King James Version
Psalms 81
16 verses with commentary
Sing Aloud to God Our Strength
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph. Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. of Asaph: or, for Asaph
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Sing aloud unto God our strength</strong> (רָנְנוּ לֵאלֹהִים עוּזֵּנוּ)—The imperative <em>rannû</em> ('sing aloud, shout for joy') opens this festal psalm with exuberant worship. <strong>Our strength</strong> (<em>uzzênû</em>) recalls Exodus 15:2 after the Red Sea deliverance, establishing God as Israel's military might and refuge. <strong>Make a joyful noise</strong> (<em>harîʿû</em>) me...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 50 Psa 50:1-23. In the grandeur and solemnity of a divine judgment, God is introduced as instructing men in the nature of true worship, exposing hypocrisy, warning the wicked, and encouraging the pious.
1-4. The description of this majestic appearance of God resembles that of His giving the law (compare Ex 19:16; 20:18; De 32:1).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 81
Chapter Outline
God is praised for what he has done for his people.(1-7)
Their obligations to him.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
All the worship we can render to the Lord is beneath his excellences, and our obligations to him, especially in our redemption from sin and wrath. What God had done on Israel's behalf, was kept in remembrance by public solemnities. To make a deliveran...
Read full commentary →Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Take a psalm</strong> (שְׂאוּ־זִמְרָה)—The verb <em>se'û</em> ('lift up, raise') with <em>zimrâh</em> (melody, song) commands the congregation to elevate praise through music. <strong>Bring hither the timbrel</strong> (<em>tôph</em>)—a hand drum used in joyful celebrations (Exodus 15:20, Psalm 150:4), often played by women in processions.<br><br>The triad of instruments—<strong>the pleasan...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Take a psalm.**—Rather, *Strike up a tune *(*with voice and harp*)*.*
**Bring hither the timbrel.**—Literally, *Give a timbrel *(or, *drum*)*, *which evidently means “sound the timbrel,” and may, perhaps, be explained by a phrase sometimes found in Hebrew—“Give a voice,” *i.e., *speak. Such phrases as “Let them have the drum,” “Give them the drum,” may illustrate the expression. (For the ins...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 50 Psa 50:1-23. In the grandeur and solemnity of a divine judgment, God is introduced as instructing men in the nature of true worship, exposing hypocrisy, warning the wicked, and encouraging the pious.
1-4. The description of this majestic appearance of God resembles that of His giving the law (compare Ex 19:16; 20:18; De 32:1).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 81
Chapter Outline
God is praised for what he has done for his people.(1-7)
Their obligations to him.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
All the worship we can render to the Lord is beneath his excellences, and our obligations to him, especially in our redemption from sin and wrath. What God had done on Israel's behalf, was kept in remembrance by public solemnities. To make a deliveran...
Read full commentary →Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Blow up the trumpet in the new moon</strong> (תִּקְעוּ בַחֹדֶשׁ שׁוֹפָר)—The <em>shophar</em> (ram's horn) announced the <em>chodesh</em> (new moon), particularly the seventh month's new moon (Tishri), the Feast of Trumpets. <strong>In the time appointed</strong> (<em>bakeseh</em>, 'at the full moon') refers to Passover (Nisan 15) or Tabernacles (Tishri 15), both celebrated at full moon.<b...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Trumpet.**—Heb., *shôphar. *(See Exodus 19:16; Psalm 47:5.) In connection with this festival psalm the mention of the *shôphar *is especially interesting as being the only ancient Hebrew instrument of which the use is still on solemn occasions retained. (See *Bible Educator, *Vol. ii. 242.)
**In the new moon.**—Standing by itself this might mean the beginning of every month (comp. Num. x 10)...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 50 Psa 50:1-23. In the grandeur and solemnity of a divine judgment, God is introduced as instructing men in the nature of true worship, exposing hypocrisy, warning the wicked, and encouraging the pious.
1-4. The description of this majestic appearance of God resembles that of His giving the law (compare Ex 19:16; 20:18; De 32:1).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 81
Chapter Outline
God is praised for what he has done for his people.(1-7)
Their obligations to him.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
All the worship we can render to the Lord is beneath his excellences, and our obligations to him, especially in our redemption from sin and wrath. What God had done on Israel's behalf, was kept in remembrance by public solemnities. To make a deliveran...
Read full commentary →For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For this was a statute for Israel</strong> (כִּי חֹק לְיִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא)—<em>Choq</em> means an engraved decree, something permanently inscribed in law (Leviticus 23). These festivals weren't optional cultural traditions but divine commands. <strong>And a law of the God of Jacob</strong> (<em>mishpat</em>, ordinance or judgment)—the dual terms emphasize both the decree's authority and its r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **For this.**—Better, *for it is a statute. *Referring either to the feast itself or to the mode of celebrating it.
**Law.**—Literally, *judgment, *as LXX. and Vulg.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 50 Psa 50:1-23. In the grandeur and solemnity of a divine judgment, God is introduced as instructing men in the nature of true worship, exposing hypocrisy, warning the wicked, and encouraging the pious.
1-4. The description of this majestic appearance of God resembles that of His giving the law (compare Ex 19:16; 20:18; De 32:1).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 81
Chapter Outline
God is praised for what he has done for his people.(1-7)
Their obligations to him.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
All the worship we can render to the Lord is beneath his excellences, and our obligations to him, especially in our redemption from sin and wrath. What God had done on Israel's behalf, was kept in remembrance by public solemnities. To make a deliveran...
Read full commentary →This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not. through: or, against
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony</strong> (עֵדוּת בִּיהוֹסֵף שָׂמוֹ)—<em>Edut</em> (testimony, witness) often refers to the tablets of the Law (Exodus 25:16). <strong>Joseph</strong> here represents the entire nation descended from Jacob, particularly Ephraim (Joseph's son), the leading northern tribe. <strong>When he went out through the land of Egypt</strong> recalls the Exodus...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Joseph.**—The prominence given to this name indicates, according to some critics, that the author belonged to the northern kingdom:. but when a poet was wishing to vary his style of speaking of the whole people—the names *Israel *and *Jacob *have just been used—the name *Joseph *would naturally occur, especially with the mention of Egypt, where that patriarch had played such a conspicuous pa...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. my saints--**(Psa 4:3).
**made--**literally, "cut"
**a covenant, &c.--**alluding to the dividing of a victim of sacrifice, by which covenants were ratified, the parties passing between the divided portions (compare Ge 15:10, 18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 81
Chapter Outline
God is praised for what he has done for his people.(1-7)
Their obligations to him.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
All the worship we can render to the Lord is beneath his excellences, and our obligations to him, especially in our redemption from sin and wrath. What God had done on Israel's behalf, was kept in remembrance by public solemnities. To make a deliveran...
Read full commentary →I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots. were: Heb. passed away
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I removed his shoulder from the burden</strong> (הֲסִירוֹתִי מִסֵּבֶל שִׁכְמוֹ)—God speaks directly, recalling how He lifted the crushing weight (<em>sevel</em>) of brick-making from Israelite shoulders. This physical deliverance from slavery imagery appears throughout Scripture (Exodus 1:11-14, 6:6-7). <strong>His hands were delivered from the pots</strong> (<em>dûd</em>, baskets)—the ves...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Pots.**—Deriving from a root to *boil, *and with allusion to *potteries, *which, probably, together with the *brick-kilns, *formed the scene of the forced labour of Israel. The LXX. and Vulg. have “slaved in the basket,” but the basket, which is represented on Egyptian monuments, is doubtless meant by the *burden *of the last clause.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6. The inhabitants of heaven, who well know God's character, attest His righteousness as a judge.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 81
Chapter Outline
God is praised for what he has done for his people.(1-7)
Their obligations to him.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
All the worship we can render to the Lord is beneath his excellences, and our obligations to him, especially in our redemption from sin and wrath. What God had done on Israel's behalf, was kept in remembrance by public solemnities. To make a deliveran...
Read full commentary →Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. Meribah: or, Strife
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee</strong> (בַּצָּרָה קָרָאתָ וָאֲחַלְּצֶךָּ)—<em>Tsarah</em> (distress, trouble) recalls Israel's groaning under Egyptian oppression (Exodus 2:23-24). <em>Achalletskha</em> ('I rescued you') emphasizes God's powerful intervention. <strong>I answered thee in the secret place of thunder</strong> (<em>be-seter raʿam</em>)—likely Mount Sinai, where...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Thou calledst.**—The recital of God’s past dealings with the people usual at the Feast of the Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 31:10-13; Nehemiah 8:18) appears to follow here as if the feast were actually in progress and the crowd were listening to the psalmist.
**I answered thee in the secret place of thunder.**—Mr. Burgess is undoubtedly right in taking the verb as from *ānan, *“to cover,” instead...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. I will testify--**that is, for failure to worship aught.
**thy God--**and so, by covenant as well as creation, entitled to a pure worship.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 81
Chapter Outline
God is praised for what he has done for his people.(1-7)
Their obligations to him.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
All the worship we can render to the Lord is beneath his excellences, and our obligations to him, especially in our redemption from sin and wrath. What God had done on Israel's behalf, was kept in remembrance by public solemnities. To make a deliveran...
Read full commentary →Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
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KJV Study Commentary
God speaks to Israel: "Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me" (Hebrew <em>sh-ma ammi v-a-idah b-kha Yisra-el im-tish-ma li</em>). "Hear" (Hebrew <em>shema</em>) echoes Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema. "I will testify" (Hebrew <em>ud</em>) indicates covenant lawsuit—God bears witness. "If thou wilt hearken" makes blessing conditional on obedience. The ve...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Hear, O my people.**—The Divine voice here repeats the warnings so frequently uttered during the desert-wandering.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Psa 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows--**that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>There shall no strange god be in thee</strong> (לֹא־יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֵל זָר)—<em>El zar</em> (foreign, strange god) echoes the First Commandment (Exodus 20:3) and the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4). The preposition <strong>in thee</strong> emphasizes internal allegiance, not just external idols. <strong>Neither shalt thou worship any strange god</strong>—the prohibition extends from heart (possessin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Open . . .**—A condensed statement of God’s gracious promise (Deuteronomy 7:12-13; Deuteronomy 8:7; Deuteronomy 8:9; Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 11:16, &c). It is said to have been a custom in Persia, that when the king wishes to do a visitor especial honour he desires him to open his mouth wide, and the king then-crams it full of sweetmeats, and sometimes even with jewels. And to this da...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Psa 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows--**that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
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KJV Study Commentary
God declares His identity and Israel's obligation: "I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt" (Hebrew <em>Anoki YHWH Eloheykha ha-ma'alkha me-eretz Mitzrayim</em>). This echoes the First Commandment (Exodus 20:2), establishing redemption as the basis for worship. "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it" (Hebrew <em>harchev pikha va-amale'ehu</em>) is a stunning invitatio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Psa 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows--**that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But my people would not hearken to my voice</strong> (וְלֹא־שָׁמַע עַמִּי לְקוֹלִי)—The emphatic <strong>my people</strong> intensifies the tragedy: not strangers but covenant children rejected their Father. <em>Shama</em> (hear, obey) appears throughout Deuteronomy as covenant loyalty's essential element. <strong>And Israel would none of me</strong> (<em>lo avah li</em>)—they 'desired not...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Psa 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows--**that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels. unto: or, to the hardness of their hearts, or, imagination
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust</strong> (וָאֲשַׁלְּחֵהוּ בִּשְׁרִירוּת לִבָּם)—<em>Ashallechu</em> ('I sent them away, released them') describes judicial abandonment. <em>Bishrerut libbam</em> (in the stubbornness/imagination of their heart) appears in Jeremiah 7:24 and 23:17 as covenant curse. <strong>And they walked in their own counsels</strong> (<em>yelechu be-moʿatsothe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Lust.**—Rather, *stubbornness, *or *perversity, *from root meaning “to twist.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Psa 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows--**that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
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KJV Study Commentary
God laments Israel's stubbornness: "Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!" (Hebrew <em>lu ammi shome'a li Yisra'el bid-rakai yehaleku</em>). The interjection "Oh that" (Hebrew <em>lu</em>) expresses divine pathos—God's genuine desire for His people's obedience, not for His benefit but theirs. "Hearkened" (Hebrew <em>shama</em>) means more than hearing; it indic...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13, 14) **Hearken . . . subdue.**—The verbs should be taken in a future sense, “Oh that my people would hearken **. . .** I should soon subdue,” &c. The poet changes from reminiscences of the past to the needs of the present.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Psa 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows--**that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.</strong> This verse expresses God's lament over Israel's disobedience and the blessings they forfeited. The conditional "I should soon" (<em>kim-at</em>, כִּמְעַט, "quickly" or "almost") introduces what would have happened if only Israel had obeyed. The verb <em>hakni-a</em> (הַכְנִיעַ, "subdued") means...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Psa 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows--**that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever. submitted: or, yielded feigned obedience: Heb. lied
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him</strong> (מְשַׂנְאֵי יְהוָה יְכַחֲשׁוּ־לוֹ)—<em>Yekachashu</em> means 'to cringe, feign obedience' or 'submit in pretense.' If Israel had obeyed (vv. 13-14), even Yahweh's <strong>haters</strong> would have been forced into grudging submission before victorious Israel, whose God proved supreme. <strong>But their time should h...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Submitted.**—See Note, Psalm 18:44.
**Him**—*i.e., *Israel; Jehovah’s enemies being also Israel’s enemies.
**Their time**—*i.e., *Israel’s. One of the sudden changes of number so frequent in Hebrew poetry. As a nation Israel would continue to live and prosper.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Psa 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows--**that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee. finest: Heb. fat of wheat
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KJV Study Commentary
God promises abundance: "He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee" (Hebrew <em>vaya-akhilehum me-chelev chittah u-mi-tzur d-vash asbi-ekha</em>). "Finest wheat" represents choicest provision. "Honey from rock" recalls wilderness miracles when God provided water from rock (Exodus 17:6) and describes extravagant blessing—s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Finest of the wheat.**—See margin, and comp. Psalm 147:14. The construction of this verse is matter of difficulty. Properly we should render, *And he fed them with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock satisfied thee. *The change of person is harsh, though perhaps it may be illustrated by Psalm 22:27, &c, but the past tense seems out of keeping with the context. The conclu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16-20. the wicked--**that is, the formalists, as now exposed, and who lead vicious lives (compare Ro 2:21, 23). They are unworthy to use even the words of God's law. Their hypocrisy and vice are exposed by illustrations from sins against the seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
We cannot look for too little from the creature, nor too much from the Creator. We may have enough from God, if we pray for it in faith. All the wickedness of the world is owing to man's wilfulness. People are not religious, because they will not be so. God is not the Author of their sin, he leaves them to the lusts of their own hearts, and the counsels of their own heads; if t...
Read full commentary →