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9.Thou shalt put them as it were into a furnace of fire. (486) The Psalmist here describes a dreadful kind of vengeance, from which we gather, that he does not speak of every kind of enemies in general, but of the malicious and frantic despisers of God, who, after the manner of the giants (487) of old, rise up against his only begotten Son. The very severity of the punishment shows the greatness of the wickedness. Some think that David alludes to the kind of punishment which he inflicted upon the Ammonites, of which we have an account in the sacred history; but it is more probable that he here sets forth metaphorically the dreadful destruction which awaits all the adversaries of Christ. They may burn with rage against the Church, and set the world on fire by their cruelty, but when their wickedness shall have reached its highest pitch, there is this reward which God has in reserve for them, that he will cast them into his burning furnace to consume them. In the first clause, the king is called an avenger; in the second, this office is transferred to God; and in the third, the execution of the vengeance is attributed to fire; which three things very well agree. We know that judgment has been committed to Christ, that he may cast his enemies headlong into everlasting fire; but, it was of importance distinctly to express that this is not the judgment of man but of God. Nor was it less important to set forth how extreme and dreadful a kind of vengeance this is, in order to arouse from their torpor those who, unapprehensive of danger, boldly despise all the threatenings of God. Besides, this serves not a little for the consolation of the righteous. We know how dreadful the cruelty of the ungodly is, and that our faith would soon sink under it, if it did not rise to the contemplation of the judgment of God. The expression, In the time of thy wrath, admonishes us that we ought patiently to bear the cross as long as it shall please the Lord to exercise and humble us under it. If, therefore, he does not immediately put forth his power to destroy the ungodly, let us learn to extend our hope to the time which our heavenly Father has appointed in his eternal purpose for the execution of his judgment, and when our King, armed with his terrible power, will come forth to execute vengeance. While he now seems to take no notice, this does not imply that he has forgotten either himself or us. On the contrary, he laughs at the madness of those who go on in the commission of every kind of sin without any fear of danger, and become more presumptuous day after day. This laughter of God, it is true, brings little comfort to us; but we must, nevertheless, complete the time of our condition of warfare till “ day of the Lord’ vengeance” come, which, as Isaiah declares, (Isa_34:8) shall also be “ year of our redemption.” It does not seem to me to be out of place to suppose, that in the last clause, there is denounced against the enemies of Christ a destruction like that which God in old time sent upon Sodom and Gomorrah. That punishment was a striking and memorable example above all others of the judgment of God against all the wicked, or rather it was, as it were, a visible image upon earth of the eternal fire of hell which is prepared for the reprobate: and hence this similitude is frequently to be met with in the sacred writings.
(486) French and Skinner’ translation of these words is the same, and so also is that of Rogers. This last author observes, “ common interpretation, Thou shalt make them like a fiery oven, etc., is not very intelligible. I consider כתור as put by ellipsis for כבתנור Thou shalt place them as it were [in] a furnace of fire. ” — (Rogers’ Book of Psalms, in Hebrew, metrically arranged, vol. 2, p. 178.) Poole takes the same view. Calvin, however, in his French version, gives a translation much the same as that of our English version: ”Tu les rendras comme une fournaise de feu en temps de ta cholere.” “ shalt make them like a furnace of fire, in the time of thy anger.” This is exactly the rendering of Horsley, in which he is followed by Walford. “ describes,” says the learned prelate, “ smoke of the Messiah’ enemies perishing by fire, ascending like the smoke of a furnace. ‘ smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and ever.’” “ awfully grand,” says Bishop Mant, “ that description of the ruins of the cities of the plain, as the prospect struck on Abraham’ eye on the fatal morning of their destruction:’ he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo! the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.’”
(487) The allusion is to the fabulous giants of heathen mythology, who waged war against heaven.