AWESOME GOD God Is Our Restorer (July 8) Day 3

10 For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

John Gill

For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon—These seventy years are not to be reckoned from the last captivity under Zedekiah; nor from the precise present time; nor from the first of Jeconiah’s captivity; but the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar, when he first came up against Jerusalem; see Jer 25:1-2, 11;

I will visit you—In a way of mercy, by stirring up Cyrus king of Persia to grant them their liberty:

And I will fulfill towards you my promise and bring you back to this place—Meaning the promise of return from their captivity to their own land; which was a good word of promise, a promise of good things; which was good news to them, and of which there was no doubt of its performance, since God is faithful who has promised, and is able also to perform. It was from hence, and Jer 25:11, 19; that Daniel learned the time of the captivity, and the return from it (Dan 9:2).

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. JER 29:10-14

1 A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.

2 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up

and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

John Gill

I will extol you, O Lord—Or “lift you up on high.” The Lord is high in his name, he is the Most High; and in his nature, there is none besides him, nor like to him; and in place, he dwells in the high and Holy Place; he is above all, angels and men; he is above all gods; he is the King of kings, and Lord of lords; he cannot be higher than he is: to extol him, therefore, is to declare him to be what he is; to exalt him in high praises of him, which the psalmist determined to do, for the following reasons;

For you have drawn me up—Or “out”; from the pit of nature; the low estate of unregeneracy; the pit wherein is no water: the horrible pit, the mire and clay of sin and misery, in which all men, while unconverted, are; and out of which they cannot lift themselves, being without strength, yea, dead in sin: this is God’s work; he takes out of this pit, he draws out of it by his efficacious grace; he raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill; and this is an instance of his grace and mercy, and requires a new song of praise: or this may regard some great fall by sin, from which he was restored, through the grace and power of God; or deliverance from great troubles, compared to waters, out of which he was drawn (Psa 18:17); and was lifted up above his enemies; and agrees very well with his being brought to his palace and throne again, upon the defeat of Absalom;

And have not let my foes rejoice over me—As Satan does over unregenerate sinners, when he possesses their hearts, and keeps the house and goods in peace; and as the men of the world do over fallen saints, when forsaken by the Lord, and afflicted by him, and are under the frowns of his providence; but the conspirators against David were not suffered to succeed and rejoice over him, which they otherwise would have done; and for this he praises the Lord.

3 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,

and you have healed me.

4 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;

you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

5 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,

and give thanks to his holy name.

6 For his anger is but for a moment,

and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

Avodah Zarah 4b:6

The Gemara further discusses this matter: And how long does his indignation last? It lasts a moment. And how long is a moment? Ameimar, and some say Ravina, said: It lasts as long as it takes to say the word moment. The Gemara asks: And from where do we derive that God’s anger lasts for only a moment? As it is written: “His anger is but for a moment, and his favor, for a lifetime” (Psa 30:6). And if you wish, say instead that it is derived from here: “Hide yourself for a brief moment, until the anger has passed by” (Isa 26:20), meaning that God’s anger passes in a mere moment.

Rashi

For . . . for a moment—For his anger is but for a short moment.

His favor is for a lifetime, there is long life in appeasing and placating him.

Sanhedrin 105b:7

That is what Balaam said to Balak: “How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn, whom God has not condemned?” (Num 23:8). Since God did not become angry, Balaam was unable to curse the Jewish people. It is written: “And God is angry every day” (Psa 7:12). And how long is the duration of his anger? It is one moment, as it is stated: “For his anger endures but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime” (Psa 30:6).

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. MAT 5:4

7 As for me, I said in my prosperity,

“I shall never be moved.”

8 By your favor, O Lord,

you made my mountain stand strong;

you hid your face;

I was dismayed.

9 To you, O Lord, I cry,

and to the Lord I plead for mercy:

10 “What profit is there in my death,

if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it tell of your faithfulness?

11 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!

O Lord, be my helper!”

12 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

you have loosed my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

13 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! PSA 30:1-13

10 Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again

11 the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord:

“Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,

for the Lord is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!”

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

Berakhot 6b:33

Rabbi Abbahu said: The reward for causing a groom to rejoice is the same as if one had offered a thanks-offering in the temple, for as it is stated later in the previously cited verse from Jeremiah: “Those who bring a thanks-offering to the house of the Lord.”

And Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: The reward for causing a groom to rejoice is the same as if one rebuilt one of Jerusalem’s ruins, as it is stated later in the same verse: “For I will restore the fortunes of the land as it was in the beginning.”

12 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks.

13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord. JER 33:10-13

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

They shall go after the Lord;

he will roar like a lion;

when he roars,

his children shall come trembling from the west . . . HOS 11:10

John Gill

They shall go after the Lord—That is, after the Messiah, who is Jehovah our righteousness; that Jehovah the Jews pierced, and now shall mourn at the sight of, being converted to him; for these are the chosen of God among that people, who in the latter day shall partake of the grace and favour before expressed, in consequence of which they shall be set a seeking the Lord their God, and David their king; and, finding him, shall follow after him, as sheep go after their shepherd, being led by him into green pastures; as subjects follow their prince, obeying his commands and orders; as soldiers march after their leader and commander, so these after Christ, the great captain of their salvation, part of whose armies they will make: they will walk under the influence of his grace, having life, strength, guidance, and direction, from him, which walking implies; they will walk not after the flesh, as they now do, but after the Spirit of Christ, taking him for their guide, by whom they will be led into all truth, as it is in Jesus; they will walk in his ways, in all the paths of faith and holiness, truth and righteousness; in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, according to his word. The Targum is,

“they shall go after the worship of the Lord”;

He will roar like a lion—The Lord Christ they walk after; who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Israelites shall now follow after; receiving, embracing, and confessing him the true Messiah. So the Targum,

“and his Word shall be as a lion that roars”;

Christ, the essential Word of God: and so Jarchi, according to Lyra, interprets it of the Messiah to come; who is compared to a lion for his strength and courage, and for the fierceness of his wrath against his enemies; and his voice, in his word, is like the roaring of a lion, exceeding loud, and reaching far, even the uttermost parts of the earth; as it did in the first times of the gospel, and will in the last; and which the Jews particularly, in each of the parts of the world, will hear, and Gentiles also, and be affected with it; for it will be also very strong, powerful, and efficacious; which is another reason of its being compared to a lion roaring; see Joe 4:16; Rev 10:2;

He roars, his children shall come trembling from the west—The children of Israel, the children of God, his adopted ones, whom he has predestinated to the adoption of children; these, through the first impressions of Christ’s voice or word upon them, shall startle, and be set a trembling, and be astonished, as Saul was, when called and converted; as it is reported of the lion, that, when it roars, other beasts are so terrified that they are quite stunned and amazed, and are not able to stir; but though the first sound of the voice of Christ may have some effect upon the Jews, yet this will not cause them to tremble at him so as to flee from him, but to cause them to flee to him: for the phrase is expressive of motion towards him, and to their own land, as appears from Hos 11:11; when filled with a sense of his majesty and grace, they shall approach him with a holy awe of him, with fear and trembling: or “come with honour”; agreeably to 1Sa 16:4; having high, honourable, and grand sentiments and apprehensions of him; so that this trembling, at least, issues in a godly and filial fear and reverence of him, suitable to their character as children. The phrase, “from the west,” or “from the sea,” meaning the Mediterranean sea, which lay west of Judea, and is often used for the west, may signify the western or European part of the world, where the Jews for the most part are, and from whence they will be gathered. The Targum is,

“for he roars, and the captives shall be gathered from the west.”

9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1PE 5:8-10