to execute on them the written judgment. All his saints have this honor. Praise Yah!
Parallel Translations
-
to execute on them the written judgment. All his saints have this honor. Praise Yah!
-
To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
-
To execute upon them the judgment written; He is the glory of all His saints. Hallelujah.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Psalms 149:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
- Psalms 148:14 He has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise Yah!
- Psalms 137:8 Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.
- Deuteronomy 7:1-2 When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—seven nations greater and mightier than you; and when Yahweh your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them.
- Deuteronomy 32:42-43 I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.” Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people.
- Isaiah 14:22-23 “I will rise up against them,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son,” says Yahweh. “I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Ezekiel 28:26 They will dwell in it securely. Yes, they will build houses, plant vineyards, and will dwell securely, when I have executed judgments on all those who scorn them all around. Then they will know that I am Yahweh their God.” ’ ”
- Revelation 3:21 He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.
- Revelation 17:14-16 These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful.” He said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. The ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, will make her desolate, will strip her naked, will eat her flesh, and will burn her utterly with fire.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. To perform the judgment, etc. He qualifies what…
9. To perform the judgment, etc. He qualifies what he had said in the previous verses, in which he might have appeared to arm the Lord’s people for deeds of warlike cruelty. At first sight it might appear strange, that they who were called the merciful ones of God, should be sent out with drawn swords to commit slaughter, and pour out human blood; for what evidence was here of mercy? But when God himself is the author of the vengeance taken, it is just judgment, not cruelty. When mention is made of the judgment written, the Psalmist reminds the Jews that they were called to liberty by command of God — to that liberty which had been unjustly wrested from them by’ foreigners and tyrants, and that they could not be blamed for executing judgment written. Any exposition of the passage is faulty which does not proceed upon this as being the Psalmist’s design, that he would have the Jews to consider the divine mandate, not to proceed under the influence of private resentment, and to throw a rein over passion; saying upon the matter, that God’s children may not execute vengeance but when called to it, there being an end of all moderation when men yield themselves up to the impulse of their own spirits. Another question might arise here by way of objection. Christ is said to have come without crying or lifting up his voice, that he might not break the bruised reed, (Matthew 12:20,) and he inculcates the same character upon his followers. The answer is obvious, that Christ is also armed with an iron scepter, by which to bruise the rebellious, and is elsewhere described as stained with blood, as slaying his enemies on every side, and not being wearied with the slaughter of them. (Isaiah 63:2.) Nor is it surprising, considering the obstinacy which universally prevails in the world, that the mercy which is treated with such indignity should be converted into severity. Now the doctrine laid down in the passage admits of being rightly applied to our practice, in this way, that what is here said of the two-edged sword, applies more especially to the Jews, and not properly to us, who have not a power of this kind permitted; except, indeed, that rulers and magistrates are vested by God with the sword to punish all manner of violence; but this is something peculiar to their office. “Qui est ici dit du glaive trainchant des deux cotes, appartient specialment aux Juifs, et ne peut pas estre approprie an nous,” etc. — Fr.
“He shall smite the wicked with the word of his mouth, and shall slay them with the breath of his lips.” (Isaiah 11:4.)
Read full note →
If believers quietly confine themselves within these limits of their calling, they will find that the promise of vengeance upon their enemies has not been given in vain. For when God calls us, as I have said above, to judgment written, he puts a restraint both upon our spirits and actions, so as that we must not attempt what he has not commanded. When it is said, in the close of the verse, that this honor is to all the merciful ones of God, he not only exhorts to the practice of piety, but gives us a support for our encouragement, lest we should think that we might be losers by exercising mercy and patience, as most men give vent to fury and rage, under the idea that the only way to defend their life is by showing the savageness of wolves. Although God’s people, therefore, have nothing of the strength of the giant, and will not move a finger without divine permission, ‘and have a calm spirit, the Psalmist declares, that they have an honorable and splendid issue out of all their troubles.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hereby God bindeth the hands and minds of all…
Hereby God bindeth the hands and minds of all his to enterprise no farther than he appointeth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 149:9 To execute upon them the judgment written:…
Psa 149:9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
Ver. 9. To execute upon them the judgment written] The Jews thought they might kill any idolaters; and now to kill a Christian is counted by them a meritorious work. The wicked are apt to exceed their commission, Zec 1:15. So may the saints. David was too cruel to the Ammonites, 2Sa 12:31, Theodosius to the Thessalonians. Here, therefore, they are limited to the word "written."
Read full note →
This honour have all his saints] As having obtained like precious faith, 2Pe 1:1.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The judgment written; appointed and declared in the Holy…
The judgment written; appointed and declared in the Holy Scripture, as Deu 12:32; 29:19; 32:41-43, and elsewhere. This is added to show that they do not this work to satisfy their own malicious or revengeful inclinations, but in obedience to God’s command, and only in such manner as God hath allowed in his word.
This honour have all his saints; the honour of these actions belongs to all the saints, for whose sakes God appointed this in his word, and afterwards executed it by his providence.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Written - Appointed and declared in the holy scripture.
Written - Appointed and declared in the holy scripture.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. To execute upon them the judgment written]…
Verse 9. To execute upon them the judgment written] In De 7:1, c., God promises his people complete victory over all their enemies, and over the heathen. God repeatedly promises such victories to his faithful people and this is, properly speaking, the judgment written, i.e., foretold.
This honour have all his saints.] They shall all be supported, defended, and saved by the Lord. Israel had this honour, and such victories over their enemies, while they continued faithful to their God. When they relapsed into iniquity, their enemies prevailed against them; they were defeated, their city taken, their temple burnt to the ground, more than a million of themselves slaughtered, and the rest led into captivity; and, scattered through the, world, they continue without king, or temple, or true worship, to the present day.
Read full note →
"But do not these last verses contain a promise that all the nations of the earth shall be brought under the dominion of the Church of Christ; that all heathen and ungodly kings shall be put down, and pious men put in their places?" I do not think so. I believe God never intended that his Church should have the civil government of the world. His Church, like its Founder and Head, will never be a ruler and divider among men. The men who under pretense of superior sanctity, affect this, are not of God; the truth of God is not in them; they are puffed up with pride, and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Wo unto the inhabitants of the earth, when the Church takes the civil government of the world into its hand! Were it possible that God should trust religious people with civil government, anarchy would soon ensue; for every professed believer in Christ would consider himself on a par with any other and every other believer, the right to rule and the necessity to obey would be immediately lost, and every man would do what was right in his own eyes; for, where the grace of God makes all equal, who can presume to say, I have Divine authority to govern my fellow? The Church of Rome has claimed this right; and the pope, in consequence, became a secular prince; but the nations of the world have seen the vanity and iniquity of the claim, and refused allegiance. Those whom it did govern, with force and with cruelty did it rule them; and the odious yoke is now universally cast off. Certain enthusiasts and hypocrites, not of that Church, have also attempted to set up a fifth monarchy, a civil government by the SAINTS! and diabolic saints they were. To such pretenders God gives neither countenance nor support. The secular and spiritual government God will ever keep distinct; and the Church shall have no power but that of doing good; and this only in proportion to its holiness, heavenly-mindedness, and piety to God. That the verses above may be understood in a spiritual sense, as applicable to the influence of the word of God preached, may be seen in the following analysis.
ANALYSIS OF THE HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINTH PSALM
In this Psalm the saints of God are excited to give due thanks.
I. For the grace and favour received from God, Ps 149:1-5.
II. For the glory and privileges they shall receive, Ps 148:5-9.
I. "Let Israel rejoice," c. The saints. Which he amplifies:
1. The saints: "For praise is not comely in the mouth of sinners."
2. The quality of the song: "A new song." By renewed men.
3. From the place in which it must be done. The public congregation.
4. From the manner. With alacrity.
5. From the object. God, their Creator and King: "Let Israel rejoice," &c.
And this part he concludes with a strong reason:
1. "For the Lord taketh pleasure," &c. He loves those who most resemble him in holiness and purity.
2. "He will beautify the meek," &c. The people who trust him he will save.
II. And now he describes their future glory.
1. "Let the saints," &c. None others will he beautify.
2. "Let them rejoice," &c. The mansions prepared for them in heaven. There they rest from labour, but not from praise.
Their work is twofold: Present and future.
1. Present: "The high praises," &c. The highest that can be thought of.
2. For the future: "Let a two-edged sword," &c. When Christ shall come to judgment, the saints at the last shall be judges.
Then the exercise of this judiciary power shall be,
1. "To execute vengeance," &c. To judge them to punishment.
2. "To bind their kings with chains," &c. The phrase is metaphorical. "Bind him hand and foot," &c. Mt 22:13. Christ's iron sceptre shall bruise the head of his enemies.
3. "To execute upon them the judgment written," &c. Against evil-doers.
He concludes with an acclamation. This glory of sitting with Christ and judging the world, is the glory of all saints. Hallelujah.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 149:9. To execute upon them the judgment written…
Psa 149:9. To execute upon them the judgment written — Appointed and declared in the Holy Scriptures. This is added to show that they do not do this work to satisfy any malicious or revengeful inclinations of their own, but in obedience to God’s command, and only in such a manner as he hath allowed in his word. They act by commission from him, and according to his direction. Thus the kings of the earth that shall be employed in the destruction of the New Testament Babylon, will only execute the judgment written, Rev 17:16-17. But since now no such special commissions can be produced, this will by no means justify the violence either of subjects against their princes, or of princes upon their subjects, or of both upon their neighbours, under pretence of religion; for Christ never intended that his gospel should be propagated by fire and sword, or his righteousness wrought by the wrath of man. When the high praises of God are in our mouths, with them we should have an olive branch of peace in our hands. This honour have all his saints — For whose sakes God appoints these judgments to be executed. The reader will observe, however, that the complete accomplishment of this prophetical exhibition will not take place till the judgment of the great day, when the Lord shall come with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all the ungodly, Jude, Jud 1:15; especially upon all who have rejected or apostatized, from the gospel of the grace of God. Kings and nobles that cast away the bands and cords of Christ’s government shall not then be able to cast away the fetters and chains of his justice and wrath. Then the judgment written shall be awfully executed, and indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, shall be the portion of those who did not obey the truth, but obeyed unrighteousness; and then shall all the saints have the honour of being assessors with Christ in judging the world, and beholding the degradation and punishment of their once insulting persecutors, who will be cut asunder with the two-edged sword, and slain before them, Luk 19:27.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain To execute upon them the judgment written - Either,…
To execute upon them the judgment written - Either, that which is written in the law in general as what is threatened to wicked men; or, that which was written for their particular case, or which they were specifically commanded to do. Compare Deu 7:1-2; Deu 32:41-43. Most probably the reference is to some particular command in this case.
This honor have all his saints -
Read full note →
(a) It is an honor to engage in executing or carrying out the purposes of God. As it is an honor to be a magistrate, a judge, a sheriff, a constable, a commander of an army, an admiral in a navy, to execute the purposes of a government - an honor sought with great avidity among people as among the most valued distinctions of life - why should it be less honorable to execute the purposes of God? Are the objects which he seeks in his administration less important than those which are sought among people? Are his laws of less importance? Are his aims less pure? Is there less of justice, and equity, and benevolence in his plans?
(b) It is an honor which pertains to “all the saints” - to all who love and fear God - to be engaged in carrying out or executing his plans. In their own way, and in their own sphere - it may, indeed, be a very humble sphere - but each and all in their own sphere, are engaged in executing the purposes of God. In the duties of a family; in kindness to the poor; in the office of a teacher or a magistrate; in clearing a farm; in cultivating the land; in building a schoolhouse; in founding a church, a college, an asylum for the blind, the dumb, the lame, the insane; in contributing to send the gospel abroad over our own land, or among the pagan, or in going to carry that gospel to a benighted world - in some of these ways all who are truly the friends of God, or who are entitled to be enrolled among the “saints of the Lord” are, in fact, carrying out the purposes of the Lord - the “judgments written” to guide mankind; and man’s highest honor here, as it will be in heaven, is to carry out the purposes of the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord - Hallelu-jah. It is a subject of praise and thanksgiving, it should lead us to shout Hallelujah, that we are permitted to be employed in any way, however humble, in carrying out the divine plans, or in accomplishing those great designs which he contemplates toward our race.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the judgment written--either in God's decrees, or perhaps as…
the judgment written--either in God's decrees, or perhaps as in Deu 32:41-43.
this honour--that is, to be thus employed, will be an honorable service, to be assigned
Read full note →
his saints--or, godly ones (Psa 16:3).
Next: Psalms Chapter 150
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. The judgment written—Not the recorded “judgment” against the…
9. The judgment written—Not the recorded “judgment” against the Canaanitish nations, (Deu_7:1-2,) but the written prophecies of the earlier Scriptures, and contained in the covenant of Abraham, of the universal dominion of Jehovah through his covenant people, the favourite form of Old Testament anticipation of Messiah’s kingdom. Through their resuscitated national life the pious Hebrews rose to the high self-consciousness of their destiny as a people, as in the time of David, and looked for the glorification of Israel according to ancient promise.
This honour have all his saints—Namely, to triumph over and judge the nations. Christ must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet, by his bloodless methods of subjugation, for “his weapons are not carnal, but mighty.” 2Co_10:4-5. His victories are his people’s victories, and his reign their reign, for the cause is one.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. upon them] The nations; not the kings and…
9. upon them] The nations; not the kings and nobles only.
the judgment written] The sentence pronounced by Jehovah and recorded in His book (cp. Isa_65:6; Isa_10:1; Job_13:26) for execution at the proper time; or the reference may be to the general testimony of law and prophets concerning the ultimate judgement of the nations. See Deu_32:41 ff.; Isa_41:15 f.; Ezekiel 38, 39; Joe_3:12 ff.; Mic_4:13; Zechariah 14; &c.
Read full note →
this honour &c.] Honour shall that be for all his beloved. The defeat of their enemies brings honour to Jehovah’s chosen people. It is possible to render He is the honour of all his beloved, but this fits the context less well.
The LXX is probably right in omitting the final Hallelujah.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) The judgment written.—If we knew the exact circumstance…
(9) The judgment written.—If we knew the exact circumstance which produced the psalm, and had the names of the nobles and princes taken prisoners, we should easily guess at the contents of the “judgment written,” which was, perhaps, some special order, the carrying out of which is celebrated here; or we may think of the judgments against the nation registered here and there in the sacred books, and so by prescription made legitimate, such as that of the Canaanites, Amalekites, &c. or we may give the phrase a still more general sense, as in Isa_65:6 : “Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom.” Ought we not, however, to read the verse: To execute judgment upon them. It is written, This honour have all his saints.
This honour.—Israel is here regarded as the instrument of God’s righteous judgments on the heathen.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain To execute upon them the judgment written. The allusion…
To execute upon them the judgment written. The allusion is probably to Deu_32:41, Deu_32:42, where God announces the judgments that he will execute upon the oppressors of his people. This honor have all his saints; rather, a glory is this to all his saints. "The victories of their Lord reflect glory on all his faithful and devoted servants" (Kay.). Praise ye the Lord (comp. ver. 1).
The limitation of all human vengeance.
Read full note →
"To execute upon them the judgment written." "It was the thought that vengeance was the righteous retribution, written in the book of God, which made Israel glory in inflicting it." "The psalmist probably desires to fire the broken-spirited despondency which the history shows to have weighed so heavily on the returned exiles." Just in one thing humanity has always failed it has overdone its vengeance. Vengeance may be duty, but whenever man tries to do that duty, his passions come in and spoil his work. Illustrate by the treatment of the conquered in Old Testament wars; by the horrors of the Roman siege of Jerusalem; by the awful scenes at the sacking of besieged cities in modern warfare. Christianity has wrought a great blessing for humanity in putting strict limitation on vengeance. And it puts as strict limitations on the vengeance which an individual man may take on a fellow-man who has wronged him. Works of fiction often present the exaggerated vengeance taken by men who are under no restraint of Christianity. The Christian limitations are twofold.
I HUMAN VENGEANCE IS LIMITED BY THE FACT THAT THOSE ON WHOM WE TAKE IT STAND IN THE LOVE OF GOD. The Mohammedan can freely slay the "infidels" in propagating his doctrines with the sword, because in his view they are altogether out of the love of God, and these vengeance-takers think they are executing the vengeance of God. We can do nothing of the kind, for that love of God in which we live embraces every fellow of our humanity. To strike a man is to strike one whom God loves. This checks our taking vengeance.
II HUMAN VENGEANCE IS LIMITED BY THE NECESSITY OF KEEPING IN VIEW THE WELL-BEING OF THOSE ON WHOM THE VENGEANCE IS TAKEN. The servant of God must never do anything but good to anybody. He may do seeming injury in order to reach ends of good; but he must always have in view the salvation in the large sense of those with whom he deals. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 9. To execute upon them the judgment written.…
Ver. 9. To execute upon them the judgment written. Israel as a nation had this to do, and did it, and then they rejoiced in the God who gave success to their arms. We praise our God after another fashion; we are not executioners of justice, but heralds of mercy. It would be a sad thing for any one to misuse this text: lest any warlike believer should be led to do so, we would remind him that the execution must not go beyond the sentence and warrant; and we have received no warrant of execution against our fellow men. Christians have no commission of vengeance; it is theirs to execute the command of mercy, and that alone.
This honour have all his saints. All the godly shared in the triumphs of the Lord when he smote Israel's foes. We have like honour, but it is shown in victories of another sort. All the holy ones are sent upon errands by their holy Lord. The honours described in this Psalm are common to all the family of grace; and such service as the Lord appoints is to be undertaken by every one of them, without exception. The Lord honours all his chosen here, and he will glorify them all hereafter: this rule is without exception. Surely in this we have the best argument for glorifying the Lord, wherefore we close our new song with another Hallelujah,
Read full note →
Praise ye the Lord.
Ver. 9. This honour have all his saints. All other glories and honours are but feminine, weak, poor things to it. God is their glory; honoured they are with his blessed presence, honoured with his sight, with his embraces; they see him and enjoy him. This is the very glory of their honour, the height and pitch of all, for "in thy presence is joy, and at thy right hand there is pleasure for evermore", honour advanced into eternal glory; and "this honour" also "have all his saints"; some in spe, and some in re, some in hope, and some in deed; all either in promise or in possession. Mark Frank.
Ver. 9. This honour have all his saints. "His saints" emphatically; Divine providence foreseeing that in after ages some would usurp the title of saintship to whom it did not belong. "His saints" exclusively; casting out saint traitors, as Beckett and Garnet; saint hypocrites, and many others; who, in the same sense as auri sacra fames, may be termed sacri, or sancti, saints. But, what honour have all his saints? Mark what went before"as it is written"; but by whom, and where? Though chapters and verses be of later date, the Holy Spirit might have cited the book. O no! He, to quicken our industry, refers us to the Word at large. However, "search the Scriptures", and therein we shall meet with many honours afforded to the saints; both whilst they were living, and when they were dead.
Honour to their memories is sometimes paid them very abundantly, even by those who formerly were so niggardly and covetous as not to afford them a good word in their lifetime.
Many are made converts by the godly ends of good men; as the centurion himself, who attended and ordered the crucifying of Christ, after his expiring broke forth into that testimony of him, "Verily, this was the Son of God." So, such as rail at, revile, curse, condemn, persecute, execute pious people, speak other language of them when such men have passed the purgation of death, and confess them faithful and sincere servants of God.
The last "honour" is imitation of their virtuous examples. The Papists brag that Stapleton, their great controversial divine, was born on that very day whereon Sir Thomas More was put to death; but Providence so ordereth it that out of the ashes of dead saints many living ones do spring and sprout, by following the pious precedents of such godly persons deceased. Thomas Fuller in "Abel Redivivus."
Ver. 9. The honour common to all saints.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain This honour have all His saints.
Psa_149:9
This honour have all His saints.
Read full note →
The honour paid to saints departed
The honour here alluded to is that of being special favourites with heaven and instruments in the hand of God for the conversion of sinners to repentance. Saint, in its original meaning, is a person set apart for the service of God, and in that sense holy. This was the general title of Christians in the New Testament. They were considered as persons separating themselves from the rest of the world, professing and practising holiness in all manner of conversation.
I. What honour in fact was paid to them after their decease.
1. From the records of the primitive Church it appears that, whilst the number of converts in each place of worship would admit of it, the names of all who had departed this life in communion with their brethren were particularly recited with praise to God, and offered with great solemnity at the altar in the Eucharistical service.
2. As the increase of numbers soon rendered this usage impracticable, a general oblation of them was substituted in the room of it.
(1) The general oblation of praise to God for all His saints departed we make upon a peculiar festival, marked out by our Church for this pious purpose. Even for the glorious company of the apostles, for the goodly fellowship of the prophets, for the noble army of martyrs; and indeed for the holy Church which hath been throughout all the world.
(2) Our more particular acknowledgments of praise to Him for the illustrious examples and pious labours of His most eminent and renowned champions we reserve (as Christians did in the time of Tertullian) for the yearly return of their respective martyrdoms.
(3) By both we plainly symbolize with the practice of the Church in her earliest and purest ages.
II. What of this kind is, or is not, proper to be paid them.
1. The limitations to be set to it.
(1) The saints departed are no fit objects of our prayer to them, are entitled to no sort of religious worship from us (Mat_4:10; Rev_22:8-9).
(2) But may we not be permitted to ask the intercession of saints departed, and through their mediation with the Lord of all things, in whose Presence we may suppose them standing, to seek a redress of our several grievances, and a supply of our respective wants? No! not this! For as we have but one God, so we have but one Mediator (1Ti_2:5).
(3) If any degrees of a supposed uneasiness in departed souls, upon the delay of the resurrection, should be conceived to require our prayers and intercessions that God would remove or lighten them, these the charity of our Church hath indulged to us in her burial office, where we beseech Almighty God that it may please Him of His gracious goodness shortly to accomplish the number of His elect, and to hasten His kingdom; that so we, with all those who are departed in the true faith of His holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss both in body and soul in His eternal and everlasting glory.
2. What of this sort may with safety be allowed to us?
(1) We are to praise God for the benefit of their labours, through which we have been brought out of darkness and error into His marvellous light.
(2) The lustre of their example is another circumstance deserving our praises to God, which will best be expressed in our imitation of it.
(3) From the rest which they now enjoy from their labours, and from the blessedness of those who die in the Lord, we may comfort ourselves with the prospect of following them, and of partaking with them in the joy of our common Master. (N. Marshall, D. D.)
The best lot the common lot
Our present aim is to point out some of the choice gifts and privileges which pertain to all saints, but of which through mistaken ideas many deprive themselves; our anxiety is to encourage the most distrustful of Gods people to claim the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. We specify--
I. Communion with God. That all have a personal and equal access to the heavenly Father is a precious truth.
1. Yet thousands, from a sense of personal unworthiness, touch not the sacramental cup, shutting themselves out from this fellowship with their dying Lord. They cheerfully acknowledge a fitness in others, whilst they sorrowfully fail to find that fitness in themselves. This honour have all His saints. If Christ received only perfect ones to His table, He would sit there alone; but He receives sincere souls, whatever may be their faults, and sitting with Him they become perfect.
2. This same self-depreciation expresses itself in the straitened supplication and lowered expectancy of many of Gods people. The Old Testament is full of glorious records of the power of prayer; the New Testament is not less rich in similar instances; and we know still that Gods ear is not heavy nor His arm shortened. Here, again, we bring in the idea of privilege, and limit marked answers to prayer and large answers to prayer to special men and extraordinary times. Yet is Gods Word most clear in this matter, levelling all up to the open throne. In our sorrow, feebleness, want, danger, fear, any of us may come to God with the confidence of Moses, the importunity of Jacob, the undeniableness of Daniel, the sweet, filial freedom of Jesus Himself. Let us act like princes of God.
II. The influence of the Holy Spirit. There is unquestionably much that is sovereign in the gifts and movements of the Spirit of God. Gifts of healing, utterance, interpretation, etc., are peculiar to certain epochs and persons. The Spirit divideth to every man severally as He will. But the grandest influences of the Holy Ghost--His enlightening, quickening, purifying powers--are imparted without partiality. His sovereign gifts and appointments are secondary; His essential and choicer influence is poured forth with undistinguishing richness on all receptive hearts. Let us make the great surrender, let us live in resolute purity, and concealed depths of our nature shall be broken up, unsuspected powers evoked, latent forces and talents shall surprise us into greatness. Those who can hardly stammer a testimony shall become clear and bold as golden trumpets filled with Gods breath; the coldest glow as shining braziers full of live coals; the harshest characters become musical instruments, and that of all sorts; the weak pottery strong and bright as adamant; the coarse, crooked instrument a polished shaft; and the vessels of wood and iron shall be transmuted into vessels of alabaster and gold full of incense and odours.
III. The witness of the Spirit. For each doubting soul there is assurance: a scroll for every bosom. The prodigal son moaned: I am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servant:; and this sentiment of mistrust is so deep in our heart we fail to see when the robe and ring are positively ours. Seek the sense of sonship as something belonging to you, waiting for you, and you shall not walk in darkness. Seek it with resolution. Plead for it in this very hour.
IV. Entire sanctification. We believe in the ability and purpose of Christ to cleanse us from every defilement, and to keep us in perfect purity of flesh and spirit. But are all to be thus saved? Here we falter. We think some are destined to attain pre-eminent excellence, whilst others must abide frail and faulty. Is the young student taught that some impracticable barrier separates him from the highest intellectual excellence? On the contrary, he is taught to cherish a sense of brotherhood with the illustrious spirits of all time. And it would be fraught with endless mischief if we were to deny the student the hope of utmost mental eminence. Surely then we ought to hesitate to place any gulf between the grandest characters of the Church of God and the lowliest of its members. The purpose of God is not realized in the occasional brilliant fruition of a Leighton, a Baxter, a David Stoner or a John Smith; God watches over His vineyard, watering it every moment, to the end that every flower should be full of beauty, every plant reach the ideal grace, every branch bend with the largest, ripest clusters.
V. Even into our ultimate glorification we carry the depreciating idea of ourselves. Many of Gods people live with the hope of just getting through at last; they believe they shall not arrive in the ship, but float ashore on a plank; they figure to themselves some subordinate place in heaven they will be thankful to secure. A false humility is about as bad as a false ambition; and it will be well for us, thinking as meanly as we please about ourselves, to cherish to the full the great promises and immortal hopes of Christianity. (W. L. Watkinson.)
.
Psa_150:1-6
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.