Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
Ver. 3. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence] He doth daily come and sit upon the tribunal in his Church by the ministry of his servants, Matthew 18:17, who must reprove sinners with all authority, and show themselves sons of thunder, that they may save some at least with fear, snatching them out of the fire, Judges 1:23, as Peter, Acts 2:40, and Paul, 2 Corinthians 5:11, but especially when, to work upon the Proconsul Paulus Sergius, he set his eyes upon Elymas the sorcerer, as if he would have looked through him; after which lightning followed that terrible thunder crack, "O thou full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the straight ways of the Lord?" Acts 13:9,10 .
A fire shall devour before him] As he gave his law in fire, so in fire shall he require it.
And it shall be very tempestuous round about him] Not before him only, but around him; lest the wicked should hope to escape by creeping behind him. That was a terrible tempest that befell Alexander the Great and his army marching into the country of Pabaza; when, by reason of continual thundering and lightning, with hailstones and lightning bolts, the army was disorganized and wandered any way; many dared not stir out of the place (Curtius, lib. 3, ex Diodor.). Tremellius rendereth it wish wise, but in a parenthesis, Let our Lord come, and let him not be silent. The saints know that they shall be safe, when others shall smoke for it; because God is their God.