The God of Sinai and of the Sanctuary

681 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; Let them also that hate him flee before him. 2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: As wax melteth before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 3 But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God: Yea, let them rejoice with gladness. 4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: Cast up a highway for him that rideth through the deserts; His name is Jehovah; and exult ye before him. 5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, Is God in his holy habitation. 6 God setteth the solitary in families: He bringeth out the prisoners into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

7 O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, When thou didst march through the wilderness; [Selah] 8 The earth trembled, The heavens also dropped [rain] at the presence of God: Yon Sinai [trembled] at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, Thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. 10 Thy congregation dwelt therein: Thou, O God, didst prepare of thy goodness for the poor. 11 The Lord giveth the word: The women that publish the tidings are a great host. 12 Kings of armies flee, they flee; And she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil. 13 When ye lie among the sheepfolds, [It is as] the wings of a dove covered with silver, And her pinions with yellow gold. 14 When the Almighty scattered kings therein, [It was as when] it snoweth in Zalmon.

15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A high mountain is the mountain of Bashan. 16 Why look ye askance, ye high mountains, At the mountain which God hath desired for his abode? Yea, Jehovah will dwell [in it] for ever. 17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them, [as in] Sinai, in the sanctuary. 18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led away captives; Thou hast received gifts among men, Yea, [among] the rebellious also, that Jehovah God might dwell [with them]. 19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily beareth our burden, Even the God who is our salvation. [Selah] 20 God is unto us a God of deliverances; And unto Jehovah the Lord belongeth escape from death. 21 But God will smite through the head of his enemies, The hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his guiltiness.

22 The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring [them] again from the depths of the sea; 23 That thou mayest crush [them], [dipping] thy foot in blood, That the tongue of thy dogs may have its portion from [thine] enemies. 24 They have seen thy goings, O God, Even the goings of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. 25 The singers went before, the minstrels followed after, In the midst of the damsels playing with timbrels. 26 Bless ye God in the congregations, Even the Lord, [ye that are] of the fountain of Israel. 27 There is little Benjamin their ruler, The princes of Judah [and] their council, The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. 28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength: Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. 29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem Kings shall bring presents unto thee. 30 Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds, The multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples, Trampling under foot the pieces of silver: He hath scattered the peoples that delight in war. 31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall haste to stretch out her hands unto God.

32 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; Oh sing praises unto the Lord; [Selah] 33 To him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens, which are of old; Lo, he uttereth his voice, a mighty voice. 34 Ascribe ye strength unto God: His excellency is over Israel, And his strength is in the skies. 35 O God, [thou art] terrible out of thy holy places: The God of Israel, he giveth strength and power unto [his] people. Blessed be God.

A Cry of Distress

691 Save me, O God; For the waters are come in unto my soul. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. 3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: They that would cut me off, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: That which I took not away I have to restore. 5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; And my sins are not hid from thee. 6 Let not them that wait for thee be put to shame through me, O Lord Jehovah of hosts: Let not those that seek thee be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. 7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; Shame hath covered my face. 8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother's children. 9 For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. 10 When I wept, [and chastened] my soul with fasting, That was to my reproach. 11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword unto them. 12 They that sit in the gate talk of me; And [I am] the song of the drunkards.

13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Jehovah, in an acceptable time: O God, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness, Answer me in the truth of thy salvation. 14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15 Let not the waterflood overwhelm me, Neither let the deep shallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth upon me. 16 Answer me, O Jehovah; for thy lovingkindness is good: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies turn thou unto me. 17 And hide not thy face from thy servant; For I am in distress; answer me speedily. 18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: Ransom me because of mine enemies. 19 Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: Mine adversaries are all before thee. 20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none. 21 They gave me also gall for my food; And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let their table before them become a snare; And when they are in peace, [let it become] a trap. 23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; And make their loins continually to shake. 24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, And let the fierceness of thine anger overtake them. 25 Let their habitation be desolate; Let none dwell in their tents. 26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; And they tell of the sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded. 27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity; And let them not come into thy righteousness. 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life, And not be written with the righteous. 29 But I am poor and sorrowful: Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31 And it will please Jehovah better than an ox, [Or] a bullock that hath horns and hoofs. 32 The meek have seen it, and are glad: Ye that seek after God, let your heart live. 33 For Jehovah heareth the needy, And despiseth not his prisoners. 34 Let heaven and earth praise him, The seas, and everything that moveth therein. 35 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah; And they shall abide there, and have it in possession. 36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; And they that love his name shall dwell therein.

Life in the Spirit

81 There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: 7 because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: 8 and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: 13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God:

17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified with [him]. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Romans 8:1-21

Commentary on Romans 8:1-9

(Read Romans 8:1-9)

Believers may be chastened of the Lord, but will not be condemned with the world. By their union with Christ through faith, they are thus secured. What is the principle of their walk; the flesh or the Spirit, the old or the new nature, corruption or grace? For which of these do we make provision, by which are we governed? The unrenewed will is unable to keep any commandment fully. And the law, besides outward duties, requires inward obedience. God showed abhorrence of sin by the sufferings of his Son in the flesh, that the believer's person might be pardoned and justified. Thus satisfaction was made to Divine justice, and the way of salvation opened for the sinner. By the Spirit the law of love is written upon the heart, and though the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled by us, yet, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us; there is that in all true believers, which answers the intention of the law. The favour of God, the welfare of the soul, the concerns of eternity, are the things of the Spirit, which those that are after the Spirit do mind. Which way do our thoughts move with most pleasure? Which way go our plans and contrivances? Are we most wise for the world, or for our souls? Those that live in pleasure are dead, 1 Timothy 5:6. A sanctified soul is a living soul; and that life is peace. The carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself. The carnal man may, by the power of Divine grace, be made subject to the law of God, but the carnal mind never can; that must be broken and driven out. We may know our real state and character by inquiring whether we have the Spirit of God and Christ, or not, ver. 9. Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Having the Spirit of Christ, means having a turn of mind in some degree like the mind that was in Christ Jesus, and is to be shown by a life and conversation suitable to his precepts and example.

Commentary on Romans 8:10-17

(Read Romans 8:10-17)

If the Spirit be in us, Christ is in us. He dwells in the heart by faith. Grace in the soul is its new nature; the soul is alive to God, and has begun its holy happiness which shall endure for ever. The righteousness of Christ imputed, secures the soul, the better part, from death. From hence we see how much it is our duty to walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. If any habitually live according to corrupt lustings, they will certainly perish in their sins, whatever they profess. And what can a worldly life present, worthy for a moment to be put against this noble prize of our high calling? Let us then, by the Spirit, endeavour more and more to mortify the flesh. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit brings a new and Divine life to the soul, though in a feeble state. And the sons of God have the Spirit to work in them the disposition of children; they have not the spirit of bondage, which the Old Testament church was under, through the darkness of that dispensation. The Spirit of adoption was not then plentifully poured out. Also it refers to that spirit of bondage, under which many saints were at their conversion. Many speak peace to themselves, to whom God does not speak peace. But those who are sanctified, have God's Spirit witnessing with their spirits, in and by his speaking peace to the soul. Though we may now seem to be losers for Christ, we shall not, we cannot, be losers by him in the end.

Commentary on Romans 8:18-25

(Read Romans 8:18-25)

The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and but for a moment. How vastly different are the sentence of the word and the sentiment of the world, concerning the sufferings of this present time! Indeed the whole creation seems to wait with earnest expectation for the period when the children of God shall be manifested in the glory prepared for them. There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, which has come upon the creature by the fall of man. There is an enmity of one creature to another. And they are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments of sin. Yet this deplorable state of the creation is in hope. God will deliver it from thus being held in bondage to man's depravity. The miseries of the human race, through their own and each other's wickedness, declare that the world is not always to continue as it is. Our having received the first-fruits of the Spirit, quickens our desires, encourages our hopes, and raises our expectations. Sin has been, and is, the guilty cause of all the suffering that exists in the creation of God. It has brought on the woes of earth; it has kindled the flames of hell. As to man, not a tear has been shed, not a groan has been uttered, not a pang has been felt, in body or mind, that has not come from sin. This is not all; sin is to be looked at as it affects the glory of God. Of this how fearfully regardless are the bulk of mankind! Believers have been brought into a state of safety; but their comfort consists rather in hope than in enjoyment. From this hope they cannot be turned by the vain expectation of finding satisfaction in the things of time and sense. We need patience, our way is rough and long; but He that shall come, will come, though he seems to tarry.