Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Psalms
Book: Psalms
Chapter: 84
Overview:
The psalmist expresses his
Affection to the ordinances of
God.
(1-7) His desire towards the
God of the ordinances.
(8-12)
1-7 The ordinances of
God are the believer's solace in this
evil world; in them he enjoys the presence of the living
God:
this causes him to regret his absence from them. They are to his
soul as the nest to the
Bird. Yet they are only an
Earnest of
the happiness of
Heaven; but how can men desire to enter that
holy
Habitation, who complain of Divine ordinances as wearisome?
Those are truly happy, who go forth, and go
On in the
Exercise
of religion, in the strength of the
Grace of
Jesus Christ, from
whom all our sufficiency is. The pilgrims to the heavenly
City
may have to pass through many a
Valley of weeping, and many a
thirsty
Desert; but wells of
Salvation shall be opened for them,
and consolations sent for their support. Those that press
forward in their
Christian course, shall find
God add
Grace to
their graces. And those who grow in
Grace, shall be perfect in
Glory.
8-12 In all our addresses to
God, we must desire that he would
look
On Christ, his Anointed One, and accept us for his sake: we
must look to Him with
Faith, and then
God will with favour look
upon the
Face of the Anointed: we, without him, dare not show
our faces. The psalmist pleads
Love to
God's ordinances. Let us
account one
Day in
God's courts better than a thousand spent
elsewhere; and deem the meanest place in his service preferable
to the highest earthly preferment. We are here in
Darkness, but
if
God be our
God, he will be to us a
Sun, to enlighten and
enliven us, to guide and direct us. We are here in danger, but
he will be to us a
Shield, to secure us from the fiery darts
that
Fly thick about us. Through he has not promised to give
riches and dignities, he has promised to give
Grace and
Glory to
all that seek them in his appointed way. And what is
Grace, but
Heaven begun below, in the knowledge,
Love, and service of
God?
What is
Glory, but the completion of this happiness, in being
made like to him, and in fully enjoying him for ever? Let it be
our care to walk uprightly, and then let us trust
God to give us
every thing that is good for us. If we cannot go to the
House of
the
Lord, we may go
By Faith to the
Lord of the
House; in him we
shall be happy, and may be easy. That
Man is really happy,
whatever his outward circumstances may be, who trusts in the
Lord of hosts, the
God of
Jacob.