Verse 7. For the earth. The design of the apostle by this comparison is apparent. It is to show the consequences of not making a proper use of all the privileges which Christians have, and the effect which would follow should those privileges fail to be improved. He says, it is like the earth. If that absorbs the rain, and produces an abundant harvest, it receives the Divine blessing. If not, it is cursed, or is worthless. The design is to show that if Christians should become like the barren earth, they would be cast away and lost.

Which drinketh in the rain. A comparison of the earth as if it were |thirsty| -- a comparison that is common in all languages.

That cometh oft upon it. The frequent showers that fall. The object is, to describe fertile land which is often watered with the rains of heaven. The comparison of |drinking in| the rain is designed to distinguish a mellow soil which receives the rain, from hard or rocky rand where it runs off.

And bringeth forth herbs. The word herbs we now limit, in common discourse, to the small vegetables which die every year, and which are used as articles of food, or to such in general as have not ligneous or hard woody stems. The word here means anything which is cultivated in the earth as an article of food, and includes all kinds of grains.

Meet for them. Useful or appropriate to them.

By whom it is dressed. Marg. |for whom.| The meaning is, on account of whom it is cultivated. The word |dressed| here means cultivated. Comp. Ge 2:15.

Receiveth blessing from God. Receives the Divine approbation. It is in accordance with his wishes and plans, and he stories upon it and blesses it. He does not curse it, as he does the desolate and barren soil. The language is figurative, and must be used to denote that which is an object of the Divine favour. God delights in the harvests which the earth brings forth; in the effects of dews and rains and suns, in causing beauty and abundance; and on much fields of beauty and plenty he looks down with pleasure. This does not mean, as I suppose, that he renders it more fertile and abundant, for

(1.) it cannot be shown that it is true that God thus rewards the earth for its fertility; and

(2.) such an interpretation would not accord well with the scope of the passage. The design is to show that a Christian who makes proper use of the means of growing in grace which God bestows upon him, and who does not apostatize, meets with the Divine favour and approbation. His course accords with the Divine intention and wishes, and he is a man on whom God will smile -- as he seems to on the fertile earth.

{++} |earth| |land| {*} |meet| |useful| {1} |by| |for| {+} |dressed| |belong to| {a} |blessing| Ps 65:10