Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Psalms
Book: Psalms
Chapter: 138
Overview:
God knows all things.
(1-6) He is every where present.
(7-16)
The psalmist's
Hatred to
Sin, and desire to be led aright.
(17-24)
1-6 God has perfect knowledge of us, and all our thoughts and
actions are open before him. It is more profitable to meditate
On Divine truths, applying them to our own cases, and with
hearts lifted to
God in
Prayer, than with a curious or disputing
frame of mind. That
God knows all things, is omniscient; that he
is every where, is omnipresent; are truths acknowledged
By all,
yet they are seldom rightly believed in
By mankind.
God takes
strict notice of every step we take, every right step and every
By-step. He knows what rule we walk
By, what
End we walk toward,
what company we walk with. When I am withdrawn from all company,
thou knowest what I have in my
Heart. There is not a vain
Word,
not a good
Word, but thou knowest from what thought it came, and
with what design it was uttered. Wherever we are, we are under
the
Eye and
Hand of
God. We cannot
By searching find how
God
searches us out; nor do we know how we are known. Such thoughts
should restrain us from
Sin.
7-16 We cannot see
God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not
desire to go from the
Lord. Whither can I go? In the most
distant corners of the world, in
Heaven, or in
Hell, I cannot go
out of thy reach.
No Veil can hide us from
God; not the thickest
Darkness.
No disguise can save any person or action from being
seen in the true
Light By him. Secret haunts of
Sin are as open
before
God as the most open villainies.
On the other
Hand, the
believer cannot be removed from the supporting, comforting
presence of his Almighty Friend. Should the persecutor take his
Life, his soul will the sooner ascend to
Heaven. The
Grave
cannot separate his body from the
Love of his
Saviour, who will
raise it a glorious body.
No outward circumstances can separate
him from his
Lord. While in the path of duty, he may be happy in
any situation,
By the
Exercise of
Faith,
Hope, and
Prayer.
17-24 God's counsels concerning us and our welfare are
Deep,
such as cannot be known. We cannot think how many mercies we
have received from him. It would help to keep us in the fear of
the
Lord all the
Day long, if, when we wake in the morning, our
first thoughts were of him: and how shall we admire and
Bless
our
God for his precious
Salvation, when we awake in the world
of
Glory! Surely we ought not to use our members and senses,
which are
So curiously fashioned, as instruments of
unrighteousness unto
Sin. But our immortal and rational souls
are a still more noble work and
Gift of
God. Yet if it were not
for his precious thoughts of
Love to us, our reason and our
living for ever would, through our sins, prove the occasion of
our eternal misery. How should we then delight to meditate
On
God's
Love to sinners in
Jesus Christ, the sum of which exceeds
all reckoning!
Sin is hated, and sinners lamented,
By all who
fear the
Lord. Yet while we shun them we should pray for them;
with
God their
Conversion and
Salvation are possible. As the
Lord knows us thoroughly, and we are strangers to ourselves, we
should earnestly desire and pray to be searched and proved
By
his
Word and
Spirit. If there be any wicked way in me, let me
see it; and do thou root it out of me. The way of
Godliness is
pleasing to
God, and profitable to us; and will
End in
Everlasting Life. It is the good old way. All the saints desire
to be kept and led in this way, that they may not miss it, turn
out of it, or tire in it.