| Barnes' Notes on the Bible Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee - It shall be the occasion of praise; or, honor shall accrue to thee from it, "as if" it were employed in thy praise, and "as if" it were voluntarily engaged in promoting thy glory. The deliverance of the people by the direct interposition of God in the case referred to in the psalm, the sudden and entire overthrow of the invading forces by his power, led to this reflection. The overruling power of God was displayed. The "wrath" of the invading host had given occasion for this manifestation of the divine perfections; or, in other words, his character would not have been displayed in this manner if it had not been for these wicked purposes of people. It is not that there was anything in the wrath itself, or in their plans or intentions, that was in itself "adapted" to honor God; but that it was overruled by him, so that he took "occasion" from it to display his own character. The wicked conduct of a child is an "occasion" for the display of the just character and the wise administration of a parent; the act of a pirate, a rebel, a murderer, furnishes an "occasion" for the display of the just principles of law, and the stability and power of a government. In like manner, the sins of the wicked are made an occasion for the display of the divine perfections in maintaining law; in the administering of justice; in preserving order. But there is another sense, also, in which the wrath of man is made the occasion for glorifying God. It is, that since there is such wrath, or since there are such wicked purposes, God makes use of that wrath, or of those wicked purposes, as he does of the powers of nature - of pestilence, disease, and storms, as instruments to accomplish his own designs, or to bring about great results. Thus he made use of the treasonable purpose of Judas, and the mad passions and the angry feelings of the Jews, in bringing about the work of redemption by the death of his Son; thus be made use of the purposes of Sennacherib in order to punish his own people (see the notes at Isaiah 10:5-7); thus he employed Cyrus to "execute his counsel" Isaiah 46:10; and thus he made use of the wrath evinced in persecuting the church to secure its permanent establishment in the world. Whether these things could be accomplished "without" that wrath, is a question which is too high for man to determine. It is certain, also, that the fact that God overrules the wrath of people does not justify that wrath. The purposes of people are, like the pestilence and the storm, what they are in themselves; and the nature of their conduct is not affected by any use that God may make of it. People must be judged according to their own deeds, not for what God does through their wickedness. The remainder of wrath - The word "remainder" here - שׁארית she'êrı̂yth - means properly "part;" what remains, especially after a defeat or slaughter - the "survivors" of a battle, Jeremiah 11:23; Jeremiah 44:14; Micah 7:18; Zephaniah 2:7. Gesenius renders it here (Lexicon) "extreme wrath," retained even in extremity. The Septuagint, ἐγκατάλειμμα engkataleimma - "the things which are left." So the Vulgate, "reliquice." Luther, "When men rage against thee, thou turnest it to honor; and when they rage yet more, thou art yet prepared." Venema supposes that the meaning is the whole wrath. As in Arabic the word used here means "wholeness," or the whole of anything; and according to this, the idea would be that it was not merely wrath in general, or in a general sense, that would be made use of, but all that there was in wrath; it would all be made use of in advancing the divine purposes. The allusion seems to be to something that had been laid up in a magazine - as provision or arms, when the soldier went forth to war - which he would make use of if necessary, so that "all" might be ultimately consumed or employed. The control of God was over "this" as well as over that which was actually employed; he could overrule that which was employed. He could restrain people from at all using this that was kept in reserve. The idea seems to be that all the "wrath" which is "manifested" among people would be made to praise God, or would be overruled for his glory - and "all" which would "not" contribute to this end he would keep back, he would check; he would prevent its being put forth - so that "all" should be under his control, and "all" disposed of as he should will. There was nothing in the heart or the purposes of man that was beyond his jurisdiction or control; man could do nothing in his wrathful plans that God could not dispose of in his own way, and for his own honor. Shalt thou restrain - The word used here - חגר châgar - means literally to bind around; to gird; to gird up, as of a garment or sword that is girded on, 1 Samuel 17:39; 1 Samuel 25:13; Psalm 45:3; or sackcloth, Isaiah 15:3; Jeremiah 49:3. The Septuagint renders this, "and the remainder of wrath shall make a feast to thee," ἐορτάσει σοί heortasei soi - that is, it shall praise or honor thee as in a festival. So the Vulgate. Prof. Alexander renders it, "Shalt thou gird about thee;" that is, God would gird it on as a sword, and would make use of it as a weapon for executing his own purposes. So DeWette, "And with the last wrath thou shalt gird thyself." Others render it, "Thou restrainest the remainder of thy wrath" - that is, punishment - "when the wrath of man will not promote the knowledge of thyself" It seems to me, however, that our translators have expressed the exact idea in the psalm; and the meaning is, that the whole of the wrath of man is under the control of God, and that whatever there is, or would be, in the manifestation of that wrath, or in carrying out the purposes of the heart, which could not, in the circumstances, be made to promote his glory, or which would do injury, he would check and restrain. He would suffer it to proceed no further than he chose, and would make it certain that there should be no exhibition of wrathful feelings on the part of man which would not, in some way, be made to promote his honor, and to advance his own great purposes. He has absolute control over the passions of people, as he has over the pestilence, over earthquakes, and over storms, and can make all tributary to his glory, and executioners of his will.
Clarke's Commentary on the BibleSurely the wrath of man shall praise thee - The rage of Sennacherib shall only serve to manifest thy glory. The stronger he is, and the more he threatens, and the weaker thy people, the more shall thy majesty and mercy appear in his destruction and their support. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain - The Hebrew gives rather a different sense: "Thou shalt gird thyself with the remainder of wrath." Even after thou hast sent this signal destruction upon Sennacherib and his army, thou wilt continue to pursue the remnant of the persecutors of thy people; their wrath shall be the cause of the excitement of thy justice to destroy them. As a man girds himself with his girdle, that he may the better perform his work, so thou wilt gird thyself with wrath, that thou mayest destroy thy enemies. A good maxim has been taken from this verse: "God often so counterworks the evil designs of men against his cause and followers, that it turns out to their advantage and his glory; nor does he permit them to go to the extent of what they have purposed, and of what they are able to perform. He suffers them to do some mischief, but not all they would or can do." But how different is the reading of the Vulgate! Quoniam cogitatio hominis confitebitur tibi: et reliquiae cogitationis diem festum agent tibi: "The thought of man shall praise thee; and the remains of thought shall celebrate a feast day to thee." The Septuagint and the Ethiopic have understood the text in the same way. Some translate thus: "Certainly, the ferocity of the man (Sennacherib) shall praise thee: and thou shalt gird thyself with the spoils of the furious." The spoils of this great army shall be a booty for thy people. Probably this is the true notion of the place. The old Psalter renders it thus: For thoght of man sal schrife (confess) to the, and levyngs (remains) of thoght a feste day till the sal wirk. The paraphrase is curious, of which this is the substance: "When man forsakes perfitly his synne, and sithen (afterwards) rightwisness werks; it is a feste day; whenne the conscience is clered, and makes feste with the swetnes of goddes lufe, restand fra besynes of any creatur in erth: Than is God at hame with his spouse dwelland."
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleSurely the wrath of man shall praise thee,.... Either the wrath which comes from God, and has man for its object; and that either as it regards the people of God; so the Targum, "when thou art angry with thy people, thou hast mercy on them, and they shall confess unto thy name;'' or praise thee; see Isaiah 12:1, they are deserving of the wrath of God, but are not appointed to it, and are delivered from it by Christ, who bore it for them as their representative; by which as the justice of God is glorified, it is matter of praise to them; when the law enters into their consciences, it works wrath there, which being removed by the application of pardoning grace, is an occasion of praise to God; and whereas, under afflictive dispensations, they apprehend and deprecate the wrath of God, when they are delivered from them their mouths are filled with songs of praise: or, as it regards wicked men, so it came forth upon the old world, and drowned it; upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and reduced them to ashes; upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, in the plagues inflicted on them; all which turned to the praise and glory of God; of the last instance, see Romans 9:17, it came upon the wicked Jews to the uttermost in the destruction of their nation, city, and temple; and upon Rome Pagan, in the entire demolition of it as such; and so it will come upon Rome Papal, which will be attended with great joy, praise, and thanksgiving in the saints; see Revelation 11:17 or else this is to be understood of the wrath which is in man, and comes forth from him, and has him for its subject; which though it does not work the righteousness of God, yet the righteousness of God is glorified both in checking and punishing it; and the more it rages and burns against the people of God, the greater reason have they to praise the Lord when delivered from it; see Psalm 124:1, so the wrath of the Assyrian monarch, and of railing and blaspheming Rabshakeh, gave the people of the Jews a greater occasion to praise the Lord for their wonderful deliverance; so the wrath of men against Christ, his church and people, his ministers, Gospel, and ordinances, will all turn to the glory of his name, when in the issue it will be seen that these are established, overcoming all the rage and malice of men: the remainder of wrath shall thou restrain: that which remains in a man's breast, he has not yet vented, God can and does keep in, that it may not break forth; this very likely was verified in Sennacherib, who might breathe revenge, and threaten the Jews with a second visit; but was prevented by a sudden and violent death. Some read the words, "the remainder of wraths thou wilt gird" (d); that is, those that remain, and are not destroyed through the rage and fury of men, God will gird with strength to defend themselves, and resist their enemies that may rise up against them, or with gladness, because of deliverance from them; see Psalm 18:32. Some understand this of the wrath of God, which he has in reserve and store for wicked men, and render the words thus, with the remainder of wrath wilt thou gird thyself (e); and so come forth like an armed man, clad with zeal, and arrayed with the garments of wrath and vengeance; see Isaiah 49:17. (d) "res duum irarum accinges", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Piscator, Gejerus. (e) "Reliquo indignationum accinges te", so some in Vatablus; "residuo irarum accinges te", Michaelis.
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old TestamentThe fact that has just been experienced is substantiated in Psalm 76:10 from a universal truth, which has therein become outwardly manifest. The rage of men shall praise Thee, i.e., must ultimately redound to Thy glory, inasmuch as to Thee, namely (Psalm 76:1 as to syntax like Psalm 73:3), there always remains a שׁארית, i.e., a still unexhausted remainder, and that not merely of חמה, but of חמת, with which Thou canst gird, i.e., arm, Thyself against such human rage, in order to quench it. שׁארית חמת is the infinite store of wrath still available to God after human rage has done its utmost. Or perhaps still better, and more fully answering to the notion of שׁארית: it is the store of the infinite fulness of wrath which still remains on the side of God after human rage (חמה) has spent itself, when God calmly, and laughing (Psalm 2:4), allows the Titans to do as they please, and which is now being poured out. In connection with the interpretation: with the remainder of the fury (of hostile men) wilt Thou gird Thyself, i.e., it serves Thee only as an ornament (Hupfeld), the alternation of חמה and חמת is left unexplained, and תּחגּר is alienated from its martial sense (Isaiah 59:17; Isaiah 51:9, Wisd. 5:21 [20]), which is required by the context. Ewald, like the lxx, reads תּחגּך, ἑορτάσει σοι, in connection with which, apart from the high-sounding expression, שׁארית חמת (ἐγκατάλειμμα ἐνθυμίου) must denote the remainder of malignity that is suddenly converted into its opposite; and one does not see why what Psalm 76:11 says concerning rage is here limited to its remainder. Such an inexhaustiveness in the divine wrath-power has been shown in what has just recently been experienced. Thus, then, are those who belong to the people of God to vow and pay, i.e., (inasmuch as the preponderance falls upon the second imperative) to pay their vows; and all who are round about Him, i.e., all the peoples dwelling round about Him and His people (כּל־סביביו, the subject to what follows, in accordance with which it is also accented), are to bring offerings (Psalm 68:30) to God, who is מורא, i.e., the sum of all that is awe-inspiring. Thus is He called in Isaiah 8:13; the summons accords with Isaiah's prediction, according to which, in consequence of Jahve's deed of judgment upon Assyria, Aethiopia presents himself to Him as an offering (Isaiah 18:1-7), and with the fulfilment in 2 Chronicles 32:23. Just so does v. 13a resemble the language of Isaiah; cf. Isaiah 25:1-12; Isaiah 33:1; Isaiah 18:5 : God treats the snorting of the princes, i.e., despots, as the vine-dresser does the wild shoots or branches of the vine-stock: He lops it, He cuts it off, so that it is altogether ineffectual. It is the figure that is sketched by Joel 3:13, then filled in by Isaiah, and embodied as a vision in Revelation 14:17-20, which is here indicated. God puts an end to the defiant, arrogant bearing of the tyrants of the earth, and becomes at last the feared of all the kings of the earth - all kingdoms finally becomes God's and His Christ's.
Geneva Study BibleSurely the {g} wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. (g) For the end will show that the enemy was able to bring nothing to pass: also you will bridle their rage that they will not accomplish their purpose.
Wesley's Notes 76:10 Surely - The furious attempts of thine enemies, shall cause thy people and others to praise thee for thy admirable wisdom, power, and faithfulness.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary10. Man's wrath praises God by its futility before His power. restrain-or, "gird"; that is, Thyself, as with a sword, with which to destroy, or as an ornament to Thy praise.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary76:7-12 God's people are the meek of the earth, the quiet in the land, that suffer wrong, but do none. The righteous God seems to keep silence long, yet, sooner or later, he will make judgment to be heard. We live in an angry, provoking world; we often feel much, and are apt to fear more, from the wrath of man. What will not turn to his praise, shall not be suffered to break out. He can set bounds to the wrath of man, as he does to the raging sea; hitherto it shall come, and no further. Let all submit to God. Our prayers and praises, and especially our hearts, are the presents we should bring to the Lord. His name is glorious, and he is the proper object of our fear. He shall cut off the spirit of princes; he shall slip it off easily, as we slip off a flower from the stalk, or a bunch of grapes from the vine; so the word signifies. He can dispirit the most daring: since there is no contending with God, it is our wisdom, as it is our duty, to submit to him. Let us seek his favour as our portion, and commit all our concerns to him.
Matthew Henry's Whole Bible CommentaryVerses 7-12 This glorious victory with which God had graced and blessed his church is here made to speak three things:- I. Terror to God's enemies (v. 7-9): "Thou, even thou, art to be feared; thy majesty is to be reverenced, thy sovereignty to be submitted to, and thy justice to be dreaded by those that have offended thee." Let all the world learn by this event to stand in awe of the great God. 1. Let all be afraid of his wrath against the daring impiety of sinners: Who may stand in thy sight from the minute that thou art angry? If God be a consuming fire, how can chaff and stubble stand before him, though his anger be kindled but a little? Ps. 2:12. 2. Let all be afraid of his jealousy for oppressed innocency and the injured cause of his own people: "Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven, then when thou didst arise to save all the meek of the earth (v. 8, 9); and then the earth feared and was still, waiting what would be the issue of those glorious appearances of thine." Note, (1.) God's people are the meek of the earth (Zec. 2:3), the quiet in the land (Ps. 35:20), that can bear any wrong, but do none. (2.) Though the meek of the earth are by their meekness exposed to injury, yet God will, sooner or later, appear for their salvation, and plead their cause. (3.) When God comes to save all the meek of the earth, he will cause judgment to be heard from heaven; he will make the world know that he is angry at the oppressors of his people, and takes what is done against them as done against himself. The righteous God long seems to keep silence, yet, sooner or later, he will make judgment to be heard. (4.) When God is speaking judgment from heaven it is time for the earth to compose itself into an awful and reverent silence: The earth feared and was still, as silence is made by proclamation when the court sits. Be still and know that I am God, Ps. 46:10. Be silent, O all flesh! before the Lord, for he is raised up to judgment, Zec. 2:13. Those that suppose this psalm to have been penned upon the occasion of the routing of Sennacherib's army take it for granted that the descent of the destroying angel, who did the execution, was accompanied with thunder, by which God caused judgment to be heard from heaven, and that the earth feared (that is, there was an earthquake), but it was soon over. But this is altogether uncertain. II. Comfort to God's people, v. 10. We live in a very angry provoking world; we often feel much, and are apt to fear more, from the wrath of man, which seems boundless. But this is a great comfort to us, 1. That as far as God permits the wrath of man to break forth at any time he will make it turn to his praise, will bring honour to himself and serve his own purposes by it: Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, not only by the checks given to it, when it shall be forced to confess its own impotency, but even by the liberty given to it for a time. The hardships which God's people suffer by the wrath of their enemies are made to redound to the glory of God and his grace; and the more the heathen rage and plot against the Lord and his anointed the more will God be praised for setting his King upon his holy hill of Zion in spite of them, Ps. 2:1, 6. When the heavenly hosts make this the matter of their thanksgiving-song that God has taken to himself his great power and has reigned, though the nations were angry (Rev. 11:17, 18), then the wrath of man adds lustre to the praises of God. 2. That what will not turn to his praise shall not be suffered to break out: The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Men must never permit sin, because they cannot check it when they will; but God can. He can set bounds to the wrath of man, as he does to the raging sea. Hitherto it shall come and no further; here shall its proud waves be stayed. God restrained the remainder of Sennacherib's rage, for he put a hook in his nose and a bridle in his jaws (Isa. 37:29); and, though he permitted him to talk big, he restrained him from doing what he designed. III. Duty to all, v. 11, 12. Let all submit themselves to this great God and become his loyal subjects. Observe, 1. The duty required of us all, all that are about him, that have any dependence upon him or any occasion to approach to him; and who is there that has not? We are therefore every one of us commanded to do our homage to the King of kings: Vow and pay; that is, take an oath of allegiance to him and make conscience of keeping it. Vow to be his, and pay what you vow. Bind your souls with a bond to him (for that is the nature of a vow), and then live up to the obligations you have laid upon yourselves; for better it is not to vow than to vow and not to pay. And, having taken him for our King, let us bring presents to him, as subjects to their sovereign, 1 Sa. 10:27. Send you the lamb to the ruler of the land, Isa. 16:1. Not that God needs any present we can bring, or can be benefited by it; but thus we must give him honour and own that we have our all from him. Our prayers and praises, and especially our hearts, are the presents we should bring to the Lord our God. 2. The reasons to enforce this duty: Render to all their due, fear to whom fear is due; and is it not due to God? Yes; (1.) He ought to be feared: He is the fear (so the word is); his name is glorious and fearful,; and he is the proper object of our fear; with him is terrible majesty. The God of Abraham is called the fear of Isaac (Gen. 31:42), and we are commanded to make him our fear, Isa. 8:13. When we bring presents to him we must have an eye to him as greatly to be feared; for he is terrible in his holy places. (2.) He will be feared, even by those who think it their own sole prerogative to be feared (v. 12): He shall cut off the spirit of princes; he shall slip it off as easily as we slip off a flower from the stalk or a bunch of grapes from the vine; so the word signifies. He can dispirit those that are most daring and make them heartless; for he is, or will be, terrible to the kings of the earth; and sooner or later, if they be not so wise as to submit themselves to him, he will force them to call in vain to rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from his wrath, Rev. 6:16. Since there is no contending with God, it is as much our wisdom as it is our duty to submit to him. |
