EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS (6)

We must further distinguish of a double perfection, it is extrinseca and intrinseca. Extrinsical perfection so called, because by imputation, is that which every believer is partaker of through the perfect righteousness of Christ, whereby all his imperfections are covered; in this respect the author to the Hebrews tells us, “That by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified;” and S. Paul tells the Colossians that they were “complete in him,” meaning Christ. Indeed omnia Dei mandata tunc facta deputantur, quando id quod non fit ignoscitur: divine commands are then in God’s account fulfilled when our defects for Christ’s sake are pardoned; and the evangelical perfection of a Christian consists not in perfectione virtutum, sed remissione vitiorum, in the completion of our graces, but remission of our sins.

Intrinsical perfection, so called because by inhæsion, is no less rationally than usually thus distinguished, there is perfectio partium et graduum. He is said to be perfect, cui nihil deest eorum quæ ad statum salutis necessaria, who wants no graces that accompany salvation; or he is perfect, cui nihil deest in gradibus gratiarum et virtutum; who is not defective in the measures of those graces; both these are frequently and fitly illustrated by the resemblance of a child, and a grown man; the one whereof hath all the essential and integral parts of a man, the other a complete use and measure of those parts.—Nathanael Hardy.

Verse 37.—“The end.” All wise men affect the conclusion to be best: to ride two or three miles of fair way, and to have a hundred deep and foul ones to pass afterward is uncomfortable; especially when the end is worse than the way. But let the beginning be troublesome, the progress somewhat more easy, and the journey’s end happy, and there is fair amends. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” Mark him in the setting out, he hath many oppositions; mark him in the journey, he is full of tribulations; but mark in the conclusion, and the end of that man is peace.—Thomas Adams.

Verse 37.—“The end of that man is peace.” Give me leave to determine what it is to end or die in peace. To end in peace with Euthymius, is to end in pace cogitationis, in peace of mind as it is opposed to doubting. To end in peace with Cyprian, is to end in pace securilatis, in peace of security, as it is opposed to final falling. To end in peace with Origen, is to end in pace conscientiæ, in peace of conscience as it is opposed to despairing. To end in peace with old Irenæus, is to end in pace mortis, in the peace of death as it is opposed to labouring. Again, to end in peace, is to end in pace Dei, in the peace of God which passeth all understanding, i.e., far beyond men’s apprehensions. To end in peace, is to end in pace proximi, in peace with our neighbours, i.e., when no outcries or exclamations follow us. And lastly, to end in peace, is to end in pace sui, in peace with ourselves, i.e., when no distractions or perturbations of mind molest us.—Richard Parre.

Verse 37.—The text may be divided into these two parts. Here is, 1. The godly man’s property; and 2. The godly man’s privilege. His property is perfection; his privilege is peace. Here is the saint’s character and the saint’s crown: he is characterised by uprightness or sincerity, and crowned with peace. Here is the Christian’s way and his end, his motion, and his rest. His way is holiness, his end happiness; his motion is towards perfection and in uprightness; his rest is peace at his journey’s end.—John Whitlock, in a Funeral Sermon entitled, “The Upright Man and his Happy End,” 1658.

Verse 37.—Time would fail me to tell how Christians die, nor can anything save the pen of the recording angel who has stood by their bed of death and borne them to Abraham’s bosom, narrate the unnumbered instances of their delightful departure from the present world, which verify the truth of the Bible. “I could never have believed,” said a dying saint, “that it was so delightful a thing to die, or that it was possible to have such views of the heavenly world as I now enjoy.” The memorable Melancthon, just before he died, chanted in his sleep the words, “I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” He seemed restless, and on being asked by one near him, “Whether there were anything more that he desired?” replied, Aliud nihil nisi cœlum—nothing more, unless it be heaven.—Gardiner Spring.

Verse 37.—To die well be sure to live well; we must not think to have Lazarus’s death, and Dives’s life; like him in Plutarch that would live with Crœsus, as he said, but he would die with Socrates. No, Balaam’s wishes are foolish and fruitless: if you would die well, Christians, you must have a care to live well: qualis vita, finis ita, if you would die quietly, you must live strictly; if you would die comfortably, you must live comformably; if you would die happily, you must live holily. “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.”—John Kitchin, M.A., 1660.

Verse 38.—“The end of the wicked shall be cut off.” The wicked in this world do easily run up without rub or interruption, many times with acclamations and applause, all the golden steps of honours and preferments; but upon the highest stair they find the most slippery standing, and the top of their earthly felicity is the most immediate and certain descent unto the greatest downfall. They are royally mounted here upon earth, and gallop swiftly over the fair and green plains of plenty and pleasures; but at the end of their race they are overturned horse and man, and tumbled headlong into the pit of destruction. They fairly glide over the sea of this world with full sail, with much calmness and serenity, and richly laden; but in the brightest sunshine, and when they least suspect it, they suddenly and without recovery, sink into the gulf of darkness and desolation.—Robert Bolton.

Verse 40.—“And the Lord shall help them.” He shall, he shall, he shall. Oh, the rhetoric of God! the safety of the saints! the certainty of the promises!—John Trapp.

Luther closes his Exposition of the Psalm with the words, Oh, shame on our faithlessness, mistrust, and vile unbelief, that we do not believe such rich, powerful, consolatory, declarations of God, and take up so readily with little grounds of offence, whenever we but hear the wicked speeches of the ungodly. Help, O God, that we may once attain to right faith. Amen.