(c) Difficulties removed: "Sinai."
(d) Blessings plenteous.
(e) Church revived.
Verse 9.
1. God's mercy compared to a shower.
(a) It is direct from heaven; not through priests.
(b) It is pure and unmixed.
(c) No one has a monopoly of it.
(d) There is no substitute for it.
(e) It is sovereignly dispensed, as to (1) time; (2) place; (3) manner; and (4) measure.
(f) It works efficiently. Isa 55:10.
(g) Prayer can get it.
2. There are seasons when these showers fall.
(a) In the house of God.
(b) In the means of grace.
(c) In prayer.
(d) In affliction.
(e) When saints are weary (1) through working; (2) through sickness; (3) through non success.
(f) By the Holy Spirit refreshing the heart.
3. These showers are meant to "confirm God's people."
4. They are wanted now.
Verse 9.
1. The church is God's inheritance.
(a) Chosen.
(b) Purchased.
(c) Acquired.
2. Though his inheritance, at times it may be weary.
3. When weary, it will be refreshed by him. G. R.
Verse 10. ( second clause ). Special goodness, for a special people, specially prepared.
Verse 10. ( second clause ). It is spoken in reference to the poor, because,
1. They are the larger mass of mankind; and, whatever pride may think, in the eye of reason, policy, and revelation, by far the most important, useful, and necessary part.
2. They would be more peculiarly affected by deficiency.
3. To encourage those in humble and trying life to depend upon him.
4. To enforce our attention to them from the divine example. W. Jay.
Verse 11. The divinity of the gospel; the divers ways and agents for its publication.
Verses 11-12.
1. The word given: "The Lord." etc.
2. The word proclaimed: "Great, "etc.
3. The word obeyed: "Kings, "etc. Thus it was in Old Testament times, when to Joshua, to Gideon, to David, etc., the Lord gave the word, and it ran through the hosts, and "kings of armies, "etc. Thus it was in apostolic times, when the word of reconciliation was given. Thus it is still, and will be more signally than ever hereafter. G. R.
Verse 12. ( last clause ). The church in redemption as a spouse tarrying at home; her home duties; the spoil of her Lord's glorious and finished work, and her dividing it.
Verse 13.
1. The contrast.
(a) Instead of humiliation, exaltation.
(b) Instead of pollution, purity.
(c) Instead of inertness, activity.
(d) Instead of deformity, beauty.
2. Its application.
(a) To penitence and pardon.
(b) To depravity and regeneration.
(c) To affliction and recovery.
(d) To desertion and consolation.
(e) To death and glory. G. R.
Verse 14.
1. Where earth's greatest battles are fought. "Scattered, ""in it, " i.e., in Zion. "There brake he, "etc.
2. By whom? The Almighty.
3. When? In answer to his people's faith and prayer.
4. How?
(a) Without noise, gently: as the fall of snow.
(b) Without human aid: as untrodden snow.
(c) Without violence: "All bloodless lay the untrodden snow." G. R.
Verse 15-16.
1. The superiority of the hill of Zion.
(a) In fertility, to the hill of Bashan; to earthly pleasures.
(b) In glory, to other hills; to human heights of learning and power.
2. The reason of that superiority.
(a) The place of God's choice.
(b) Of his delight
(c) Of his abode.
(d) Of his continuance for ever. G. R.
Verse 16.
1. The church the dwelling place of God.
(a) Elected of old.
(b) Favoured for ever.
(c) Affording rest, etc., as a home for God.
(d) Receiving honour, etc., for herself.
2. The church, therefore, envied by others.
(a) They feel their own greatness outdone.
(b) They leap with rage.
(c) They are unreasonable in so doing.
Verses 17-18.
1. The comparison between Zion and Sinai.
(a) The same Lord is there: "The Lord is among, "etc.
(b) The same attendants: "The chariots," etc.
2. The contrast.
(a) God descended at Sinai, ascended from near Zion.
(b) Put a yoke upon them at Sinai, leads captivity captive at Zion.
(c) At Sinai demanded obedience, in Zion bestows gifts.
(d) In Sinai spoke terror, in Zion receives gifts for the rebellious.
(e) In Sinai appeared for a short season, in Zion dwells for ever. G. R.
Verse 18.
1. Christ's ascension.
2. His victories.
3. The gifts he received for men; and
4. The great end for which he bestows them. John Newton.
Verse 18. That the Lord God might dwell among them. It is ground for devout wonder that God should dwell among men, when we contemplate his immensity, loftiness, independence, holiness, and sovereignty; yet he does so—
1. In the coming of Christ into the world.
2. In the residence of his Spirit in the heart.
3. In the presence of God in his churches.
—William Staughton, D.D. 1770-1829.
Verse 19.
1. The load of benefits.
2. The load of obligation.
3. The load of praise due in return.
Verse 19.
1. Salvation is not to be forgotten in the midst of daily mercies.
2. Daily mercies are not to be forgotten in the enjoyment of salvation. G. R.
Verse 20. Death in God's hand.
1. Escapes from it.
2. Entrances to it.
3. The exit out of it beyond.
4. The gate which, when closed, shuts us in it for ever.
Verse 20.
1. What God has been to his people.
(a) Their salvation.
(b) Their portion: "Our God."
2. What he will be: With them.
(a) Until death.
(b) In death.
(c) After death. G. R.
Verse 21. The power, pride, wisdom, and very life of evil, to be conquered by God.
Verse 22.
1. Where his people may be driven.
2. The certainty of their return.
3. The reasons for being assured of this.
Verse 24. The allowable procession in the sanctuary. The marshalled order of doctrine, the holy walk of believers, the banners of joy, the music of devotions, the shouts to the King.
Verse 25. ( last clause ). Work for holy women in the church.
Verse 27.
1. The variety of song.
(a) The royal tribe of Benjamin in the time of Saul.
(b) The princely tribe of Judah, as David was prince regent in the time of Saul.
(c) The literary tribe of Zebulun: "Out of Zebulun" they that handle the pen of the writer.
(d) The eloquent tribe: "Naphtali giveth goodly words."
2. The harmony of song. Let all unite in praising the Lord, the fountain of Israel. "Ten thousand thousand are their tongues, "etc. G. R.
Verse 30-31.
1. Hindrances to the progress of divine truth.
(a) Idolatry. Worship of the crocodile— beasts of the reeds, (LXX)—of bulls and calves, as in Egypt.
(b) Covetousness.
(c) War.
2. The means for their removal. Prayer and the divine rebuke. Scatter thou, etc.
3. The consequences of this removal; Ps 68:31.
Verse 35.
1. Consider God's jealousy towards his people for his holiness in the three "holy places."
(a) In the outer court of profession.
(b) In the holy place of our priesthood.
(c) In the holy of holies with his Son.
2. Consider his terribleness to his foes, as inferred from those "holy places."
Verse 35. Blessed be God. A brief, but very suggestive text.