78. Let the proud be ashamed. He begged that the judgments of God might no longer fall upon himself, but upon his cruel adversaries. God will not let those who hope in his word to be put to shame, for he reserves that reward for haughty spirits.
For they dealt perversely with me without a cause. Their malice was wanton; he had not provoked them. They had to bend his actions out of their true shape before they could assail his character. The psalmist felt a burning sense of injustice, and appealed to the righteous Lord to take his part and clothe his false accusers with shame. Sometimes he mentions the proud, and sometimes the wicked, but he always means the same people; the words are interchangeable.
But I will meditate in thy precepts. He would leave the proud in God’s hands, and give himself up to holy studies and contemplations. To obey the divine precepts we need to know them, and think much of them. The proud are not worth a thought; the worst injury they can do us is to take us away from our devotions; let us baffle them by keeping all the closer to our God when they are most malicious in their onslaughts.
In a similar position to this we have met with the proud in other octaves, and shall meet them yet again. They are evidently a great plague to the psalmist, but he rises above them.
No comments:
Post a Comment