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Ver. 3. And he shall be like a tree] An olive tree, say some, from Psalms 52:8, which is green all the year, saith Pliny; that in Noah’s flood kept its greenness though it had been so long time under the water; and is, therefore, made an emblem of the resurrection. Others will have it to be the palm tree, from Psalms 92:12, which likewise is always green, and very fruitful. Plutarch saith that the Babylonians make three hundred and sixty commodities of it. The tree whereon the cocoa nuts grow in the Indies is said to be such as wherewith alone a ship may be built, and furnished to sea with food and merchandise. Let it be what tree it will that is here meant, if Plato could say that man is a tree inverted, with the r oot above and the branches below, and that he is φυτον ουρανιον, a heavenly plant, γεγενημενον εκ Διος ερνος, as another hath it (Homer); much more may we say so of a godly man, that plant of renown, rooted in Christ, and fruited by the Spirit, of a right constitution and righteous conversation, Galatians 5:25. See Jeremiah 17:8 Eze 47:12. Planted by the rivers of water] In locis irriguis, in moist places, where most trees thrive best; understand it of those waters of the sanctuary, Ezekiel 47:12, together with those unfailing influences of grace and consolation that are in him, as a well of water bubbling up to eternal life, John 4:14. That bringeth forth his fruit in his season] There are no barren trees in God’s orchard, and yet they may have their fits of barrenness, as an apple tree sometimes hath; but they will reflourish with advantage, as those Philippians did, Philippians 4:10 [See Trapp on “Php 4:10”] and bear fruit in the right season, Nec praecocem nec serum. Now everything is beautiful in its season, Ecclesiastes 5:11, and it was no small shame to Ahithophel, when it was told him by Hushai, the Archite, Thy counsel is good, but not now, 2 Samuel 17:7. His leaf also shall not wither] Heb. fade, for want of sap or safety from Christ the root; but as the olive or palm tree, semper in suo genere viret vigetque, retaineth its green leaf, and hath for its motto Nec premor nec perimor; so doth the good soul persevere and persist in the profession and practice of the truth which is after godliness, Titus 1:1, maugre the malice of earth and of hell. Of Tylos, an Indian island, Pliny and Austin say, That no tree therein growing doth at any time of the year lose their leaves (Plin. l. 12, cap. 11. Aug. de C. D. lib. 21, cap. 5). Certain it is that saving faith cannot be lost altogether, though it may suffer some decays, Isaiah 6:13. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper] So Joshua 1:7,8. This and the like promises must be understood with an exception of the cross, as need requireth, 1 Peter 1:6. Gain, his prosperity, that of the soul I mean, he shall be sure of, Romans 8:28,37. Temporal also, so far as may make for his eternal good. Pintus, out of Pliny, tells us, that the palm tree will not grow well on rich ground, but in a light and sandy; and that if the soil be strong and fertile they must cast salt and ashes at the root to limit the fertility of the ground. As Christ is the true vine, so his Father is a good husbandman, and knoweth well how to order his trees of righteousness; but usually piety hath prosperity, and is profitable to all things, 1 Timothy 4:8. And outward prosperity, if it follow close walking with God, is very sweet; as the cipher, when it followeth the figure, addeth to the number, though it be nothing in itself.
Ver. 4. The ungodly are not so] Not like any such tree before described, but rather like the cypress tree, which, the more it is watered, is the less fruitful; or like the cyparit tree, whereof Pliny writeth that it is good for nothing, no, not for show, shadow, or smell. St Jude saith, they are trees indeed, but such as are twice dead, pulled up by the roots, Jude 1:12. Twice dead they are said to be, 1. Because a spiritual death is so great a death that it may well go for two. 2. Because those ungodly ones were dead, both in regard of fruit and leaves, truth of grace and any outward actings of grace. Their fruit, if any, is but hedge fruit, their leaves of formal profession wither and come to nothing; if they prosper in the world (as Sigonius observeth of Pope Zechariah that he died rebus non tam pie quam prospere gestis, not overly pious, and yet very prosperous) it is that they may be cut down for ever, Psalms 37:2: such a temporary prosperity plus deceptionis habet quam delectationis, saith Lactantius, is more deceitful than delightful, and is, therefore, well called by Bernard, Misericordia omni indignatione crudelior, a giftless gift, &c. But are like the chaff] Not so they are, but much worse in many respects, as it is fit they should be. God will surely set a difference, Malachi 3:18. [See Trapp on “Mal 3:18”] A profane soldier at the siege of a town, passing a place of danger, was heard swearing; and when one that stood by warned him, saying, Fellow soldier, do not swear, the bullets fly; he answered, They that swear come off as well as they that pray. But what came of it? Soon after a shot hit him, and down he fell. “The wicked is” (as chaff) “driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death,” Proverbs 14:32. The word here rendered chaff is Palea tenuissima et minutissime contrita chaff beaten to dust, and, therefore, good for nothing, but apt to be whiffied up and down with every wind of doctrine, with every puff of temptation. A good man is, as a tree, stedfast, and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 15:58. An evil man is, as chaff, light and worthless, Religionem habens ephemeram, constant in nothing so much as in his inconstancy, serves God by fits and starts, flies in his face when afflicted, as chaff doth in the face of the winnower, while the weightier grain falls low at his feet. See Job 21:18 Ps 55:5 Ho 13:3 Mt 3:12. [See Trapp on “Job 21:18”] [See Trapp on “Ps 55:5”] [See Trapp on “Ho 13:3”] [See Trapp on “Mt 3:12”]
Ver. 5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment] i.e. Causa cadent et damnabuntur, at the great assizes they shall be cast and condemned. Vix steteris (Terent.). Revelation 6:17, “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” “If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?” 1 Peter 4:18. Surely nowhere, but in hell, their own place, Acts 1:25: not before God, for he is a consuming fire, Hebrews 12:29, and they chaff or stubble, fully dried, see Isaiah 33:14; not before Christ, for he shall come in flaming fire, rendering vengeance, &c., 2 Thessalonians 1:7; not in heaven, for it is an undefiled inheritance, neither may any dirty dog trample on that golden pavement, Revelation 22:15; not any longer on earth, defiled by their iniquities, and, therefore, to be purged by the fire of the last day; for the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up, 2 Peter 3:10. R. David Kimchi by judgment here understandeth the day of the wicked man’s death; and indeed his death’s day is his doom’s day, when he must take a fearful farewell, and breathe out his soul and hope together with the breath of the same dying groan, Job 27:8 11:20. Hinc illae lachrymae, hence that lothing to depart, though some set a good face upon it when to die, as Sir Thomas Moore, who died for the pope’s supremacy with a light jest in his mouth. Vespasian likewise died with a jest, and Augustus in a compliment. This was but the hypocrisy of mirth; for death is the king of terror to a natural man. See Hebrews 2:15 1Sa 15:32 28:20. Saul, at the message of death, swooned quite away, and fell all along, Quantus quantus erat, as Peter Martyr phraseth it; yea, good Hezekiah wept when sentenced to death, and the approach of it was to him Mar mar, bitter bitterness, Isaiah 38:3,17. He must have his faith at his fingers’ ends, as one saith, that will die actively. But all men have not faith, 2 Thessalonians 3:2, and those few that have are not always assured that their hearts shall live for ever, as Psalms 22:26, and that death, the devil’s sergeant, to drag wicked men to hell, shall be to them the Lord’s gentle usher, to conduct them to heaven, as Mr Brightman expresseth it. Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous] They shall never set foot within heaven’s threshold, within that general assembly, that sacred panegyris, ample amphitheatre, the congregation house of crowned saints and glorious angels. Tertullian saith of Pompey’s theatre (which was the greatest ornament of old Rome) that it was Arx omnium turpitudinum, a receptacle of all kind of ribaldry and roguery. Not so heaven: “There shall ill nowise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie,” Revelation 21:27. The Irish air will sooner brook a toad, or a snake, than heaven a sinner. Mali in area nobiscum esse possunt, in horreo non possunt, Chaff may be with God’s good grain on the floor, but in the garner it shall not (Augustin). For Christ “will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,” Matthew 3:12. Gr. Antiq. A general assembly; esp. a festal assembly in honour of a god.
Ver. 6. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous] Or, acknowledgeth, approveth, administereth, and ordereth all things to their eternal salvation; as may appear by th e opposition, wherein there is a rhetorical aposiopesis. God’s knowledge of men and their ways is not merely intuitive, but approbative of the good and vindictive of the evil; εχει θεος εκδικον ομμα. His providence (which is the carrying on of his decree) is that helm which turns about the whole ship of the universe with singular skill and justice. Dominus diligit, et dirigit viam, id est, vitam et omne institutum iustorum. See Psalms 37:18 142:4 Na 1:7 Pr 2:8, with the notes there. God knows the righteous by name, Exodus 33:17, knows them for his own, looks upon them and their whole course with singular delight and complacency; they are his Hephzibah, Isaiah 62:4, the dearly beloved of his soul, Jeremiah 12:7. Verba notitiae apud Hebracos secum trahunt affectum. But the way of the ungodly shall perish] Their practices and persons shall perish together, be done away, be lost for ever. And why? because the Lord knoweth them not; unless it be for black sheep, as we say, or rather for reprobate goats, Matthew 25:32-46 Hence their souls are flung out, as out of the middle of a sling, when the souls of the saints are bound up in the bundle of life, with the Lord their God, 1 Samuel 25:29.