O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
Other masters besides the Lord have exercised dominion over His people. In contrast to that past rule, He alone ordains peace for them and effects in them everything that is good. Their answer is a settled resolve that He alone shall be acknowledged as Lord, and that only by Him and through Him will they honor His name and make mention of it.
This turning to God alone stands where pardon is freely extended and sin is taken away, belonging with that gracious cleansing set forth in the surrounding chapters. The confession puts away self-importance as useless and self-sufficiency as false, taking the place of the penitent who leans wholly on God. It is dependence on Christ operating within the heart to do the good.
Since Christ Himself is ruler of the church, no person is entitled to exercise lordship over the flock. The minister is therefore to stand as one with the believers, not as a separate superior to be feared.
Other masters besides the Lord have exercised dominion over His people. In contrast to that past rule, He alone ordains peace for them and effects in them everything that is good. Their answer is a settled resolve that He alone shall be acknowledged as Lord, and that only by Him and through Him will they honor His name and make mention of it.
This turning to God alone stands where pardon is freely extended and sin is taken away, belonging with that gracious cleansing set forth in the surrounding chapters. The confession puts away self-importance as useless and self-sufficiency as false, taking the place of the penitent who leans wholly on God. It is dependence on Christ operating within the heart to do the good.
Since Christ Himself is ruler of the church, no person is entitled to exercise lordship over the flock. The minister is therefore to stand as one with the believers, not as a separate superior to be feared.