I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
Ver. 19. I have not spoken in secret.] As the sibyls did out of their dens; as the idol priests did out of their holes and underground vaults; as heretics and seducers, who creep into corners and there vend their false wares, as Vincentins Lirinensis long since observed. (Epiphanius fitly compareth them to moles, who do all their mischief by working underground.) But God, as he delivered his law openly on Mount Sinai, so his gospel he commanded to be preached "on the house top," and in Mount Zion. Christ "spoke openly" to the world. Joh 18:20 Truth seeketh no corners: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." Rom 1:16 But what was this word that was delivered so plainly and perspicuously?
Seek ye me.] And for your encouragement ye shall not do it "in vain"; for I am "a rewarder of all those that diligently seek me." Heb 11:6 Let heathen deities disappoint and delude those that seek to them; Jacob's God scorneth the motion. He is better to his people than their prayers, better than their hopes; and when, with Gehazi, they ask but one talent, he, like Naaman, forceth them to take two.
I the Lord speak righteousness; I declare the things that are right.] Or, Even. So doth not the devil, but things sinful and obscene; as human sacrifices, promiscuous uncleannesses, ut in nefariis Priapi et Veneris sacris. Contrariwise, "all the words of God's mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them." Pro 8:8