Spurgeon PS155
EXPOSITION.
“_He that putteth not out his money to usury_.” Usury was and is hateful both to God and man. That a lender should share with the borrower in gains made by his money is most fitting and proper; but that the man of property should eat up the poor wretch who unfortunately obtained a loan of him is abominable. Those who grind poor tradesmen, needy widows, and such like, by charging them interest at intolerable rates, will find that their gold and their silver are cankered. The man who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord must shake off this sin as Paul shook the viper into the fire. “_Nor taketh reward against the innocent_.” Bribery is a sin both in the giver and the receiver. It was frequently practised in Eastern courts of justice; that form of it is now under our excellent judges almost an unheard-of thing; yet the sin survives in various forms, which the reader needs not that we should mention; and under every shape it is loathsome to the true man of God. He remembers that Jesus instead of taking reward against the innocent died for the guilty.
“_He that doeth these things shall never be moved_.” No storm shall tear him from his foundations, drag him from his anchorage, or uproot him from his place. Like the Lord Jesus, whose dominion is everlasting, the true Christian shall never lose his crown. He shall not only be _on_ Zion, but _like_ Zion, fixed and firm. He shall dwell in the tabernacle of the Most High, and neither death nor judgment shall remove him from his place of privilege and blessedness.
Let us betake ourselves to prayer and self-examination, for this Psalm is as fire for the gold, and as a furnace for silver. Can we endure its testing power?
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Verse 5.–The Puritanic divines are almost all of them against the taking of any interest upon money, and go the length of saying that one penny per cent, per annum will shut a man out of heaven if persisted in. It appeared to me to be useless to quote opinions in which I cannot agree, especially as this would occupy space better employed. The demanding of excessive and grinding interest is a sin to be detested; the taking of the usual and current interest in a commercial country is not contrary to the law of love. The Jews were not engaged in commerce, and to lend money even at the lowest interest to their fellow farmers in times of poverty would have been usurious; but they might lend to strangers, who would usually be occupied in commerce, because in the commercial world, money is a fruitful thing, and the lender has a right to a part of its products; a loan to enable a non-trader to live over a season of want is quite another matter.–^C. H. S.
Verse 5.–“_He that putteth not out his money to usury_.” By usury is generally understood the gain of anything above the principal, or that which was lent, exacted only in consideration of the loan, whether it be in money, corn, wares, or the like. It is most commonly taken for an unlawful profit which a person makes of his money or goods. The Hebrew word for usury signifies biting. The law of God prohibits rigorous imposing conditions of gain for the loan of money or goods, and exacting them without respect to the condition of the borrower, whether he gain or lose; whether poverty occasioned his borrowing, or a visible prospect of gain by employing the borrowed goods. It is said in #Ex 22:25,26|, “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an _usurer_, neither shalt thou lay upon him _usury_,” etc. And in #Lev 25:35,36,37|, “If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner, that he may live with thee: take thou no _usury_ of him,” etc. This law forbids the taking _usury_ from a brother that was poor, an Israelite reduced to poverty, or from a proselyte; but in #De 23:20|, God seems to tolerate _usury_ towards strangers; “Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon _usury_.” By _strangers_, in this passage, some understand the Gentiles in general, or all such as were not Jews, excepting proselytes. Others think that by _strangers_ are meant the Canaanites, and the other people that were devoted to slavery and subjection; of these the Hebrews were permitted to exact _usury_, but not of such _strangers_ with whom they had no quarrel, and against whom the Lord had not denounced his judgments. The Hebrews were plainly commanded in #Ex 22:25|, etc., not to receive _usury_ for money from any that borrowed from necessity, as in that case in #Neh 5:5,7|. And such provision the law made for the preserving of estates to their families by the year of jubilee; for a people that had little concern in trade, could not be supposed to borrow money but out of necessity: but they were allowed to lend upon _usury_ to strangers, whom yet they must not oppress. This law, therefore, in the strictness of it, seems to have been peculiar to the Jewish state; but in the equity of it, it obligeth us to show mercy to those we have advantage against, and to be content to share with those we lend to in loss, as well as profit, if Providence cross them. And upon this condition, a valuable commentator says, “It seems as lawful for me to receive interest for money, which another takes pains with, improves, but runs the hazard of in trade, as it is to receive rent for my land, which another takes pains with, improves, but runs the hazard of in husbandry.”–^Alexander Cruden, 1701-1770.
Verse 5.–“_He that putteth not out his money to usury_.” “_If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee_.” #Ex 22:25|. Rather, according to the letter of the original, “_If thou lend money to my people, even to a poor man with thee_.” The Israelites were a people but little engaged in commerce, and therefore could not in general be supposed to borrow money but from sheer necessity; and of that necessity the lender was not to take advantage by usurious exactions. The law is not to be understood as a prohibition of interest at any rate whatever, but of excessive interest or usury. The clause, “Thou shalt not be to him as an usurer,” is equivalent to saying, “Thou shalt not domineer and lord it over him rigorously and cruelly.” That this class of men were peculiarly prone to be extortionate and oppressive in their dealings with debtors would seem to be implied by the etymology of the original term for _usury_ (_neshek_ <05393>), which comes from a root signifying to bite _n