Bibelkommentare

O give thanks unto the LORD, for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good — He is good, and doeth good, Psalms 119:68 , not to his Israel only, as is set forth in the two foregoing psalms, but to all mankind, which is Divini ingenii cura, as one saith, whatever atheists and epicures say to the contrary, denying a Divine providence: witness that profane distich of theirs:

Fertque refertque vices, et habent mortalia casum.

For his mercy endureth for ever — Notwithstanding men’s many and mighty provocations.

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Let the redeemed of the LORD say [so], whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Let the redeemed of the Lord — Four sorts of whom are afterwards instanced: 1. exiles; 2. prisoners; 3. sick persons; 4. seamen. These and the like must praise him in a special manner for their deliverance.

From the hand of the enemy — Or, of distress.

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And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

And gathered them out of the lands — He beginneth with wayfaring men and exiles, because, according to Tyrtaeus, Non exul curae dicitur esse Deo.

And from the south — Heb. from the sea, that is, as the Chaldee expoundeth it, from the southern sea, called the Red Sea.

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They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

They wandered in the wilderness, … — This is a sad case, Mendicum patria amissa laribusque vagari.

Pλαγχθοσυνης ουκ εστι κακωτερον αλλο βροτοισι .

And yet this is the case of all God’s redeemed ones while they are here, Hebrews 11:38 1 Peter 2:12 .

Tendimus in patriam veram vitamque perennem.

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Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

Hungry and thirsty, … — The Lord’s exiles meet many times with the like exigents in the wilderness of this wicked world; but let them be content, and say, We are well for the present, and it will be better with us hereafter (Melancthon).

Esse decet, cuius nos quoque membra sumus.

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Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, [and] he delivered them out of their distresses.

Then they cried unto the Lord — Though under a wrong name, it may be, as of Jupiter, Mercury, …; and, in an uncertain way, as Hecuba did with her, O Iupiter quicquid es sive caelum hoc, sive mens, quae vehitur in coelo, …; and as those mariners in John 1:5 , who cried every man to his god, and, lest they might all mistake the true God, they awaken Jonah, to call upon his God.

And he delivered them out of their distresses — Out of his general goodness and compassion to the poor creature; like as he heareth the young ravens that cry unto him, no otherwise than by implication only, and out of mere necessity. God is the Saviour of all men, but especially of those that believe.

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And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

And he led them forth by the right way — Better than that Dea Vibilia among the Romans, of whom they fancied that she set them right when out of the way at any time; or Minerva among the Athenians, who, they said, turned all their evil counsels to the best unto them.

That they might go to a city of habitation — Grow to a state of settlement, to Jerusalem, saith the Chaldee; to that city which hath a foundation, may we say, whose maker and founder is God, Hebrews 11:10 .

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Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men!

Oh that men would praise the Lord, … — Heb. that they would confess it to the Lord, both in secret and in society. This is all the rent that God requireth; he is content that we have the comfort of his blessings, so he may have the honour of them. This was all the fee Christ looked for for his cures, Go and tell what God hath done for thee. Words seem to be a poor and slight recompense; but Christ, saith Nazianzen, calleth himself the Word.

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