With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments [are] in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Ver. 9. With my soul, &c., with my spirit.] Spirit, soul, and body must all be for God a 1Th 5:23 all that is within us especially; Psa 103:1 the fat and inwards were consecrated to him; the heart is his bride chamber, his bed of spices. Son 6:2 In the lives of the Fathers mention is made of a certain monk to whom, boasting of perfection, it was answered from heaven, Ills est perfectio, quae lunam, solem et canis iram Deo tribult, id est COR; that is, perfection consisteth in giving the whole heart to God.
For when thy judgments are in the earth, &c.] God's judgments are the best schoolmasters. Queen Elizabeth learned much from Mr Ascham, but more from her affliction. Our Saviour himself learned something by the things which he suffered, εξ ων επαθεν εμαθεν. Heb 5:8 So do all his members; Eze 20:37 the worst are forced to say with Phlegyas -
“ Discite iustitiam moniti, et non temnere numen. ”
- Virg. Aeneid., lib. vi.
It was a true saying, in the general, of the proconsul to Cyprian at his martyrdom, though ill applied to him in particular, In sanguine tuo caeteri discent disciplinam, By thy punishment others shall learn wisdom. As when one scholar is whipped, the rest are warned. And as a thunderbolt falleth with the danger of few, but with the fear of all, so is it here.
a The wicked with all their soul rejoice to do evil. See Ezekiel 25:6. Attende quam non sit otiosa fides. - Oecol.