Charles Spurgeon

that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, and rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, and give glory with Your inheritance.

“That I may see the good of thy chosen. His desire for the divine favour was excited by the hope that he might participate in all the good things which flow to the people of God through their election.”

Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known.

“Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. When he could find no other reason for his mercy he found it in his own glory, and seized the opportunity to display his power.”

He saved them from the hand that hated them; He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

“And he saved them from the hand of them that hated them. Pharaoh was drowned, and the power of Egypt so crippled that throughout the forty years' wanderings of Israel they were never threatened by their old masters.”

The waters covered their foes; not one of them remained.

“And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. The Lord does nothing by halves. What he begins he carries through to the end.”

Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.

“Then believed they his words. That is to say, they believed the promise when they saw it fulfilled, but not till then. This is mentioned, not to their credit, but to their shame.”

So He granted their request, but sent a wasting disease upon them.

“And he gave them their request. Prayer may be answered in anger and denied in love. That God gives a man his desire is no proof that he is the object of divine favour, everything depends upon what that desire is.”

The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram.

“The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. Korah is not mentioned, for mercy was extended to his household, though he himself perished.”

Then fire blazed through their company; flames consumed the wicked.

“And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. The Levites who were with Korah perished by fire, which was a most fitting death for those who intruded into the priesthood, and so offered strange fire.”

They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,

“They forgat God their saviour. Remembering the calf involved forgetting God. He had commanded them to make no image, and in daring to disobey they forgot his commands.”

So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.

“Therefore he said that he would destroy them. The threatening of destruction came at last. For the first wilderness sin he chastened them, sending leanness into their soul; for the second he weeded out the offenders, the flame burned up the wicked; for the third…”

They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the voice of the LORD.

“But murmured in their tents. From unbelief to murmuring is a short and natural step; they even fell to weeping when they had the best ground for rejoicing.”

So He raised His hand and swore to cast them down in the wilderness,

“Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness. He swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest; he commenced his work of judgment upon them, and they began to die.”

They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

“They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor. Ritualism led on to the adoration of false gods. If we choose a false way of worship we shall, ere long, choose to worship a false god.”

So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

“Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Open licentiousness and avowed idolatry were too gross to be winked at. This time the offences clamoured for judgment, and the judgment came at once.”

It was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.

“And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. Down to the moment when this psalm was penned the house of Phinehas was honoured in Israel.”

For they rebelled against His Spirit, and Moses spoke rashly with his lips.

“Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. Which seems a small sin compared with that of others, but then it was the sin of Moses, the Lord's chosen servant, who had seen and known so much of the Lord…”

but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.

“But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. It was not the wilderness which caused Israel's sins; they were just as disobedient when settled in the land of promise. They found evil company, and delighted in it.”

They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.

“And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. They were fascinated by the charms of idolatry, though it brings misery upon its votaries. A man cannot serve sin without being ensnared by it.”

They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

“Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Not only the land but the inhabitants of it were polluted. They broke the marriage bond between them and the Lord, and fell into spiritual adultery.”

So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.

“Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, in so much that he abhorred his own inheritance.”

Their enemies oppressed them, and subdued them under their hand.

“Their enemies also oppressed them. This was according to their nature; an Israelite always fares ill at the hands of the heathen. Leniency to Canaan turned out to be cruelty to themselves. And they were brought into subjection under their hand.”

Nevertheless He heard their cry; He took note of their distress. And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

“THIS Psalm deserves to be read very carefully. It mentions many of the afflictions of God's ancient people, but it clearly sets forth that their afflictions were the distinct result of their rebellions and sins.”

And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

“And he remembered for them his covenant. The covenant is the sure foundation of mercy, and when the whole fabric of outward grace manifested in the saints lies in ruins this is the fundamental basis of love which is never moved, and upon it the…”

He made them objects of compassion to all who held them captive.

“He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Having the hearts of all men in his hands he produced compassion even in heathen bosoms.”

Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.

“This is the closing prayer, arranged by prophecy for those who would in future time be captives, and suitable for all who before David's days had been driven from home by the tyranny of the various scatterings by famine and distress which had happened in…”