And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.
Ver. 10. And I will pour upon the house of David] Pour, as by whole pailfuls; God is no penny father; no small gifts fall from so great a hand; he gives liberally, James 1:15, and is rich to all that call upon his name, Romans 10:12; abundant in kindness, Exodus 34:6, plenteous in mercy, Psalms 103:8; the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ hath over abounded (υπερεπλεονασε), hath overflowed all the banks, 1 Timothy 1:14, indeed, it hath neither bank nor bottom. Oh pray for that blissful sight, Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 3:18,19, that spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Of grace and of supplications] Or deprecations of that utter destruction that shall befall other nations. God will save his people, but so as by prayer, Psa 32:6 2Ch 7:14 Zechariah 13:9, he will grace his own ordinance, draw many suitors, and derive many praises to himself. See Eze 36:37 Psalms 50:15; Psalms 116:2. Some render it, a spirit of grace and of lamentations, sc. before the Lord, when they felt the nails, wherewith they had pierced Christ, pricking their own hearts, Acts 2:37, punctually pricking and piercing them, κατενυγησαν τη καρδια (Bishop Andrews, 333).
And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced] Dacaru, whom they have daggered, or digged, as Psalms 22:16, him they shall look upon and lament, οψονται, κοψονται, their eye shall affect their heart, Rev 1:7 Lamentations 3:51; for the eye is the instrument both of sight and of sorrow; and what the eye never sees the heart never rues. The sun looketh upon the earth, draweth up vapours thence, and distilleth them down again; so doth the sun of the understanding; which, till it be convinced, the heart cannot be compuncted. Sight of sin must precede sorrow for sin. The prodigal came to himself ere he repented of his loose practices; men must bethink themselves, or bring back to their hearts (as the Hebrew hath it, 1Ki 8:47), ere they will say, We have sinned and dealt perversely, we have committed wickedness; see Jer 8:6 Psalms 38:18. An infant in the womb cries not because he sees not; but as soon as it comes into the light he sets up his note. Get, therefore, your eyes anointed with eye salve, with this spirit of grace and supplications; so shall you soon see (saith Mr Bradford, martyr) your face foul arrayed, and so shameful, saucy, mangy, pocky, and scabbed, that you cannot but be sorry at the contemplation thereof. It is the Spirit that convinceth the world of sin; neither can the waters flow till his wind bloweth, Psalms 147:18. A sigh is not breathed out for sin till the Spirit imbreathe the same into us.
And they shall mourn for him] Or, for it, viz. for their crucifying the Lord of glory in their forefathers, and having a great hand in it themselves; since their and our sins were thorns and nails that pierced him, the lance that let out his heart blood, &c. We bound him with cords; we beat him with rods; buffeted him with fists, reviled him with our mouths, nodded at him with our heads, &c. We were the chief actors and principal causes that set to work Judas, Pilate, &c. Oh stand a while with the devout women, and see him bleeding, groaning, dying, by the wounds that we gave him; and mourn affectionately over him, as here.
They shall mourn] With such outward pomp and rites as are used at funerals; as wringing the hands, beating the breasts, shaking the head, and the like external gestures and expressions of heaviness.
And shall be in bitterness] By inwardness of extreme grief; as when David's heart was leavened with it, Psalms 73:21; it was soured with godly sorrow, and soused in the tears of true repentance. So Peter went forth and wept bitterly, Matthew 26:15; waters of Marah flowed from Mary Magdalen's eyes, which were as a fountain for Christ's feet: here sorrow was deep and downright, producing repentance never to be repented of. The sorrow we conceive for an unkindness offered to Christ must not be slight and sudden, but sad and soaking; like that of the Israelites met at Mizpeh, when they drew water before the Lord, 1 Samuel 7:6, whereunto the prophet Jeremiah seemeth to allude when he seriously wisheth that his head were waters, Jeremiah 9:1, and David, with his river of tears, Psalms 119:136. His heart was soft and soluble. Now softness of heart discovers sin; as the blots run abroad and seem biggest in wet paper; and as when the cockatrice egg is crushed it breaks forth into a viper, Isaiah 59:5. Now to make and keep the heart soft and tender, the consideration of Christ's dolorous passion must needs be of singular use and efficacy; as the sight of Caesar's bloody robes brought forth greatly affected the people of Rome, and edged them to revenge. The hardest heart, soundly soaked in the blood of Christ, the true scape goat, cannot but relent and repent for such a horrid villany.
As one that mourneth for his only son … for his firstborn] sc. With a funeral sorrow; such as was that of the Shunammite, of the widow of Nain, and of Rachel, who refused to be comforted. There is an ocean of love in a father's heart; as we see in Jacob towards Joseph, in David towards Absalom, in the father of the prodigal, &c. Christ was God's only Son in respect of his Divine nature; he was also the firstborn among many brethren. And yet "God so loved the world," &c. So? how? So as I cannot tell how; for this is a Sic So, without a Sicut: In the same way, even so should our sorrow be, for having a wicked hand in his dolorous death. The prophet here seems to be at a stand, as it were, whence to borrow comparisons to shadow it out by. Great is the grief of children for their deceased parents, as of Joseph for Jacob, Genesis 50:1, he fell upon his father's face, as willing to have wept him alive again if possible. So our Edward I, returning from the wars in Palestine, rested himself in Sicily; where the death of his son and heir coming first to his ear, and afterwards of the king, his father, he much more sorrowed his father's departure than his son's; whereat King Charles, of Sicily, greatly marvelled, and, demanding the reason, had of him this answer: The loss of sons is but light, because they are multiplied every day; but the death of parents is irremediable, because they can never be had again. Thus he. Howbeit, love rather descendeth than ascendeth, and Abraham could better part with his father, Torah, than with his son, his only son Isaac, whom he loved, Genesis 22:2. Before he had him, Lord God, said Abraham, what wilt thou give me so long as I go childless? Genesis 15:2. His mouth was so out of taste with the sense of his want, that he could relish no comfort. But now to be bereft of him, and that in such a manner, as he might conceive by that probatory precept, Genesis 22:2, this must needs go to the very heart of him, for though he had put on grace, yet he had not put off nature. Both Jacob and Jacob's father (as Junius understandeth that passage, Gen 37:35) wept savourly for Joseph, and would go down into the grave unto their son mourning. True it is, that the loss of some wife may be greater than the loss of some son (Abraham came from his own tent to Sarah's tent to mourn for her, Genesis 22:2, and she was the first that we read of in Scripture mourned for), but the prophet here speaketh of the mourning of husband and wife together; and they can lose no greater outward blessing than their firstborn, if an only one especially.