beast both of man and beast 9 Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee O Egypt upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants 10 * Numb 21. 24 25 26 34 35. Who smote great nations and slew mighty kings 11 Sihon king of the Amorite and Og king of Bashan and * Josh. 12. 7. all the kingdoms of Canaan 12 * Josh. 12. 7. Psal. 78. 55. And gave their land for an heritage an heritage unto Israel his people 13 Thy * Psal. 102. 12. name O LORD endureth for ever and thy memorial O LORD †Heb. to generation and generation throughout all generations o These wonderful works of thine shall never be forgotten The land which thou gavest us v. 12. and which we yet enjoy is an everlasting monument of thy power and goodness and an obligation and encouragement to trust in thee in all our present or future difficulties 14 For the LORD will judge his people p Will in due time plead the cause of his people or give judgment for them as this phrase is used Deut. 32. 36. Ier. 5. 28 22. 16. and he will repent himself concerning his servants q He will recal that severe sentence which for their sins he had passed upon them and be reconciled to them 15 * Psal. 115. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold r Of this and the following verses see the Notes on Psal. 115. 4 5 c. the work of mens hands 16 They have mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not 17 They have ears but they hear not neither is there any breath in their mouths 18 They that make them †Heb. let them be So Gr. are like unto them so is every one that trusteth in them 19 Bless the LORD O house of Israel bless the LORD O house of Aaron 20 Bless the LORD O house of Levi ye that fear the LORD bless the LORD 21 Blessed be the LORD out of Zion s By the assemblies of his people in Zion or Ierusalem which dwelleth at Jerusalem t This clause may be added either to distinguish the true God from the gods which were worshipped in other places and countries or as a reason why they should bless God because he had blessed and honoured that place with his gracious and glorious presence Praise ye the LORD PSAL. CXXXVI The matter of this Psalm is the same with the former onely it is a little more fitted to the use and service of the Temple by the continued repetition of that solemn clause for thy mercy endures for ever which was much used by the sacred Singers See 2 Chron. 7. 3. 20. 21. 1 O * Psal. 106. 1. 107. 1. 118. 1. Give thanks unto the LORD for he is good * 1 Chr. 16. 41. for his mercy endureth for ever 2 O give thanks unto * Deut. 10. 17. the God of gods a Who is infinitely superiour to all that are called gods whether Angels or Princes or Idols for his mercy endureth for ever 3 O give thanks unto the Lord of lords for his mercy endureth for ever 4 To him who alone b He and none else Or he without the help of any other person or thing whereas no other being can do any thing alone or without his help doth great wonders for his mercy endureth for ever 5 * Gen. 1. 1. To him that by wisdom c To wit by eminent and admirable wisdom far exceeding the capacity of all humane or Angelical creatures made the heavens for his mercy endureth for ever 6 * Gen. 1. 9. Jeâ—… 10. 12. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters d Of which see on Gen. 1. 9. Psal. 24. 2. for his mercy endureth for ever 7 * Gen. 1. 14. To him that made great lights for his mercy endureth for ever 8 The sun †Heb. for the â—…lings by day to rule by day e Of which phrase and the like in the next verse see my Notes on Gen. 1. 16. for his mercy endureth for ever 9 The moon and stars to rule by night for his mercy endureth for ever 10 * Exod. 12. 2. To him that smote Egypt in their first-born for his mercy endureth for ever 11 * Exod. 12. 51. 13. 17. And brought out Israel from among them for his mercy endureth for ever 12 * Exod. 6. 6. With a strong hand and with a stretched out arm for his mercy endureth for ever 13 * Exod. 14. 21 22. Psal. 74. 13. 78. 13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts for his mercy endureth for ever 14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it f To wit without fear or danger by comparing this with the next verse for his mercy endureth for ever 15 * Exod. 14. 28. But †Heb. shaked off overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea for his mercy endureth for ever 16 * Exod. 15. 22. To him which led his people through the wilderness g Through that vast howling wilderness where there was neither way nor provision through which none but the Almighty God could have safely conducted them for his mercy endureth for ever 17 * Psal. 135. 10 11. To him which smote great kings for his mercy endureth for ever 18 * Deut. 29. 7. Ps. 135. 10 11. And slew mighty kings for his mercy endureth for ever 19 * Num. 21. 23. Sihon king of the Amorite for his mercy endureth for ever 20 * Num. 21. 33. And Og the king of Bashan for his mercy endureth for ever 21 * Josh. 12. 17. And gave their land for an heritage for his mercy endureth for ever 22 Even an heritage unto Israel his servant h He speaks of all that people as of one man because they were united together in one body in the worship of one and the same God Thus God calleth them all his first-born Exod. 4. 22. for his mercy endureth for ever 23 Who remembred us in our low estate for his mercy endureth for ever 24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies for his mercy endureth for ever 25 * Psal. 104. 27. 147. 9. Who giveth food to all flesh i Either to all mankind or to all living creatures For which God deserves great praises which the Psalmist by his example teacheth us to render to God for them because those who are most concerned either cannot or do not perform this duty for his mercy endureth for ever 26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven for his mercy endureth for ever PSAL. CXXXVII The Penman of this Psalm is uncertain the occasion of it was unquestionably the consideration of the Babylonish Captivity and it seems to have been composed either during the time of that Captivity or presently after
6. 2. Psal. 51. 4. sin against God 10 And it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day that he hearkned not unto her to lie by her or to be with her i He avoided her company and familiar conversation as evil in it self the present circumstances considered and as an occasion of further evil See Prov. 1. 15. and 5. 8. 1 Cor. 15. 33. 1 Thess. 5. 22. 1 Tim. 5. 14. 11 And it came to pass about this time k Or Vpon a certain day which she thought convenient for the reason following that Joseph went into the house to do his business l That which belonged to his charge to cast up his accounts as the Chaldee renders it which requiring privacy gave her this opportunity and there was none of the men of the house there within * To wit in that part of the house where Ioseph was 12 And she caught him by his garment saying Lie with me and he left his garment in her hand m Which he would not strive to get from her partly for reverence to his mistress partly in detestation of her wickedness whereby even his garment might seem to be infected and partly to put himself and her out of the danger of further temptation and fled and got him out 13 And it came to pass when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and was fled forth 14 That she called unto the men of her house n To such as were in other parts of the house whom she called in as witnesses for her husbands satisfaction and spake unto them saying see he o i. e. My Husband whom she would not name as it were out of disdain and high displeasure for being the occasion of this horrid affront Thus the pronouns he and they are oft used by way of contempt as Luk. 14. 24. and 19. 27. Iohn 7. 11. and 8. 10. hath brought in an Hebrew p So she calls him to render him hateful and contemptible to the Egyptians unto us to mock q To abuse me or to vitiate and defile me For that word is oft used in an obscene sense us r She insinuates that this was not onely an indignity to her but an injury to all the Family which therefore they were obliged to revenge he came in unto me to lie with me and I cryed with a * Heb. great loud voice 15 And it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cryed that he left his garment with me and fled and got him out 16 And she laid up his garment by her untill her Lord came home 17 And she spake unto him according to these words saying The Hebrew servant which thou hast brought unto us s So she makes her husband accessory to the crime that she might provoke him to the sharper revenge came in unto me to mock me 18 And it came to pass as I lift up my voice and cryed that he left his garment with me and fled out t An improbable story and an evidence that the violence was on her side otherwise if he had attempted violence upon her person he would not have forborn violence to the recovery of his garment which he very well knew might he made a pretence against him 19 And it came to pass when his master heard the words of his wife which she spake unto him saying After this manner did thy servant to me that his wrath was kindled 20 And Josephs master took him and put him into the prison u Quest. Why did he not kill him the crime being capital and he having so undoubted a power in his hand to do it Answ. 1. It is probable he was a little moderated by Iosephs Apology which doubtless he made for himself though it be not here recorded 2. This is to be ascribed to the good Providence of God which restrains the waves of the Sea and the passions of men and sets them their bounds which they shall not pass which watched over Ioseph in a peculiar manner a place where the Kings prisoners x Traitours or great offenders against the King whose Prison doubtless was none of the easiest and therefore it is called a Dungeon Gen. 40. 15. and 41. 14. and he indured great hardship in it See Psal. 105. 18. were bound and he was there in the prison 21 But the LORD was with Joseph and †Heb. extended kindness uâ—…to him shewed him mercy and * Exod. 3. 21. and 11. 3. and 12. 36. Psal. 106. 46. Prov. 16. 7. Dan. 1. 9. gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison y The Gaoler who under Potiphar was the Keeper of that particular prison 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Josephs hand all the prisoners that were in the prison and whatsoever they did there he was the doer of it z They did nothing but by Iosephs command or permission 23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand because the LORD was with him and that which he did the LORD made it to prosper CHAP. XL. 1 AND it came to pass after these things that the Butler of the King of Egypt and his Baker had offended their Lord the King of Egypt 2 And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his Officers against the chief of the Butlers and against the chief of the Bakers 3 And he put them in ward in the house of the Captain of the guard a To wit Potiphar Gen. 37. 36. who being informed by his underkeeper of Iosephs great care and faithfulness began to have a better opinion of him though for his own quiet and his Wives reputation he left him still in the prison into the prison where Joseph was bound b Was a Prisoner as that word is used Isa 22. 3. For Ioseph being now made Governour of the Prisoners was doubtless freed from his bonds Or had been bound and that with Irons in a cruel manner Psal. 105. 18. 4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them and he served them and they continued a season c Heb. Days i. e. either many days or a year as that word sometimes signifies See Gen. 24. 55. in ward 5 And they dreamed a dream both of them each man his dream in one night each man according to the interpretation of his dream d i. e. Not a vain and idle dream but one that had in it a signification of future things and needed interpretation and the several dreams were proper and agreeable to the several events which befell them and to the several interpretations which Ioseph put upon them the dream and interpretation did fitly answer one to the other the Butler and the Baker of the King of Egypt which were bound in the prison 6 And Joseph came in unto them in the morning and looked upon them and
in the Ten Tribes and afterwards in the two Tribes upon whom the iniquity of their Fathers hath been visited now for many generations But he mentions them in particular partly because a parent may live so long and see the dreadful effects of his sin in his childrens children partly because so far the memory of a father may extend and be matter of imitation to his children and partly to shew the difference between his exercise of justice and mercy as appears by comparing the next verse of them that hate me a This word is opposed to the conceit that Idolaters at lest many of them have of themselves that they love God more then others do because they love and honour and worship the Creatures for his sake and for those excellencies that he hath wrought in them But this will no more excuse their Idolatry than it will excuse him that commits Adultery with his friends wife that he did it for his friends sake and from the love he had to his friend and for his Relations 6 And * Deut. 7. 9. Psal. 89. 34. shewing mercy unto thousands b To wit of their generations i. e. for ever whereas his punishment extended onely to three or four of them So far is Gods mercy exalted above his justice Compare Psal. 103. 17. of them that love me and keep my commandements c This conjunction is very observable both against those that falsly and foolishly pretend or insinuate that the inward affection of love to God is not absolutely and always necessary to Salvation and also against them who pretending inward love to God live in the customary breach of Gods known commands 7 * Lev. 19. 12. Deut. 5. 11. Math. â—… 33. Thou shalt not take ‖ Or not carry or not take or lift up to wit in or into thy mouth as the phrase is more fully expressed Iob 4. 2. Psal. 16. 4. and 50. 16. So men are said to take up a proverb or a lamentation Isa. 14. 4. Ezek. 26. 17. the name of the LORD d Not onely the proper name of the Lord but any of his Attributes Ordinances and Works by which God hath made himself known thy God in vain e Or unto vanity or vainly Either 1. Falsly or in a false Oath thou shalt not swear falsly by the name of the Lord or not lift up the name of God into thy mouth in an Oath to the confirmation of a lie Or. 2. In vain as we render it and as the word Schave is frequently used as Iob 7. 3. and 15. 31. Psal. 60. 11. and 89. 47. Isa. 1. 13. and You shall not use the name of God either in Oaths or in common discourse lightly rashly irreverently or unnecessarily or without weighty or sufficient cause Which being a duty enjoyned not onely in many places of Sacred Scripture but also in the Apocryphal Ecclesiasticus 23. 15 16 17. and even by Heathen authours as Plato in his book of Laws and it being evident by the light of nature to mans reason it were strange if it were not here understood especially considering that it is most reasonable to take these short Laws in the most comprehensive sense such as this not the former is for the prohibition of using it vainly and rashly doth certainly include that of swearing by it falsely but this latter doth not include the former Besides the former exposition restrains the words to swearing whereas the wâ—…s are now general and speak of any taking Gods name into their mouths either by Oaths or any other way And it becomes not us to set limits to Gods words where God hath set none It is also here to be observed as well as in the other commands that when this sin is forbidden the contrary duty is commanded to wit to use the name of God both in swearing and otherwise holily cautiously and reverently for the LORD will not hold him guiltless f Or Innocent i. e. free from guilt and the punishment of it the meaning is the Lord will look upon him as a guilty person and will severely punish him And so this or the like phrase is used 1 King 2. 9. And it is a common figure called Mâ—…iosis where more is understood than is expressed as 1 Sam. 12. 21. Psal. 25. 3. Prov. 10. 2. And this reason is here added because sinners of this sort are usually held innocent by men either because they cannot discover their fault when they forswear themselves or because they take no care to punish the abusers of Gods name by vain and customary Oaths Curses or Blasphemies q. d. Though men spare them I will assuredly punish them that taketh his name in vain 8 Reâ—…ber g This word is here very emphatical and 1. It re-minds us of a former delivery of the substance of this command to wit Gen. 2. 3. 2. It insinuates the great necessity of consideration and preparation of the Sabbath before it comes 3. It shews the singular importance of this command which is therefore placed in the heart and center of the rest to shew that the religious observation of this is the best way to secure our obedience to all the rest and that the neglect of this will bring in the violation of all the other as common experience shews the Sabbath day to keep it holy †i. e. To use it holily by a careful abstinence from servile works or wordly business and by a diligent employing of the day holy in thoughts words and exercises in the worship of God in publick and private and the celebration of his works and the furthering of our own and others sanctification and Salvation See Isa. 58. 13. 9 * chap. 23. 12. and 31. 14. Levit. 23. 3. Ezek. 20. 12. Luk. 13. 14. Six dayes shalt thou labour h This may be either 1. A command to employ those days in our worldly occasions yet so as God and Religion be not neglected on those dayes as many Scriptures teach us Or. 2. A permission to do so which I prefer 1. Because so it is a proper argument to enforce the observation of the Sabbath q. d. Grudge not me one day when I allow you six for it 2. Because the command of diligence in our callings would seem improperly placed here as being of a quite differing nature and belonging to the second table and being provided for in a distinct command as we shall see and do all thy work 10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD i Or To the Lord i. e. Consecrated to his use honour and service Hence God calls them my Sabhaths Levit. 26. 2. Isa. 56. 4. because they are commended by his example and enjoyned by his command thy God in it thou shalt not do any work k i. e. Any servile laborious common or worldly work tending to thy own profit or pleasure See Exod. 34. 21. Levit. 23. 7. Numb 28. 18. Isa. 58.
by Moses to their Father Numb 10. 31 32. and whence they might remove either to avoid the Society or Molestation of the Neighbouring Canaanites or out of love to the children of Iudah whom they went to or to avoid temptations to Luxury and exercise themselves in self-denial and contempt of the present evil World and the Lusts thereof as may be thought from Ier. 35. 6 c. Or for some other cause unknown to us at this distance and they In the Southern part of the Land of Canaan where Arad was Numb 21. 1. u i. e. Some of them for others of them dwelt in the contrary quarter in the most Northern part of the Land went and dwelt among the people x Heb. that people to wit those Children of Iudah that lived there 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother y According to his Promise v. 3. and the Laws of Justice and Gratitude and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath and utterly destroyed it and the name of the city was called Hormah z Either 1. The same place so destroyed and called Numb 21. 3. and so what was there Vowed â—… here Executed Or 2. Some other place called by the same Name upon the like occasion which was frequent among the Hebrews This seems more probable 1. Because this was but one City that divers Cities Numb 21. 2 3. 2. Because that seems to have been done in Moses his time though Interpreters generally think otherwise of which see my Notes there 18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof and Askelon with the coast thereof and Ekron with the coast thereof a The principal Cities of the Philistines Qu. How could this be when among the people leâ—…t to try Israel are the five Lords of the Philistines Judg. 3. 3 Ans. It is onely said that they took the Cities and probably contented themselves with making them Tributary but it is not said that they slew the people as they ought to have done and as it is said of the other Cities here v. 5 8 17 25. And the people being thus spared did by Gods Just Judgment recover their strength and expel the Iews out of their Cities as we find afterwards It is further observable that Ekron here taken was one of Dan's Cities Ios. 19. 43. and it was attempted and taken here by Iudah and Simeon partly out of love to their Brother Dan and partly to secure their new Conquests and other adjoining Territories from such potent Neighbours 19 And the LORD was with Judah and ‖ Or he 〈◊〉 the mountain he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain but could not b Because of their unbelief whereby they doubted and distrusted Gods power to destroy those who had Chariots of Iron and so gave way to their own fear and sloth whereby God was provoked to withdraw his helping hand from them and so they were really made impotent as they were unwilling See Ios. 17. 16. drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had charets of iron 20 * Numb 14. 24. Josh. 14. 9 13. and 15. 13. And they gave Hebron unto Caleb as Moses said and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak c Above mentioned v. 10. 21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin d See on Ios. 15. 36. in Jerusalem unto this day 22 ¶ And the house of Joseph e i. e. The Tribe of Ephraim as appeaars from their opposition to the Tribe of Manasseh v. 27. they also went up against Bethel and the LORD was with them 23 ¶ And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel now the name of the city before was * Gen. 28. 19. Luz 24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city and they said unto him Shew us we pray thee the entrance into the city f On which side it is weakest that we may best invade and take it and * Josh. 2. 12 14. we will shew thee mercy 25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city they smote the city with the edge of the sword but they let go the man and all his family g Together with his Estate as the following Verse manifests 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites h Where the Hittites seated themselves after they were driven out of Canaan which seems to be Northward from Canaan and near unto it See 1 King 11. 1. 1 Chron. 1. 17. and built a city and called the name thereof Luz which is the name thereof unto this day 27 ¶ * Josh. 17. 11 12 13. Neither did Manasseh i i. e. That half of this Tribe which dwelt in Canaan drive out the inhatants of Beth-shean k A place near Iordan Ios. 17. 11. and her ‡ Heb. daughters towns nor Taanach l Of which see Ios. 1â—… 21. and 17. 11. and her towns nor the inhabitants of Dor m A great City with large Territories See Ios. 11. 2. and 12. 23. and 17. 11. and her towns nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns nor the inhabitants of Megiddo n A Royal City See Ios. 12. 21. and 17. 11. and her towns but the Canaanites would dwell in that land 28 And it came to pass when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites to tribute and did not utterly drive them out 29 ¶ * â—…sh 16. 10. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer o Which they possessed till Solomons time 1 King 9. 16. among them 30 ¶ Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron nor the inhabitants of Nahalol but the Canaanites dwelt among them and became tributaries 31 ¶ Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho nor the inhabitants of Zidon nor of Ahlab nor Achzib nor Helbah nor Aphik nor of Rehob 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the land for they did not drive them out 33 ¶ Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath but he dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the land nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh p A place differing from that Bethshemesh Ios. 15. 10. and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley q i. e. Into the Plain Countrey which was the occasion of that Expedition for the getting of new quarters of which we read Ios. 19. and Iudg. 18. 35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Ajalon and in Shaalbim yet the hand of the house of Joseph r i. e. Of the Ephraimites who helped their Brethren the Danites against the Amorites and
and in the Evening are cut off Psal. 90. 5 6. Or rather 2. All the day long as the Phrase is 2 Cor. 11. 25. There is not a moment wherein Man is not sinking and drawing on towards Death and Corruption they perish for ever f As to humane appearance and the course of Nature as many such like passages are to be understood in this Book or in Reference to this present and worldly Life which when once lost is never recovered Iob 16. 22. Psal. 39. 13. without any ‖ Heb. 〈◊〉 the Heart regarding it g Heb. without putting the Heart to it the word Heart being understood here as also Ch. 23. 6. and 34. 23. Isa. 41. 20. as may appear by comparing 1 Sam. 9. 20. 2 Sam. 18. 3. Isa. 41. 22. and 57. 1. Where the same Phrase is used and the word Heart expressed The meaning is either 1. Yet few or no men that survive them lay it to Heart as they should do Or 2. They perish beside the Expectation of all men when both themselves and others thought their Mountain was so strong that it could not be removed Or rather 3. This is so common a thing for all men though never so high and great to perish in this manner that no man heeds it but passeth it by as a general accident not worthy of observation Oth. No man procuring or furthering it Heb. without any mans putting the hand to it i. e. They perish of themselves without any violent hand 21. * 〈◊〉 39. 11. 〈◊〉 14. Doth not their excellency h Whatsoever is really or by common estimation excellent in men all their natural moral civil accomplishments ashigh birth great riches power and wisdom c. These are sofar from preserving men from perishing as one would think they should do that they perish themselves together with those houses of clay in which they are lodged Or. go away i. e. die and perish as that phrase is oft used as Gen. 15. 15 Ios. 23. 14 Iob 10. 21. Psal. 58. 9. Eccles. 12. 5. Mat. 26. 24. with as Beth is oft used them it doth not survive them which is in them go away i they * 〈◊〉 36. 12. die even without Wisdom k Either 1. Like fools Wise men and fools die alike Eccles. 2. 16. Or 2. they never attain to perfect wisdom to that wisdom which man once had much less to that wisdom which is in God which Iob conceiteth he hath otherwise he would not so boldly censure the counsels and works of God as unrighteous or unreasonable because his humane and narrow capacity cannot fully understand them Moreover as folly is oft put for unrighteousness and wickedness so is wisdom for justice and goodness which is so known that it is needless to prove it and so by wisdom here may be meant that perfect justice and purity which Iob arrogated to himself and which Eliphaz here denies to all men v. 17 c. CHAP. V. 1. CALL now a i. e. Invite or make proclamation as this word is oft used as Deut. 20. 10. Iudg. 12. 1. Ier. 2. 2. 3. 12. 7. 2. Call them all as it were by their names consult the whole Catalogue of them all which thou didst ever know or hear of if there be any b To wit of the Saints as iâ—… follows that will answer thee c i. e. Comply with thee answer thy desires or expectations Try if there be any one Saint that will defend or allow thee in these bold expostulations with God Or as it is in the Hebrew If there be any that doth answer thee i. e. whose opinion or disposition and carriage is answerable or like to thine So answering is sometimes used as Prov. 27. 19. Eccles. 10. 19. Thou wilt find many fools or wicked men as it follows v. 2. to answer or imitate thee in their speeches and carriages but not one of the Saints like thee which deserves thy serious consideration and gives thee just cause to question thine integrity and to which of †â—… the 〈◊〉 the Saints d Either 1. the Angels who are sometimes called Saints as Iob 15. 15. Dan. 8. 13. Zech. 14. 5. because they are eminently and perfectly holy or rather 2. holy men as appears both from the Word which most commonly is so used and from the opposition of the foolish man to these v. 2. and because the example of men was more proper and effectual for Iob's conviction than of Angels wilt thou ‖ 〈◊〉 turn e Or book look about thee view them all and see if thou canst find one like thee 2. For wrath f Either 1. the wrath of God or rather 2. a man 's own wrath fretting and impatience and indignation which kills men partly naturally as it preys upon a man's spirit and wasteth him inwardly and so hastens his death of which see Prov. 14. 30. 17. 22. partly morally as it prompts him to those rash and furious and wicked actions which may procure his death and partly meritoriously as it provoketh God to cut him off and to bring upon him those further and severe strokes which he mentions in the following words killeth the foolish man g Either 1. the rash and inconsiderate man who doth not ponder things impartially but like a mad man rageth against God and torments himself and all that hear him Or 2. the ungodly man who is frequently called a fool in Scripture-language and who is here opposed to the Saints v. 1. and ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 envy h He taxeth Iob who spoke with great envy at those that were never born or were in their graves Ch. 3. 10 12 c. slayeth the silly one i Properly the man who for want of true wisdom is soon deceived with false opinions and appearances and present things which is thy case O Iob The sense of the verse may be this I perceive O Iob that thou art full of envy at wicked men who at present are or seem to be in an happier condition than thou and of wrath against God who denies thee that mercy and loads thee with afflictions and this shews thee to be a foolish and weak man For those men notwithstanding their present prosperity are doomed to great and certain misery as it here follows And so this verse coheres with the following as well as the foregoing verses 3. * 〈◊〉 37. 35. I have seen k I have oft observed it in my experience Having severely rebuked Iob for his transports of passion and intemperate speeches against God he now returns to his former Argument and proves that such dreadful and destructive Judgments of God do not befal the righteous but the wicked as he observed Ch. 4. 7 8. Withal he answers an Objection concerning the present and seeming prosperity of the wicked which he confesseth that he himself had sometimes observed the foolish l i. e. The wicked
me off and nor suffer me to live any longer which will seem to me a cruel kind of patience towards me for I have not concealed the words of the holy One a i. e. Of God who is frequently called the Holy One in Scripture as Isa. 40. 25 57. 15. Hab. 3. 3. and is so in a most eminent and peculiar manner The sense is Therefore I do not fear death but desire it and that not only to be freed from my present troubles but also and especially to put me into the possession of the happiness of the next life of which I am assured becauses I have in good measure performed the conditions of that Covenant upon which he hath promised it for as for The words of God i. e. That light of sacred Truths Precepts which he hath been pleased to impart to me I have not concealed them neither from my self by shutting mine eyes against them or suffering my prejudices or passions or worldly Interests to blind my mind lest I should see them as you think I have done nor from others but as I my self have stedfastly believed them and not wilfully and wickedly departed from them so I have endeavoured to teach and commend them to others and have not been ashamed nor afraid boldly to profess and preach the true Religion in the midst of the Heathens who are round about me And therefore I know that if God doth cut me off it will be in mercy and I shall be a gainer by it Some translate and distinguish the Verse thus Yet this is my comfort though or when I scorch with pain and he i. e. God doth not spare me but afflicts me most severely that I have not concealed the words of God but have professed and practised them 11. What is my strength that I should hope b My strength is so small and spent that although I may linger a while in my torments yet I cannot live long and therefore it is vain and absurd for me to hope for such a restitution of my strength and prosperity as thou hast promised to me Ch. 5. 22. c. And therefore I justly pray that God would take away my life and what is mine end c Either 1. What is the end or period of my miseries When may I expect it I see no end of them I know not how long I may pine and linger in them Therefore Lord take me speedily away Or 2. What is the end of my life Or What is death to me It is not terrible but comfortable as he said v. 10. I need not those vain consolations which thou givest me of being kept from death v. 20. or having life continued and health restored Death is not the matter of my fear but of my desire that I should prolong my †Heb. 〈◊〉 life d To wit by my seeking to God for it as thou advisest me Ch 5. 8. Why should I desire or indeavour the prolonging of my life Or that I should lengthâ—… out my desire to wit of life and those comforts of life which thou hast propounded to me I desire not to live longer though in the greatest splendour and prosperity but to be dissolved and to be with my God and Redeemer Ch. 19. 25. The Hebrew word nephesh here rendred soul or life oft signifies desire as Gen. 23. 8. Deut. 23. 24. Prov. 23. 2. Eccles. 6. 9. 12. Is my strength the strength of stones Or is my flesh †Heb. 〈◊〉 of brass e I am not made of stone or brass but of flesh and blood as others are and therefore I am utterly unable to endure these miseries longer and can neither hope for nor desire any continuance of my life or restauration of my farmer happiness but onely wish for that death which is the common refuge of all miserable persons as I said Ch. 3. 17. 18. 13. Is not my help in me f Though I have no strength in my body or outward man yet I have some help and support within me or in my inward man even the conscience of my own innocency and piety notwithstanding all your bitter accusations and censures as if I had no integrity Ch. 4. 6. and is wisdom driven quite from me g If I have no strength in my body have I therefore no wisdom or judgment left in my Soul Am I therefore unable to judge of the vanity of thy discourse and of the truth of my own case Have I not common sence and discretion do not I know my own condition the nature and degree of my sufferings better than thou doest Am not I a better judge whether I have integrity or no than thou art But this verse is rendred otherwise and that very agreeably to the Hebrew words What if I have no help in me i. e. If I cannot help my self if my outward condition be helpless and hopeless as I confess it is is wisdom driven quite from me Have I therefore lost my understanding and common reason Cannot I judge whether it is more desirable for me to live or to die whether I am an hypocrite or no whether your words have truth and weight in them or no whether you take the right method in dealing with me whether you deal mercifully and sincerely with me or no. Yet again because the construction and sense of these words is judged very difficult this verse may be joyned with the following and rendred thus What if there be no help in me or if I be not able to bear my miseries and if counsel be driven from me so that I know not what to do or how to help or ease my self Or and subsistence or power of subsisting be driven or taken away from me so that I can neither help my self out of my troubles nor subsist under them yet to the afflicted pity should be shewed c. 14. †Heb. to 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 To him that is afflicted h Heb. To him that is melted or dissolved with afflictions or in the furnace of afflictions that is in extream miseries for such persons are said to be melted as Psal. 22. 14. 107. 26. 119. 28. Nah. 2. 10. pity should be shewed from his friend i His friend such as thou O Eliphaz pretendest to be to me should shew kindness benignity and compassion in his judgment of him and carriage towards him and not pass such unmerciful and heavy censures upon him nor load him with reproaches but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty k But thou hast no love or pity for thy neighbour and friend Which is a plain evidence that thou art guilty of that which thou didst charge me with even of the want of the fear of God for didst thou truly fear God thou couldest not and durst not be so unmerciful to thy brother both because God hath severely forbidden condemned that disposition carriage because God is able to punish thee for it
find him out deeper than hell what canst thou know r Concerning him and his ways which are far out of thy sight and reach 9. The measure thereof is longer than the earth r From one end to the other and broader than the sea s Which is called the great and wide sea Psalm 104. 25. 10. * Chap. 9. 12. If he ‖ Or make a change cut off t To wit a Person or a Family and shut up u In a Prison or in the hands of an Enemy This shutting up is opposed to the opening of the prison-doors and to that enlargement which God is elsewhere said to give to men or gather together x Either 1. in a way of judgment as a like word is used Psalm 26. 9. Gather not my soul with sinners Or rather 2. in a way of mercy as this word is generally used in Scripture this being every where promised by God to his people as an eminent mercy that he would gather them together So this is opposed to the former actions and the sense of the place is whether it pleaseth God to scatter a Family or to gather them together from their dispersions then †Heb. who can turn him away who can hinder him y From doing what he pleaseth and designeth with his own Creatures Who can restrain him either by giving Law to him or by force and power Or who can contradict or answer him or object against him or retort or return upon him i. e. charge him with injustice in such proceedings Which sense may seem to agree best both with the scope of the place and state of the question between him and Iob which was not whether any man could resist God's power but whether he could question his justice and with the following Verse 11. For * Ps. 10. 11 14. 35. 22. he knoweth vain man z Though men know but little of God and therefore are very unfit Judges of all his Counsels and Actions yet God knows man exactly and his vanity or â—…abhood or folly or rashness for all these this word signifies He knoweth that every man in the World is guilty of much vanity and folly and therefore seeth sufficient reason for his severity against the best men such as thou O Iob fanciest thy self to be and if thou wert so thou hast no reason to wonder at or quarrel with his proceedings And if thy quarrel be that he shuts thee up or cuts thee off when he gathers others under his wing and protection whom thou thinkest or knowest to be worse than thy self while thou doest impeach his justice thou doest but betray thy own vanity and folly For he knows both whom he chastiseth and whom he spareth and why he doth it though he do not acquaint thee with the reasons of all his actions he seeth wickedness also a As he knoweth the vanity of all men so he exactly perceiveth the wickedness of evil men though it be covered with the Veil of Religion He seeth thy evil heart which discovers it self by such wicked and scandalous speeches against the justice and goodness of his Providence which gives him just cause to continue and encrease thy miseries Though thou art partial and flatterest thy self with a conceit of thy own Integrity yet he knoweth thy hypocrisie and wickedness will he not then consider it b Shall he only see it as an idle Spectator and not observe it as a Judge to requite and punish it 12. For †Heb. empty or hollow * Ps. 73. 22. 92. 6. Eccl. 3. 18. vain man would be wise c Or Yet or But vain or empty man that foolish Creature that since the fall is void of all true wisdom and solid knowledge and judgment of the things of God would be wise i. e. pretends to be and would be thought wise and able to pass a censure upon all God's ways and works Or thus But vain man is foolish or without heart i. e. without understanding unable to judge aright of the ways and things of God For a Verb very like this and coming from the same Root signifies to have ones heart taken away Cant. 4. 9. though man be born d And man is born i. e. he is by his birth such this evil is now natural and hereditary and therefore common to all men and therefore it is not strange if Iob partake of the common distemper like a wild asses colt e i. e. Ignorant and dull and stupid as to the knowledge of divine things and withal heady and untractable and therefore very incompetent to judge of these high affairs 13. * Ch. 5. 8. 22. 21. If thou f O Iob thy business is not to quarrel with thy Maker or his Works but to address thy self to him prepare thine heart g To wit to seek God as it is expressed 2 Chron. 19. 3. 30. 19. Psalm 78. 8. If thou prepare thy heart by sincere repentance for all thy hard speeches of God and fins against him and with a pure and upright heart seek unto him without which thy prayers will be in vain Or If thou directest or rectifiest thine heart turning thy bold contentions with God into humble and sincere supplications to him and stretch out thine hands h i. e. Pray which is here described by its usual gesture as Chap. 15. 25. Psalm 88. 9. towards him i i. e. To God as appears both from the nature of the thing and from the Context 14. If iniquity be in thine hand k Either 1. If thou hast in thine hand or possession any Goods got by injury or oppression as it seems they supposed that he had Or 2. more generally If thou allowest thy self in any sinful practises The hand is put for action Whereof it is the Instrument put it far away l Keep thy self aâ—… a great distance not only from such actions but also from the very occasions and appearances of them and let not wickedness dwell m Let it not have a quiet and settled abode or allowance in thy tabernacles n i. e. In thy habitation i. e. either in thy self or in thy family whose sins Iob was obliged as far as he could to prevent or reform as he had done Chap. 1. 5. He saith Tabernacles because anciently the habitations of great men consisted of several Tents or Tabernacles as we see Gen. 24. 67. 31. 33. 15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face o Which notes chearfulness and holy boldness and confidence as a dejected Countenance notes grief and shame See Gen. 4. 5 6. 2 Sam. 2. 22. Iob 22. 26. Luke 21. 28. without spot p Or Being without spot So it is only an Ellipsis of the Verb Substantive which is most frequent And this fitly follows as the ground of his confidence because he should in this case have a clear and unspotted Conscience and a
I have any reâ—…son to be puffed up with our knowledge of these thingâ—… For the most foolish and barbarous Nations know that God is Infinitâ—… in Wisdom and Power and Justice But this is not the question between you and me 4 * 〈…〉 I am as one mocked of his neighbour f Heb. I am a derision the Infinitive being put for a Noun as is usual both in the Hebrew and other Languages to my neighbour i. e to thâ—…se three who have pretended and would be thoughâ—… to be my Friends and Neighbours whom therefore such carriage doth very ill become Instead of supporting comforting me they make a sport and scorn of me who 〈◊〉 up in God and he answereth him g This who belongs either 1. to Iob who here declares his own practice in this case when you mock me I go to God with my Complaints and Prayers and he hears me though you will not But this seems not to agree either with the Context or with other passages of Iob in which he constantly complains that God did not hear nor regard his prayers nor pity and help him Or 2. to Iob's Friends and so this is either 1. an aggravation of their Crime that they should mock him who made a great profession of Religion who used â—…uly to call upon God and to receive answers from him and therefore should have carried themselves more piously and charitably and compassionately towards their miserable Brother Or 2. as the reason of their mockage of Iob because God who neglected Iob's prayers heard theirs and gave them those mercies for which they praâ—…ed and therefore being themselves well and at ease they were hard-hearted towards their poor afflicted Brother as the manner of men is This seems to suit well with the following Verse Or 3. as an Argument against their scorning or slighting of him God hears you when you pray therefore you should turn your mocks of me into prayers for me and you should pity me whom God doth not hear when I pray and as God hears you so you should hear and comfort me when I pour out my Complaints to you But these words may be brought in mimetically as being some of their scoffing words They say of me Let him call upon God and God will hear him For so they had suggested to Iob Ch. 5. 8. 8. 5. c. 11. 13. But this saith Iob I take for a piece of mockery and insulting over my Miseries For I know by sad experience and they see the contrary that though I call and cry again and again yet God hath no regard to me * 〈◊〉 â—…4 2. the just upright man is laughed to scorn h i. e. I who notwithstanding all their hard censures and reproaches must and dare still own it that through God's grace I am a just and upright man am derided by them This he repeats again because it was very grievous and burdensom to him 5. He that is ready to slip with his feet i i. e. The just man last mentioned who is upon the brink of the Pit or Grave ready to fall into mischief so as never to rise again in this World which is my case and the occasion of their scorn and contempt is as a lamp despised k i. e. Like a Lamp or Torch which whilst it shines clearly and in a dark Night is very useful and comfortable but when it draws towards an end and is nigh extinct and in the light is neglected and despised as that which is unnecessary and troublesom and offensive So the same man who when his Feet stand fast in a prosperous Condition is magnified and adored by all When his feet slip or stumble as the Phraâ—…e is Psalm 94. 18. Ier. 13. 16. when he is in misery is commonly forsaken and despised in the thought of him that is at â—…ase l i. e. In the Opinion of a man that lives in great case and outward happiness which generally makes persons to forget and despise those who are in affliction But these words are a little otherwise rendred and that agreeably to the order of the words in the Hebrew Text He which is easily understood out of verse 4. the just and upright man is as a Tâ—… despised in the opnion or thought as this or the like words coming from the same Hebrew Root are used Psalm 146. 4. Dan 6. 3. Iâ—…n 1. 6. Or because of the splendor for so this Root and its Derivatives elsewhere signifie as Cant. 5. 14. Ier. 5. 28. Ezek. 27. 19 And either of these significations agree well with the place Or compared with the splendor or greater luster and glory of him that liâ—…s in tranquillity â—…e i. e. the just man is or 〈◊〉 he is for this may be the reason of the contempt ready to slip with his foot i. e. ready to perish 6. * Ch. 21. 7. Psal. 37. 1. 35. 92. 7. Jer. 12. 1. Mal. 3. 15. The tabernacles of robbers prosper m Thy Opinion delivered Chap. 11. 14 c. is confuted by daily experience which shews that the most wicked and injurious and impudent Oppressors Tyrants and Robbers are so far from meeting with those Disappointments and Miseries wherewith thou didst threaten them that they commonly succeed in their cursed Enterprizes and flourish in Wealth and Glory and fill their Houses with the Goods of others which they violently took away whereof the Chaldeans and Sabeans ch 1. 15. 17. are a present and pregnant Evidence and they that provoke God are secure n They whose common practice it is to despise and provoke God are confident and secure live without danger or fear into whose hand God bringeth abundantly o So far is God from crushing such persons that he seems to favour them with wonderful success and by his special and more than common Providence puts into their hands the opportunities which they seek and the persons and goods of other more righteous men which they lie in wait for 7. But ask now the beasts and they shall teach thee p To wit objectively i. e. If thou observest the Beasts and their Properties and Actions and Events from them thou mayst learn this Lesson What Lesson I answer Either 1. that which was last mentioned v. 5. God's Providence doth order things in the like manner among the very Beasts and Fowls and Fishes of which the most ravenous and mischievous fare the best whilest those which are more harmless and serviceable and beneficial to men meet with the hardest usage Or 2. That which Zophar had uttered with so much pomp and gravity Chap. 11. 7 8 9. concerning God's Infinite Wisdom which saith Iob thou needest not go into Heaven or Hell to know but thou mayst learn it even from the Beasts c. and the fowls of the air and they shall tell thee 8. Or speak to the earth and it shall teach thee and the fishes of the sea shall declare
or Error and in their Effect as guiding and directing men in the right and ready way to eternal Happiness Which also reflects upon that knowledge of Divine things which men have by the light of Nature and works of God or by the Doctrines of the Philosophers or others that wanted or neglected the light of God's word wherein there is a great deal of darkness and uncertainty and Error and Danger rejoycing the heart m Partly by that clear and certain knowledge of Divine things which it gives for knowledge is pleasant to the Soul Prov. 2. 10. and partly by the discoveries of God's Love and Grace to sinful men in Offers and Promises of Mercy therein contained the commandement of the LORD n i. e. All his Commands is * Psal. 119. 140. pure o Without the least mixture of Error or injustice or Deceit Which cannot be said of humane Laws enlightning the eyes p To wit of the Mind with an evident and compleat manifestation of God's Will and Man's Duty both which the works of Nature and all the Writings of men discover but darkly and imperfectly 9. The fear of the LORD q By which he understands not the Grace of God's fear as this Phrase is commonly taken nor the whole Worship of God as it is taken Psal. 34. 9. 11. Mat. 1â—… 9. but the Law and Word of God which is the only thing that is hâ—…re commended and which is meant by all the other parallel Titles of his Testimony and Statutes and Commandements and Iudgments and consequently by this of his â—…ear which is as it were hemmed in within them And this may well be so called by an usual Metonymy because it is both the Object and the Rule and the Cause of this Grace of holy Fear as God himself is called Fear for the like reason Gen. 31. 53. and in the Hebrew Psal. 76. 11. is clean r i. e. Sincere not adulterated with any mixture of Vanity or Falshood or Vice not requiring noâ—… allowing any uncleanness or wickedness as the Religion of the Gentiles did enduring for ever s Constant and unchangeable the same for Substance in all the Ages of the Church and the World Which is most true both of the moral Law and of the Doctrine of God's Grace and Mercy to sinful and miserable man which two are the Principal partâ—… of that Law of which he here speaks as is Evident from the whole Context For as the difference between the Old and the New Testament that lyes only in Circumstantial and Ceremonial or Ritual things which are not here intended and that Alteration also was foretolâ—… in the Old Testament and consequently the accomplishment of it did not destroy but confirm the certainty and constancy of God's word This also is opposed to humane Laws wherein there are and ought to be manifold Changes according to the difference of Times and People and Circumstances the judgments of the LORD t i. e. God's Laws frequently called his Iudgments because they are the Declarations of his righteous Will and as it were his legal oâ—… judicial Sentence by which he expects that men should govern themselves and by which he will judge them at the last day are †Heb. truste true and righteous altogether u. 10. More to â—…e desired are they than gold * Psal. 1â—…9 12. 127 Prov. 8. 11. 19. yea than much fine gold x Than Gold of the best quality and in the greatest quantity * Psal. 119. 103. sweeter also than honey y Which was most sweet in those Eastern Countries and †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 the honey comb z Than that Honey which the Bees have most diligently wrought in their Combs and which freely flows from them which is sweeter than the rest 11. Moreover by them is thy servant a I thy servant though a King and a Prophet and of some Repute for Wisdom and Knowledge yet I am daily taught by them Or 〈◊〉 as Dan. 12. 3. or clearly admonished as this word signifies 〈◊〉 18. 20. 2 Kings 6. 10. Eccles. 4. 13. 〈◊〉 3. 17 c. and 33. 3. 9. It is a faithful and excellent Monitor to shew me my Duty in all Conditions and to preserve me from falling into sin and danger and Mischief warned and in keeping of them b To those that make it their great Design and care to conform their whole Lives to them For he speaks not of a Legal and perfect keeping of them which no man attaineth to in this Life 〈◊〉 7. 20. Gâ—…l 3. 10 11 12. 1 Ioh. 1. 8. but of doing it in an Evangelâ—…al Sence with the allowances which God through Christ makes for Humane infirmities there is great reward c In this Life and especially in the next 12. * Psal. 40. 12. Who can understand d This may be here added Either 1. As a further Proof of the Excellency and necessity of God's Law because mens Errors are so many and hard to be discovered and prevented that they indispensably need such a Friend and Counsellor as the Law is to give them the true knowledge of themselves and of their sins Or 2. As a just and sorrowful Censure of himself upon the Consideration of the exact Purity of God's Law and the Comparing of his Life with it Thy Law O Lord is Holy and just and Good But I am a poor sinful Wreâ—…ch falling infinitely short of it and Condemned by it Or 3. As a signification of the insufficiency of God's Law strictly so called for the healing and saving of mens Souls and of the necessity of further supplies of the Gospel and grace of God whereby the eyes of their Minds may be enlightned to see that light which shines in God's Law and their Hearts may be renewed to yield universal Obedience to it for which therefore he prays in the following words And withal he implies that he did not expect that reward which he last mentioned as a just Recompence to his Obedience which he confesseth to need a Pardon more than to deserve a reward but only as an effect of God's grace and goodness his Errors e Either 1. His sins of ignorance of which this word is used Levit. 4. 2 22 27. 〈◊〉 5. 6. Or rather 2. His sins in general â—…â—…ich afterwards he divides into secret and presumptuous sins Or all deviations from God's Law which are thus called 1 Saâ—… 26. 21. Psal. 119. 67 118. Heb. 9. 7. Iam. 5. 20. The Sence is I cannot comprehend the numbers or the several kinds or all the Hainous Aggravations of my sins cleanse thou me f Both by justification or the Pardon of my sins through the Blood of thy Son which is to be shed for me and by Sanctification through thy holy Spirit co-working in and with thy Word to the further Renovation of my Heart and Life For these are the two ways of câ—…eansing Sinners
and the supporn and Comforts of thy Spirit from me and filled me with the Terrors of thy wrath so that I am ready to sink under my Burden This was in part verified in David but much more fully in Christ who applies these Words to himself Mat. 27. 46. Why art thou so far †Heb. from aâ—… Salvation from helping me and from the words of my roaring e i. e. From regarding or Pitying or Answering my strong Prayers and lamentable Out-cries forced from me by my intolerable Distresses and Miseries 2. O my God I cry in the day-time but thou hearest me not and in the night-season and †Heb. there is no silence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 am not silent f i. e. I continue praying Day and Night without Intermission Or thus I have no silence i. e. No quietness or Rest as this word signifies Iudg. 18. 9. In which respect also the Sea and Waves thereof are said to be silent still i. e. and quiet Psal. 107. 29. Mark 4. 39. And so this last Clause answers to and expounds the Former Thou hearest me not which is most usual in this Book 3. But thou art holy g i. e. Just and true in all thy ways and therefore hearing Prayers and keeping thy Covenant a true Lover of Holyness and of all holy Men. This he adds Either 1. To aggravate his Misery that such a God should neglect and forsake him Or rather 2. To strengthen his Faith and to enforce his Prayers and prevail with God for the Honour of his holy Name to hear and help him O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel g Either 1. That dwellest in thy Tabernacle and Ark which is called Israel's glory 1 Sam. 4. 21. and the place where God was praised Isa. 64. 11. Or 2. That receivest and rightly possessest the praises of Israel whom thy People are perpetually praising for one Mercy or another and therefore I trust I also shall have occasion to praise thee But because this Hebrew Verb when it is used Transitively and is taken for inhabiting is generally as far as I have observed Construed with a Preposition which here it is not this Verse may seem to be better rendred thus as it is by divers Learned men Bâ—… thou abidest or preseverest or Continuest to be as this Verb is used Psal. 9. 7. and 55. 19. and 102. 12. Holy notwithstanding thy present neglect of my Prayers and Mâ—…series O the praises Or O thou who art the praises Or and the praises i. e. the great Cause and Object of the praises of Israel i. e. whom Israel solemnly and usually praiseth Deut. 10. 21. Ier. 17. 14. 4. Our father 's trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them h This he adds for the Reasons mentioned in the first Note v. 3. 5. They cryed unto thee and were delivered * Psal. 25. 〈◊〉 3. 31. 1. Isa. 49. 23. Rom. 9. 3â—… they trusted in thee and were not confounded i i. e. Not disappointed of that for which they prayed and hoped 6. But I am a Worm k Our Fathers were Honoured by thee and by others because of thy appearance for their defence and deliverance but I am treated like a Worm i. e. Neglected and despised both by thee who dost not afford me Help and by the men of my Age and Nation as it follows For the Phrase see Iob. 25. 6. Isa. 41. 14. and no man a reproach of men and despised of the people l Not only of the great Men but also of the common People Which doth not so truly agree to David who though he was hated and persecuted by Saul and his Courtiers was Honoured and Beloved by the Body of the people as to Christ Comp. Isa. 53. 2 3. 7. * Mat. 27. 39. All they that see me laugh me to scorn m Instead of Pitying or Helping deride me and insult over me such is their inhumanity they †Heb. 〈◊〉 shoot out the lip n They gape with their Mouths and put forth their Tongues in Mockery See Iob 16. 10. Isa. 57. 4. they shake the head o Another posture of Scoffers See Iob 16. 4. Psal. 44. 14. Isa. 37. 22. This and the next Verse are applied to Christ Mat. 27. 39 43. saying p This Supplement is very usual and here it is necessary because the next Words are the Expressions of his insulting Enemies 8. * Mat. 17. 43. †â—…eb He rolled himself â—…n the LORD He trusted on the LORD q He Rolled himself upon the Lord. Where they seem to Scoff not only at the thing but at the Expression Their Sence is He pretended that he did wholly lean and rest himself and cast his Cares upon God and quietly and confidently commit all his Affairs to his Providence assuring himself of an happy Issue from him that he would deliver him r Or without any Supplement let him deliver him as it follows though the Hebrew words be differing And so the same thing is twice repeated to shew both the Vehemency of their Hatred and their Confidence of Success against him They thought his Case desperate and past all hope and Remedy let him deliver him ‖ seeing he delighted in him s As he useth to alledge and boast but how vainly the Event now sheweth 9. But thou art he that took me out of the Womb t This is noted as an Effect of God's wonderful and gracious Providence And although this be a Mercy which God grants to all mankind yet it may well be alledged here partly in way of gratitude for this great though common Mercy nothing being more reasonable and usual than for David and other holy men to praise God for such Blessings and partly as an Argument to encourage himself to expect and to prevail with God to grant him the Deliverance which now he desires because he hath formerly delivered him This being a very common Argument See 1 Sam. 17. 37. 2 Cor. 1. 10. But this is applicable to Christ in a singular manner not as a late learned Writer takes it that God separated him from the Womb but that God did bring him out as the word properly signifies of the Womb to wit immediately and by himself and without the help of any Man by the miraculous Operation of the Holy Ghost which made him there or else he could never have been brought thence thou ‖ Or if be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him didst make me hope u Or Trust i. e. Thou didst give me sufficient ground for Hope and Trust if I had then been capable of acting that Grace because of thy wonderful and watchful Care over me in that weak and helpless State Which was eminently true of Christ whom God so miraculously preserved and provided for in his Infancy the History whereof we read Mat. 2. It is not strange that Hope is figuratively ascribed to Infants seeing even the Brute-Creatures are said
Deut. 24. 15. 2. O my God I * Psal. 22. 5. 31. 1. 34. 8. Psal. 28. 7. Rom. 10. 11. trust in thee let me not be ashamed b i. e. Disappointed of my Hope which will be reproachful to me not without Reflection upon thee of whose Power and Faithfulness I have made my boast let not mine enemies triumph over me 3. Yea let none that wait on thee be ashamed c With me and for me For if I be frustrated all that trust in thee will be discouraged and upbraided with my Example let them be ashamed d Blast their wicked Designs and Hopes which transgress e Or Prevaricate or deal Persidiously with me violating their Faith given to me * Psal. 119. 78. without a cause f Without any Provocation of mine or without any sufficient Reason 4. * Psal. 5. 8. 27. 11. 86. 11. 119. 27. 143. 8. 10. Shew me thy ways g i. e. The way of thy Precepts what I ought to do in my Circumstances and Difficulties by what Methods I may obtain thy Favour and Help Whatsoever thou dost with me as to other things grant me this Favour teach me my Duty and cause me to keep close to it notwithstanding all Temptations to the contrary O LORD teach me thy paths 5. * Psal. 26. 3. Lead me in thy truth h i. e. In the true and right way prescribed in thy Word which is oft called Truth as Psal. 119. 30. Ioh. 8. 45 46. and 16. 13. c. Or by or because of thy Truth i. e. Because thou art Faithful do thou lead or guide me as thou hast promised to do and teach me for thou art the God of my salvation i i. e. Who hast saved me formerly and hast engaged to save me and from whom alone I expect Salvation on thee do I wait all the day 6. Remember O LORD * Psal. 103. 17 106. 1. 107. 1. Jer. 33. 11. †Heb. thy bowels thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses k O consider thy own merciful Nature and thy former manifold Favours vouchsafed to me and to other miserable Sinners and do like thy self for they have been ever of old l Thou hast been gracious to such as I am from the beginning of the World to this day and to me in particular from my very Infancy as he oft acknowledgeth in this Book yea from all Eternity thou hast had a good Will to me and therefore do not now desist and desert me 7. Remember not m So as to lay them to my Charge * Job 20. 11. the sins of my youth n The sins committed in my young and tender years Eccles. 11. 9 10. which God frequently punisheth in riper Age Iob. 13 26. Ier. 3. 25 and therefore he now prays that God would not deal so with him nor my transgressions o Nor any of my succeeding or other sins which either have been Acted by me or may be imputed to me according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness sake p Being a sinner I have nothing to plead for my self but thy free Mercy and Goodness which I now implore O LORD 8. Good q i. e. Bountiful and gracious to sinners ready to good and delighting in it and upright r Or Right i. e. Holy and True sincere in making Promises and in all his Declarations and Offers of Mercy to sinners and faithful in fulfilling them is the LORD therefore will he teach sinners in the way s Being such an one he will not be wanting to such poor sinners as I am but will guide them by his Word and Spirit and gracious Providence into the way of Life and Peace By sinners he doth not understand all that are so not such â—…s are obstinate and Proud and scornful whom God hath declared that he will not teach nor direct but will leave them to the Errors and Lusts of their own Hearts and will blind and harden them to their Ruine as is often expressed in Scripture but only such as being truly sensible of their sins do humbly and earnestly seek God for his Grace and Mercy or such as are Meek as the next Verse explains it for these he will not fail to assist and Relieve 9. The meek t i. e. The humble and lowly such as meekly submit themselves to Gods hand and word and are willing and desirous to be directed and governed by him will he †Heb. 〈◊〉 to go guide in judgment u i. e In the Paths of judgment or in the right way wherein they should walk as the next Clause explains this or by the Rule of his word which is oft called his Iudgment or Iudgments Or with Iudgment i. e. With a wise and provident Care and a due regard to all their Circumstances See Ier. 10. 24. 1 Cor. 10. 13. and the meek will he teach his way x Either Gods way which God prescribes Or his own way in which he ought to walk 10. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth y All the dealings of God with them yea even those that are afflictive and grievous to the flesh are done in kindness and faithfulness to them as being very necessary for them and tending to their great advantage unto such as keep his covenant z i. e The Laws or Conditions required of them by his Covenant Or as it followes his Testimonies i. e. His Precepts which are the Testimonies or Witnesses of God's Will and of mans Duty and his testimonies 11. For thy names sake a i. e. For the Honour of thy Goodness and Truth which is concerned herein O LORD pardon mine iniquity for it is great b And therefore none but such a God can pardon it and nothing but thy own Name can move thee to do it and the pardoning of it will well become so great and good a God and will tend much to the Illustration of thy Glory as the greatness and desperateness of the Disease advanceth the Honour and Praise of the Physician Or this may be urged not as an Argument to move God but as the Reason that moved him to pray so earnestly and that for God's Names sake Or though as this Particle is oft rendred as Exod. 34. 9. Psal. 41. 4. and elsewhere it be great Possibly he speaks of his sin against uriah and Bathsheba Or for or though it be much or manifold For the Hebrew word signifies both great and much 12. What man is he c i. e. Whosoever he be whether Iew or Gentile whether more innocent or a greater Sinner which is my Case that feareth the LORD him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose d i. e. Which God appointeth or approveth Or which he i. e. such Person should chuse for the future Tense is oft put Potentially and so as
as is sufficiently evident allowing for the darkness of the Dispensation and Expressions of the Old Testament from divers passages of the Psalms of which I have spoken in their Proper places and his earnest and passionate desire of Pardon which he desires above all other things Wherein he sheweth himself to be a true Penitent because his chief Care and desire was to obtain God's Favour and the forgiveness of his sins and not the Prevention of those external â—…ore Judgments which God by Nathan threatned to bring upon him and his House 2 Sam. 12. 10 11. about which here is not one Word in this Psalm whereas the Cares and Desires of Hypocrites chiefly are bent towards Worldly things as we see in Cain Gen. 4. 13 16 17. and Saâ—…l 1 Sam. 15. 30. and others 〈◊〉 7. 14. from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin 3. For I acknowledge h With Grief and Shame and abhorrency of my self and of my sins which hitherto I have dissembled and covered And being thus truly Penitent I hope and beg that I may find Mercy with thee my transgressions i For it was not a single but a Complicated Wickedness Adultery Murder Injustice Perfidiousness and frequent Repetition of and long and stupid Continuance in aâ—…ominable Repetition of and that with publick Scandal and my sin is ever before me k That which I had cast chind my Back is now Constantly in my view and fixed in my Thoughts and Memory 4. Against thee thee onely l Which is not to be understood simply and absolutely because he had unquestionably sinned against 〈◊〉 and Uriah and mâ—…ny others who were either injured by it or scandalized at it but Comparatively So the Sence is this though I have sinned against my own Body and Conscience and against others yet nothing is more grievous and Terrible to me than to consider that I have sinned against thee Partly upon a general Account because this is the chief Malignity and sinfulness of sin that it offends and injures the Glorious and Blessed God and Partly upon particular Reasons Because I set thee at Defiance and having used all wicked Arts to conceal my sin from Men and being free from Fear of punishment from them I went on boldly in sin casting off all Reverence to thy Holy and Omniscient Majesty and all dread of thy Judgments and because I sinned against thee to whom I had such numerous and peculiar and eminent Obligations as thy Prophet Nathan truly â—…suggested to me 2 Sam. 12. 7 8. have I sinned and done this evil in thy fight m With gâ—…oss Contempt of God whom I well knew to be a Spectator of my most secret Actions * Rom 3. 4. that thou mightest be justified n The Particle that is not taken Causally or Intentionally as if this was David's Design but Eventually as it is Exod. 11. 9. Psal. 30. 12. Hâ—…s 8. 4. This will be the Fruit or Consequent of my sin that whatsoever severities thou shalt use towards me and mine it will be no blemish to thy Benignity or Righteousness or Fidelity but the blame of all will rest upon my Head as I desire it may and thy justice will be Glorified by all Men. when thou speakest o Heb. In thy Words i. e. In all thy Threatnings denounced against me by Nathan and in any further Sentence which thou shalt see fit to pass upon me and be clear when thou judgest p When thou dost pleaâ—… or contend with me or execute thy Sentence or Judgment upon me Or when thou art â—…udged as it is rendred Rom. 3. 4. for the Word may be taken Passively as well as Actively When any man shall presume to Cenâ—…ure thee as not keeping thy Covenant and Mercy promised to David 5. Behold I was shapen in iniquity q This Verse is both by Iewish and Christian by Antient and Latter Interpreters generally and most truly understood of Original sin Which he here mentions as an Aggravation of his Crime and the Sence of the place is this Nor is this the onely sin which I have Reason to acknowledge and bewail before thee for this filthy stream leads me to a corrupt Fountain and upon a serious Review of my Heart and Life I find that I am guilty of innumerable other sins and that this Haâ—…nous Crime though drawn forth by external Temptations yet was indeed the proper Fruit of my own filthy and vile Nature which without the restraints of thy Providence or Grace ever was and still is like to be inclinable and ready to commit these and ten Thousand other sins as Occasion offers it self For which Contrariety of my very Nature to thine thou mayst justly loath and Condemn me and for which I humbly beg thy Pardon and Grace and in sin did my mother †Heb. Warm me conceive me r Heb. Warm oâ—… Cheriâ—…h me in the Womb before I was shapen or formed there 6. Behold thou desirest s Or delightest in Or requirest Heb. willest truth t Either 1. Sincerity in Confessing my sins which therefore I have now acknowledged though hitherto I have Practised much Falshood and Dissimulation in indeavouring to conceal them from Men. Or rather 2. Integrity or uprightness of Heart which seems to be here opposed to that Iniquity mentioned in the last Verle in which he was and all Men are framed and Born And this may seem to be added Partly as a Proof or Aggravation of the sinfulness of Original Corruption because it is contrary to the holy Nature and Will of God which requireth not onely unblameableness in mens Actions but also Universal innocency and Rectitude of their Minds and Hearts and Partly as an Aggravation of his actual sin wherein he had used such gross Deceit and Treachery in †Heb. the Reins the inward parts and in the hidden part u i. e. In the Heart called the hidden Man of the Heart 1 Pet. 3. 4. and the 〈◊〉 Part Rom. 2. 16. which in the former Branch he called the Reins or inward Parts thou shalt make me to know x So declares his Hope that God would Pardon and cure his â—…olly which he had discovered and make him Wiser for the Future But this seems not to suit well with the Context which runs wholly in another strain The word therefore is and may be rendred otherwise Thou hast made me to know So this is another Aggravation of his sin that it was Committed against that Wisdom and Knowledge which God had not onely revealed to him outwardly in his Word but also inwardly by his Spirit writing it in his Heart according to his Promise Ier. 31. 33. Or thus do thou make me to know the future Verb being here taken Imperatively and as a Prayer as the following Futures are here Translated v. 7 8. Having now said for the Aggravation of his sin that God did desire or require Truth in tâ—…e inward Parts He takes
because the Sence of it is agreed the onely difference being about the manner and ground of the Phrase The learned Reader may see more upon this place in my Latin Synopsis 10. The righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance * i. e. The Vengeance of God upon his implacable Enemies not simply for himself but for the Blessed Effects of it The Vindication of God's Honour and the Deliverance of himself and of all good Men. he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked ‖ i. e. There shall be so great a slaughter of his Enemies that he might if he so pleased wash his Feet in their Blood See the same or like Expressions Psal. 68. 23. Isa. 63. 3. Revel 14. 20. 11. So that a man shall say Verily there is †Heb. Fruit of the c. a reward for the righteous verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth †And these Administrations of God's Providence shall be so Evident and Convincing that not onely good Men shall be sensible thereof but any man that sees them yea even such as were apt to Dispute or doubt of Gods Providence shall upon this Eminent occasion break forth into such Exclamations as this Now I see that Religion is not a Vain and unprofitable thing and that there is a God who doth now observe and Govern and when he sees fit judgeth the Inhabitants of the Earâ—…h and will hereafter judge the whole World in righteousness and Recompence every man according to his Works PSAL. LIX THE ARGUMENT The Matter and design of this Psalm is the same in general and for Substance with the former to wit a Declaration of the Cruelty and Treachery of his Enemies and a Prayer to God to deliver him out of their hands To the chief musician ‖ Or destroy not a Golden Psalm of David Al-taschith Michtam of David * 1 Sam. 19. 11. Psal. 57. Tit. when Saul sent and they watched the house to kill him 1. * Psal. 18. 48. DEliver me from mine enemies a He chiefly understands Saul but speaks in the plural Number out of Reverence to his King and that he might as far as he could in Truth derive the Envy and Hatred of these odious Practises upon those that were about him as he doth 1 Sam. 26. 19. and elsewhere O my God †Heb. set me on high defend me from them that rise up against me 2 Deliver me from all the workers of iniquity and save me from bloody men 3. For lo they lye in wait for my soul the mighty are gathered against me not for my transgression nor for my sin O LORD b Without any Provocation or Cause given them by me I am a sinner before thee O Lord but I have done them no injury 4. They run c To and fro first to receive Saul's Commands and then to Execute them with all speed and Diligence and prepare themselves d Or dispose themselves here and there round about my House that they may Catch me when I go out of it without my fault awake †Heb. to meet me to help me e Heb. to meet me as I come abroad and to Conduct me away with Safety and behold 5. Thou therefore O LORD God of hosts the God of Israel f A God in Covenant with all true Israelites whom thou hast promised to Protect and Bless awake to visit all the heâ—…then g Or these Heathen or Gentiles Who though they are called and accounted Israelites by their Birth yet in Truth and in their Dispositions and manners are meer Heathens and Barbarians In which respect such Men are elsewhere called Strangers Psal. 54. 3. Men of Sodom and Gomorrah Isa. 1. 10. and as Ethiopians Amos 9. 7. As among us ungodly Christians are oft called Iews or Turks or Heathens be not merciful h For indeed thou canst not with thine Honour nor according to thy Word be merciful to any such incorrigible Offenders to any wicked transgressors i Or perfiâ—…ious Transgressors such as persecute me and other good Men out of Malice and against their now Consciences which tell them that I am innocent and with Pretences of Friendship He might well pray so Vehemently against such not onely for his own Preservation but for the just and necessary Vindication of God's Honour and for the publick good of Mankind whose common Interest it was that such vile Miscreants should be taken out of the way Selah 6. They return at evening k After they have been busie all day Either in Plotting against me or in hunting after me in the Evening when they should Compose themselves to rest they return to their old Trade of Watching for me Which they did at this time all the Night long 1 Sam. 19. 11. they make a noise like a dog l Either when he is Hungry and pursuing his prey and howls for Meat Or when he is enraged and Grins and Snarles where he cannot or dare not Bite and go round about the city m When they did not find him in his own House they sought for him in other Houses and parts of the City where they supposed him to lurk 7. Behold they belch out n Or they your forth to wit Words for what else should come out of the Mouth Even sharp and bitter Words as the next Clause explains it abundantly and Vehemently as a Fountain doth Waters as this Word signifies See Prov. 15. 28. Ier. 6. 7. with their mouth swords o i. e. Words as keen and mischievous as Swords as Psal. 55. 21. and 57. 4. are in their lips for * Psal. 10. 11. 73. 11. 94. 7. who say they doth hear p David doth not hear us Either to discover and so to prevent our Plots or to punish us for them and God either doth not hear or not Regard what we say and do against David And therefore we may speak and Act what we think fit 8. But thou O LORD * Psal. 2. 4. 37. 13. shalt laugh at them q Disappoint their high Confidences and hopeful Designs ' and then deride them and make them Ridiculous and Contemptible to others thou shalt have all the heathen in derision 9. Because of his strength r i. e. Saul's strength Because he is too strong for me Or rather O my strength as it is v. 17. And all those Antient and venerable Translators the LXX and Chalde and Vulgar Latin render it my Strength In the Hebrew it is his Strength i. e. David's For David speaks of himself in the third Person as he oft doth And such sudden Changes of Persons are usual both in these poetical Books as hath been noted before and elsewhere as Dan 9. 4. Mich. 1. 2. will I wait upon thee for God is †Heb. my high place my defence 10. The God of my mercy s i. e. The Giver of all
that Mercy and Comfort which I either have or hope for Heb. of his Mercy But here also there is as appears by Comparing this with v. 17. a Change of the Person as there was in the foregoing Verse shall prevent me t To wit with the Blessings of Goodness as it is more fully expressed Psal. 21. 3. Thou shalt help me and that seasonably before it be too Late and sooner than I expect God shall let * Psal 92. 11. me see my desire u In their Disappointment and overthrow as it follows Which was very desirable to David no less for the publick good than for his own Safety and Happiness upon †Heb. mine Observers mine enemies 11. * See Gen. 4. 14. 15. Slay them not x To wit suddenly or at once lest my people y My Countrey men Or those over whom thou hast appointed me to be Governour in due time forget z Their former Danger and thy glorious Mercy in delivering them and their own Duty to thee for it Hereby it most plainly appears that David in those and the like Imprecations against his Enemies was not moved thereunto by his private Malice or desire of Revenge but by the Respect which he had to God's Honour and the general good of his People scatter them a Heb. make them to Wander As they wandred about the City and Country to do me Mischief v. 6. so let their Punishment be agreeable to their sin let them wander from place to place to wit for Meat as it is expressed v. 15. that they may carry the Tokens of thy Justice and their own Shame to all places where they come by thy power and bring them down b From that Power and Dignity in which thou hast set them which they do so wickedly abuse and from the height of their Carnal Hopes and Confidences of Success against me O LORD our shield 12. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips c For their ungodly and injurlous and pernicious Speeches of which he speaks v. 7. and in many other places let them even be taken d As in a snare in order to their Ruin Let thy Judgments overtake them in their pride e For their proud and insolent Speeches against thee v. 7. and for cursing and lying f For their Execrations and lying Reports which they have raised or spread abroad concerning me which they speak g Which they are ready to utter upon all Occasions 13. Consume them h By degrees and after thou hast made them to wander about v. 11 in wrath consume them that they may not be i To wit in the Land of the Living any more As this Phrase is frequently understood whereof divers instances have been given and let them know k Experimentally and to their cost that God ruleth l Over and above them That though Saul be King yet God is his Superior in Power and Authority and all things among us shall be disposed not as it pleaseth Saul which his Parasites are always suggesting to him but as God will and therefore I shall be preserved and in fit time Crowned in spight of all that Saul or his Forces can do against me in Jacob m In the Land and over the People of Israel whose King and Governour he is in a peculiar manner unto n Or and unto The Conjunction and being oft understood as hath been noted before These words may be referred Either 1. To God's Ruling let them know that God Ruleth not onely in Iacob But also to the Ends of the Earth Or 2 To mens knowing let them or let men know even to the Ends of the Earth that God raleth in Iacob Let thy Judgments be so manifest and dreadful in the Destruction of thy wicked Enemies that not onely Israelites but even the remote Nations of the World may see it and acknowledge thy Power and Providence in it the ends of the earth o Either of this Land Or rather of the World The Sence is That by those Eminent and extraordinary Discoveries of thy Power and Wisdom and Justice it may be Evident both to them and to all that hear of it that thou art no Puny or Inferior or Topical God like the God's of Heathens whose Government is confined to a narrow Compass but the high and mighty God and the great Ruler of the whole World Selah 14. And at evening let them return and let them make a noise like a dog and go round about the city p What was their sin and their choise to do with evil Design let it be their Punishment to do it by Constraint and for Meat as it follows v. 15. 15. Let them wander up and down †Heb. to Eat for meat q To get a Lively-hood ‖ Or if they be not satisfied then they will stay all Night and grudg if they be not satisfied r When their Bodies are hungry let their Minds be discontented Or as others render the Words And lodge or be forced to Lodge all Night when they are not satisfied Let them go to their rest with an empty Stomach 16. But I will sing of thy power yea I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble 17. Unto thee s i. e. To thy Honour Or rather of or concerning thee as that Particle is sometimes used O my strength will I sing for God is my defence and the God of my mercy PSAL. LX. To the chief musician upon Shushan-eduth a This like the rest seems to be the Name of an Instrument or Song or Tune then well known but now quite unknown and forgotten It may be and is by some rendred The Lilly or Rose of the Testimony or Oracle But why it was so called is a Matter of meer Conjecture and of small importance to us to know ‖ Or a Golden 〈◊〉 Michtam of David to teach b To wit in an Eminent manner Or for the special instruction of God's Church and People in some points of great moment as Concerning the grievous Calamities to which God's Church and People were obnoxious v. 1 2 3. and concerning the certainty of God's Promises and of their Deliverance out of them upon Condition of their Faith and Obedience Which Doctrines were of great moment especially to the Israelites who were and were likely to be Exercised in the same manner and with the same Variety and Vicissitudes of Condition under which their Ancestors had been Or whereas other Songs were to be Learned onely by the Levites or by some of them this possibly was one of them which the People also were to be taught and were to sing upon occasion because of the publick and general Concernment which they all had in the Matter herein contained * 〈◊〉 8. 3. 13. 〈◊〉 18. 3. 〈◊〉
people of Israel whom therefore he desires God to rebuke and humble that he may acknowledge the true God which is foretold that he shall do v. 31. As for this enigmatical designation of this King that is agreeable enough both to the usage of the Prophets in such cases and to the rulers of prudence and upon the same accounts the Prophet 〈◊〉 threatning destruction against 〈◊〉 calls it enigmatically 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 25 26. and 51. 41. and S. Paul calls Nero the Lion 2 Tiâ—… 4. 17. But then this one King being eminent in his kind is by an usual 〈◊〉 put for all of them which were enemies to God's people the multitude of the bulls n By which he doubtless understands men of War as the following words expound it the great and potent and fiâ—…rce and furious Adversaries of God and of his Church as this word is used Psal. 22. 12. Isa. 34. 7. And consequently the calves must be their people or Soldiers depending upon them and joining with them in these acts of hostility against thine Israel with the calves of the people till every one submit himself with pieces of silver o This he adds as a limitation of his request Rebuke them O Lord not to utter destruction but onely till they be humbled and submit themselves and in token thereof bring pieces of silver for presents as was foretold v. 29. For 〈◊〉 himself it is in the Hebrew cast 〈◊〉 down or offers himself to be trod upon But because this supplement may seem too large and not necessary the words are and may be rendred otherwise that tread upon or walk proudly in or with fragments or pieces of silver wherewith eminent Captains used to adorn themselves and their very horses And to this belongs to the bulls and calves whose pride and wealth and power is described in this manner ‖ Or â—…e 〈◊〉 scatter thou p Heb. He hath scattered i. e. He will certainly scatter according to the Prophetical Style So this may contain an answer or his assurance of an answer to his prayer I prayed Rebuke the company c. and God hath heard my prayer and I doubt not will rebuke or scatter them the people that delight in war q That without any necessity or provocation and merely out of a love to mischief and spoil make war upon others and upon us particularly Now that thou hast given thy people rest and settled the Ark in its place O Lord rebuke all our mâ—…licious and bloody enemies and give us assured peace that we may worship the Lord without disturbance And withal David may seem to utter this for his own vindication It is true O Lord I have been a mâ—…n of War and therefore have lost the honour of building the Temple and am now forced to lodge the Ark in a mean Tabernacle which I have erected for it But this thou knowest that I have not undertaken any of my wars out of wantonness or ambition or love to war and mischief but onely by constraint and necessity for the just defence of my self and of thy people and therefore do not lay my wars to my charge 31 Princes shall come out of Egypt Ethiopia r He names onely these as the great and Ancient Enemies of God and of his People and as a most wicked and Idolatrous and Incorrigible sort of Men see Ier. 13. 23. Avos 9. 7. but by them he Synecdochically understands all other Nations and People of the like Character shall soon stretch out her hands unto God s Either in way of humble Supplicaâ—…ion and Submission begging Mercy of him Or to offer up the presents expressed v. 19. But this Prophecy as also the next Verse Evidently belongs to the times of the Messiah when the Gentiles were to be brought in to the knowledge and Worship of the true God with the Thoughts and Hopes whereof David oft Comforteth himself in that Confined and Afflicted state of the Church in his time 32 Sing unto God ye kingdoms of the earth t Not onely Epypt and Ethiopia but other Kingdoms and Nations also who shall partake of the same Grace with them O sing praises unto the Lord Selah 33 To him * Psal. 18. 10. aâ—…d 104. 3. that rideth upon the heavens u Upon the highest Heavens as Deut. 10. 14. his truest and best Sanctuary By which Expressions he prevents all mean and Carnal Conceptions of God as if he were confined to the Ark or Tabernacle and lifteth up the Minds both of Iews and Gentiâ—…es to Heaven and representeth God as dwelling there in infinite Glory and Majesty and from thence looking down upon all the Inhabitants of the Earth and Ruâ—…ing them by his Almighty Power and therefore most fit to be owned and received by all Kings and Kingdoms as their Lord and Governour which were of old x i. e. From the very beginning of the World whereas the Ark was onely some hundreds years Old Or which are everlasting for this Hebrew word Answers to Olam which looks not onely backward to time past but forward to the Future of which this Word is by divers understood Deut. 33. 15. This is also opposed to the Condition of the Ark and Tabernacle and Temple all which as David by the Spirit of Prophecy well knew would be abolished and dissolved lo he doth †Heb. give send out his voyce and that a mighty voyce y By which he understands Either 1. The Thunder called God's 〈◊〉 Psal. 29. â—… and elsewhere Or rather 2. His Word to wit the Gospel published by Christ and by his Apostles assisted by the holy Spirit sent from Heaven which might well be called God's Voyce and that a mighty Voyce because it produced such great and wonderful Effects as are here above mentioned in converting all the Kings and Kingdoms of the Earth 34 Ascribe ye strength unto God z Acknowledge that he is mighty and able to do whatsoever he pleaseth for his People or against his and their Enemies his excellency a His excellent Power and Goodness is over Israel b Dwels among them and is employed for them as occasion requires He is indeed the universal Lord of the whole Heaven and Earth but in a special and excellent manner he is the God of Israel and his strength is in the ‖ Or Heavens clouds c Or in the Heavens He hath two dwellings and Thrones the one in his Church and People and the other in Heaven See Isa. 57. 15. 35 O God thou art terrible d Or Venerable deservedly to be both Reverenced and Feared out of thy holy places e Or Sanctuaries He useth the plural Number Either 1. Of the Sanctuary in Zion because the Tabernacle and Temple consisted of three Parts the Court the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies Or rather 2. With respect to that twoâ—…old Sanctuary here mentioned one in Zion and the other in Heaven And out
against the generation of thy children f By grieving and discouraging and Condemning them and by tempting them to revolt from God and Godliness But because the Hebrew Verb Bagad in this Sence is always so far as I have observed Construed with the Proposition Beth which is not here and is constantly put before that Proposition and Word which it governs and not after as here it is I rather joyn with them who render the place thus which is more agreeable to the Words and Order of the Text Behold the Generation of thy Children or Behold these are the Generation of thy Children as appears by thy fatherly Care of and indulgence and kindness to them whilst thou dost at present seem to treat them like Bastards who are more truly called thy Children dealing roughly and severely with them I shall or rather should to wit in speaking so Transgress or Prevaricate speak against the Truth and against my own Conscience which assureth me that these are the haters of God and hated and Cursed by him 16 When I thought to know this g To find out the Reason of this Mysterious Course of thy Providence †Heb. it was 〈◊〉 in mine 〈◊〉 it was too painful for me h I was gravel'd with the Difficulty 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God i Till I consulted with the Oracle or Word of God He alludes to the Practise of those times which was in dark and difficult Cases to resort to God's Sanctuary and the Oracle in it for satisfaction then understood I their end k There I learned that their Prosperity was short and would quickly have an End and that a most dismal and terrible one that their fair Morning would be followed with a black and dreadful Enemy and an everlasting Night 18 Surely * Psal. 35. 6. thou didst set them in slippery places l Their Happiness hath no firm Foundation is was very unstable like a mans standing in very slippery ground thou castest them down into destruction m The same hand which raised them will cast them down into the Pit of utter Destruction 19 How are they brought into desolation as in a moment n Their fall is wonderful both for its soreness and for its suddenness they are utterly consumed with terrors o Either with the Horrors of their own Minds Or rather with God's dreadful Judgments unexpectedly seizing upon them 20 * â—…ob 20. 8. As a dream when one awaketh p Their Happiness is like that in a Dream wherein a man seems to be highly pleased and Transported with Ravishing Delights but when he awakes he finds himself deceived and unsatisfied so O LORD when thou * Psal. 7. 6 awakest q i. e. Stir up thy self to punish them Or rather when they shall awake out of the pleasant Dream of this vain sinful Life by Death and following it For this seems to agree best with the Metaphor here before mentioned And the Hebrew words being onely these in awaking may be applied Either to God or to them as the Context directs thou shalt despise r Not so much Really for so God ever did despise it in the height of all their Glory but declaratively things being oft said to be done in Scripture when they appear or are manifested as hath been more then once noted Thou shall pour Contempt upon them make them despicable both to themselves and to all others and raise them to Shame and everlasting Contempt as is said Dan. 12. 2. their image s i. e. All their Felicity and Glory which as indeed it ever was so now it shall be Evidently discerned to be no Real or Substantial and solid thing but a meer image or shadow or vain shew which can neither abide with them nor yield satisfaction to them See Psal. 39. 6. Act. 25. 23. where what is rendred Pomp in the Greek signifies a meer Fancy or Imagination 1 Cor. 7. 31. 21 Thus t So as I have above expressed for this Particle so taken doth not belong to what he had now wisely and piously said in the next foregoing Verses but to what he had unadvisedly spoken in the former Verses as is Evident from the following Verse Or Nevertheless as this Particle is oft used Although I knew very well that the Prosperity of sinners would have a sudden and Dismal end yet I was so foolish as to be grieved at it my heart was grieved and I was pricked in my reins u I was heartily and deeply wounded with disquieting Thoughts and tormenting Passions Envy and Sorrow and Anger 22 * Psal. 92. 6. So foolish was I and †Heb. I knew not ignorant I was as a beast x Heb. Beasts which may signifie a great Beast a most stupid and sottish Creature like one not onely void of Grace but of Reason too For Reason it self especially assisted by the Holy Scriptures did sufficiently discover that all things considered I had no sufficient cause to Envy the Prosperity of wicked Men. I minded onely present things as the Brutes do and did not consider things to come as reasonable Creatures do and ought to do †Heb. with thee before thee y In thy sight or Judgment and therefore in Truth Rom. 2. 2. howsoever I seemed to my self or others to have some degree of Reason and Discreâ—…on 23 Nevertheless z Notwithstanding all my Temptations and my gross folly in yielding to them I am continually with thee a Either 1. In a way of Duty Yet I did not depart from thee nor from thy ways but did at last Conquer them and firmly cleave unto thee by Faith Or rather 2. In a way of Mercy and Favour of which he speaks in the next Clause of this and in the following Verse Although I gave thee just cause to cast thee off yet thou didst continue thy gracious Presence with me and thy Care and Kindness to me And this Phrase with thee seems to have some Emphasis in it as being opposed to the other with thee v. 22. I was a Beast with thee such was my folly and Wickedness and yet I was in Favour with thee such was thy goodness thou didst pardon and Cure it * Or wâ—… thou hast holden me by my right hand b That my Faith might not fail and I might not be overthrown by this or any other Temptations 24 Thou shalt guide me c As thou hast kept me hitherto in all my Tryals so I am assured thou wilt'st lead me still into right Paths and keep me from wandring or straying from thee or falling into Mischief with thy counsel d Partly by thy gracious Providence executing thy purpose of Mercy to me and watching over me Partly by thy word which thou wilst open mine Eyes to understand as Psal. 119. 18. and Principally by thy Holy Spirit sanctifying and directing me in the whole Course of
12â—… and the onely true Rule of thy Worship and the onely true way to man's happiness unite my heart r Ingage and knit my whole heart to thy self and service and deliver me from inconstancy and wavering that I may not at any time nor in the least degree be withdrawn from thee either to any corrupt Worship or to the love and pursuit of the lusts or vanities of this present evil world to fear thy name 12 I will praise thee O Lord my God with all my heart and I will glorifie thy name for evermore s Either 1. If thou grantest my request Verse 11. Or 2. Because thou hast done what is expressed Verse 13. 13 For great is thy mercy toward me and thou hast delivered my soul t My person or life as in the next Verse from †Heb. Hell beneath Psal. â—…6 10. the lowest hell u Either 1. From hell properly so called Or rather 2. From extreme and desperate dangers and miseries by comparing this with Deut. 32. 22. and with Psal 88. 6. Thou hast laid me in the lowest the same word in the Hebrew which is here pit Where by the pit he means as is evident and confessed the grave which is commonly called Scheol the word here used 14 O God * Psal. 54. 3. the proud are risen against me and the assemblies of †Heb. terrible violent men have sought after my soul and have not set thee before them x They have no reverence nor regard for thee neither for thy word which hath conferred the Kingdom upon me nor for thine all-seeing Eye which beholds all their wicked devises and practises against me nor for thy justice which will undoubtedly bring their mischief upon their own heads 15 * Exod. 34. 6. Numb 14. 18. Nehem. 9. 17. Psal. 103. 8. and 145. 8. Joel 2. 13. Verse 5. But thou O Lord art a God full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and plenteous in mercy y To wit to thy People and to me in particular and therefore thou wilst forget and forgive my manifold sins for which thou mightest justly reject me and make me to know thy breach of Promise and therefore thou wilst save me from my cruel Enemies and truth 16 O turn unto me and have mercy upon me give thy strength z To assist support and save me unto thy servant and save * Psal. â—…16 16. the son of thine handmaid ‖ Me who by thy gracious providence was born not of Heathen but of Israelitish Parents and therefore was in covenant with thee from my Birth and whose Mother was thy faithful Servant and did intirely devote me to thy Service 17 Shew me a token for good †Vouchsafe unto me some evident and eminent token of thy good will to me for the conviction of mine Enemies and mine own comfort that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed because thou LORD hast holpen me and comforted me PSAL. LXXXVII THE ARGUMENT This Psalm was doubtless composed after the Building of the Temple and as Learned Men think and it seems probable when the People were newly returned out of Babylon and laboured under many Discouragements about the returm of most of their Brethren and the Difficulties which they met with in the rebuilding of their Temple and City A Psalm or Song ‖ Or of for the sons of Korah 1 HIs foundation a Whose Foundation Either 1. The foundation i. e. the argument or matter of this Psalm or Song So these words are thought to be a part of the Title the words lying thus in the Hebrew Text For the sons of Korah a Psalm or Song whose foundation is in the holy mountains But 1. The Hebrew word rendred foundation is no where used in that sence 2. There is no example of any such like Title in the Book of the Psalms Or rather 2. Of the City or Temple of God of which he speaks in the following Verses And whereas the beginning is somewhat abrupt which seems to be the onely ground of the foregoing Exposition that is no unusual thing in Scripture and the Pronoun Relative such as this is is oft put without any foregoing Antecedent and the Antecedent is to be fetched out of the following Words or Verses As Numb 24. 17. I shall see him or it to wit the star which follows afterward Psal. 105. 19. his word i. e. the Lords Prov. 7. 8. to her house i. e. the harlot's mentioned Verse 10. And especially Cant. 1. 2. let him kiss to wit my beloved who is there understood but not expressed till Verse 14. And the ground of that abrupt and imperfect speech there seems to be the same with this here for as the Church was there in deep meditation and a great passion about her beloved which caused that abruptness of speech which is usual in such cases so the Psalmists thoughts were strongly fixed upon the Temple and City of God and therefore this Relative his had a certain Antecedent in his thoughts though not in his words The word foundations may possibly be emphatical because this Psalm might probably be composed when the foundations of the second Temple were newly laid and the old men who had seen the Glory of the former House were dejected at the sight of this of which see Ezra 3. 11 12. And so the meaning of this passage may be this Be not discouraged oh ye Jews that your Temple is not yet erected and built but onely the foundations of it laid and those too are mean and obscure in comparison of the Magnificence of your former Temple but take comfort in this that your Temple hath its foundations laid and those sure and firm sure in themselves because they are not laid in the sand nor in hoggy or fenny grounds but in the mountains and sure by divine establishment because those mountains are holy consecrated to God and therefore maintained and established by him Or he may use this word foundations in opposition to the Tabernacle which was moveable and without foundations to note the stability and perpetuity of this Building is * Psal. 48. 〈◊〉 in the holy mountains b Or among or within the holy mountains to wit in Ierusalem which was encompassed with mountains Psal. 125. 2. and in which were two famous mountains to wit Zion and Moriah Or the plural number is here put for the singular whereof we have seen examples formerly and mountains are put for the mountain either for the Mount Moriah upon which the Temple stood or for Mount Zion which is mentioned in the next Verse which is often taken in a large and comprehensive sence so as to include Moriah in which sence the Temple is said to be in Zion Psal. 74. 2. and 76. 2. Isa. 8. 18. 2 The LORD loveth the gates c of Zion d Largely so called as was now said to wit of Ierusalem which was built upon and near
unrighteous decrees which they have made in form of Laws Or by false pretences of law Or against law against all right and the laws both of God and men 21 They gather themselves together against the soul f Against the life as the soul commonly signifies and as the next clause explains it They are not satisfied with the spoil of their estates but do also thirst after their lives of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood g They shed the blood of those innocent persons whom they have wickedly condemned Innocent blood is here put for the blood or life of an innocent person as it is also 1 Sam. 19. 5. Mat. 27. 4. 22 But the LORD is my defence and my God is the rock of my refuge 23 And * Psal 7. 16. he shall bring upon them their own iniquity h i. e. The fruit and punishment of their sins and shall cut them off in their own wickedness i Either in the midst of their sins Or by their own wicked devices the mischief whereof he will cause to fall upon their own heads yea the LORD our God k The God of Iacob of whom they said that he did not see nor regard them but now they find the contrary proved to their cost shall cut them off PSAL. XCV The Author of this Psalm was David as is affirmed Heb. 4. 7. and although the Psalm be delivered in general terms as an invitation to mankind to yield unto the true God that praise and worship and obedience which he requireth and deserveth yet it hath a special reference to the days of the Messiah of which Christians have no great reason to doubt seeing it is so understood by the Hebrew Doctors themselves as also by the Apostle Heb. 3. 7 c. and especially Heb. 4. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. where he not onely expounds it of those times but proves that it cannot be meant of the former times and state of the Church 1 O Come let us a He speaks to the Israelites whose backwardness to this work in the times of the Gospel was foreseen by the spirit of God which dictated this Psalm sing unto the LORD let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation 2 Let us †Heb. 〈◊〉 his face Isai. 3â—… 33. come before his presence b Which he will then afford us in a singular manner in his Son the Messiah in and by whom he will be visibly present with the Sons of men with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms 3 For * Psal. â—…6 4. 135. 5. the LORD is a great God and a great King above * Psal. 86. 8. all gods c Above all that are accounted and called Gods Angels and Earthly Potentates and especially the false gods of the Heathens which upon Christs coming into the World were struck dumb and could no more deliver their Oracles as Platarch and other Heathens observed with admiration nor deceive the World but were forced to give place to the true God and to the knowledge and worship of him alone which was propagated among all Nations by the Gospel 4 †Heb. in 〈◊〉 In his hand d Under his Government are the deep places e Those parts which are far out of mens sight and reach and much more those that are at mens disposal of the earth ‖ Or the 〈◊〉 of the hills 〈◊〉 his the strength of the hills f The strongest or highest Mountains are under his feet and at his disposal The fence of the Verse is All the parts of the Earth whether high or low are subject to his power and providence and therefore it is not strange if all the Nations of the Earth be brought to the acknowledgment of him and if the Gentiles receive his Gospel is his also 5 †Heb. whos 's the sea is The sea is his and he made it and his hands formed the dry lands 6 O come let us worship and bow down let us kneel g By which expressions he teacheth that even in Gospel times God is to be glorified and worshipped as well with the members of our bodies as with the faculties of our Souls before the LORD our maker 7 For he is our God h In a peculiar manner and therefore it will be most unreasonable and abominable for us to forsake him when the Gentiles submit to his law and * Psal. â—…9 1â—… 80. 1. 10â—… 3. we are the people of his pasture i Whom he feedeth and keepeth in his own proper Pasture or in the land which he hath appropriated to himself and the sheep of his hand k Which are under his special care and conduct or government which is oft expressed by the hand as Numb 4. 28. and 31. 49. Judg. 9. 29. * Heb. 3. 7. 4. 7. to day l i. e. Forthwith or presently as this word is used Deut. 4. 4 8. and 27. 9. Ios. 22. 16 18 c. Or this day in this solemn day of grace or of the Gospel which the Psalmist speaks of as present according to the manner of the Prophets And this word though belonging to the following clause as appears from Heb. 3. 7. may seem to be thus placed to shew that it had some respect to the foregoing words also For the sence of the place may be this We Jews are or shall be the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand God will still own us for his people this day i. e. in the days of the Messiah if this day or in that time we shall hear his voice Otherwise God will reject us and receive the Gentiles in our stead if ye will hear his voice m If you will hearken to his call and obey his further commands Which may be added as a necessary caution and admonition to the Israelites that they might understand and consider that Gods presence and favour was not absolutely necessarily and everlastingly fixed to them as they were very apt to believe but was suspended upon the condition of their continued obedience which if they violated they should be rejected and the Gentiles performing it should be received to his mercy And this clause may be connected either 1. with the former words as the condition of their interest in God as their God as was now said Or 2. with the following Verse If you are willing to hearken to Gods call delivered by his Son take the following counsel 8 Harden not your hearts n By wilful disobedience and obstinate unbelief rebelling against the light and resisting the Holy Ghost and his clear discoveries of the truth of the Gospel * Exod. 17. 2 7. Numb 14. 2â—… 20. 13. Deut. 6. 16. as in the †Heb. conâ—… tion provocation o As you did in that hold and wicked contest with God in the Wilderness Or As in Meribah which was the
the House with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and bless his name 5 For the LORD is good his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth †Heb. to generation and generation to all generations PSAL. CI. A Psalm of David This Psalm was composed by David between times of Gods promising the Kingdom to him and his actual and plenary possession of it as appears both from v. 2. and from the contexture of the Psalm wherein he speaks not of his present practice but of his purpose for the future and solemnly declares his resolution and obligeth himself to these things when he shall be in a capacity to put them in Execution 1 I Will sing of mercy and judgment a Either 1. of God towards me of Gods mercy towards me and of his just judgments upon mine Enemies Or 2. of mine towards my people I will in my Song declare my obligation and full purpose to execute mercy and judgment in my Dominion which are the two Pillars of Government of which he speaks in the following Verses Interpreters are much divided which to chuse Possibly both may be joined together and the sence may be this I will praise thee O Lord as for all thy other excellencies so particularly for those two Royal perfections of mercy and justice or judgment which thou hast so eminently discovered in the Government of the World and of thy people Israel and I will make it my care and business to imitate and follow thee as in other things so especially in those vertues which are so necessary for the discharge of my trust and the good government of thy and my people unto thee O LORD will I sing 2 I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way b I will manage all my affairs with wisdom and integrity which are the two chief qualifications requisite for all men Mat. 10. 16. and most necessary in Princes O when wilt thou come unto me c O when wilt thou give me the Kingdom which thou hast promised me that so I may be capable of executing these good purposes both for my own comfort and for the benefit of thy people Or without an interrogation as this Particle is used Exod. 20. 24. when thou shalt come to me to wit in the performance of that promise to me He speaks not exclusively as if he would not walk wisely and righteously in the mean time but emphatically that he would continue to do so when he was advanced to the Kingdom and that he would not suffer himself to be corrupted by his Royal Power and Dignity as the Princes of the World commonly were Withal he may intimate that now he could not do as he desired and that by the necessity of his affairs he was forced to make use of such men as he did not like and to wink at those miscarriages which it was not now in his power to reform God is oft said in Scripture to come to men when he fulfils a promise to them or confers a favour or blessing upon them as Gen. 18. 10. Exod. 20. 24. Psal. 80. 2. Isa. 35. 4. c. I will walk within my house d In my own Court and Family as well as in my publick administrations knowing how great an influence the example of my private conversation will have upon my people either to reform or corrupt them with a perfect heart e This Clause adds weight to the former I will not onely walk in a perfect or right way which a man may do for politick reasons or with evil design but I will do so with an upright and honest heart which is most acceptable to God 3 I will set no †Heb. thing of Belial wicked thing before mine eyes f To wit to look upon it with deliberation and design or with desire and delight as this phrase here and elsewhere implies If any ungodly or unjust thing shall be suggested to me whatsoever specious pretences it may be covered with as reason of state or worldly advantage I will cast it out of my mind and thoughts with abhorrency so far will I be from putting it in Execution I hate the work of them that turn aside g From God and from his Laws it h To wit such work Or the Contagion of such Examples I will neither imitate nor indure such works nor such workers shall not cleave to me 4 A froward heart i A man of a corrupt mind and wicked life such as other Princes chuse and prefer as being suitable to themselves and to their wicked designs shall depart from me k Shall be turned out of my Court lest they should tempt me or infect the rest of my Family or be injurious or scandalous to my people I will not know l i. e. Not own nor countenance a wicked person 5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour m Such as by secret and false informations and accusations of others seek to gain my favour and to advance themselves by the ruine of others which are the common pests of Courts and Kingdoms him will I cut off him that hath an high look and a proud heart n These he mentions because Pride is the common Plague of Courts and the Fountain of many enormities in Courtiers it makes them imperious and insolent towards the poor oppressed Subjects that resort to them for relief it inclines them to those counsels and courses not which are best for the publick good but which are most for their own honour and advantage it makes them oppressive and injurious to others that they may have wherewith to satisfy their own lusts will not I suffer 6 Mine eyes shall be upon o Either 1. to find them out Or 2. to favour and encourage them as this phrase is oft used as Psal. 34. 15. Ier. 39. 12. and 40. 4. the faithful p Men of truth justice and integrity who will be faithful first to God and then to me and to my people of the land that they may dwell with me q Or to â—…it or abide or converse with me in mine House and Counsels and publick administrations he that walketh ‖ Or perfect in the way in a perfect way r In the way of Gods precepts which are pure and perfect he shall serve me s In domestick and publick employments 7 He that worketh deceit t He who shall use any frauds or cheats or subtil artifices to abuse or wrong any of my people Which Davids Courtiers were more likely to indeavour because he would not permit any open violence shall not dwell within my house he that telleth lies u He that shall abuse me with lies as Courtiers usually do their Princes either to defend and excuse the guilty or to betray the innocent shall †Heb shall not 〈◊〉 not tarry in my sight x I will certainly and immediately banish him
both which cases it is a Metonymy of the Adjunct are like a shadow that declineth r Or that is extended or stretched out to its ulmost length as it is when the Sun is setting when it speedily and totally vanisheth And just so the hopes of our restitution which sometimes we have are quickly cut off and disappointed and I am * Isai. 40. 6. Jam. 1. 10. Psal. 109. 13. withered like grass 12 But * Lam. 5. 19. thou O LORD shalt endure for ever s But this is my comfort although we dye and our hopes vanish yet our God is everlasting and unchangeable and therefore invincible by all his and our enemies constant in his counsels and purposes of mercy to his Church stedfast and faithful in the performance of all his promises and therefore he both can and will deliver his people and * Psal. 135. â—…3 thy remembrance t Either 1. the fame and memory of thy wonderful works Or rather 2. thy name Iehovah mentioned in the former clause which is called by this very word Gods remembrance or memorial and that unto all generations Exod. 3. 15. Thus this clause exactly answers to the former and both of them describe the Eternity of Gods existence whereby the Psalmist relieves and supports himself under the consideration of his own and his peoples frailty and vanity unto all generations 13 Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion u Upon Ierusalem or thy Church and People for the time to favour her yea the set time x The end of those 70. Years which thou hast fixed of which see Ier. 25. 12. and 29. 10. Dan. 9. 2. is come 14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof y Thy people value the dust and rubbish of the holy City more than all the Palaces of the Earth and passionately desire that it may be rebuilt 15 So the Heathen shall fear the name of the LORD and all the kings of the earth thy glory z Which was in some sort fulfilled when the rebuilding of the Temple and City of God was carried on and finished through so many and great difficulties and oppositions to the admiration envy and terrour of their Enemies as we read Nehem. 6. 16. Compare Psal. 126. 2. but much more truly and fully in building of the spiritual Ierusalem by Christ unto whom the Gentiles were gathered and the Princes of the World paid their acknowledgments 16 When the LORD shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory a His glorious power and wisdom and goodness shall be manifested to all the World 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute b i. e. Of his poor forsaken despised people in Babylon and not despise c i. e. Will accept and answer their prayer 18 This shall be written d This wonderful deliverance shall not be lost nor forgotten but carefully recorded by thy people for the generation to come e For the instruction and incouragement of all succeeding Generations The singular number put for the plural as is ordinary and * Psal. 22. 31. the people which shall be created f Which may be understood either 1. of the Jews which should be restored who were in a manner dead and buried in the grave and meer dry bones Isa. 26. 19. Ezek. 37. and therefore their restauration might well be called a Creation or as it is elsewhere a resurrection Or 2. of the Gentiles who should be converted whose conversion is frequently and might very justly be called a second Creation See 43. 1 7 15. and 65. 18. Eph. 2. 10 15. shall praise the LORD 19 For he hath looked down g To wit upon us not like an idle Spectator but with an eye of pity and relief as the next Verse declares from the height of his sanctuary h From his higher or upper Sanctuary to wit Heaven as the next Clause explains it which is called Gods high and holy place Isa. 57. 15. from Heaven did the LORD behold the earth 20 * Psal. 79. 11. To hear the groaning of the prisoner to loose †Heb. the children of death those that are appointed to death i To release his poor Captives out of Babylon and which is more from the Chains and Fetters of Sin and Satan and from eternal destruction 21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem k That they being delivered might publish and celebrate the name and praises of God in his Church 22 When the people are gathered together and the kingdoms to praise the LORD l When the Gentiles shall gather themselves to the Jews and join with them in the praise and worship of the true God and of the Messias This Verse seems to be added to intimate that although the Psalmist in this Psalm respects the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon yet he had a further design and a principal respect unto that greater and more general deliverance of his Church and People by the Messias 23 He m To wit God to whom he ascribes these Calamities v. 10. to whom therefore he addresseth himself for relief †Heb. afflicted weakned my strength in the way m Either 1. in the midst of our expectations Whilest we are expecting the accomplishment of thy promise either of bringing us out of Babylon or of sending the Messias we faint and one of us perish after another and our hope is like the giving up of the Ghost Or rather 2. in the midst of the course of our lives Which sence is confirmed 1. from the following Clause Which after the manner explains the former he shortned my days as also from the next Verse where he begs relief from God against this misery in these words take me not away in the midst of my days 2. From the use of this word way which is used for the course of a mans life Psal. 2. 12. and which comes to the same thing for the course of a journey as it is opposed to the end of the journey Gen. 24. 27. Exod. 23. 20. and elsewhere the life of man being oft compared to a journeying or travelling and death to his journeys end And the Psalmist here speaks as other sacred Writers do elsewhere and as all sorts of Writers frequently do of the whole Commonwealth as of one man and of its continuance as of the life of one man And so this seems to be the matter of his complaint and humble expostulation with God O Lord thou didst chuse us out of all the World to be thy peculiar people and didst plant us in Ganaan and cause a glorious Temple to be built to thy name to be the onely place of thy publick and solemn worship in the World and didst make great and glorious promises that thine eyes and heart should be upon it perpetually 1 Kings
representation of Gods mercies and judgments he invites all nations to an acknowledgment of the true God to praise him for his favours and to tremble at his judgments which is their just duty and reasonable service 1. O * Psal. 106. 1. 118. 1. and 136. 1. Give thanks unto the LORD for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever a This whole verse occurs also Psal. 106. 1. Only there the address is made to the Israelites and here to all mankind 2. Let the redeemed of the LORD b All they whom God hath redeemed as it is expressed in the next clause or delivered from all the following calamities say so c To wit that the Lord is good c. as it is v. 1. whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy d Of such as had taken them Captives either in Battel or in their Travels to which they were led by their own inclinations or by their necessary occasions 3. And gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west from the north e Bringing them into their own land out of the several quarters of the World into which they had been carrled and †Heb. from the Sea from the south f Heb. from the Sea Which in Scripture commonly notes the West because the great Mid-land Sea was on the West of Canaan but here as it appears from the opposition of this to the North it notes the South so called from the Red-sea which was on the South and which is sometimes called the Sea simply and without addition as Psal. 72. 8. 114. 3. 4. They wandred in the wilderness g Mistaking their way which they might easily do in the vast and sandy desarts of Arabia in a solitary way they found no city to dwell in h Or rather no City or Town inhabited where they might refresh themselves as Travellers used to do for they did not go into the Wilderness to seek for a City or Habitation there but only intended to pass through it as appears by the context and by the nature of the thing 5. Hungry and thirsty their Soul fainted in them i Partly for want of necessary Provisions and partly through anguish of spirit 6. Then they cryed unto the LORD k Heb. Unto Iehovah to the true God For the Heathens of whom he speaks had many of them some knowledge of the true God and did in their manner worship him with and in their Idols and especially in their distresses when they discovered the impotency of their Idols they did direct their Prayers immediately to the true God of which there are many instances of Heathen Writers in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses l In answer to their Prayers which he did not because their Prayers were acceptable to him but partly out of the benignity and compassionateness of his nature to all his creatures partly to encourage and preserve the use of Prayer and Religion among the Gentiles and to oblige them to a more diligent search after the knowledge of the true God and of his Worship and partly to give his own People assurance of his great readiness to hear and answer all those Prayers which with upright hearts they offered to him according to his word 7. And he led them forth m Out of the Wilderness where they had lost their way v. 4. by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation n See before on v. 4. 8. †Heb. let them 〈◊〉 to the LORD his goodness So Gr. Oh that men would praise o Heb. Let them praise Or They shall praise i. e. They are highly obliged to praise the LORD for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men p Not only to his peculiar people but to all mankind to whom he is very kind and bountiful 9. For he satisfieth the longing q Either the thirsty opposed to the hungry here following or the hungry as this general phrase is limited and expounded in the next clause soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness r With the fruits of his goodness with good things Psal. 103. 5. with food and gladness Act. 14. 17. with that good which they wanted and desired 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death s In a disconsolate and foâ—…lorn condition in dark prisons or dungeons being bound in affliction and iron t With afflicting or grievous irons Or in the cords of affliction as they are called Iob 36. 8. and particularly in iron fetters 11. Because they rebelled against the words of God u Against Gods commands made known either 1. by his written Word delivered to the Jews of which the Gentiles were not ignorant which therefore they should have diligently inquired after and searched into as the Queen of Sheba came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and as divers of the Heathens travelled into very remote parts to gain a more perfect knowledge of the Arts and Sciences which will justly be laid to their charge and condemn them for their neglect of that Divine wisdom which was treasured up in the holy Scriptures Or 2. by the Prophets who some times were sent to the Gentiles Or 3. by the Law and light of Nature and by it's Interpreters their wise and learned Philosophers who delivered many excellent rules and precepts of piety and virtue which were sufficient though not for their salvation without Christ yet for the conduct of their lives in a great measure and to leave them without excuse for their gross disobedience thereunto and contemned the counsel of the most High 12. Therefore he brought down their heart x The pride and rebellion and obstinacy of their hearts with labour y Or with trouble or troubles they fell down and there was none to help z They fell into their enemies hands and into hopeless and remediless miseries 13. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses 14. * Psal. 68. 6. 146. 7. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bands in sunder 15. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men 16. For he hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder a He restored them to liberty in spight of all impedimen's and oppositions 17. ‖ Psal. 38. 5. Fools b i. e. Wicked men whom he calls fools because of the mischiefs which through their own folly they bring upon themselves †Heb. from the way of because of their transgression c Heb. because of the way of their transgression i. e. their custom and course of sinning as the word way is used Psal. 1. 1. Prov.
imply and causeth them to wander in the ‖ Or void place wilderness where there is no way i Either 1. he giveth them up to foolish and pernicious counsels by which they are exposed to contempt and brought to their wits end not knowing what course to take Or 2. he banisheth them from their own Courts and Kingdoms and forceth them to flee into desolate wildernesses for shelter and subsistence 41. * 1 Sam. 2. 8. Psal. 113. 7 8. Yet setteth he the poor on high k And whilst he bringeth down great potentates at the same time he advanceth those who were obscure and contemptible ‖ Or after from affliction and maketh him families like a flock l Which increase very much in a little time 42. †Job 22. 19. The righteous shall see it m Or rather these things as it is expressed in the next verse They shall diligently observe these wonderful works of Gods mercy and justice and rejoice n Not only in the mercies of God vouchsafed to them and to other persons in want and misery but also in Gods judgments upon his implacable enemies which afford matter of rejoicing to good men as hath been once and again declared in this book both for the honour which God hath by them and for the sins and calamities of others which by this means are prevented and all * Job 5. 16. iniquity o i. e. Unrighteous or ungodly men the abstract being put for the concrete as faithfulnesses for the faithful Psal. 12. 2. and pride for the proud Psal. 36. 12. shall stop her mouth p Shall be put to silence So this or the like phrase is used Iudg. 18. 19. Iob 5. 16. 21. 5. 29. 9. They who used to speak loftily and wickedly and to sit their mouth against the heavens as they did Psal. 73. 8 9 to reproach God and his providence as either negligent or unrighteous in the management of the world shall now be forced to acknowledge his power and justice in those judgments which he hath brought upon them 43. * Hos. 14. 9. Whose is wise and will observe those things q Or Who for the Hebrew particle mi is interrogative is wise for as this conjunctive particle is frequently used he will observe these things All who are truly wise will consider all these events and lay them to heart as being very useful for their own instruction even they r Or each of them all such wise and considering persons shall understand the kindness of the LORD s Will see and acknowledge that God is kind or good to all and that his tender mercies are over all his works as it is said Psal. 145. 9. and singularly kind and gracious to all wise and godly men PSAL. CVIII A Song or Psalm of David This Psalm is almost word for word taken out of two foregoing Psalms the first five verses out of Psal. 57. 7 8 9 10 11. and the rest out of Psal. 60. 5 c. to which the Reader must resort for the explication of it This only is observable that the Psalmist designing to take the body of this Psalm out of Psal. 60. doth industriously lay aside that mournful Preface v. 1 2 3 4. and borrows one more pleasant out of Psal. 57. The reason of which change is supposed to be this that Psal. 60. was composed in the time of his danger and distress and the latter after his deliverance 1. O God my heart * Psal. 57. 7 8 c. is fixed I will sing and give praise even with my glory a Either 1. with my heart or soul which is fixed for that work as he said in the former branch Or rather 2. with my tongue which is called a mans glory Psal. 16. 9. comp with Act. 2. 26. So the first branch describes the fixedness of his heart to which this adds the expressions of his mouth 2. Awake psaltery and harp I my self will awake early 3. I will praise thee O LORD among the people and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations 4. For thy mercy is great above the heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the ‖ Or skies clouds 5. Be thou exalted O God above the heavens and thy glory above all the earth 6. * Psal. 60. 5 c. That thy beloved may be delivered save with thy right hand and answer me 7. God hath spoken in his holiness I will rejoyce I will divide Shechem and mete out the valley of Succoth 8. Gilead is mine Manasseh is mine Ephraim also is the strength of mine head Judah is my law-giver 9. Moab is my wash-pot over Edom will I cast out my shoe over Philistia will I triumph 10. Who will bring me into the strong city who will lead me into Edom b This he repeats in this place either because though the enemies were defeated and subdued yet there was some strong city or cities which were not yet taken or in way of thankful commemoration of Gods goodness in answering his former requests as if he had said I remember this day to thy glory and my own comfort my former straits and dangers which made me cry out Who will bring me c. 11. Wilt not thou O God who hast cast us off and wilt not thou O God go forth with our hosts 12. Give us help from trouble for vain is the help of man 13. Through God we shall do valiantly for he it is that shall tread down our enemies PSAL. CIX To the chief musician A Psalm of David It is sufficiently evident from the body of this Psalm that it was composed by David when he was in a state of persecution either by Saul or by Absalom and that amongst and above all the rest of his enemies he takes very particular notice of and breaks forth into vehement expressions of anger against one particular person which whether it were Doâ—…g or Ahitophel is not certain nor at all necessary to know But as David was and very well knew himself to be a Type of Christ and consequently his enemies did typifie or represent the enemies of Christ and this particular adversary of his did represent some singular and eminent enemy of Christ which though David might not yet the Spirit of God which indited this Psalm did know to be Iudas and accordingly directed all these bitter invectives and imprecations against him who deserved and received far worse punishments for his monstrous wickedness than all which are here mentioned And that he was the person principally aimed at in this Psalm will seem very probable to him who considers Davids mild and merciful temper even towards his enemies which he both professed in words in this very book as Psal. 35. 12 13 14. and practised in deeds as 2 Sam. 16. 10 11. 19. 22 23. and withal the severity of these imprecations reaching not onely to the persons of his
not readily grant it to those that greedily seek it and if any son of violence procure it he will make him pay very dearly for it and when the Saints suffer it for Gods sake as they frequently do it is a most acceptable Sacrifice to God and highly esteemed by him Thus the blood of Gods people is said to be precious in his sight Psal. 72. 14. And in the same sence the life of a man is said to be precious in his eyes who spareth and preserveth it as 1 Sam. 26. 21. 2 Kings 1. 13. Gods people are precious in his eyes both living and dying for whether they live they live unto the Lord or whether they die they die unto the Lord Rom. 14. 8. of his saints 16 O LORD truly I am thy servant b This is either 1. an argument used in prayer It becometh thee to protect and save thy own servants as every good master doth or rather 2. a thankful acknowledgment of his great obligations to God whereby he was in duty bound to be the Lords faithful and perpetual servant For this suits best with the context I am thy servant and * Psal. 86. 16. the son of thy handmaid c Either 1. the son of a mother who was devoted and did devote me to thy serviet Or 2. like one born in thy house of one of thy servants and so thine by a most strict and double obligation thou hast loosed my bonds d Thou hast rescued me from mine enemies whose captive and vassal I was and therefore hast a just right and title to me and to my service 17 I will offer to thee * Lev. â—… 12. the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the Name of the LORD 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people e And as I said before so I now repeat my promise for the greater assurance and to lay the stricter obligation upon my self 19 In the courts of the LORD's house in the midst of thee O Jerusalem Praise ye the LORD PSAL. CXVII This Psalm contains a Prophecy of the Calling of the Gentiles as appears both from the matter of it and from Rom. 15. 11. where it is quoted to that purpose 1 O * Rom. 15. 11. Praise the LORD a Acknowledge the true God and serve him onely and cast away all your Idols all ye nations praise him all ye people 2 For his merciful kindness is great towards us b Either 1. towards us Jews to whom he hath given those peculiar priviledges which he hath denied to all other nations But this may seem an improper argument to move the Gentiles to praise God for his mercies to others from which they were excluded Or 2. towards all of us all the children of Abraham whether carnal or spiritual who were to be incorporated together and made one body and one sold by and under the Messias Iob. 10. 16. Eph. 2. 14. which mystery seems to be insinuated by this manner of expression and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever Praise ye the LORD PSAL. CXVIII This Psalm most probably was composed by David when the Civil Wars between the Houses of Saul and David were ended and David was newly setled in the Kingdom of all Israel and had newly brought up the Ark of God to his Royal City But though this was the occasion yet David or at least the Spirit of God which indired this Psalm had a further reach and higher design in it and especially in the latter part of it which was to carry the Readers thoughts beyond the Type to the Antitype the Messias and his Kingdom who was chiefly intended in it Which is apparent both from the testimonies produced of it to that purpose iâ—… the Neâ—…t Testament as Mat. 〈◊〉 9 42. Mark 12. 10 11. Acts 4. 11 c. and from the consent of the Hebrew Doctors both ancient and modern one evidence whereof is that in their prayers for their Messiah they use some part of this Psalm and from the matter it self as we shall see hereafter The form of this Psalm may seem to be dramatical and several parts of it are spoken in the name of several persons yet so that the distinction of the persons and their several passages is not expressed but lest to the observation of the intelligent and diligent Reader as it is in the Book of the Song of Solomon and in some part of Ecclesiastes and in many profane Writers David speaks in his own name from the beginning to v. 22. and from thence to v. 25. in the name of the people and thence to v. 28. in the name of the Priests and then concludes in his own name 1 O * 1 Chro. 16. 8. Psal. 106. 1. 107. 1. 136. 1. Give thanks a All sorts of persons which are particularly expressed in the three next verses as they are mentioned in like manner and order Psal. 115. 9 10 11. where see the Notes unto the LORD for he is good because his mercy endureth for ever 2 Let Israel b After the flesh all the Tribes and people of Israel except the Levites now say that his mercy endureth for ever 3 Let the house of Aaron c The Priests and Levites who were greatly discouraged and oppressed in Sauls time and shall receive great benefits by my government now say that his mercy endureth for ever 4 Let them now that fear the LORD d The Gentile-Proselytes whereof there were in Davids time and were likely to be greater numbers than formerly had been say that his mercy endureth for ever 5 I called upon the LORD †Heb. out of distress in distress the LORD answered me and * Psal. 18. 19. set me e Which Verb is tacitly included in the former and is easily understood out of Psal. 31. 9. where the full phrase is expressed and from the following word See the like examples in the Hebrew Text Gen. 12. 15. Psal. 22. 21 c. ‖ Or with enlargement in a large place 6 * Psal. 56. 4 11. Heb. 13. 6. The LORD is ‖ Heb. for me on my side I will not fear what can man f A frail and impotent creature in himself and much more when he is opposed to the Almighty God do unto me 7 * Psal. 54. 4. The LORD taketh my part with them that help me g He is one of the number of my helpers and enables them to defend me therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me 8 * Psal. 40. 4. 62. 8 9. Jer. 17. 5 7. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man h As mine adversaries do in their own numbers and in their great confederates 9 * Psal. 146. 2. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes i The neighbouring and
enemy hath persecuted my soul e i. e. My life for nothing less will satisfie him he hath smitten my life down to the ground f He hath beaten me down to the ground where I lie strugling for life he hath made me to dwell in darkness g He hath forced me to have mine abode in dark vaults and caves as those that have been long dead h Where I am out of sight and memory and in as â—…orlorn and hopeless a condition in the eye of man as those that have â—…ain long rotting in the grave 4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me i See on Psal. 61. 2. 14â—… 3. my heart within me is desolate k Deprived of all hope and comfort Or is astonished 5 I * Psal. 77. 5. 11. remember the days of old l i. e. What thou hast done for thy servants in former times Which he mentions either 1. as matter of terror to consider how unlike God now was to himself and to his former dealings or 2. as matter of support from former experience because God was still the same Either way it drive him to his prayers which here follow I meditate on all thy works I muse on the works of thy hands 6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee m I pray to thee â—…ervently See on Psal. 141. 2. * Psal. 63. 1. my soul thirsteth after thee n After thy favour and help as a thirsty land o To wit thirsâ—…eth for rain Selah 7 Hear me speedily O LORD my spirit faileth hide not thy face from me * Psal. 28. 1. ‖ Or for I am become like c. lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit p That are dead and buried of whom there is no hope 8 Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning q i. e. Early as this phrase is taken Psal. 90. 14. and elsewhere seasonably and speedily for in thee do I trust cause me to know the way wherein I should walk r So as to please thee and to secure my self for * Psal. 25. 1. I lift up my soul unto thee 9 Deliver me O LORD from mine enemies I †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with thee flee unto thee to hide me s Without whose care these caves and rocks can give me no protection 10 * Psal. 25. 4 5. 139. 24. Teach me to do thy will t To continue in faithful obedience to thee notwithstanding all tempâ—…ations to the contrary for thou art my God thy spirit is good lead me u Or rather as it is exactly in the Hebrew and as many both ancient and modern Translators render it Let thy good Spirit lead me Leave me not to my own blind and vain mind or corrupt affections neither give me up to the evil Spirit as thou didst Saul â—…ut conduct me in all my ways by thy good i. e. gracious and holy Spirit into the land of uprightness x Or in plain or even land or ground in a straight and smooth path that I may not stumble nor fall either into sin or mischief This is opposed to the crooked and rugged ways in which sinners are said to walk See Psal. 125. 5. Prov. 2. 15. Isa. 40. 4. 11 Quicken me O LORD for thy Names sake for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble 12 And of thy mercy y Out of thy mercy to me whose life they seek cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul for * Psal. 16. 16. I am thy servant PSAL. CXLIV A Psalm of David The matter of this Psalm is partly gratulatory for mercies received and partly petitionary for further blessings It seems to have been composed after Sauls death and in the beginning of Davids reign when he was exposed to many perils both from his own rebellious Subjects and from the Philistins and other foreign enemies yet so that he had a good prospect and assurance of a more compleat and established felicity 1 BLessed be the LORD †Heb. â—…y rock my strength * â—… Sam. 22. â—…5 which teacheth my hands †Heb. to the war c. to war and my fingers to fight a Who hast given me that skill in military conduct and that dexterity in the management of my weapons which was wholly unsuitable to and much above my education and former course of life 2 * 2 Sam. 22. 2 3 40. 48. ‖ Or my mercy My goodness b Or my mercy or the God of my mercy as God is called Psal. 59. 10 17. the Name of God being eaâ—…ily understood from the foregoing verse Or he who is exceeding good or merciful to me as good as goodness it selâ—… the abstract being put for the concrete as it is frequently in speeches of God who is called wisdom Truth Goodness c. and sometimes of men as Psal. 12. 2. Prov. 10. 29. where faithfulness and uprightness are put for faithful and upright men and my fortress my high tower and my deliverer my shield and he iâ—… whom I trust who subdueth my people under me c Who hast disposed my peoples hearts to receive and obey me as their King 3 * â—…ob 7. 17. Psal. 8. 4. Heb. 2. 6. LORD what is man d He aggravates Gods goodness to him expressed v. 2. by the consideration of his own meanness Though I am King over my people yet alâ—…s I am but a man a base sinful mortal and miserable creature if compared with thee less than nothing and vanity that thou takest knowledge of him e i. e. Hast any care and kindness for him as words of knowledge commonly imply in Scripture or the son of man that thou makest account of him f The same thing repeated in other words 4 * 〈◊〉 14. 2. 〈◊〉 39. 5. â—… 9. Man is like g In his nature and continuance in the world to vanity h Or to a vapor or a breath as Isa. 57. 13. which is gone in an instant his days are as a shadow that passeth away i Or that declineth as Psal. 102. 11. 109. 23. that groweth less and less till it be quite out of â—…ight and lost 5 * 〈◊〉 18. 9. Bow thy heavens O LORD and come down k To help me before it be too late remembring what a srail and perishing creature I am * 〈◊〉 104. 32. touch the mountains and they shall smoke l Or that they may smoke or and let them smoke as Sinai did at thy glorious appearance Exod. 19. 18. This is a figurative and Poetical description of Gods coming to take vengeance upon his enemies which is continued in the next verse 6 * 〈◊〉 18. 13 〈◊〉 Cast forth lightning and scatter them shoot out thine arrows m Thy thunderbolts which oft accompany the lightnings and thunder and destroy
supposed to be such by reason of that severe Law against these practices in Israelitish women Deut. 23. 17. or are justly reputed Heathens as being degenerate Israelites which are oft called Strangers as hath been noted in the book of the Psalms and partly because conversation with such Persons is forbidden to men as those Israelites which were not Levites are called Strangers Numb 1. 51. in respect of the Holy things which they were prohibited to touch and forbidden Fire is called strange fire Num. 3. 4. * Ch. 5. 3. 6. 24 7. 5. even from the stranger which flattereth with her words d Which useth all arts and ways to allure men to unchast actions one kind being put for all the rest 17. Which forsaketh * Jer. 3. 4. the guide of her youth e To wit her Husband whom she took to be her guide and governour and that in her youth which circumstance is added to aggravate her sin and shame because love is commonly most sincere and servent between an Husband and Wife of youth as they are for that reason emphatically called Prov. 5. 18. Isa. 54. 6. Ioel. 1. 8. Mal. 2. 14 15. and forgetteth f i. e. Violateth or breaketh as that word is commonly used in a practical sense the covenant of her God g The marriage Covenant so called partly because God is the Author and Institutor of that society and mutual Obligation and partly because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn Promise and Covenant and the avenger of the transgression of it 18. For her house inclineth unto death h Conversation with her which was most free and usual in her own House is the ready and certain way to Death which it brings many ways by wasting a Mans Vital spirits and shortning his life by exposing him to many and dangerous Diseases which Physicians have declared and proved to be the effects of inordinate lust as also to the fury of jealous Husbands or Friends and sometimes to the Sword of Civil Justice and undoubtedly without repentance to God's wrath and the second Death This is here mentioned as one great priviledge and blessed fruit of Wisdom and her paths unto the dead i Or as the Chaldee and some others render it unto the Giants to wit those rebellious Giants Gen. 6. 4. or as others unto the damned or unto Hâ—…ll See for this word Iob 7. 9. Psal. 88. 11. Prov. 9. 18. 21. 16. 19. None k Few or none An hyperbolical expression used Isa. 64. 7. that go unto her l That go to her House or that lie with her as this Phrase is used Gen. 16. 4. 30. 4. Ios. 2. 3. return again m From her and from this wickedness unto God Adulterers and Whoremongers are very rarely brought to repentance but are generally hardned by the power and deceitfulness of that Lust and by God's just judgment peculiarly inflicted upon such Persons Heb. 13. 4. He alludes to the nature of corporal death from which no man can without a Miracle return to this life neither take they hold of the paths of life n Of those courses which lead to true and eternal Life 20. That thou mayest o This depends upon v. 11 and is mentioned as another happy fruit of Wisdom the former being declared from v. 12. to this Verse walk in the way of good men p Follow the counsels and examples of the godly Whereby he intimates that it is not sufficient to abstain from evil company and practices but that we must choose the conversation of good men and keep the path of the righteous 21. * Psal. 37. 29. For the upright shall dwell in the land q Shall have a peaceable and comfortable abode in the Land oâ—… Canaan which also is a type of their everlasting felicity See Psal. 37. 3 9 18 29. and the perfect shall remain in it 22. * Job 18. 17. Psal. 104. 35. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be ‖ Or pluckt up rooted out of it CHAP. III. 1. MY son forget not my law a My doctrine or counsel or the Law of God which might be called his Law as the Gospel is called Paul's Gospel 2 Tim. 2. 8. because delivered by them * Deut. 8 â—… 30. 16 20. but let thine heart keep my commandments b By diligent meditation and hearty affection 2. For * Chap. 4. 10 22. length of days and †Heb. years of life long life and peace shall they add to thee c God will add these Blessings which he hath promised to the obedient Deut. 8. 18. 30. 20. 1 Tim. 4. 8. 3. Let not mercy and truth d Either 1. God's Mercy and Truth So it is a promise God's Mercy and Truth shall not forsake thee Or rather 2. That Mercy and Truth which is Man's duty So it is a Precept which seems most probable both from the form of the Hebrew Phrase and from the following words of this Verse which are plainly preceptive and from the promise annex'd to the performance of this Precept in the next Verse Mercy and Truth are frequently joyned together as they are in God as Psal. 25. 10. 57. 3. c. or in men as Prov. 16. 6. 20. 28. Hos. 4. 1. and here Mercy notes all that benignity clemency charity and readiness to do good freely to others Truth or Faithfulness respects all those duties which we owe to God or Man to which we have special Obligation from the Rules of Justice forsake thee * Exod. 13. 9. Deut. 6. 8. Ch. 6. 21. 7. 3. bind them about thy neck e Like a Chain wherewith Persons adorn their Necks as it is expressed Chap. 1. 9. which is fastned there and not easily lost which also is continually in ones view write them upon the table of thme heart f Either 1. upon those Tablets which the Iews are said to have worn upon their Breasts which are always in sight So he alludes to Deut. 6. 8. Or 2. in thy mind and heart in which all God's commands are to be received and engraven as is oft required in this Book and every where So the Table of the Heart seems to be opposed to the Tables of Stone in which God's Law was written as it is Ier. 31. 33. 2 Cor. 3. 3. 4. * Psal. 111. 10. So shalt thou find favour g i. e. Obtain acceptance or be gracious and amiable to them and ‖ Or good success good understanding h Whereby to know thy duty and to discern between good and evil The serious practice of Religion 〈◊〉 an excellent mean to get a solid understanding of it as on the contrary a vitious life doth exceedingly debase and darken the mind and keep men from the knowledge of Truth which not onely Scripture but even Heathen
not in general to his Prophetical Office but to the delivery of this special Message and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips u I am an unclean Branch of an unclean Tree and besides my own Uncleanness I have both by my Omissions and Commissions involved my self in the guilt of their Sins and therefore may justly fear to partake with them in their Plagues for mine eyes have seen the king the LORD of hosts x The sight of this glorious and holy God gives me cause to fear that he is come to Judgment against me together with others Whilst Sinners are secure and presumptuous the holiest Persons have ever been filled with great Reverence and oft times with Doubts and Fears at any extraordinary Manifestation of God's Presence See Gen. 16 13. 17. 3. Iudg. 13. 23. 6 Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me y By Gods Command †Heb. and in his hand a live coal having a live coal z Both a Token and an Instrument of Purification as the next Verse explains it in his hand which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar a Of Burnt-offering which stood in the Court of the Priests near the Porch and which had always Coals of Fire upon it Levit. 6. 12 13. Hence he took it to shew that Men are to expect Purification and Expiation of Sin onely by such means as God hath appointed and particularly by Christ whom that Altar did manifestly represent Heb. 13. 10. 7 And he †Heb. caused it to touch laid it upon my mouth b Sleightly so as onely to touch my Lips and not to burn them which God could easily effect and said Lo this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin †Heb. attoned or expiated purged c This is a Sign that I have pardoned and purged the Uncleanness of thy Lips and do own and accept thee as a fit Minister for my Service 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying Whom shall I send and who will go for * Gen. 1. 26. us d To deliver the following Message The change of the Number I and us is very remarkable and both â—…ing meant of one and the same Lord do sufficiently intimate a Plurality of Persons in the Godhead Then said I †Heb. behold me Here am I send me e God's last and great Favour to him did both encourage and oblige him to be forward in God's Service 9 And he said Go and tell this people f Not my people for I disown them as they have rejected me * Mat. 13. 14. Mar. 4. 12. Luk. 8. 10. Joh. 12. 40. Act. 28. 26. Rom. 11. 8. Hear ye ‖ Or without ceasing c. †Heb. Hear ye in hearing c. indeed but understand not and †Heb. in seeing see ye indeed but perceive not g The Hebrew Words are Imperative yet they are not to be taken as a Command what the People ought to do but onely as a Signification and Prediction what by their own Wickedness and by God's just Judgment they did and would do as is manifest by Mat. 13. 14. Act. 28. 26. where they are so rendred And Imperative Words among the Hebrews are frequently put for the future as is well known to the Learned The sence is Because you have so long heard my Words and seen my Works to no purpose and have hardned your Hearts and will not learn â—…or reform I will punish you in your own kind your Sin shall be your Punishment I will still continue my Word and Works to you not in Mercy and for your Good but to aggravate your Sin and Condemnation for I will blind your Minds and withdraw my Spirit so that you shall be as unable as now you are unwilling to understand or perceive any thing that may do you good 10 Make the heart of this people fat h i. e. Stupid and senseless For the Fat which is in the Body is without sense and Fatness in the Heart makes it dull and heavy Thus this Phrase is used Psal. 119. 70. And this seems best to agree with the following Words This making of their Hearts fat is here ascribed to the Prophet as it is ascribed to God in the repetition of this Prophecy Ioh. 12. 40. because God inflicted this Judgment upon them by the Ministry of the Prophet partly by way of Prediction foretelling that this would be the effect of his Preaching and partly by way of Judicial Operation withdrawing the Light and Help of his Spirit and giving them up to the Power and Arts of Satan and to their own Mistakes and Lusts whereby they are easily and commonly led to turn God's Word as they do other things into Occasions of Sin and make their ears heavy i Make them dull of hearing as Isa. 59 1. Zech. 7. 11. as sometimes the Ears are made by an excessive Noise and shut their eyes k Heb. dawb their eyes as the Word is used also Isa. 44. 18. * Jer. 5. 21. lest they see l That they may not be able as before they were not willing to see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert m Turn from their sinful Practices unto God and be healed n Of Sin which is the Disease of the Soul by Remission and Sanctification and of all the deadly Effects of Sin 11 Then said I Lord how long o An abrupt Speech arising from the Prophets great Passion and Astonishment How long shall this dreadful Judgment last And he answered Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant and the houses without man and the land be †Heb. desolate with desolation utterly desolate p Until this land be totally destroyed first by the Babylonians and afterward by the Romans 12 And the LORD have removed men far away q Hath caused this People to be carried away Captive into far Countries and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land r Till Houses and Lands be generally forsaken of their Owners either because fled away from the Sword into strange Lands or because they went into Captivity 13 But yet in it shall be a tenth s A small Remnant reserved that Number being put indefinitely as is very usual ‖ Or when it is returned and hath been broused and it shall return t To wit out of the Babylonish Captivity into their own Land and shall be eaten u That Remnant shall be devoured and destroyed a second time by the Kings of Syria and afterwards more effectually by the Romans as a teil-tree and as an oak x Or Yet as c. Or Nevertheless aâ—… c. such Particles being frequently understood in the Hebrew as hath been noted again and again So the Sence of the following Words of the Verse
inward and best defended Parts among the people * Chap. 17. 5 6. there shall be as the shaking of an olive-tree and as the gleaning-grapes when the vintage is done e There shall be left a Remnant and that but a very small Remnant as there are some few and but a few Olives or Grapes left after the Vintage is over Which by comparing this with the following Verse seems to be added by way of mitigation to signifie that God would in Judgment remember Mercy 14 They f The Remnant preserved shall lift up their voice they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD g For his glorious Power and Goodness manifested in their Deliverance they shall cry aloud h In way of Exultation and Thanksgiving to God from the sea i From the Isles of the Sea as this is explained in the next Verse from those Parts beyond the Sea into which they were carried Captive and in which they were miraculously preserved 15 Wherefore glorifie ye the LORD k These are the Words either 1. of the Remnant who being themselves delivered do encourage and exhort their Brethren to glorifie God with them or 2. of the Prophet directing and exciting God's People to glorifie God in their Afflictions because of that Deliverance which he had promised and would assuredly give to them in the ‖ Or valleys * Ezek. 39. 6. fires l When you are in the Furnace of Affliction although this Word is never used in Scripture in this sence Others therefore render the Word in the valleys and others in the holes you that are now forced to hide your selves in Holes Possibly it may be better rendred for light or illumination which may be understood either of the Light of the Truth which God would reveal to them or for the Comfort and Felicity which God would confer upon them Light being frequently taken both ways in Scripture For this Hebrew Word in all other Places of Scripture where it is found signifies that Urim which was in the High-Priest's Breast-plate and which properly signifies illumination as both Jews and Christians render it whereof that was both a Sign and an Instrument of which see on Exod. 28. 30. Add to this that this part of the Prophecy seems to concern the Days of the Gospel and that Light which the Jews should then receive by the Messias of whom the High-Priest with his Ephod and Urim was a Type And so this is an Exhortation to the converted Jews to bless God for the true Urim even for Christ and the Gospel And some of the ancient Translators had this Signification of the Word in their Eye as the Vulgar Latin who render it in doctrines and the Chaldee who translate it when light shall come to the just But this I propose with submission even the Name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea m In remote Countries beyond the Sea which in Scripture are commonly called isles as hath been formerly and oft observed Whereby he seems to imply that he here speaks not so much of a Temporal Felicity which the Jews should receive and enjoy in their own Country as of a Spiritual Advantage which they should have by the Messias in the Places where they were dispersed 16 From the †Heb. wing uttermost part of the earth n From all the Parts of the Earth or Land in which the Jews are or shall be have we heard songs o Songs of Joy and Praise even glory to the righteous p Or glory be to the righteous which may seem to be the Matter of the Song By the righteous may be here understood either 1. the Generation of Righteous and Holy Men who formerly were despised but now upon this eminent Deliverance shall be highly honoured or 2. the Lord whom they were exhorted to glorifie in the foregoing Verse and who may well be called the righteous one as he is frequently stiled the holy one as Hos. 11. 9. Habak 3. 3. c. or 3. the Messiah to whom this Title of just or righteous is frequently given as Isa. 53. 11. Ier. 23. 5. Zech. 9. 9. c. And the believing Jews call him righteous emphatically partly to intimate that he is the Author and Procurer of all true Righteousness and partly in opposition to their unbelieving Brethren who rejected and condemned him as a Malefactor All which the Prophet foresaw by the Spirit of Prophecy but I said q But in the midst of these joyful Tidings I discern something which interrupts my Joys and gives me cause of bitter complaint and lamentation †Heb. Leanness to me Or My secret to me My leanness my leanness r I saint and pine away for grief for the following Reason wo unto me the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously s The Jews who have been frequently guilty of great perfidiousness towards God are now acting the same Part. Which he speaks either 1. of those who lived in his time or rather 2. of those who should live when the Messias was upon Earth of whom he foresaw by the Spirit that they would forsake God and reject their Messiah and thereby bring utter Destruction upon themselves For even the Hebrew Doctors expound this Place of the Perfidiousness of some Jews in the times of the Messiah And it is not strange that so sad a sight made the Prophet cry out My leanness c. yea the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously t He repeats it to shew the horridness of the Crime and how deeply he was affected with it 17 * Jer. 48. 43 44. See 1 Kin. 19. 17. Amos 5. 19. Fear and the pit and the snare x Great and various Judgments some actually inflicted and others expected and justly feared as the punishment of their last-mentioned Treachery are upon thee O inhabitant of the earth 18 And it shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear y Upon the Report of some terrible Evil coming towards him the Act fear being here put for the Object or the thing feared as it is in many places And thus this very Phrase is taken Iob 15. 21. shall fall into the pit z When he designs to avoid one Danger by so doing he shall plunge himself into another and a greater Mischief and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare for the * Gen. 7. 11. windows from on high are open and the * Psal. 18. 7. foundations of the earth do shake a Both Heaven and Earth conspire against him He alludes to the Deluge of Waters which God poured down from Heaven and to the Earthquakes which he oft-times causeth below 19 The earth is utterly broken down the earth is clean dissolved the earth is moved exceedingly b This is repeated again partly to shew the dreadfulness and
so hath spared and restored his People and in Judgment remembred Mercy to them when he hath totally ruined their Enemies or 2. forward upon the time to come of which he speaks as of a thing past after the manner of the Prophets and of which he speaks in the next Verse or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him r Of those who were slain by Israel or rather by God at the Prayer and on the behalf of Israel Heb. of his slain ones i. e. of those of his Smiters or Enemies who were slain Which Exposition is favoured by comparing this with the foregoing Clause 8 * Job 23. 6. Jer. 10. 24. 30. 11. 46. 28. In measure s With moderation in certain Proportions which God meteth out and fitteth to their Strength ‖ Or when thou sendest it forth when it shooteth forth t When the Vine shooteth forth its luxuriant Branches he like the Vine-dresser cutteth them off but so as not to spoil or destroy the Vine Or as divers Interpreters render it and the Word properly and frequently signifies in or by casting or dismissing or sending her or it out or when thou dost cast or send her out to wit out of her own Land in which she was planted into Captivity He alludes to a Man that divorceth his Wife which is expressed by this Word but withal intimates that this shall not be peremptory and perpetual as other Divorces were thou wilt debate with it u God is said to debate or contend with Men when he executeth his Judgments upon them as Isa. 49. 25. 57. 16. Amos 7. 4. ‖ Or when he removeth it he stayeth his rough wind x He mitigateth the severity of the Judgment But I must confess I do not meet with any of the ancient or modern Translators that agree with ours in this Version nor is the Hebrew Verb ever used so far as I know in the signification of staying or restraining besides our Translation takes no notice of the Hebrew Preposition But this Word unquestionably signifies to remove or take away as 2 Sam. 20. 13. Prov. 25. 4 5. and thus most Interpreters understand it And so the Place is very fitly thus rendred be or when be which Particle may easily be understood out of the former Clause as is usual removeth understand either it to wit the Vine or them to wit the Enemies of God and his People And so this agreeth with the former Verse in representing the different way of God's Proceeding against his People and his and their Enemies Either way there is onely a defect of the Pronoun which I have before shewed in divers places to be very usual in the Hebrew Language with or by his rough wind by which sometimes Vines and other Trees are pulled up by the Roots as that did 1 Kings 19. 11. whereby he understands his most terrible Judgments in the day of the east-wind y In the time when he sendeth forth his East-wind which he mentions because that Wind in those Parts was most violent and most hurtful to Trees and Fruits as hath been oft observed and therefore is used to signifie the most grievous Calamities 9 By this z By this manner of God's dealing with his People therefore a That the difference between Iacob and his Enemies in their several Sufferings may appear shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged b Heb. expiated or forgiven upon their true Repentance which shall be the happy effect of their Chastisement and this is all the fruit to take away his sin c The effect hereof shall not be to destroy the Sinner as it is in other Men but onely to take away the guilt and power of their Sins * when he maketh d Which Sin of Iacob's shall be purged and taken away and the Judgment removed when he shall truly repent of all his Sins and especially of his Idolatry to which they were most inclined and for which the most of God's Judgments which they had hitherto felt had been inflicted upon them all the stones 18. of the altar e Which by an usual Enallage may be put for the Altars to wit their Idolatrous Altars as is evident from the following Words Possibly he may say the altar with respect to that particular Altar which Ahaz had set up in the place of God's own Altar and this Prophecy might be delivered either to the Prophet or by him to the People in Ahaz his time while that Altar stood and was used as chalk-stones f When he shall break all those goodly Altars in pieces which God by his Law had enjoyned that are beaten in sunder g Which kind of Stones are of themselves apt to break into small pieces and by the Artificer are broken into smaller pieces for making Mortar He seems to allude to that Fact of Moses who to shew his detestation of Idolatry took the golden calf and burnt it and ground it to powder and intimates that when their Repentance should be sincere it would discover it self by their Zeal in destroying the Instruments of their Idolatry the groves h Which were frequently erected to the Honour of Idols of which we have many Instances in Scripture which God therefore commanded his People to destroy Deut. 7. 5. 12. 3. and ‖ images shall not stand â—…ma up i Shall be thrown down with Contempt and Indignation 10 Yet k Yet before this glorious Promise concerning the removal of Israel's Sin and Calamity be fulfilled a dreadful and desolating Judgment shall first come upon them the defenced city l Ierusalem and the rest of the Defenced Cities in the Land the Singular Number being put for the Plural shall be desolate and the habitation m The most inhabited and populous Places Or as the Hebrew Word properly signifies their pleasant habitations whether in the City or Country forsaken and left like a wilderness n Which was fulfilled in the time of the Babylonish Captivity there shall the calf o Which is Synechdochically put for all sorts of Cattel which may securely feed there because there shall be no Men left to disturb or annoy them feed and there shall he lie down and consume the branches thereof p Of their pleasant Habitation of the young Trees which shall grow up in that ruinated Country 11 When the boughs thereof are withered q When they shall begin to wither as they will when they are thus gnawed and cropped by Cattel they shall be broken off r That there may be no hopes nor possibility of their Recovery the women s He mentions women either because it is their usual Work in the Country to make Fires and to gather Fewel for them or to signifie that the Men should be generally destroyed come and set them on fire for * Deut. 32. 28. Chap.
1. 3. it is a people of no understanding t They do not understand either me or themselves either my Word or Works they know not the things which concern their own Peace and Happiness but like bruit Beasts made to be destroyed they blindly and wilfully go on in those Courses which will bring them to certain ruine therefore he that made them u Both as they are Creatures and as they are his People for this also is expressed by making or forming as Psal. 100. 3. 102. 18. 149. 2. Thus he overthroweth their false and presumptuous Conceits that God would never destroy the Work of his own Hands nor the Seed of Abraham his Friend for ever and plainly declareth the contrary will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour 12 And it shall come to pass in that day that the LORD shall beat off x Or shall beat out Which is not meant in a way of Punishment which is rather designed by threshing as Isa. 21. 10. 25. 10. than by beating but as an Act of Mercy as is evident from the following Clause of this and from the next Verse It is a Metaphor from some Grains which were beaten our with a Rod or Staff of which see Isa. 28. 27 28. and then were carefully gathered and laid up for the use of man from the chanel of the river unto the stream of Egypt y From Euphrates to Nilus which were the two Borders of the Land of Promise Ios. 1. 4. 13. 3. All the Israelites which are left in the Land which are here opposed to those of them that are dispersed into Foreign Parts such as Assyria and Egypt and ye shall be gathered one by one z Which signifies either the smallness of the Remnant of that numerous People or rather God's exact and singular Care of them that not one of them should be lost O ye children of Israel 13 And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet a Which may be heard even to the remotest Parts of the Earth God shall summon them all together as it were by Sound of Trumpet to wit by an eminent Call or Act of his Providence on their behalf He alludes to the Custom of calling the Israelties together with Trumpets of which see Numb 10. 2 3. shall be blown and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria b Where the Ten Tribes were carried Captive and the out-casts in the land of Egypt c Where many of the Iews were as is manifest both from Scripture as Ier. 43. 7. 44 28. Hos. 8. 13. Zech. 10. 10. and from other Authors and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem CHAP XXVIII 1. WO to the Crown of Pride a That proud and insolent Kingdom for the Crown is oft put for the Kingdom as Ier. 13. 18. c. to the Drunkards b Either 1. Metaphorically drunk with proud self-confidence and security prosperity Or rather 2. Properly by comparing this with v. 7. Hos. 7. 5. Amos 6. 6. where the Israelites are taxed with this sin For having many and excellent Vines among them they were exposed to this Sin and frequently overcome by it of Ephraim c Of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes which is commonly called by the name of Ephraim as hath been oft noted before whose glorious Beauty is a fading Flower d Whose Glory and Greatness shall suddenly wither and perish which are e Which proud and drunken Israelites have their common and chief abode Or which is i. e. which flower is or which beauty or glory is on the head of the †Heb. Uale of â—…nesses fat Valleys f Either 1. in Samaria which might well be called the Head as being seated upon a Mountain and the Head of the Kingdom and The head of the fat Valleys because it was encompassed with many fat and rich Valleys Or. 2. Upon the chief or choicest as this word signifies Exod. 30. 23. Câ—…nt 4. 14. Isa. 9. 14 15. and elsewhere of the fat or rich Valleys which they made occasions and instruments of Luxury of them that are †Heb. broken overcome g Heb. That are smitten or broken or overthrown or knocked down all which significations of this word fitly agree to Drunkards with Wine 2. Behold the Lord hath h To wit at His command prepared and ready to execute His Judgments a mighty and strong One i The King of Assyria which as a Tempest of Hail and a destroying Storm as a floud of mighty Waters overflowing shall cast down k Understand it the crown of pride or them the drunkards of Ephraim to the Earth with the hand l Or by his hand either by that Kings force or strong hand or by the hand of God which shall strengthen and succeed him in this work 3. The Crown of Pride the Drunkards of Ephraim shall be troden †Heb. with feet under Feet m The Expression is emphatical the Crown which was upon their own heads shall be trodden under the feet of others and they whose Drunkenness made them stagger and fall to the ground shall be trodden down there 4. And the glorious Beauty which is on the head of the fat Valley shall be a fading Flower and as the hasty Fruit n Which coming before the Season and before other Fruits is most acceptable before the Summer which when he that looketh upon it seeth it while it is yet in his hand he †Heb. swalloweth eateth it up o Which as soon as a Man sees he covets it and plucks it off yet doth not long enjoy it but through greediness devours it almost as soon as he can get it into his hand And so shall it be with Ephraims glory which his Enemies as soon as they observe shall covet and spoil and devour it greedily and with delight 5. In that day p When the Kingdom of Israel shall be utterly destroyed shall the Lord of Hosts be for a Crown of Glory and for a Diadem of Beauty q God shall give them eminent Glory and Beauty unto the residue of his People r Unto the Kingdom of Iudah who shall continue in their own Country when Israel is carried into Captivity 6. And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment and for strengh s He explains how or wherein God would glorify and beautify them even by giving wisdom to their Rulers and courage to their Souldiers which two things contribute much to the strength and safety and glory of a Nation to them that turn the battel to the gate t To their Warriors whom he describeth by this Phrase to intimate That their Valour should be crowned with Success and that they should not onely drive their Enemies from their own Gates
fulfil all these Promises how unlikely soever they seem to be and he who made thee a people and which is far more better his People therefore will not easily nor utterly forsake thee is thine husband p He will own thee for his Spouse and will do the part of an Husband to thee the * Luk. 1. 32. LORD of hosts q Who hath the soveraign command of all Men and Creatures and therefore can subdue the Gentiles to thee and can make thee to encrease and multiply in so prodigious a measure even in thine old age notwithstanding thy barrenness in the days of thy youth of which he speaketh in the foregoing verse is his name and thy redeemer the holy One of Israel the God of the whole earth r The God and Father of all Nations whereas formerly he was called only the God of Israel and the Gentiles had no special Relation to him nor Interest in his Covenant and Favour as was observed Psal. 147. 19 20. and elsewhere shall he be called 6 For the LORD hath called thee s To return and come again to him as a woman t When thou wast like a Woman forsaken Or as an Husband recalleth his Wife forsaken and grieved in spirit x For the loss of her Husbands Favour and Society and for the reproach attending upon it and a wife of youth y Or and as which note of similitude is supplied here by the Seventy and Chaldee Interpreters and is easily understood out of the foregoing clause in which it is expressed a wife of youth i. e. as readily and affectionately as an Husband recalleth his Wife which he married in her and his own youth of whom see on Prov. 5. 18. whom though he might through a sudden and violent passion put away yet he soon repents of it and his Affections work towards her and he invites her to return to him when thou * Jer. 30. 17. wast refused z When thou wast in a desolate Estate and hadst been for some time rejected by me then I recalled thee Or although thou wast refused or dismissed or despised by me and that justly yet I had mercy upon thee and freely offered Reconciliation to thee saith thy God a Who will again be and still shew himself to be thy God and will renew his Covenant with thee u By her Husband who hath given her a Bill of Divorce 7 * Ps. 30. 5. Ch. 26. 20. 2 Cor. 4. 17. For a small moment b For the space of some few years as Seventy years in Babylon and some such intervals which may well be called a small moment in comparison of Gods everlasting Kindness mentioned in the next verse have I forsaken thee c Withdrawn my favour and help from thee and left thee in thine Enemies hands but with great mercies d Such as are most precious and sweet for quality as is here said and such as are of long continuance as is said in the following verse will I gather thee e From all the places where thou art dispersed from all the parts of the World 8 In a little wrath I hid my face f I removed the means and pledges of my presence and kindness from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness g With kindness to thee and thy seed through all succeeding Generations here and unto all eternity will I have mercy on thee saith the LORD thy redeemer 9 For this is as the waters of * Gen. 8. 21. 9. 11. Noah unto me h This Covenant of Grace and Peace made with thee shall be as certain and perpetual as that which I made with Noah that there should never be another flood of waters to drown the World of which see Gen. 9. 11. for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee i To wit so as I have been or so as to forsake thee utterly * Ps. 9. 5. nor rebuke thee 10 For * Ps. 46. 2. Mat. 5. 18. the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed k Which hath been verified in some Mountains and Hills that by Earth-quakes or otherwise have been removed from their places But these kinds of absolute expressions are oft times comparatively understood of which see on Isa. 51. 6. and so the sense is The Mountains shall sooner depart from their places than my kindness shall depart from thee As when it is said absolutely I desired Mercy and not Sacrifice it is meant comparatively I desired Mercy more than Sacrifice as it is explained in the following clause but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace l That covenant whereby I have made Peace and Friendship with thee and have promised unto thee all manner of happiness which frequently comes under the name of peace in Scripture The sense of the place is That God will not cast off his Christian Church as he did cast off the Church of the Jews and that the New Covenant is established upon better and surer Promises than the Old as is observed Heb. 8. 6 7 c. and elsewhere be removed saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee m Who doth thus with thee not for thy own merits but meerly for his own Grace and Mercy 11 Oh thou afflicted tossed with tempests and not comforted n Oh thou my poor Church who hast frequently been and wilt again and again be in a most afflicted and comfortless condition for a time be not discouraged thereby behold I will lay thy stones with * 1 Chr. 29. 2. Rev. 21. 19. fair colours and lay thy foundations with saphires o I will make thee exceeding beautiful and glorious Which yet is not to be understood of outward Pomp and worldly Glory as is evident from many places of Scripture which assure us that Christs Kingdom is of another nature and that the external condition of Gods Church is and for the most part will be mean and calamitous in this World but of a spiritual Beauty and Glory consisting in the plentiful effusion of excellent Gifts and Graces and Comforts although these shall be followed with eternal Glory in Heaven See the like description of the Churches Glory Rev. 21. 11 c. 12 And I will make thy windows of agates p One kind of which stones was transparent like glass as Pliny writes in his natural History b. 37. ch 10. But some render this word crystal and the Seventy and some other of the ancients translate it jasper But the proper signification of the Hebrew names of precious stones is unknown to the Jews themselves as hath been noted before It may suffice us to know that this was some very clear and transparent and precious stone and thy gates of carbuncles and all thy