Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Psalms
Book: Psalms
Chapter: 39
Overview:
David meditates
On Man's frailty.
(1-6) He applies for
Pardon
and deliverance.
(7-13)
1-6 If an evil thought should arise in the mind, suppress it.
Watchfulness in the habit, is the
Bridle upon the head;
watchfulness in acts, is the
Hand upon the
Bridle. When not able
to separate from wicked men, we should remember they will watch
our words, and turn them, if they can, to our disadvantage.
Sometimes it may be necessary to keep silence, even from good
words; but in general we are wrong when backward to engage in
edifying discourse. Impatience is a
Sin that has its cause
within ourselves, and that is, musing; and its ill effects upon
ourselves, and that is
No less than burning. In our greatest
health and prosperity, every
Man is altogether vanity, he cannot
live long; he may die soon. This is an undoubted
Truth, but we
are very unwilling to believe it. Therefore let us pray that
God
would enlighten our minds
By his Holy
Spirit, and fill our
hearts with his
Grace, that we may be ready for
Death every
Day
and
Hour.
7-13 There is
No solid satisfaction to be had in the
Creature;
but it is to be found in the
Lord, and in
Communion with him; to
him we should be driven
By our disappointments. If the world be
nothing but vanity, may
God deliver us from having or seeking
our portion in it. When
Creature-confidences fail, it is our
comfort that we have a
God to go to, a
God to trust in. We may
see a good
God doing all, and ordering all events concerning us;
and a good
Man, for that reason, says nothing against it. He
desires the pardoning of his
Sin, and the preventing of his
shame. We must both watch and pray against
Sin. When under the
correcting
Hand of the
Lord, we must look to
God himself for
relief, not to any other. Our ways and our doings bring us into
trouble, and we are beaten with a rod of our own making. What a
Poor thing is beauty! and what fools are those that are proud of
it, when it will certainly, and may quickly, be consumed! The
body of
Man is as a garment to the soul. In this garment
Sin has
lodged a
Moth, which wears away, first the beauty, then the
strength, and finally the substance of its parts. Whoever has
watched the progress of a lingering distemper, or the work of
time alone, in the human frame, will feel at once the force of
this comparison, and that, surely every
Man is vanity.
Afflictions are sent to stir up
Prayer. If they have that
effect, we may
Hope that
God will hear our
Prayer. The believer
expects weariness and ill treatment
On his way to
Heaven; but he
shall not stay here long: walking with
God By Faith, he goes
forward
On his
Journey, not diverted from his course, nor cast
down
By the difficulties he meets. How blessed it is to sit
loose from things here below, that while going home to our
Father's
House, we may use the world as not abusing it! May we
always look for that
City, whose Builder and Maker is
God.