Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

on the Whole Bible

Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page

---

[Table of Contents] [Previous] [Next]

Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

---

P S A L M S

PSALM XIII.

---

     

This psalm is the deserted soul’s case and cure. Whether it was penned

upon any particular occasion does not appear, but in general,

I. David sadly complains that God had long withdrawn from him and

delayed to relieve him,

ver. 1, 2.

II. He earnestly prays to God to consider his case and comfort him,

ver. 3, 4.

III. He assures himself of an answer of peace, and therefore concludes

the psalm with joy and triumph, because he concludes his deliverance to

be as good as wrought,

ver. 5, 6.

David’s Complaints and Prayers Turned into Praises.

To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

     

1 How long wilt

thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy

face from me?

  2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in

my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

  3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes,

lest I sleep the sleep of death;

  4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and

those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

  5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in

thy salvation.

  6 I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully

with me.

     

David, in affliction, is here pouring out his soul before God; his

address is short, but the method is very observable, and of use for

direction and encouragement.

     

I. His troubles extort complaints

(v. 1, 2);

and the afflicted have liberty to pour out their complaint before

the Lord,
Ps. cii.
title. It is some ease to a troubled spirit to give vent to its

griefs, especially to give vent to them at the throne of grace, where

we are sure to find one who is afflicted in the afflictions of his

people and is troubled with the feeling of their infirmities; thither

we have boldness of access by faith, and there we have

parresia—freedom of speech. Observe here,

     

1. What David complains of.

(1.) God’s unkindness; so he construed it, and it was his infirmity. He

thought God had forgotten him, had forgotten his promises to him, his

covenant with him, his former lovingkindness which he had shown him and

which he took to be an earnest of further mercy, had forgotten that

there was such a man in the world, who needed and expected relief and

succour from him. Thus Zion said, My God has forgotten me

(Isa. xlix. 14),

Israel said, My way is hidden from the Lord,
Isa. xl. 27.

Not that any good man can doubt the omniscience, goodness, and

faithfulness of God; but it is a peevish expression of prevailing fear,

which yet, when it arises from a high esteem and earnest desire of

God’s favour, though it be indecent and culpable, shall be passed by

and pardoned, for the second thought will retract it and repent of it.

God hid his face from him, so that he wanted that inward comfort in God

which he used to have, and herein was a type of Christ upon the cross,

crying out, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? God sometimes

hides his face from his own children, and leaves them in the dark

concerning their interest in him; and this they lay to heart more than

any outward trouble whatsoever.

(2.) His own uneasiness.

[1.] He was racked with care, which filled his head: I take counsel

in my soul; “I am at a loss, and am inops

consilii–without a friend to advise with that I can put any

confidence in, and therefore am myself continually projecting what to

do to help myself; but none of my projects are likely to take effect,

so that I am at my wits’ end, and in a continual agitation.” Anxious

cares are heavy burdens with which good people often load themselves

more than they need.

[2.] He was overwhelmed with sorrow, which filled his heart: I have

sorrow in my heart daily. He had a constant disposition to sorrow

and it preyed upon his spirits, not only in the night, when he was

silent and solitary, but by day too, when lighter griefs are diverted

and dissipated by conversation and business; nay, every day brought

with it fresh occasions of grief; the clouds returned after the

rain. The bread of sorrow is sometimes the saint’s daily bread. Our

Master himself was a man of sorrows.

(3.) His enemies’ insolence, which added to his grief. Saul his great

enemy, and others under him, were exalted over him, triumphed in his

distress, pleased themselves with his grief, and promised themselves a

complete victory over him. This he complained of as reflecting

dishonour upon God, and his power and promise.

     

2. How he expostulates with God hereupon: “How long shall it be

thus?” And, “Shall it be thus for ever?” Long afflictions try

our patience and often tire it. It is a common temptation, when trouble

lasts long, to think it will last always; despondency then turns into

despair, and those that have long been without joy begin, at last, to

be without hope. “Lord, tell me how long thou wilt hide thy face, and

assure me that it shall not be for ever, but that thou wilt return at

length in mercy to me, and then I shall the more easily bear my present

troubles.”

     

II. His complaints stir up his prayers,

v. 3, 4.

We should never allow ourselves to make any complaints but what are fit

to be offered up to God and what drive us to our knees. Observe

here,

     

1. What his petitions are: Consider my case, hear my

complaints, and enlighten my eyes, that is,

(1.) “Strengthen my faith;” for faith is the eye of the soul, with

which it sees above, and sees through, the things of sense. “Lord,

enable me to look beyond my present troubles and to foresee a happy

issue of them.”

(2.) “Guide my way; enable me to look about me, that I may avoid the

snares which are laid for me.”

(3.) “Refresh my soul with the joy of thy salvation.” That which

revives the drooping spirits is said to enlighten the eyes,
1 Sam. xiv. 27; Ezra ix. 8.

“Lord, scatter the cloud of melancholy which darkens my eyes, and let

my countenance be made pleasant.”

     

2. What his pleas are. He mentions his relation to God and interest in

him (O Lord my God!) and insists upon the greatness of the

peril, which called for speedy relief and succour. If his eyes were not

enlightened quickly,

(1.) He concludes that he must perish: “I shall sleep the sleep of

death; I cannot live under the weight of all this care and grief.”

Nothing is more killing to a soul then the want of God’s favour,

nothing more reviving than the return of it.

(2.) That then his enemies would triumph: “Lest my enemy say, So

would I have it; lest Saul, lest Satan, be gratified in my fall.” It

would gratify the pride of his enemy: He will say, “I have

prevailed, I have gotten the day, and been too hard for him and his

God.” It would gratify the malice of his enemies: They will rejoice

when I am moved. And will it be for God’s honour to suffer them

thus to trample upon all that is sacred both in heaven and earth?

     

III. His prayers are soon turned into praises

(v. 5, 6):

But my heart shall rejoice and I will sing to the Lord. What a

surprising change is here in a few lines! In the beginning of the psalm

we have him drooping, trembling, and ready to sink into melancholy and

despair; but, in the close of it, rejoicing in God, and elevated and

enlarged in his praises. See the power of faith, the power of prayer,

and how good it is to draw near to God. If we bring our cares and

griefs to the throne of grace, and leave them there, we may go away

like Hannah, and our countenance will be no more sad,
1 Sam. i. 18.

And here observe the method of his comfort.

1. God’s mercy is the support of his faith. “My case is bad enough, and

I am ready to think it deplorable, till I consider the infinite

goodness of God; but, finding I have that to trust to, I am comforted,

though I have no merit of my own. In former distresses I have

trusted in the mercy of God, and I never found that it failed me;

his mercy has in due time relieved me and my confidence in it has in

the mean time supported me. Even in the depth of this distress, when

God hid his face from me, when without were fightings and within were

fears, yet I trusted in the mercy of God and that was as an

anchor in a storm, by the help of which, though I was tossed, I was not

overset.” And still I do trust in thy mercy; so some read it. “I

refer myself to that, with an assurance that it will do well for me at

last.” This he pleads with God, knowing what pleasure he takes in

those that hope in his mercy,
Ps. cxlvii. 11.

2. His faith in God’s mercy filled his heart with joy in his

salvation; for joy and peace come by believing,
Rom. xv. 13.

Believing, you rejoice,
1 Pet. i. 8.

Having put his trust in the mercy of God, he is fully assured of

salvation, and that his heart, which was now daily grieving, should

rejoice in that salvation. Though weeping endure long, joy will

return.

3. His joy in God’s salvation would fill his mouth with songs of praise

(v. 6):

“I will sing unto the Lord, sing in remembrance of what he has

done formerly; though I should never recover the peace I have had, I

will die blessing God that ever I had it. He has dealt bountifully with

me formerly, and he shall have the glory of that, however he is pleased

to deal with me now. I will sing in hope of what he will do for me at

last, being confident that all will end well, will end everlastingly

well.” But he speaks of it as a thing past (He has dealt bountifully

with me), because by faith he had received the earnest of the

salvation and he was as confident of it as if it had been done

already.

     

In singing this psalm and praying it over, if we have not the same

complaints to make that David had, we must thank God that we have not,

dread and deprecate his withdrawings, sympathize with those that are

troubled in mind, and encourage ourselves in our most holy faith and

joy.

---

[Table of Contents] [Previous] [Next]

Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

---

Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download Contact Us

---