Thou answeredst them, &c.— Fenwick renders this verse thus:
Them, Lord our God, thou didst accept; Through them thou didst forbear, and mercy grant, Though thy just vengeance had the people seiz'd.
The Hebrew להם lahem, signifies, for them, or their intercession. Thou wast a forbearing God, though punishing; or, when thou hadst begun to punish the people by sending plagues among them. Agreeably hereto the Chaldee renders it, Thou sparedst thy people, because of them, or for their sakes. That God did so, see Exodus 11:10. Numbers 16:47-48. 1 Samuel 7:9. Bishop Hare and Houbigant render the latter clause, and didst not punish their deeds. See their notes.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, The exaltation of Jesus is the joy of his people and the terror of his enemies.
1. It speaks terror to his enemies. The Lord reigneth, whom men by wicked hands had crucified and slain; but by Divine power arisen from the dead, is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; let the people tremble; all the enemies of his kingdom, who will not have him to reign over them, shall feel ere long with terror the rod of his judgment: he sitteth between the cherubims, on his exalted throne, attended by ministering spirits, ready to fulfil his pleasure: let the earth be moved, as when the Jewish civil and ecclesiastical state was dissolved by his righteous vengeance, and as the whole world will be in the day of perdition of the ungodly. Note; Many mock at the terrors of God's judgments, who will, to their cost, shortly find them awful realities.
2. It is the joy of his people. The Lord is great in Zion, where many of his miracles were wrought, and from whence his gospel went forth, or rather in the spiritual Zion his church, who behold the glory of his person and offices, and enjoy his protection and blessing; and he is high above all people, not only as head of his church, but as God over all, blessed for ever, and therefore are they bound to rejoice in him. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; terrible to his foes, but most lovely to his people: for it is holy, and this it is which renders it a terror to sinners, and so glorious in the eyes of his saints. The king's strength also loveth judgment; Almighty as he is, his power is never abused to injustice, but righteousness is his delight, and the constant guide of his administration; thou dost establish equity; his laws are all most holy and just; thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob, protecting his believing people by his providence, correcting them when they offend, and governing his mediatorial kingdom in the most righteous manner; and for this his subjects are called upon to adore him. Exalt ye the Lord our God with heart and voice, in all the glorious offices he bears, and worship at his footstool with lowly reverence, praising him for all his greatness and glory, and looking up to him for the continual supplies of his power and grace: for he is holy: worthy our highest adoration, and faithful to all his promises, as they will ever find who worship him in spirit and in truth.
2nd, The Lord has been the object of adoration to all his saints of old, and their experience proves him to be the God who heareth and answereth the prayers of his believing people. We have,
1. The names and characters of these most eminent men of God; Moses and Aaron among his priests, Moses having exercised the sacerdotal office till Aaron was appointed thereunto with his brethren, and Samuel among them that call upon his name: these eminent worthies stand distinguished not so much for their station and dignity, to which God advanced them, as for their piety: they called upon the Lord, in every emergence they placed their dependance on God, and found him a never-failing refuge: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them, conscientiously observant of the precepts of his law, and the ceremonies of his worship: and they who thus walk in God's ways, may expect that in those ways he will meet them, and answer all their petitions.
2. The notice and regard God shewed them. He answered them; granted their requests, and communed with them as a man with his friends. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar; to Moses and Aaron often, and probably to Samuel also in the frequent visions vouchsafed to him. Thou answeredst them, O Lord, our God, when, as advocates for rebellious Israel, they lifted up their prayer for mercy: thou wast a God that forgavest them, at the intercession of these holy men, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions; making them smart for their sins by their sufferings, though prevailed upon by the prayers of these saints from utterly destroying them. Note; We can never sufficiently value the prayers of good men; they are indeed often branded as the troublers, but are in fact the preservers of the nation.
3. The praise due to God for these mercies. Exalt the Lord our God: as our God, he deserves our love and praise, and our fathers' mercies are our own, and demand our grateful acknowledgments: and worship at his holy hill; in the church of Christ: for the Lord our God is holy in his nature, in all his works and ways, and to be exalted by all his people according to his adorable perfections.