18 The Rock that begat thee thou forgettest, And neglectest God who formeth thee.
Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And the rock of thy strength hast not remembered, Therefore thou plantest plants of pleasantness, And with a strange slip sowest it,
The Rock! -- perfect `is' His work, For all His ways `are' just; God of stedfastness, and without iniquity: Righteous and upright `is' He.
Doth a virgin forget her ornaments? A bride her bands? And My people have forgotten Me days without number.
And forget doth Israel his Maker, and buildeth temples, And Judah hath multiplied cities of defence, And I have sent a fire into his cities, And it hath consumed their palaces!
`Take heed to thyself, lest thou forget Jehovah thy God so as not to keep His commands, and His judgments, and His statutes which I am commanding thee to-day;
`And thy heart hath been high, and thou hast forgotten Jehovah thy God (who is bringing thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants;
And Jeshurun waxeth fat, and doth kick: Thou hast been fat -- thou hast been thick, Thou hast been covered. And he leaveth God who made him, And dishonoureth the Rock of his salvation.
The wicked do turn back to Sheol, All nations forgetting God.
And the houses of Jerusalem ye did number, And ye break down the houses to fence the wall. And a ditch ye made between the two walls, For the waters of the old pool, And ye have not looked unto its Maker, And its Framer of old ye have not seen.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 32
Commentary on Deuteronomy 32 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 32
In this chapter we have,
Deu 32:1-6
Here is,
Deu 32:7-14
Moses, having in general represented God to them as their great benefactor, whom they were bound in gratitude to observe and obey, in these verses gives particular instances of God's kindness to them and concern for them.
Three things are here enlarged upon as instances of God's kindness to his people Israel, and strong obligations upon them never to forsake him:-
Deu 32:15-18
We have here a description of the apostasy of Israel from God, which would shortly come to pass, and to which already they had a disposition. One would have thought that a people under so many obligations to their God, in duty, gratitude, and interest, would never have turned from him; but, alas! they turned aside quickly. Here are two great instances of their wickedness, and each of them amounted to an apostasy from God:-
Deu 32:19-25
The method of this song follows the method of the predictions in the foregoing chapter, and therefore, after the revolt of Israel from God, described in the foregoing verses, here follow immediately the resolves of divine Justice concerning them; we deceive ourselves if we think that God will be thus mocked by a foolish faithless people, that play fast and loose with him.
Deu 32:26-38
After many terrible threatenings of deserved wrath and vengeance, we have here surprising intimations of mercy, undeserved mercy, which rejoices against judgment, and by which it appears that God has no pleasure in the death of sinners, but would rather they should turn and live.
Deu 32:39-43
This conclusion of the song speaks three things:
Deu 32:44-52
Here is,