The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 2 — Section 312

of Ismel, the whole ritual and manner of worship of the La,v was ammged. 4. By his r'evea.le,d Word and will. Holy Scripture makes clear the mind of God in this matter. 5. By the operations o.f hi,s Spirit in their hearts. That inward witness for God ever eought to lead men to holiness. They could be in no doubt as to the Divine will, and, t.berefore, ns to the Divine character. III. ITS UNSPEAKABLE IMPORTANCE. Such 11:l'eat stress and emphasis was laid upon it for many reasons. 1. It kept up a perpetual protest a.gainst sin. Defore this truth wickedness could not stan<l. 2. It furnished a standard by which to fudge of all other religions. Did they or di<l they not lead to holiness ? 3. It implied a constant inspira- tio11 towards the pu.-suit of holiness. It encouraged such pursuit, for it revealed the fact that God loved holiness, since he himself was holy. 4. It was the essential preparation for the ki11gdom o.f God. IV. ITS OBLIGATION. 1. To exalt the Lord God. In their hearts' worship and adoration ; in their open confession of his Na.me; in their faithful obedience to his will. 2. Worship at bis footstool. Such worship was his due. It aided the realization of God's presence, deepened the conviction of his holy and perfect nature, roused the affections of the heart, strengthened the resolves of the will, and helped mightily towards the attainment of like holy character in themselves.-S. C. Ver. 8.-Forgiveness CO'II.Sistent with vengeance. This is a strange statement, but it is what this verse and numerous others and many facts beside clearly declare. There- fore, that we may the better understand this apparent contradiction, consider- L THE MEANING OF THE TERMS EMPLOYED. There are three: 1. " Thou a11swererlse them." That is, answered their prayers for forgiveness of the people. Moses, Aaron, Samuel, had each this in common-that once and again they were intercessors with God on behalf of Israel who bad sinned (Numb. xiv. 13, etc.; xvi. 47; 1 Sam. xii. 19, etc.). And their intercession was effectual. Nevertheless, vengeance followed. 2. " Thoufor- gavest them." What is God's forgiveness? It is not the mere letting off of punishment. Thst may be done, often is done, but there is no forgiveness. And it is distinctly said here that God did forgil'e, though he did not forego punishment. It is true that the word "though" in this verse should rather be rendered " and ; " but this alteration does not really alter the sensP, the two Feemingly incompatible ideas of forgiveness and vengeance are linked together all the same. But they a.re not incompatible ideas if we consider what God's forgiveness really is. What is a father's forgiveness of his child? "Let us remember our own childhood, our children, if we have any, and how we do with them. What makes the little face fall, and the tears come to the eyes? Is it your taking down the rod from behind the door, or the grave disapprobation in your face, and the trouble and rebuke in your eyes? It is not only the buffet from the father's hand that makes the puniehment, but still more the disturbance and the displeasure of the father's heart that makes the child's punishment. And forgiveness is not complete when the father says, 'Well, go away; I will not hurt you,' but when he savs, ' Well, come, I am not angry with you; I love you still.' The taking the child ·to the father's heart is the forgivene~s" (Maclaren). And such is God's forgive- ness-the takincr back of his sinful child to his heart again. If that were not done, no mere remission ~f penalty could ever make the soul blessed. The soul of man is so constituted that it would say over and over again, "Never mind the penalty; I can bear that if only I have the love." Forgiveness, therefore, is the putting away of anger from the heart of God towards the sinner. 3. " Vengeance." Tbis does not mean revenge. The punishment of a criminal by the state is not an act of reven~e, but the due maintenance of righteous law-a maintenance necessary for the preservation of society, and oftentimes for the reformation of the criminal himself. And so when God allows and, indeed, causes the consequences of the sinner's crime to dog his foot- steps, and darken his life, and cause him sore sorrow, he may, he does, do that for reasons altogether consistent with the love which has already led him to forgive the sin and to receive the sinner back into his heart's love again. II. THE TRUTH THE TEXT DECLARES. 'fhat pra.yen1 may be answered and forgiveness bestowed, and yet vengeance taken. 1. 7'his is so. See case of Moses ~nd Aaron; they were forgiven men, beloved of the Lord, y,it their pene.lty-exclus,on from Canaan-was never removed. David (2 Sam, xii, 10) was forgiven, but the PS. XOIX. 1-9.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 349