SUBJECT, &c. This Psalm of David bears no
dedicatory title at all indicative of the occasion upon which it
was written, but it is exceedingly probable that, together with
the twenty-fourth Psalm, to which it bears a striking
resemblance, its composition was in some way connected with the
removal of the ark to the holy hill of Zion. Who should attend
upon the ark was a matter of no small consequence, for because
unauthorized persons had intruded into the office, David was
unable on the first occasion to complete his purpose of bringing
the ark to Zion. On the second attempt he is more careful, not
only to allot the work of carrying the ark to the divinely
appointed Levites (1 Chronicles 15:2), but also to leave it in
charge of the man whose house the Lord had blessed, even
Obed-edom, who, with his many sons, ministered in the house of
the Lord. (1 Chronicles 26:8, 12.) Spiritually we have here a
description of the man who is a child at home in the Church of
God on earth, and who will dwell in the house of the Lord for
ever above. He is primarily Jesus, the perfect man, and in him
all who through grace are conformed to his image.
DIVISION. The first verse asks the question; the rest of
the verses answer it. We will call the Psalm THE QUESTION
AND ANSWER.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. THE QUESTION. Jehovah. Thou high and holy
One, who shall be permitted to have fellowship with thee? The
heavens are not pure in thy sight, and thou chargest thine
angels with folly, who then of mortal mould shall dwell with
thee, thou dread consuming fire? A sense of the glory of the
Lord and of the holiness which becomes his house, his service,
and his attendants, excites the humble mind to ask the solemn
question before us. Where angels bow with veiled faces, how
shall man be able to worship at all? The unthinking many imagine
it to be a very easy matter to approach the Most High, and when
professedly engaged in his worship they have no questionings of
heart as to their fitness for it; but truly humbled souls often
shrink under a sense of utter unworthiness, and would not dare
to approach the throne of the God of holiness if it were not for
him, our Lord, our Advocate, who can abide in the heavenly
temple, because his righteousness endureth for ever. "Who
shall abide in thy tabernacle?" Who shall be admitted
to be one of the household of God, to sojourn under his roof and
enjoy communion with himself? "Who shall dwell in thy
holy hill?" Who shall be a citizen of Zion, and an
inhabitant of the heavenly Jerusalem? The question is raised,
because it is a question. All men have not this privilege, nay,
even among professors there are aliens from the commonwealth,
who have no secret intercourse with God. On the grounds of law
no mere man can dwell with God, for there is not one upon earth
who answers to the just requirements mentioned in the succeeding
verses. The questions in the text are asked of the Lord,
as if none but the Infinite Mind could answer them so as to
satisfy the unquiet conscience. We must know from the Lord of
the tabernacle what are the qualifications for his service, and
when we have been taught of him, we shall clearly see that only
our spotless Lord Jesus, and those who are conformed unto his
image, can ever stand with acceptance before the Majesty on
high.
Impertinent
curiosity frequently desires to know who and how many shall be
saved; if those who thus ask the question, "Who shall dwell
in thy holy hill?" would make it a soul-searching enquiry
in reference to themselves they would act much more wisely.
Members of the visible church, which is God's tabernacle of
worship, and hill of eminence, should diligently see to it, that
they have the preparation of heart which fits them to be inmates
of the house of God. Without the wedding-dress of righteousness
in Christ Jesus, we have no right to sit at the banquet of
communion. Without uprightness of walk we are not fit for the
imperfect church on earth, and certainly we must not hope to
enter the perfect church above.
Verse 2. THE ANSWER. The Lord in answer to the question
informs us by his Holy Spirit of the character of the man who
alone can dwell in his holy hill. In perfection this holiness is
found only in the Man of Sorrows, but in a measure it is wrought
in all his people by the Holy Ghost. Faith and the graces of the
Spirit are not mentioned, because this is a description of
outward character, and where fruits are found the root may not
be seen, but it is surely there. Observe the accepted man's walk,
work, and word. "He that walketh uprightly," he
keeps himself erect as those do who traverse high ropes; if they
lean on one side over they must go, or as those who carry
precious but fragile ware in baskets on their heads, who lose
all if they lose their perpendicular. True believers do not
cringe as flatterers, wriggle as serpents, bend double as
earth-grubbers, or crook on one side as those who have sinister
aims; they have the strong backbone of the vital principle of
grace within, and being themselves upright, they are able to
walk uprightly. Walking is of far more importance than talking.
He only is right who is upright in walk and downright
in honesty. "And worketh righteousness." His
faith shows itself by good works, and therefore is no dead
faith. God's house is a hive for workers, not a nest for drones.
Those who rejoice that everything is done for them by another,
even the Lord Jesus, and therefore hate legality, are the best
doers in the world upon gospel principles. If we are not
positively serving the Lord, and doing his holy will to the best
of our power, we may seriously debate our interest in divine
things, for trees which bear no fruit must be hewn down and cast
into the fire. "And speaketh the truth in his
heart." The fool in the last psalm spoke falsely in his
heart; observe both here and elsewhere in the two psalms, the
striking contrast. Saints not only desire to love and speak
truth with their lips, but they seek to be true within; they
will not lie even in the closet of their hearts, for God is
there to listen; they scorn double meanings, evasions,
equivocations, white lies, flatteries, and deceptions. Though
truths, like roses, have thorns about them, good men wear them
in their bosoms. Our heart must be the sanctuary and refuge of
truth, should it be banished from all the world beside, and
hunted from among men; at all risk we must entertain the angel
of truth, for truth is God's daughter. We must be careful that
the heart is really fixed and settled in principle, for
tenderness of conscience toward truthfulness, like the bloom on
a peach, needs gentle handling, and once lost it were hard to
regain it. Jesus was the mirror of sincerity and holiness. Oh,
to be more and more fashioned after his similitude!
Verse 3. After the positive comes the negative. "He
that backbiteth not with his tongue." There is a sinful
way of backbiting with the heart when we think too hardly of a
neighbour, but it is the tongue which does the mischief. Some
men's tongues bite more than their teeth. The tongue is not
steel, but it cuts, and it's wounds are very hard to heal; its
worst wounds are not with its edge to our face, but with its
back when our head is turned. Under the law, a night hawk was an
unclean bird, and its human image is abominable everywhere. All
slanderers are the devil's bellows to blow up contention, but
those are the worst which blow at the back of the fire. "Nor
doeth evil to his neighbour." He who bridles his tongue
will not give a licence to his hand. Loving our neighbour as
ourselves will make us jealous of his good name, careful not to
injure his estate, or by ill example to corrupt his character. "Nor
taketh up a reproach against his neighbour." He is a
fool if not a knave who picks up stolen goods and harbours them;
in slander as well as robbery, the receiver is as bad as the
thief. If there were not gratified hearers of ill reports, there
would be an end of the trade of spreading them. Trapp says, that
"the tale-bearer carrieth the devil in his tongue, and the
tale-hearer carries the devil in his ear." The original may
be translated, "endureth;" implying that it is a sin
to endure or tolerate tale-bearers. "Show that man
out!" we should say of a drunkard, yet it is very
questionable if his unmanly behaviour will do us so much
mischief as the tale-bearers insinuating story. "Call for a
policeman!" we say if we see a thief at his business; ought
we to feel no indignation when we hear a gossip at her work? Mad
dog! Mad dog!! is a terrible hue and cry, but there are few curs
whose bite is so dangerous as a busybody's tongue. Fire! fire!!
is an alarming note, but the tale-bearer's tongue is set on fire
of hell, and those who indulge it had better mend their manners,
or they may find that there is fire in hell for unbridled
tongues. Our Lord spake evil of no man, but breathed a prayer
for his foes; we must be like him, or we shall never be with
him.
Verse 4. "In whose eyes a vile person is contemned;
but he honoureth them that fear the Lord." We must be
as honest in paying respect as in paying our bills. Honour to
whom honour is due. To all good men we owe a debt of honour, and
we have no right to hand over what is their due to vile persons
who happen to be in high places. When base men are in office, it
is our duty to respect the office; but we cannot so violate our
consciences as to do otherwise than contemn the men; and on the
other hand, when true saints are in poverty and distress, we
must sympathize with their afflictions and honour the men none
the less. We may honour the roughest cabinet for the sake of the
jewels, but we must not prize false gems because of their
setting. A sinner in a gold chain and silken robes is no more to
be compared with a saint in rags than a rushlight in a silver
candlestick with the sun behind a cloud. The proverb says, that
"ugly women, finely dressed, are the uglier for it,"
and so mean men in high estate are the more mean because of it. "He
that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not."
Scriptural saints under the New Testament rule "swear not
at all," but their word is as good as an oath: those men of
God who think it right to swear, are careful and prayerful lest
they should even seem to overshoot the mark. When engagements
have been entered into which turn out to be unprofitable,
"the saints are men of honour still." Our blessed
Surety swore to his own hurt, but how gloriously he stood to his
suretyship! what a comfort to us that he changeth not, and what
an example to us to be scrupulously and precisely exact in
fulfilling our covenants with others! The most far-seeing trader
may enter into engagements which turn out to be serious losses,
but whatsoever else he loses, if he keeps his honour, his losses
will be bearable; if that be lost all is lost.
Verse 5. "He that putteth not out his money to
usury." Usury was and is hateful both to God and
man. That a lender should share with the borrower in gains made
by his money is most fitting and proper; but that the man of
property should eat up the poor wretch who unfortunately
obtained a loan of him is abominable. Those who grind poor
tradesmen, needy widows, and such like, by charging them
interest at intolerable rates, will find that their gold, and
their silver are cankered. The man who shall ascend into the
hill of the Lord must shake off this sin as Paul shook the viper
into the fire. "Nor taketh reward against the
innocent." Bribery is a sin both in the giver and the
receiver. It was frequently practised in Eastern courts of
justice; that form of it is now under our excellent judges
almost an unheard-of thing; yet the sin survives in various
forms, which the reader needs not that we should mention; and
under every shape it is loathsome to the true man of God. He
remembers that Jesus instead of taking reward against the
innocent died for the guilty.
Verse 5. "He that doeth these things shall never be
moved." No storm shall tear him from his foundations,
drag him from his anchorage, or uproot him from his place. Like
the Lord Jesus, whose dominion is everlasting, the true
Christian shall never lose his crown. He shall not only be on
Zion, but like Zion, fixed and firm. He shall dwell in
the tabernacle of the Most High, and neither death nor judgment
shall remove him from his place of privilege and blessedness.
Let
us betake ourselves to prayer and self-examination, for this
Psalm is as fire for the gold, and as a furnace for silver. Can
we endure its testing power?
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. "Lord, who shall abide in thy
tabernacle?" In that the church of Christ upon earth is
a "tabernacle," we may note, that neither the
church itself, nor the members of it, have any fixed or firm
seat of habitation in this world: "Arise, depart, for this
is not your rest." Micah 2:10. "Here have we no
continuing city, but we seek one to come." Hebrews 13:14.
God's tabernacle, being a movable temple, wandered up and down,
sometimes in the desert, sometimes in Shiloh, sometimes among
the Philistines, sometimes in Kerjathjearim, and never found any
settled place till it was translated into the mountain of God:
even so the church of God wandereth as a straggler and a
stranger in the wilderness of this world, being destitute,
tormented, and afflicted on every side, persecuted from this
city to that, and never enjoying any constant habitation of
sound and sure rest until it be translated unto "God's
holy hill." The verb (Heb.) gur (as the learned
in Hebrew note) signifying to dwell as a stranger, or a
sojourner, imports that a citizen of heaven is a pilgrim on
earth. . . . . In that the church is a tabernacle, we may
see that it is not a fort, compassed about with any strong
walls, armed with any human forces; and yet such as keep within
her are defended from heat of sun, and hurt of storms. Her
strength is not here, but from above, for Christ her Head is in
all her troubles a present help, a refuge against the tempest, a
shadow against the heat. Isaiah 35:4. The church on earth is
indeed a tabernacle, but it is God's tabernacle,
wherein he dwelleth as in his house; "Lord, who shall abide
in thy tabernacle?" for to this end the Lord
commanded the tabernacle to be made, that he might dwell among
them, the blessed apostle construeth it of his dwelling among
them. 2 Corinthians 6:16. "You are," saith he,
"the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will
dwell in them, and walk in them." To the same purpose, God
is said elsewhere to dwell in Sion, and to walk in the midst of
the seven golden candlesticks, that is, in the midst of the
seven churches, in the midst of his city (Psalms 46:5), in the
midst of his people. Isaiah 12:6. John Boys, D.D., Dean of
Canterbury, 1571-1625.
Verse 1. "Lord, who shall abide,"
etc. If David, a man endued with an excellent and divine spirit,
one in whom singular wisdom, rare knowledge, and deep
understanding of hidden secrets appeared, who being taught of
God in heavenly things, far surpassed and exceeded in wisdom all
his teachers and counsellors, did notwithstanding desire to know
the sheep from the goats, the good from the bad, the saints from
the hypocrites, the true worshippers of God from dissemblers,
the true inhabitants of the holy tabernacle from the intruders
of the wicked, lest therein he should be deceived; how great
cause have we, in whom neither the like spirit, neither such
wisdom, nor equal knowledge, nor comparable understanding, by
many degrees appeareth, to fear our own weakness, to doubt of
our own judgments, to confess our own infirmity, and to suspect
the subtle sleights and coloured pretenses of men: and for
further knowledge in hidden, deep, and secret things, with David
to demand and ask this question, "Lord, who shall abide in
thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?". . . . .
. . . . Where David saith, "Who shall abide in thy holy
hill?" he giveth us to understand that there is no true and
sound rest but in the holy hill of the Lord, which is the
church. Then the wicked and ungodly which are not of God's
house, of his holy hill, of the church, have no quiet,
rest, nor sound peace; but they are in continual perplexity,
continual torment, continual disquietness of their minds. Richard
Turnbull, 1606.
Verse 1. "Abide in the tabernacle,"
etc. The worshippers in the outer court only will get their
eternal abode without among the dogs, sorcerers, etc; but they
that shall be inhabitants of heaven, come further in, even unto
the tabernacle itself: their souls are fed at his table, they
find the smell of his garments as of myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
and if they miss it at any time, it is the grief of their souls,
and they are never at rest till they recover it again. Thomas
Boston.
Verse 1. "Who shall dwell," etc.
"Now who is he? Say, if ye can,
Who so shall gain the firm abode?
Pilate shall say, 'Behold the Man!'
And John, 'Behold the Lamb of God!'"
John Barclay, quoted by A. A. Bonar, in loc.
Verse 1. "Holy hill." Heaven is aptly
compared to a hill, hell to a hole. Now who shall ascend unto
this holy mount? None but those whom this mount comes down unto,
that have sweet communion with God in this life present, whose
conversation is in heaven, though their commoration be for
awhile upon earth, who do here eat, and drink, and sleep,
eternal life. John Trapp.
Verses 1, 2. The disguising and counterfeiting of
hypocrites in all ages, occasioned haply this query: for, as
Paul speaks, "all are not Israel that are of Israel,"
a great many living in the church are not of the church,
according to that of the doctors upon this place, multi sunt
corpore qui non sunt fide, multi nomine qui non sunt nomine.
Wherefore, David, here perceiving that sundry people were
shuffled into God's tabernacle like goats among the sheep, and
tares among the corn, being Jews outwardly, but not inwardly,
deceiving others often, and, sometimes, themselves also, with a
bare profession of religion, and false opinion of true piety,
cometh unto God (as to the searcher and trier of the hearts of
men, acquainted with all secrets, and best understanding who are
his own), saying unto him, O Lord, forsomuch as there is so much
unsoundness and hypocrisy reigning among those that dwell in thy
tabernacle, professing thy word, and frequenting the places of
thy worship; I beseech thee most humbly, to declare to thy
people some tokens and cognizances by which a true subject of
thy kingdom may be discerned from the children of this world.
Here then, observe, that an external profession of faith, and
outward communion with the church of God, is not sufficient unto
salvation, unless we lead an incorrupt life correspondent to the
same, doing the thing which is right, and speaking the truth in
our heart. And, therefore, the silly Papist is exceedingly
deceived in relying so much upon the church's outside, to wit,
upon the succession of Roman bishops, upon the multitude of
Roman Catholics, upon the power and pomp of the Roman synagogue,
crying as the Jews in old time, "The temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord," our church is the temple of the
Lord. The carnal and careless gospeller is deceived also,
placing all his religion in the formal observation of outward
service, for a mere verbal Christian is a real atheist,
according to that of Paul (Titus 1:16), "In word they
profess that they know God, but in their works they deny
him;" and so many who seem to sojourn in God's tabernacle
for a time, shall never rest upon his "holy hill;"
and this assertion is expressly confirmed by Christ himself:
"Not every one (saith he) that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the
will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew
7:21-23. Consider this, all ye which are Christians in lip only
but not in life, making a mask of religion, or rather a very
vizard, with eyes, and mouth, and nose, fairly painted and
proportioned to all pretenses and purposes. O think on this, all
ye that forget God, he that dwelleth on high, and beholds the
things here below, suffers none to rest upon the mountain of
his holiness but such as walk uprightly, doing that which
is just, and speaking that which is true. John Boys.
Verse 2. "He that walketh uprightly,"
etc. If neither the golden reason of excellency can move us, nor
the silver reason of profit allure us, then must the iron reason
of necessity enforce us to integrity and uprightness
of heart. For first, such is the necessity thereof, that
without integrity the best graces we seem to have are
counterfeit, and, therefore, but glorious sins; the best worship
we can perform is but hypocrisy, and therefore abominable in
God's sight. For uprightness is the soundness of all grace and
virtues, as also of all religion and worship of God, without
which they are unsound and nothing worth. And first, as touching
graces, if they be not joined with uprightness of heart, they
are sins under the masks or vizards of virtue, yea, as it may
seem, double sins: for as Augustine saith, Simulata aequitas
est duplex iniquitas, quia et inquitas est, et similatio:
Feigned equity is double iniquity, both because it is iniquity,
and because it is feigning. George Downame, D.D., 1604.
Verse 2. "He that walketh uprightly."
Here two questions are moved; First. Why David describes a sound
member of the church, and inheritor of heaven, by works rather
than by faith, seeing the kingdom of heaven is promised unto
faith, and the profession thereof also maketh one a member of
the visible church? Secondly. Why, among all the fruits of
faith, almost innumerable, he makes choice of those duties
especially which concern our neighbours? To the first, answer
may be, that in this, and in all other places in Holy Scripture,
where good works are commanded or commended in any, faith is
ever presupposed, according to that apostolical maxim,
"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin;" "Without
me," saith our blessed Saviour, "ye can do
nothing" (John 15:5); and without faith in him it is
impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6); fides est operum
fomes, as Paulinus wittily: "Faith (as our
church speaks), is the nest of good works; albeit our
birds be never so fair, though haply we do that which is
right, and speak that which is true, yet all these will be
lost, except it be brought forth in a true belief."
Aristides was so just in his government that he would not tread
awry for any respect to friend or despite of foe. Pomponius is
said to have been so true, that he never made lie himself, nor
suffered a lie in other. Curtius at Rome, Menaeceus at Thebes,
Codrus at Athens, exposed themselves unto voluntary death, for
the good of their neighbours and country: yet, because they
wanted the rest of true faith in the world's Saviour, where to
lay their young, we cannot (if we speak with our prophet here
from God's oracle), say that they shall ever rest upon his holy
hill. Another answer may be, that faith is an inward and hidden
grace, and many deceive themselves and others with a feigned
profession thereof, and therefore the Holy Spirit will have
every man's faith to be tried and known by their fruits, and
howsoever, eternal life be promised to faith, and eternal
damnation be threatened against infidelity, yet the sentence of
salvation and condemnation shall be pronounced according to
works, as the clearest evidence of both. It is truly said, out
of Bernard, that although our good works are not causa
regnandi, yet they be via regni, the causeway
wherein, although not the cause wherefore, we must ascend God's
holy hill. To the second demand, why the duties immediately
belonging to God, are not mentioned here, but only such as
concern our brother? Answer is made, that this question is
propounded of such as, living in the visible church, openly
profess the faith, and would seem to be devout, hearing the word
of God, and calling upon his name; for of such as are profane
atheists, and so not so much as make a semblance of holiness,
there is no question to be made, for, without all doubt, there
can be no resting place for such in the kingdom of heaven. Now
that we may discern aright which of those that profess religion
are sound, and which unsound; the marks are not to be taken from
an outward hearing of the word, or receiving of the sacraments,
and much less from a formal observation of human traditions in
God's tabernacle (For all these things hypocrites usually
perform), but from the duties of righteousness, giving every man
his due, because the touchstone of piety towards God is charity
towards our brother. "Herein," saith John, "are
the children of God known, and the children of the devil:
whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother." John Boys.
Verse 2. There is no ascertaining the quality of a
tree but by its fruits. When the wheels of a clock move within,
the hand on the dial will move without. When the heart of a man
is sound in conversion, then the life will be fair in
profession. When the conduit is walled in, how shall we judge of
the spring but by the waters which run through the pipes? William
Secker.
Verse 2. "And worketh righteousness."
A man must first be righteous before he can work righteousness
of life. "He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as
he is righteous." 1 John 3:7. The tree makes the fruit, not
the fruit the tree; and therefore the tree must be good before
the fruit can be good. Matthew 7:18. A righteous man may make a
righteous work, but no work of an unrighteous man can make him
righteous. Now we become righteous only by faith, through the
righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Romans 5:1. . . .
Wherefore let men work as they will, if they be not true
believers in Christ, they are not workers of righteousness; and,
consequently, they will not be dwellers in heaven. Ye must then
close with Christ in the first place, and by faith receive the
gift of imputed righteousness, or ye will never truly bear this
character of a citizen of Zion. A man shall as soon force fruit
out of a branch broken off from the tree and withered, as work
righteousness without believing in, and uniting with Christ.
These are two things by which those that hear the gospel are
ruined. Thomas Boston.
Verse 2. "Worketh righteousness."
Jacob's ladder had stairs, upon which he saw none standing
still, but all either ascending, or else descending by it.
Ascend you likewise to the top of the ladder, to heaven, and
there you shall hear one say, "My Father doth now work, and
I work also." Whereupon Basil noteth that King David having
first said, "Lord, who shall dwell in thy
tabernacle?" adds then, not he that hath wrought
righteousness heretofore, but he that doth now work
righteousness, even as Christ saith, "My Father doth
now work, and I work also." Thomas Playfere.
Verse 2. But here observe, David saith, "that worketh
righteousness;" not that talks about, thinks about, or
hears of, righteousness; because, "not the hearers of the
law, but the doers of the law, shall be justified." What
then do we owe unto others? That which Christ saith (Matthew 7),
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye
also unto them," even unto your enemies: that is, to injure
no one, to succour those that suffer injury, and to do good unto
all men. But these things, I say, are spoken especially unto
those who have respect of persons; as if he has said, It is not
because thou art a priest, nor because thou art of a religious
order, not because thou prayest much, nor because thou doest
miracles, nor because thou teachest excellently, nor because
thou art dignified with the title of father, nor because thou
art the doer of any work (except righteousness), that thou shalt
rest in the holy hill of the Lord; for if thou be destitute of
the works of righteousness, neither all thy good works, nor thy
indulgences, nor thy votes and suffrages, nor thy intercessions,
shall avail thee anything. Therefore, the truth is firm; that it
is the walker without spot, and the doer of righteousness, that
shall rest in the tabernacles of the Lord. Yet how many are
there, who build, increase and adorn churches, monastaries,
altars, vessels, garments, etc., who, all the while, never so
much as think of the works of righteousness; nay, who tread
righteousness under foot that they may work these their own
works, and because of them hope to gain the pardon of their
unrighteousness, while thousands are deceived by these means!
Hence, in the last day, Christ will say, "I was an
hungered, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was in prison, I was a
stranger." He will not say one word about those works which
are done and admired at this day. And, on the other hand, it is
of no account against thee that thou art a layman, or poor, or
sick, or contemptible, or how vile soever thou art, if thou
workest righteousness, thou shalt be saved. The only work that
we must hope will be considered and accounted of, is the work of
righteousness: all other works that either urge or allure us on
under a show of godliness, are a thing of naught. Martin
Luther.
Verse 2. "And speaketh the truth in his
heart." Anatomists have observed that the tongue in man
is tied with a double string to the heart. And so in truth
spoken there is necessary a double agreement of our words.
1. With our heart. That is, to the speaking of truth, it is
necessary our words agree with our mind and thoughts about the
thing. We must speak as we think, and our tongues must be
faithful interpreters of our mind: otherwise we lie, not
speaking as we think. So what is truth in itself may be spoken
by a man, and yet he be a liar; namely, if he does not think as
he speaks. 2. With the thing as it is in itself. Though we think
a thing to be so, which is not so, we lie, when we affirm it;
because it is not as we say, though we really think it is so.
For our mistaken notions of things can never stamp lies to pass
current for truths. 2 Thessalonians 2:11. Thomas Boston.
Verse 2. I this day heard a sermon from Psalm 15:2, "And
speaketh the truth in his heart." . . . . . . O my
soul, receive the admonition that has been given thee! Study
truth in the inward parts; let integrity and truth always
accompany thee, and preserve thee: speak the truth in thy heart.
I am thankful for any conviction and sense I have of the evil of
lying; Lord, increase my abhorrence of it: as a further
assistance and help against this mean, sordid, pernicious vice,
I would endeavour, and resolve, in pursuit of the directions
laid before us in the sermon, to mortify those passions and
corruptions from whence this sin of lying more ordinarily flows,
and which are the chief occasion of it, as "out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts" (Matthew 15:19); so, from the
same fountain proceed evil words. And I would, with the greatest
zeal, set myself against such corruptions as upon observation I
find more commonly betray me into this iniquity: pride often
indites our speech, and coins many a lie; so envy, covetousness,
malice, etc. I would endeavour to cleanse myself from all this
filthiness: there never will be a mortified tongue while there
is an unmortified heart. If I love the world inordinately, it is
a thousand to one I shall be often stretching a point to promote
a worldly interest; and if I hate my brother, it is the same
odds I shall reproach him. Lord, help me to purge the fountain,
and then the streams will be pure. When the spring of a clock,
and all of the movements are right, the hand will go right; and
so it is here. The tongue follows the inward inclination. I
would resolve to do nothing that may need a lie. If Gehazi's
covetousness had not shamed him, he had not wanted a lie to
excuse him, "He that walks uprightly, walks surely"
and safely in this, as well as other respects. Proverbs 10:9.
May I do nothing that is dishonourable and mean, nothing that
cannot bear the light, and then I shall have little temptation
to lying. I would endeavour for a lively sense of the eye of God
upon me, acting and speaking in his presence. Lord, I desire to
set thee always before me; thou understandest my thoughts as
perfectly as others do my words. I would consider before I
speak, and not speak much or rashly. Proverbs 29:20. I would
often think of the severity of a future judgment, when every
secret shall be made manifest, and the hypocrite and liar
exposed before angels and men. Lastly, I would frequently beg
divine assistance herein. Psalm 119:29; Proverbs 30:8. O my God,
help me in my future conduct, remove from me the way of lying;
may the law of kindness and truth be in my tongue; may I take
heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. I bewail my past
miscarriages in this respect, and flee to thy mercy through the
blood of Christ; bless to me the instructions that have been
this day given me; let no iniquity prevail against me;
"Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins, and cleanse
me from secret faults." I commit my thoughts, desires, and
tongue, to thy conduct and government; may I think and act in
thy fear, and always speak the truth in my heart. Benjamin
Bennet's "Christian Oratory," 1728.
Verses 2, 5. As the eagle casteth off her beak, and so
reneweth her youth, and the snake strippeth off her old skin,
and so maketh herself smooth: even so he that will enter into
the joys of God, and rest upon his holy mountain, must, as the
Scripture speaks, put off the old man and put on the new, which,
after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness,
repenting truly speedily, steadily. Robert Cawdray.
Verse 3. "He that backbiteth not with his
tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour." Lamentation
for the gross neglect of this duty, or the frequent commission
of this sin. What tears are sufficient to bewail it? How thick
do censures and reproaches fly in all places, at all tables, in
all conventions! And this were the more tolerable, if it were
only the fault of ungodly men, of strangers and enemies to
religion; for so saith the proverb, "Wickedness proceedeth
from the wicked." When a man's heart is full of hell, it is
not unreasonable to expect his tongue should be set on fire of
hell; and it is no wonder to hear such persons reproach good
men, yea, even for their goodness. But alas! the disease doth
not rest here, this plague is not only among the Egyptians but
Israelites too. It is very doleful to consider how professors
sharpen their tongues like swords against professors; and one
good man censures and reproaches another, and one minister
traduceth another; and who can say, "I am clean from this
sin?" O that I could move your pity in this case! For the
Lord's sake pity yourselves, and do not pollute and wound your
consciences with this crime. Pity your brethren; let it suffice
that godly ministers and Christians are loaded with reproaches
by wicked men— there is no need that you should combine with
them in this diabolical work. You should support and strengthen
their hands against the reproaches of the ungodly world, and not
add affliction to the afflicted. O pity the world, and pity the
church which Christ hath purchased with his own blood, which
methinks bespeaks you in these words, "Have pity upon me,
have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath
touched me." Job 19:21. Pity the mad and miserable world,
and help it against this sin; stop the bloody issue; restrain
this wicked practice amongst men as much as possibly you can,
and lament it before God, and for what you cannot do yourselves,
give God no rest until he shall please to work a cure. Matthew
Poole, 1624-1679.
Verse 3. "He that backbiteth not,"
etc. Detraction or slander is not lightly to be passed over,
because we do so easily fail in this point. For the good name of
a man, as saith Solomon, is a precious thing to every one, and
to be preferred before much treasure, insomuch that it is no
less grievous to hurt a man with the tongue than with a sword:
nay, ofttimes the stroke of a tongue is grievouser than the
wound of a spear, as it is in the French proverb. And therefore
the tongue must be bridled, that we hurt not in any wise the
good name of our neighbour; but preserve it unto him safe and
sound, as much as in us shall lie. That which he addeth touching
evil or injury not to be done to our neighbour, is like unto
that which we have seen already concerning the working or
exercising of righteousness. He would have us therefore so to
exercise all upright dealing, that we might be far from doing
any damage or wrong to our neighbours. And by the name of
neighbour, is meant every man and woman, as it is plain and
evident. For we are all created of God, and placed in this world
that we might live uprightly and sincerely together. And
therefore he breaketh the law of human society (for we are all
tied and bound by this law of nature) that doth hurt or injury
to another. The third member of this verse is, nor that
reproacheth another, or, that maintaineth not a false report
give one against another; which latter particle seemeth to be
the better, since he had spoken before expressly, touching the
good name of another, not to be hurt or wronged with our tongue.
To the which fault this is next in degree, wherewith we are too
much encumbered, and which we scarce acknowledge to be a fault,
when we further and maintain the slanders devised and given out
by another against a man, either by hearing them or telling them
forth to others, as we heard them. For why? It seemeth for the
most part to be enough for us if we can say, that we feign not
this or that, nor make it of our own heads, but only tell it
forth as we heard it of others, without adding anything of our
own brain. But as oft as we do this we fail in our duty doing,
in not providing for our neighbour's credit, as were requisite
for the things, which being uttered by others ought to be passed
over in silence and to lie dead, we gather up, and by telling
them forth, disperse them abroad, which whether it be a sin or
no, when as we ought by all means possible to wish and do well
unto our neighbours, all men do see. And therefore thou that
travellest towards eternal life, must not only not devise false
reports and slanders against other men, but also not so much as
have them in thy mouth being devised by others, neither by any
means assist or maintain them in slandering; but by all honest
and lawful means, provide for the credit and estimation of thy
neighbour, so much as in thee lieth. Peter Baro, D.D.,
1560.
Verse 3. "He that backbiteth not with his
tongue." The Hebrew word (Heb.) signifieth to play the
spy, and by a metaphor, to backbite or slander,
for backbiters and whisperers, after the manner of spies,
go up and down dissembling their malice, that they may espy the
faults and defects of others, whereof they may make a malicious
relation to such as will give ear to their slanders. So that backbiting
is a malicious defamation of a man behind his back. . . . . .
And that the citizen of heaven doth and ought to abhor from backbiting,
the horrible wickedness of this sin doth evince. For first,
Leviticus 19:16, where it is straightly forbidden, the "tale-bearer"
is compared to a pedlar: "Thou shalt not walk about with
tales and slanders, as it were a pedlar among thy people."
So much (Heb.) signifieth. For as the pedlar having bought his
wares of some one or more goeth about from house to house that
he may sell the same to others; so backbiters and tale-bearers,
gathering together tales and rumours, as it were wares, go from
one to another, that such wares as either themselves have
invented, or have gathered by report, they may utter in the
absence of their neighbour to his infamy and disgrace. Likewise
Psalm 50:20, it is condemned as a notable crime, which God will
not suffer to go unpunished; Ezekiel 22:9, it is reckoned among
the abominations of Jerusalem, for which destruction is
denounced against it; and Romans 1:29, 30, among the crimes of
the heathen, given over unto a reprobate sense, this is placed:
they were "whisperers and backbiters." George
Downame.
Verse 3. "He that backbiteth not." He
that is guilty of backbiting, that speaks evil of another behind
his back, if that which he speaks be false, is guilty of lying,
which is prejudicial to salvation. If that which he speaks be
true, yet he is void of charity in seeking to defame another.
For as Solomon observes, "Love covereth all sins."
Proverbs 10:12. Where there is love and charity, there will be a
covering and concealing of men's sins as much as may be. Now
where charity is wanting, their salvation is not to be expected.
1 Corinthians 13:1, etc.; 1 John 3:14, 15. Christopher
Cartwright, 1602-1658.
Verse 3. "Backbiteth not." This crime
is a conjugation of evils, and is productive of infinite
mischiefs; it undermines peace, and saps the foundation of
friendship; it destroys families, and rends in pieces the very
heart and vitals of charity; it makes an evil man party, and
witness, and judge, and executioner of the innocent. Bishop
Taylor.
Verse 3. "Backbiteth." The scorpion
hurteth none but such as he toucheth with the tip of his tail;
and the crocodile and basilisk slay none but such as either the
force of their sight, or strength of their breath reacheth. The
viper woundeth none but such as it biteth; the venomous herbs or
roots kill none but such as taste, or handle, or smell them, and
so come near unto them; but the poison of slanderous tongues is
much more rank and deadly; for that hurteth and slayeth,
woundeth and killeth, not only near, but afar off; not only at
hand, but by distance of place removed; not only at home, but
abroad; not only in our own nation, but in foreign countries;
and spareth neither quick nor dead. Richard Turnbull.
Verse 3. "Backbiteth." The word here
used comes from a root signifying foot, and denotes a
person who goes about from house to house, speaking things he
should not (1 Timothy 5:13); and a word from this root
siginifies spies; and the phrase here may point at persons who
creep into houses, pry into the secrets of families, divulge
them, and oftentimes represent them in a false light. Such are
ranked among the worst of men, and are very unfit to be in the
society of saints, or in the Church of Christ. See Romans 1:30. John
Gill.
Verse 3. "Nor taketh up a reproach against his
neighbour." The saints of God must not be too light of
hearing, much less of believing all tales, rumours, and reports
of their brethren; and charity requireth that we do not only
stop and stay them, but that we examine them before we believe
them. Saul, the king, too light of belief in this point,
believed the slanderous and false reports of David's enemies,
who put into Saul's head that David imagined evil against him.
Yea, David himself showed his great infirmity in that, that
without due examination and proof of the matter, he believed the
false report of Ziba, against Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan;
of whom to David the king, persecuted by Absalom his son, Ziba
reported falsely, that he should say, "This day shall the
house of Israel restore unto me the kingdom of my father."
The example of whose infirmity in Scripture reproved, must not
we follow; but let us rather embrace the truth of that heavenly
doctrine which, through God's Spirit, here he preacheth, that we
believe not false reports against our neighbours. Richard
Turnbull.
Verse 3. Despise not thy neighbour, but think thyself
as bad a sinner, and that the like defects may befall thee. If
thou canst not excuse his doing, excuse his intent which may be
good; or if the deed be evil, think it was done of ignorance; if
thou canst no way excuse him, think some great temptation befell
him, and that thou shouldst be worse if the like temptation
befell thee; and give God thanks that the like as yet hath not
befallen thee. Despise not a man being a sinner, for though he
be evil to-day, he may turn to-morrow. William Perkins,
1558-1602.
Verses 3, 4, 5. They that cry down moral honesty, cry
down that which is a great part of religion, my duty towards
God, and my duty towards man. What care I to see a man run after
a sermon, if he cozens and cheats as soon as he comes home? On
the other side, morality must not be without religion, for if
so, it may change as I see convenience. Religion must govern it.
He that has not religion to govern his morality, is not a dram
better than my mastiff-dog; so long as you stroke him, and
please him, and do not pinch him, he will play with you as
finely as may be, he is a very good moral mastiff; but if you
hurt him, he will fly in your face, and tear out your throat. John
Seldon, 1584-1654.
Verse 4. "In whose eyes a vile person is
contemned," etc. When wicked Jehoram, king of Israel,
came to Eliseus, the prophet, to ask counsel of the Lord, and to
entreat for waters, having in company Jehoshaphat, the king of
Judah, being virtuous; the prophet showeth his contempt to the
one, being wicked, and his reverence to the other, being godly,
faithful and virtuous, said, "As the Lord of hosts liveth,
before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of
Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee,
nor see thee." 2 Kings 3:14. Thus was the wicked vile in
his sight; thus did he not flatter the ungodly. In like manner
godly Mordecai, the Jew, having Haman the ambitious and proud
Agagite in contempt, would in no wise bow the knee unto him in
sign of honour, as the rest of the people did; for which cause
he was extremely hated, menaced, and molested of proud and
wicked Haman. To wink at their wickedness, to uphold them in
their iniquity, to fawn upon them and flatter them, to praise
them when they deserve just reproof, is, as it were, an
honouring of them; to which, as to a most grievous sin, the
prophet denounces a most bitter curse: "Woe unto them that
call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and
light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for
bitter!" Isaiah 5:20. Richard Turnbull.
Verse 4. "In whose eyes a vile person is
contemned." To contemn the wicked and honour the
godly, are opposite the one to the other. But the former may
seem not to be sufficiently beseeming to a godly man. For why
should he contemn or despise others, who is commanded by all
means to care for the credit of others, as we heard even now?
Nay, a godly man, letting others go, ought to search into
himself, and to accuse himself, but not to judge of others. But
this saying of the prophet is to be understood rather of the
faults than of the person. As every man therefore is to be
loved, so are the faults of every man to ne hated of the godly.
For so is God himself, whom we desire to be like unto, that we
might dwell with him, affected and disposed. For why? he hateth
no man, nay, he hateth nothing at all in this whole universal
world, but only sin. For he is the author and preserver of all
things that be; and therefore doth good and wisheth well to all;
only of sin he is not the author, but the free and unconstrained
will of man and Satan. Notwithstanding God doth so greatly hate
sin, that by reason thereof he doth sometimes neglect and
forsake men, yea, and have them in contempt. So then a godly
man, nor contemneth any; but yet notwithstanding he disliketh
sin in sinful men, and that he sticketh not to let them perceive
either by reproving them, or shunning their company, or by doing
of some other thing, whereby they may know they are misliked of
good men for their enormities, and see themselves to be
contemned of others for their wicked and ungodly life. A good
man therefore must not flatter the ungodly in their ungracious
attempts, but must freely declare that he disalloweth their
course and conversation. Peter Baro.
Verse 4. "In whose eyes a vile person is
contemned." Augustine, as Posidonius writeth, showing
what hatred he had to tale-bearers and false reporters of
others, had two verses written over his table; by translation
these:
"He that doth love with bitter speech the absent to
defame,
Must surely know that at this board no place is for the
same."
Richard Turnbull.
Verse 4. "In whose eyes a vile person is
contemned." The burgess of the New Jerusalem, reprobos
reprobat, et probos probat; he cannot flatter any man, nor
fancy such as in whom he findeth not aliquid Christi,
something of the image of God. A golden Colosse, stuffed with
rubbish, he cannot stoop to, "But he honoureth them that
fear the Lord," as the only earthly angels, though
never so mean and despicable in the world's eye. Mr. Fox, being
asked whether he remembered not such a poor servant of God who
had received succour from him in time of trouble? answered,
"I remember him well; I tell you, I forget the lords and
ladies, to remember such." John Trapp.
Verse 4. "He honoureth them that fear the
Lord." Though the godly some way or other be injurious
unto us, we ought nevertheless to honour and not to despise
them. So Joseph did Mary, though he supposed her to have dealt
injuriously with him; and she had done so, indeed, if it had
been with her as he imagined. Calvin's resolution concerning
Luther was very admirable in this respect. They differed much
about the presence of Christ in the sacrament; and Luther being
of a vehement spirit, wrote bitterly against those who did hold
otherwise in that point than himself did. This enforced some,
who were more nearly concerned in the business, to prepare to
answer Luther; which Calvin understanding, and fearing lest they
being provoked by Luther's tartness, should deal with him in the
like kind, he wrote unto Bullinger, a prime man among them,
persuading and exhorting him to carry the business so as to show
all due respect unto Luther, considering what worth and
excellency there was in him, however he had demeaned himself in
that particular. And he adds, that he often used to say, that
although Luther should call him devil, yet he would do him that
honour, to acknowledge him a choice servant of God. Christopher
Cartwright.
Verse 4. "He honoureth them that fear the
Lord." I have read of one that said, If he should meet
a preacher and an angel together, he would first salute the
preacher and then the angel. Charles Bradbury's "Cabinet
of Jewels," 1785.
Verse 4. "He that sweareth to his own hurt,
and changeth not."
"His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles;
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate;
His tears pure messengers, sent from his heart;
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth."
William Shakspere.
Verse 5. The Puritanic divines are almost all of them
against the taking of any interest upon money, and go to the
length of saying that one penny per cent. per annum will shut a
man out of heaven if persisted in. It appeared to me to be
useless to quote opinions in which I cannot agree, especially as
this would occupy space better employed. The demanding of
excessive and grinding interest is a sin to be detested; the
taking of the usual and current interest in a commercial country
is not contrary to the law of love. The Jews were not engaged in
commerce, and to lend money even at the lowest interest to their
fellow farmers in times of poverty would have been usurious; but
they might lend to strangers, who would usually be occupied in
commerce, because in the commercial world, money is a fruitful
thing, and the lender has a right to a part of its products; a
loan to enable a non-trader to live over a season of want is
quite another matter. C. H. S.
Verse 5. "He that putteth not out his money to
usury." By usury is generally understood the gain of
anything above the principal, or that which was lent, exacted
only in consideration of the loan, whether it be in money, corn,
wares, or the like. It is most commonly taken for an unlawful
profit which a person makes of his money or goods. The Hebrew
word for usury signifies biting. The law of God prohibits
rigorous imposing conditions of gain for the loan of money or
goods, and exacting them without respect to the condition of the
borrower, whether he gain or lose; whether poverty occasioned
his borrowing, or a visible prospect of gain by employing the
borrowed goods. It is said in Exodus 22:25, 26, "If thou
lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt
not be to him an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury,"
etc. And in Leviticus 25:35, 36, 37, "If thy brother be
waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee, then thou shalt
relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner, that
he may live with thee: take thou no usury of him," etc.
This law forbids the taking usury from a brother that was
poor, an Israelite reduced to poverty, or from a proselyte; but
in Deuteronomy 23:20, God seems to tolerate usury towards
strangers; "Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury."
By strangers, in this passage, some understand the
Gentiles in general, or all such as were not Jews, excepting
proselytes. Others think that by strangers are meant the
Canaanites, and the other people that were devoted to slavery
and subjection; of these the Hebrews were permitted to exact usury,
but not of such strangers with whom they had no quarrel,
and against whom the Lord had not denounced his judgments. The
Hebrews were plainly commanded in Exodus 22:25, etc., not to
receive usury for money from any that borrowed from
necessity, as in that case in Nehemiah 5:5, 7. And such
provision the law made for the preserving of estates to their
families by the year of jubilee; for a people that had little
concern in trade, could not be supposed to borrow money but out
of necessity: but they were allowed to lend upon usury to
strangers, whom yet they must not oppress. This law, therefore,
in the strictness of it, it obligeth us to show mercy to those
we have advantage against, and to be content to share with those
we lend to in loss, as well as profit, if Providence cross them.
And upon this condition, a valuable commentator says, It seems
as lawful for me to receive interest for money, which another
takes pains with, improves, but runs the hazard of in trade, as
it is to receive rent for my land, which another takes pains
with, improves, but runs the hazard of in husbandry." Alexander
Cruden, 1701-1770.
Verse 5. "He that putteth not out his money to
usury." "If thou lend money to any of my people that
is poor by thee." Exodus 22:25. Rather, according to
the letter of the original, "If thou lend money to my
people, even to a poor man with thee." The Israelites were
a people but little engaged in commerce, and therefore could not
in general be supposed to borrow money but from sheer necessity;
and of that necessity the lender was not to take advantage by
usurious exactions. The law is not to be understood as a
prohibition of interest at any rate whatever, but of excessive
interest or usury. The clause, "Thou shalt not be to him as
an usurer," is equivalent to saying, 'Thou shalt not
domineer and lord it over him rigorously and cruelly.' That this
class of men were peculiarly to be extortionate and oppressive
in their dealings with debtors would seem to be implied by the
etymology of the original term for usury (Heb. neshek),
which comes from a root signifying to bite; and in
Nehemiah 5:2-5, we have a remarkable case of the bitter and
grinding effects resulting from the creditor's rights over the
debtor. A large portion of the people had not only mortgaged
their lands, vineyards, and houses, but had actually sold their
sons and daughters into bondage, to satisfy the claims of their
grasping creditors. In this emergency Nehemiah espoused the
cause of the poor, and compelled the rich, against whom he
called the people together, to remit the whole of their dues;
and, moreover, exacted from them an oath that they would never
afterwards oppress their poor brethren for the payment of those
debts. This was not because every part of those proceedings had
been contrary to the letter of the Mosaic law, but because it
was a flagrant breach of equity under the circumstances. It was
taking a cruel and barbarous advantage of the necessities of
their brethren, at which God was highly indignant, and which his
servants properly rebuked. From this law the Hebrew canonists
have gathered a general rule, that "Whoso exacteth of a
poor man, and knoweth that he hath not aught to pay him, he
transgresseth against this prohibition, Thou shalt not be to him
as an exacting creditor." (Maimonides, in Ainsworth.)
We nowhere learn from the institutes delivered by Moses that the
simple taking of interest, especially from the neighbouring
nations (Deuteronomy 23:19, 20), was forbidden to the
Israelites; but the divine law would give no countenance to the
griping and extortionate practices to which miserly
money-lenders are always prone. The deserving and industrious
poor might sometimes be reduced to such straits, that pecuniary
accommodations might be very desirable to them; and towards such
God would inculcate a mild, kind, and forbearing spirit, and the
precept is enforced by the relation which they sustained to him:
q.d., "Remember that you are lending to my
people, my poor; and therefore, take no advantage of
their necessities. Trust me against the fear of loss, and treat
them kindly and generously." George Bush, in "Notes
on the Book of Exodus," 1856.
Verse 5. "He that putteth not out his money to
usury." With respect to the first clause, as David
seems to condemn all kinds of usury in general, and without
exception, the very name has been everywhere held in
detestation. But crafty men have invented specious names under
which to conceal the vice; and thinking by this artifice to
escape, they have plundered with greater excess than if they had
lent on usury avowedly and openly. God, however, will not be
dealt with and imposed upon by sophistry and false pretenses. He
looks upon the thing as it really is. There is no worse species
of usury than an unjust way of making bargains, where equity is
disregarded on both sides. Let us, then, remember that all
bargains, in which the one party unrighteously strives to make
gain by the loss of the other party, whatever name may be given
to them, are here condemned. It may be asked, whether all kinds
of usury are to be put into this denunciation, and regarded as
alike unlawful? If we condemn all without distinction, there is
a danger lest many, seeing themselves brought into such a strait
as to find that sin must be incurred, in whatever way they can
turn themselves, may be rendered bolder by despair, and may rush
headlong into all kinds of usury without choice or
discrimination. On the other hand, whenever we concede that
something may be lawfully done in this way, many will give
themselves loose reins, thinking that a liberty to exercise
usury, without control or moderation, has been granted them. In
the first place, therefore, I would, above all things, counsel
my readers to beware of ingeniously contriving deceitful
pretexts by which to take advantage of their fellow men, and let
them not imagine that anything can be lawful to them which is
grievous and hurtful to others. . . . . It is not without cause
that God has in Leviticus 25:35, 36, forbidden usury, adding
this reason: "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen
in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he
be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. Take
thou no usury of him, or increase." We see that the end for
which the law was framed was that man should not cruelly oppress
the poor, who ought rather to receive sympathy and compassion.
This was, indeed, a part of the judicial law which God appointed
for the Jews in particular; but it is a common principle of
justice, which extends to all nations, and to all ages, that we
should keep ourselves from plundering and devouring the poor who
are in distress and want. Whence it follows, that the gain which
he who lends his money upon interest acquires, without doing
injury to any one, is not to be included under the head of
unlawful usury. The Hebrew word (Heb.) neshek, which
David employs, being derived from another word which signifies to
bite, sufficiently shows that usuries are condemned in so
far as they involve in them, or lead to, a license of robbing,
or plundering our fellow men. Ezekiel, indeed (chapters 18:17,
and 22:12), seems to condemn the taking of any interest whatever
upon money lent; but he, doubtless, has an eye to the unjust and
crafty arts of gaining by which the rich devoured the poor
people. In short, provided we had engraven on our hearts the
rule of equity which Christ prescribes in Matthew 7:12,
"Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should
do to you, do ye even so to them," it would not be
necessary to enter into lengthened disputes concerning usury. John
Calvin, in loc.
Verse 5 (first clause). The Mosaic law forbids
the lending of money for interest to an Israelite. Exodus 22:25;
Leviticus 25:37; Deuteronomy 23:19; Proverbs 28:8; Ezekiel 18:8.
In several of the passages referred to, it is expressly supposed
that money is lent only to the poor, a supposition which has its
ground in the simple relations of the Mosaic times, in which
lending, for the purpose of speculation and gain, had no
existence. Such lending ought only to be a work of brotherly
love; and it is a great violation of that if any one, instead of
helping his neighbour, takes advantage of his need to bring him
into still greater straits. The Mosaic regulation in question
has, accordingly, its import also for New Testament times. With
the interest-lending of capitalists, who borrow for speculation,
it has nothing to do. This belongs to a quite different matter,
as is implied even by the name (Heb.), a mordendo,
according to which only such usury can be meant as plagues and
impoverishes a neighbour. By unseasonable comparison with our
modes of speech, many would expound, "His money he puts not
to interest." E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 5 (first clause). The worm called in
Latin teredo, whereof Pliny hath reported something in
his story, breeding in wood, to the touch as soft yet it hath
such teeth as endeavoureth and consumeth the hard timber. So the
usurer is a soft beast at first to handle, but in continuance of
time the hardness of his teeth will eat thee up, both flesh and
bone, if thou beware not. He pleadeth love, but not for thy
sake, but for his own; for as the ivy colleth and claspeth the
oak as a lover, but thereby it groweth up and over toppeth the
oak, and sucketh out the juice and sap thereof, that it cannot
thrive nor prosper; so the usurer colleth, embraceth, and
claspeth in arms the borrower, that thereby himself may grow
richer, and suck all wealth, goods, and riches from him, that he
never thriveth or prospereth after. The pleasure the usurer
showeth is like the playing of the cat with the silly mouse: the
cat playeth with the mouse, but the play of the cat is the death
of the mouse. The usurer pleasureth the borrower; but the
pleasure of the usurer is the undoing of the borrower. The fox
through craft slideth and tumbleth and maketh much pastime till
he come to the prey, then he devoureth: the usurer maketh many
fair speeches, giveth out many fair promises, pretendeth very
great kindness, until he have got thee within his compass, then
he crusheth and cruciateth thee. The usurer preyeth upon the
poor, he waxeth rich at the penury of his brother, he clotheth
himself with the coat of the naked, he gathereth riches of the
indigency and want of his neighbour; he feedeth himself of the
bread of the hungry, and devoureth his poor brother, as the
beasts do the smaller; than which, saith Ambrose, there is no
greater inhumanity and cruelty, no greater wretchedness and
iniquity, as Chrysostom in many places, and Basil upon this
Psalm, have well observed. Richard Turnbull.
Verse 5. The rich make the poor to fill them; for usurers
feed upon the poor, even as great fishes devour the small.
Therefore, he which said, Let there not be a beggar in Israel
(Deuteronomy 15:4), said too, Let there not be an usurer in
Israel. For if there be usurers in Israel there will be beggars
in Israel; for usurers make beggars, even as lawyers make
quarrellers. . . . . It is a miserable occupation to live by
sin, and a great comfort to a man when he looketh upon his gold
and silver, and his heart telleth him, All this is well gotten;
and when he lieth upon his death-bed, and must leave all to his
children, he can say unto them, I leave you mine own; but the
usurer cannot say, I leave you mine own, but I leave you other
men's; therefore the usurer can never die in peace, because if
he die before he maketh restitution, he dieth in his sin. Henry
Smith.
Verse 5. Biting usurers were so abhorred in the
primitive church, that as they condemned the usurer himself, so
they made the scribes, who wrote the bonds, and also the
witnesses, incapable of any benefit; and that no testament or
latter will, written by such should be valid. The house of the
usurer was called domus Satanae, the house of the devil; and
they ordained that no man should eat or drink with such usurer,
nor fetch fire from them; and after they were dead that they
should not be buried in Christian burial. The conclusion of this
is (Ezekiel 18:13), this sin is matched with theft; and verse ll,
with adultery; and verse 12, with violence; it is the daughter
of oppression and sister to idolatry, and he that doth these
things shall not dwell in God's holy hill. Albeit, these
worldlings think themselves more honest than thieves and
adulterers, yet the Lord maketh their case all alike. John
Weemse, 1636.
Verse 5. "Taketh reward against the
innocent." I am sure this is scala inferni, the
right way to hell, to be covetous, to take bribes, and pervert
justice. If a judge should ask me the way to hell, I should show
him this way: First, let him be a covetous man; let his heart be
poisoned with covetousness. Then let him go a little further and
take bribes; and, lastly, pervert judgments. Lo, here is the
mother, and the daughter, and the daughter's daughter. Avarice
is the mother; she brings forth bribe-taking, and bribe-taking
perverting of judgment. There lacks a fourth thing to make up
the mess, which, so help me God, if I were judge, should be hangum
tuum, a Tyburn tippet to take with him; an it were the judge
of the King's Bench, my Lord Chief Judge of England, yea, an it
were my Lord Chancellor himself, to Tyburn with him. Hugh
Latimer.
Verse 5. Taketh reward against the innocent."
I come to corrupt lawyers and advocates, who so often take
rewards against the innocent, as they do take upon them the
defence of such causes as they in their own conscience are
persuaded to be evil and unjust. Which being so common a fault
among lawyers, as that very few which plead causes, either in
civil or ecclesiastical courts, do seem to make any conscience
thereof, to whom all is fish that cometh to their nets;
therefore all lawyers are to be exhorted to apply this note unto
themselves. George Downame.
Verse 5. "He that doeth." 'Tis not
said he that professes this or that, or he that believes
thus and thus, or he that is of such or such an opinion
or way of worship, or he that sets up new lights, and
pretends the Spirit for his immediate guide; 'tis not he
that hears much or talks much of religion; no, nor
he that preaches and prays much, nor he that thinks
much of these things, and means well; but 'tis he that
"doeth these things"—that is actually
employed about them—that is the religious and truly godly man.
'Tis not, I say, a formal professor, a confidant solifidian,
a wild opinionist, a high-flown perfectist; it is
not a constant hearer, or a mighty talker, or a
laborious teacher, or a gifted brother, or a
simple well-wisher must pass; but 'tis the honest and
sincere doer of these things, that will abide the test and stand
the trial; when all other flashy pretences shall, in those
searching flames, be burnt and consumed like "hay and
stubble," as the apostle expresses it. To wear Christ's
livery and to do him no service is but to mock a gracious
Master; to own him in our profession and deny him in our practice,
is, with Judas, to betray him with a kiss of homage; with the
rude soldiers to bow the knee before him, and, in the meantime
to beat his sacred head with his reeden sceptre, and with Pilate
to crown him with thorns, to crucify the Lord and write over his
head, "King of the Jews:" in a word, to grieve him
with our honours, and wound him with our acknowledgments. A
Christian profession without a life answerable, will be so far
from saving any one, that 'twill highly aggravate his
condemnation; when a dissembled friendship at the great day of
discoveries shall be looked upon as the worst of enmities. A
mere outside formality of worship, is at best but Prometheus's
sacrifice, a skeleton of bones and a religious cheat. . . . . .
The harmless humour of meaning well is not enough to
approve a man's spiritual state, to acquit obligations, or to
ascertain his expectations. For he that bids us "eschew
evil" does immediately subjoin, that we must
"follow" and "hold fast that which is good."
It will be no good account not to have done evil, unless we make
it appear that we have been doing good too; since the
non-commission of great sins will not excuse our omission of
great duties. In the best commonwealth of bees, the drone
without a sting, as she has no weapon for mischief, so, wanting
a tool for employ, is deservedly cashiered the hive. Condensed
from Adam Littleton, D.D., 1627-1694.
Verse 5. "He that doeth these things shall
never be moved." Mark how the prophet saith not, he
that readeth these things, or he that heareth these things, but
he that doth them, shall never be removed. For were it enough to
read or hear these precepts, then should an infinite number of
vain and wicked persons enter into, and continue in the church,
which notwithstanding have no place therein; for there are very
few, or none at all, which have not read, or at least have not
heard these things, yet they will not do them. Neither doth he
say, he that talketh of these things, but he that doth them; for
many now in these days can talk gloriously of uprightness,
justice, truth, in whom notwithstanding, there is neither
upright dealings, nor sound righteousness, nor unfeigned truth
to be found. Many can say that slander is sin, injury is
iniquity, to receive false reports is uncharitable, that it
becometh not the saints to flatter the wicked, that to break
promise and falsify their oaths is unseemly, to give upon usury
is oppression, to receive bribes against the innocent is extreme
cruelty; yet themselves backbite and hurt their neighbour, they
themselves believe every tale that is brought them, they flatter
and fawn upon the wicked for advantage, they swear and forswear
for commodity, they oppress through usury, and receive gifts of
bribery against the innocent; and so in word they speak of these
things, but do them not indeed. . . . . . . Neither doth
David say he that preacheth these, "shall never be
removed," for then not only many other wicked persons,
which can speak of, yea, many ungodly men which can also preach
of virtue, should have the place in the Lord's tabernacle, and
rest upon his holy hill; but also among others, even Balaam the
covetous prophet, should have a sure place in God's tabernacle;
for he could say, "If Balak would give me his house full of
silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God,
to do less or more" (Numbers 22:18); yet he took rewards;
yet he was carried away with covetousness, as much as in him
lay, to work the destruction of Israel, the innocent people of
the Lord. Richard Turnbull.
Verse 5. "Shall never be moved."
Moved he may be for a time, but not removed for ever. His soul
is bound up in the bundle of life, near unto the throne of
glory; when the souls of the wicked are restless as a stone in
the midst of a sling, saith the Targum in 1 Samuel 25. John
Trapp.
Verse 5 (last clause). The holy soul is the
love of God, the joy of angels; her eyes dare look upon the
glorious Judge whom she knows to be her Saviour. Her heart is
courageous; she dares stand the thunder; and when guilty minds
creep into corners, she is confident in him that will defend
her. She challengeth the whole world to accuse her of injustice,
and fears not the subornation of false witnesses, because she
knows the testimony of her own conscience. Her language is free
and bold, without the guiltiness of broken stops. Her forehead
is clear and smooth, as the brow of heaven. Her knees are ever
bent to the throne of grace; her feet traveling toward
Jerusalem; her hands weaving the web of righteousness. Good men
bless her; good angels guard her; the Son of God doth kiss her;
and when all the world shall be turned to a burning pile, she
shall be brought safe to the mountain of joy, and set in a
throne of blessedness for ever. Thomas Adams.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHERVerse 1.
Qualifications for church membership on earth and in heaven. A
subject for self-examination.
Verse 1.
I. Comparison of the church to the tabernacle. God's
presence manifested, sacrifice offered, and vessels of grace
preserved in it;mean externally, glorious within.
II.
Comparison of its double position to that of the tabernacle.
Moving in the wilderness, and fixed on the hill.
III.
Enquire into qualification for admittance into church and
tabernacle. Parallel with the priests, etc.
Verse 1. The great question. Asked by idle curiosity,
despair, godly fear, earnest enquirer, soul troubled by falls of
others, holy faith. Give answer to each.
Verse 1. The citizen of Zion described. Thomas
Boston's Sermons.
Verse 1. Anxiety to know the true saints, how far
lawful and profitable.
Verse 1. God the only infallible discerner of true
saints.
Verse 2. "He that walketh uprightly."
I.
What he must be. He must be upright in heart. A man himself bent
double cannot walk uprightly.
II.
How he must act. Neither from impulse, ambition, gain, fear, or
flattery. He must not be warped in any direction, but stand
perpendicularly.
III.
What he must expect. Snares, etc., to trip him.
IV.
Where he must walk. Path of duty, the only one in which he can
walk uprightly.
V.
Where he must look. Up, right-up, and then he will be upright.
Verse 2. "Speaketh the truth in his
heart." Subject:— Heart falsehood and heart truth.
Verse 2 (first clause). The citizen of Zion, an
upright walker.
Verse 2 (middle clause). The citizen of Zion, a
worker of righteousness.
Verse 2 (last clause). The citizen of Zion, a
speaker of truth. Four Sermons in Thomas Boston's Works.
Verse 3. The evils of detraction. It affects three
persons here mentioned: the backbiter, the suffering neighbour,
and the taker-up of the reproach.
Verse 3. "Nor taketh up a reproach."
The sin of being too ready to believe ill reports. Common,
cruel, foolish, injurious, wicked.
Verse 4. The duty of practically honouring those who
fear the Lord. Commendation, deference, assistance, imitation,
etc.
Verse 4. The sin of estimating persons other than by
their practical characters.
Verse 4 (last clause). The Lord Jesus as our
unchanging Surety, his oath and his hurt.
Verse 5. The evidences and privileges of godly men.
Verse 5 (last clause). The fixedness and safety
of the godly.
WORKS UPON THE FIFTEENTH PSALM
Fower
Sermons and Two Questions, as they were uttered and disputed
by that learned Frenchman, P[ETER] B[ARO]. 1560.
Lectures
on the XV. Psalme read in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul,
in London. By GEORGE DOWNAME. Doctor of Divinitie, London. 1604.
4to.
Four
Sermons, by way of Exposition of Psalm XV., by RICHARD
TURNBULL, are found at the end of the old 4to containing his
Exposition of the Epistles of James and Jude. There is no
separate title page to the Exposition of the Psalm; the date of
the book is 1606.
The
Works of John Boys, D.D., Deane of Canterburie, 1629, folio,
contains Expositions of Psalms II., IX., and XV. (The folio
edition of Boys' Works consists of Expositions of the Scriptures
used in the Liturgy.)
A
Practical and Polemical Commentary, or Exposition on the whole
Fifteenth Psalm, wherein the text is learnedly and
fruitfully explained, some controversies discussed, sundry cases
of conscience are cleared; more especially that of USURIE. By
CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT, late minister of Saint-Martin's, in the
city of York. 1658. 4to.