is well with us, let us in the exultation of righteousness confess praise unto God : but without confession let us never be.
20. Ver. 10. The Lord hath heard, and had mercy on Me. How? Remember the dedication of the house. He hath heard, and had mercy. The Lord hath become My Helper.
21. Listen now to the resurrection itself! (Ver. 11. ) Thou hast turned My mourning into joy to Me, Thou hast rent off My sackcloth, and girded Me with gladness. What is sackcloth ? Mortality. Sackcloth is made of goats and kids,
Mat. 25,and goats and kids are set among sinners. The Lord took 'namerofrom our condition1 the sackcloth only, He assumed not
that of which sackcloth is the desert. That of which sack cloth is the desert, is sin : the sackcloth is mortality. For thee He assumed mortality, Who had no desert of death. For he hath desert of death, who sins ; but He Who sinned not, deserved not the sackcloth. In another place He Him- self saith, But when they troIubled Me, I clothed Myself with
hair-cloth. What is this,
I opposed to My persecutors that, which I have from the hair-cloth. That they might think Him a man, He hid Himself from the eyes of the persecutors, because the perse- cutors were not worthy to see Him, clothed* with hair-
' but as cloth. Therefore, Thou hast put off My sackcloth, and
Ps. 35,
2Ben.
clothed Myself with hair-cloth?
clothed. '
girded Me with gladness.
I 22. Ver. 12. That My glory should sing unto Thee, and
should not be As it is in the Head, so in the pricked.
body. What should not be pricked? should die no more. For He was pricked, when He hung on the Cross, He was smitten with spear. Our Head therefore saith, that should not be pricked, should die no more. But we, what do we say because of the dedication of the house That our conscience should not prick us with the goads of our sins. For all will be remitted, and we shall then be free.
?
I
I
a
is, /
1
His Redeemed, freed from sin, shall confess in praise. 231
That My glory, saith He, should sing to Thee, not My Ver. humiliation. If our's, Christ's too, for we are the body of------ Christ. How? Because although Christ sitteth in heaven,
/
meat. He is both there, and here : there in Himself, here 35.
He will say to some,
was an
hungred,
and
ye gave Me Mat. 28,
in us. What thIen doth He say ? That My glory should sing
to Thee, and
sigheth unto Thee, my glory shall sing to Thee. Now at
should not be humiliation pricked. My
I will
the end: O Lord, my God,
What is, / will confess unto Thee for ever? I will praise Thee for ever, for we have said that there is a confession in praises also, and not only in sins. Confess then now what thou hast done against God, and thou shalt confess what God shall have done to thee. What hast thou done ? Sins. What hath God done? On confessing thine iniquity He remitteth thy sins, that afterwards confessing unto Him His praises for ever thou shouldest not be pricked with sin.
To the end, a Psalm of David himself, an ecstasy.
1. To the end a Psalm of David Himself, the Mediator strong of hand in persecutions. For the word ecstasy, which is added to the title, signifies a transport of the mind, which is produced either by a panic, or by some revelation. But in this Psalm the panic of the people of God troubled by the persecution of all the heathen, and by the failing of faith throughout the world, is principally seen. But first the Mediator Himself speaks : then the People redeemed by His Blood gives thanks : at last in trouble it speaks at length, which is what belongs to the ecstasy; but the Person of the Prophet himself is twice interposed, near the end, and at the end. I
2. Ver. 1. In Thee, O Lord, have
trusted, let Me not be
confess
unto Thee
for ever.
PSALM XXXI.
FIRST EXPOSITION.
Lat. XXX.
232 Christ asks immediate Resurrection. Release from fear.
Psalm put to confusion for ever. In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted, Exp. I. let Me never be confounded, whilst they shall insult Me as -- one like other men. In Thy righteousness rescue Me, and deliver Me. And in Thy righteousness rescue Me from the
pit of death, and deliver Me out of their company.
3. Ver. 2. Bend down Thine ear unto Me. Hear Me in My humiliation, nigh at hand unto Me. Make haste to deliver Me.
Defer not to the end of the world, as with all who believe on Me, My separation from sinners. Be unto
Me a God Who protecteth Me. Be unto Me God, and Protector. And a house of refuge, that Thou mayest save Me. And as a house, wherein taking refuge I may be saved.
4. Ver. 3. For Thou art My strength, and My refuge. For Thou art unto Me My strength to bear My persecutors, and My refuge to escape them. And for Thy Name's sake
Thou shalt be My guide, and shalt nourish Me. And that by Me Thou mayest be known to all the Gentiles, I will in all things follow Thy will ; and, by assembling, by degrees, Saints unto Me, Thou shalt fulfil My body, and My perfect stature.
5. Ver. 4. Thou shalt bring Me out of this trap, which they have hidden for Me. Thou shalt bring Me out of these snares, which they have hidden for Me. For Thou art My
6. Ver. 5. Into Thy hands
Protector. IcommendMy Spirit. To
Thy power I commend My Spirit, soon to receive It back. Thou hast redeemed Me, O Lord God of truth. Let the people too, redeemed by the Passion of their Lord, and joyful in the glorifying of their Head, say, Thou hast redeemed me,
O Lord God of truth.
7. Ver. 6. Thou hatesl them that hold to vanity uselessly.
Thou hatest tIhem that hold to the false happiness of the world. But have trusted in the Lord.
/ will be glad, and in rejoice
8. Ver. 7.
Rom. 8, which doth not deceive me. For 77iou hast regarded My
humiliation: whereiti Thou hast subjected me to vanity in hope. Thou hast saved my soul from necessities. Thou hast saved my soul from the necessities of fear, that with a free love it may serve Thee.
Thy mercy:
The Church brought low in persecutions, yet delivered. 233
9. Ver. 8. And hast not shut me up into the hands of the Ver. enemy. And hast not shut me up, that I should have no ----- opening for recovering unto liberty, and be given over for ever
into the power of the devil, ensnaring me with the desire of
this life, and terrifying me with death. Thou hast set my feet in a large room. The resurrection of my Lord being known, and mine own being promised me, my love, having
been brought out of the straits of fear, walks abroad in con
tinuance, into the expanse of liberty. I 10. Ver. 9. Have mercy on me, O Lord,for
am troubled. But what is this unlooked for cruelty of the persecutors, striking such dread into me ? Have mercy on me, O Lord. For I am now no more alarmed for death, but for torments and tortures. Mine eye hath been disordered by anger.
1 had mine eye upon Thee, that Thou shouldest not abandon me : Thou art angry, and hast disordered it. My soul, and my belly. By the same anger my soul hath been disturbed, and my memory, whereby I retained what my God hath suffered for me, and what He hath promised me.
11. Ver. 10. For my life hath failed in pain. For my life is to confess Thee, but it failed in pain, when the enemy had said, Let them be tortured until they deny Him. And my years in groanings. The time that I pass in this world is not taken away from me by death, but abides, and is spent
. in groanings. My strength hath been weakened by want. 1 want the health of this body, and racking pains come on
I want the dissolution of the body, and death forbears
me :
to come: and in this want my confidence hath been weakened. And my bones have been disturbed. And my stedfastness hath been disturIbed.
have been made a reproach above all mine
12. Ver. 11.
enemies. All the wicked are my enemies ; and nevertheless they for their wickednesses are tortured only till they confess: I then have overpassed their reproach, I, whose confession
death doth not follow, but racking pains follow upon it. And to my neighbours too much. This hath seemed too much to them, who were already drawing near to know Thee, and to hold the faith that I hold. And a fear to mine
And into my very acquaintance I struck fear by the example of my dreadful tribulation. They that did
acquaintance.
234 Cruel devices, and punishment, of persecutors.
Psalm see me, fled without from me. Because they did not under- ExpXl stand my inward and invisible hope, they fled from me into
things outward and visible.
I
the heart. And they have forgotten me, as if I were dead from
14. Ver. 13. For I
dwelling by in a circuit. For I have heard many rebuking me, in the pilgrimage of this world near me, following the circuit of time, and refusing to return with me to the eternal country.
Whilst they were assembling themselves together against me, they conspired that they might take my soul. That my soul, which should by death easily escape from their power, might consent unto them, they imagined a device, whereby they would not suffer me even to die.
Lord;
said, Thou art my God. For Thou hast not changed, that
Thou shouldest not save, Who dost correct.
16. Ver. 15. In Thy hands are my lots. In Thy power
are my lots. For I see no desert, for which out of the universal ungodliness of the human race Thou hast elected me particularly to salvation. And though there be with Thee some just and secret order in my election, yet 1, from
John 19, whom this is hid, have attained by lot unto my Lord's vesture. Deliver me from the hands of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
17. Ver. 16. Make Thy Face to shine upon Thy servant. Make it known to men, who do not think that I belong unto Thee, that Thy Face is bent upon me, and that I serve Thee. Save me in Thy mercy. I
18. Ver. 17. O Lord, let me not be confounded, for
called upon Thee. O Lord, let me not be put to shame by those who insult me, for that I have called upon Thee. Let the ungodly be ashamed, and be brought down to hell. Let them rather who call upon stones be ashamed, and made
1 umbristo dwell with darkness1.
tor. 19. Ver. 18. Let the deceitful lips be made dumb. In
13. Ver. 12.
have been forgotten, as one dead
from
/
have become as a lost vessel. I have seemed
their hearts.
to myself to be lost to all the Lord's service, living in this world, and gaining none, when all were afraid to join them selves unto me.
15. Ver. 14. But I
have in TItee, O hoped
I
have
have heard the rebuking
of
many
have
The Church's marvellous deliverance in God. 235
making known to the peoples Thy mysteries wrought in me, Vrr. strike with dumb amazement the lips of them that invent 19~22. falsehood of me. Which speak iniquity against the Righteous,
in pride and contempt. Which speak iniquity against Christ,
in their pride and contempt of Him as a crucified man.
20. Ver. 19. How great is the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord. Here the Prophet exclaims, having sight of all this,
and admiring how manifoldly plenteous is Thy sweetness, O Lord. Which Thou hast hid for them that fear Thee. Even those, whom Thou correctest, Thou lovest much : but lest they should go on negligently from relaxed security, Thou hidest from them the sweetness of Thy love, for whom it is profitable to fear Thee. Thou hast perfected it for them that hope in Thee. But Thou hast perfected this sweetness for them that hope in Thee. For Thou dost not withdraw from them what they look for perseveringly even unto the end. In sight ofthe sons of men. For it does not escape the notice of the sons of men, who now live no more after Adam, but after the Son of Man. Thou wilt hide them in the hidden
place of Thy Countenance : which seat Thou shalt preserve for everlasting in the hidden place of the knowledge of Thee for them that hope in Thee. From the troubling of men. So that now they suffer no more trouble from men.
21. Ver. 20. Thou will protect them in Thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues. But here meanwhile whilst evil tongues murmur against them, saying, Who hath known this? or, Who hath come thence? Thou wilt protect them in the tabernacle, that of faith in those things, which the Lord wrought and endured for us in time.
22. Ver. 21. Blessed be the Lord; for He hath made His mercy marvellous, in the city of compassing. Blessed be the Lord, for after the correction of the sharpest persecutions He hath made His mercy marvellous to all throughout the world, in the circuit of human society.
/ said in my ecstasy. Whence that people again speaking saith, 1 said in my /fear, when the heathen
23. Ver. 22.
have been cast
from the sight of Thine eyes. For if Thou hadst regard to me, Thou wouldest not suffer me to endure these things.
were raging horribly against me.
Therefore Thou heardest, O Lord, the voice of my prayer,
forth
1 nimis
l Pet. '
heardest, O Lord, the voice of my prayer, when I raised it high 1 out of tribulation.
24. Ver. 23. Love the Lord, all ye His saints. The Prophet again exhorts, having sight of these things, and saith, Love the Lord, all ye His saints ; for the Lord will require truth. Since if the righteous shall scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear? --And He will repay them that do exceeding proudly. And He will repay them who even when conquered are not converted, because they are very proud.
25. Ver. 24. Quit you like men, and let your heart be strengthened : working good without fainting, that ye may reap in due season. All ye who trust in the Lord : that is, ye who duly fear and worship Him, trust ye in the Lord.
PSALM XXXI. SECOND EXPOSITION.
SERMON T.
236 GIod, when called on, shews His care. Christ the End.
cried unto Thee. Therefore putting a limit to Exp il correction, and shewing that I have part in Thy care, Thou
Psalm when
Rom.
1. Let us investigate, as we best can, the hidden things of this Psalm, which we have just sung, and let us offer to your ears and minds a discourse framed upon it. Its title is, To the end, a psalm of David himself, an ecstasy. What, to the end, we know, we know Christ. For the Apostle saith, For Christ the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. An end, not consuming, but a
perfecting. For we use the word end in double sense either as that by which brought to pass that what was is not, or by which brought to pass that what had been commenced perfected. To the end, therefore, to Christ.
2. psalm to David, an ecstasy. The word ecstasy
A
is
is,
is ;
it is
is
if is
it
a
' '
is,
' Ecstasy' said either offear or of rapture.
