'Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance
of their inventions.'--PSALM xcix. 8.
When the prophet Isaiah saw the great vision which called him to
service, he heard from the lips of the seraphim around the Throne the
threefold ascription of praise: 'Holy! holy! holy! Lord God of hosts.'
This psalm seems to be an echo of that heavenly chorus, for it is
divided into three sections, each of which closes with the refrain, 'He
is holy,' and each of which sets forth some one aspect or outcome of
that divine holiness. In the first part the holiness of His universal
dominion is celebrated; in the second, the holiness of His revelations
and providences to Israel, His inheritance; in the third, the holiness
of His dealings with them that call upon His name, both when He forgives
their sins and when He scourges for the sins that He has forgiven.
Two remarks of an expository character will prepare the way for what I
have further to say. The first is that the word 'though' in my text,
which holds together the two statements that it contains, is commentary
rather than translation. For the original has the simple 'and,' and the
difference between the two renderings is this, that 'though' implies
some real or apparent contrariety between forgiveness and taking
vengeance, which makes their co-existence remarkable, whereas 'and' lays
the two things down side by side. The Psalmist simply declares that they
are both there, and puts in no such fine distinction as is represented
by the words 'though,' or 'but,' or 'yet.' To me it seems a great deal
more eloquent in its simplicity and reticence that he should say, 'Thou
forgavest them and tookest vengeance,' than that he should say 'Thou
forgavest them though Thou tookest vengeance.'
Then there is another point to be noted, viz. we must not import into
that word 'vengeance,' when it is applied to divine actions, the notions
which cluster round it when it is applied to ours. For in its ordinary
use it means retaliation, inflicted at the bidding of personal enmity or
passion. But there are no turbid elements of that sort in God. His
retribution is a great deal more analogous to the unimpassioned,
impersonal action of public law than it is to the 'wild justice of
revenge.' When we speak of His 'vengeance' we simply mean--unless we
have dropped into a degrading superstition--the just recompense of
reward which divinely dogs all sin. There is one saying in Scripture
which puts the whole matter in its true light, 'Vengeance is Mine; I
will repay,' saith the Lord; the last clause of which interprets the
first. So, then, with these elucidations, we may perhaps see a little
more clearly the sequence of the Psalmist's thought here--God's
forgiveness, and co-existing with that, God's scourging of the sin which
He forgives; and both His forgiveness and the scourging, the efflux and
the manifestation of the divine holiness. Now just let us look at these
thoughts. Here we have--