I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, [and] I shall behold his righteousness.
Ver. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him] The Church had sinned, and God was angry with her. So Zec 1:12 Isaiah 57:17. What mean, then, the Antinomians to tell us that God is never angry with his people for their foul and flagitious practices; no, not with a fatherly anger? nor chastiseth them for the same; no, not so much as with a fatherly chastisement? Is not this contra Solem mingere? Godliness is no target against affliction. Blind Nature saw this.
“ nec te tua plurima, Pantheu,
Labentem texit pietas ” -
Only it helps to patient the heart under affliction by considering, 1. That it is the Lord. 2. That, a man suffers for his sin; as the penitent thief also confessed, Luke 23:41 Luke 23:3 . That the rod of the wicked shall not lie long upon the lot of the righteous, το πικρον μικρον . Say we then, every one, with David, I know that thy judgments are right, and thou hast afflicted me justly, Psalms 119:75 ; yea, in very faithfulness hast thou done it, that thou mightest be true to my soul: and with that noble Du-plessy, who when he had lost his only son, a gentleman of great hopes (which was the breaking of his mother's heart), quieted himself with these words of David, "I was silent and said no word, because thou, Lord, didst it," Psalms 39:9 . See my Love Tokens. It shall be our wisdom in affliction to look to God, and to reflect upon our sins, taking his part against ourselves; as a physician observes which way nature works, and helps it.
Until he plead my cause ] As a faithful patron and powerful avenger; for though it be just in God that I suffer, yet it is unjust in mine enemies, who shall shortly be soundly paid for their insolence and cruelty.
He will bring me forth to the light ] He will uncloud these gloomy days, and in his light I shall see light.
I shall behold his righteousness ] That is, his faithfulness in fulfilling his promise of deliverance in due time. Meanwhile I will live upon reversions, live by faith, and think to make a good living of it too. All the ways of God to his people are "mercy and truth," Psalms 25:10 : this is a soul satisfying place of Scripture indeed. All the passages of his providence to them are not only mercy, but truth and righteousness; they come to them in a way of a promise, and by virtue of the covenant, wherein God hath made himself a voluntary debtor to them, 1 John 1:9 .