Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even that right
hand?
&c.] By which is meant the power of God; by which he made the
heavens and the earth, and all things therein, and supports them
in their beings; by which the work of his grace is wrought in the
hearts of his people, and they are upheld; and by which he
conquers their enemies, and saves them: this may be said to be
withdrawn when he denies his people the help and succour they
have had from him; when he seems to have forsaken the work of his
hands; when there is not that success in the ministry of the word
there formerly was, his arm being not revealed and made bare; and
when the enemies of religion prosper and get ground; and when the
Lord seems to be altogether inactive and unconcerned, like a man
that folds up his arms under his arm holes, or hides his hands in
his bosom, see ( Psalms
44:23-26 ) ( Proverbs
19:24 ) ( Lamentations
2:3-8 ) wherefore it follows:
pluck it out of thy bosom;
as he will one day, and strike with a home blow, antichrist and
his followers, and destroy them with his rod of iron, with which
he will break them in shivers as a potter's vessel; and all his
enemies shall feel the lighting down of his arm with the
indignation of his anger; and then this request will be
fulfilled: the word used signifies to "consume" F1; and
Kimchi interprets it, consume the enemy out of thy bosom, which
is the house of the sanctuary; his secret place, as the bosom is
to man; but both senses of the word maybe retained, and the
meaning be, pluck it out of thy bosom to consume them {b}: also
it signifies to restrain F3; and the sense may be, as the above
writer observes, restrain it, that it may not return to thy
bosom, till thou hast executed judgment on the wicked.