8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house. You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of that house. I have no doubt that by the fatness of God's house the prophet means the abundance of good things which is not designed for all men indiscriminately, but is laid up in store for the children of God who commit themselves wholly to his protection. Some restrict the expression to spiritual graces; but to me it seems more likely, that under it are comprehended all the blessings that are necessary to the happiness and comfort of the present life, as well as those which pertain to eternal and heavenly blessedness. It ought, however, to be observed, that in the style of speaking which the prophet here employs, the use of earthly blessings is connected with the gracious experience of faith, in the exercise of which we can alone enjoy them rightfully and lawfully to our own welfare. When the ungodly glut themselves with the abundance of God's benefits, their bodies indeed grow fat like the flesh of cattle or swine, but their souls are always empty and famished. It is the faithful alone, as I have said, who are satisfied with the goodness of God towards them, because it is to them a pledge of his fatherly love. The expression meat and drink denotes a complete and perfect fullness, and the term river, [1] denotes an overflowing abundance.
1 - The words in the original are, nchl tyk, nachal adanecha, the river of thy Eden, in which there is probably an allusion to the garden of rn Eden, and to the river which flowed through and watered it.
They shall be abundantly satisfied - Margin, "watered." That is, all who thus put their trust in the mercy of God. The Hebrew word - רוה râvâh - means to drink to the full; to be satisfied, or sated with drink; or to be satisfied or filled with water, as the earth or fields after an abundant rain: Isaiah 34:7; Psalm 65:10. The state referred to by the word is that of one who was thirsty, but who has drunk to the full; who feels that his desire is satisfied:
(a) He has found that which is adapted to his wants, or which meets his needs, as water does the wants of one who is a thirst;
(b) He has found this "in abundance."
There is no lack, and he partakes of it in as large measure as he chooses. So the weary and thirsty traveler, when he finds in the desert a "new and untasted spring," finds that which he needs, and drinks freely; and so the sinner - the dying man - the man who feels that there is nothing in the world that can satisfy him:
(1) finds in the provisions of the gospel that which exactly meets the needs of his nature, and
(2) he finds it in abundance.
With the fatness - The word used here means properly "fatness" or "fat:" Judges 9:9. Then it means "fat food," or "sumptuous food," Job 36:16; Isaiah 55:2; Jeremiah 31:14. It is connected here with the word "drink," or "drink in," because this kind of food was "sucked" in at the mouth, and the mode of partaking of it resembled the act of drinking. Gesenius. The allusion is the same as that which so often occurs in the Scriptures, where the provisions of salvation are represented as a "feast," or where the illustration is drawn from the act of eating or drinking.
Of thy house - Furnished by thy house, or in the place of public worship. God is represented as the Head or Father of a family, and as providing for the wants of his children. Compare Psalm 23:6; Psalm 27:4.
And thou shalt make them drink - In allusion to the provisions of salvation considered as adapted to satisfy the needs of the thirsty soul.
Of the river - The abundance. Not a running fountain; not a gentle bubbling rivulet; not a stream that would soon dry up; but a "river," large; full; overflowing; inexhaustible.
Of thy pleasures - Furnishing happiness or pleasure such as "thine" is. The pious man has happiness of the same "kind" or "nature" as that of God. It is happiness in holiness or purity; happiness in doing good; happiness in the happiness of others. It is in this sense that the friend of God partakes of His pleasure or happiness. Compare 2-Peter 1:4. The following things, therefore, are taught by this verse:
(1) that God is happy;
(2) that religion makes man happy;
(3) that his happiness is of the same "kind" or "nature" as that of God;
(4) that this happiness is "satisfying" in its nature, or that it meets the real needs of the soul;
(5) that it is abundant, and leaves no want of the soul unsupplied; and
(6) that this happiness is to be found in an eminent degree in the "house of God," or is closely connected with the public worship of God.
It is there that God has made provision for the wants of His people; and advancement in religion, and in the comforts of religion, will always be closely connected with the fidelity with which we attend on public worship.
They shall be abundantly satisfied - ירוין yirveyun, they shall be saturated, as a thirsty field is by showers from heaven. Inebriaduntur, they shall be inebriated - Vulgate. That sal be drunken of the plenteuoste of thi house. - Old Psalter. This refers to the joyous expectation they had of being restored to their own land, and to the ordinances of the temple.
Of the river of thy pleasures - נחל אדניך nachal adaneycha, (or עדנך edencha, as in four MSS)., the river of thy Eden. They shall be restored to their paradisaical estate; for here is a reference to the river that ran through the garden of Eden, and watered it; Genesis 2:10. Or the temple, and under it the Christian Church, may be compared to this Eden; and the gracious influences of God to be had in his ordinances, to the streams by which that garden was watered, and its fertility promoted.
They shall be abundantly (g) satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
(g) Only God's children have enough of all things both concerning this life and the life to come.
They shall be abundantly sallied with the fatness of thy house,.... By his "house" is meant the church of God, of his building, and where he dwells; by the fatness of it the provisions there, the word and ordinances, and the blessings of grace which they hold forth; and especially Christ, the fatted calf, the bread of life, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed, and which make a feast of fat things; and these they that trust in the Lord are welcome to eat and drink of abundantly, and to abundant satisfaction; see Matthew 5:6, Psalm 22:26;
and thou shall make them drink of the river of thy pleasure; the love of God, whose streams make glad the city of God; or the fulness of grace, which is in Christ, out of which believers draw with joy, and drink with pleasure; or eternal glory and happiness, enjoyed in the presence of God, in which is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore; a never ceasing torrent of them.
fatness--richness.
thy house--residence--for the privileges and blessings of communion with God (Psalm 23:6; Psalm 27:4).
river of thy pleasures--plenteous supply; may allude to Eden.
Satisfied - Who trust in thee, as he now said. Fatness - With those delightful provisions, which thou hast prepared for them in heaven. The river - Which denotes both their plenty, and their perpetuity.
*More commentary available at chapter level.